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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1993)
Opinion Net^raskan Monday, Octobor 25,1993 Nebraskan Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jeremy Fitzpatrick. . Kc.thy Steinauer Wendy Mott. Todd Cooper. Chris Hopfensperger Kim Spurlock. Kiley Timperley.... I Iri l< )KI \l . .. Editor, 472-1766 Opinion Page Editor .. . Managing Editor .Sports Editor .... Copy Desk Chief .Sower Editor Senior Photographer Help wanted U.S. can't take sole responsibility for Haiti Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is scheduled to return to power Oct. 30 under a U.N.-brokered agree ment. But U.S. Embassy spokesman Stanley Schrager said Saturday that Aristide’s return is extremely unlikely. Schrager said it would take “miracles” for Aristide to be able to return to the office from which the military ousted him in Septem ber 1991. It would take miracles for Aristide to be returned to office peacefully. If his return is violent, it could take U.S. lives. The United States has pledged its support for Aristide and it has always pledged its support for democracy. The people of Haiti are suffering and Aristide’s return to power would return democ racy to the country. His return would also ease the suffering of the Haitian people. But it would be a mistake for the United States to assume total responsibility for Haiti. If President Clinton sends in troops to help restore democracy to Haiti, Americans likely will die. Undoubtedly the people of Haiti deserve our help. But the largest mistake would be to rush head-first into Haiti without a plan and without a clear objective. Somalia is a good example of that kind of foreign policy. There is not an American solution to every world problem. But the United States should work closely with the United Nations to help return democracy to Haiti. U.S. troops — as an equal part of a U.N. force—could help bring about a calculated plan to aid the Haitian people. On target Clinton s crime bill could end violence President Clinton pushed his new crime bill Saturday during his weekly radio address, pledging to end the explosion of crime and violence in the United States. The bill is sched uled for debate this week in the Senate. Clinton urged tougher gun-control laws, saying there arc more licensed gun dealers in this country than gas stations. The laws would ban assault weapons and put a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases to allow for background checks. The plan also would put at least 50,000 more police officers on the street and encourage alternative punishments for first-time criminals, such as boot camps and rehabilitative programs for drug offenses. All of Clinton’s suggestions would benefit society and increase Americans’ security. More policemen and fewer guns would help ensure safety and increase employment, and alternative punish ments would help solve the problem of ovcrcrqwding in prisons. The need for gun-control legislation is obvious when looking at the large number of crimes in which guns arc used. A 14-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed Friday in Omaha, apparently because of an argument over a parking stall. This death might have been avoided if guns were more regulated. The Senate should study this anti-crime bill closely and look at the positive changes it could make in our society. Some lawmak ers arc spending too much time focusing on events happening overseas; instead, they should look at our own crime-afflicted society and study ways to fix that. Clinton’s plan is a positive first step. i m mm w I'ni it \ Stiff editorial* represent the official policy of the Fail 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. I I I I I l< l‘< >| |< \ The Daily Nebraskan welcomes briefletters 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 material submitted Readers also are welcome to submit material as guest opinions. The editor decides whether material should run as a guest opinion, (setters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property ofthe 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, if any. Requests to withhold names will not be granted. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St , Lincoln, Neb 68588-0448 Ml COMUttt MARINES TO SN£TUm. 1WHKJ mm. mm mzo&y ( TURtXXSiT. NOTROOPS l D HMT\. J VEU1WA 0OCKAPE TWSWE. HEY those k\ps m%wm. ■o I.M 111<> m mi Kim mu Assault . I am writing in response to the preposterous beating of the interna tional student at Broyhill Fountain (DN, Oct. 19). I have been studying here for five years and never thought things like this could happen at UNL. What is it that gives this group of hoodlums the right to go out and pummel someone? Does it actually take 10 guys to manhandle one guy to show how tough they are? , Though this may not be a racial incident—we actually don’t know, I want to point out something about international students. They came to a foreign land to get an education while learning about the American culture, not to get mauled by a group of delin quents. They had to leave their home, friends and familv to experience a different side of life. The internation al students on campus have never felt so apprehensive about being the tar get of racial hatred until this unfortu nate incident transpired. A lotofmy friends are internation al students who have shown me con cern for their own well-being. I