University Daily Kansan, February 26, 1985
OPINION
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kansan (UKPN) 650-6401 is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer Flint Hall Law, Kan晋 KAN521 daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session excluding Saturday. Sunday, holidays and final periods Second class postage paid at Lawn. Kan晋 KAN524 Subscriptions by mail are $13 for six months or $2 per a day in Houston County and $18 for six months or $18 a year outside the county. Student fees include bus fare, meals and lodging. Address changes to the University Daily Kansan 118 Staffer Flint Hall Law. Kan晋 KAN525
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It seems strange
Jeremy Levin, an American correspondent for Cable News Network, escaped from Islamic Holy War captors last week after being held hostage in eastern Lebanon for more than 11 months.
Now four American hostages remain in Lebanon.
The four and the dates of the kidnappings are: William Buckley, 56, a U.S. Embassy official, March 16, 1984; the Rev. Benjamin Wier, 60, a Presbyterian minister, May 8, 1984; Peter Kilburn, 60, a librarian at American University in Beirut, Dec. 3, 1984; and the Rev. Lawrence Jenco, 50, director of Catholic Relief Services, Jan. 8, 1985.
Levin spent almost a year alone, chained to a radiator on the second floor of a house. He thinks that the other Americans are also in this house.
Levin said that he had slipped out of loosely fastened shackles, fled and surrendered to Syrian troops, who escorted him to safety.
On the day that Levin walked to freedom, an anonymous caller told a western news agency that Levin didn't escape but was freed as a result of an Islamic court decision.
The caller also said the court sentenced one of the hostages to death but declined to save whom.
And what did President Reagan have to say about all this?
Very little.
The State Department warmly praised Syria for its aid and encouraged it to help free the remaining hostages.
This was strange treatment of a government that has been linked with terrorism in the past.
But this wasn't as strange as Reagan's reluctance to talk about it.
The administration has been tight-lipped about the hostages, even concealing a videotape picturing three of the Americans that was sent to the State Department last July.
"Let the terrorists beware that when the rules of international behavior are violated, our policy will be one of swift and effective retribution." Reagan declared.
Reagan's actions are at odds with his rhetoric. He promised on Jan. 27, 1981 — at a ceremony welcoming the 50 hostages home from Iran — that his administration would not tolerate terrorist abuses.
There has been no retribution
"One of the things that has kept us from retaliation is that we don't know who is holding the hostages or where they are being held." Reagan said last week.
With Levin free, this is no longer valid. Quiet diplomacy hasn't worked any better than Jimmy Carter's noisy efforts in Iran. It is time for swift action.
The wrong track
In 1970, the federal government spent millions of dollars bailing out the nation's passenger rail service and created Amtrak. Since then the government has poured in billions more into improving the rail service.
For a while, it seemed that the money might have been ill-treatment. Service was poor. Trains ran late. The food was awful. But in 1979, Amtrak began cleaning up its act. Complaints have dropped, and schedules are followed.
Despite having spent billions to improve service, the administration now wants to cut subsidies to Amtrak as part of its plan to reduce the deficit. Government subsidies make up more than one-third of Amtrak's revenues. Cutting this source would probably put the rail service out of business, Amtrak officials say.
Amtrak carried 20 million passengers last year. Administration officials point out that the federal government paid a subsidy of $34 a passenger.
What they don't point out, however, is that federal support of airlines, through tax breaks for business deductions, amounts to nearly the same amount. Add the cost of air traffic control and other government-provided air services, and federal subsidies to airlines actually exceed those given to Amtrak.
It seems unfair to cut an organization that has been successful in holding down spending, while rewarding wasteful branches of government such as the Pentagon with greater and greater outlays.
Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole says private companies will pick up Amtrak's profitable routes in the eastern corridor between Washington and New York.
Small towns in rural America seem to be the ultimate losers. Rail service to these areas will likely be discontinued. Towns like Lawrence, where many students take the train home for the holidays and at the end of the year, will also be victims of the cuts.
