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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1998)
KLAUS MARRE is a senior broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. This week in one of my classes we talked about values and beliefs. During the discussion, almost mat ter-of-factly, my teacher said we all value human life. I disagreed then and did some thinking, and guess what? Now I disagree even more. Sure, it is one of the Ten Commandments, and our penal codes will have to say a thing or two about murder, manslaughter and whatnot, but, in general, I think we don’t value human life all that highly. Granted, our own lives are important to us, as well as the lives and well-being of those around us, but honestly, who gives a damn about the hundreds of thousands of children dying somewhere on this planet every day? I would be interested to hear from anybody who does. I believe MALCOLM KASS is a senior chemical engineer ing major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Can this university come togeth er? Please? Pretty please? Can the leaders of this student body become one voice to help our needful youth - the pre-college youth who need guidance from the torments of the world that only an experienced collegian can provide. Shouldn’t this university navigate our lost, fragile adolescent leaders of tomorrow? Shouldn’t we care? In the hell that is love and cama raderie, a young, bright 14-year-old eighth grader named Jarod needs the hearts of students. Jarod’s cry for help was heard when he called the KRNU weekly radio program, “Three Men and a German” on Monday, seeking knowledge and compassion from his older, wiser counterparts of this world. ms moving words not only melt ed the hearts of the hosts of the show, but also touched the hearts of the emotional, spirited columnist writing you today. Jarod’s words reminded me of when I was an eighth grader. I was full of infatuation and love struck with the post-secondary elders from my hometown. Since I was never provided die opportunity to act upon my impulses, I became heartbroken and repressed by those hurtful memories of my 13th year of existence. Thirteen... ironic, huh? I vowed to eliminate those sce narios that 1 had faced and Jarod is facing currently. I needed to do something. To relieve Jarod’s aching soul, the Three Men and a German and I decided, as stated by the broadcast ing star Jay Gish, “to unite as trash journalists” to alleviate this young man’s burden. So we are calling out to the university, especially our sis ters: Who will participate in ONE date with young Jarod? Who among you will end this time-ridden evil and reinstall a lost pride in our fine school? Since, this is a true test of the leadership of our university, the Association of Students of the Does anybody care? Most really don’t value human life that one of the ways to measure society’s values toward life is the polls which indicate Americans favor military action against Iraq. People are going to die if the United States and its allies attack. Does anybody care? I wonder. Many of those people who approve a “swift airstrike” are the same hard-core Republicans who say killing babies is murder. Call me insane, but I think innocent Iraqis, many of whom don’t know jack about die United States or the Gulf conflict, have the same right to live as unborn babies. Who are we as a society to deny them this right? War is not the cute images of buildings being blown up by smart bombs, but rather it brings pain and suffering to the people whose coun try the war is being fought in. I found it very ironic when a “pro-life” activist blew up an abor tion clinic and killed a guy. That just does not sound very pro-life to me. I don’t even want to touch the whole abortion thing, but if certain people say they value unborn life or babies so highly, how come they are not doing anything for starving kids in Africa? The answers would have to be that we, in general, just don’t care about starving children in Africa. I believe we don’t even want to know about it. In our nightly news we want to see pictures of hippos in the Omaha zoo and not images of chil dren that could come straight from a concentration camp. I remember the buzz about Ryan White, the kid who was infected with HIV when he got a blood transfusion. He got money, gifts and visits from celebrities such as Michael Jackson (although I’m not sure how much of a treat that was for a boy his age) and Elton John. What about all the children who are infected with AIDS in Thailand — little girls having to earn their keep as prostitutes? Do we care? Nope. Could some of them have been helped with all the cash that Ryan White got? Most likely. So why didn’t it happen? Admittedly his situation was tragic and unfortunate, but I find it far more horrible to imagine that some randy tourist is sleeping with a 12-year-old right now, while you are reading this, leaving her with $2 and a deadly