. --- 4 OPINION Friday, August 10, 1993 UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN VIEWPOINT THE ISSUE The North American Free Trade Agreement, supported by Presidents Bush and Clinton, will soon go to the U.S. Senate for ratification. THE BACKGROUND The controversial agreement would eventually abolish all tariffs between the United States, Mexico and Canada, in effect establishing one open economy for the whole of North America. Negotiations on side agreements for the treaty are still taking place. The economic and environmental consequences of NAFTA have been debated fiercely as it approaches an unsure fate in the Senate. THE OPINION NAFTA would benefit both U.S. and Mexico NAFTA will benefit the U.S. economy despite the changes it will bring about. Ross Perot, labor groups and some economists have argued that the abolition of tariffs on goods imported from Mexico will cause a southward exodus of manufacturers. They think significant job losses will result, and the U.S. economy will be damaged. We think that the overall economic prospects for NAFTA involves more than labor costs for manufacturers and is much more positive. Almost three-fourths of U.S. imports from Mexico already cross the border tariff-free, and there are still many manufacturers in the U.S. The reduction of current tariffs is smaller and more gradual than commonly believed, and NAFTA has provisions to prevent rapid job loss by reinstating tariffs on industries that destabilize too quickly. Also, cheap labor is not always reason enough for U.S. manufacturers to head south; G.M. recently moved 1,000 jobs back to the U.S.because the U.S.factory and work force were more cost-effective. We concede that there will be some loss of manufacturing jobs, but manufacturers are already leaving the U.S. not only for Mexico but also for the Far East. Most economists think that the U.S. job growth brought by the opened markets of Mexico and Canada will more than compensate for job losses to Mexico or Canada. Some projections show twice as many jobs gained as will be lost. These gains will result from increased U.S. exports and the intercontinental expansion of U.S. businesses. Few dispute that the post-NAFTA Mexican economy will be stronger than it is today. We think that U.S.failure to support NAFTA and Mexican President Salinas would cripple Mexico's economic future and destabilize the nation. A stronger Mexican economy will come along with our own and can only benefit the United States in the future. We disagree with fears that the elimination of tariffs will cause polluters to relocate in Mexico, where environmental regulations are light and unenforced. Under new NAFTA additions being negotiated, Mexico will commit to enforcement of environmental laws. These agreements, while not up to U.S. or environmentalist standards, will lead to stronger Mexican environmental policies in the future. Without NAFTA, Mexico will be forced to lure outside investment by any means possible and will sacrifice its environment in the process. With NAFTA, the U.S. has some assurance of Mexican environmental regulation and enforcement; without it, there is none. In the words of the National Wildlife Federation's president, "The ideal should not be the enemy of the good." Kansas Senators have indicated support of NAFTA. We applaud them and ask that out-of-state students voice their support for U.S.economic growth, a better environment and a more politically stable Mexico. CHRIS REEDY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD Lightning, elevators strike on Friday 13th An old saving goes: "Lightning never strikes twice. Except, of course, to golfers and outdoormen, who possess certain physical qualities that make them more susceptible to lightning because they do not get out of the way." That is a very wise saying. Only sayings such as "a penny saved is a penny you found in the couch cushions" are wiser. At any rate, the elevator behaved as it should and began its ascent. It did this quite nicely, in fact, inasmuch as But I have a friend who would testify in a court of law that lightning does strike twice. She is not a golfer, nor does she use semi-automatic weapons to hunt guppies. But lightning struck her house twice. Count them on your fingers; once, twice. This friend has Rotten Bad Luck Disorder. She shall remain anonymous, primarily because I cannot remember her name, for a number of reasons, but especially because she is Martian and by divulging her name she would face prosecution from the government for not having (1) a green card, and (2) an American Express. At any rate, she has bad luck. Her whole family, in fact, has the disease because they were all born on Friday the 13th. Really. The bad luck, however, does not end with lightning. Last week, on Friday the 13th, my friend proceeded to enter an elevator for the sole purpose of having it transport her two floors up. She was not on the elevator for fun, nor was she taunting the elevator, which is mean because elevators tend to be very delicate in nature. STAFF COLUMNIST it kept going up and would have been in lower Earth orbit by now had it not been for the fact that the building had a sturdy roof. That's right. The elevator hit the roof and came to a screeching halt. My friend was thrown into the air, and, because she did not understand the laws of physics, she fell back down. I'm talking about the Second Law of Physics, which states that you can step off a falling phone booth the instant before impact, and you will be all right. She did not heed this law and therefore did a face plant on the elevator's floor. The ceiling of the elevator fitted suit. Of course we had a hearty laugh at this when our friend told us. We laughed and laughed and lauged, at least while she remained stunned. It is interesting to observe