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Wednesday, January 26, 1994
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1
VIEWPOINT
Special investigations need to be reformed
The Iran-Contra affair exemplifies the need to reform the way we handle impropriety on the government's part. Fortunately, this chapter in history has been closed. It is unfortunate to see that so many resources were used to keep this chapter open. If the procedure had been more professional, it could have been closed much sooner - and at much less cost.
The Iran-Contra investigation is finally over. After seven years and nearly $40 million, Lawrence Walsh unveiled his 566-page report last week. The report's length, cost and lack of substantial evidence indicates that changes should be made in how independent investigations are handled.
German justice system takes step to improve
Theoretically, conclusiveness and efficiency are staples of high-level government investigations. To accomplish this, more stringent guidelines concerning the way investigations are handled should be adopted.
The German justice system finally has good news. Last week, the German justice sentenced two men to prison terms ranging from one year to two years and eight months. The men were part of a group of skin-heads who attacked two U.S. athletes last October in Oberhof, Germany.
The Iran-Contra investigation took enormous amounts of money and time. The government should attempt to put caps on both. One way this can be achieved is by funding investigations the same way research projects are financed. The prosecutor assigned to the task would be given a predetermined amount of money and time to conduct the investigation. He or she would be required to check in with an impartial board that would evaluate the credibility of the investigation. The board then could decide whether to continue financing the investigation.
This would eliminate a circumstance in which prosecutors use their "blank check" to conduct a seven-year investigation, using nearly $40 million in taxpayers' money, to turn in a report that fails to provide conclusive evidence of wrongdoing.
CARSON ELROD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
The sentences are a welcome relief in a country where the man who stabbed tennis star Monica Seles last year was put on probation and then released.
Social conditions in Germany are far from ideal. Rampant unemployment, difficulties in integrating the mass of cheap labor from formerly Communist countries and uncertainty about the future of the European Union pose new challenges to Germany. It is not democracy that is at stake in Germany; it is how more mature we as a race have become since the tragedy of the Holocaust.
The sentences last week should be examples to be followed, for they are a firm declaration by the German judicial system that discrimination and hostility will not be tolerated. Nazism is racism's bastard son, and while the battle against the latter has not yet been won, the former is likely to remain a recurrent curse.
The international community should watch for adventurers who try to seize power in a time of hopelessness and social impasse, like the Russian Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and cry out against groups which consider themselves above the law.
If six decades later the ghost of Nazism still haunts Germany, we should remember how the horror began and how little was done to stop it. The German judicial system has at least begun to exorcise the ghost.
GERALDO SAMOR FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
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Government should not provide 'no-cost insurance' to citizens
On the morning an earthquake rocked LA, a Californian cornered by a reporter said, "I'm really surprised that there was no warning and at how powerful this one was." Prior to that moment, it had never occurred to me that an earthquake would announce its coming or take pity on the faint of heart.
To hear this Californian claim that
I am all for compassion and helping neighbors when they are in need, but this nonsense of the federal government as no-cost insurance to the fool-hardy is grossly unjust to those of us who do buy insurance. The government's system counts on those of us who do act responsibly to pay not only our share, but to pay for our silly neighbors.
I lived in Monterey for several years and felt a few modest shakers myself. Feeling the earth move is something I prefer only in romantic encounters. When I lived there I bought earthquake insurance because it seemed reasonable to me that nature is inclined to act rather naturally.
he was "suprised" by the earthquake and that it was powerful, indicates that his motto is not, "self-reliance." It is, the government will take care of me.
Many of the farmers of Iowa, Kansas and Missouri who have enjoyed bountiful crops from the rich soil of flood plains but who chose not to buy flood insurance apparently think like our anonymous Californian. There is a more insidious aspect to this situation than just determining who has to pay for another's folly, because we learn from the results of our behavior. This is a simple principle manifestly
obvious on college campuses.
When we take a test, we not only wish to know what score we earned, we want to know which questions we missed. This is so we can do better next time. Imagine how confusing and complex our world would become if our grades were dependent upon how the guy in the chair at the back of the room does. The only option we would have in such a world would be to try and dictate how this fellow lived his life; we would insist that he study long and hard. Unfortunately, this nearly has become the state of affairs in our country. For instance, last fall I heard it suggested that the government pass laws making it illegal for farmers to farm in flood plains so when rivers flood, the government does not have to bail out the flood victims. In other words, let's tell these fellows how to live their lives.
I would rather not tell others how to live. I don't think running another person's life is either my business or job. And I think farmers should be allowed.
to farm the fertile, productive soil of flood plains and benefit from the other inherent characteristics of working such unstable ground. Recognizing that necessity is the mother of invention, we should also acknowledge that, left alone to experiment; those most threatened by flood waters will eventually figure out how to better control a river's excesses. Providing such farmers with no-cost insurance obviates the initiative to better their own situation, just as welfare schemes provide recipients with incentives to maintain their status quo.
Those who are surprised by nature's characteristic excesses should not be surprised that those of us who pay our insurance as well as theirs resent their shortsighted folly. And they should not be surprised by the government's willingness to manage their lives for them if they continue to disavow responsibility for their behavior.
