Union University - Lest We Forget Yearbook (Jackson, TN)

Page 29 text:

Politics Looking For Justice With two strikes against him. President Reagan decided to play it safe: he nominated An- thony Kennedy, a so-called mod- erate conservative, to fill the va- cancy created by Justice Lewis Powell ' s resignation last July. The lukewarm reception Kenne- dy met in some right-wing circles came in part from lingering dis- appointment over the Bork de- feat. Judge Bork was one of the few conservative legal scholars who became a crossover hit with conservative activists. In the cur- rent environment, where intelli- gence is a politcal liability, it ' s not surprising that Reagan s new choice was less known and gen- erated less enthusiasm. As a lower-court judge, Kennedy had been bound by Supreme Court precedent. So, of course, was Judge Bork, but. unlike Bork ' s. Kennedy ' s opinions breathed no hint of hostility toward decisions involving local authority on is- sues like crime, education, and, of course, abortion. A few PRO-LIFE groups were also hot and bothered by the fact that Kennedy did not express disapproval in the life issue. American Life League had an- nounced it would mount a cam- paign against the nomination. However, the consensus among pro-lifers appears to be that Ken- nedy is a much better choice than the others. Although Ken- nedy had been tagged a moder- ate, his nomination was pushed by many strong conservatives in the legal community. Maybe this is a good sign for our country! Mrs. Reagan Recovers From Surgery On October 17. 1987. First Lady Nancy Reagan learned the tu- mor in her left breast, discovered on October 5. was malignant. Through a biopsy, cells were taken from the area suspected to be cancerous. Examina- tion of these cells re- vealed that cancer was present. Fulfilling her pre-stated wishes, doc- tors at Bethesda Naval Hospital performed surgery and removed the breast that same day.

Page 28 text:

Nuclear Arms Control Agreement In early December, the world fo- cused its attention on Washington as the two super powers met for an important summit, and signed a treaty eliminating intermediate and short-range missiles. Never before had the word elimination ap- peared in any treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. The very title of the document is a mouthful — Treaty Between the United States of America and the Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate- Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. But what did this treaty accom- plish? Just what did it eliminate? The United States gave up 108 Per- shing lis with one warhead each, 64 cruise missiles with four war- heads each, 72 Pershing lA war- heads atop Western German mis- siles, for a total of 436 warheads removed. The Soviet Union re- moved 441 SS-20s with three war- heads each, 112 SS-4s with one warhead each, 120 SS-l2 22s with one warhead each. 20 SS-23s with one warhead each, for a total 1,575 warheads removed. In removing the warhead, the su- ' per powers have reduced a huge i point of tension between them that has lasted since the Carter admin- istration. But now that the treaty is signed, and in effect, how do we know the other side will uphold its part of the deal? Precautions have been made by having meetings between officials of the two countries which started in January. But even with these precautions no one can pre- dict what the future holds in the nuclear arms race. All we can do is sit, wait, and pray. President Reagan talks with So- viet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during arrival ceremonies at the White House. The two super power leaders held a three- Jay summit meeting in December and signed a nuclear arms con Irol agreement.

Page 30 text:

In an effort to keep the Persian Gulf open to naviga- tion, the United States began in July to escort vessels to protect them from Iran. In September the U.S. Navy blew up an Iranian ship that was placing mines in the Gulf. Several mines were confiscated. U.S. Navy Makes Presence Known During October for the first time in the Persian Gulf, Iranian and American gunners aimed their weapons at each other and pulled the triggers. Iranian speedboats, which fired first, missed an unarmed U.S. Army observation helicopter. Two U.S. gunship choppers reacted sink- ing one of the attacking boats and setting two others on fire. Although hardly a major clash, the exchange in the gulf plum- meted the hostilities even closer toward a real but undeclared state of limited war. This climaxed a series of bluffs and threats from Iranian naval forces in the wake of the seizure of the Iran Ajr, which was dis- abled by U.S. helicopters as it was laying mines. Previously ev- eryone thought that Iran would not dare to attack American ships. Now it appears that we were headed for a confrontation. The U.S. retaliation and the Iranian strike abruptly changed the profile of the gulf confronta- tion. Suddenly it looked less like a protective operation, in which U.S. warships would quietly go about keeping American-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers out of harm ' s way, and more like a direct face- off between the two nations. This situation could easily have got- ten out of control. Our govern- ment stated that it did not seek any further confrontation with Iran, but we would meet any mil- itary actions with stronger coun- termeasures. President Reagan stated it more bluntly. We ' re not going to have a war with Iran. They ' re not that stupid. But. how far must we go to have peace in our world? Is it too far?