Opinion
Page 4 University Daily Kansan, April 17, 1981
Tell the Pentagon 'No'
Ask and ye shall receive.
That must be the Pentagon's new motto, because since Jan. 20, the Pentagon's been asking and it's been receiving—quite generously on both counts. It's being asked for all sorts of imaginative (and expensive) defense programs. So far, it’s been getting manna—not from heaven, but from the White House.
The extent to which the Pentagon has captured the fancy of the administration was demonstrated last week, when President Reagan reportedly gave the goahead for the Navy to develop a controversial special communications network. The Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) system, designed to transmit messages to submerged nuclear submarines, had all but been given up for dead, until Reagan apparently revived it.
ELF would be an incredible array of buried transmitters strategically situated in Michigan and Wisconsin. It's controversial because the long-term effects of continuous low frequency signals on human health and the environment are unclear; residents of those states are less than eager to be human guinea pigs, all so that nuclear submarines can participate in a nuclear war a few hours earlier.
But ELF isn't the only dreamy scheme given the green light by the administration. Consider the MX missile program, destined to irrevocably change Utah and its surrounding deserts. But the most outrageous plan by far is Reagan's proposal to bring at least two World War II-Class battleships out of moth balls and back into active service.
Battleships! Their usefulness was dwindling nearly 40 years ago in the Pacific theatre, made obsolete by accurate torpedoes, ship-to-ship missiles and the airplane. Yet the president would like to see these naval dinosaurs once again lumber across the seas—at a cost of millions of dollars to the American taxpayer. Perhaps reviving Roman galleries and Viking longboats will be the next nostalgic defense step.
The administration must learn that the Pentagon will request whatever captures its military fancy, whether practical or not, whether cost-effective or extravagant. Reagan's commitment to strengthening American defense will have to be done reasonably. The Pentagon is like a new puppy—to train it, it must be rapped on the nose a few times.
President Reagan will have to learn to say "no" to the Pentagon's imaginary plans, and ELF would be an excellent place to start. After all, America can still defend itself without going hardware crazy.
The pennant snatchers
Thank you, thieves.
Thanks for stealing those festive banners that were hung around the campus on Wednesday. You remember—the pink, blue, yellow and green ones that said "Kansas" and "Relays." The ones that added to the celebrational atmosphere for the Relays going on now.
Thanks for sneaking in during the night on Wednesday and yanking off all the banners. Thanks for braving what must have been extreme personal danger, considering the presence of KU police, which must have been patrolling Jayhawk Boulevard as usual. Thieves, your courage has not gone unnoticed.
We know you'll find a much better use for the banners than did the 20,000 or so people on campus Wednesday. We know the
banners will please you more than they would have pleased the thousands who are attending the Relays. Enjoy them immensely. Hang them on your wall. Use them as drapes.
Ah, but thieves, you left so many other attractive things on campus untouched! True, our eyes were a bit disappointed Thursday morning by the absence of the banners, but springtime at KU is so pleasant that we couldn't be too disappointed.
And thank you, thieves, for showing that there's still a problem with banners at KU. We all thought the banner flap ended with the change of chancellors, but you've proven that there still is a problem—albeit, this time the administration's not at fault.
And most of all, thank you for your kind consideration. Or, rather, lack of it.
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
Creationism-evolution debate still popular education issue
I would like to say a few words in response to Amy Holloway's editorial in the March 30 KC newspaper.
To start with, I agree that there must be a separation in church and state and that no religious text should be taught in schools. But that is not the issue here. The issue is what is being taught and, more importantly, how it is being taught.
Evolution is no longer being presented as a theory. Rather, it is now being called a fact. But, as if that were not enough, it is a theory that should not be questioned.
Hollowell presented us with the names of Einstein, Newton, Pasteur and Leonardo da Vinci as examples of scientists whose theories were challenged and these men went against the common train of scientific thought in their day to formulate the theories that made them great. Why should they as students be ridiculed for their ideas? How did the common scientific thought of our day?
As to whether creationism should be taught in the classroom, I only have this to say: Creationism does not name any god or life force. It is not strictly Christian. It is an alternative theory to evolution. If we really believe in having an atmosphere in which ideas can be exchanged and debated, then why not teach both theories?
After all, if evolution is the correct theory,
it should be able to weather any and all
criticism. Erik J. Brokaw
Teaching nonsense
"Scientific" creationists would like the public to believe that their doctrine is scientific and that scientific opinion is divided over "origins." Neither of these claims is true.
To the editor:
Creationists of the Segrews variety represent a fringe group of fundamentalist Christians who believe that everything in the Bible is literally and thus scientifically true.
