Opinion
Daily
Nebraskan
Friday, October 22,1993
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jeremy Fitzpatrick. .
Kc.thy 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
Unleashed
Senate right not to limit Clinton s powers
The Senate rejected Thursday a provision that would have
limited the president’s powers in foreign policy. It voted
81-19 not to restrict the president’s ability to commit
troops to Haiti.
The provision by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., proposed stripping
Clinton of the right to commit troops unless their presence was
needed to evacuate Americans, or unless Congress provided
specific approval.
Instead, the Senate enacted a non-binding provision saying
Clinton should seek approval from lawmakers before committing
troops to Haiti, but he is not required to do so.
The Senate made the right decision. In case of a serious emer
gency, the president needs to be able to respond quickly, without
having to negotiate and get approval from such a large group as
Congress first.
Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton “made it clear that
he would not tolerate any attempt to tie his hands, affect his ability as
commander in chief.”
Clinton was right in making his authority clear. The pfesident
must consult with the Congress in making foreign policy, but he
or she must also be able to act in situations where there is clearly
not enough time to get a consensus from 535 people.
The president has the authority as commander in chief of the
armed forces under the Constitution. He or she needs to be able to
make decisions in a crisis and be held accountable for them.
Ol () I I s <)l I III W I I K
“The men’s track program was raped. I’m for
gender equity, but not for tearing down a sport
that took years to build in order to build up
another program. ”
— Nebraska track coach Gary Pepin
“The power of prayer led to the verdicts. I’m
giving the victory to Jesus. ”
— Georgiana Williams, mother of Damian Williams, who was
found not guilty of attempting to murder trucker Reginald Denny
during the 1992 Los Angeles riots
“You have something that politicians do not
have. You are the vote. If you wanted this country
painted purple, you could get that done. ’’
— Ross Perot
“There were times in the hospital when I thought
death was a much more pleasant alternative. ”
— Eric Lindvall on losing his left lea, undergoing 10 surgeries
and experiencing cardiac arrest after being trapped this summer
for 13 hours under 1,100 pounds ofdrywall.
“He doesn’t make $125,000 a week to stay home
and watch television. They ought to suspend him
for a week, maybe two. ”
— Houston Oilers line coach Bob Young, angered that starting
tackle David Williams missed Sunday's game to be with his wife
following the birth of their first child
I M inUI \l, l*< >1 l( N
SlsfT editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1993 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
l.i ill it I'm k \
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available The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject all material submitted Readers
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Assault
Mr. Gricsen, perhaps Boon-Chung
Ong was, as you say, “at the wrong
place at the wrong time (DN, Oct.
19).” But, as vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs, we hope you take as
much an interest in Asian foreign
exchange students as you would any
other cthnic/minority student.
It’s ironic and maddening to won
der how the campus would respond if
it were a black student who was as
saulted by members of any other ra
cial group. It’s funny how quick we
were to acknowledge that the Rodney
King beating was racially motivated,
when we can’t even begin to recog
nize what’s happening on our own
campus.
To all Asian foreign exchange stu
dents and all Asian-American stu
dents, this is not a time to debate
Ong’s ethnicity. It doesn’t matter that
he may not be of your ethnicity, but
that he was one of our brothers who
needs our help. The time is here for us
to stop turning our cheeks to what is
happening. We need to un ify all of our
Asian strengths. Let us show the cam
pus that we are a race that transcends
our “weak" stereotype. We can and
we will show the campus we are not
invisible.
whatever, and provide a non-intimi
dating atmosphere where this can be
done. They should not b6 lobbied as
instruments for special-interest
groups. There is not a need for these
stickers, for if there is, then there is
not a need for some instructors.
Dan Rczac
senior
finance
David Badders/DN
Kimberly Hcc Stock
sophomore
secondary english education
Tram Lam Huyen Nguyen
freshman
pre-pharmacy
Coercion
Oh, Mark Baldridge, you were
doing so well (DN, Oct. 20). You
talked about the game of coercion that
takes such subtle forms, about the
connotations of the words “warlord”
or “Desert Storm”; the manipulation
by the AIDS statements and the “safe
place” stickers of the AfTirmativc
Action Office. But then you fell, not
a big drop, mind you, just a little
tumble.
