besbard aeld nottaud
Opinion
Page 4 University Dally Kansan, February 11, 1981
Four good years first
President Reagan's first 22 days in office have apparently been enjoyable ones. Enjoyable enough for him to now begin thinking about his second term.
At least, that's what one of the president's top political aides told a group of California Republicans earlier this week. Lyn Nofziger, who has the prestigious title of special White House assistant for political affairs, pledged that Reagan would run for renomination in 1984.
Wheat! Let's see how Reagan does in office before we go electe him.
Reagan should realize that the presidency ought to be won by superior performance; consequently, what he does the next four years will determine his reelection chances. The presidency is like a drivers' license, which, highway patrol officers are always saying, is a privilege.
not a right. Just as a drivers' license is not guaranteed, neither is the presidency.
In all fairness, Reagan himself probably isn't already plotting campaign strategy; Nofitzgera was probably just shooting off his mouth, as presidential aliases are wont to do. A word of advice to the president: Keep an eye on this Nofitzgera. He's starting to be an embarrassment and you haven't even been in office a month yet.
Perhaps more disturbing is that this political consultant apparently hasn't learned the lessons of recent political history. The last two presidents have failed in their re-election bids, largely because of the creepy things that went on during Nixon's re-election campaign.
Ford and Carter weren't re-elected because, in the public's estimation, they didn't perform. If Reagan wants to break that pattern, he would be wise to devote his administration to performance rather than re-election.
Pre-embassy takeover memo discusses 'Persian psyche'
New York Times special Features
NEW YORK—The following are excerpts from a confidential cable sent Aug. 13, 1979, to the Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, and signed by L. Bruce Lueheng, charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Tetanau, which was seized by militants three months later.
Lauen, the top American diplomat in Teheran after the exile of the shah, was one of the 52 Americans held hostage for 14 months. The New York Times acquired the cable on Jan. 36, 1900, but withdrew it from publication until the hostages were freed last month.
Recent negotiations in which the embassy has been involved here, ranging from compound security to viva operations... highlight several special features of conducting business in the Persian environment. In some instances the difficulties experienced by the collection of the effects of the Iranian revolution, but we believe the underlying cultural and psychological qualities that account for the nature of these difficulties are and will remain relatively constant. Therefore, we suggest that the following analysis be used to brief both U.S. and European states as a sector representatives who are required to do business with and in this country.
Perhaps the single dominant aspect of the Persian psyche is an overriding egoism. Its antecedents lie in the long Iranian history of instability and insecurity that put a premium on self-preservation. The practical effect of it is an almost total Persian preoccupation with self, and leaves little room for understanding points of view other than one's own.
Thus, for example, it is incompressible to an Iranian that U.S. immigration law may prohibit issuing him a tourist visa when he determined that he wants to live in California.
Similarly, the Iranian Central Bank sees no inconsistency in claiming force majeure to avoid penalties for late payment of interest due on outstanding loans while the government of which it is a part is denying the loan. Similarly, the Iranian Central Bank claims is made when confronted by similar claims from foreign firms forced to cease operations during the Iranian revolution.
The reverse of this particular psychological coin, and having the same historical roots as Persian igesum, is a pervasive unease about the nature of the world in which one lives. The nature of the world that notions it is permanent and it is commonly perceived that hostile forces abound.
In such an environment each individual must be constantly alert for opportunities to protect himself against the malevolent forces that would otherwise be his undying. He is obviously justified in using almost any means available to exhibit such opportunities.
This approach underlies the so-called "bazaar mentality" so common among Persians, a mind-set that often ignores longer term interests in favor of immediately observed advantages and countenances, practices that are regarded as unethical by other norms.
Coupled with these psychological limitations is a general incomprehension of God, a lack of spiritual awareness and the connempt of God, appartenence to account at least in major part for this phenomenon.
Somewhat surprisingly, even those ranians edit carefully their own writing with long experience outside India.
Witness a Yazid (Ibrahim Yazid, who was foreign minister when the embassy was seized) resisting the idea that Iranian behavior has consequences on the perception of Iran in the United States or that this persecution is related to American policies disregard Iran.
itself frequently have difficulty grasping the interrelationship of events.
This same quality also helps explain Persian aversion to accepting responsibility for one's own actions. The deus ex machina is always at work.
The Persian proclivity for assuming that to say something is to do it, further complicates matters. Again, Yazdi can express surprise when informed that the irregular security forces assigned to the embassy remain in place.
"But the central committee told me they would go by Monday," he says. There is no recognition that instructions must be followed and you must be accompanied by action and results.
Finally, there are the Persian concepts of influence and obligation. Everyone pays obisence to the former and the latter is usually honored in the breach.
