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Monday, November 3,1975
University Dally Kansan
Grain deal unjust
It's a small world, as the old saying goes, but Washington seems to be getting farther away from the Midwest every day. In fact, the distance seems to have deafened President Gerald R. Ford to the protest of America's farmers and blinded him to their unfortunate situation.
In a recently negotiated five-year deal, the Soviet Union agreed to buy a minimum of six million metric tons of U.S. corn and wheat a year and, in turn, negotiate the sale of 200,000 barrels of oil a day to the United States.
Ford has been patting himself on the back, saying that the deal will benefit "the American people—our many grain-farming communities, our workers, our farmers and our consumers. . . ." However, Ford's idea of what is beneficial seems to differ from that of the farmers.
IN HIS EAGERNESS to maintain diplomatic relations with Russia and to avoid stepping on the toes of the powerful longshoremen's union, Ford has overlooked the hardships his grain deal will cause the grain producers.
They have already been forced to stand back and watch the Soviet Union shop around for other grain during the last month of the longshoremen's emancipation and watch their own government keep them from maximizing profit.
Ford has stressed that his grain deal will provide stability in the market, but he is called to prove that, even if the vision is desirable, he will be enforced, this vision is desirable.
MANY FARMERS FIND such market stability undesirable because they think that the maximum and minimum limits on the amount of grain that can be sold to the Soviet Union each year aren't high enough. Some spokesmen for the grain industry have said the minimum purchase should have been from 10 to 13 million metric tons a year.
This year, for example, the Soviet Union has purchased 10 million metric tons so far and plans to purchase seven million more. This figure would have
been higher if it hadn't been for the embargo.
What are the implications of the grain deal? The most obvious is that Ford reneged his promise to grant farmers free access to world markets. No matter how much the government controls the amount of grain that farmers can sell.
WITH NEW SALES ABROAD, domestic prices will rise and consumers will turn worthful eyes on the farmer. No doubt he will be forced to bear the blame for the unwise move by the Ford administration.
It seems Ford is unable to comprehend the farmers' indignation at being used as paws in a game of political diplomacy and union bargaining. Perhaps he is forgetting that the agriculture sector is active contributors to the economy and that the future of America may rest heavily on the shoulders of the farmer.
This casual indifference to the farmer isn't unique to the Ford administration. Nixon was also guilty of placing the company as good producers low on his priorities list.
IF OUR NATION'S LEADERS don't come down from their ivory towers far away in Washington and take a good, long look at the wheat fields of Kansas and the corn fields of Nebraska and Iowa, the United States may find itself in the position of begging for food one of these days.
William J. Kuhfus, a spokesman for the American Farm Bureau, recently warned that Ford could expect a farm revolt in 1976 if growers weren't allowed to market seeds. So far, that promise of free access has been merely idle talk.
It's sad, but perhaps some day the words to "America the Beautiful" will have to be rewritten. The spacious skies are polluted. The purple mountains' majesty has been hidden by superhighways and high-tech hamburger joints and billboards. And now Russia is getting the best of the amber waves of grain.
Jain Penner
Contributing Writer
Local union is sound idea
By WARD HARKAVY
Contributing Writer
The question of whether to recognize a formal collective bargaining unit for city employees will be answered tomorrow night by the Lawrence City Commission.
Management has historically resisted collective bargaining. It's much easier to negotiate one-on-one, one company with a fleet of lawyers on one employee, than it is for the company to work with an organized group of employees and their lawyers.
The term "collective bargaining" seems to bring some people to the point of insisting on vision paralyzing strikes, violence and the development of an "Idon't give-dam" attic that seeks who seek to bargain collectively with their employers.
Four employee groups, the Lawrence Association of Firefighters, the Lawrence Sanitation Employees Association, the Lawrence Department Association and the Lawrence Police Officers Association, have asked to be recognized as
a single bargaining unit, called the United Public Employee Associations of Lawrence.
Public employees should have the right to organize because they have the same concerns as do other workers-wages, working conditions, fair evaluation of their performances and equal opportunities for advancement.