wish there was something 1 could do to help them out, but even I, who have been living here for 18 years, cannot do anything about it. Anh-Tony Tran senior history Gender equity - In response to the week-long series of gender equity articles: I would like to commend women’s basketball coach Angela Beck and Athletic Di rector Bill Byrne for their realization that NCAA-mandated gender equity is not enhanced or achieved by bring ing down the men’s athletic program. Fortunately, they understand the entire athletic program is strength ened by raising women’s scholarships to the men’s level, not by lowering men's scholarship totals to the wom en’s level. Policies of equality and gender equity should only be implemented to increase standards and opportunities. These policies must never be used to destroy or decrease the opportunities that they intend to enhance. Tim Hcdcgaard * junior architecture LB395 People are missing the point of LB395, which would make it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against in employment based on their sexual orientation or alleged sexual orienta tion. This bill is not being proposed to give favor or protection to just one specific group of people. It simply means that even if a young, white heterosexual male was discriminated against because he is heterosexual, he has the right to take legal action. Right now, there are no Uws in Nebraska to protect people based on their sexual orientation. The Green Gateau could have come right out and said, “Yes, we fired an individual because he is gay,” and no legal action could be taken against them. LB395 would not include religions under this law and docs not require quotas for hiring lesbians and gays. This bill is simply a movement to ward ensuring equality for everyone regardless of their sexual orientation. Lori Savery sophomore women's studies J. —«-1 I .7 James Mehsling/DN Flag waving I refuse to lower myself to Ihe level of Todd Cooper (DN, Oct. 21) by smearing all Americans due to the deplorable actions of one. Were Canadians reduced to a pa thetic groupof whiners when the Pitts burgh Penguins won the longest-stand ing award for a professional sport, the Stanley Cup? No. Did we cry about Americans buying Canadian players? Did we write childlike articles full of prejudice and stereotypes? No. The fact is that 80 percent of the players on the Penguins were Canadian. And there were no bitter or pathetic arti cles written by supposed journalists trying to take away from their achieve ments. It is amazing that a person from a nation that is indisputably the most patriotic in the world gets upset over a little flag-waving by someone else. Kyle Seeback senior political science Canada Let me get this right: Todd Cooper (DN, Oct. 21) went to Canada, didn’t bother to change his currency, and was offended because a small busi ness did not accept U .S. dol lars at par? How many Dairy Queens in Nebraska accept Canadian currency? Cooper asked the Dairy Queen owner what he thought of the U.S. president and was offended that the owner didn’t care for him? How many Nebraskans even know who the prime minister of Can ada is, let alone have an opin ion about her? Cooper asks, “When was the last war Canada won?” Canadians, like Americans, were among the victori ous allies in both World Wars. They fought four years longer than the Americans, and lost more men, in World War I, and two years longer than the Americans in World War II. Canada has also consistently sent troops for U.N. peacekeeping activi- | ties — they’re the folks who won a Nobel Peace Prize. During last year’s World Scries, Cooper saw Blucjay fans waving Ca nadian flags and apparently thought they were flags of thocity of Toronto, or perhaps of the city’s hockey team, the Maple Leafs. At any rate, he com pares the maple leaf to Atlanta or Philadelphia city flags. Presumably it’s OK for U.S. fans to wave Ameri can flags. Frances W. Kaye associate professor of English Fines Time and time again I hear fellow students’ cxpostulatory comments toward the various departments of this school. In these instances, I usu ally write the person off as a whiner who has nothing better to do. My opinion of these people has changed now that I have become one of them. Recently 1 was the recipient of a letter from the university libraries with a photocopy of the hold on my next registration. It showed that a book — a thin paperback — was checked out by me and not relumed. I was reasonably sure I had taken it back, but didn’t doubt the possibility that I had lost it. What I didn’t believe was the $50 replacement cost I was to dish out in order to restore my account and take the hold off my registration. I didn’t have the money, and even if I did, I sure didn’t have it to burn. Next I did what I always do when I’m in a yoke. I called my mother for advice. She agreed the figure was wholly asinine and set out to get a copy of the book for me at a lower price. I received a postcard from her say ing she had received the book in the mail. The $4.05—shipping and han dling included — hit her pocketbook pretty hard no doubt, but she did get her son out of a jam. My question to the library is this: Is it really necessary to try to squeeze every last nickel out of a student and his/her family in a situation such as this? Such a story is a well-deserved embarrassment for your department. Dallas R. Smetter junior teachers college