OPINION
University Daily Kansan, July 6, 1984
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Day Kansan (USPS 650-644) is published at the University of Kansas, 1181 stutter-Fint Hall, Lawrence, Kanon. 650-644, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays, and final periods. Services are $3 per person for six months or $2 per a year in Douglas County and $1 for six months or $3 for a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 a semester paid through the student activity fee. The STERF Send address changes to the University Day Kansan, 1181 stutter-Fint Hall, Lawrence, Kanon.
JAMES BOLE KAREN DAVIS
Editor Business Manager
SHARON BODIN JILL GOLDBLATT
Managing Editor Retail Sales Manager
JILL CASEY ROB LEONARD
Campus Editor National Sales Manager
CHARLES HIMMELBERG KRISTINE MATT
Editorial Editor Classified and Campus Sales Manager
MIKE KAUTSCH JOHN OBERZAN
News Advisor General Manager and
Sales and Marketing Adviser
Not big business
Suffer another blow for collegiate athletics.
How ironic it is that the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a voluntary association of colleges founded to promote fair competition among its members, has been found guilty by the U.S. Supreme Court of engaging in anti-competitive practices.
Antitrust legislation exists for the purpose of promoting the general welfare by reducing the harmful effects of big business. Well, not withstanding the unfortunate attitudes of some major colleges, collegiate athletics is not big business and should not be treated as such under the law.
The Supreme Court seems to be saying that the freedom to engage in mega-buck network deals and maximize television exposure is more important than supporting the NCAA's efforts to maintain parity among its members. It's not.
Fair competition, the goal of antitrust actions, is indeed beneficial to the welfare of society. For this reason the Supreme Court should have considered the benefits of fair competition in places other than bank accounts of television networks. Places like the football field, for example.
House could fall
Will the Lawrence City Commission allow one of the most distinguishing characteristics of downtown Lawrence crumble into dust?
It looks that way
If the commissioners do not issue industrial revenue bonds to save the Lawrence Opera House, 642 Massachusetts St., they will pass up the last chance to save this historical treasure.
Some members of the commission want the Opera House saved, but they don't want to do it by granting IRB's, a financing tool cities use to lend support to community and business improvements.
Commissioner David Longhurst said he would rather lend support to the Opera House renovation project up front, rather than "through the back door," with IRB's.
One must ask how the commission would plan to support the project any more "up front" than with an IRB grant.
The Wichita-based investment company, Bowersock Ltd., has plans for the historical building to be a performing arts center, and their renovation plans depend upon the commission's support through an IRB grant.
As Commissioner Nancy Shontz pointed out, the commission doesn't "have another prospect on the horizon" for saving the historical building — besides granting IRB's for the Bowersock plan.
The Bowersock plan to renovate the Opera House will work.
Telling the 'truth'
And the city should support it with IRBs
Project Censored, an organization ostensibly devoted to the pursuit of "truth," recently published its eighth annual list of under-reported stories. Most of the stories concerned American militarism.
The group contended that the American press ignored reports that Korean Airlines' jetliners regularly spy on the Soviets, that the United States ignored Soviet peace initiatives, and that the Pentagon is preparing for biological warfare. Yankee capitalist journalists also neglected to uncover "The CIA Coup in Australia," "The Unholy Alliance Between the CIA and the Vatican," "Four Simple Steps that can Save 20,000 Children a Day," and the contention that "Reagan Mispoke About Soviet Nuclear Test Cheating."
The group remained silent about the Soviet Union, however. It didn't even worry about the U.S.S.R.'s purported use of biotoxins in Afghanistan and Laos, the continued suppression of Andrei Sakharov, the Kremlin's decision to withdraw from arms talks, the proliferation — and explusion
of KGB agents in foreign lands, or a possible Bulgarian connection in the attempt to assassinate the pope. (Detroit Free Press)
LETTERS POLICY
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten on two sheets of paper, double-spaced and should not exceed 400 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan also invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
Keys to victory are fake issues, 'de-wimping'
To paraphrase the folk song, I pity the poor Walter Mondale.
Poor old droopy eyes. When he first got the idea to run for president — the day after he lost the vice presidency — everyone was predicting that four years of Ronald Reagan would leave us war and famine.
They were wrong. Although Lebanon was scary, the boys are outa there. Reagan has restored our collective self-confidence now that Grenada sleeps peacefully, made safe for tourism. And how 'bout that economy? Reagan slayed inflation then hoisted the economy on his shoulders to piggy-back ride us to recovery. Everybody, surf's up!
Meanwhile, Fritz is left smiling his nervous smile, trying to come up with something nasty to say about the man.
