OPINION
University Daily Kansan, February 5, 1985
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kansan (USP5 60-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staufer Fittl Hall, Lawen, Kanzan 6045, 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 Lawen, Kanzan 6044. Subscriptions by mail are $13 for six months or $3 a year outside the AUSTER address. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the AUSTER address changes to the University Daily Kansan. 118 Staufer Fittl Hall, Lawen, Kanzan 6045.
MATT DEGALAN
Editor
DIANE LUBER SUSAN WORTMAN
Managing Editor Editorial Editor
ROB KARWATH Campus Editor
LYNNE STARK Business Manager
SUSANNE SHAW
DUNCAN CALHOUN MARY BERNICA
Retail Sales National Sales
Manager Manager
SUSANNE SHAW General Manager and News Adviser
DAVID NIXON Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Controlling purse strings
Every governing body would probably like to leave its mark on its citizenry, if only in the form of progressive legislation. Student body presidents and vice presidents are no exception.
But an administration's effect often lasts no longer than its tenure in office, and in the case of student administrations, that tenure is almost never no longer than a year.
William Easley, student body president, and Jeff Polack, student body vice president, said during their campaign that they wanted to change the allocation of student activity fees to encourage student groups to be self-supportive. They have recently introduced a proposal designed to achieve that end.
Under the proposal, Student Senate would be prohibited this year from awarding more than $175 to any non-revenue code group for administrative costs such as rent, telephone, pencils, paper. Non-revenue code groups are those that must apply annually to the Student Senate for funds and include Black Student Union, Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas and Latin American Solidarity.
Next year, those non-revenue code groups receiving funds for administrative expenses would be denied funds for future administrative expenses, unless they are able to demonstrate to the Senate's satisfaction that they made "a good faith effort" to become self-sufficient.
In either year, Student Senate may cover up to 70 percent of the cost of any special project — conferences, speakers, movies or tournaments — or publications produced by non-revenue code groups for the general public.
In addition to encouraging groups to be self-supportive, the proposal seeks to allocate student money only to those groups and for those programs that benefit the student body as a whole.
Easley and Polack are to be commended for following through on one of their campaign promises. Some student groups would, no doubt, like to be as free from Student Senate financing as Easley and Polack would like them to be. But their promise is flawed.
Although a long-term approach may be in order, it is not fair to bind next year's Student Senate with a financing policy enacted by this year's Senate — if, indeed, it is passed this week.
Nor is it fair to base a student group's future financing on the performance of the previous year's group, given the turnover in student group membership.
But worst of all, the proposal assumes that a student group serves the University best when it offers programs to the general public. Several of these non-revenue code groups are small and attempt to meet the needs of minorities that might otherwise go unmet by other University groups.
Encouraging these groups to raise funds through events geared toward the general public may divert the few resources they have away from the real service they perform a service that Student Senate may best support by providing funds for administrative expenses.
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten and double-spaced and should not exceed 300 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. The Kansan also invites individuals and groups to submit questions. Columns and letters 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.
Getting the game plan from Newt
The political types say we need new ideas in politics. Sen. Gary Hart, D-Cole., ran for president as the man with new ideas. Now, another politician has devised a set of new ideas; he deserves our attention, too.
Ideas ideas ideas!
He is Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga,
and his ideas are in a book, "Window
of Opportunity: A Blueprint for the
Future."
By the time his book came out last year, New had already made quite a name for himself. He is one of several congressmen in a group known as the Conservative Opportunity Society, the members of which make late-night speeches on the floor of the House. Cameras telewise the speeches to viewers of a cable channel, CSPAN.
Newt's vision is of a country that disdains welfare-state ideas in favor of opportunity-society ideas. What will success ultimately still attempt to paraphrase his vision.
will replace highways that carry workers to information.
