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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1998)
EDITOR Erin Gibson OPINION EDITOR Cliff Hicks EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Christensen Brad Davis Sam McKewon Jeff Randall Bret Schulte Our VIEW Time for action America must take a stand against Iraq The United States must dictate its requirements for peace with Iraq and follow through on its threats of military action if Iraqi leaders violate those requisites. The United States did so this weekend, and lives were spared - for now. . Mere hours stood between Iraq and a military strike, ordered by both President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday, by the time its lead ers withdrew conditional language in agree meins allowing u.i>. weapons inspectors back into the country. The strike was rescinded when Iraq’s let ter arrived welcoming back U.N. inspectors. Iraqi leaders asserted the letter would make subsequent U.S.-led attacks evidence of “naked aggression.” Such language should not dissuade the United States from taking action if Iraq doesn’t follow through on its promises in the letter. Iraqi leaders often create and follow their own definition of “naked aggression.” They build an arsenal of biological and chemical weapons and threaten the world by not allowing U.N. inspectors to check their compliance with international laws. They also starve their citizens and blame the United States for Iraq’s misery, while squandering international assistance and their internal funds on weapons of mass destruction, lavish mansions and radical military training. mufi Our couiitty'has not used “naked aggres ' kiohft bn £>addam Ffdssein and his country since the Persian GulfWar, and arguably, not even then. At the end of the war, we didn’t murder the whole of Iraq’s forces. We didn’t even cut Hussein’s forces off from the country. Instead, we left the scene cleanly enough that Hussein could claim a victory and retain his idolized status among his people. The lack of U.S. “naked aggression” toward Iraq is clear from our history of V ‘ threats against that country and other unco operative nations. Sometimes we follow through on our threats by chucking a few cruise missiles overseas, but the countries remain able to build and use weapons of mass destruction. The United States has two options with Iraq today. We could do nothing and allow sanctions to eventually cause a coup, and strike only if mass retaliation is appropriate. Or, we must fight another war - this time with the intent to depose Hussein, be that . intent said or unsaid. Regardless of what tack we take, we must not waffle or back down. We must use force as promised when Iraq fails to comply with international law and U.N. Security Council requests. Anything else will render us weak and unable to negotiate and to prevent wide scale bloodshed in the future. cuiionairnwy ^ , Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1998 Da^te^skan.Titey^o emptoyees, its student bodyorthe University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Acoiumn is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Trie UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the 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 student employees. —7-! " V The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted material becomes property of Nebraskan and cannot be Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit letters must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if any. Submit maleriafto: Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: letters@unlinfo.unl.edu. >* t x a K’v u w-J. u t v 4 i .t v « »' i. - Mook’s VIEW . '. ■- y* & W " ’ - PENALTY....? | -m u Students at fault Josh Wimmer decided to spread his ideas on the professors at UNL (“Academic bulimia: Interaction between professors, students enhances learning,” Thursday). He complains of the professors being boring, and not showing any interest in the classes that they teach, or at least not showing inter est in die students. Professors read and give students notes aU class period long, not soliciting comments, questions or discussions. If {recall, one reason thatastudent it any type of activity, like questions, because it is not their job. Their job is to present the information so that tissue mass between your ears creates another fold to represent gained knowledge. You, or any other student, cannot expect a professor to ask, “Now do ypu have any questions or comments?” every few minutes. One would hope, or should at least expect, mat students would nave the awareness to raise their hands and ask a question As for some comments, a professor may ask for your thoughts on a painting in an art history class, but in a history class, you cannot expect them to ask you your thoughts on when, say, the Japanese invaded China. “Ch yes, I was appalled when I learned that die makers of Sony would invade the country of people who make such delicious food.” Or how about, “Why, yes, I can see the wonder of how the derivative of 2x is 2.” Some things aren’t open to dis cussion. Wimmer also stated that all that the professor would recite is what is in the book, declaring himself to be a good student and reading everything that is assigned. I ckn attest that not every student does all the read ing that is to be done. As for a professor who is not pre senting information in an entertaining, thought-provoking manner not doing his job; fet me write this, ff they teach me something that I didn’t knowbefore, or just expand on what I did know, then the jobiS being fulfilled. And if you need help of just didn’t quite catch what your professor said, and you just sit there and do nothing, then as far as I am concerned, you are an “idiot peon with nothing to contribute” Ask yobr profes sor at toe end of class, or even during it When time becomes an issue, One must realize that three hours a week for a semester is not a great deal of time to^g cover what must be covered. Those ' " several hours in class aren’t the only time you have t6 use your brafii. I’m sure you arc using your brain when you work on your papers, read your text or DN LETTERS anything else for that matter. Don’t cast the blame on hie profes sors for not entertaining you. They are doing their job in educating you. Josh, you are getting your money’s worth if you want to learn something. If you are in it for the entertainment, drop out of school and spend the thousand you are going to save by going to the circus everyday. TaeSong Hwang former UNL student Oh yeah? I greatly appreciated Josh Wimmer’s column on “Academic Bulimia.” The mass lecture/babble sheet class structure in particular is indicative of the impersonal, alienating nature of mass education. Professors of mass lecture classes always encourage students to visit them with questions, and always expect to get a few of them as a result But what if all 200 students would seek this level of interaction? The professor would be utterly swamped and incapable of carry ing out his or her professional duties. It seems obvious that in this particu lar class structure, it is not only assumed, but necessary that a large por tion of students do not display great lev els of interest in the class. The conse quences of legitimizing such a dishon est and differential approach towards education are profound. Scott Ferguson anthropology senior The right to rights Given the recent attention to the f \ importance of human rights in the ‘"■jf Daily Nebraskan, as .well as the fact that this year is the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I would like to share with the UNL community the distressing | developments of attacks against mem i bers of the Baha’i faith in Iran, the EL largest religious minority in that i country: l| The most recent human rights pH violations have come in the form of w the Iranian Government’s coordinat 1 ed attempts to shut down the Baha’i pi Institute of Higher Education, also ff known as die Open University, by arranging the arrest of its most promi nent professors and staff and by looting more than 500 homes where the Institute’s activities had been conduct ed. The flagrant acts of refusing Baha’i citizens access to universities, the more recent shutdown of the university, and the sentencing to death of Baha’is in Iran for their religious faith have been condemned by hot only the United States Congress;, but by the United . Human rights violations happen to not only Baha’is, but to people of every religion, race, and ethnicity. I invite all students, faculty and administrators to an Inter-Faith Prayer Vigil, co-spon sored by Amnesty international and the UNL BAHA’I Association, to be held tonight at 7 p.m. on the north side of the Nebraska Union to remember ‘ and pay tribute to all people who have suffered!, and continue to suffer, from heinous human rights violations. Chad Dumas senior .musk education president, UNL RAHAT Association . - , — , r. 4 » r r.1 (,•* »
