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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1993)
Opinion Net?raskan Friday, Saptambar 3,1933 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick. . Kathy Steinauer.... Wendy Mott. Todd Cooper. Chris Hopfensperger Kim Spurlock...... Kiley Timperley .... .. . Editor, 472-1766 Opinion Page Editor ... Managing Editor .Sports Editor ... .Copy Desk Chief .Sower Editor Senior Photographer I III I OKI \| Lost in space Apollo 009 sits unappreciated in storage Once again, UNL’s own Apollo 009 space capsule is in the news. But the news is that nothing has changed. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is still holding on to the craft but doing nothing with it. The capsule, which was used in an unmanned suborbital test flight, is sitting in a rusted old farm building on East Campus. The spacecraft was in front of Morrill Hall for 20 years before it was moved to keep it from deteriorating further. Not enough money has been available to pay for restoring it to decent condi tion. UNL owns an important and rare piece of space history, but rather than fixing it and displaying it prominently, the university has it in storage. The other Apollo capsules are on display at renowned space museums across the country, where they are considered prized possessions. They are traded between museums across the world because they are so rare. An official at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the Apollo crafts were in demand. “There are many folks around the world that would want it,” he said. The university has turned down two good offers from the Kansas Cosmosphere. Once, the cosmosphere offered to take the capsule off UNL’s hands. The other time, they wanted the capsule as a trade for other space artifacts. UhQ^hould not reject offers ' Vrtce these when Apollo 009 is left in a warehouse unappreciated. UNL has repeatedly shown that it does not respect the piece of history it owns. It is time for the school to give the capsule to someone who would value it. Then the university might get other artifacts it could display proudly. ()l Oil s ()l t ill W II K “We are not forcing foreign students to buy insurance, we are acting for their own benefit. " — Kunle Ojikutu, director of the University Health Center, defending a UNL policy that requires foreign students to purchase health insurance. "Nobody’s going to be arrested for not leaving, but they're probably going to be asked for their next of kin.” — Ray Sturza, Dare County, N.C., spokesman, on the ordered evacuation of up to 100,000 people who live in Hurricane Emily's path. “Mr. Bjorklund said he had not done any more homicides and If he had done more, he'd tell—” — Lincoln Police Detective Sgt. Greg Sorensen, testifying during Roger Bjorklund's pretrial evidence-suppression hearings. Sorensen was interrupted by a motion from Chief Lancaster County Public Defender Scott Hetvie to seal the courtroom to the press. *We played outstanding. We came out on fire. ” —Nebraska volleyball player Allison Weston, describing the Comhusker’s performance against Iowa on Wednesday. “The sooner I get It, the better. It would have been a lot easier getting the degree at 22 than 42. ” —Johnny Rodgers, former Nebraska winaback and the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner, who has returned to UNL to complete his degree. I III I (>l< I \l IN >l l< \ Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall I993 Daily Nebraskan Policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL Publications Board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its students. * I I I I I !< I’( l| l< \ The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor from all readers and interested others. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all matorial submitted Readers also are welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should included the author’s name, year in school, major and group affiliation, ifany. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448. mww &>, mwit > WR KtHttK .1! rimy Fitzpatrick Firepower not answer in Somalia President Clinton decided to send more troops to Somalia last week. Increased attacks on U.S. and U.N. forces motivated his decision. So 400 additional U.S. soldiers were sent to the desert country. The troops are elite ranger units, equipped to handle the special nature of opera tions in the country. They will join about 5,000 other Americans who are currently on duty in Somalia. Four other American aol diers who were sent to the country have already returned home — in coffins. Hopefully the new soldiers won’t meet the same fate. But President Clinton has yet to sufficiently explain the role of American forces in Soma lia. His decision to send additional troops to the country was no doubt well motivated, but it was irresponsi ble. Somalia has no organized govern ment and is divided by warlords who are trying to establish control over the country. This is not Iraq. There is no clearly defined enemy that can be destroyed with smart bombs that fly into win dows and neatly destroy