Opinion
Page 4 University Daily Kansan, January 29, 1981
A political showstopper
State Rep. Joseph J. Hoagland appears to be on a ludicrous political ego trip.
Hoagland, R-Overland Park, has scheduled hearings to examine tenure at Regents schools—not so much out of concern for the University of Kansas, but out of a desire to air "tent-up" feelings.
After denouncing KU's Norman Forer and his trip to Iran, the Kansas House gave Hoarland a standing ovation.
For his exploits in the Legislature, Hoagland deserves a resounding chorus of boos.
Hoagland has criticized Forer for tarnishing the image of the University. Yet the legislator's mindless tirade last week can best be described as destructive. At a
time when KU is trying to retain high quality faculty members, Hoagland's remarks hardly can be construed as a benefit to KU's image—the image he allegedly wants to protect.
Hoagland called Forer dishonest, yet he is trying to capitalize on Forer to further his political interests, whatever they may be. Hoagland has unfairly linked Forer's trip to the tenure issue. Controversy over Forer's trip should not become a long-winded waste of time in the Legislature. After all, the Legislature has more pressing needs to occupy its time.
In short, Heagland should stick to his oil and utility interests, where his talents may be best suited.
Consumers treat abundance luxuries with a grain of salt
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
Although they were penned 150 years ago by William Wordsworth with England in mind, these words perhaps more accurately describe the situation that exists at the present time in the
With the phenomenal success of capitalism in this country has come a quantity of wealth on a scale far vaster than that enjoyed by England in Wordsworth's day, vaster even than any in the
ERIC BRENDE
history of the world. With that wealth has come the onslaught of materialism, the frenzied pursuit of dollars, self-engorgement, and self-indulgence by the populace. So great, indeed, has the appetite of the "consumer" of modern American life become that by official consensus he now "consumes" radios, TVs, magazines, cars, houses and clothes in addition to food.
Such gluttony would be tolerable if the consumer actually enjoyed or appreciated the luxuries with which he indulged himself, luxuries more luxurious than any the emperors of Rome ever revealed in or, for that matter, had any inkling of except in their wildest dreams; but they could to sound preachy—that even now three-fourths of the world's population barely exist.
But it is inevitable: the consumer takes them for granted. In fact, the more he eats, the less satisfied he is. The luxuries of a minute ago become the necessities of now, and as Rousseau has pointed out, "The want of them becomes far more disagreeable than the possession of them is
Artificial needs pile on artificial needs like layers of luffa on a tumbling snowball until when the limited world of the consumer finally hits bottom, it explodes into nothingness. It is fair to compare this with an event in the last 30 years, where actually has come a decline in the enjoyment and quality of living.
Closer to home, recent and disturbing studies of the emerging character of American college students reveal that what they look forward to most after college is the possession of material things. The attainment of any higher goals is far down on their lists.
In contrast, parallel studies of foreign students, for example, Mexicans, show that they have only casual interest in their material surroundings, that they are six times more likely than American students to anticipate deriving their "greatest sources of pride" from service to their nation. A majority said that helping others would be one of their goals in life.
Is gluttony inextricably linked to our capitalist system? Not really. Much of the rest of the world, however, seems to think so. In the third world especially, the words "capitalist" and "pig" go together like "rice" and "paddy," "Sao" and "Paulo," "bread" and "water," or "punji" and "stick." Nevertheless, gluttony isn't so much something that is inextricably linked to
capitalism, as it is something that readily follows from it.
In any case, to solve the problem we can follow one of three separate paths. We can stay capitalists and cease being pets. We can stay farmers and cease being pets. Or we can become neither and cease being both.
Working backwards, the last option, implicitly advocated by those the likes of George McGovern, emails redistributing the wealth to the point where everyone is deprived of it except the federal bureaucracy. The new system would then be something approaching socialism.
The second option is too ridiculous to consider.
The first option, entails the taking of personal initiative. On their own, without coercion from the federal government, people need to snap out of the materialist trance and awaken to the realization that the comforts they already have are no longer a part of them, and then them any happier; quite the reverse. Admittedly, the cards are stacked against those who attempt the noble endeavor.
We enter the materialist world like innocent soldier boys in adversely parachuting into a bordello located behind enemy lines. No matter how steadfast we may intend to be, it is only a matter of time before we weaken, lower our defenses, and helplessly surrender ourselves to our enticing adversaries, who all the while parade their wares about us, blocking all exits.
