4
Wednesday, February 17, 1971
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN comment
Lawrence is apparently going to have a police auxiliary force. Two closed-door meetings were held last week to discuss its formation.
Some Lawrence officials, as well as many citizens, have deep reservations about the proposals and the secrecy surrounding the organizational meetings has not served to allay these reservations, for secrecy invariably imparts an ominous aura when it is invoked by public officials, especially those of the Vern Miller genre.
Obviously, many citizens with vigilant leanings will see this force as a means of legitimizing their desires to crack heads. Some type of rigorous testing will be necessary. There's no question but that they do exist in Lawrence—Klan type meetings were held in corn fields near the city this past summer.
City Manager Buford Watson has expressed the hope that if the unit is formed, the volunteers should have to undergo the same types of psychological and physical testing that qualify regular police officers (whether these are sufficient is another question).
Among proposals put forth at the meetings last week was the assumption that members would be armed. This could lead to a potentially explosive situation. It is questionable whether amateur, untrained civilians should be given this much license—which amounts to legal sanction for what could become a tragic situation.
Ideally, vigilant-type would not be the only citizens attracted to such a force. Ideally, the auxiliary unit would be composed of members of all minority groups in the city, blacks as well as whites, Mexicans, poor and middle-class, young and old. If the auxiliary force becomes an all-white middle class mini-army responsible to Vern Miller, we can only hope to see an increase in tensions at a time when tension and distrust need to be assuaged.
There are justifiable fears that the formation of this auxiliary police force would create more problems than if could solve, and just because Vern Miller had a similar force in Sedgwick County when he was sheriff is no justification for its existence in Lawrence.
Bob Womack
The Lawrence police force is understaffed. An auxiliary group of citizens could perform the everyday tasks (traffic control, answering routine accident calls, etc.) of police to relieve them if there should ever be another horrible period of civil strife. These routine tasks should include those not requiring the use of a firearm.
The best way to meet police understaffing is for Lawrence voters to approve a city sales tax in the April elections. Increased revenue from the tax would permit the hiring of additional trained police officers.
Stop the World, Etc.
A headline in the February 10 issue of the Kansas City Star said the recent earthquake in California was a "small concession." The real thing, the supershock, was still to come, according to a St. Louis University seismologist.
I would think that the people of the northern mountain regions of Peru were scared when mother nature decided that the mountain should go to Mohammed. And that some of the people of Ecuador and Colombia were preparing their appeasement sacrifices in advance.
I would think that India, in the yard next door, was scared, and Burma and Ceylon, playing a little way off in the streets were scared.
What a concession! With almost 50 deaths confirmed and searches still going on for survivors. To call the earthquake a "small concession" is to say that old mother nature has to come up with something much more gory to scare the people in this part of the world.
I would think that the West Pakistanis were scared late last year when the tidal wave delivered a huge package of Mother nature's ferocity to their doorstep. The defenseless peasants of the plains could not refuse to accept delivery.
Not that I want to take issue with the Star for the headline, nor do I wish to give the impression of associating myself with the fatalists, but it is difficult to shrug of the apprehension I feel when I think of all the 'natural' disasters we face without making our own contributions.
Yes, the supershock is still to come. California is yet to be swept into the sea. Maybe there will be more talk of great drops in property values. And maybe there will be a great exodus to other parts of the country, especially after last week's portent.
But one thing is certain: Californians will not be coming to the Midwest. There is a greater problem here. Seismologists say that the destructive potential of the
earthquakes locked in the New Madrid fault in Southeast Missouri far exceeds the "small concession" of the California rumblings.
There have been quakes in the New Madrid area before. The most severe earthquake in the history of the United States was recorded there in December, 1811. A total of 1,874 shocks were felt between December 16, 1811 and March 15, 1812.
Perhaps those were the ones I felt in my spiritual state before coming into the world—I often wondered why my steps were a little roolly polly.
Nevertheless, it is reassuring to know that people have faith in this old earth to hold her end of the bargain for a long time to come. Otto Nuttli, a professor of the St. Louis University geophysics department, says firey old mother nature is going to crack her whip in the New Madrid fault area again.
There is no "if" about the quake, just a lot of uncertainty about the "when." Nuttli says a year, or maybe 100 years or even 1000 years, but it will happen.
Bookmakers would go crazy trying to give odds on the date. Maybe someone will take the California disaster, add it to the mayhem in Pakistan, subtract the bedlam of five million bleating sheep falling into the fissures in Peru, multiply by the woes of the survivors on Hiroshima and speculate on the possibility of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee becoming the great lake of North America, and issue the odds on property values for the next 1,000 years.
