OPINION
University Daily Kansan, June 12, 1985 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
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News staff
Jeff Craven, Editor
Mike Kelley, Managing Editor
Chris Lazarino, Editorial Editor
Andrew Hartley, News Editor
John E. Jegan, Campus Editor
Jason Shaw, General Manager, Network
Brett McCabe... Business Manager
Mark Schick ... Retail Advertising Manager
Eric Scheck ... National/Campus Manager
John Oberzan ... Sales and Marketing Advisor
Asbestos foul-up
When Facilities operations began the removal of an obsolete boiler in the University's power plant in 1982, guidelines were already in place for the safe removal of the asbestos that surrounded the boiler.
The hazards of asbestos exposure were not unknown. Facilities operations supervisors had been trained in the proper handling of asbestos.
Yet the procedures were not followed, and the workers who took out the boiler may have been exposed to harmful levels of asbestos dust.
Asbestos fibers have been linked to a variety of respiratory ailments, including lung cancer. The connection is not vague, as it is for other substances that may cause cancer when given in massive doses to laboratory rats. In fact, one variety of lung cancer, mesothelioma, is caused only by exposure to asbestos.
It is a particularly insidious hazard because it reaches beyond the work place and into the worker's home. There the tiny fibers, stuck to the worker's clothing, can harm the worker's family.
Last month, the Kansas Department of Human Resources confirmed that facilities operations workers did not use the available precautionary measures, such as wearing protective clothing and respirators and wetting the asbestos during removal.
The department also recommended procedures to be followed to insure the safe handling of asbestos in the future.
Because the quantity of asbestos removed did not meet the Environmental Protection Agency's threshold, the federal agency did not investigate the project. So any action is up to the University.
The University has established a screening program to provide regular checkups for those workers who suffered the greatest exposure, and this is good. It must now work harder to guarantee that all the affected workers participate in the program than it did to prevent the exposure in the first place.
Stroke of genius
Rravo crew cluh
A bold and imaginative project is under way that will provide the KU crew club with a proper boathouse and at the same time preserve a much-loved historic Lawrence building, the old Union Pacific depot.
The depot will be dismantled and moved from its present location in North Lawrence. It will then be rebuilt, piece by piece, on the south bank of the Kansas River.
Union Pacific has donated $10,000 to the project. The total cost is estimated at $246,300. That means that the crew club must find ways to finance the rest of the cost.
The club will surely get help from local citizen's groups interested in the preservation of the building, but the total financing will be a difficult task.
If any organization can do it, the crew club can. The club receives money from the Student Senate, but much of the club's day-to-day financing has come through hard work on the part of club members. The members even pay their own transportation costs to and from meets.
All of Lawrence should embrace the concept and donate money in order for us to see the finished product. The wonderful old building, now abandoned in the wake of these changing times, will once again be put to good use.
The crew club is doing all of us a favor with this project. Let's give them our support.
Misuse of U.S. flag
"The flag of the United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white on a blue field, representing a new constellation."
That resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, was the official beginning of our national flag. In 1895, Congress designated June 14 as Flag Day, a day to honor our flag and the nation it represents. Friday is Flag Day 1985.
Our flag represents all men and women who gave their lives in defense of this country. It represents our ideals, hopes and beliefs. It represents every thing we hold dear in this country.
Unfortunately, it also represents increased business for stores and restaurants. On a street, such as 23rd, cluttered with advertising paraphernalia, merchants know that there is no better eye-grabber than a huge American flag, proudly waving above all other signs.
It is easy to locate familiar restaurants from long distances — just look for a flag. One fast-food restaurant proudly displays the American flag, right above a flag with the name of the restaurant sandwiched between burger buns.
The flag is flown by businesses 24 hours a day and in all sorts of inclement weather, which is a violation of Public Law 623 of the 77th Congress, Section 2(c).
Our flag deserves better company than that.
The flags become tattered, torn and bleached of color. Yet they are not taken down when in such condition
The practice of using our flag to lure customers is disgusting. The flag was not designed to increase customer traffic and men didn't die in war so more hamburgers could be sold.
