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Opinion Nebraskan Thursday, July 21,1994 Editorial Board University of Nebraska-Lincoln Deborah D. McAdams Editor, 472-1766 . Features Editor . Copy Desk ChieJ Matt Woody. . Martha Dunn. Derek Samson Brian Sharp.. Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Take responsibility Health care crisis not limited to access he accessibility crises in America’s health care system may eventually be rectified by our elected officials, but it proba bly won’t significantly reduce illness. While we are waiting for the government to provide health care, we should examine the spiritual crises in our health care philosophy. We’ve come to expect immediate gratification in this country. When we become ill, we expect science to have an encapsulated insta-cure. Most of us can’t be bothered by the warnings of our bodies. We stifle those natural messages with antibiotics and over-the-counter medications until our cells mutate into some thing that has to be cut off. Our health is not someone clse’s responsibility. Obviously, there arc a number of illnesses that require desper ate, invasive measures, and we can be grateful those measures are available. However, the major illnesses in the United States, which add significantly to the overall expense of health care, have to do with the way we live our lives. Death due to ingesting, inhaling and hurrying. Knowledge alone doesn't deter us from eating copious amounts of fat, smoking cigarettes or living at a break-neck pace. Alterna tive health care practitioners have been espousing the benefits of proper diet, exercise and meditation for decades. Even the stal warts of conventional medicine have figured out that treating the outcome illness doesn’t reduce illness. They arc realizing that our habits weaken our bodies’ natural ability to resist disease. Having lost faith in conventional medicine, many people have turned to the tenets of Eastern medicine, embracing acupuncture, vegetarianism, relaxation and massage therapy — techniques that focus on the body, not the illness. Once we start focusing on health instead of illness, we begin to understand that our bodies don’t function independently of the world. What we eat affects our bodies. What we put into our environment affects what we cat. Taking responsibility for our health inevitably sets us on a path of recognizing our deeper connections with the earth. PS. W rite Back The Daily Nebraskan wants to hear from you. If you want to voice your opinion about an article that appears in the newspaper, let us know. Just write a brief letter to the editor and sign it (don’t forget your student ID number) and mail it to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union. 1400 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, or stop by the office in the basement of the Nebraska Union and visit with us. We’re all cars. I III IUKI \i I'OI i< \ Staff editorials represent the official policy of the Summer 1994 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 Regent s. 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 11 U 1*01 l( \ The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brieflettcrs 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. Letters and guest opinions sent to the newspaper become the property ofthc 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 notbcgranled Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb 68588-0448 am linear Km Tom Kads Voters should raise standards Bill Clinton’s political days are numbered and he knows it. His seemingly ceaseless flip flops on matters of U.S. foreign poli cy, his daily backpedaling and trial balloon floating on domestic policy issues, and his pathetic bellyaching over the “religious right” and Rush Limbaugh arc just a few examples of his predictable failure to adapt to hard ball politics outside of small-time Lit tle Rock. It’s only a matter of time, I keep telling myself, before Clinton will shed himself of those corrupt-minded, cir cus-Iikc Arkansas politician’s robes. Any day now I expect Clinton to settle into the affairs of this nation in a manner that befits the Office of Pres ident and title of Commandcr-in Chicf. And still, after 500-plus days, I and the rest of the nation continue to wait. Interestingly, Jimmy Carter was not completely unlike Clinton in his first days in office. He too was inept at implementing any sort of logical for eign policy agenda. It’s important to note, however, that at least in Carter’s case, the voting populace didn’t pur posefully elect a man with no vision of foreign policy, and even less creden tials for the job. In Clinton’s case, that’s exactly what 43 percent of vot ing Americans did. Let’s recall the 1992 election. For eign pol icy (among many other th ings) didn’t matter, lest the media be forced to acknowledge Clinton’s shortcom ings and Bush’s strengths in that area. Remember “it’s the economy, stupid?” That said, zero attention was afforded to what effects a failure to elect a man with a concise international affairs agenda would have on the this na tion’s domestic economy. “It’s the world, stupid” seems to make more sense in 1994, Many of us think, and incorrectly so, that the image of a hand-shaking, baby-kissing, blue-faced and hoarse throated politician who promises to Never before has the perception of the ‘politician’ been lower, and our willingness to put them in office, regardless of their unsavory past, been higher. give away the moon to all those who get in line, that this somehow equates with one who is suitable, by appear ance, to run these United States both effectively and intellectually. 1 am reminded of a report circulat ed by the Associated Press a few months ago. In this short-lived and relatively ignored chronicle, Mr. Clinton was being repeatedly hound ed by several reporters on why he didn’t appear to be cooperating with federal investigators in turning over all files related to Whitewater and Madison Guarantee. Cl inton, who was in the process of departing the brief ing area, and who was obviously irri tated with that line of questioning, abruptly broke-wind, turned and re torted: “There...I’m cooperating, sat isfied?” Now I admit, had that been Teddy Kennedy or Joe Biden, that would have been funny. After ail, what more can we expect from a Congressman? But shouldn’t our President, the lead er of the free world, and (arguably) the most powerful man in the world, be held to a higher standard of conduct? Well, not according to several people that I spoke to about the incident. One particularly witty person stated: “Well...at least we have a President that is willing to speak his mind.” Another devil’s advocate queried: “Is that any worse than throwing up on someone?” an obvious reference to Bash’s unfortunate experience in Japan. I bring this incident up to point out that Americans seldom really know what they arc getting when they elect a President. And, more importantly (among this new generation of vot ers), seldom do they seem to care. It used to be that the “unbiased media” would provide such informa tion as a candidate’s past character flaws, personal and/or ideological id iosyncrasies, and a general aptitude to carry out their assigned duties. Then, theory had it, we would vote accord ingly. Unfortunately, over the years there seems to have evolved a softened stance on the public perception of corruption and incompetence. Never before has the perception of the “politician” been lower, and our willingness to put them in office, re gardless of their unsavory past, been higher. Clinton is just one example of this phenomena. The voting public knew of his long-haired, draft-dodg ing and blatant anti-military days, yet he now sits as Commandcr-in-Chicf of the world’s most powerful military force. To most veterans (myself in cluded) and active duty folks, this is positively mind-boggling. The time has come for a change in the voting soul of Americans. How can we expect the collective nation’s house to be in order if we can’t even get our voting behavior in order? No, folks, we don’t need term limits. We need backbone. We need to cease vot ing for incompetents and losers, re gardless of our partisanship and their promises. Kads ii a senior political science major and a Dally Nebraskan columnist.