OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
March 23,1984 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kannan, (USPS 609440) is published at the University of Kansas, 111 Shauffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60510, daily during the school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer session, excludes Saturday and Sunday from publication. Mail enclosures for subscription are by mail are $13 for six months or $24 a year in Douglas City and $18 for six months or $35 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are a $12 semester paid through the student activity fee *PISTMATE*. Send address changes to USPS 609440.
DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX SARA KEMPIN
Managing Editor Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY Campus Editor News Editor
PAUL JESS
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
CORG MORAN JILL MITCHELL
Retail Sales Manager National Sales Manager
General Manager and News Adviser
JANCE PHILIPS  DUNCAN CALIHON
Campus Sales Manager  Classified Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Fake bus passes
Most people have heard of students who forge bus passes. These dishonest people could be otherwise typical students living in a dorm, Greek house or off campus.
The student who forges may laugh about how easy it is to fool bus drivers and other students with homemade passes. Some may go so far as to brag about the deception as they stand in a packed bus waiting for the next stop.
The forgers are taking advantage of a system that benefits everyone who goes to school or works at the University of Kansas. The crime is not as innocuous as the forgers might think.
They are picking the pockets of thousands of other honest students who play by the rules. Those honest souls also may wish they had the money to spend some other way.
The University's Transportation Board has given KU on Wheels bus drivers authority to confiscate fake
bus passes to stop such forgery. KU police are also investigating possible bus pass forgery.
These actions are to be commended because the problem seems to be becoming more widespread — bus drivers have confiscated 25 forged bus passes in the last three weeks.
The Transportation Board decided Wednesday to press criminal charges against students who forge bus passes. Forging a bus pass for yourself or a friend is a Class A misdemeanor. Forging and selling a fake pass is a Class D felony.
If a student was convicted of selling a bus pass, he could get 10 years in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
The shift from prosecution by the University, which in the past has involved merely slapping offenders' wrists, to prosecution through municipal court is welcome.
Those who forge and sell bus passes deserve the stiffer penalties.
Swallowing bitter pill
Last week the Missouri Senate added $200,000 to an appropriations bill to pay for a liver transplant for 16-year-old Tammy Beckham of St. Louis.
The young woman found out in October that her liver might only last another five years. Her mother, Christine Beckham, is afraid the disease, diagnosed as chronic active cirrhosis by doctors in Minneapolis, could destroy Tammy's liver in as little as one week.
The Missouri attorney general's office indicated that appropriating
So, when the money was added to the bill for Tammy's operation the family was justifiably overjoyed. Joy, however, was instantly transformed to outrage and fear for Tammy's life Tuesday when a special Missouri House and Senate negotiating committee decided it would not appropriate funds for the operation.
the money would not violate Missouri state law. However, the legislators were concerned that an appropriation for Tammy could set a precedent and lead to a large number of similar requests.
Although the lawmakers fear of a precedent is understandable, it must be pointed out that precedents are created by lawmakers, not by requests.
The Missouri legislators, in lieu of their decision to pull back funds for Tammy's liver operation, should now work toward a solution that could fill the transplant void, as, for example, setting up a state program to provide money for organ transplants.
But, until such a program is developed, those suffering from diseased organs will have to swallow the bitter pill of fear Tammy Beckham and her family have had to take.
Fibbing to the media
American voters are cheated every time a respected authority — usually a TV network — predicts the winners of an election.
When the networks forecast the results of an election, backed by impressive sounding polls, they give voters who haven't gone to the polls yet the impression that their vote won't matter. Some of those people may not vote the next time.
Mike Royko, a syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune, has suggested the novel idea of preempting the network's audacious prediction of election winners.
In a column that preceded this week's Illinois presidential primary, he told readers to lie about how they voted if they were mobbed by pollsters as they left a voting booth.
"A close race means that a mere handful of lies might be enough to do the trick . . ." Royko said recently in the Chicago Tribune.
"All you have to do is tell a little fib," Royko said.
Voters are not obligated to tell anyone—even their spouses—how they voted. That's why voting booths are used.
Exit polling has blackened the gray area between covering the news and making the news. Perhaps a few white lies will let the people decide who wins and show the broadcast media they can wait until the votes are counted to know who is the winner of the race.
Although his advice apparently went unheeded during the Illinois primary, he has renewed his effort to thwart network polls because of strong showings by all three Democratic candidates.
The University Daily Kansas 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 position. The Kansasan also invites individ-uals to write letters to the Kansasan Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansasan office. 111 Stauffer Flint Hall. The Kansasan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS POLICY
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You can go home again
A certain type of person dishains the beach-bound schools of educated humanity and the interminnable lift in a unique way to spend spring break.
