j insidell
Wednesday
Huskers take on Oklahoma
State tonight, page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Susan Sarandon navigates
“Safe Passage,” page 6
February 1, 1995
“The end of the Cold War has complicated
our foreign policy in ways we could
not have imagined. ”
• ' - -TravTaHeyTng/DN
Donald F. McHemy, a former U.N. ambassador, spoke at the Lied Center Tuesday afternoon
as part of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. His speech was titled “The United States
in the Post-Cold War Era: Who Will Answer the International 911?”
U.S. designated as 911 operator
By John Fulwider
Staff Reporter
The United States must prepare
itself to answer the 911 calls that will
inevitably come from the interna
tional community, a former UJS.
ambassador to the United Nations
said Tuesday.
Donald McHenry spoke at the Lied
Center as the third lecturer in the
E.N. Thompson Forum on World Is
sues.
His lecture, titled “Who Will An
swer the International 911? The
United Nations in the Post-Cold War
Era,” focused on the lack of pre
paredness of both the United States
and the United Nations to deal with
world conflicts.
“If the United States wants to an
swer the international 911,” he said,
“it must see that the machinery is
present sothe call will be answered.”
i ----- -
A former U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations, he
graduated Illinois State
University and earned a
Master's Degree from
Southern Illinois University.
McHenry is a Georgetown
professor and director of
several major corporations,
including Coca-Cola,
SmithKIine Beecham and
AT&T.
He said U.S. readiness to answer
that call had been limited by political
rhetoric and die public’s opinion that
(domestic issues were more impor
tant.
“The public ... strongly believes
that the United States must devote its
attention to long-neglected problems
here at home,” he said.
McHenry said the American pub
lic was prepared to support U.N. ac
tion where a clear threat to U.S. na
tional security existed. But, he said,
it has not agreed on how to handle
international conflicts that do not di
rectly affect the United States.
The lack of an obvious U.S. adver
sary following the end of the Cold
War has exacerbated the problem, he
said.
“The end of the Cold War has
complicated our foreign policy in
ways we could not have imagined,”
he said. ‘
McHenry said a major problem in
handling present-day conflicts was
that since World War I, international
agreements had dealt with conflicts
between countries.
Now, he said, die world faces many
civil wars, such as the ethnic con
flicts in the former Yugoslavia.
See McHENRY on 3
Right to Life calls for boycott
By Kristin Armstrong
Senior Editor
and Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Dean Blattert was surprised
Tuesday when his construction
company’s name was publicly
connected to the proposed Lin
coln abortion clinic.
He had no idea he was about to
be boycotted.
Blattert’s name was on a list
printed in St. Mary’s Catholic
Church’s bulletin on Sunday; the
list also was distributed by anti
abortion protestors at the Jan. 20
Walk for Life.
The list named businesses in
volved with the proposed clinic,
including Earl Carter Lumber Co.
Blattert co-owns Earl Carter,
which has been supplying build
ing materials to a company con
tracted to build the clinic.1' He
declined to name the contractor.
The list also names Ken
Whyrick, owner of Stone Wood
Builders, and his contracted com
panies, including architect
Melinda Pearson and Midwest
Refuse.
Right to Life president Pam
Tabor said Tuesday the list was
published so people would call,
write or boycott the contractors
working on the clinic.
However, Blattert said he did
not know this was the intention
of the list until Tuesday.
“To me, it was just a clinic to
be built,” he said. “I had no idea
what type. It’s none of my busi
ness what they build.
“Now there’s a case against
me for being prejudiced.”
But when protesters turned up
in front of Earl Carter on Tues
day, Blattert realized the conse
quences of the list. “I told the
protesters that I was supplying to
a company, and I had no knowl
See BOYCOTT on 3
States may
control fate
of budget bill
By J. Christopher Hain
Senior Reporter
Last week in Washington, D.C.,
the, U.S. House of Representatives
passed the balanced budget bill, and
with expected
passage in the
Senate, the 50
states could soon
control the future
of the proposed
28th Amend
ment to the con
stitution.
LEGISLATURE Assuming ap
proval by the Senate and president,
ratification of the amendment would
be required by at least 38 of the 50
states to make it part of the constitu
tion.
In Nebraska, it looks like the sup
port exists to do just that.
“Nebraskans are very clear that
they want this amendment,” said Sen.
David Bernard-Stevens of North
Platte.
So are state senators.
A survey of state senators by The
Associated Press last week revealed
that 44 senators said the Legislature
would likely approve a balanced bud
get amendment.
But several senators, including
Sen. Curt Bromm of Wahoo, said
they were reserving judgment on the
bill until they had a chance to see the
A survey of state senators
by The Associated Press last
week revealed that 44
senators said the Legislature
would likely approve a
balanced budget
amendment. Several state
senators said they would
hold off a decision until they
saw the amendment’s
specifics.
The U.S. House of
Representatives passed the
balanced budget bill last
Thursday. With expected
passage in the Senate,
which is considering it this
week, and presidential
approval, 38 of 50 states
would be needed to ratify the
amendment. The U.S.
- Constitution would then have
been amended 28 times.
specifics of the amendment language.
Bromm said he was concerned
that such an amendment might force
Nebraska lawmakers to raise taxes
and might affect federal programs,
See TALLY on 3
Proposal may be
heavy load on
Nebraska’s back
By Brian Sharp
Senior Reporter
Economics professors at the Uni
versity of Nebraska-Linc'oln said
rhetoric surrounding the proposed
federal balanced budget amendment
could be translated into two plans:
eliminating the federal government
or strapping states with more than
they can carry.
Neither option is acceptable, or
realistic, the professors said.
Craig MacPhee, chairman of the
economics department, said the un
balanced 1990 federal budget of $ 1.25
trillion brought with it a $221 billion
deficit.
He said that in balancing the bud
get, interest on the federal debt had to
be paid, and if defense spending and
social security were also taken off the
chopping block, only $275 billion of
the budget would remain to face pos
sible cuts.
To eliminate the deficit and bal
ance the budget, the remaining fed
eral programs would have to be scaled
down by 80 percent, he said.
“You’re basically eliminating the
federal government ... to eliminate
the deficit,” he said.
That means other programs, such
as agriculture, would be vulnerable
to drastic cuts, he said. Serious cuts
could have repercussions on the state,
he said, given UNL’sand Nebraska’s
stake in agricultural research, exten
sion services and price supports.
A tax hike would be the only solu
tion, MacPhee said. But Democrats
and Republicans are not taking that
route, he said, not nationally and
especially not locally. Spending cuts
are thus being moved into another
dimension.
Charles Lamphear, professor of
economics and director of the Bureau
of Business Research at UNL, said
talk of pulling social programs off
the bargaining table was unrealistic
when talking about a trillion-dollar
cut in federal finances.
“There is no way in God’s green
earth you can get a trillion-dollar cut
without cutting into soeial programs,
“ Lamphear said.
That’s what has state leaders wor
ried. Gov, Ben Nelson has said shift
ing the costs for welfare and Medic
aid to the state may balance the fed
eral budget but would bust the state.
The current debate over which
level of government will carry which
responsibilities marksamajor change,
economics professor John Anderson
said. It also marks an inevitably larger
burden for states to manage, he said.
When the federal government
looks to cut program spending and
See BUDGET on 3