Mystery may outlive Mengele
Last week's exhumation of what Brazilian authorities believe to be the remains of Nazi war criminal Mengele, the 'Angel of Death' at the Auschwitz concentration camp, represents the latest development in a worldwide manhunt tuled by the military excess of $1.5 million for its capture.
Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal and other experts have already expressed their doubts about the validity of the Brazilian report, and it is more than likely that the exhumed body is not Meneleu.
One of the reasons for disbelief in Mengle's death is that if he were dead, his relatives and people close to him would have announced his death to the world. They more than anybody, would want to release himself from captivity worldwide securing and scorn resulting from renewed interest in Mengle.
The aura of evil that surrounds Mengue has spurred the imaginations of people all over the world and has resulted in a Mengue legend in which fact and fiction are not easily distinguished. Now that reward money is an added incentive, false or unsubstantiated reports on
Mengele's whereabouts are pouring in at record levels.
These reports have Mengue sighted almost all over the world. One report is that he assists Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner in extinguishing the Inosier. Another source says he travels to the United States on a regular basis to manage his million-dollar fortune. These, and many other reports like them, are regarded as fiction by the authorities but must be checked nonetheless.
But the flood of reliable and not so-reliable reports on Mengene is not the only problem his hunters must overcome. There are no fingerprints of Mengene and the last genuine
photograph of Mengele was taken almost 25 years ago. More recent pictures of Mengele that circulate in the media are regarded among experts as falsifications. It is uncertain whether he even could be identified should he ever be found
Mengele is accused of murdering approximately 2,000 people and being an accessory to the murder of 200,000 others in his capacity as a doctor at the camp Auschwitz-Birkauen between May 1, 1943, and Jan 20, 1945.
But his crimes and guilt alone can I explain the sudden interest in his whereabouts 40 years after the end of World War II. In 1947, he was arrested by American GIs but was set tree when the British needed his cooperation. Since then, the United States has had several chances to “find” Mengile, but Washington seemed uninterested.
Israel also had its chances to capture Mengele when he was living in Paraguay. But after the international furor following the kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi in charge of the extermination of the Jews, Israel couldn't afford to lose any more sympathy and recalled its
special commando from South America before it could abduct Mengule. Since then, Israeli interest in his capture has been low.
One theory that attempts to explain this renewed interest is that Israel is attempting to distract attention from its guilt in the Lebanon invasion.
In the United States, Auschwitz is likely to become a political issue, at least in states with large Jewish populations. None of the at least 10,000 war criminals that immigrated to the United States after the war can generate as much potential for mass coverage as Mengele. Perhaps as a result, fewer than 100 of these criminals have been prosecuted.
Many people refuse to believe that six million Jews died in Nazi concentration camps. Wiesenthal has said that Mengle's testimony is needed because the evidence of horrors are true, but testimony by Mengle may do just the opposite.
In 1960, Mengele issued a declaration stating that he had never personally killed, injured or physically harmed anyone. Mengele's brother has collected testimonies of former Auschwitz prisoners who credited Mengele with saving their lives, and a former colleague testified that Mengele had on one occasion sentenced to death for his cruel experiments. None of those people likely to change his or her story
Mengele's testimony won't convince those who believe the "Auschwitzliuege, the German term for the belief that Auschwitz and the Holocaust were inventions of the Allies. Their convictions sit too deep and are much more likely to be reinforced by Mengele's testimony.
Whether Mengele is responsible for the death of 20, 290 or 2,000 people makes no difference, either legally or morally. Whether he was a sadist who enjoyed seeing his victims die or whether he was merely a scientist interested solely in the advancement of science — some people suggest he was just that — makes no difference. Our individual and collective sense of justice demands atonement for the horrors of Auschwitz. But is it possible to achieve justice for the murder of thousands of innocent people by sentencing a 74-year-old man to death or lite in prison?
All we can hope to achieve is to send a message around the world. Mankind will not tolerate those who tread on humanity and destroy life. The same day be called to account for their crimes. Even it should take 40 years.
No punishment will bring back the dead or heal the wounds of those who survived. Not now and not 40 years ago.
Joset Mengele is a reminder that everybody has the moral obligation to prevent a recurrence of the Holocaust, in any form, at any time anywhere in the world. There shall be more victims. Fight the beginnings.