And there, in the seedy bordello of materialism, we are likely to remain, our wild binges of spending and consuming interrupted only by an occasional genitalion toward Ralph Nader, until we drop dead of an allure probably caused by over-consumption.
Indeed, our fate would seem to be sealed from the moment of birth, at which point our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are already goddies in undigested attempts to "spoil" us.
The attachment to material things is then reinforced by our peers, media advertising blitzes, and planned obsolescence on the part of toy manufacturers. ("But, mommy, I'm the only one on the block who doesn't have the new deluxe GJ Joe (Bachie Doll Jones set.)"
Our official indoctrination into the materialist milieu doesn't come, however, until we take "Consumer Education" in high school, proclaimed a "right of every citizen" by Gerald Ford during his presidency, as "CSU Education." We should not become a consumer educator so that consumer ed teaches us how to, not how not to.
And then as we grow older, success in life tends to be measured not by the amount of self-fulfillment or personal satisfaction we achieve, but by the standard of living.
But still, although it would be unrealistic to suppose that we could disengage ourselves entirely from the materialist milieu, we can at least separate ourselves from its worst excesses and thereby rid ourselfs of the latter half of the problem. In fact, if the problem, however, is recognizing that it exists in the first place. Indeed, this could prove to be the major stumbling block.
You'd have a hard time convincing anyone eating in a residence hall cafeteria that the half-finished tray of food he is about to throw away would be a gourmet prize worth killing for in Sudan. But if you could somehow, you'd be supplying the snap of the fingers initially necessary to bring him out of the materialist spell that affinity has cast on all of us.
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Dolores 81
Tenure a very delicate subject at KU
A few days ago, I visited a social welfare professor. She beckoned me into her office and the interview went smoothly—until the subject of tenure was introduced.
"No comment," she said, lowering her voice. "I really can't talk about it."
She motioned me out of the office and planted herself firmly in the doorway.
"I'm sorry, but I really can't comment about that," she said.
A cordial smile was frozen on her face.
Normally, tenure is not such an uncomfortable subject for KU faculty members. But for the state's tenure system, this has not been a normal week.
The trouble began last Wednesday on the floor of the Kansas House of Representatives, when State Rep. Joseph J. Hoagland, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced his committee's agenda. Somehow, during a routine announcement, Mr. Hoagland used a threat against Norman Forer, Clarence Dillingham and the School of Social Welfare.
Apparently, the school is a seedbed of malcontents, he said.
Hoagland, an alumnus of KU's School of Law, was answered by a standing ovation from several congressional cronies. Encouraged by the response, the representative scheduled two judiciary committee hearings to study the state's tenure system.
Apparently, an Iranian-loving faculty number has used the system as a front for unarmed combat.
Hogland said the hearings, which began Tuesday and continue today, will simply close without further comment.
But he added darkly, "if for one don't think that tenure ought to be an absolute defense, and if it is, then we're going to do away with it."
This week's hearings can be interpreted in several ways. Hoagland seems to think that tenure is on trial. Norman Forer seems to think that Norman Forer is on trial.
However, anyone who has closely observed the judiciary committee's actions should fear that free expression in Kansas' state universities is on trial.
Kansas' tenure policies are designed to protect the free expression of all faculty members who have shown their merit in teaching, research and community service.
Tenured professors cannot be fired (or in administrative parlance, "not re-hired") merely because they express unpopular
VANESSA
HERRON
beliefs. Tenured professors are not afraid to teach; they have never been faced with a door that has not been afraid to speak near open doors.
Tenure acts as a shock absorber between faculty members and the prevailing opinions. It frees them to think critically, and most faculty members frees them to teach others to think critically.
Like everything else, the tenure system in Kansas is not perfect. As it stands, tenured faculty members can only be asked to resign in cases of incompetence or moral turpitude, or if they violate a standard of professional ethics.
Of course, faculty members are rarely fired and in many departments, staffs tend to stagnate. Tenure also takes away a very valuable incentive—the burden of accountability.
Most human beings who are seldom evaluated—whether they are students who are never tested, longtime civil servants, or tenured professors—feel secure and unassailable. This nice, warm feeling usually leads to a loss of productivity.
Several KU faculty members have said that the tenure system should be re-evaluated.
However, it should not be re-evaluated in the publicity-soaked atmosphere of this week's
Some of Hoagland's statements before the hearings seem to indicate that he is not solely a former governor.