Collective bargaining never has, and never will, guarantee that all these concerns will be settled to the satisfaction of the worker. But it does try to equalize negotiations toward
that end. It puts employees on equal footing with management.
The likely alternative to collective bargaining for these city employees is their continued dissatisfaction, which might lead to more ominous actions. If thwarted in this attempt to establish a purely local and entirely rational collective bargaining unit the option of employment which are less likely to be concerned about Lawrence, would be more appealing to Lawrence city employees.
Kansan Forum / growing old, growing apart, growing debts Growing old in America an unhealthy business / Don Smith
The process of aging in America is becoming more and more institutionalized. Contrary to some opinions, this trend isn't healthy for the aged or for society.
Erdman Palmore, sociologist at Duke University's Center for the Study of Aging and Human
which often unhands such equates old age with uselessness. No equation could be more dangerous for the aged. In earlier days, when the extended family was the rule and not the exception, the elderly remained a functional part of the family. In today's mobile society, however, an older person may have to spend time on the job in the retirement village or nursing home. Growing old has become institutionalized in contemporary society.
Few probably understand the problem more than the aged. The aged sense that society expects them to retire at a certain age. When they reach that age, they many times feel useless and of no importance in society. They are sometimes lead to depression and severe withdrawal from society.
Development said, "It's obvious that if a person is forced to retire, if the feels useless and his interest in taking care of himself and his urge to live longer may also suffer. His decline may have nothing to do with the actual age or genetic make up."
Who will watch out for and care for society's aged? There is no absolute answer, but surely the government and
And it's the despair Palmure talks about coupled with the insecurity of the future that frightens the aed.
The aged fear the day when they no longer will be able to move. They fear the day when their retirement money will begin to dwindle. They fear the day when they have no ability to take care of themselves and will have to wonder who will take care of them.
More than 10 per cent of America's population is over age 65, and that number is growing at three times the rate of the total population. American society's response to rising life expectancy often includes sympathy for their problems, but little action.
society must accept much of the responsibility.
The government must not be reluctant to approve adequate funding for the programs aimed at helping the aged.
To begin with, Congress could pass a meaningful nutrition bill for the aged to replace the bill it passed in 1974. That bill allowed a meager $200 million for children aged 18 and older during the 1978 fiscal year. That's about $10 for every aged American.
Society must also accept some of the responsibility. Society must not force retirement on people whose only job liability is that they are 65 or over. Society must try to
keep the aged active and interested in life by including them in important local, state and national decisions and events. Keeping the aged active is of the utmost importance.
The government also needs to increase funding in the area of health care and ensure the government must ensure that the aged receive adequate health care and that all aged people have enough money to meet their needs.
In a study on aging conducted by sociologist Palmere, it was found that an aged person's activity in society is sometimes related to his will to live and interest in life.
Finally, the government must work to add money and significance to the Institute on Aging. Set up by the Department of Health, it is aging, the Institute receives about $12 million a year.
"Remaining active in some meaningful social role affected people's longevity on all three major levels: physical, psychological and social," Palmore said.
Law could soften divorce / Lynn Meyer
An evasive and bitter parent, under stress during divorce proceedings, is potentially dangerous to an insecure and frightened child who craves reassurance.
Therefore, just as blood tests are an accepted requirement for couples obtaining marriage licenses, so divorce counseling becomes mandatory for couples with children obtaining a divorce.
Divorce counseling is best defined as counseling for individuals who have children and who are in the process of obtaining a child. The marriage isn't to "save" the marriage. Its purpose is to assist parents seeking a divorce in learning to talk openly about her children and to offer hints on helping the children through the divorce.
A large number of "how-to" divorce books are now on the market. Throwing away the guidebooks and heading for the nearest mental health center might be more sensible.
Too often the children of broken marriages become vehicles used to foster bитьььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььььЬЬЬъ Through divorce counseling, parents might better understand the pain and confusion their children experience and their cope with them, then cope with their feelings.
According to information released in 1973 by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 59.9 per cent of couples seeking divorce in Kansas in 1969 were reported to have had children under the age of 18. The 1975 World
Almanac reports that 10,556 divorces were granted in Kansas and 913,000 in the United States in 1973.
