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University Daily Kansan / Monday, March 2, 1992
OPINION
LIFE IN HELL
©1992 BY
MAIT
GARDENING
College students' battle cry: 'I'll get around to it-later'
I could have gone to the Oklahoma game last week. But I had a major project due the next day, and I kept putting it off.
I gave my ticket to my cousin, whom I hadn't seen in three months. I meant* to get in touch with him sooner, but I kept putting it off.
I meant to tell you in the first paragraph that I'm a chronic procrastinator. But I kept putting it off.
"I'll get around to it" seems to have become the battle cry of college students lately. Everything can wait until tomorrow. And now that basketball season is in high gear, our priorities are even more out of whack.
If any of these phrases sound familiar, you might need help to.
"I'll get my car fixed when I have more money."
Yeah, like I have a wealthy uncle on death row. Well, not yet.
"I'll read 'Moby Dick' when I have more time."
Someday soon, I'll sit down and read
David Mitchell Staff columnist
the last 400 pages in one sitting.
the last 400 pages in one sitting.
"I'll get in shape when I'm not this busy."
When I'm 65 and retired, I'll hit those weights for real.
It appears that even the most basic necessities are being neglected. Students often complain of needing sleep, of being hungry — they just don't have time to get things done.
We need to realize that some things shouldn't have to wait. Important issues demand immediate attention. Seriously, if you haven't made spring break plans yet, you're running out of time. And if you haven't started looking for a summer internship yet - McDonalds is probably hiring.
If you think that you or someone you love might suffer from C.P., Chronic Procrastination, you should be able to recognize these symptoms: unpaid bills, an empty refrigerator, late papers, an extremely messy apartment and friends who wonder what the hell ever happened to you.
At this point in the semester, students are faced with midterms, spring break and the NCAA Tournament. It's important to do first things first. Study now so you don't have to do it during vacation. And if you haven't gotten tickets for the journey yet, you probably blew it. Pay that cable bill.
Know your priorities. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can get done.
I meant to tell you all of this sooner. I just had more important things to do
David Mitchell is a De Soto senior majoring in journalism.
THE UNIVERSITYDAILY KANSAN
Saudi sales provide U.S. jobs
Revenues from fighter planes would keep assembly lines running, U.S. citizens working
With a new Middle East peace conference on stage, and a hotly contested presidential election in the wings, the Pentagon has requested and the administration is backing the sale of F-15 war planes to the U.S. Desert Storm ally, Saudi Arabia.
Pressure surrounds the deal. Politicians at home, including George Bush, do not want to see the layoff of more than 7,000 employees at McDonnell Douglas Corp., a move that is sure to happen this summer if the sale is not approved, according to company officials.
U. S. officials think we should reward our new allies with the sale. They also contend that if we do not make the sale, the British will.
The request, however, poses a tough question for many in Congress who see the arms sale to an Arab nation as a threat to Israel because it may upset the delicate balance of power in the Middle East. The administration has to wonder how this will affect our $10-billion leverage being used to deter Jewish settlements along the Gaza Strip.
Israeli supporters rallied in November
when the proposal first surfaced. More than 60 senators signed a protest letter to President Bush. The fight is sure to continue.
But if the $5-billion sale is made, the St. Louisaircraftcompanywouldbeabletokeep assembly lines running until 1997.This certainly would be a boost to an industry and a community that has been hit hard by the recession.
The question remains, however, how long can U.S. industry rely on a mercenary-type economy? Military needs such as these some day will become obsolete. Companies such as McDonnell Douglas should attempt to turn their production toward peace-time products.
It is easy for representatives surrounded in luxuries to stand on their moral perch. Today's economy is causing real pain to many at home. Until these companies make the transitions, sales should be approved. U.S. workers need jobs to rebound from the recession. The Saudis have proved to be an ally, and they will get fighter planes, whether the United States sells the planes to them. With that in mind, how can we justify the forfeiture of thousands of jobs?
Jim Brown for the editorial board
Regulators are not a burden
Regulatory agencies can be improved, but they still are vital for testing new genetic products
A new White House policy on biotechnology says that genetically engineered products, everything from crops to medicine, are not dangerous and should not get too much scrutiny from federal regulators.
The policy's main purpose is to spur the industry by keeping federal regulators from singling out these products for extra regulatory procedures. Bush said the $4 billion industry would grow to $50 billion in the next decade if only there were fewer regulations.
