UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN editorials
Unsigned editors represent the opinion of the Kanans editorial staff. Signed columns represent the views of the editors.
April 8,1980
A hard act to follow
He must have a basic understanding of the role and mission of the University. He must have a strong commitment to maintaining and enhancing the quality of KU. He must use a reasonable amount of tact and defensive. He must have an ability to seek and resist threats. He must be calm under pressure, and he must stay calm under pressure.
These are the qualities of a successful executive vice chancellor as outlined by the man who defined the office, Del Shankel. But Shankel has decided to step down from his post July 1 and return to his first professional loves: teaching and research. He will be missed. Since the announcement of his resignation last December, the campus had been buzzing with rumors and speculations about who would be his successor.
Tuesday morning Chancellor Archie R. Dykes dispelled all conjectures and questions by announcing that Robert P. Cobb, de la College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, would become executive vice chancellor this summer.
chancellors. Cobb's administrative, academic and community achievements are exceptional.
The executive vice chancellor is the chief administrative officer of the Lawrence campus. He presides over the day-to-day affairs of the University. More important, at least from a student's point of view, the executive vice chancellor is "the door" to the administration. It was for this characteristic in particular that KU students, faculty and staff will remember Del Shankel.
We hope, however, that he will not also be missed because of it. We hope, Dean Cobb, that you will continue the unencumbered line of communication between the administrators and non-administrators that Shankel established in 1974. Maintaining the University's excellence is an honorable and commendable goal but it requires a cooperative effort obtainable only through successful communication with all those involved.
You may have supervised half the faculty members and more than half the KU students as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, but soon your charges will double into quite a handful. Good luck.
People, not agencies support human needs
By HELEN MARAGAKES
GLEN COVE, N.Y. — When I was little, I mastered at the expert folklore my mother could draw on to meet emergencies like bee stings, greease stains, burned burps and bumped foreheads. She used mud, talcum powder and glue to create a of 360-cm coin — that order. I think
My mother, Vastila Carras, was a remarkable lady, strong, handsome, innumerable. She encouraged me to inherit heritage. I always thought of her as learned and sophisticated. Yet she had never gone to school and had grown up in Seduki, a small town in northern Greece. Her literacy was self-acquired. Her social poise and independence were natural outgrowths of her life. As a child, she married, came to America and, when my father died, went to work to rear her three children. She became an American, who taught and worked for the nation.
As I grew up, I watched her nurse our illnesses with old-fashioned remedies, nourish my old-fashioned recipes and used the old-fashioned love we seemed to work with. When I became older, I was curious about the village that had given her these skills. I idolized in the endless stories of her life from college, move away and become embroiled in the political, economic and social pressures of American life. Curious, I went to live in Seville been without problems?
"LIFE IS NEVER without problems."
She was impatient with my stupidity. But they'd had no machinery to deal with the dumb, no psychologists or social workers, no government policies or policemen, we would have felt compelled to use them. Since they were not there, we managed quite well without them."
I wondered about prejudice. How did the village treat minority groups? She puzzled about that. People came to the village. They believed they were slaves, and they became a part of the community. Gypsies often came through the community, but they did not stay. Once they left behind a dark-skinned little girl, an abandoned child, a fortune-teller for fortune Tellers and his wife.
THEY CHOOKE have no children, so they took the child. I pounced. "Aha, I beat had problems. She probably met with prejudice as she grew up—never being told to be a kid or that there were rumors that she needed a larger than usual dummy to marry, but Mother
discounted those rumors. "The other girls were jealous because Marianthe was so netty."
It all seemed good to be true. Sevikido was not paradise. I continued to pry, Mental illness? Hardn't there been people who were in that position before you? Course. She was becoming annoyed. "I told you stories about Baran Manolis many times." So she had. I remembered stories from the past. She was being amusing or public, today. he would be considered mentally ill. There were others too. People became crazed with jealousy or grief or grief. Some got over it.
AND THE AUCHORITIES? Did they not step in? No, she explained. "Barbad Manila had a right to be strange. Each person is responsible for his own being."
But what of the violent ones who could harm others?
Her face became sad. She admitted that occasionally a man or woman could not tell the difference between the results to others. Then that person had to leave. She seemed vague about the reasons.
Rarely, she said. Usually, another village another job, another country, even Sometimes they even returned.
THE VILLESEM SEEMED to tolerate many different types of behavior and people. Again Mother didn't like my choice of words. We decided "accommodated" was the best option, and she "tolerate." The village accepted and accommodated diversity. Each personality contributed to the life of the town. The contributions did not have to be only the talents of the villagers; they also had pains and weaknesses, too, were offered and accepted and woven into village life.
