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Friday, January 27, 1978
University Daily Kansan
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN-
Comment
Unassigned editorials represent the opinion of the Kansan editorial staff. Staged columns represent the views of only the writers
Cut architect's office
The need for reforming state construction projects surfaced again this week, when four state senators introduced a bill that would investigate design and construction problems at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The bill, which includes appointing a special assistant attorney general, was doubtless prompted by the $3 million in lawsuits filed against the state in connection with Med Center construction.
The bill is well-intended. But legislators might more properly focus their attention on a permanent solution to the seemingly endless progression of building errors on state projects. They should abolish the state architect's office.
Construction problems undeniably exist a the Med Center. Gov. Robert Bennett, for example, was brutally honest when he called the Med Center expansion project "an outstanding example of the worst piece of construction that has occurred in the Midwest in the last century." The result of shoddy construction is likely evident in the Med Center's new educational building, which is too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Med Center officials say that inadequate ventilation ducts in the building have been a problem since it opened.
BUT THE Med Center problems are only part of the slipshod work that has persistently plagued state construction at
Kansas universities. The new KU law building's deficiencies, which delayed its opening last fall, are by now familiar news. And just this week, Attorney General Curt Schneider agreed to settle out of court with a Wichita constrictor who wants the city to keep bricks from falling from Wichita State University's Life Sciences Building.
The latest construction developments are more painful reminders of the need for reform in state building projects. Rather than appointing investigators and settling lawsuits after the damage has been done, legislators should heed the suggestion proposed by one of their interim committees. The suggestion is simply this: Replace the state architect with a seven-member state building commission.
THE NEW commission would choose private architectural firms for state projects and hold them accountable for their work. Under the interim panel's plan, state government and the civil service system would be less responsible and private enterprise more responsible for state buildings.
The acting state architect has done a noble job of cleaning house since he took over the shambles left by his predecessor. But the office itself, more than any one man, is clearly ineffective. It's time it was abolished.
Monday was the final opportunity for Kansas legislators, as individuals, to introduce legislation in the current session. They took advantage of it.
Kansans lost in ocean of laws
More than 250 bills were piled into the House and Senate hoppers. If this session is an average one, about 1,300 bills would be piled somewhere. About 300 will make it into the statute books.
With 300 new laws a year from the state, which has a part-time legislature, and even more federal laws, the weight of all the rulebooks for living can seem crushing to the ordinary person. There are so many laws that you live under that virtually no area of life is untouched, or even unsaturated.
Not only is it impossible to take in all of the laws that govern legislative bodies find it difficult, or perhaps not expedient, to formulate laws that are consistent, timely and con-
BARKLE CLARK, KU professor of law, Lawrence city commissioner and himself a lawyer, said this week that the impassive man was "substantial—very substantial." About 80 percent of Kansas law is written in statutes, Clark said. The other 20 percent is written by the courts in specific cases. The common law decisions are the equivalents of laws made on
the spot. They may be the easiest part of the law to understand.
Clark points out that "lawyers have a real problem in trying to keep up with the laws." Of the 300 laws passed on each legislative session, only about 50 are new, ground-breaking laws. The rest are revisions of old laws. As a result, some have been rewritten and reamended so many times that even skilled lawyers get lost in the "bereautes" and "whereas."
Clark said the legislative proliferation could lead to many obscure laws that were rarely made public, and notably unconstitutional." Until recently, he said, there was a provision in Kansas debt law for "bathroom execution." If a defendant was unable to pay, his creditors could have him imprisoned—a move as unconstitutional as it was unwise. But in拙能照, he could strike the law from the books.
CREDITORS also were legally able to seize and sell certain parts of their debtors' property. Clark mentioned certain exceptions still in force for the debtors of a debtor's debtor's yoke of oxen or his church pew. A Kansan in financial straits presumably
Lawrence on the Kaw is taking a progressive step forward and, at the same time, taking a historical step backward by building a new city hall on the Kansas River near the intersection of Sathth and Massachusetts streets.
River City is returning to the river bank.
New city hall will enliven historic area
The Lawrence City Commission last fall acquired city rights to the area that once housed the Bowersock Mill and Power Co., and is now working with architects on the design of a new city hall.
The commissioners made a wise choice by deciding to place the city's offices near the river. The Bowersock property marked the early years of Lawrence, and it seemed appropriate that focus be focused once again on the area.
Steven Stingley Editorial writer
THE CITY will be replacing ancient and battered buildings with a modern landmark. Although it may be said to see the city growing, the site筑地, the construction of a city hall will not be erasing the historical elements of the area but will be permeable.
The city hall will revitalize the city's
historical ties with the Kansas River by shifting people's attention to a place that is now an incredible eavesdrobe.
Everyone has noticed the conglomeration of broken windows, giant white grain elevators and time-worn brown granite walls. Lawrence over the Kansas River bridge. It is not a pleasant sight for visitors or for residents of an otherwise good-looking house.
One of the city's most dismal corners also will be revitalized with the two new bridges over the Kansas River and the possibility of a rivee park. One new bridge is near completion and soon the other will be replaced with a contemporary one.
