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Tuesday, February 23, 1993
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
Audience Debate Forum sparks public discourse
Tomorrow night students will have an opportunity to voice their opinion on one of the most volatile issue in United States politics. Audi-
Volatile issues in United States politics. Audence Debate Forum will be hosting an audience participation debate concerning whether or not U.S. policy should allow homosexuals to serve in the military. The debate will take place from 7:30-8:30 in 3140 Wescoe.
Audience Debate Forum (ADF) is a division of KU debate that is held in conjunction with the Department of Communications and Student Senate. It provides an opportunity for students to come together and discuss the most pertinent issues of the day. Last semester, ADF held a debate concerning United States involvement in Somalia, and last year even held an audience debate over whether Darren Fulcher should have been impeached by Student Senate.
The format of the debate is a very simple one. There is one principal speaker on each side of the proposed issue. They each argue their side for seven minutes at the beginning of the debate. Then, the discussion is turned over to anyone in the audience who would like to speak for up to two minutes in support of either side of the argument.
The issue of homosexuals in the military is a difficult one. Any discussion of this policy will invariably bring up a variety of very diverse opinions on either side. It is a benefit to everyone to hear, firsthand, these opinions. Furthermore, the interchange of ideas on current issues can be enlightening. Most of us are attempting to obtain an education so that we might feel that we are in a better position to know the "correct" answer or the "truth" on a difficult issue such as this. What better way to learn than entering in to a discourse with fellow students?
JEFF REYNOLDS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Clinton gambles on Reno in attorney general search
"Oh, I would have called Janet Reno on November the 5th."
Asked in hindsight what he would have done differently in his bumble search for an attorney general. President Bill Clinton replied:
That indeed would have spared the president's fledgling administration the embarrassment of having his first two choices, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, founder on the shoals of their employment of illegal alien housekeepers and nannies.
A Harvard University law school graduate, Reno has served with distinction for 15 years as Miami-
No such problem exists with Reno, a never-wed and childless 54-year-old woman who keeps her own house. ...
Dade County's prosecuting attorney. She is particularly noted for her diligence and competence in pursuing cases involving political corruption, racial violence, child abuse and nonpayment of child support by absent fathers ...
Perhaps her greatest recommendation comes from the acknowledgment of her integrity by defense attorneys and even her political foes...
It took him a while, but Clinton seems to have found an attorney general the nation at large will come to respect and admire.
The Seattle Post Intelligence Center
Seattle
Kansan Editorial Board:
Kris Belden, Greg Farmer, Jeff Hays, Vered Hankin, Kyle Kickhaefer, Stephen Martino, Jolinda Matthews, Colleen McCain, Chris Moeser, David Olson, Simon Naldoza, Jeff Reynolds, Chris Ronan, and Michael Taylor
Kansan Columnists:
Steve Chapman, J.R Clairborne, Lisa Cosmillo, Andrew Gilman, Francesca Glyn-Jones, Cecile Julian, Marvin McNett, and Julie Wasson
KANSAN STAFF
GREG FARMER
Editor
GAYLE OSTERBERG Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
BILL SKEET, Technology coordinator
TOMEBLEN
Asat Managing ... Justin Knopp
News ... Monique Gualdain
David Mitchell
Editorial ... Stephen Martino
Campus ... KC Trauner
Sports ... David Mitchell
Photo ... Matt Nowakow
Festivals ... Lynne McAdoo
Graphics ... Schauder
STEVE PERRY
Business manager
MELISSA TERLIP
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
Campus sales mgr .. Brad Broun
Regional sales mgr .. Wade Baxter
National sales mgr .. Jennifer Pierer
Co-op sales mgr .. Ariane Hease
Production mgr .. Robert Levine
Ashley Langford
Marketing director .. Angela Cheveron
Creative director .. Holly Perry
Girlfriend ... Emily Bickman
Art Director .. Dave Haber
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Lottery player considers his idea of living in luxury
When the winning lottery numbers were announced on television, there was moaning and swearing up and down the bar. But Herbert took it calmly. He shrugged and said, "Unlike these fools, I was absolutely certain I wasn't going to win."
But how could you be sure? Any body with a ticket has a chance.
"No, that isn't true. I don't know how it's done, but somehow things are rigged so that certain people can't win. People like me."
What do you mean, people like you?
"We have certain characteristics."
Such as.
"Well, let's start with Hawaii. I don't like Hawaii. I would never consider going there."
"So this. About half the people who win a big lottery say the same thing. They're going to use some of their winnings for a vacation in Hawaii. Never Paris or a villa near Rome. Never Martha's Vineyard or Palm Springs. It's always Hawaii. Why do people who suddenly get rich want to fly thousands of miles to eat a pig cooked in a hole in the ground?"
COLUMNIST
An interesting question.
What does that have to do with it?
"The ones who don't go to Hawaii usually say they are going to use their winnings to visit their sister in California. How's that for life in the fast track?"
"Yes, and another reason I don't qualify is that I don't have a sister in
I suppose it could be livelier.
would announce that I was going to burn down the dump and every dull object within it "
"Yes, and I'm not going to buy any new furniture or a new TV set or add a ree room to my house. Winners always say they're going to do this. I
Your wife wouldn't like that.
