4 University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 14. 1992 OPINION President needs a 'vision' Politicians aren't the only people cheating and lying nowadays. Of course, that assumes that they weren't doing it beforehand — butlet's leave that alone for a minute. The United Way of America is, or was, a sacred cow. After all, a charity just has to be a force for good, right? Well, no. William Aramony, former president of the United Way, was raking in a cool $465.00 per year in cash and benefits. Following a controversy over his luxurious lifestyle, which included being trudged about in a chauffeured limousine, he abruptly retired. Now he has vowed to fight for the $4.4 million in pension benefits that he claims are rightfully his. The swindling doesn't stop there, though. The chief of the New York-area United Way branch was earning $341.00 and has recently retired on a lump-sum pension of $3.3 million. Kevin Bartels Staff columnist Charity pays well. Naturally, all of this little scandal at the United Way has escaped the notice of George Herbert Walker Bush, who continues with his laughable Points of Light Initiative, and who still insists that private-sector donations will eradicate many, if not all, of the social ills of the United States. Meanwhile, government spending on little items such as education and unemployment remains at levels more appropriate to the 1950s than today. Private charitable organizations are indeed capable of much good, but the initiative taken by them and the citizens who donate money to them must be matched by the government's willingness to create programs to end the problems of hopelessness and illiteracy, to name a few. In a word, taxes. What? Yes, money has to be used in these programs. Consider that Americans donated $122 billion to charities in 1990. Now consider the results of that spending; most properly-run charities spend 25 cents out of every dollar for administrative and fund-raising costs. The rest of the money goes to charitable works. In the case of the United Way, one has to wonder how efficient that particular organization has been when swine like Aramony can takeover $4 million in pension benefits. While government spending justly has been labeled as inefficient and even inept, no one person in recent memory has beaten Aramony's swindle. Nothing can trigger outrage more quickly during a time of recession than stories of fat cats stealing bread from the mouths of children. Outrage, however, will not suffice. Some attempt has to be made to correct the abuses of these individuals (exile on a island inhabited by cannibals springs to mind), but the government must be in on the solution as well. The theme of many of the candidates in the race for president has been reform. Reform in government is much on the minds of the people these days, and politicians everywhere are eager to portray themselves as reform-oriented lest the angry plebs rise and up and smite them on election day. Bush's handlers, who include his own son, are anxious to present the New, Improved George Bush as the "Paul Revere of Reform." Ye gods. Gibberish has been spewed forth from the Oval Office to the effect that, if reelected, George the Avenger would run the dogs in Congress out of town with his term limitations. Nothing has been mentioned about Bush's own programs. Not even by his opponents. Yet nowhere can the failure of his private-sector philosophy on social and economic programs be more visible than in the case of the United Way. Voters have no control over Aramony's desire for a six-ffigure income at the expense of donors to the organizations. But the money in government programs can be controlled. Charities have their place and are capable of helping many people. No charity, though, can replace a coherent national policy. Paul Revere is traditionally remembered as a messenger, not a doer. What did he do afterwards? The image, despite the efforts of Bush's handlers, seems ironically precise He has spoken of reform but done little else. Whoever wants to be the next president of the United States is going to have to work on the "vision thing." Kevin Bartels is Louisville, a Ky., graduate student in English. THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Department needs outsider Problems in computer science require an unbiased hand to resolve interpersonal conflict The resignation of William Bulgren as head of the computer science department closes one of the most difficult, painful, and frankly bizarre chapters of the department's history. James Muyskens, dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, now has an opportunity to overcome the clash between Bulgren and Zamir Bavel that has polarized the department and come close to ruining a program that ten years ago was ranked 26th nationally. Muyskens should hire someone from outside the department to replace Bulgren, someone who has not been involved in the internal politics and squabbling and thus would be a more effective arbitrator of internal disputes. Some have argued that the computer science department simply cannot afford to hire another full professor. This argument is not germane. The department is in shambles, and allowing this situation to continue would ultimately be a bigger price to pay than hiring a new department head. Bulgren has said that research in the department was not affected by the conflict between him and Bavel. This may be the case. What has been affected is the academic careers of the graduate students in computer science. Many students have reported that the conflict between the two professors had made their work more difficult and some students reportedly left the University because of their inability to perform in such an atmosphere. Students should not have to worry that their choice of instructor will brand them as a supporter of one faction of professors over another. Whether Bulgren overstepped his bounds by telling Bavel to take out the trash or Bavel was wrong in staying out past curfew is not the point anymore. The two are both wrong. A professional should never let a personal conflict interfere with his performance on the job, and these two are guilty of that. The computer science department at KU today finds itself at a crossroads. The professors should either get their act together and start teaching effectively again, or the whole department should be scrapped. Hiring an outsider to head the department would be a good step toward the first option. Laws unfit for AIDS crimes Mark Coatney for the editorial board Proper prosecution of criminals and protection of their victims necessitates statutory change AIDShas brought many changes to U.S. life. There are changes in health care: blood-screening, careful needle disposal and latex gloves for everyone from the surgeon to the janitor. The media have increased AIDS awareness through