UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN editorials
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Kansan
leaders. Signed columns represent the views of
only the writers.
January 31, 1980
Bicycle path needed
Since 1978, Leavenworth County landowners and local bicycle enthusiasts have been arguing about what should be done with an 11-mile route that would wide shandoned railroad right-of-way between Lawrence and Tonganoxie.
The landowners say the land should revert to them, to be used as farmland like the land surrounding the right-of-way. The bicycle riders say the land should be converted into a recreational bicycle path connecting the two towns. The Kansas Legislature is currently considering a bill that would give the state the power to create that bike path.
The bill should be passed.
The bicycle trail would provide a convenient, energy-efficient recreation area for the residents of northeast Kansas. In these days of high gasoline prices, a way to open up acres of countryside to enjoyment by bicycle riders should not be ignored. The former Union Pacific right-of-way is graded to no more than a 3 percent grade, it exists in one piece, it would not have to be purchased—according to one legal opinion—and it would require minimal preparation and upkeep to be enjoyed by many, who
would be getting exercise while saving gasoline.
Those bicycle riders are part of what causes the landowners to oppose the bicycle path. The landowners are worried about vandalism and damage to the property abutting the right-of-way. But most bikes take the time and effort to be roadblocked more are not the type to spoil the landscape they are riding through.
There is still some doubt as to who actually owns the right-of-way. The landowners claim that it reverted to them after the Union Pacific abandoned the law, but the bikers say a federal law, the Railroad Revitalization 1976 mandates the right-of-way revenge possession. This dispute must be cleared in the courts before the whole matter can finally be settled.
But the matter must be settled soon. Bridges on the line, which would be useful to bicycle riders, are being torn down. If left to their own devices, the landowners will reclaim the land by themselves, and the right-of-way will become almost useless for a bike trail. And a cheap, healthful means of recreation will be lost to Kansans forever.
Bill for death penalty an annual nightmare
"Daddy," the little boy ask, "why can't we watch 'Mork and Mindy' tonight?"
"Ssshh, son, this is important," the child's father said as he settled in front of the television set with a bowl of popcorn.
"My history teacher said this program would be very educational and told us we had to watch it," the boy's older sister said. "We're going to report on it tomorrow."
"Well, it definitely will be historical," his mother said. "I don't believe there's been another show like it on TV."
"Will you all be quiet?" his father snapped as the show began.
A drum roll signaled the entrance of the program's supporting characters. A group of neatly dressed prison guards marched to
"And now, live from Lansing and the Kansas State Pentagon, it 'pull the switch,'" the television announcer said. "This program is brought to you courtesy of Representative and is paid for by Kansas taxpayers."
kate pound COLUMNIST
the center of the chamber, broke ranks and turned to flank the stage, where a hospital examining table stood.
THEY WERE followed by the warden, who wore an expensively tailored suit—after all, this was a national media event. They had a white lab coat and a white lab coat and carrying a stethoscope.
Behind the warden and physician came a crowd of invited spectators and members of the cast, who watched from the foot of the stage and prepared their cameras, while the others read from the screen.
Silence fell over the room as the costar of the show entered. The thin, mousy man's role was one of the most difficult. The rest of the ward was climbed on the stage, checking the steps, the wheels of the table and its leather straps—for safety. Satisfied that it met health department regulations, he climbed down the wall to reach the medical cabinet at the rear of the chamber.
A DRUM AND bugle farfare preceded the entrance of the star of the show. Pole applause came from the gallery as he was in the into room and to the front of the stage.
"Gee, Dad, there he is," the little boy cried, "A real live murderer!"
"Not for long," his sister said.
The star, wearing a blue silk robe with "Killer" emblazoned on the back in silver letters, climbed on the stage and held his hand like a boxer he celebrates a knockout.
He was accompanied by a minister, two prison guards and his agent.
"That's the way, kid," the agent said. "Keep it up. Give the folks out in TV Land something to see. It'll sell a million copies of the book. We're really going to clean up."
THE STAR shrugged off his robe, nodded to the agent and hopped onto the table. A tourniquet was tied around his arm and his costar strapped him to the table.