Far from fun in the sun or powder, and a mere three-hour drive south from Lawrence, is Wellington, a bustling community of 8,300 that grows wheat, a railroad, the airplane industry and tourism for sustenance.
A marble slab sitting on a traffic island where U.S. 81, meets Wet-
lington reads "Wheat Capital of the World," a proclamation that also appears on most of the town's street signs.
JESSE BARKER
Besides watching the wheat grow, Wellington offers a myriad of exciting things to do and places to see. By its archaic usage, "myriad" means 10,000. In this instance, it means three.
The Memorial Auditorium is the pride of the town's civic leaders and must surely rank high on any list of "Not to be missed." The auditorium frequently presents interesting forms of entertainment. On Saint Patrick's Day, the featured attraction was "Alaska Travel Film."
The other options, both of them,
On any night the locals can be found enjoyng platters of steamy hot biscuits and gravy — that’s 'B and G' when ordering — at Rotten Rodney's Awful Waffle Shop, which is open all night.
The Mexican food at the Commodore was good, and the music at the Club House was of unusual quality. Ornate tapestries of dogs of various breeds playing poker, tasteful black velvet paintings and cigarette smoke combined to permeate the atmosphere in both bars
"Alaska Travel Film," I realized, would probably open in Lawrence soon. If not, I could wait and catch it on television in a couple of years. After all, watching a movie about Alaska would seem frivolous. Wellington would seem frivolous.
The bars close at midnight, but the Wellington night life, already famous throughout the southwestern United States, is part of Summer County. Is far from dead
One friend, a KU student from Wellington, graped about the boredom and the disappointment he felt while spending spring break in his home town. A University of Oklahoma student said that nobody seemed to have fun anymore, as they had when he was in high school.
Small towns are usually boring. Our town hasn't changed, and neither have the people. Students returning haven't changed too much, even after years of exposure to the urban sophistication and metropolitan lifestyles of Lawrence, Manhattan and Norman.
My advice is to see Wellington now, before the teeming masses spoil it as they have the oncerefreshing shores of Florida and Texas, and the mountains of Colorado.
Any perceived change has been created by the selectivity of human memory, which thrusts the good times to the front of the mind while relegating the banal and boring to the dark recesses.
Thomas Wolfe wrote "You can't go home again," which is hooey, of course. If you're from Wellington, you can go home any time you have a tank of gas and $5 for the turnipke authorities
Recollections of ricotus living create expectations of more of the same. When these are not fulfilled, some home-coming students blame the town and the latest crop of high school graduates for not re-createing the good old days.
Actually, if you want to know the truth - and if you've read this far.
Just don't expect the town to be any better or worse than it was when you left.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
To be safe
In defense of "Salina Piece" and all art which is subject to individual likes and dislikes:
The idea that art must be based on the human figure reflects our classical heritage handed down from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Art has not been and is not only based upon the human figure.
To "know about art!" is to realize this. Art remains art regardless of our perceptions of it or the stereo-visual aspects learned in the evaluation of it.
To appreciate art is to evaluate each work on its own merits, leaving aside any narrow "mindsets" some may rationalize by attending college.
Tina Meadows Wichita senior
Letter misguided
To the editor:
I beg to differ with Miss Woods in regard to the Kansan's editorial cartoon depicting the Rev. Jesse Jackson in front of a podium subtitled "From the White House to the Outhouse."
Yes, Jackson publicly apologized for making his racial slur about Jews. However, he did so only after he denied it several times.
I am writing in regard to Wichita junior Janine Kaye Woods' letter to the editor printed March 8.
Then, he had no choice but to admit that his ignorant and insolvent slur was actually made. He had to become a joke to the whole process.
He is not representative of the black people of this nation nor does he depict the black cause. Actually, more blacks in this country support Walter Mondale than Jackson according to the most recent poll
Jackson's racial slur was well within his character. He clearly and simply is not sympathetic to Jews or the state of Israel.
I do agree that many Jewish groups, like the Jewish Defense League, are using poor tactics in denouncing Jackson.
However, these radical groups are as representative of the Jewish population in America as Jackson is a representative of the black population. Although Jackson is an effective speaker and has a flamboyant personality, he is also a disgrace to the Black cause, and I for one feel this statement in indicative of the real Rev. Jackson.
So, Miss Woods, I recommend you take another look at Rev. Jackson. I am sure you will see that "exhibiting Rev. Jackson's good points" instead of his big ones is not an easy task for "really good journalists."
