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Wednesday, February 9, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Buybacks no business of Dole, U.S. government
Sen. Bob Dole has proposed $30 million of federal funds to support a gun buyback initiative. Gun buybacks may be an effective way of reducing crime, but the federal government should not support them.
The programs are aimed at reducing the number of guns on the streets by offering money, gift certificates, concert tickets, sports tickets, etc. to anyone wanting to give up a gun. These programs have been sponsored by corporations, community leaders and entertainers.
While private sector efforts should be applauded for their ambitious community service goals, gun buyback programs have not been shown to deter gun-related crimes. Even Dole has said "the jury is still out on whether these buyback efforts actually reduce crime."
A second problem with Dole's proposal is that it increases government spending unnecessarily. Even though $30 million isn't a large sum of money when compared with the federal budget, this program could be renewed year after year with increases in the size of expenditures to finance the added bureaucracy it undoubtedly would create.
For Dole to propose such a program seems bizarre because he has been a longtime opponent of gun-control measures. He opposed last year's Brady Bill, which imposed a seven-day waiting period for anyone attempting to buy a handgun.
Because of the lack of evidence that gun buyback programs effectively reduce crime or accidental shootings, Congress should not fund gun buybacks at a time of record government spending.
J. J. ANDRE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Clinton should display confidence in nominees
Once again President Clinton has picked a controversial nominee. Last week he named Deval Patrick as his choice for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Clinton should support his choice. He needs to show some backbone and break his trend of backing down from the questions surrounding controversial nominees.
We hope that Patrick's nomination doesn't end as Lani Guinier's did last year. Guinier was attacked because some people thought that she supported quotas. Faced with this negative publicity and Guinier's own controversial writings, the President withdrew his support and left Guinier dangling in a noose made of public indignation and sloppy research.
Patrick potentially faces a similar fate. One of his critics already has named him the "stealth Guinier." Despite such criticism, Clinton needs to stand by his choice. The criticism that sunk Guinier should not sink the nomination of Patrick. Clinton's unwavering support can make all the difference.
Thorough searches should be ordered on every nominee. Potential controversies should be anticipated. Once Clinton's choice is made public, however, he needs to show complete confidence in that choice.
Beyond the realm of research and confidence, Clinton needs conviction. He must support his choice even in the face of criticism. Wavering support, as was seen with Guinier, is not acceptable. Similar wobbling was seen with the nominations of Zoe Baird for attorney general and Morton Halperin for a top-level Pentagon position. It is time for such backpedaling to end.
Clinton should base his nominations on the needs of the nation. He then must realize the needs of his nominee. Right now Patrick needs strong executive backing. He needs a president with backbone.
MATT HOOD FOR EDITORIAL BOARD
Public must demand answers from the politicians it elected
COLUMNIST
I'm an old fashion guy. For instance, I still think there is value in writing my elected representatives once every other month to let them know how things look from outside the castle walls. They usually reply with a form letter. Such letters often have the tone of someone wringing his or her hands and pleading. "You can't blame me. I'm trying to fix the government. It's the other representatives and senators that are ruining things."
Nonetheless, since we are heading into another political season, now is a good time to let my representatives know what I think. They include President Clinton, senators Bob Dole and Nancy Kassebaum and Representative Jan Meyers. I'm presenting my methodology here in the hopes that it will help you organize your own letter to your elected representatives. It is best to keep such letters focused on just a few issues and be short and courteous. I arrange my letters topically, and they go like this:
I wanted to take a few minutes to express my feelings on a few important issues that will have a major impact on my ability to eventually
Dear
earn a living and provide for my family. The theme here is taxes.
Welfare Reform: I noticed The Kansas City Star's classified section had 24 pages of "help wanted" ads last Sunday. Why does the Clinton administration want to spend billions of dollars to "make work" for people who are on welfare with so many private sector jobs available—especially since Clinton's make-work schemes will be paid for with higher taxes on the those people working the private sector?
Social Security: A recent issue of the Freeman highlighted how the Social Security system will be bankrupt by about 2015. If the benefits are not to be massively
decreased, payroll taxes will have to be dramatically increased to keep the system solvent. It seems that now is the time to fix Social Security. For instance, why not phase it out over a 40-year period and replace it with IRAs?
Health care: What crisis? I pay my own health care insurance premiums, so I don't understand why Clinton wants me to pay higher taxes for someone else also. Additionally, historically price controls always create scarcity and curtail research and development activities. What are you doing to stop Clinton's attack on our health care system, to curtail his desire to further raise taxes?
The Federal Debt and Deficit: In spite of the massive Clinton tax increase last year, the debt still is increasing dramatically and will grow even faster in the next few years. Actually, the Clinton plan has made our day of reckoning more painful by putting off the inevitable. The only viable solution is to dramatically decrease the size of the federal government. What is your plan to help stop the growth of our monstrous government, shrink our年-
ly deficit and begin paying off our national debt?
Thank you, for your time and attentiveness to these issues. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely...
One of my techniques is to ask hard questions. Those of us that complain about the slick nature of our politicians have only ourselves to blame. If we don't demand clear, unequivocal answers to precisely stated questions, we allow our representatives to put us off and answer with double speak. There is no time like now to start the habit of communicating with those who determine the cultural and economic climate of the communities in which we live.
You can write these people at the following addresses: President Clinton, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC, 20500; your senators at. The Senate, Washington DC, 20510, and your Representative at the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington DC, 20515.