"Oh," I just can't stand all this suspense, it's killing me, the little boy his mother said. "Sasah, Mom," his sister said. "They're askine if he has any last words."
"Yeah, I just wanna say 'Hi to my folks and thank everyone who made this possible. Senators Crofoot, Angell, Arasmith, Chandler Doyen, Hein, Morris, Reilly and others are among the people helped get me to where I am today by sponsoring Senate Bill 641." Killer said.
The family moved closer to the television, listening intently.
The costar picked up a bottle of a potent barbiturate and held it up for the audience to see. The crowd in the chamber applauded. Carefully, slowly, he drew 10 cubic centimeters of the liquid into a hypodermic needle and placed it on the finishing touches on a masterpiece, he reached for the star's arm and skillfully plunged the needle into the skin.
The credits were rolling across the television screen and fading as I awoke from my nightmare. It is the same nightmare that Legislature considers the death penalty, is the nightmare of our inability to be humane; it is the fear that we have not progressed. It is the knowledge that we are unable to aide by need for revenge. And I am sickened.
A DRUM ROLL, and the physician stepped forward to examine the body. After a moment, he turned to the warden and said, "It's over."
"Whew," the little boy's father said, "that was better than the Super Bowl."
There is comfort only in knowing that there are public officials with the courage to say, as Gov. John Carlin did last year:
'I believe that in a civilized society, penalties applied by the courts are only justified for their rehabilitative, punitive or deterrent value. I find that capital punishment fails all purposes.'
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters can be written by anyone and not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is afraid to write in person, they should include the writer's class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit letters that are delivered personally or mailed to the Kansen newsroom. 112 Flint Hall. Because of space limitations, the right to edit letters for publication.
I will be 22 years old this April. To men of my age, threats to reinstate the Selective Service System never seemed very real until last week. We just missed enforced registration for the draft, which ended in 1975, and since we were only about 15 years old when I joined the military, it didn't give much thought to the possibility of fighting in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam is a blur to us. It's a blood-red patchwork of battle footage on the six o'clock news. It's the memory of relatives and neighbors coming home dead in canvas sacks. Vietnam was a string of presidents who never lived. It never became former. Because of our youth, however, our recollections of the war have faded through the years.
Draft plan revives Vietnam memories
But President Carter's call last week to revitalize the Selective Service System brought my clouded recollections of Vietnam to the surface as I considered the possibility of another war. A war which, he said, could have been a future millions of other young Americans. By announcing that selective service would be revitalized, Carter is playing a roster of roulette carter, appropriately Russia.
Letters Policy
bob COLUMNIST plttman
BUT 18 MILLION American men—and possibly 17 million American women—from 18 to 28 years of age, stand to be the losers of the game if the FIFA Union calls the promises that Caterer made to the week last week in his State of the Union address.
"I will send legislation and budget proposals to the Congress next month so that we can begin registration and then move it where needs rapidly if they arise," Carter said.
In his address, Carter announced that the United States was prepared to offer military aid to Syrian forces and force" attempted to gain control of the region. He added the fact that although he hoped the draft would not have to be made, America should be prepared for the possibility.
PROPONENTS OF registration say that
Carter realized that 1980 is an election year, and he might not wish to become too closely associated with a call for him. It was also the time that he had previously been solidly against.
It was even more interesting, however, to consider the manner in which Carter intends to proceed. He is forced to order immediate registration of all eligible men, but he chose instead to ask Congress to come up with the registration plan—in order to cash his hands of a dangerous political issue.
IT WAS INTERESTING to note that Carter, a past critic of attempts to restore the Selective Service, so eager announced his intention to be an official militaristic applause of a joint session of Congress.
without civilian registration, bureaucratic delays could dangerously slow the draft in the event of war. The delays theoretically could propel the United States into a war that would not be even into basic training until the second months after the first tremors of a war.
Checks on the president's power to involve America in a conflict that could mushroom into a war of global dimensions are comforting. Such checks are needed in an age of destruction can be accomplished in a new second, virtually at the push of a button.