virus. I think we only value the lives oi people who are connected to us in one way or another. Take the air plane crash in Taipei, for example. In the news it was reported that more than 200 people died, at least four of them American. What’s the difference whether they were Taiwanese, Russian, American or Martian (although the latter would be somewhat remarkable)? Do American lives count more than others? Does the life of an unborn baby count more than the life of an off-duty security guard? These are questions people have to answer for themselves. Personally, I’d like to believe that I care more than many, but after tak ing a long, hard look at myself I found I’m just not doing enough about it. The McDonald’s fries and half-finished burgers I throw away every year could probably save entire tribes from starvation. Normally I don’t even want to think about this because after the above mentioned “long, hard look,” I stand there like the biggest ass. My answers just do not seem satis factory; they don’t add up to a pic ture I could be proud of. They have these commercials on TV asking people to sponsor a child for $20 or so. Many people proba bly switch the channel when it comes on to not feel guilty or sad. If every student would give a dollar a month and professors a couple more, the university could easily save a couple thousand children. More than likely nobody will take this column as an inspiration to adopt a child or to do anything else for people who we typically don’t care about. And that might be the most frus trating thing of all — knowing there is pain and suffering out there, hav ing the means to stop a tiny part of it and still not doing so. The dating game Candidates urged to take out eighth grader University of Nebraska should have an intricate role in aiding this oppro brious adolescent, I can think of no better representation of our student body in this time of crisis than the candidates for the upcoming student body election. With Sara Russell of the COM MIT party and — even though I am only fairly certain that John Weichmann of the VISION party is a man — his First Vice Presidential Nominee Jill Maaske should raise the flag of all that is just and right. This should be a governmental con test before the governmental contest, a battle in which prospective student leaders will win the hearts of our fine campus, and most of all, little Jarod. I implore these candidates to par ticipate in such a noble event, for we lowly common students merely need our Panem et circenses. Please, gods of the governing process, amuse us and let us believe in our government again. Let us believe that our government is more than just legislative writing and fight ing for the student beliefs of liberty and happiness. g&f Sara and JiU, please raff show ASUN’s side of com- ^ passion and inspire us pH(g so that we may follow r^j| in your footsteps and help YlT our future University of Nebraska colleagues. % This will simply be a date, a night of hunger-elimina tion, visual merriment and nothing more. It will be completely subsi dized by the hosts of Three Men and a German and myself, on a Friday or Saturday before the March 11 election. I ask Ms. Russell and Ms. Maaske to charm young Jarod with dinner and a movie of his lik ing — together. This mild shbw of compan ionship demonstrates our leaders’ willing ness to say, “We care.” Sara said Jill may ^ be thinking, “What can one date do? Two students of a university of22,000 cannot make an impression for die state of Nebraska.” However, this ‘ ‘ V.V meager act is vital for the continued life of our university. Any outward sign will be noticed by the striplings of Nebraska as an attempt from the university to not only increase their academic integri ty but help their emotional lives as well. Since this state provides numerous attendees and benefits for the university, don’t you think it is time for UNL to give something back? / I beg Sara and Jill of COM- l MIT and VISION to please Lg release themselves of their Jr current political warfare and jyjj|| demonstrate a joint effort to Mr unite our campus, to make t this divided school of f ;gt « learning become one. I V I ask you not to •• ] view this idea as burdensome I and \ worthless (like Canada) but as an opportunity. I do not know Sara Russell and Jill Maaske personally, but I swear as a member of mankind tp contact these two pillars of power, tp make this memorable date come to life. Please Sara and Jill, we all remember the hurtful, uncar ing years of eighth grade. We should ..., no, we need to be the generation that puts a halt to this episode of hell and says in a collective voice, “It is pleasant, innocent eysrting wftfry * someone who is six or seven years our junior.” All this student body asks is an evening - an evening with tomor row’s leaders of America. Sara and Jill, if not for us students, for the children, and if not for the children, for Harry Caray. God bless mk* that man.