There is no telling what would happen if someone decided that there should be a campaign to bring the nation up to date on the possibilities of earthquakes. Add the dust of crumbling rock to water pollution and all the by-products of industrial advancement and we'll soon be saying thank God for NASA and the moon.
—Duke Lambert
Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles that will appear in the Kansas从 time to time while the Kansas Legislature is in session. Paul Hess, a first year law student, is a member of the University Judiciary and a former member of the 1971 Kansas Legislature.
A Look at the Legislature
Major Bills of Session Explained
By PAUL HESS
More than 550 bills have now been introduced this session, on almost all subjects including sin, death, and taxes. Monday was the deadline for the introduction of total bills. Iv sponsored or co-sponsored more than 10 bills.
The first piece of legislation I introduced, along with six other legislators, was a resolution to put a proposed constitutional amendment to reduce the Kansas voting age to 18. I felt that the outcome will be close, and I hope it happens.
house or apartment, club or in public, has a penalty of $1,000 and six months in jail, or even entering a place with Bingo or slot machines with intent to play, subject you to a likeness for a. raffle or betting pool, or failure to pay a fine or prison. The Attorney General or any County Attorney supposed to enforce these laws, until they are changed.
There is a distinct possibility the "bingo" amendment may be submitted at the same time. It would repeal the present section of the statute which forbids lotteries and other games, including gambling, the latter, at the discretion of the Legislature.
Playing pitch, domines, bridge, poker or any other game of chance for stakes of 1 cent or more, in your own
I would like to highlight some of the more interesting bills before the Legislature:
Ecology has gained such prominence in government that a bill has been introduced to aid population control. This bill would allow the claiming of only two children as dependents on Kansas income tax returns after 1972. This would allow for a couple to limit themselves to two children, but would not be retraactive or apply to adopted children.
There is considerable debate concerning the consolidation of city and county law enforcement units. Another bill calls for abolishing the office of county attorney and establishing a system of district attorneys
A resolution has been presented to decrease the size of a House from 125 members to 80 and to increase the number of fireplaces.
Tuition grants-in-aid is a hot issue. It would provide for Tuition grants for students to attend accredited independent Kansas colleges, not to exceed $1,000 per student. Tuition grants in Kansas are strongly pushing for this proposal.
A Senator has introduced a bill that would authorize the Board of Regents to designate which state university or college will be the sole campus for their students.
Last Friday, I introduced a bill to create a commission to study the qualifications and representative composition of the state Board of Regents. Four other younger members of the Kansas House co-sponsored this bill.
The purpose of this act is to determine whether the Board of Regents as constituted can be improved to more closely cope with the many and varied problems in education, given how low can the board be made the field responsive to students?
The commission would be authorized and empowered to interview any or all of the members of the present Kansas City office, any or all of the employees of the State of Kansas on the Board of Regents, best composition of the Board of Regents in regard to qualifications and representation. It would be empowered to employ or contract for consultation any experts it may wish to provide.
It would be the duty of the head of the state to submit to the governor and the legislature a written report on the budget.
If you are concerned about the makeup of the Kansas Board of Regents, then write your legislator in Topeka and send it to the Kansas Office of Public Service.
My next article will attempt to articulate the experiences of a typical day as a legislator in Topeka.
'It appears to have been launched from that little old dead planet. What do you make of it?'
Crisis Books Need Updating
By DICK WEST
The Lighter Side
WASHINGTON (UPI)—The bookshelves of the average American home are awash with emergency manuals. "What To Fill The Doctor Comes" "How To Survive Atomic Attacks."
Some of the volumes need updates. "What To Do Until The Doctor Comes" obviously is no longer relevant. No book can keep you alive long enough to the doctor who makes house calls.
But there is a desperate need for man-made disasters to be prevented, only recently have begun to arise. As during the power failure in New York
Well, we all live in uncertain times and are out of our heads is the danger of the TV set will go on the blink, forcing you to carry on a concierge role.
A husband and wife can't very well spend the rest of the evening in silence. But having long since gotten out of the habit of talking
The blackout interrupted television transmission, producing a new Yorker expression it one New Yorker expressed it didn't know what to do to each other.
One chapter should be devoted to sample conversations. A coupleoul read then the lines arouselong and the hang of talking to each other.
to each other, they will find themselves at a loss for words. There should be a manual to cover that type of emergency.
He: What is your opinion of President Nixon's plan to reorganize the executive branch of the government?
She: If it will help create an incremental multidisciplinary infrastructure at the functional level, I'm all for it.
Once they developed a feel for oral communication, the couple would move on to the next chapter, which should contain a number of conversations for which they fill themselves in the dialogue.