You bought into one of those little
tactics to “bring the sheep gently into
the fold,” as you put it — namely the
gay/lesbian community’s changing of
the phrase sexual “preference” into
sexual “orientation,’' implying an ab
senteeism of choice and a predisposi
tion of genetic evolution.
As the “safe place” sticker cam
paign goes, you are right: noprofessor
should be blackmailed into following
this silly idea. It is not homophobia
that a professor refuses to put one of
these stickers up. Rather, professors
should have the professionalism and
fortitude to talk with students no mat
ter what the student’s background —
be it sexual preference/orientation,
gender, race, creed, color, ethnicity or
Canada
The article by Todd Cooper (DN,
Oct. 21) was offensive to all Canadi
ans and written with prejudicial con
tent toward Canada.
You cannot judge a nation of peo
ple by an owner of a Dairy Queen and
a dominant Canadian major-league
baseball franchise. Yes, there arc a lot
of Americans on the Toronto Blue
Jays, yet poor journal ism on Cooper’s
part failed to mention that there arc
not zero Canadians on the team, but
there is actually one, a native Canadi
an named Matt Butler.
If I am not mistaken, the ever
expanding National Hockey League,
founded in Canada with franchises in
Florida and Cal i fornia, has 60 percent
of Canadians on most teams. So I
guess that is a contradiction in terms
on Cooper’s part, as I quote, “Canada
must buy Americans to beat Ameri
cans." The United Slates uses Canadi
ans to beat Canadians at a Canadian
dominant sport.
Every country has a national an
them. What is the importance if the
anthem refers to a war or not? Cana
dians arc just as proud and are willing
to die for their country as Americans,
yet we do not have to win a war and
gloat about it in our national anthem.
Canadians like people to know we
have a beautiful, friendly country and
not a country that thrives on military
dominance in being the policemen of
the world.
There are many Canadians at the
University of Nebraska who are
amazed that the Daily Nebraskan
would allow this article to be pub
lished. If Cooper cannot handle a
Canadian franchise winning Ameri
ca’s favorite pastime World Champi
onship, then maybe he should stop
watching baseball. It might diminish
his hatred against Canada.
Justin Finney
freshman
undeclared
Discrimination
Yes, Jacqueline Ann Bacz-Thomp
son, 1 have been denied possible op
portunities because of the fact that I
am a“young, white heterosexual male.
(DN, Oct. 19).”
In August 1992, as a sophomore
transfer student, during my initial vis
it with my first UNL adviser, I was
told point-blank that I would have a
“very tough time” getting into law
school. The reason for this was that I
would need a substantially higher
grade-point average because of my
“white male” status. I was told that
my LSAT scores would also have to
be considerably higher than the scores
of my black or female counterparts to
merely be considered for acceptance
into law school.
Now, Jacqueline, explain to me:
Who is being discriminated against?
Tim Hedegaard
junior
architecture
Gay rights
I am writing in response to Jason
A. Beineke’s letter opposing gay rights
(DN.Oct. 18). This so-called garbage
that is a bill to protect homosexual
jobs is being proposed because there
arc bigoted white males in corpora
tions today firing gays and lesbians
solely on the basts of sexual orienta
tion.
People were screaming the same
thing in the ’60s about the civil rights
movement as Jason is today about gay
rights. The only thing different in the
’90s is that it is civil rights for gays
and lesbians. Until homosexuals are
guaranteed full rights under the law to
jobs, fair housing and first-class citi
zenship, there will continue to be
protests and rallies.
Letters like Beineke’s are usually
written by white heterosexual males
who arc insecure and give in to deep
seated fears of the day when being a
white male docs not, for the most part,
guarantee a chance at a good job and
a decent life, and also because they
listen to Rush Limbaugh.
Jeffrey A. Kelley
junior
interior design