We talked of other social issues, of race and the role of women, adolescent rebellion and the subject ended with the same realization. The people of the village accepted, accommodated, coped failed, acknowledged success. Each issue was individually treated. No one way was right. No one was wrong. No one solved problems. Human beings created human problems that called for human resources. Agencies and regulations have a role to play.
It may be impossible to get back to that day of treating people of see you people. I always try to bring sting and clean a water pan with vinegar. Helen Maragakes is a high school guidance counselor.
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Editor
James Anthony Fitts
Managing Editor Dana Müller
Editorial Editor Brenda Watson
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Vincent Coultas
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The Senate's proposed salary increases total $3,420. While other campus groups have suffered the wrath of inflation, the Senate has thrived. In the case of KU's Services Committee it voted to cut funding altogether. The Senate should be embarrassed.
The most generous allocation the Senate gave to a group besides itself was a 500 percent increase in the salary of KU's coach. But as usual, there was a catch. The
The actions of the Student Senate during the 2014 hearings, including Robin Hood tilt in the Senate's proposed allocations, in fact, could reverse the Robin Hood theory: Robin from the poor
And to make matters worse, the 'rich' just happen to be the Senate eminent adviser. As a member of the senate, he sent the Senate cut their budget requests, a KU Senate committee was recommending the Senate cut their budget requests.
Senate padded its own wallets first
coach's yearly salary was only $1. With his new $5 salary, the coach could treat his team to some soda after a race.
Compare that to the salary of the chairman of the Student Executive Committee
COLUMNIST
david lewis
who will receive $150 monthly if the budget is approved. Only a year ago, this position was strictly voluntary. Not a cent was given to anyone who answered, and says one cannot keep up with infiltration?
The Senate has put strict limitations on the requests of almost every organization on campus. The groups have been encouraged to tighten their belts. This is fine. But when they are forced to turn around and increase its own executions, something is wrong. Terrifyingly well
The job of deciphering a student budget is a most difficult one. The Senate faces an enormous task because, every KU student must pay for Handling every request would be impossible. But the Senate can help alleviate its problems by seeking more student resources.
THE SENATE certainly has helped its allies, who have been years when the Senate has not been all of its funds. an outside group trying to obtain money is grilled for an investigation.
SOME BUDGET CUT decisions were made by no more than three persons. This is not fair to the rest of the Senate and obviously is not fair to the students of the University of Kansas. If a controversial decision has to be made, it should be made before students are helped of many students. More discussion would lead to faster budget decisions.
its sees its request cut. Often, even when groups do not account for the money they would spend, the Senate cuts the request anyway.
And finally, the Senate should not increase its executive salaries while limiting them. The Senate's standards is not an effective way to build Senate integrity, let alone to budget student
UNFORTUNATELY, the Senate considers itself a benevolent body that gives money to underprivileged students who deprived themselves of education. The Senate acts as if the money is away.
Boy, you just can't keep those legislators down. They may lose a few bills and get hit by a few vetotes, but they always come back furting.
This session, members of the legislature have taken a sound beating on such moral issues as palimony and raising the beer issue. The council will consider Moore, R-Galate, is determined to keep trying and has sponsored another bill that includes religious philosophy on Kamsu.
Actually, the money is the students' money, not the Senate's money. The money is taken from the kU students. The Senate does not raise the money; it is raised by the budget. The budget indicates a reliable indicator, the Senate has failed miserably to do job.
Classroom prayer abridges liberty
More's bill would make mandatory a moment of silent prayer or reflection each month. The House will approve the timely approved by the House on March 28. Final deliberation will take place in the next
The bill is a step beyond the current Kansas law which allows teachers to have a moment of course in their classrooms. The difference, of course, is that little word, mandatory. A nasty word, it snacks of a business that went out with the Puritans.
Moore has described himself as a religious man and has said his bill would help bring stability and comfort to the children of Kansas.
MOORE IS UNDOUBTEDLY well-meaning—naive, but well-meaning. His bill
kate COLUMNIST pound
The most obvious battle line the bill touches is the United States Constitution. As a member of the United States states that government cannot impose laws without state practices. Although Moore's bill does not state that school children must pray, it imposes the rule that a moment of prayer or silence is not allowed.
crosses several fine lines and would set a precedent that could lay the state open for all sorts of controversies.
The bill very likely would be abused. The bill very likely would be abused. You would say a little prayer with a class and encourage or require students to join in. A required moment of reflection seems to be when you are on the verge of tears.
Imagine laws requiring teachers to use only one type of textbook, or forcing students to play soccer for 15 minutes a day.
THE BILL ALSO comes dangerously close to governmental control of the school system. Mr. Garnett's moment of silence, the bill dictates to teachers, letting the legislature into action.
