Friday, January 28, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Pessimism is harmful, speaker says
Christopher Peterson, a leading psychological scholar, lectures to the public on "Optimism and Health." Dr. Peterson published "The Attributional Style Questionnaire," one of the most widely used psychological instruments in the last two decades. Photo by Melissa Thornton/KANSAN
Bv Kondwa Kankondo
Kansan staff writer
A guest speaker at the University of Kansas had bad news for pessimists last night.
writer@kansan.com
Christopher Peterson, a distinguished psychologist and professor at the University of Michigan, told about 500 students and faculty yesterday that pessimism would kill.
"Is parking an issue here?"
And men who are left-handed and also are pessimists often die in accidents, he said.
Peterson said that studies had shown that many accidents and violent acts in today's society were attributable to the pessimists who took their frustrations out on themselves and their neighbors.
He said pessimists also died much earlier than optimists. The phenomenon is more
Christopher Peterson
Flags fly at half-staff with Wescoe Hall in the background in memory of Reynolds Schultz, the former lieutenant governor of Kansas. Schultz, a long-time Jefferson County farmer, died Monday in Oksaloaia at age 78. The Republican served as lieutenant governor from 1971 to 1973 after serving six years in the state Senate. Services for Schultz were yesterday at the Ramsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana St. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Psychologist and professor at the University of
Michigan
"Is parking an issue here?" he asked. He said people's answers to such questions were good indicators of what kind of fiber they were composed — the pessimistic or optimistic brand.
pronounced in men than women, as men usually prefer dangerous activities as a means of escaping bad moods, he said.
pain in the wrong place.
He said the people who operated in the negative would regard the parking problem as a
"I am a loser" often is the cry, he said.
An optimistic person will take the challenge in stride. The normal reaction for this person would be along the lines of "I have no parking place, well , I'll come later," he said.
In his introductory remarks, C.R. Snyder, professor and director of clinical psychology at the University of Kansas, described Peterson as an optimist who had a string of achievements tied to his name.
"In my estimation, he has been a leader and engine," Snyder said. "You cannot read psychology books without probably running into something that Chris Peterson has written."
The room in which he spoke, 110 Strong Hall, which normally sits 499 people, was nearly filled beyond capacity, mainly by students taking courses in psychology.
Flying at half-staff
Clinton calls for new programs, tax cuts
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Clinton proposed a $350 billion tax cut, big spending increases for schools and health care, and photo ID licenses for handgun purchases yesterday as he offered the final agenda of his presidency.
"The state of our union is the strongest it has ever been." he said.
Clinton issued a stinging rebuke to an election-year Congress as he delivered his last State of the Union address.
"For too long, this Congress has been standing still on some of our most pressing national priorities." he said.
The president noted that next month the United States would achieve the longest period of economic growth in the nation's history and offered a long litany of initiatives, many of them sure to be rewritten or ignored by Congress.
Clinton's gun-licensing measure, similar to a plan offered by Vice President Al Gore, would require handgun purchasers to first obtain a state license showing they had passed a background check and a gun safety requirement, such as a training course or an exam.
States could choose not to participate in the program. The National Rifle Association condemned the plan as pointless and unworkable.
Clinton recalled the tragedy of the massacre at Columbine High School while addressing the plan. "We've all seen what happens when guns fall into the wrong hands." Clinton said
He called for passage of a patients' bill of rights to strengthen consumer protection, campaign finance reform, an increase in the minimum wage
and votes on long-stalled judicial nominations.
Republicans ridiculed Clinton's proposals but did not rule out working with him on such issues as education and health care.
"If we enacted all the new programs the president has talked about, we'll spend just about the entire surplus on bigger and more expensive government," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert. R-II.
Five days before the New Hampshire primary, Clinton seized the chance to boost Gore in his race for the Democratic presidential nomination. In his prepared text, there were six references to the vice president. Clinton also recognized another candidate: his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, running for a U.S. Senate seat in New York.
Many of Clinton's proposals were repackaged from earlier years and some were resubmitted with spending figures double or triple original amounts.
But the president boasted of the nation's upbeat times.
"Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress
with so little internal crisis or so few external threats," he said. "Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity — and therefore such a profound obligation — to build the more perfect union of our founders' dreams."
Clinton: Says the union never has been stronger
Bilton's tax program includes marriage penalty relief, tax deductions of up to $2,800 annually per family for college tuition and fees and retiree
ment savings accounts for low- and moderate-income families. He also proposed steps to encourage charitable giving.
Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, called Clinton's tax cuts too limited.
"We think all Americans deserve tax relief, not just the handful the president picks," Archer said.
The president's tax package would cost $350 billion in 10 years. However, his plan envisions cutting that price tag by $100 billion by closing tax havens, shelters and loopholes. Congress previously has rejected many of those ideas on grounds they are tax increases.
There were no major foreign policy announcements, although Clinton urged Congress to give China permanent normal trading relations with the United States. He also asked for $1.6 billion for Colombia to fight narcotraffickers.
Clinton also:
■ Called anew for Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit and to let people as young as 55 buy Medicare coverage with a 25 percent tax credit.
- Proposed $1 billion in tax incentives for drug makers to develop vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Called for doubling spending for after-school and summer-school programs and to expand the Head Start program to cover 950,000 needy children.
Expanded the earned income tax credit for the working poor by $21 billion and offered a tax credit for long-term care costing $27 billion.
- Proposed a 10-year, $110 billion proposal to provide health coverage to the parents of children protected by the Children's Health Insurance Program.