Because the number of divorces granted each year is rising and a large percentage of couples who seek divorce are parents of young children, divorce counseling is essential.
It isn't enough to make counseling a judge's prerogative to be ordered at his whim. A mandatory divorce is required for couples with children, should be enacted by the legislature.
Divorcing parents now have no legal obligation to make divorce as painless as possible for their children. The legal advice that most cared about such basic consideration is compulsory.
Money causes political trouble/
Although the presidential election is still more than a year away, the problems that will begin to accompany it have already begun.
Money woes once again are plagaging the Democratic party, which has also overstepped that they've already overstated their incomes. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Tex., has 7835 and has spend $1.2 million.
Terry Sanford, former governor of North Carolina, has $8,068 and owes $78,646. Rep. Mike Pence, who owes $45,522 and owes $130,833.
These debts are having varying effects upon their
campaigns. Sandford's problems are within his organization; his campaign director wants reimbursement for it because in Benton's problems are more serious, because they have caused an early change in his campaign strategy. He has decided to take a different approach to few key primaries and hope for a deadlocked convention.
strongly enough to cause the voter to associate himself with that candidate on the day of election. Most exposure is through television, radio and newspaper political advertising. Candidates with a lot of exposure will generally win over candidates who haven't invested as much in telling themselves to the voters.
These candidates could find their problems just beginning. Once the campaign begins, the expenses will skyrocket because of the high cost of exposure. Exposure means getting the candidate before the voting public often enough and
The campaign financing law of 1974 was designed to help the federal government promote campaign capabilities of rich and poor candidates. Under it, the federal government will pay a fee to raise millions for candidates seeking
The law may be able to bail Bentsen, Sanford and Udall, but they must first qualify for the funds, and that is where the trouble lies. There are already nine announced candidates vying for funds from Democratic party supporters, as well as Republicans who make the bank financially stable. These supporters must decide who of the nine candidates will receive their money. Some contributors aren't giving any money but are
major party presidential nominations. To qualify for the money, a candidate must raise $15 million in small gifts in each of 20 states.
holding out, hoping that Kennedy or Humphrey will enter the race.
One solution may be to allow fewer candidates to seek the nomination. This year, however, it is important that the Democratic party allow the people to choose between candidates in two or none of the announced candidates is a particularly strong favorite. The choice should be made by voters in primaries,
The Republican party, financially stronger than the Democratic party, is divided between only two candidates, neither of whom has money problems.
Marne Rindom
not by a few top party officials. After all, the person who is chosen will run for the highest office in the country.
The problem may resolve itself with the help of the campaign financing law. The law is only one year old and this campaign is its first test. If the problem does remain, though, action must be taken immediately. Congress must not permit the government to apply partial improvement over the 1972 campaign. Small problems, if left unsolved, have a way of growing and multiplying into large complicated problems.
But most of all, society must make a commitment to preserve the dignity of a person's life when that person has grown old. Society must look after and care for its aged just as it looks after and cares for its young.
Many of the aged who become severely detached from society and lose faith in life can be helped. It's the responsibility of society and government to work with the elderly to keep the current trend and bring a new understanding to the process of growing old.
Labor violence in Lawrence isn't even a possibility, especially because of the fact that law enforcement attitudes of Norm Forer and the association presidents. Violence is a very remote possibility which is in power, and it would be a result of collective bargaining.
An "I don't-give-a-damn" attitude among these city employees is more likely to be perceived as working conditions and wage problems. The city can show its desire to treat its employees fairly by negotiating with them in orderly and organized way.
Are strikes likely to come with collective bargaining? In this particular situation, it seems unlikely. These city workers are attempting to work together to strike in Lawrence. There isn't an Albert Shanker among them. Strikes are not always the fault of unions. It is often the intrigence of management that causes bargaining breakouts. When negotiations are called after negotiations still and other options have been exhausted.
Lawrence is no longer an informal little town; it is a small village with pains. To abort this attempt to make relations between labor and management more formal and more fair for both sides
Instead, the City Commission must ease the delivery, and welcome the birth, of this local collective bargaining group.
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