The question that must be answered is this: If a war breaks out between the United States and the Soviet Union over the oil-rich border, troops arrive to do battle but that important? The outcome of such a war—a devastating exchange of nuclear strikes between the two countries—would inevitably be the same. A conflict of any size between the United States and the Soviet Union would irreparably damage our military forces of the United States and of the world.
top-level analysts. Although no one is sure, many of the analysts believe that the Soviet Union's purpose for the invasion was to strengthen its control of Afghanistan, a situation been weakened by the Islamic revolution that has burned through neighboring Iran.
Carter is convinced that Americans are outraged by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an invasion that still puzzles
THE ABSENCE OF registration would slow the mobilization of American troops. Such a delay would give America's leaders an extra opportunity to properly handle it. If America learned anything from Vietnam, it should have been instructed how to participate with both fatties flying in military sickness.
CARTER, HOWEVER, sees the invasion as part of a long-range strategy to gain influence over countries in the Persian Gulf and to eventually control the gulf's exports.
Carter's move to revitalize the selective service started a chain of events that will be hard to stop.
Because if registration begins, can the dress be far behind? Apparently not. Sen. John Stenns, D-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, Carter's speech, that registration was essential and would properly lead the draft itself.
How will America react to Carter's move to restore registration? Predictions vary widely, but Carter should remember that although Vietnam may be history to many young Americans, the events that occurred in their childhoods have clouded their subconscious.
We do not know from personal experience that it was like to fight in a war and lose, but the war of course was war that nobody really understood, but there are some events that will stick in our memory.
1 REMEMBER THE draft lotteries,
the televised events that determined the order
in which young men would be called to war.
I can remember the serious looks on the faces of the men as they pulled the red and blue capsules bearing birth dates from a hopper, one at a time.
Although I was in grade school at the time, I can still remember the sick feeling I felt when I sat down and I sat with my family, waiting for my birth date to be called. My father would sit in his usual chair in the living room, saying "I don't know what happened," and the capsule that contained my birth date finally was called, my parents would talk about my chances of seeing combat if I were not there.
In a way, it was a game. But to me, it was more than a game — it was the life way. There was a war going on somewhere across the ocean, a war that was not very strong. And even though I was just a kid I knew there was someone else out there, someone older than myself, who shared my birthday. As I lay awake following the lottery, I can remember thinking of that older guy, who would not get much rest that night either.
Nearly 10 years after the latters, I have found, once more, that sleep is long in coming at night. America's leaders have the military aid. The military draft, I feel threatened. The draft becomes a real possibility as a draft creates the mind through the minds of the leaders of our country.
Perhaps the not too distant future some 35 million young Americans once again will watch a televised dart lottery. I hope will
To the editor:
Boycott support shows national spirit
Eddie Williams' diatribe Jan. 25 against President Carter's call for a boycott of the Moscow Olympics if the Soviets do not withdraw from Afghanistan was quite clear in this question, something that Williams has a fair for making unsupported and unsupportable statements.
For example, he asserts that Carter is leading us to World War III. Good heavens! Does Williams mean that Carter is courting nuclear disaster by protecting the Soviet Union? No, don't know what Williams means to tell us. He thoughtly declines to tell us.
But Williams reaches the height of absurdity by attempting to draw a parallel between Carter's proposed boycott and the murder of several Israeli athletes at the Munich Games. He maintains that both resulted from political motives. The problem is that one who insists on putting murder and a call for a boycott in the same political basket obviously has difficulty in demonstrating moral condemnation, criminal activity and legitimate political action.
Practically in the same breath he contends that in any event an Olympic boycott would be a "paper tiger," meaningless and ineffective. Does this mean that Williams either lost to him, although he again does it say, I would guess that he does not World War III, you know.
The point is that politics is just as much part of the Olympics as it is of most other activities, whether we like it or not. The extent to which the American people, who are born in America, want to Carter in his call for a boycott is a reflection of the widely held belief that there is
Williams further states that the murder of the athletes was "out of place" at the Olympics, leaving us with the unsettling fact that there is a time and a place for such a death.