stunned humans, because they always look like they have just paid the Parking Department $4,567.23 for ticket violations dating back to the Roman Empire. Elevator sandwich. Hold the squash. The bad luck, in keeping with the tradition of movies such as "Joe vs. The Volcano," does not end. A few years ago on Friday the 13th, my friend was riding a horse and experienced the Eighth Law of Physics one who is new at horseback riding will surely get bucked off and break one's back. And then over the summer, my friend had her purse stolen on two separate occasions: one on Friday the 13th and the other on Friday the 13th. Count them on your fingers; once, twice. Of course I have yet to mention the Brush With Death Bad Luck Vacation Story. My friend averted death during a rock slide in the Grand Canyon by pausing to look at some cacti and using the bathroom. Had she not stopped to potty, she would have died and, more importantly, died while pacing. "But what does it all mean?" you might possibly ask. And I would heartily respond, "I don't know, pass me another cool one." Sure, it's a sad story. We can almost hear the violins, were it not for the ever-present buzz that's filled our head since Labor Day weekend. I do know that a few weeks ago her family's insurance agent, named Newt (because all insurance agents are amphibians), told them they would no longer be insured. "Sorry." Newt had said. "We have conducted scientific studies that show people who have bad luck tend to have it the rest of their lives." At which point in time Newt was struck by a large lightning bolt. Todd Puntney is a Manhattan senior major ing in Journalism. NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE U.S. unfairly accuses immigrants instead of re-evaluating policies There is no doubt that illegal immigrants cause a huge financial drain on ... states. But ... any figure that's thrown out probably doesn't take into account the benefits of immigration. Immigrants cross the border legally and illegally to work and to buy American-produced goods and services on which they pay taxes. When times get tough, it's natural to look for someone to blame — a sacrificial lamb to be tossed into the maw of the problems in hopes that they will vanish. Today, in much of the United States, it is the immigrants — legal and illegal — who are being singled out for criticism. Immigration policy needs to look at all sides of the issue and be more than angrily striking out at the most visible signs of a largely invisible problem. California Gov. Pete Wilson was among the first to blame immigrants for a lot of his state's problems, calling for a constitutional amendment to deny citizenship to U.S.-born citizens of illegal immigrants ... STAFF COLUMNIST TUCSON CITIZEN ARIZONA Let me preface this by describing what campus looked like my freshman year, all those many years ago. Fashions of the '70s resurface with a twist times have changed. Maybe it's me. I know I'm at the waning end of the 20-something generation, but don't you think that the campus is getting kind of — well grooey? It was preppy hell. Plaid shorts, Polos under sweaters swais casual over shoulders and penny loafers were the order of the day. (In case you were wondering, that was sometime in the early 80s — the dark ages.) Occasionally, you would run into a guy who would challenge the social norms by slyly revealing a diamond-stud earring beneath short, well-groomed hair. But of course, the ring had to be in the appropriate ear. If not, it could detrimentally affect the masculinity of its wearer. Times have changed. The Preppy has taken a back seat to the vivid blues, purples and greens of tied-dye t-shirts and Guatemalan dresses worn by the Slacker and the Dead Head. Birkestones adorn the feet of every 10th passer-by. Where clouds of Lauren and Polo colognes once preceded groups of students, the essences of patchouli and sandalwood have taken over. Now, you can wear earrings in any ear, nose or eyebrow. In order to be radical, you have to get a tattoo. And just the other day, I saw someone wearing bell-bottoms and platform shoes. 1 trunk what scares me most about this is the fact that I remember these styles from my childhood. in second grade, everyone wore bell-bottoms. And if you wanted to be really cool, they had to cover your shoes. This sometimes made walking difficult, but in the second grade, kind of like now, fashion sense ruled out common sense every time. Although styles today resemble the styles of the past, our generation of 18- to 20-somethings behaves much differently than the same age group in the early '70s. We want to be free, but we want jobs. Or could be that we all wanted jobs, took a look at the economy and decided it was much easier just to be free? Surviving Reagan and Bush has left regio residual effects. We are the most cynical generation since the Industrial Revolution. Our age group expects to make less then our parents, own less and owe more. We've been told again and again that our divorced parents didn't provide the emotional support we needed and that MTV is destroying our mind. Politically speaking, we finally get organized but can't find anyone who deserves our votes. It's no wonder everyone looks like a hiphoe. I like to think that there is a little bit of hope for us. We are probably the most-educated generation thus far. Although the hippies were idealistic, our goals are pragmatic, probably because we have seen that unfocused idealism doesn't work. A friend once sent me a photo of a graffiti-covered wall in Portland; Ore., that he thought summed up the entire generation: "Peace and Stocks, Bong Hits and Espresso." I'm not really sure what it means but it just seems to fit. Val Huber is a Lawrence graduate student in Journalism. 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