"That's probably true. So I again would announce that I was going to burn down the dump and every dull object with it."
That's rather callous of you, considering all those years she's given you.
"Actually, it's generous of me. It's not like I was going to hire someone to bump her off, which I could well afford to do if I won the lottery. Now that would be callous. And I wouldn't do it unless she was unreasonable."
But what would your friends think?
"As friends, I hope they would understand. I would write them letters, explaining everything and telling them how I was going to save our friendship."
"By having nothing further to do with any of them."
How would you do that?
That's not very friendly.
"Of course it is. Human nature being what it is, if I was, they would all become terribly envious. This would cause friction in our relationship. So to save them from this painful situation, I would tell them that I didn't want to see them again. And if they showed up, I'd have my bodyguards
throwthem out."
But wouldn't you share some of your new wealth with them?
"That would be a terrible thing to do to my friends. It would make them dependent upon me, which would be wrong because they would never know if they would have succeeded in life on their own. Naturally, they'll fail on their own. But at least through failure they will come to know themselves. That precious self-knowledge would be my true gift of friendship to them."
But how can somebody live without friends and loved ones?
"Oh, that's no problem. I would simply go to the French Riviera and put a sign on my yacht saying, 'I have $40 million. Do you love me?' Believe me, the world is filled with loving people. They would probably love me so much they would be willing to do light housekeeping and my laundry, too."
But you can't just spend your life as a playboy.
"Why not? Why can't there be just one lottery winner who looks into the camera cameras and says, 'I am going to quit my job, dump my wife, shed my friends and use my wealth to do all the unspeakable things most of you dream about but are ashamed to admit."
Because that would discredit the lottery. It isn't intended to shatter marriages and turn decent men into sinful idlers.
"You might be right. So if I ever win, I'll revise my plan. I'll stay with my wife."
That's the way
Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Kansan granted Phelps'top wish by printing story
In response to the two-page article written on the children of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, it sickens me to see children, very young children, holding posters given to them by their radical parents and brain-washed followers. The Rev. Fred
Phelps is probably sitting at home laughing himself silly because you (the Kansan), have given him what he wants the most publicity. What's worse is that the message is now reaching more than 20,000 people, for free! He wants to sit emotions. He wants people to hate him because out of the 10,000 people who despise him, there is still at least one person who agrees. And that is all he needs. He is a hate preacher. I'm not suggesting ignoring him, but a lavis photojournalistic spread is playing right into the hand of a madman. I'm not a very religious person, but I know the God of Gods I believe in tells me to love my brothers and sisters, regardless of color, race or sexual preference. I commend the Reverend's son, Nate, who has the sense to know what is right and what is wrong.
Graham Johnson Lincoln, Neb., sophomore
STAFF COLUMNIST
Biodiversity critical for environment, economy
In stark contrast to his predecessor, President Clinton recently touched on the value of biodiversity in response to a question from a child whose father lost a business because of the spotted owl. To his credit, the president emphasized that the real issue was the importance of the remaining old-growth forest, and not simply protection of a single species. This is an acknowledgement of reality which President Bush refused to make. Instead, he called for revision of the endangered species act because it supposedly put a single species ahead of the welfare of people. The truth is that the owl's primary importance is not due to its own endangerment, but because it represents an ancient community of species which could easily be lost forever.
If it curious that conservatives in this country seem unable to grasp basic ecological principles, since they are so similar to the economic principles they so eagerly embrace. Conservatives promote the notion that prosperity hinges on a free and open marketplace. But they fail to see the obvious analogy between the benefits of the diversity of decision makers in the free market, and the equally important benefits of complex and thriving ecosystems based on the diversity of life.
Contrary to the impression promoted by many conservative leaders, you don't need spiritual and altruistic feelings toward nature to be concerned about the loss of the old-growth forest and other endangered ecosystems. For instance, the pacific yew is just one member of this endangered community, and has recently been discovered to have significant cancer fighting benefits. But far beyond the potential benefits of it individually useful species like the Yew, the existence of diversity itself protects us all from the inevitability of change in the environment, just as the existence of millions of independent decision makers in the economy protects us from the drastic consequences of failing to adapt to economic changes.
In a diverse ecosystem, the constant struggle by thriving populations of creatures to maximize individual success is analogous to the struggle among competing players in a free market economy. If the forest gets warmer, those individuals of each particular species which are best adapted to that condition will do relatively better, and those species which are better adapted than others competing for the same resources will also be relatively better. By contrast, in simple ecosystems such as forests, by management systems tree farms, or by constant danger from changing climate and threatening adaptations by pest organisms. Much like the economies of Eastern Europe, these simple systems are liable to collapse from the inability to adapt.
The media rarely discuss the importance of diversity in the endangered species controversy, for the same reason that Ross Perot had to buy air time to explain what every American should have already understood about the economy. The media seem to share the consensus that Americans are too easily bored to stick with anything more complex than a baseball score. If Perot were as interested in the environment as he was in the economy, he could surely have proven them wrong once more.
Steve Chapman is a Overland Park senior majoring in systematics and ecology.
Mystery Strip
BOB PICKS UP A HITCH-HIKER...
SHE SAYS HER NAME IS KATHY
SHE SAYS HER NAME IS KATHY
by David Rosenfield