It is sad that politics intrudes into the sphere of sport. I agree with Williams on that point. But one would have to be naive to believe that Olympic athletes will always be part of the modern Olympics. The Nazis gained a quite bit of political mileage from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Many African nations have been unable to maintain their African issue. Even individual athletes have expressed their political beliefs during the Olympics. (Some may remember U.S. athletes raising their hands in a black power salute in the 1985 Games.)
something in life that rises even above the Olympics. Let's call it the national interest. Mark Rutherford
Mark Parley Lindsborg law student
Prisoner praises teachers' dedication To the Editor;
On behalf of myself and the other men who are involved in the KU college extension program here at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, I would like to extend appreciation to the KU graduate instructors and faculty who have taught here.
I have recently completed the four-year B.A. degree requirements in this program, and, across the board, every graduate institution offers students an open mind, a firm grasp of whatever subject matter was being taught and a no-nonsense approach to the business of education. Further, those members of the business world might here have been less than superb.
Personal appreciation is due from me to Roger Barnes, Lawrence graduate student; Bob Antonio, associate professor of sociology; Steve Goldman, associate professor of English; Scott Spellerberg, geography assistant; and Richard Brown, instructor in western civilization, for their assistance and encouragement.
Barnes, Antonio and Goldman have involved themselves in the program here to the extent of spending personal time and money traveling back and forth between Leavenworth and KU to assist myself and prepare graduate school admission programs.
Many lives have been crossed for the better because of the efforts and sincerity of the persons involved in this program, and a clear recognition for them is well deserved.
William Bosket 82794-158 U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth
Registration needs support of students To the Editor:
It saddens me a great deal to see fellow students across the nation participating in
Personally, I would rather die fighting for my freedom than live like a lamb under the watchful eye of The Shepherd.
and-draft demonstrations. Every American should realize we are in danger of losing the one most cherished possession in life—freedom.
The communists are spreading like a rabble around the country, rarely in the central country, we’re going to have to face the possibility of being forced to live a very meaningless life under the guise of communism.
If we continue to show the Soviets that we are a country that is afraid to stand up to them, they will step on us as they have stepped on Afghanistan. The Soviets have proved over the years they cannot be trusted. In nearly 30 peace treaties and/or agreements, they have been caught breaking the rules by the United States in all but two.
Currently, the United States' only means of holding the Soviets in check is its nuclear counter-attack ability. Although, at the rate U.S.S.R. is advancing in military superiority, it remains the realm of possibility that the Soviet will soon devise a way to neutralize this threat.
It it's taken Carter three and a half years to realize that the communists don't want to kiss his cheeks and sign the dotted line. They want to dominate the world.
Now that Carter has finally taken steps in the right direction, we must show signs of support, not demonstrate against the reenactment of registration for the draft. We need to show the communities that we're not immune to pansies war. Is not necessary, but real fear of strength and unity is vital to the well-being and freedom of our great country.
Don DeCelles Leawood Senior
To the Editor:
up with people walking into the theater
looking up from the stage, looking
looking for a soak in the dark. SUA films
usually start at 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
on weekends. If you can't make it on time, stay
away.
Common courtesy urged at SUA films
First, the old saying, "It's fashionable to be late," does not work for films. There is nothing more irritating than having to put
I always thought that universities were supposed to breed intelligent people. I was theater, KU students need a lesson in movie theatre etiquette and common courtesy.
At Woodfrid Auditourism, we do not give you a ticket stub. We keep the whole thing. If you have to step out, we give you a whole ticket so you can get back in. So停 being perturbed and angry when you don't get a stub. "It is really not the end of the world."
Another reason for execution occurs when people can sit still during the film. Most of you should be able to read by now and should realize that refreshments are not available in the dark, so need to get up and go outside five minutes. Smoke your cigarette, use the sallie de bain and get your drink before the movie starts. If you feel the need to jump out of your seat all the time, stay home and make a list of rackets, and it is distracting.
Crying babies are a severe drag—so are super tubs. SUA schools are run for KU students, who live in their home; they won't enjoy the films anyway, as they are programmed for smart college classes.
Finally, we generally leave the house lights dimmed during the previews, so those lights are not on. The ballerina is a bit faster. When you constantly yell "Turn out the lights," you are creating yet another light at the same time.
None of the things I mentioned occur during a legitimate theatre performance. The movies should be treated with equal respect.
Mark Gilman
SUA Films, Genre series
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