OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
University Daily Kansan, March 27, 1984 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daisykan Kaisu (USPS) 600-640 is published at the University of Kansas, 181 Stauffer Flint Hall, Lavernock, Ks 60043. Daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer session, exam fees are $15 for five periods, second class postage paid at Lavernock, Ks 60044. Exam fees by mail are $15 for six months or $27 if you sign up for the Student subscription are a $14 semester paid through the student activity fee. POSTMASTER send address changes to the University Daisykan Kaisu (USPS) 600-640.
DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX
Managing Editor
SARA KEMPIN
Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY Campus Editor News Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER
Business Manager
CORG MORTMAN
JILL MITCHELL
Retail Sales Manager
National Sales Manager
PAUL JESS
General Manager and News Adviser
JANCE PHILIPS   DUNCAN CALIHOU
Campus Sales Manager   Classified Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
FDIC shows guts
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is showing some guts.
The FDIC was not designed to protect those who invest huge amounts of money. It was not designed to protect those who seek to get around the intent of the law.
It was designed as a safety measure for depositors in the volatile world of finance. The FDIC should remain that — a safety mechanism for depositors who place their trust in banks.
Each depositor at an insured bank, as most banks are, is insured up to $100,000. Then, if the bank fails, the FDIC will see that the depositor is not out of luck — or money.
However, some depositors — including many financial high-rollers — have spread their money into separate accounts in the same bank. Such a method, in the past, has given them a safe way to invest their money at high rates. But it also goes far beyond the intent of the FDIC and its role in protecting ordinary depositors.
Those who wish to place large amounts of money in an account will
do so in whatever institution will offer them the best rate. But a few of those banks with the deliciously attractive rates may be in trouble.
They may be offering a high rate only because they desperately need to attract deposits and the quickest way to do that is to attract the boys with big bucks.
So, the people who have several hundred thousand dollars to toss around may put their money into a bank that really isn't safe, on the assumption that if it fails, the FDIC will bail them out.
Fortunately, such is no longer the case. In two cases last week, the FDIC ruled that each depositor was protected to only $100,000. Those who had more than one account in the same bank, in an effort to get around the regulations, lost out.
The FDIC is asking huge investors to make a business decision and decide where the safest place is to put their money. In so doing, the FDIC remains what it was intended to be — insurance for smaller depositors.
The wheels of justice
We hope the House will have a little more sense.
The Kansas Senate has approved legislation that will allow state universities to charge bicyclists parking fees and subject them to heavier traffic and parking regulations and fines.
If the proposal is passed into law, who knows what could follow?
Maybe universities could issue permits for shoes, and campus police departments could ticket people for walking on the grass. Universities could use the money for new sidewalks and stairs.
Kansas State University gets the credit for even bringing up the idea. K-State officials wanted to be allowed to use the funds collected from fines to build bicycle racks.
But K-State vice president Gene
Cross said that present laws don't allow the money collected from fines to be used for bicycle racks.
Universities use enough muscle trying to enforce automobile parking. Trying to do the same for bicycles would cause an administrative hernia.
The students, faculty and staff of the University of Kansas and other universities will be big losers if the proposal becomes law.
Many people ride bicycles to save the money spent not only on gas, but also on parking permits. They may decide the hassle is too much and add to the clutter of cars in the almost-full parking lots.
The proposal shows how easily red tape can entangle the spokes of universities' administrative wheels. Bicyclists will be the ones hurt in the fall.
Stepping over the line
Does the French X-rated film "Emmanuelle" promote violence against women?
Some say yes. Others disagree.
Both positions, although absolute opposites, are strongly held by people on both sides of the issue. And the Constitution guarantees our right to freely voice those positions.
Saturday night's protest of an on-campus showing of the movie, however, crossed the boundary between a legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights and the outright harassment of more than a few KU students.
The protest was not an attack on the movie or its success or failure as responsible entertainment. It was a deliberate attempt to control attendance at the movie through aggravation and provocation.
entrance to the auditorium in Dyche Hall, where the movie was shown. Some students attending the movie were greeted with jeers, catcalls and personal insults. Those who turned away were wildly applauded.
Protesters lined both sides of the
We're not at all convinced that passive resistance is best. But by infringing on the rights of others, the protesters possibly undermined the advancement of their own cause.
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 300 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 affiliation. The Kansas office handles and groups to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansas reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS POLICY
Ignoring other views dangerous
About this time last year, I found myself in an extremely curious position.