Members of such organizations as the Creation Research Society must sign a statement of beliefs in the scientific accuracy of the Bible. The founder of the CRS and the Creation Research Institute, Henry Morris, the evolution is "the anti-God conspiracy of Satan himself." My goodness, no wonder the creationists arg so unset!
I, of course, do not object to Morris or anyone else holding to such beliefs. I object to the other sorts of nonsense that these people would like to see taught in our public schools. Here is an example of Morris's astronomy: "The fractures and scars of the moon and Mars, the shattered remnants of an erstwhile planet that became the asteroids, and the rocky surfaces of the swarms . . . reflect some kind of heavenly catastrophe associated with either Satan's rebellion or his continuing battle against Michael and his angels."
Neal Frey of Christian Heritage College (home of the Institute for Creation Research) states, "If the students are merely exposed to rival systems of knowledge—hence to mutually contradictory assumptions—without having Christ-centered, Biblical truth rigorously defined, organized and persistently held, they will not be students will commonly select from each system the elements which seem the most plausible."
"Scientific" creationists wish for "equal time" and "fair play," but they do not practice that they preach in their own schools. Evolution is brought up only to be laughed at.
So much for equal time and fair play. If we adopt their demands, how shall we conduct ourselves in the classroom? Will not the adoption of a fundamentalist philosophy (which would seem to be demanded by Frey) violate academic freedom?
Morris states, "We do not know what the future might hold . . . we may yet see a real change in our schools and colleges, viable alternatives in our schools and colleges. The ultimate results, in terms of a revival of biblical Christianity (fundamentalism) in our national life and individual lives, are exciting to contemplate." This might be exciting to me, but it should scare the hell out of the rest of us.
You might say, "Surely this is meant only for private religious schools, not for public schools!" Not so; it is apparent that the issue of the right to education toward the imposition of such values on us all.
Assistant curator, Museum of Natural History
DEEP IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES A MAN KNOWN ONLY AS "RAUL THE STITCH" TRAINS HIS CONTINGENT IN GUERRILLA WARFARE, HARDENING THEM FOR THE DAY THEV RETURN TO CUBA TO FREE IT FROM THE COCKROACH CASTRO...
Pot Shots
It's the end of another semester, and everybody's got problems: unfinished term papers, threatening finals, flat bicycle tires. Just be thankful for that. You won't have to them all. You probably won't be sympathetic.
But a friend told me of a problem the other day
touchs with my friends. I was very lucky
that the LEGEND never hit her
He said he first noticed the problem after a softball game. While his friends were beaming
"Oh, my poor Nickle! All these college
housewives said to a sympathetic mother,
housewife
And she was right. Nickle the collie certainly was upset. However, using the word "nervous" to describe a snarling ball of fur with at least 19 rows of teeth was a slight understatement.
As a rule, collies are friendly and docile, and Nickie is no exception. He likes children and other dogs, and he likes college students. The
"I won't look good if I'm bald," he wailed.
"People will see the dent I got in my head when I fall off my tricycle in kindergarten!"
pulled muscles, twisted ankles and hangovers from drinking too much beer in the hot sun, he was rubbing Solarcaine on the sunburned spot on top of his head.
There I was, worried about little things, like getting a job, finding my identity and coming up with enough credits to graduate someday. And there was a person who made it all seem trivial. Age and its concomitant wisdom would cure my problems, but only aggravate his.
There was a person whose forehead was getting longer.
At college they teach you to question things. And they're got me questioning some things—but it's the comic strips that are always arousing my curiosity.
"Wow." I said sympathetically, trying to understand, but knowing I never would.
Immigrant, you say? Well, if comics are unimigrant, then it is just coincidence that right after they stopped running the Crimestoppers' arsenal, the gang then went on an epidemic of violent crimes in this country.
Vanessa Nerron
problem is that he would like students better if they came with hollandalse sauce and a side order of potatoes.
Passing by Nickie's house on the way to class has become a daily trauma. This semester, I have been seen to wave my arms wildly at the beast and heard to mutter, "Back off, Pooch."
And there are other cartoon mysteries 1 want
This week, however, I decided that direct confrontation is the answer, because Nina wouldn't mind which lizard was thinner.
Since then, I have developed a system. I avert my eyes when walking on Nickie's turt, and he refrains from removing any of my bodily appendages.
I have found that this system works spendidly, but only one problem remains:
If there's anything I hate, it's being trained by a dog.
answered. Why is "Blondie" still set in the 1930s? The Burnstad house was organized in some sort of warp! And if the Wizard of Id can really do it, come his wife still looks like a lady wrestler?
Does lonely old Mary Worth ever have frisky dreams?