Allen Tiffany is a Lawrence graduate student in English.
ROSS PEROT EXPLAINS THE EARTHQUAKE :
Lack of late quake coverage wrong
As I returned home from the KU-K-State basketball game Jan. 17, my thoughts immediately turned to the earthquake situation in Northridge, California. As a native Southern Californian, I've experienced many of the feared tremors myself. Having many family members and friends who live in California, I immediately turned on the television, hoping to tune in to the latest information about the quake. While flipping through the channels, I found special reports on nearly every major network. However, I was astonished when I turned to CBS and stumbled across "The Late Show with David Letterman."
I believe the decision by CBS to continue its regular late-night programming instead of offering coverage of the Northridge earthquake was a bad one. When a disaster of this magnitude occurs – no pun intended – the public deserves access to as much information as possible. I'm certain the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles covered the situation. However, this did not serve the public to its full capacity. What about the people across the
nation who, like me, have relatives and friends in the area? We deserved as much information as possible. And how about those people who are without cable and only can receive the local CBS broadcast? They were completely without a source of quake information.
CBS should have followed the lead of its fellow networks, NBC and ABC. NBC left its normal late-night programming, headlined by "The Tonight Show," to bring the nation a live report from Northbridge by news anchorman Tom Brokaw. ABC continued to air its usual late-night news program, "Nightline," but focused the
entire program on the quake. That show ran over its half-hour time slot to broadcast a live interview with a survivor of the collapsed Northridge apartment building located near the epicenter of the quake. Both of these networks realized that coverage of the earthquake was more important than late-night entertainment.
People will argue that the television world should not stop with each natural disaster. At any given moment, some point on earth is subjected to fire, flood or a variety of other disturbing acts caused by Mother Nature. However, there are times when these events need extensive coverage. For instance, California recently has endured more than its fair share of problems. Since 1987, the state has faced the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Oakland Hills fire, the booting and burning of Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict, the fires of 1993, and now the Northridge earthquake.
All of these disasters have left California in economic turmoil. Perhaps the only way out is through the donations and support of concerned citizens across the United States and throughout the world. Just as a prospective student at this University would not enroll and spend thousands of dollars on tuition without a complete and thorough understanding of the school, nobody is going to offer support to the state of California without a full understanding of the problems that state has faced. By bringing the nation earthquake coverage in its late-night programming, CBS could have helped further this understanding.
While I applaud David Letterman and the sincere wish for a speedy recovery he extended to the people of California in his show, it did not alter my view of CBS' actions. It is an inevitable fact of life that, at sometime in the future, a natural disaster will strike again. When it does, I hope CBS will reflect upon this incident and not make the mistake of neglecting important coverage again.
Scott Tittlingon is a Poway, California sophomore in exercise science.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Pornographic pictures not protected speech
In a Jan. 19, 1994, column, Steve Church defend at length the right of Templin Hall residents to hang pornographic pictures outside their rooms, and he claims that such actions are "symbolic speech," which has been protected under the First Amendment in recent Supreme Court cases. However, Mr. Church fails to note the distinction made by the Supreme Court between speech that contains ideas of intellectual or artistic merit, and speech that has none.
Mr. Church decries the fact that some of the residents of Templin Hall have been deprived of their right to free expression in the marketplace of ideas, but exactly what
is the idea that they are trying to express? The gist of it seems to be; "I have dirty pictures on my door!"
Mr. Church concluded his argument by noting that asking the residents to remove the pornographic pictures is a mistake, for "silencing them will only make their cause that much stronger." Now they have a cause? Do they want a dirty picture on every door? We shall never know.
According to Mr. Church, our very own (police) state university has censored the answer to this and all of our other questions by forcing those hapless residents of Templin Hall to remove the pictures of naked ladies from outside their doors. Go KU.
Jason McClure
Silver Lake graduate student
Flight attendants face difficult job disrespect
I am not myself a flight attendant, but a member of my immediate family was previously employed as one. I know from her experiences that the job is a demanding and stressful one, no doubt from dealing with unappreciative and crabby people such as yourself. A cheery disposition should certainly be welcomed. I am employed on campus in a position that requires interaction with
I am writing in response to an editorial by Danielle Raymond that appeared in the Friday, Jan. 14 Kansan. The piece was entitled, "Flight Attendant Overloads on Cheer." I was personally offended by the unwarranted slam on the "cheery" people of the world.
various types of students. Frequently I am praised for my patient and upbeat personality that you seem to loathe. This I should take comfort in, knowing that there are some people who appreciate a kindly offer.
I can understand your discomfort in condescendingly being referred to as "sweetheart" by a stranger, but addressing the flight attendant in question as "the psychotically happy flight attendant" and "Happy Man" is no less condescending.
As an undeniably cheery person, I eagerly await the day when I may have the pleasure of ringing you up at the store, waiting on your table in a restaurant, or perhaps even serving you as you fly the friendly skies. I'll pour it on extra thick for your enjoyment. Try that one on for size. Heather Parks
Lenexa freshman