Out on the lawn of what is now Stauffer Flint Hall, a group of students, mostly from Latin American Solidarity and Praxis, two student groups concerned with the murder of an accused that accused me and other members of the University Daily Kansan staff of censorship and discrimination.
My own political persuasion is definitely left of center, so I was surprised and personally offended at the charges. In fact, I was so offended that when I heard LAS and Praxis complaining about the Law-abiding officer, I dipped tapping their march Nov. 12, I didn't navv much attention.
It wasn't that I liked the idea of police videotaping protestors, or
MICHAEL ROBINSON
Staff Columnist
anyone else for that matter. But after what had happened last year, I was skeptical about the seriousness of the situation.
But after the Lawrence Gry, Commission unanimously agreed that a change was needed, it occurred to me to look at the present policy. To my surprise, I discovered that I agreed with LAS and Praxis.
It lists the kind of event, the size and composition of the crowd and the "prior history" of the groups and individuals involved, as ways of determining whether videotaping is justified.
crowd or what kind of prior history is to be considered suspicious. It's up to “the chief of police or his designate” to decide what to tape, be it a civil rights march or a Fourth of July parade.
The policy allows videotaping "when probable cause suggests impending violence."
According to that rationale, what would be next? Could the police not only videotake "suspicious" marching fingerprint and strip-searche them as well?
Police Maj. Ron Lon responded to privacy complaints in a letter, saying, "A citizen voluntarily surrenders the reasonable expectation to privacy when in a public place. This is especially true in a public sewer participant of a gathering sewer media coverage of the event."
Olin's other argument for taping the march — that the use of a megaphone violated a city ordinance — seems questionable considering that officers at the march failed to give a warning or citation while the megaphone was being
The disturbing thing is that LAS, Praxia and the American Civil Liberties Union stood pretty much alone in their objection to the policy.
It was not until they wrote letters and personally took their grievances to the City Commission that there was any outcry.
That isn't surprising, but it is sad, because the incident means more than a local victory for civil liberties.
People get used to tuning out certain information from certain sources, sometimes because they don't think it's true, but sometimes because they don't like where it comes from. Because of some bias
or another, they question the credibility of the source.
There are times when that's good — some sources aren't too trustworthy. But we can get to a point where people listen only to things that reinforce their beliefs, and that's dangerous.
This episode reinforces the importance of letting others have their say, even if their message is objective or disagreeable.
That doesn't mean that I have to agree with LAS and Praxis about everything, and I don't. I thought they were wrong a year ago when they accused the Kansas of censorship, and I still do.
It does mean that we should listen closely to what those with whom we disagree have to say. It's surprising how much we all have in common.
A list of long-unanswered questions
In the history of the universe, many questions have remained unanswered. Many men have developed moves to the quest for these answers.
These men are called philosophers. They attempt to answer questions such as: "What is life?" "Does man indeed have free will?" "Was Machiavelli someone with whom I enjoy spending a weekend?"
Other people would come up with the questions and demand answers. They would expect the philosopher to answer their questions clearly, and accurately. If the philosopher succeeded, they would reward him.
These people were called gameshow hosts. But that's irrelevant.
I've got some questions that I have wondered about since childhood to which I never have received a satisfactory answer.
My mother would say, "When you're older, you'll understand." My father would say, "Go ask your mother." My oldest brother would
give me the answer, but it would be wrong, on purpose.
I could see that I wasn't going to get any cooperation, so I decided to wait for college.
I figured that college was the place where all the answers could be found. I had visions of professors who were brilliant, spouting pure, white-hat knowledge.
I thought that students bought gallons of oil, so they could burn it at an outdoor campfire. They organized alphabetically, so students could find the answers easily.
I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong.
Professors didn't spout pure, white-hot knowledge. The only oil students bought was to keep their cars running so they could party on weekends. And the library . . well, you've seen the library.
Which brings me to the first of many unanswered questions:
Why can't I ever find the book I want at the library? More important, how many times can I go to the library at the exit before I go sterile?
Why do girls throw baseballs like girls?
Why do they pack hot dogs in packages of 10 and hot dog buns in packages of eight?
Why is the enemy called a sniper and our guy called a marksman?
Why is it impossible to sing a
Rolling Stones' song without having your lips flare out like Mick's?
Why does the road always look dirtier behind the street-cleaning machine?
Why don't they have ice at "Everything But Ice"?
Do they have ice at "Lawrence Pipe, Steel and Everything Else, Inc."?
For students, why is it that Lawrence seems to end on the east side of New Hampshire Street? (I think the answer is that there aren't any student bars east of New Hampshire.)