Outline: Discuss the impact of President Nixon's revenue-sharing proposal on congressional budgetary powers with one exception constitutive angle and the other examining the political aspects.
The next chapter, for advanced marital discourse, should suggest topics upon which a couple could build their own conversations. They'll be on the TV station, will be back on the air before you come to that.
LETTERS
Space Effort Questioned
To the Editor:
Craig Parker*’s editorial entitled “Space Program—A Waste” has thus far received only critiquing references. I would like to express an opinion on the subject in a comment below.
My objections which I believe are in accord with Mr. Parkers, are the fact that they seemingly meaningless idea of continued space exploration while power is limited to a few, still exist on our own planet. Secondly, I object to the millions of dollars being poured into a program that cannot produce any sub-
President Kennedy initiated the space program in 1960; its objective—to put a man on the moon. We have put a man on the moon, again, again and again. But where are we going from here? What are our present goals? And are we going to continue to ignore the needs of this planet? Mr. Kennedy is not here to speak. But I suspect he would want us to hear his brother did not too long ago. Sen. Ted Kennedy, in a speech to Congress, said that there must be a drastic cutback in the space program until other priorities are first met here on earth.
When Al Shepard first orbited the earth in 1961, everyone applauded. It was popular to support the space program through most of that decade, but we still had a national goal then—to land a man on the moon. If the mission was accomplished, an unifying characteristic for the country. However, it has been Houston has reached this goal and failed to outline any further goals. Support of the space program has also faltered as national leaders continued to demonstrate their gross neglect of other national needs. The agency continued to spend money on a program with undefined objectives.
Apparently Mr. Parker and I are not the only ones to reach these conclusions as some members of Congress have already indicated that we need more space-related programs. Unfortunately, the result is hundreds of unemployed aerospace engineers, at which point I must question whether they really want a space-related program.
Space dynamics, wherever you are, applaud your achievements, if you as desire. We have gone to the moon, but, "we've got promises to do," said Mr. Mills.
Recent Congressional sentiment along with the rejection of President Nixon's SNT proposals suggests that there are those who feel we are going where we want to, as fast as we want to, for the time being. Or at least, until more urgent needs are considered.
Griff & the Unicorn
THE FATES HAVE CRUELY USED SCALLION THE SNake$ FOR WHAT HE SEES AS A LOVELY LADY SERPENT IS IN REALITY NAUGHT BUT THE HISSING FUSE OF A BOMB WE ARE MOVED BY THE FUTILITY OF HIS PASSION AND LOVE'S LABOR LOST
Vicki Bullard
Tulsa junior
By Sokoloff
Quirks In the News
"Copyright 1971, University Daily Kansan"
By United Press International
SUNRAY, Tex.-Roy Melton Graves, 20, was injured slightly Sunday when his car collided head on with an airplane.
Plot John Henry Goodwin landed his plane before dawn on a landing strip that runs parallel to the road. At one point the runway converge and Goodwin taxied his plane onto the road in the dark.
Graves said he thought the plane was a motorcycle.
There was no other driver.
He discovered his car had accidentally hooked the front bumper of the other car as he left home, and away from his friend's house.
CINCINNATI-John Waugh seted as a small foreign car tailgated him dangerously on the street and drove down home after visiting friends.
Finally after several blocks he stopped his car and got out to give the driver behind him a piece of his mind.
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Those Were the Days
50 Years Ago Todav—1921
The Women's Student Government Association discussed the "proper form" of dancing but could not find volunteers to exhibit this "proper form."
Interviews with faculty members showed that some of them preferred exemplifying their students and B with *taking* final exams.
The debate team took on
The Kansan reported that other universities were protesting the "naughty dances," such as the shimmy and the tshirty. Also, they were against the knee-length skirt and the cigarette were in action.
The third all-musical vespers of the year attracted a large audience.
35 Years Ago Today—1936
The Kansas debate squa returned from a two-week trip t the west coast.
Freezing weather caused 300 t
400 frozen water mains i
Lawrence.
Missouri. The question was whether labor should have a share in the management of industry.
Dr. F. C. "Phip" Allen said the wrestling schedule for the rest of the year was cancelled because of visibility and a lack of interest.
Douglas County
Wesley M. Norwood said taverns
did not come under Kansas'
public accommodations law.
10 Years Ago Today—1961
A contest to see what fraternity or sorority collected the most packages was underway. The prize was a color television.
The Vox Populi party was selecting candidates and drafting a platform for the spring elections.
Kansas, atop the Big 8 basketball standings with a 7-1 mark, traveled to Colorado for an important battle.
A research bureau to aid U.S. 3rd District Rep. Robert Ellsworth was being organized by the KU-Y.