Page 4 ■ Daily Nebraskan ■ Tuesday, September 14,1999____■ _.___
EDITOR
Josh Funk
OPINION
EDITOR
Mark Baldridge
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Lindsay Young
Jessica Fargen
Samuel McKewon
Cliff Hicks
i
*
Our
VIEW
East Timor
efforts
US. intervention could
set dangerous precedent
Times are changing fast and furious on
the face of world politics. The recent crisis
in East Timor is a perfect example.
The most recent developments in the
crisis have been positive, as the Indonesian
government has given allowance for peace
keeping forces to arrive and stay in the
nation, which has just voted for indepen
dence from Indonesia, a country rife with
economic problems.
The East Timor situation is interesting,
but so is the reaction of the United States
government and, more specifically,
President Bill Clinton. Clinton has not
pressed nearly as hard for the democratic
movement in this situation as he did in
Kosovo or even in the current Taiwanese
move for independence.
Though we don’t applaud his foreign
policy much (the recent Puerto Rican
clemency comes to mind), Clinton is wise
to observe first, then act, if action is called
for. If East Timor is any indication, small
pockets of people around the world, and
especially those in Southeast Asia, will be
making similar moves toward wanting their
economic and political independence.
We can thank the colonial period of
world politics, along with the former Soviet
Union’s Communist advancements and
subsequent U.S. responses for this.
Years of forcing different cultures, reli
gious beliefs and social classes together is
taking its toll now. And there are many
more “East Timors” out there, many of
which rage in the continent of Africa today.
Some critics observe a lackadaisical
U.S. attitude that seems to pervade its
involvement in Africa. But once Clinton
and Co. delve into one country’s indepen
dence movement, others will fall in line.
Granted, this nation has always been a
champion of democracy and should remain
so. But military, or even economic, support
can sometimes be shaky. It’s wiser to know
exactly what one is getting into when inter
vening in a regional conflict.
Such intervention can cause repercus
sions, like the recent U.S./China rift, which
partly had to do with the continued threat
China poses to Taiwan, a country that the
U.S. supports. Just recently did Clinton and
China’s Jiang Zemin reconcile their differ
ences and set up plans to get China into the
World Trade Organization. But Clinton still
warned China not to make any moves
toward Taiwan.
Such a policy can be dangerous. The
U.S. will do what it wants, obviously, but
East Timor is only the beginning of the bur
geoning independence movements around
the world, not the end. And we can’t solve
every single problem.
Eventually, these people must resolve
their own misgivings, at least until another
world war comes along to change every
thing back again.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1999 Daily Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
employees, its student body or the
University of Nebraska Board of Regents.
A column 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. The
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.
*
letter Policy
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes-brief
letters to the editor and guest columns,
but does not guarantee their publication.
The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to
edit or reject any material submitted.
Submitted material becomes property of
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not be published. Those who submit
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Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 20
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Obermeyer’s
VIEW
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LETTERS
Quarter-Back Rebate
To Coach Solich and Nebraska’s
coaching staff: (
Congratulations on your second
convincing win of the young season.
You appear to have a very talented
team on your hands. You also appear
to have a quarterback controversy
once again.
I don’t attest to be a coaching
wizard, and this letter is in no way
condemning Bobby Newcombe. It is
simply my testament that the quar
terback of this team is Eric Crouch.
Bobby Newcombe is a rare and
exceptional talent, no doubt about it.
I truly believe his skills could poten
tially draw comparison to the likes of
Desmond Howard, Rocket Ismail,
FSU’s current phenom Peter Warrick
or even Deion Sanders before him.
These players and a large contin
gent of college greats don’t play
quarterback, though many of them
did in high school.
How quickly we forget that Mr.
Newcombe first dazzled all of us
Husker fans while playing wingback
and returning punts his freshman
year.
The coaching staff still claims he
is probably the team’s best return
man; use that.
Eric Crouch needs to quarterback
this team.
Disregarding the last two games
even, I believe he has been the most
consistent of the two and has been
the best influence on the team at the
quarterback position.
All facets of the offense seem to
run a bit smoother with Crouch. The
fact is, Mr. Solich, as Nebraska’s
head coach you are responsible for
figuring out how to get both these
extremely talented young men on the
field together (with Crouch at
flanker I believe you’ve got the idea
backwards, though it was a great
play) and give the BIG RED
MACHINE an explosive offense
once again.
William Bowen
alumnus
San Diego
Bikers who Break the Rules
If I see one more bicyclist run a
red light or go whizzing between
cars in downtown Lincoln, I may just
scream!
As an off-campus student, I rely
on my bike to get me to and from
classes and, as a result, have spent a
fair amount of time on the road.
I can tell you about countless
near-misses with all sorts of four
wheeled vehicles, so I know first
hand how dangerous the streets of
Lincoln can be.
At some point, I came to the con
clusion that I had three choices:
don’t bike anymore, whine about it
or cinch up my helmet a little tighter
and take a proactive stance.
I chose the last one, and so it
makes me extremely angry to see
half-brained dimwits buzzing
through downtown on their way to
campus ignoring every rule of the
road.
Whenever I’m on my bike, I
intentionally try to set a good exam
ple of what a bicyclist is in an
attempt to demonstrate to the world
that commuter cycling is a legitimate
form of transportation.
So when you’re on your bike and
you run red lights, swerve in and out
of traffic and don’t stop for stop
signs, look around and notice the
number of people who witnessed
your actions.
You have now set the biking
community back that many “steps.”
You say you aren’t part of what I am
referring to as a biking community.
I’m sorry, but every time you get on
your bicycle, you join our ranks.
If you don’t want to, then get off
your bike and do us all a favor. We
will never be taken seriously by
those in power (i.e., the car culture)
as long as we have bikers who bend
and break the rules.
To those of you participating in
the Critical Mass rally on Friday. I
ask that when you take to the streets
you remember that you are repre
senting a group much larger than just
those around you.
Your actions will speak louder
than words to those who witness
them. Help break the negative
stereotypes some people hold about
cyclists.
And to those of you who drive
cars ... share the roads, damn it!
Tony White
third year
environmental studies
Fast Forward to February
I am a student with a green park
ing permit and have experienced
first-hand missed classes because of
a lack of parking spots.
For five years now, I have read let
ters from people whose only solution
to the parking problems on City
Campus is to ride a bike.
How intelligent do we have to be
to realize how absurd this solution is?
Sure, right now it’s a sunny 75
degrees. Perfect weather.
Let’s fast-forward to January: 40
below wind-chill, ice, snow, wind -
ahh, Nebraska. So, please explain to
me how I am supposed to ride my
bike from south of Old Cheney
(where I live, 20 minutes to drive to
campus) in January in Nebraska.
Not everyone lives a block away
from campus, and not everyone can
take the bus (impossible in south
Lincoln) or ride a bike. How about we
fix the real problems instead?
Grace Lasker
graduate
plant breeding & genetics
PS. Write Back