Persians are consumed with developing parti bazi—the influence that will help get things done—while favors are only grudgingly bestowed and then just to the extent that a tangible quid pro quo is immediately perceptible.
Forget about assistance preferred last year
or request one now offered
First, one should never assume that his side of the issue will be recognized, let alone that it will be conceded to have merits. Persian preoccupation with self precludes this. A negotiator must force recognition of his position upon his Persian opposite number.
Second, one should not expect an Iranian readily to perceive the advantages of a long-term relationship based on trust. He will understand his own position, his opinion. In dealing with him he will attempt to maximize the benefits to himself that are immediately obtainable.
There are several lessons for those who would nectease with Persians in all this:
Editor
David Lewis
He will be prepared to go to great lengths to achieve this goal, including running the risk of so alienating whomever he is dealing with whose mood would be unintimable, at least to the latter.
Third, interlocking relationships of all aspects of an issue must be painstakingly, forcefully and repeatedly developed. Linkages will be neither readily comprehended nor accepted by Persian negotiators
Fourth, one should insist on performance as the sine quan non at each stage of negotiations. Statements of intention count for almost nothing.
Fifth, cultivation of good will for好will's sake is a waste of effort. The overriding objective at all times should be impressing upon the Persian across the table the mutuality of the proposed undertakings. He must be made aware that a quid pro quo is involved on both sides.
Finally, one should be prepared for the threat of breakdown in negotiations at any given moment and not be cowed by the possibility. Given the Persian negotiator's cultural and psychological limitations, he is going to resist the very concept of a rational (from the Western point of view) negotiating process.
The University Daily KANSAN
(UBS 680-449) Published at the University of Kansas Daily August through May and Thursday during June and July except August, Sunday and holidays, and second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas or New York. Second-class postage is $1.25 per month for the entire year include the county. Student subscriptions are $2 a semester, paid through the student activity fee. Permanent bad changes of address to the University Daily Kansas, Flint Hall, The University of Kansas, Kansas City.
Murmurant Editor... Ellen Iwamoto
Elliott Palmer... Don Munday
Radial Sales Manager
Bachelor's in Management or related field
Computer Manager and Adviseant
Business Manager
Larry Larson
Maritime Air & Space
Night Light
Black Light
chuck Chowman
Teradex
"I don't know. I think we could fit just one more on . . ."
Most of us have experienced the simple and unforgettable pleasure of eating freshly-baked bread or chocolate cake, of finishing an engaging and fulfilling short story or novel, or perhaps of rising to cheer a brilliantly executed game-winning touchdown pass. These become memories which we infrequently drag out; reminiscing after Grandmother's Christmas dinner or recalling Kansas' upset of Oklahoma way back in the fall of 76.
Decline in quality can be reversed
What is it that makes these singular events stand out? At base, I believe, is a distinct quotient of quality—a certain standard by which divide that which is good from that which is not.
Quality means an investment of time and energy to produce the finest possible result. Its presence, or its lack, characterizes anything man-made. And although its exact nature may vary, it is clear that quality nevertheless contains both form with content and a genuine concern for the user.
Yet contemporary critics join together in a chorus, maintaining that America's increased material well-being has created a marked decline in the quality of our lives. While post-World War II economic conditions have improved, they make in their economic standard of living, they made a qualitative trade-off to get there. Whether this was a conscious or unconscious choice depends largely on who you read. But, causality aside, there is a persistent consensus that deteriorating health is making people more are making way for an increased flood of trash.
We need go no further than Lawrence to find convincing examples of quality versus non-quality in our lives. Drive down 32rd Street from Iowa to Louisiana and compare it to downtown. The first thing we do is read the book or led Zeppelin and compare it to Beetowbens' 7th Symphony or Bruebeck's "Take Five." Read
Judith Krans and Stephen King and compare them to Eudora Welty and Saul Bellow. Watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and compare it to 'Farkasia'.
In any of these comparisons there is a clear, distinct difference. In each case, the second examples were created with a forethought and a list of questions for a viewer-listener, and not simply to make a back.
I'm certain that I'll be accused of being behind the times in not understanding that the mind is a tool.
DAVID
HENRY
laughter of television sitcoms contains something meaningful to a new generation of tastemakers. Their argument is that quality is subjective and the criteria used in judgment always charges. Look at Picasso, for example. His cult paintings horrified most critics when they first appeared while museums today greedily snatch them up at colossal prices. Or take Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring"—the infamous ballet score that caused Parisians to riot in 1913—now completely accepted in the musical repertoire.
Both Pietosca and Stravinsky weathered the storm because their work embodies quality. I can't imagine "Dallas" and Bruce Springsteen holding up—no matter what criteria you use. They've always changed change over a period of time, nevertheless, quality transcends questions of taste or fashion.
with elitism throughout history. Many great works of art were conceived as monuments of self-glorification to a small class of people—usually royalty of some variety. Even today, some of what is considered high-quality is priced beyond almost everyone's budget. Finely-crafted German automobiles and well-crafted furniture would bankrupt most of us.