But instead of getting to haul out the trusty misery index or slyly asking us to ask ourselves if we're better off than we were four years ago, the best he can do is proclaim, "Let's do something about those God-awful nuclear weapons." Gee, they are God-awful, too.
For starters, Fritz m'boy, make an issue out of Reagan himself. In other words, make fun of him. After all, Reagan makes fun of the Democrats in Congress all the time, although no one calls it that.
You can do better than "God-awful nuclear weapons," Fritz. But what does a guy do when there aren't any real issues to banter about? Make them up.
A good place to start is at the stomach. Reagan is supposedly such a decisive, macho leader. But really, anyone who says that must not be paying attention when the national news shows him swimming in the ocean.
Your new standard speech should go something like this, Fritz: "You know, folks. I'd love to go on talking with you about those God-awful nuclear weapons, but I must say a few words about my opponent, fat-boy Reagan . . . And that hair. Don't tell me it's naturally black He must bathe in Grecian formula."
DAN
PARELMAN
Guest Columnist
Creative issues can also galvanize the wavering members of the New Deal coalition. Announce at a press conference after the convention that you have obtained a document detailing Reagan's plans to move the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv — to Syria.
Tell them he's going to sell the AFL-CIO to Standard Oil. Accuse Ron and Nancy of slaves. Fritz, you can make people believe these allegations. None of them are too far from the truth, anyway.
I suggest that instead of parading vice presidential candidates through your living room and inviting Ted Kennedy to spend the night at your house, you should be visiting the homes of non-politicians who could help you de-wimp.
After you squeeze Reagan against his horse with these fat, unwieldy fake issues, you'll still need some work. No fabricated issues will cloud the big one the country will be whispering about — the wimp issue. Most people, even if they are too polite to say it, think it — Mondale is a wimp.
Your next stop will be at the home of Sylvester Stallion. Sly can show you how to punch hanging slabs of beef. But when the networks zoom in to see you work out with Stallone, you should replace the beef with a dummy of Jimmy Carter, the man Reagan will try to compare you to in winniness.
Visit Richard Gere. You could arrange for publicity photos of you and Gere hanging together from an inversion bar. Those photos should do wonders to smash your image as a wimp. Just don't hang in a suit.
Of course, you need your own sport. Fritz. John Kennedy proved his virility by playing touch football, and Reagan shows he's a real man by riding horses and chopping wood. I've heard your game is tennis. Well, that's not any less vigorous than touch football and horseback riding.
Sly will train you how to juice up the worn-out phrase by saying, "Yo, let's do something about them God-awful nuclear weapons."
Arrange to play doubles with John McEnoe— no Mr. Macho, but a guy who plays to win. While McEnoe curses himself for making a bad stroke, oblige him by bashing your racket over his head.
Such feats of meanness can close the gap. You can win in November, Fritz. Just remember the two keys to victory: fake issues and de-wimping.
Yet another weapons gap
First they brought us the "missile gap," then the "bomber gap." Now it's the "warhead gap." Once again the Pentagon wants something and is having trouble getting it.
missions where they were refuted in the air to protect them from these possible attacks.
CC
B-52s, which carry 20 megaton hydrogen bombs, were not built for
What is frightening, aside from the 60,000 odd nuclear weapons of the two countries, is that we do not learn from our mistakes but continue to fuel the arms race, spurred on by weapons "gaps" whenever the Defense Department finds our attention wandering to other matters . . .
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Just last week the MX missile limped through the Senate by one-tie-breaking vote cast by George Bush, cutting the request for 40 missiles to 21. When the Defense Department does not get the cooperation and funds it desires to feed its expanding waistline, the American public is aroused to tremble in fear before one sort of "gap" or another.
As the Cold War was getting underway, Sen. Arthur Vandenberg informed President Truman that in order to procure funds necessary for new weapons in the Cold War, it would be necessary to "scare the hell out of the American people." It wasn't long before Americans were digging fallout shelters in their backyards.
In 1958, the Cold War well underway, the Joint Chiefs of Staff released intelligence reports to the president, the secretary of defense and the director of the National Security Council claiming that the Soviet Union had at least 150, and possibly as many as 1000 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Our first "gap" was born, and along with it the "missile gap" debates between Nixon and Kennedy in the 1960 election, and our ICBM system with 1000 Minuteman missiles.
As a result of all the "missile gap" discussion, the Strategic Air Command began to fly their B-52 bombers full-time. Up to that time, the B-52s had been stationed at open air bases until they were now deemed vulnerable to missile attack. Now they were put on 36 hour
such use. They were designed to fly to the Soviet Union and back. When the planes flew full-time they often fell apart. Wings would fall off. Bombs would fall out. The planes would crash. We heard about these incidents only when the planes crashed in Spain or in the ocean, not 'when they occurred in North Carolina, Montana or New Hampshire. The Defense Department wanted to make sure we feared Soviet weapons, not our own.