Society is now in a period of transition that closely resembles the period between 1870 and 1920, when the automobile and antibiotics were discovered and put into use. Two important areas of progress today are communication and space. For example, advances in communication will one day allow phone lines to carry information to workers and
Change is frightening. One can whine about change, or one can try to make use of change. Welfare-state politicians whine about technological change in the work place, but only a short time ago they might have lamented the fate of stagecoach drivers, whose jobs were threatened
VINCE HESS Staff Columnist
Policymakers in Washington, D.C., have turned away from the future. They see only the welfare state, whereas the moon landing in 1969 and the Apollo missions mote the promises of the space program. For example, a space base could let environmentalists monitor pollutants on the Earth's surface.
Dreaming of a better life in the future is crucial if incomeredistribution schemas, which provide immediate gratification, are to
give way to programs designed to reap benefits in the future. One such program is the development of a lunar research base. We should set that as a goal for Jan 1, 2000. After our ancestors dreamed of a better planet, we have suffered and sacrifices to explore and settle the United States.
Government certainly should have an active role in society. Just as the Homestead Act helped improve the lives of many, so could a series of subsidies and tax breaks to promote technological advances. Such a government also would offer a huge incentive for people to self-applied kidney dialysis system that would give dignity to patients and reduce costs to society.
The key is to let individuals, not centralized bureaucracy, make decisions about those individuals' lives. Experimentation and diversity can make a difference, as Thomas Jefferson and Henry Ford have shown.
Yet the opportunity society is not for hedonism or anarchy. A return to voluntary prayer in public schools would help re-establish the values in our society, and people there lived. There might be peer pressure to pray. However, peer pressure already exists, and it encourages the abuse of drugs, among other things.
Moreover, the welfare state has no
monopoly on compassion. An opportunity society would provide and encourage lifelong learning and training of workers in faltering industries.
To allow for an opportunity society, shifts in thinking and action are necessary. The individual should be seen not as a victim but as an asset. In addition, the political question should not be a negative one about the welfare of the country or state. Rather, it should be a positive one stressing markets and decentralized initiative as the key to change.
In short, Newt views his ideas as populist. A program to give individual citizens more control over their lives is truly power to the people, he says.
People who have already heard of Newt might feel an impulse to laugh at or attack his proposals, but they should first read his book. Some of his ideas seem unrealistic to put into practical use, but he is trying to make the world a backround which to build detailed programs and intricate legislation.
Newt seems to have the attention of at least one person. That person had a 49-state landslide in November, and in his inaugural address last month, he mentioned his support for — yes — an opportunity society.
WILDer 85 UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
C'mon, John, baby. Loosen up ...
Date: Feb. 3, 2015
Place: Somewhere in Kansas at the home of a 65-year-old grandfather named John Riggins.
"That's not the one either. I want to
with the use of some type of Japanese high technology, we are able to eavesdrop on John as heucks up his children for a good night's sleep.
"C'mon grandpa, tell me a story about the good old days when you played football. Tell me the one about the night in Washington."
"Ohhhhhhh. You mean the time we were playing the Bears in that nasty snowstorm and . . ."
"Well, I suppose we have time for that story. Let's see if I can remember that one. We were playing the Cowboys with a trip to the playoffs on the line. Joe dropped back to pass, and as Harvey Martin came crashing through the line I ...
"Wait a minute, Grandpa. That's the story. I mean the other one about him."
hear the funny one. The one about Sandy O'Connor, the vice president and the press club."
"Hold on pardner, I don't remember telling you that story. How'd you ever hear about that one?"
"The kids at school told me. They said you had dinner with an important lady named Sandy O'Connor and then fell asleep on the floor while the vice president was talking to the press club."
"Aw, those kids were exaggerating. Besides, somebody had to loosen things up in there. It was getting mighty stuff."
GREG
DAMMON
Staff Columnis
"Did you really sleep while the vice president was talking?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I was
lost. I'd call it more like resting
or napping. Kind of like what your
mother did at home when you get grouchy."
"You mean you were grouchy at the dinner table?"
Nature屋. I will just use the little tree
which I used in the image.
Nature屋. I will just use the little tree
which I used in the image.
"Standing?" That's not what the kids at school said you were doing at that party."
"Don't pay any attention to what the kids at school say."
"What did you say to the important lady?"