BUT MORE important than aesthetics is the historical aspect of building a new city hall on an 'old' site. As many buildings have been built in the past away from their blighted downtown
areas, Lawrence is striving to grow inward and use space near the historical center of the city.
Strong ties with the past are evident in the attitudes of Lawrence citizens and decisionmakers. An example of this fact is the power of neighborhood associations to protect their borhood physically intact, as they were 50 to 190 years ago. The Haskell Loop, an ill-considered attempt to build a roadway through residential east Lawrence, probably would have been built if for not the Lawrence Improvement Association.
the city commission has repeatedly tried to keep the downtown area strong by blocking the construction of shopping centers on the outer limits of the city.
The city also has renovated the downtown sidewalk and parking areas in an effort to encourage inward growth.
AND NOW Lawrence has made the excellent decision of building its much-needed city hall downtown. The riverside site was once the beginning of the city's commercial activity—the birthplace of business in Lawrence.
According to area history books, the original Bowersock flour mill buildings were built on the site in 1870. The completion of a dam across the Kansas River in the 1880s started Lawrence on the road of industrial development.
At first, the power generated at the dam was mechanical power. A water wheel was used to provide power to grind flour in the mill and to power nearby buildings. When the water wheels were installed and the system supplied the entire city with electrical power.
The Bowersock operation was named after J. D. Bowersock, who acquired the mall buildings from the city in setback when parts of the original mall buildings and some of the surroundings were swept away during a flood in 1903. The damage has been estimated by the National Park Service.
may be doubly secure if he herds his yoke of oxen into his church new.
Browser rebuilt, and his business continued to flourish until the milling operation ended with the outbreak of war. The millers' buildings were built in 1913 and used until 1969.
What was once a bustling area of Lawrence once again can become important with the construction of the city hall. Two things can be accomplished at once: A blatant scar will be removed from downtown Lawrence, and people will know what it is like to live in a genuine River City.
When there are prohibitions on lawmakers, there will be wily lawmakers circumventing them by establishing a legislation dealing with only one city or one set of circumstances is prohibited in Kansas. Clark, however, noted that "we find a case where we want to think with the use of brackets."
But with an increase in federal programs and federal guidelines to dispense federal money, the picture has become different. Clark called it "dancing to the federal tune." Manna from Washington falls upon those who are worthy, or those who pass laws quickly because they are increasingly, the impetus behind state legislation is to get federal grants.
against federal encroachment. It would sometimes pass laws for the sole purpose of having them in a certain area and keeping Congress out of that area. In a confrontation between the state law and in federal law, the state came out the loser.
WITH NEW situations, new technology and new styles of living constantly emerging.
there probably will never be a time when a legislature is unnecessary. But looking at the constant amendments upon amendments, covering all areas of life with some kind of laws, one could suppose that the rules for living weigh heavily.
There is a bright spot to all of this for some people, Clark said. The job market remains good for graduating law students. Even though they may be the youngest class of words in the statute books, they come the closest of anyone to making sense out of it.
The relationship between state legislatures and the U.S. Congress has changed, according to Clark. The Kansas Legislature formerly regarded itself as the state's protection
But for the layman, trying to see the levels and the structure of law can be like walking into a room with large mirrors on walls. He sees multiple images up close, extending into infinity.
"For example, there are laws that say a referendum must be held on all bond issues in cities with populations between 30,000 and 30,000. If you look closely, that's only one city."
War vets ask for action
To the editor:
I'm sure that you know of the growing apathy and anti-veteran mood on Capitol Hill. Programs such as the G.I. Bill, Military Training in civil service and others have recently come under attack.
Here at KU the veterans club has been trying to fight such action as well as inform the veterans of what is being done to them. Eric Sevareed of the CBS Evening News in a commentary on October 24, 1977, said, "the country was back on book and war, and effect, on the men of that war." This was said concerning the Vietnam era veteran, and I along with the members of our
That voice was heard recently as President Carsten's top ad campaign, the National Bourne addressed the Tobacco and Smoking Research Committee of the American Cancer Society on the issue of smoking.
It is too bad that the American people were not fully exposed to these reasonable observations. Because Dr. Bourne, who obviously is not in favor of smoking per se, had the political and professional courage to place in full view of
The 60 million American adults who smoke are hard put these days to find a sympathetic word of approval for a practice that provides them with a certain sense of personal satisfaction, relaxation and even pleasure.
The Surgeon General's well-known report notes a list of psychological and physical benefits—for example, "The
So it is notable that the Carter administration has brought an enlightened voice of reason to its harassed world of health warnings, induced guilt and threatened social ostracism.
Tobacco myths rise in puff of smoke
DR. BOURNE is not alone in posing the tough questions that scientists must answer before coming to any conclusion that the smoking cigarette is also the "smoking gun."
his peers the whole gamut of unanswered questions about smoking and health—a subject that has been probed relentlessly by world scientists for more than 25 years.
By ROSS R. MILLHISER
N.Y. Times Features
By ROSS R. MILLHISER
significant beneficial effects of smoking occur primarily in the area of mental health, and are common in a search for entertainment."