Another point to consider: Shutting Amtrak down will cost the government nearly as much as keeping it going. Severance pay to the 25,000 displaced Amtrak employees would cost $2.1 billion over the next six years.
so why cut Amtrak? Many in Congress are asking the same question. Perhaps the president has an answer.
The evolution of American morality
Who are these People for the American Way anyway? Who is Wayne Moyer and the other people who co-wrote the recent study, "A Consumer's Guide to Biology Textbooks. 1985?"
The study was commissioned by Norman Lear's group called People for the American Way, a citizen's rights organization. It prescored "First Amendment rights."
The group intensely pressured the Texas State Board of Education to repeal its oppressive rulings relied on the revealed doctrine of evolution.
Lear and the gang think that religious conservatives are threatening Americans with their religious views and morality. Cries from the Left about the Right's "censorship"
BRIAN
WAGNER
Staff Columnis
of ideas arose, while the Left very cleanly and methodically censored out all ideas and influences from the Right.
I'm sure the "Consumer's Guide" study was done quite scientifically. They put all the facts in a test tube, shook it for 1 minute, put it over a Bunsen burner — not any alternative fire or hirschstone — for 5 minutes.
When they finished the experiment, they had proven their hypothesis — those parents, especially the "ultrafundamentalist" and "religious creationist" parents, have been taught to have little experience trying to have some say in what the saints of the public school system are teaching their children.
However, this survey did turn up some grusome details. I think the most horrifying sin discovered in the book was the lack of the word "evolution."
Just imagine this kind of conversation taking place:
"Hello, Norman. This is Wayne Moyer. Did you read the latest report from our censors? Well, the conservatives have conspired against our bible, yeah, the biology books, and removed evolution from them in recent translations. Don't worry though. I've already spoken with the planning department, and we've begun a countermovement to remove "Jesus" from their bibles,
and I'm sure it will work . . . Yes,
our last translation of their bible was
a superb victory. 'Our Father and
Mother who art in heaven' did have
a nice ring to it.'
Lear has made quite a career of influencing this nation's morality. "All in the Family" revolutionized television standards.
For example, the show "Maude," which he also produced, had a controversial scene, where Maude counseled her daughter to have an abortion.
Yes, Lear has done quite well at rocking America to sleep while he imposed his morality on our society. The censorshin of the religious
right has been happening, although it is hard to tell by just reading or listening to what the media tells us. But, of course, we constantly hear of the Moral Majority's push to impose their values on us. When it comes to the bottom line though, who really believes in evolution anyway? It's just another simplistic theory.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Miracle monitors
To the editor:
Few people are fortunate enough to witness a miracle; however, the residents of Joseph R. Pearson Hall have witnessed lives among that exclusive number.
We are in a state of emergency here at the hall. Vandalism is rampant, mysterious people roam the floors, and now theft has struck the heart of the hall — its food service.
At the rate at which conditions are deteriorating, one can only count the days until residents will need side arms; the future is bleak. Outsiders can only imagine the residents' terror.
Now the miracle.
In the midst of our despair, our gallant hall government has demonstrated its omniscience. The hall (7) decided to hire security monitors.
Russell D. Etzenhouser IV
Leeaword senior
Allen N. Hieber
Paola senior
Who would have thought that the JRP hall government would have suggested security monitors after so vehemently opposing them only last semester? This time their approach was a little different.
Naturally, the monitors will solve all of our problems. They will keep people from breaking windows, doors, trash can, furniture and anything else a vandal could think of destroying; they will keep all mysterious people from roaming the floors, and they will stop theft from occurring.
No petition was at the front desk requesting the residents' opinions on the matter, and no special meeting with Fred McElhenie, director of residential programs, was organized to discuss our "rights" as residents. This time their decision was simply a hysteric reaction to fear.
We are truly fortunate to be witnesses to this miracle.
As we all know, hysteria brings out the best in people. If it weren't for the thoughtful hysteria of Massachusetts citizens in the late 1600s, there would probably still be witches harassing the populace. One can barely comprehend all of the great things accomplished by thoughtful hysteria.