'Big Dream Daddy' can be relentless
Welcome back to "A Day in the Life," starring Your Esteemed Writer. Knowing how breathlessly you've been anticipating the outcome of last week's cliffhanger, I've decided to give you an update. Last you heard, CC (Common Cold) and I were tangging down the Halls of Medicine. When we paused to dip, I made my move and escaped. But whose brawny arms should I run into but those of Big Dream Daddy.
Big Dream Daddy and I go way back. As a child I battled him fiercely. My parents insisted that I visit him in Dreamland. Now, I've always liked to travel, but Dreamland just didn't sound like my idea of a good time. Not compared with staying up and watching TV, anyway.
But as I got older, I began to need Big Dream Daddy's ministrations. We reached a compromise during high school. If I didn't visit him enough during the week, I would stay extra long on the weekends. My parents, however, were not thrilled with this plan. My mother, normally a peaceful
lady, would aggressively drive Big Dream Daddy away. She would storm into my room, rip open the miniblinds and let Light do his dirty trick on my sensitive eyes. Big Dream Daddy was banished instantly. Light and Noise were no friends of his.
I didn't realize how powerful he was until I came to college. I ignored him in favor of friends like Hap E. Tymz and Might E. Fine. Big Dream Daddy was tolerant at first, but soon he got nasty. He disregarded Light and Noise and stalked me during the day. He toyed with my mind. I begged Judge Viv A. Rin for a restraining order, but
it didn't do any good.
As I sat in class one day, Big Dream Daddy sent out his heralds. Sleep waves washed over me. I swayed in my chair to the rhythm of their gentle caresses and then forced myself to resist them before he arrived. I propped my head up with one hand and took notes with the other.
But unbeknownst to me, Big Dream Daddy had already arrived. He sat patiently in the back of my mind, smirking as I foolishly convinced myself that I was awake. I kept on writing, while the professor was getting quieter and quieter. He seemed to be drifting back into the chalkboard.
I looked at my notes, but there wasn't anything about phospholipid bilayers therel Instead, I had written a bizarre dialogue between Big Dream Daddy and myself about red shoes. I had been dreaming! Aghast, I struggled toward Consciousness. My elbow slipped off of the simulated woodgrain formica desk, and my head crashed downward. I tried to regain my composure, horrified by
Big Dream Daddy's audacity. I was quite perturbed.
As the semester progressed, incidents like this became more frequent. Big Dream Daddy harassed me relentlessly, snatching me from Reality's grasp in movie theaters, cars and lecture halls. I've noticed him assaulting other people, too. In the halls of Wescoe, at airports, everywhere I go he ruthless claims his victims.
Honestly, he means well. I've had a hard time staying away from him. He knows me well. I'm always tempted to run back to him when times get rough. But I have to remind myself that I have other commitments. It's hard. Even as I sat in my room writing our story, I could feel his presence near me. I admit it, I caved in, I hated myself for it when I woke up and saw the telltale, spiral imprint on my face. Sure, I visit him every now and again, but it isn't the same as it used to be. I miss you, Big Dream Daddy. I miss you.
Alhana Aorra is an Overland Park freshman in biology and English.
KANSAN STAFF
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Columnist missed news of California earthquake
Why is Scott Tittrington complaining about CBS? Scott Tittrington went to the Kansas/ K-State basketball game. He didn't stay home and watch NBC's or ABC's important news coverage of the Northridge earthquake.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Later Titrington watched David Letterman on CBS. He didn't watch NBC's or ABC's important news coverage of the Northridge earthquake.
The basketball game took approximately two and a half hours of Tittrington's time. The David Letterman show is one hour. So three and a half hours of Tittrington's time were not spent watching NBC's or ABC's important news coverage of the Northridge earthquake.
It is an inevitable fact of life that, at some time in the future, a natural
disaster will strike again. When it does, I hope that Tittrington will reflect upon this incident and not make the mistake of neglecting to watch this important news coverage by attending basketball games and watching talk shows on CBS television.
After all, NBC and ABC cover these important news events for his viewing pleasure.
Lawrence resident
Overloading cheer leads to less effective business
Danielle Raymond's "Flight attendant overloads on cheer" in the Jan.
14 Kansan is a timely step in checking the cheer epidemic.
is prognostic of a deeper and widespread malaise.
The article, addressed to airline attendants' "overloading cheer," may, perhaps, be countered as was done in a letter in Jan. 26 issue. But it
Loading cheer is becoming a marketable commodity. Directors of human resources say that one's efficiency and professionalism soon will take a lower place to being a palatable member of a working team in every field. A greater part of the latter is the ability to load cheer.
Efficiency and professionalism are acquired with years of hard work and study. Loading cheer is an art. Someone that is emotionally inclined to it can pick up it in a few weeks. Rewarding cheer over professional efficiency will eventually be detrimental to the latter.
Lawrence graduate student
Loading cheer is a turned-on feeling, like the on or off of a water tap. It will make people robot-like.
If the cheer epidemic continues, we may have the Virgin Mary of the "Pista" in cheesy smiles and cheer. Cue the sound!
Christians exercising, not restricting, free speech
I have a hard time believing your statement in the Feb. 1 issue of the Kansan that said fundamental Christians "have managed to alter public curriculums, limit health education and censure libraries." I don't think many people would label KU as a Christian school. And I don't believe our country is becoming more receptive to Christianity.
I also disagree with your statement that Christians "have made the arrogant assumption that the First Amendment was written exclusively for them." When a group of people sees issues from a certain point of view and voices their opinion, they simply disagree with another group. It does not mean that one tries to silence the other.
Marshall Yin
Marshall Yin Naperville, IL senior