buildings. The enemy in Somalia does not wear a uniform. Instead, the adversary the U.S. fac es in Somalia looks almost exactly like the friendly citizens we are sup posed to be helping. This difficulty was demonstrated clearly Monday whenU.S. forces raid ed a villa in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital. The elite soldiers performed their mission perfectly. The nine indi viduals inside were apprehended and taken to a U.N. detention center. Unfortunately, the apprehended people were U.N. employees, not fore It would be no surrender and no dishonor for U.S. forces to leave Somalia while most of them still can. If Somalis are unwilling to stop fighting each other, we cannot make them. es loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, as had been thought. The United States has the best army in the world. When it has another army to fight, it will win. But in Somalia there is no other army. There are only small bands of gucr n 11 as that can attack quickly and hide before U.S. forces can respond. The United States has been in volved in conflicts like the one in Somalia before. Vifctnam and Beruit are two of the closest examples. And like in Vietnam and in Beruit, the United States cannot win in Soma lia. But instead of withdrawing from the country, the United States is con tinuing to send more troops, mistak enly believing that more firepower is the answer. More troops in tne coun try will only mean more opportunities for U.S. soldiers to be killed. If we are lucky, significant U.S. casualties can be avoided. But if we are not, a bomb could explode in the barracks of U.S. forces, or troops on patrol could be ambushed and killed. That happened to Pakistani forces in June. President Clinton can prevent that from happening if he refuses to send any more troops to Somalia. He would not be backing down. Quite simply, there is nothing U.S. forces can do in Somalia except risk their lives. There is no goal they can achieve. There iaiiO'dftffluoHltfi iguwuavua they can support. There is no way the)® can win, because there is no finishl It was different in December, when 1 U.S. forces were sent to Somalia to open up relief supplies for starving Somalis. Then the troops had a clear mis sion. They had to return a semblance of order to the country and make sure Somalis had access to relief supplies. They accomplished their mission and most were withdrawn. Now there is no mission and there fore no chance of victory. What can possibly be achieved? We cannot force the Somalis to form a government. We cannot force them to stop fighting each other. It would be no surrender and no dishonor for U.S. forces to leave So malia while most of them still can. If j Somalis are unwilling to stop fighting each other, we cannot make them. Sacrificing U.S. lives to help a people who increasingly do not want us there is not the answer. We have tried and failed before to enforce peace where it was not want ed. Hopefully President Clinton will avoid that costly mistake in Somalia. Fitzpatrick li a Malar poMckal Klaacc najor iad the editor of tke Daily Nebraska!. I I I I I us I () I III | |)| | ou Preachers About this time last year, I com mitted a sin. I gave in to temptation. I ate of the forbidden fruit, that is, I succumbed toarguing with the preach ers in front of Broyhill Fountain. To have someone condemning the student body as a whole at the top of his lungs really pollutes an otherwise peaceful environment. In light of this, why shouldn’t one take a stand for humanity—not to mention the com passion and humility which seem so central to Christ’s teachings — and decry this aggressor? Because doing . so creates the scene I witnessed Thurs day afternoon: A crowd of people rallied around a violent and angry man, hanging on his every word. If these men who preach in front of Broyhill are as self-righteous, close minded and vicious as we hell-bound 98 percent of the campus accuse them of being, why do they entertain such a crowd whenever they pop onto cam pus? Their opinions are not going to change, so why must we let them continually evoke ours? I vote for passive resistance. Ben Graham senior psychology and English Marley and barley Bob Marley, considered by many to be the father of reggae music, was more than just a musician; not only did he speak out against elitism and white suppression of minorities, but he also spoke out for equality of all people. Although these points are relative to too many members of the elite fraternities and sororities, my main point is the barley issue. Bob Marley was a Rastafarian, one who followed a belief that excludes alcohol con sumption. No doubt he saw the alter ation of behavior and judgment re sulting from drinking alcohol, but also the resultant deaths and negative health effects as well. If people want to drink, that’s their right, and if they want to listen to Bob Marley’s music, that’s great. If peo ple want to boast about their beer drinking excursionson a T-shirt, that’s their right also, but I hate to see the man who did so much for Jamaica and humanity terribly misrepresented. Paul Koester senior soil science