Prof. Ulf von Euler, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, decries the lack of smoking. "Nobody would believe that so many people would use tobacco or products containing substances similar to烟草 unless it had positive effects.
THE EMINENT Dr. Walter
Harvard anthropologist Dr. Carl Selft stated in testimony before the U.S. Congress: "The situation demands not special pleading but scientific truth, namely what is reasonably established, and certainly not been reasonably established that cigarette smoking causes coronary heart disease."
Meningen, clinical director of Topeka State Hospital, flatly states that smoking relieves stress and reduces sexual divulges. And Dr. Hans Selye, one of the world's foremost authorities on stress, says it is "frightening" that no one receives the benefits of tobacco.
As for the lack of research on the "harmful" effects of smoking, the fact is that there is good reason to doubt the culpability of cigarette smoking in coronary heart disease. That reason was made more exhaustive, seven-country study of coronary heart disease coordinated by the renowned Dr. Ancel Keys, director of physiological hygiene at the university of Chicago, and led the study, Dr. Keys said: "Examination of the so-called risk factors shows that most of these factors, whatever may be their influence, cannot explain the observed difference in the incidence of coronary heart disease. Cigarette smoking cannot be involved as an explanation."
THE INABILITY of the scientific probs to reach a verdict on cigarette smoking causes disease is summed up by Dr. Philip Burch of Britain's University of Leeds He says: "Cautionary connection between cigarette smoking and various
group feel it was more than true.
cancers-particularly lung cancer-fail, when examined critically, to establish the causal claim."
But, as significant as Dr. Bourne's remarks on the purely scientific side, his courage in expanding the scope of the study of tobacco use is important social aspects of the tobacco use during the past 300 years is one that is rarely heard in the scientific debate. We believe that our scientific community should come up with some facts on the health hazards - if indeed any- of other people's cigarettes before it recommends issuing a ban over every large segment of the public.
It is not likely that anybody would see an endorsement of cigarettes in Dr. Bourne's forthright statement.
obtrac Debate.
loss R. Millhiser is president of
philip Morris Inc.
Letters Policy
The Kaisan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten and addressed to the address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include your home town or hometown or faculty or staff position. Letters are not to exceed 500 words in length. You reserve the right to edit all letters for publication.
So I have sent a letter to President Carter asking him not to forget us. I pointed out to him one of the smaller schools he had been school, as well as the feeling we have gotten from Capitol Hill. We hope that before any action is taken that will hurt us, the teachers will think back to the time when they were veterans and used the G.I. Bill to go to school or buy a home or used the veterans preference to get that first job (civil service or otherwise).
The letter follows:
Dear Mr. President,
As fellow veterans we are sure you are aware of the problems with the Veterans Administration as well as the apathetic and anti-veteran feelings that we feel that there is not enough being done to help the Vietnam era veterans in relation to the sacrifices they have made. As a group, they encounter prejudice and discrimination. As a World War II veteran you undoubtedly remember the reception you received upon your return. The Vietnam veterans were greeted with unemployment, harassment, death and disregard for their lives as human beings.
Those of us who served both in Vietnam and at home, feel that we have been forgotten. If anything, we are an eminent team. We served, not always willing, but loyally. We love our country and many of us bear physical and mental scars as reminders of the forgotten soldiers, remembered only by our loved ones.
It seems that the Veterans Administration is totally unsympathetic to our needs, and that Max Cleland is having trouble unraveling the maze of red tape and incompetence at all levels. As a small example of the problem, we see it within the V.A., veteran-students depend on their educational checks to live and
attend school. If a check is delayed it can take months to straighten out the problem. In the meantime most veterans have bills to pay and have families to take care of A. They are not the most cases, not make allowances because the V.A. didn't get a check out on time. They are told that they should not depend on these checks, but many them are in school full-time and cannot find jobs. How often students supposed to live?
We would like to see the V.A. reorganized and more efficient, having the dead wood cut out, so to speak. This is not an unreasonable request. We are also alarmed at the apparent mood against veterans on台台 time last week, so time ask just how many elected and appointed officials are veterans and how many have used their veterans benefits to get an education or other help under Title 38 U.S.C. We do not feel that our benefits are a gift; they are our right and something we made great sacrifices for.
Many veterans from World War II, as well as Vietnam, are still trying to get disability compensation but often find that all records pertaining to their injuries have been lost or are told to be forgotten in supporting documentation. We are not trying to rip off the government or the taxpayer. If we had fled the country as so many did, later to be pardoned, we would never have received the injuries that hamper our lives; cause discomfort and pain and prevent us from finding debt jobs.
We realize that you have grave responsibilities as president, far beyond any that we have in the military, are sympathetic to your position. All we ask is that you understand the problems of the Vietnam era veterans and that you will understand the mind and ear to our problems. There is a silent majority of Vietnam era veterans that have been forgotten. Please, if you can do nothing else, remember
Heiny L. Johns
Vice president, KU Campus
Veterans
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KANSAN
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