But the question that keeps me awake nights is why, in "Steve Canyon," haven't they revealed what happened to Summer Canyon all those months when she disappeared? You know the Russians had something to do with it. Conspiracy theorists should have a field day.
Basically, it's not right to keep us readers in suspense for five years. Even in "Doonesbury", when Duke was missing in mission, Trudeau him back as the 53rd hostage. Fair is fair.
Leisure, not unemployment, will be one of the biggest social problems in the future, according to a British employment consultant. He believes another "social revolution" is imminent. This revolution, caused by an increased automation in commerce and industry displacing millions of workers, will bring significant changes to established work patterns.
In the society of the future, people will have more leisure time; they will be forced to work a shorter work week to allow more people "the right to work."
Automation may shorten work week
It makes sense. Robot sales last year in the United States alone totaled $90 million—one-third of the world's market. Robots, it seems, with the aid of computers and microprocessors, already are being used extensively in the automobile, aerospace, appliance, glass, rubber and machinery industries. And many busi-
ness are moving toward the electronic office, with the use of robots to perform the same and advanced communication methods already eliminating much of the office paper work.
This also is eliminating many jobs. A recent report prepared by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress stated that “once electronic office and advanced robot machinery comes on the impact could be immense. Many workers at the factory assistants may be replaced through automation.”
Does this mean vastly increased unemployment, robotics and other machinery replace millions of jobs?
The report also stated that "the social impact of this revolution is expected to be dramatic."
The problem still hasn't hit home with most of us. We weren't around during the days when cars replaced horses and put blacksmiths out of work. The question we should be asking is whether the pace of technological change is manageable any longer, and whether we can handle the change.
Most Americans are still driven by the Protestant work ethic—they believe leisure has
The experts tells us to be optimistic; large numbers of skilled technical and engineering jobs will be created as well. This will lead to increased productivity, and that means higher living standards, we are told. All right for them if they can do it, but the workers and liberal arts graduates who can't tell the front end of a monkey wrench when we see one, let alone a microprocessor?
to be earned, and they drive themselves very hard in pursuit of the "right to work." But the changing nature of work in Western society may require a rethinking of attitudes toward work and leisure.
Part-time work is the only way to solve the problem created by technological advances, says Aline Hooper, the national secretary of the Employer and Consultants of Professional Agencies and Consultants.
It appears inevitable that there will have to be a reduction in standard working hours.
PETER
SOMERVILLE
Australian workers, for example, already enjoy four weeks annual leave, with some industries' employees working a 35-hour week. But the need to be more drastic—like a 20-hour week.
Stan Parker, a British sociologist, agrees that it's time we looked closely at a more flexible living style in which work, education and leisure are not packaged into such a rigid formula as they are now—two decades of education, four decades of work, two decades of retired leisure.
At the moment we have large numbers of young, inexperienced people who can't get a job. Then we have older people who are fit and healthy and don't want to be pushed into retirement. And in the middle we have a bunching of people who don't want to be doing other things, such as learning a new skill or taking a few years off to see the world.
Work could be shared more equitably if people were allowed to drop in and out of the workforce instead of the competitive scramble we now have; they could work more flexible hours or share their jobs. It appears that the economy of the future will not allow anything less; only the prejudice and inertia of administration and business managers would stand in our way.
T
There are now 1 million auto workers out of work because of the combination of a drop in American car sales and automation of the assembly line. The problem is not going to be solved by new cars. They are old cars. And increased automation of industry is going to surge ahead, dramatically.
Of course, automation shouldn't be rejected simply to keep people busy. But sometime soon, it's predicted, our work-oriented society may undergo another social upheaval resulting in an increase in lesions or even fatality. We don't underease the capacity of humanity to adapt. After all, human society has survived other social revolutions, and the outcome usually has left it better than before.
"W
Legi:
Smith
the s
record
If KU this s
He beca did r ing e
KANSAN
R
The University Daily
(USP$ 685-400) Published at the University of Kansas daily August through May and Monday and Thursday during June and July except Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas or by mail for USP$ 9.99 each. Postmaster's address is 312 W. 70th St., Lawrence, KS 68101 outside the county. Student subscriptions are a $2 semester, paid through the student activity fee. Postmaster: Send changes of address to the University Daily Klamath, Flint Hastings, The University of Kansas
cont both
prior
the
than
Editor David Lewh
Managing Editor Elen Iwamoto
Editorial Editor Don Munday
Business Manage
Terri Erv
Retail Sales Manager ... Larry Leibengard
National Sales Manager ... Claire Leitl
General Manager and News Advisor ... Rick Murdock
Human Resources ... Mike Kerns