Silly images, aren't they; inconvenience in our system of public education. But Moore's bill would set a precedent for such governmental interference in education.
The bill also would superseize the community's right to set standards for its schools. Local school district boards are given immediate jurisdiction over schools. Community residents have direct voices in policy and can set up their schools to meet local needs.
UNDER CURRENT LAW, local school boards can arrange time in the daily school schedule for a moment of reflection, if the
community approves. Moore's bill not only would take away the community's right to control its schools, it would do so needlessly.
Kansas is a diverse state. Its population varies from the tiny, 95 percent Protestant community to the majority population and wide range of religious beliefs. For Moore to impose his faith on Kansas would deny that diversity. The State Department argues power by reaching into local standards and the rights of parents to have their children under government or religious interference.
THERE ARE QUITE a few excellent parochial schools in the state, Rep. Moore, to which parents may send their children to receive religious education. There are also several hundred churches offering classes on religion, and some of them provide the moral education of their children. Your bill, sir, presumes that parents are not capable of teaching their children morality or religion. Why not just collect all children and place them in institutions that would permit them to teachers' apper form and leave all those incompetent parents out of their children's educations?
Public Affairs study poorly covered
To the Editor:
The article by Blake Gumprecht in Friday's Kansan about the poll at the Center for Public Affairs has conducted contains several factual errors and is very misleading. We are asking to ask independents who they preferred among all candidates." This was wrong; we did ask independents who they preferred and also which party they are closer to. These data are on pages 4 and 19 of the article and handed out Gumprecht a copy of it.
He is wrong when he writes that we are . . . red in the face even before the state pronouns were used. The data are excellent and the data are not in our survey. The only redness is anger caused by the stress of being told what to say.
The distortions in his reporting are contained in statements such as where he says that many of the 66 questions on the poll are unrelated to the presidential race. These 66 questions deal with energy, inflation, foreign policy, future, women, and mandatory arbitration. All of them are directly relevant to the presidential primary and have been published by national news sources such as the Associated Press and United Press International as well as throughout the state.
Another misleading point he makes is where he says that Kanans are pessimistic because 57 percent say the coming years
would be about the same or worse. But jumping in those where we would be about the same (29 percent) who say it will be worse (27 percent) when the future will be about the same or worse.
The essential error that Gumprem makes is to assume that a political poll is a prediction of the outcome for the primary page of the handout, and we say on the front page of the handout what we ask us what public opinion is at the time it is taken. It cannot tell us if the respondents will actually vote in the primary, for whom they will vote, whether what they tell the voters will happen, and how their opinions will change in the period between the time the interviews are conducted and primary election day. A reporter should know something about the area in which he is writing before he lets go to Gumprem apparently does not.
Dennis Palumbo
Director, Center for Public Affairs
Anderson piece was damaging, immature
To the Editor:
I have been a student at KU for five years and I have been an avid reader of Kansan editorials during all this time. The Kansan editor page always has been marked by a respectable degree of professionalism. I had never seen a column in our paper as important as managing as the Anderson author in David Lewis in your last Monday edition.
The column was badly written as well as badly timed. The article was filled with irresponsible analogies, i.e., Steve Martin and a leading presidential contender, and he gave the impression that he beliefs. I applaud Henry Couchman for summing up my thoughts in your Wednesday edition after the primary. I believe this article was not only an example of busy journalism on the part of Mr. Lewis, but also a reflection of Brenda Watson's poor editing.
The next time she and Mr. Lewis propose to publish an article of this caliber, why not cover a subject a bit more benign.
Presidential primaries and presidential candidates are serious business and deserve responsible, mature consideration.
Dave Mohrbacher
Dave Monbacher Newton graduate student
Survey reflects no pessimistic Kansans
To the Editor:
The actual results of the question on the future are as follows: 9 percent—much better, 30 percent—somewhat better, 30 percent—about the same, 13 percent—not as
I write to correct Blake Gumprech's interpretation of data compiled in a recent Center for Public Affairs survey. On March 16, 2008, the director of view of the future, about 75 percent saying the coming years will be 'about the same' or worse." Although the data he reported was accurate, his analysis was wrong because he failed to report the data com-
good, 14 percent—much worse, 4 percent—don't know and 6 percent—refused to answer.
Throwing out the "about the same" responses, the results indicate that 39 percent said it would be "better" or "somewhat better" and only 27 percent said it would be "not as good" or "much worse". Or, using Gumprecht's measure, 69 percent said the future would be "better" or "somewhat better" and only 16 percent said it would be "about the same" or worse. These results may not reflect euphoria on the part of Kansans, but it may suggest a clear证知 that they indicate pessimism.
Dick Cowden
Perry graduate student
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