This sounds suspiciously like what Bush said about the airline industry, and look where it ended up. Besides, genetically engineered seeds that do not have natural enemies are not the same as airplanes. TWA does not have the potential to run awry and ravage the environment.
Bush is afraid that the regulatory agencies and regulations are too burdensome to business. The problem the policy is trying to address is the lack of expediency with which the government approves a company's product. It currently takes up to five or six years from the first notification of the government to its final approval.
This is an admirable idea, but the way the policy wants to relieve the time problem is wrong. Bush should look at the efficiency of the regulatory agencies, not simply abolish them.
Who would want to eat a tomato with gene alteration when it has not been sufficiently tested or regulated?
Regulation is not always a bad thing, contrary to what Bush would say. Look at what happened to the savings and loan industry. Genetically altered agricultural products and pharmaceuticals need regulation.
Beth Randolph for the editorial board
Editorials reflect the majority opinion of The University Daily Kansan editorial board. Opinions expressed in letters, cartoons and guest and staff columns are solely those of the author or artist. Views expressed in columns and cartoons are not necessarily shared by the Kansan.
Texas mutant ninja roaches disgust this human
The U.S. Army has provided me the opportunity to live a lot of places in and out of the country. It can be a wonderful experience to meet different people and experience different cultures. I don't know whether I have a favorite place yet, but I do know I have a least favorite: Texas.
Now, before all you Lone-Star natives get all riled up and defensive, let me say there are many wonderful things about Texas. It is big. It is usually very warm. The coast is beautiful. Austin is a terrific city. The food is delicious. The people are very friendly. But let me just say one word about my encounters in the four and a half years I lived at Fort Hood, Texas: cockroaches.
I grew up in South Dakota. And South Dakota has its share of bugs: spiders, ants, mosaquites, grasshoppers, crickets and even few roaches. But not everyone has roaches. I
Kate Kelley Staff columnist
There are a couple of reasons for this. Most of the population up there is of German and Scandinavian stock. We are talking clean- until you've scrubbed away any trace-of-color people. They wash, sour, boil and sterilize everything and then wash it again. It is a state
actually had never seen one until we lived in Alabama. Roaches were found only in greasy truck stops, garbage dumpsters and the occasional noopykeo屋点
pastime. A roach could starve up there, especially during the spring, summer, fall and winter big cleanings. Another reason is that from late September until May or early June, the temperature hovers around zero all the time. Any bug that doesn't take off to Florida is a goner. Roaches are warm-weather bugs by nature and just don't care for that nine-month South Dakota winter year after year.
When I found my first roach in my house in Texas, I went on a cleaning frenzy. I bleached, disinfected, scoured, invested in a truckload of bug-proof, sealable kitchenware. But it just doesn't matter in Texas. Roaches there don't care if your house is clean. They are so big and strong, they just pop the lids right off that Tupperware. They march into your house through the front door — none of that sneaking around foundation cracks for them. They don't scurry and run when you turn on a light like the ones in
Alabama did. No, these Texas roaches just stand there in the open refrigerator door, a chicken leg in one antenna, a bird in the other, and they drawl. "What the hell do you want?" Because in addition to being very big and strong, they are also very rude.
Forget about any of those roach repellents! They use those motels to put up their relatives when they come from Alabama to visit. Paul Harvey used to proclaim a product called "Roach Pruf" that was supposed to have come directly from God for the purpose of ridding Earth of this devil-spawned creature. Roaches love that stuff. They think it's candy. I think Paul Harvey must have gotten a little payola from the Roach mafia for pushing it.
you can't kill these roaches. They have special armor plating that resists the sturdiest Army boot. Raid just gets them a little high for a while, but they wake up hung over and
angry and are liable to march right up and take a chomp out of your toe for giving them a headache.
The worst ones are those that fly. I'm not kidding. They crawl up to a high place, like maybe the molding around your ceiling, then jump and actually fly across the room. I don't know if this is some strange mutant form of roach or a society of daredevil roaches whose aim is to terrorize northern immigrants.
The entomology department at Fort Hood wouldn't even spray houses for them anymore. "It just does no good," they said.
I'm sorry if I've offended any Texans. As I said, there are a great many wonderful things about that state, and I hope to visit it many times in my life. But I sincerely hope I will never, have never to live there again.
Kate Kelley is a Fort Leavenworth junior majoring in English.
by David Rosenfield