"I just said, 'Come on Sandy, baby, loosen up. You're too tight.' "'
"Did she lose up?
"Everybody loosened up."
"Tell me another story. The one about your contracts."
"My contracts? What about my contracts?"
"Uncle Billy said you didn't play because you wanted more money."
"Don't get the wrong impression. Every player wanted more money.
It's just that every player didn't return to the team after a holdout with a great quote like "I bored, I'm brok and I'm back," like I did."
were you really broke?
"That's not important right now.
It's past your bedtime anyway."
"One more story. The one about college at KU."
"Okay, but only one more. Let see now, what's my favorite recollection from college . . . ? I've got it. I tell you about the time we played at Penn State and then we departing Penn State 1413, and they try for the extra point when . . .
"I've heard that one. I want to hear about your motorcycle and your mohawk and the Wheel and . . ."
"How do you know about all of that? Doesn't anybody remember what I did on the football field? I was the Super Bowl MVP. I was All-American. I was All-Pro. I played until I was 40 years old. Why does everyone always ask me about the things I did off of the field?"
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
"Come on, Grandpa, loosen up. You're too tight."
Cold showers have been a problem off and on since the end of the first semester and recently have become commonplace in the mornings at Gertrude Sellers Pearson Hall. In the Jan. 31 issue of the University Daily Kansan, an article about the problem quoted Dean Milroy, assistant director for facilities of the housing department, as saying that the water problem should have been fixed yesterday.
To the editor:
Well, guess what? Again this morning, the water was cold.
Milroy also said that at no time was the hall completely without hot water. Again, this is only partially
Carol Thrasher, GSP housing manager, said that some of the residents were exaggerating about the temperature of the water. What we'd like to know is where the flood Thrasher and then the report should be the residents of GSP know where she's been hiding.
true. Yes, there was always water coming out of the so-called "hot" faucet, in the mornings around 8, it was almost always ice cold.
Finally, it's very easy for Milroy or Thrasher to say that the residents are exaggerating about the water temperature when neither of them live here and have to deal with it on an almost daily basis. For this reason we would like to invite both of them to come over around 8 a.m. and
Alison Young
Omaha freshman
experience one of our so-called hot showers.
Lacks knowledge
EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter was signed by 99 other residents of GSP.
To the editor:
In response to Julia Brown's comments in the Jan. 30 edition of the University Daily Kansan, I would like to express my disgust in regard to the workings of Knowledge and the workings of a major college basketball program.
The University of Kansas is blessed with one of the finest major college basketball coaches in the
nation, and it never ceases to amaze me how someone with the basketball knowledge of Julia Brown can even attempt to second guess a fine coach like Larry Brown. Some of her expert insights of the game of basketball made it obvious how little she actually does know about the sport.
One comment that Julia Brown expressed that made me realize that she possibly has seen at least one KU basketball game this year was her comment on the talent of the players on the Jayhawk team. KU obviously does possess a lot of talent, but she forgot to realize how young the team is—the court really is. Young team such as ours tends to make a few mistakes — something that only time and experience can heal.
So, to Julia Brown and all other
Larry Egan Kansas City, Mo., senior
Correction
Due to an editor's error, an editorial in the Jan. 24 issue of the University Daily Kansan incorrectly stated Sen. Nancy Kaebaum's position on a freeze of defense spending. For the second consecutive
so-called KU fans, we need to stand behind the Jayhawks and give them our support, instead of trying to coach the team from the bleachers. We are lucky to have a coach the team with. Brown, along with such a talented youth, said that will surely make us proud when tournament time rolls around.
year. Kassbeum is supporting a freeze on all spending, including defense spending.
Clarification
Because of a mix-up, the Jan. 31 issue of the University Daily Kansan carried two Letters to the Editor under "Responses to Response." The second letter said, "No one would argue that the Mauk children are worse off without their mother, but they do have the gift of life, which transcends even the most awful encounter."
M. Clay Belcher, assistant professor of architectural engineering and writer of the letter, meant that the new building would be worse off without their mother.