Send us your rich, your greedy
It's always pogunt when a boatload of half-starved Haitians tries to land in this country, only to be away because they don't quality.
But that's the way our immigration laws are written. Not just anybody can become an American. People can't come here only because they want to improve themselves and do it. If that were the only qualification, half the hungry world would be streaming into this country.
Thus, we have the limited immigration quotas, most of which have long waiting lists. And we take some people who are fleeing community instytmy (if you happen to be
Stroll along Chicago's Lascale Street or New York's Wall Street and you see thousands of greedy, money-grubbing, power seeking cabs. Just read the financial pages. It all corporate raid, greenmail, hostile takeovers, and other forms of
We might also consider the question of character, of which Murdoch has very little. For one thing, he is a proven ingrate. His willingness to switch national loyalities establishes that.
fleeing from a right wing tyrant, you have a real problem.) We also admit people who have a skill in short supply here.
So I'm a little puzzled by the matter of fact way Rupert Murdoch, the international media tycoon, announced that he intends to quickly become a citizen of this country. I don't see how Murdoch qualifies. For one thing, he's not fleeing communism or any other form of tyranny. He's already a citizen of which is a very nice freedom-loving person, with great respect in Australia because he's rich and powerful, and anybody who doesn't treat him with respect will feel bad in the morning.
Nor does he have a skill that is in short supply. By profession, Murdock is a greedy, money grabbing, power user. He is always when is that skill in short supply?
modern day piracy. If John Dillinger were alive, he'd put away his pistol, get an MBA and he could pull off a big enough heist, he'd be invited to
So why does Murdoch want to become a citizen? For the very same reason that those rejected Haitians and all the Mexican illegals want to come here, except on a much grander, greedier scale. He's already incredibly rich, but he wants more and more. That, in turn, will allow him to exercise more and more political influence.
Now, you might think that a man who is already one of the richest, most powerful men in Australia, and who owns newspapers and magazines all over the United States and in England, would be content with his bottom line. But not Murdoch. Hundreds of millions aren't
But Murdoch is willing to wave goodbye to Australia because he has already taken as much as he can out of his homeland. And in England; where he also wheels and deals, the anti-monopoly laws frustrate him.
To get it, he has set out to buy a chain of TV stations in some of America's major cities, creating his own network. That way, he will make even more money while tinkering with the minds of the viewers. But a sensible law stands in his way. Because of the potential of television to scramble shrink or soften our brains, only an American citizen can obtain what he needs in a TV station. And because of that restriction alone, Murdoch says he is going to become a citizen of this country.
enough. He wants billions. He wants all he can get, and then some.
Well, that doesn't seem fair. If a Haitian on a leaky boat can't come here to improve his pitiful economic condition, why should a blotted millionaire be welcome?" And for the opportunity to earn a living, the Haitian would be willing to sweep stables, behead chickens or clean toilets Murdoch" His approach has been to fire American workers and break unions in order to increase his own cash flow.
We might also consider the question of character, of which Murdoch has very little. For one thing, he is a proven inmate. His willingness to switch national loyalties establishes that. If you had more money than you did, you would you consider giving up your American citizenship just to add to the pile."
He's also a proven liar. Only 18 months ago, when he bought the Chicago Sun Times, he vowed to improve the paper and said he was making a journalistic commitment to the city of Chicago. Some commitment. He promptly trashed and gutted the paper. He has casually put it up for sale because he wants to switch to the TV business.
Finally, why would we want to give citizenship to somebody who has contempt for Americans?" In his heart if such an organ exists. Murdock thinks we're boots. That's why he publishes booch-mentality newspapers. He thinks that's all we can understand. And he hires only Australian or English editors because he thinks that American editors don't understand what boobs Americans really are.
So, if Murdoch is allowed to become a citizen while we're running away people who are running from death squalls or starvation, then we should make one small change in the way we're handling it. Get rid of the torch. Just have the lady hold up her hand with the middle finger extended.
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The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editorial editor or guest columns. Letters to the editorial editor should not exceed 300 words. Guest columns should not exceed 625 words. Letters and columns should be typewritten and double-spaced and must include the writers name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, such identification should be included. Letters and columns can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
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