Worth considering
To the editor
I would like to express my disappointment to the staff of the University Daily Kansan for the editorial that appeared in the Feb. 7 edition criticizing the proposal to erect a photo voltaic clock tower near Wesco Hall. The comments made reflected a rather shallow understanding of the project in question. Perhaps if the members of the editorial staff who questioned the timeliness of the idea were to actually take time to study it, they would see, as myself and many others have, that it is a project worthy of our support.
Bob Isaacson
Lawrence senior
Ban isn't answer
To the editor
Even though I'm against abortion myself, that doesn't give me the right to impose my moral viewpoints on other people. When people start talking to me, then becomes the breakdown of the separation of church and state.
Abortion is not a political issue, for if it were, then lives wouldn't mean as much to us as they do. It's a religious, moral and personal issue, which individual should decide on herself, especially if her life is in danger.
illegal and unsafe abortions killed not only the fetuses, but the mothers as well. The problem back then, and still today, is that women who have unwanted pregnancies are afraid of what people will do and say to them about their mistakes. They just want to undo the situation and hope no one finds out.
The solution is not, and never was, the ban of abortion. What we need is the opening of communication between parents and their children, and encouraging good instruction on sex, pregnancy, birth, marriage and contraceptives.
I'd like for you to think of this for one moment - young people will do what they want to do, despite parental opinions. Parents don't communicate with their children well enough to avoid the situations that occur in adolescence.
By having the parents discuss sex with their children (and dispense contraceptives if they choose), the parents know whether or not their kids are having sex and can take the action that they feel in their hearts is necessary.
Suppressing the whole subject just makes children want to rebel all the more. Would you want your 11- or 12-year-old girl to an abortion clinical instead of you because she's afraid of what you'll do or say?
Parents and children need to learn to communicate calmly, logically, and confide in each other without threats of punishment, for fear will surely drive children away. Discipline (for the mother and many childless couples who would love to have a baby.
Lisa Day staff member in academic support programs
Not watered down
To the editor:
Regarding the Feb. 13 story in the University Daily Kansan titled "Core curriculum called key to a richer education," I would like to make clear the position of the faculty of the School of Engineering on three points.
First, we in engineering cannot be included in the "watered-down curriculum" in which "almost anything goes" that is mentioned in the story. The programs in engineering are demanding — 128 to 164 credit hours are required for graduation. All engineering departments are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation as the sole agency for accrediting engineering degree programs. ABET has established rigorous standards and conducts on site inspections before granting accreditation. In addition to mathematics, basic sciences, engineering science and design, ABET requires: 1) studies in the humanities and social
sciences to meet the objectives of a broad education; 2) computer-based experience; 3) written and oral communicative skills in the English language demonstrated within the curriculum by each engineering student; and 4) an understanding of the ethical, social and economic considerations in engineering practice. In fact, because of these requirements, the engineering programs exceed the vast majority of the requirements in the proposed core curriculum.
Second, we would also like to take issue with the statement that professors are not required to be educators. The faculty in the School of Engineering are at the University of Kansas largely because of their interest in education. I left a position at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Langley Research Center to join the faculty at KU at a reduced salary. My case is the rule rather than the exception in engineering, in which all faculty have the option of working in industry or at government laboratories at substantially higher salaries. We are here because of our interest in the education of young people and the generation of new knowledge through research.
This brings me to my final point. The story implies that research has a negative impact on a student's education. The University has as its mission both the education of undergraduate and graduate students and the extension of human knowledge. Research plays an essential and direct role in our mission to provide graduate education and aid students in a better understanding of our world. Research also enhances undergraduate education by bringing to the classroom and the laboratory an awareness of the frontiers of knowledge. Properly balanced research and teaching provides a dynamic environment for faculty and students.
I hope that this letter clears up any confusion
David R. Downing associate professor of aerospace engineering, Executive Member of Senate Executive Committee