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Tuesday, October 16, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Soviet citizens show varied reactions to Gorbachev's award
By Elicia Hill
Kansan staff writer
Soviet citizens expressed mixed reactions yesterday to the announcement that President Mikhail Gorbachev been awarded the Nobel Prize.
When the son of the late Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev yesterday told the more than 250 Soviet delegates of the Meeting for Peace about the award, the response was a quiet mumble followed by polite applause. The Meeting for Peace is a seven-day event between Soviets and Kansans taking place in six Kansas cities, including Lawrence.
"Today we say, 'Let peace triumph,'" Sergei Khrushchev said to the delegates during a meeting at the Kansas Union. "I think it is important to point out that only two heads of state have ever won this prize. One was Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and now Gorobachev."
One delegate declined to comment after hearing the news. He quickly left the area, leaving an interpreter
to explain the hasty exit.
"He is not happy with the news and does not want to discuss it," the interpreter said.
Alexander Katalamak, an environmentalist from Moscow, said people had mixed feelings about Gorbchev because they resented change.
"This is particularly true with the scale of changes that is occurring in the Soviet Union," he said. "It is only natural that we will go through all the difficult stages that U.S. citizens through on their way to democracy."
18. Victor Vavailov, a Soviet news broadcaster, said he disapproved of the award.
"I think politicians should not be given a prize at all," he said. "There should be other ways to honor politicians. They have great honor already by being the presidents of great countries."
In the Soviet Union, residents expressed as much anger as pride over the award.
While people in the Soviet Union praised Gorbachev for his role in
SOURCE: Facts on File; Research by CHUCK MYERS
raising the Iron Curtain and ending the Cold War, they expressed anger over his domestic policies, which they blamed for ethnic violence, infaction and shortages of basic goods from gasoline to instant coffee.
"I don't know much about politics, but what I see in the stores I hold the government responsible for," said B. McDonald, a factory worker in the Soviet Union.
The Nobel Committee said Gorbachev's role in international affairs was the main reason for the peace prize, but it also praised him for promoting greater openness in the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev told television reporters in the Soviet Union the prize would help on an emotional and political level, and support for his economic reforms.
Natasha Jelinorova, an economics editor from the Soviet newspaper Arguments and Facts, which has a circulation of 33.5 million, said Gorbachev called her frequently to discuss economics.
During the meeting at KU.
She said she applauded the decision to give him the award.
Knight-Ridder Tribune News
“He corrected the mistake of Lenni,” she said. “Gorbachev has destroyed the prison that the Soviet people were in.”
The Meeting for Peace, which emphasizes people-to-people diplomacy, began Friday.
The event continues through Thursday, when Soviet and Kansan delegates will compile results of forums on topics ranging from the origins of the Nazi attack in Yugoslavia. A final statement will be sent to President Bush and Gorbachev.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
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