Admittedly, quality has generally been tied
Interestingly, however, a higher price tag doesn't guarantee higher quality. For example, clothing, housewares and even automobiles, sporting the name or logo of some noted designer, be are purchased at staggering retail mark-ups. In joining this class-conscious club, people reveal lack of affair in their own clothes. In lieu of a "fancy" Klein blue jeans, then, by gold, I might as well, too." And by catering to people's insecurities, Calvin must be launching all the way to the bank.
It's all pretty depressing—our seeming damnation to mediocrity. Yet perhaps a solution to poor quality can be found hidden away in what generally creates the problem to begin with—namely, the capitalist marketplace. Simply put, if something doesn't sell, the manufacturer is going to suffer. Big automobiles, the life-blood of American carmakers for years, aren't selling. Polaroid nearly went under several years ago and back, quickly outrageously expensive, instant movie outfit. In both examples, people were saying, "Enough is enough."
One no forces us to read boring books or watch sadomasochistic violence and senseless sex in movies and television. We, as individuals, need to be more self-conscious in our consumer choices. The adage of the 60s activists, "If you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem," should be taken to heart the next time we watch "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" at the drive-in. In the end, the choices are ours to make.
Actor reaches for stars . . . to become one
They were best friends in high school, the actor and the journalist. As many friendships do, it lost some momentum during college as they went separate ways and formed their separate lives.
But they would still get together during vacations and catch up on each other's lives. The talk usually got around to goals and school, and to what they wanted after school. The journalist and to a certain degree between a career choice and a safe bet. The actor was openly pursuing the dream, the chance.
And predictably, the actor led the more exciting life. The actor was working in the Dallas theatre community while majoring in theatre at Texas Christian University.
When they talked, the actor would talk about Dallas and the bright, glittering world of show business. The stuff of dreams. Additions. Commercials. The olim of the big break.
The role didn't make his name—Ban Stephenman—a household word, but it made his name well-known in Dallas, which is called the film industry because of its attractiveness as a movie location.
The actor had landed his first acting role on TV. He had appeared last week in "Critics at Central High" on CBS, starring Joanne Woodward. The actor played a high school student.
It was not his first time in a movie. He had appeared as an extra for five seconds in "The Lath of Heaven," which was shown last January on PBS.
The journalist was not surprised by all the activity. Ever since he had known him, the actor had been intent on "making it." That was why he was graduating this spring a year early, so that he would have to be successful. He had that drive that one must have to be successful in a profession as difficult as acting.
"I don't think it is a question of whether I make
when, but when" he would say when they would talk
to each other.
The journalist talked to the actor after the hit on TV. He didn't change his attitude.
"People say, God, aren't you scared to go to
He had been that way ever since the journalist had known him. They met in high school, playing the jazz band. They discovered they had mutual friends in college and together in both and they became good friends.
They played in various school bands and worked together in various shows, the actor usually in a lead role and the journalist in the chorus on a crew.
L. A.," but I'm really not that frightened," he said, "We've never been scared of the business."
he always worked at being famous. He would introduce himself to established actors. He wrote
DAN
TORCHIA
letters to Laurence Olivier asking for advice on acting. To his surprise, Olivier wrote back twice, at first discouraging him to enter acting and then wishing him luck.
When he graduated from high school, the actor went to TCU. He got some roles at first, but then they dropped off. He began doing outside work. The teacher he didn't do any shows at the university.
But that didn't matter to the journalist. He saved the article about him that was in the Kansas City Star. He cleared last Wednesday for a return, but he was moved on he moved a little closer so he could see better.
"When you do outside work, they tend not to use you," he said.
Now he was in his first speaking role on TV. The actor didn't have a major part. He was in three scenes and had about a dozen lines. He wasn't listed in the closing credits.
The movie was OK, the journalist thought, though he probably wouldn't have watched it if it weren't for his friend. But he did, and he felt that he had succeeded in expected at some one's special accomplishments.
He was doing exactly what he had set out to do; and that affected the journalist. The actor had been a good friend of him.
"My dream is to be a major recognized, respected actor," he said.
The journalist had seen so many people trade part or all of their dreams for some security. The actor hadn't. He always said he would be an actor, and now he was one.
"I wouldn't be happy doing anything else," he said.
Since he has been in Dallas, I have been standing in the wings, perhaps as an eternal fiam. He might be famous, and he might not. But the gift is giving a shot. And he just might make it.
Letters Policy
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affirmed by the university, the letter should include the writer's home town or faculty or staff position.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit letters for publication.