The representative said he had received "more phone calls of congratulations than I could possibly hope to return." And many have offered to contribute to his 1982 campaign.
Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.
In addition, the fact that Hoagland's attack on tenure began with an attack on a single professor may lend credence to one faculty member's summary of the week's events.
"I think Hoagland's out to nab Forer," the faculty member said.
"I'll make him prove what he said on the floor." he said earlier this week.
To be fair, Forer's intention to use the hearing as an arena in which to defend his actions is inappropriate. Technically, Forer and Dillingham's penchant for *do-it-yourself* away from their University duties. They should not have expected payment for it.
Today, Forer will explain thecircumstances to Iran and he will inform Beirut, Heathrow.
Forer abused his privileges as a tenured professor and as one faculty member put it, having him defend tenure at the hearings is like having a fox defend the chickens.
In all likelihood, the tenure controversy will
be when all concerned have milked it drxfo
dryfo.
After that, perhaps the Legislature, the Board of Regents and the universities can get down to the serious business of re-evaluating the requirements and weaknesses of Kansas tenure system.
The job needs to be done—but it should not be done by a posse.
The majority of student groups seeking Senate funding (a misnomer—the money comes out of your pocket; it is not graciously bestowed by the kind hand of Senate) came ill-prepared to hearings with grossly exaggerated and or unintuitive requests for money.
Moreover, many of these groups are perfectly capable of achieving self-sufficiency through membership fees and fund-raising activities; however, the more money a group can prove to be essential to its existence, the more it will be granted at budget hearings.
Letters to the Editor
Student activity fee increase unnecessary
After sitting through Student Senate budget hearings last March as co-chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee, I was appalled to learn that the Finance and Auditing Committee is now considering a $5.00 increase in the Student Activity Fee.
I began to question the validity of most requests. Many groups funded through Student Senate are largely social in nature and cater to a relatively small percentage of KU's population. I found that a group that received University as a whole are not great enough to justify funding from the Student Activity Fee.
To the editor:
I would hate to see a decline in the quality of any program that is funded by the Student Activity Fee and is enjoyed by a large percentage of the University. With the rising costs of supplies, I can understand the need of deserving groups for more money.
I also understand that the line dividing
deserving groups from non-deserving groups is a
factor of 10.
Therefore, those groups that do attempt to raise all or part of their revenue are penalized because the Senate distributes a fixed amount of money. Distribution is too often according to the need of an organization rather than to its contribution to the University as a whole.
Judy Werder
Topeka sophomore
Senate re-examines each organization's contribution to the University and uses the results of this re-examination as the basis for funding, the budget, and any fee. Should meet increasing costs of supplies.
The smoking policy at this University and in the city of Lawrence is antiqued. Indoor air quality continues to deteriorate as it has since I moved here 2/4 years ago.
Policy is puff, puff
To the editor:
It is enough to strangle in the halls and, after all, even our antiquated smoking policy is supposed to protect our rights to a smoke-free classroom environment.
Last semester, I was forced to request that professors in two out of three classes ask students not to smoke in classrooms (in Wesco and Strong hills). This semester, I have already encountered one professor who puffed away the class and apparently obviated to the fact that neither graduated with a proper policy; smoking is to be required in seminars only if there is no one who requests. I object.
It is long past time for smokers to realize that their rights stop where "our" air begins.
Smoke detestors can forget the KU dining areas; smokers do not observe the policy in the no-smoking sections in the Union, and Wesco can accommodate all of maybe 30 students. They can also forget the public presentations such as "The Barefoot Man," the seminar, both held in the Forum Room of the Union last semester. Even the bookstores accommodate that detestable vice.
Scientific studies show that smoke is dangerous to everyone's health. For the University to not only ignore such results but to encourage the degradation of indoor environments is an effect poorly on KU as an educational institution. How can one expect better from the city?
The University should immediately establish "smoking areas" in buildings where deemed necessary. Ashtrays should be removed from all public areas, including the hallways, restrooms, Union dining and meeting areas, departmental offices, etc. Smoking should be banned in these areas; smoking policies should be enforced. This is the case at progressive universities throughout the country.
I would like to direct Robert Cobb's attention to this matter for consideration at the next University-wide open meeting. It is of much concern to me.
Catherine Matthews Lawrence graduate student
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 chairperson of the committee should include the writer's class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit letters for publication.