Why do teachers insist on reading us the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, when most of us had been read by our senior year in high school?
How come it takes KU Information longer to answer the question, "Who is the editor of the 'Kansan'?" (3 minutes, 17 seconds), than "Who played Grandpa on The 'Musters'?" (2 minutes, 10 seconds)? The answers are Doug Cunningham and Al Lewis, respectively.
To towh do the chancellor's children go when they want a raise in allowance: their father or the Board of Regents?
If people who vote are called voters then are people who voted for Boog called boogers?
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Group stifles privacy
To the editor:
It was with great interest that I read Dave Meserve's response to the March 7 University Daily Kansan article "Religious groups provide support for students."
It is on this basis that I will attempt to exercise my rights under the First Amendment, a privilege that I fear is creeping farther and farther away from us.
Those leading the effort to stifle freedom of religion include Mr. Meresave, some so-called born again Christians and the ardent Republicans who are trying to disguise their personal prejudices in the name of religion to further their own pseudo-god undertakings.
Because I am a single, white man, and others like me are outraged by this individual's attempt to categorize three-quarters of the world's religions into one "found Christ," then he is to be damned in hell.
Such attempts at molding people's thought to conform to other people's expectations are wrong.
It is with complete sincerity that I say that you, your group and others who attempt to take the place of God are the biggest potential threat to world peace both now and for years to come.
So, Dave, why don't you go ahead and admit that either you're intimidated by most people or are highly prejudiced and attempt to reconcile this with yourself through your crusade?
I would be extremely wary of a smiling stranger who approaches you and tries to hand you the key.
Scott Francis Fresno, Calif., junior
Students will foot bill To the editor:
I would like to thank the University Daily
This year alone some 9,000 passes were sold to KU students who had the honesty to pay for and support the bus system that serves the majority of KU students whose people who daily pay the beckoning one-way fare.
The bottom line of this fraudulent bus pass sticker issue is that honest students pay the price. Because of the actions of those students who thought it was prudent to steal the services others had for it, it will probably mean a new and more expensive system of bus pass identification next year.
Kansan for the support of the Transportation Board in its decision to take action against those students who had defrauded the transportation system.
It is for those people and the integrity of the Transportation Board that the board decided to take action against those individuals who have stolen the service that others have paid for. It is not an easy task to make decisions on behalf of many and it can be difficult to decide whether the board had to decide the fate of fellow students caught in an illegal act that had far-reaching ramifications.
And, you guessed it, the honest students will eventually be the ones who foot the bill.
Jeff Silverstein
To the editor:
Transportation Board member
Pot calling kettle black
I would like to express opposition to some opinions voiced in Suzanne Brown's article "Mainstream just isn't punk."
Dear Mr. Menninger:
Dear Mr.,
I agree with you. Kansas is a wonderful state. I have thoroughly enjoyed my past four years here.
I really have.
To the editor:
However, might I say, if I am not being too ornery, that you are going to be something that thing that is so unpleasant, I complained.
Coming from the Boston area (that's in the East you know), he not imply that I am 'trapped by the storm'
state of ours is made up of people from everywhere. Thanks . . .
Furthermore, I am neither disillusioned (or wasn't until I read your editorial) nor disillusioned (or wasn't until I read your editorial) this great
Zach Lemere Acton, Mass., senior
Terry Cavanaugh, punk devotee and owner of the Loft, readily concedes that "leather and aggression alone do not make music punk," but she bemoans the fact that "the mainstream steals ideas from punk, such as the chic in Eurythmics with a crew cut . . ."
Objecting to punk story
In defense of Annie Lennox, the crew cut has been around since Wally and the Beaver were little; it is not indigenous to punk, nor should it be an issue.
One band that has been making these punk proclamations longer than any other, and is often considered the "Father" of punk, is the Ramones.
It would be trite to deem a hairstyle a mode of dress punk. Punk music strives for a political rather than a social statement.
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The Ramones are an American band (yipei! Buy American!) who were making music long before the Sex Pistols wrought havoc in 1976. The Ramones are unembellished punks; the Sex Pistols capitalized on their anger and gave it a different look.
In the article, X is castigated for mellowing out; they no longer write "raw angry lyrics." However, their new album, which is unfortunately more lucrative than past efforts (Aack! They've sold out!) points out the fact that fine American pop has its own Black Flag are being ousted from the airwaves by British New Wave synth-pop. You can't tell me they're not angry about that!
Ellen Snell
Houston freshman