condom ads and celebrities warning us to have "safe sex." Now, AIDS is forcing our legal system to adjust to yet another phenomenon — AIDS crimes. Last month in Philadelphia, Edward Savitz was arrested for molesting hundreds of children. Savitz had known he had AIDS for a year but had none of the victims with whom he had unprotected sex. Now the courts must decide if he should be charged with molestation, rape, or attempted murder. There is no precedent for such crimes at this time. Somehow, "attempted murder" does not seem to encompass the very real possibility that some of his victims still may die from Savitz's offense. It does not account for the many others who may be hurt from the chain reaction of his crime. Perhaps even more serious than the lack of new laws are the restrictions of existing ones. Philadelphia authorities could not even warn the public that Savitz had AIDS because of AIDS-privacy laws. Savitz had to disclose the information on his own before the notification of hundreds of his victims and their subsequent sex partners. Our lawmakers must address the legal problems associated with AIDS. Laws need to be created both to prosecute criminals justly and to protect their potential victims. Kate Kelley for the editorial board Committee unbiased Although the privacy of the candidates has been protected by the search committee, there has never been any secrecy about the search process. The active steps taken by the search committee to locate qualified applicants included: In an April 7 editorial, the Kansan editorial board questioned the commitment of the search committee for the executive vice chancellor to seek out qualified minorities and women and implied that no one could know what the search committee had done to locate qualified candidates. Advertisements placed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Memos to each faculty member at the University of Kansas inviting applications and nominations. - Personal letters to the presidents of over 200 universities asking for nominations. Among those contacted were presidents of a group of historically and predominantly Black colleges and universities, such as Howard University, Alabama State University, Grambing State University and Spelman College. Letters were also sent to Haskell Indian Junior College, the Committee on Women in Higher Education of the American Council on Education, the Hispanic Association, and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. Letterstotheeditor All persons nominated were contacted to find out whether they were interested in being considered for the position. Each of the eleven members of the search committee individually reviewed the credentials of each person who expressed an interest in the position. The search committee first eliminated those who did not meet the requirements stated in the job description. Then, it set about determining those who had the strongest qualifications for the position. Unfortunately, no minority or woman candidate appeared to be anywhere nearly as well qualified as those interviewed. Faculty, students, administration and staff were all represented on the search committee. Five of the committee members were women, and two were from minority groups. It is unfortunate that some people are not willing to trust the integrity of their peers who are chosen to handle matters that require confidentiality. Frances Ingemann Francesco Infantino committee for the executive vice chancellor Williams is a class act In Fridays' Kansan, T.S. David thought that Ku's loss to Texas-Esl Paso is sufficient to fire Coach Williams. I disagree. David seems to forget that Roy Williams's record was 27-5 this year, bringing his cumulative record at KU to 103-30, and he was also elected AP coach of the year. This hardly warrants his being fired on the basis of a single game. Unfortunately, David thinks tournament results are the only way to rate a coach and a team. David also is the epitome of many, but not all of the KU students and alumni who are fair- I was at the UTEP game as a member of the KU basketball band. The band and the spirit squad were the only audible show of support for the team during the game. After the game, Coach Williams, with tears in his eyes, came over to us and thanked us for our support during the year and during the tournament. That was one of the classiest things I have ever seen anyone do. I am proud of the Jayhawks, and I am proud of Coach Williams. I am ashamed of you, T.S. David. Denise Lerpich New Ulm, Minn., senior Change gay policy now Regarding David Caruso's column in the Kansas April 10 on the military's homophobic policies, I think Caruso is well-intentioned but he makes ill-conceived points: 1. you gay and lesbian people should be more patient. Don't try to change military policy when the majority of society and the military are intolerant of your existence. 2. Educate everyone in the country about tuni- versal human rights, and only when everyone agrees that these are a good idea, change the 3. Gay and lesbian people will be ridiculed and beaten up. It's not their fault, but the disturbances will interfere with 100-percent military efficiency. policies. In the points listed above, I would suggest exchanging the words "gay and lesbian people" with "Black people" or "women" and seeing what you come up with. These were, and still are, common attitudes in our society. This unsympathetic, "sit-in-the-back-of-the-bus" mentality is an easy stance to assume if you have nothing at stake. Not make waves, indeed. As a human being and as a gay man, I will continue to try to educate people about the oppression homophobia causes and its effects on everyone. I also will talk about the need now for change. The ex doesn't follow the cart. If the ride is a bumpy and a few turns fall off, someone can pick them up. Tim Brownlee - Tim Brownlee Lawrence graduate student and public relations coordinator for Gay and Lesbian Academic and Staff Advocates KANSANSTAFF TIFFANYHARNESS Editor VANESSA FUHRMANS Managing editor TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser Editors News Mike Andrews Editorial Beth Randolph Planning Lara Gold Campus Eric Gorski/Rochelle Oleson Sports Eric Nelson Photo Julie Jacobson Features Debbie Myers Graphics Aimee Braindaw/Jlee Meesey JENNIFER CLAXTON Business manager Business Staff Campus sales mgr ... Bileibie贤梧 Research sales mgr ... Rich Huarabarger National sales mgr ... Scott Hannah Co-op sales mgr ... Arl Johnson Production mgrs ... Kim Wallace Marketing director ... Lea Keeler Marketing manager ... Kim Wallace Classification ... Leanne Bryant Classified mgr ... Chip Kin JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser JAY STEINER Retail sales manager Business Staff Letters should be typed, double spaced and fewer than 200 words. 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