In 1963, the Central Intelligence Agency released intelligence reports which showed that the Soviets didn't have 1000 ICBMs. They didn't even have 150. They had four, and these were test missiles. Now the Soviets had a missile gap of their own.
Last week we were told that the Soviet Union has 34,000 nuclear warheads and the United States 26,000. Though the newspaper headline in the June 18 Kansas City Times
sounds definitive in announcing these figures, they are highly controversial. The assistant to the secretary of defense, Richard Wagner, used these figures while testifying before a congressional committee in order to justify the president's request for increased spending on
our nuclear arsenal, particularly for the MX missile
completely male. No, the sole reason I took it was because the challenge lured me.
A member of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. William Arkin, who specializes in nuclear arms, obtained Wagner's figures through the Freedom of Information Act and claims that Wagner distorted the report, that the estimate ranges from 21,000 to 41,250 warheads.
Furthermore, a Pentagon spokesman, when questioned on the matter, insisted it was true that the United States had been "overtaken" by the Soviets in numbers of warheads, but he refused to discuss specific numbers, saying only that recent intelligence reports were more sophisticated than earlier ones
So now we have a "warhead gap." Putting aside the question of whether it matters that we have a few thousand more or less warheads than the Soviets, neither U.S. or the Soviets is more secure than before these "gaps" and the spiraling arms race began.
New technologies and rising numbers of warheads and missiles have seen to that. What is brightening, aside from the 60,000 odd nuclear weapons of the two countries, is that we do not learn from our mistakes but continue to fuel the arms race, spurred on by weapons "gaps" whenever the Defense Department finds our attention wandering to other matters, such as the 200 billion dollar budget deficit and the neglect of social spending.
Instead of using these figures to arouse the president to take a committed stand on arms control, or to elect a president who will, they are used to accelerate the arms race.
If we don't negotiate when we suspect that the Soviets have a larger number of weapons, why are we told they will negotiate if we have more weapons? We are led to believe that just one more weapons system, just one more move in this deadly game, and the Soviets will come crawling back to the arms control table, begging for mercy, and the American public will be secure and "standing tall."
The arms race is testimony to the failure of the ideas embodied in all our "bargaining chips" purchased to fill weapons "gaps."
Machine proved equal skills
Why is it that the writers of our Constitution left out at least half of our citizens when they wrote, "All men are created equal"?
This popular saving sounds like a noble truth, but in reality shows how deep the roots of sexism are in America. My question is this: With so many people preaching equality, why don't more people act on it?
This question has been on the tip of my tongue ever since I was small. I remember pondering things such as why little ladies, generally, are forbidden to "rough house," climb trees and play physical games, and are encouraged to learn how to cook, clean house, raise children and do things that are pleasing to men.
This is paradoxical to me, especially since my parents never once forced me to play nicely and quietly with dolls or to have tea parties.
However, I was repeatedly told that it was my turn to iron or wash dishes. (When I was living at home during my freshman year in college, my mom had to remind me or I would conveniently "forget.")
pharmacists. Who is paid better, the male or the female? The male, of course.
I preferred being with my peers, who were mostly male in my neighborhood. Thus I was blind to inequalities around me, like the lack of equal pay for equal work. For example, take two equally skilled
DEB ORSBORN
I was unaware of discrimination in the world. Take for example my first year of college at Hutchison when I worked at a subdivision of Cessna aircraft company that produced hydraulic equipment
Staff Columnist
When the job was offered to me, I jumped at the chance — not because only one woman before me had successfully run the machine, and not just because that particular section of the department was
At first, I ran a machine typically operated by women. The machine didn't require too much intelligence to operate. The work was mental and boring. One day, not long after I had begun my employment there, a job operating a much more complex machine became available.
I became the second woman to successfully tangle with that "complicated" machine. Jobs that require mechanical inclination are typically held by males, because females are believed to be "too dumb" to operate such complex machinery.
In spite of my sex, I was given the opportunity to fail or succeed and to earn equal pay. My employers were truly acting out equality.
The fact that I, a female, was able to function well in what was considered a male role is a good indication that the difference in performance of the sexes lies in socialization, not in inherent differences between the sexes.
If all people are created equal, society has yet to catch up with that fact. Females are still socialized to be deafy and submissive, while males are taught that real men don't show their emotions, are strong both physically and mentally, and should control certain situations, such as being head of the house.
Society should not teach children how to fit stereotypes. It needs to show them how to be unique individuals, each with their own special talents and knowledge.
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