Clifford Traisman Wilmette, Ill., senior Praver not answer
To the editor:
Having read Michael Beck's editorial advocating the return of prayer to the American educational community, he with a sense of both anger and fear.
I am angered at the thought that Mr. Beck and a host of other conservative Americans think that prayer belongs in school.
I am fearful that people such as these, under the persuasion of Ronald Reagan, might actually achieve their goal if we do not stand up for our constitutional right of separation of church and state.
It is my opinion that religion is a deeply personal aspect of one's life, quite unlike the multiplication tables which Mr. Beck sees as a foundation on which children can build upon in later life.
If parents wish for their children to have a religious upbringing then it should be done within their homes or their religious community outlets.
I am not condemning a religious upbringing for children. Because of the intimate nature of religion, however, this foundation should be enhanced within the confines and within the discretion of the family.
It seems grossly unjust to impose the use of prayer in schools on those people who prefer to keep religion a personal and private part of their lives or upon children whose parents think that secular education is not the environment for religious indoctrination.
Steve Polsky
To the editor:
Question: What does Kevin Walker really want? Last year as Student Elections Chairman, I had the opportunity to work with him. This year I decided to sit back and watch.
Steve Polsky Shawnee Mission senior
Watching Walker
I do not understand why in November he chose to run for student body president when he was not even a student. Why would someone want to represent something of which he was not a part?
I would not want someone to represent me as a student who was not even that—a student
Well, the election was confusing,
Kevin got what he wanted and
deserved, a re-election. But he
would not concede once again he
was not a student.
It seems he is going to get what he wants, whatever that may be, through other means.
During the new election's campaign he gave an impression (at least to me) that he supported Starting Over. But the day the election results were announced who appeared on the front page of the newspaper Daily Kansan with the Costume Party and a big smile on his face?
I thought — what is this guy up to?
He's fun to watch!
There were rumblings of Kevin gaining a position in the new regime, but he is not a student and that was not possible.
The students now holding administrative positions are accused of secret meetings against Kevin Walker. For some strange reason I would not be surprised if Kevin was involved.
It seems to always be the case that rumors concerning Kevin Walker are constantly started by no other person than himself.
Kevin Walker has been amusing to watch and there is more entertainment coming up!
Back to my question: What does Kevin Walker really want? Is he concerned about the students or is he interested in them? Though he knows he is not a student!
Elena Brito Wichita senior
Official desires change
When Dennis Highbierger smiles, a glow starts at his eyes, spreads across his face, then surges through his whole body.
He smiles for everyone. High-
berger wants to change student
government at the University of
Colorado and change the world,
one tack at a time.
Highberger deals with each person peacefully, speaking in a soft well-modulated voice.
He sincerely believes that all people deserve to be treated as respected equals and he conveys an inexplicable air of acceptance even as 12 people walk into and out of his office in just two hours.
KIESA HARRIS Staff Columnist
His taded blue jeans, blue t-shirt and tan plaid shirt, grown soft from many washings, contrast sharply with the sweaters that surround him
Staff Columnist
People often ask him to repeat himself, his tender tones elude their ears. He never shifts his gaze from one's eyes as he listens intently.
as he sits behind a plain, cluttered desk in the Student Senate office.
His long, tangled dark hair cascades behind his shoulders, and his mind is filled with ideas about how to better run Senate.
“It’s all bullshit.” Hugberger says as he looks at the Senate Rules and Regulations. “Organization does not necessarily require hierarchy, bureaucracy and coercion.”
He jets about the ideological and lifestyle differences that separate him from the Izod-and-Polo crowd that traditionally runs the Senate.
With his partner, student body president Carla Vogel, Highberger hopes that the Senate soon will rain on political game-playing, instead of political game-playing.
"By being the common enemy, we can unite the Senate," he jokes, opening his eyes wide.
But behind the joke lies a touch of nervousness. Highberger really wants to succeed.
At the first Senate meeting little bristling occurred, although highberger suspended Robert's Rules of Order in favor of a more time-consuming method in which each senator could express views freely.
As he grew older, he would read the text as if it were a novel.
Highberger and Vogel put the chairs in a circle to promote discussion in the 66-member group.
The arrangement worked well, disproving allegations made by components in the Senate election.
Opponents charged that changing the structure of Senate meetings would disrupt the decision-making process.
Higherger's mother, Norma, was shocked to learn that he wanted to run for student body vice president. Those seemed shy at home in Garnett.
When Highberger was four years old, his mother bought a set of World Book encyclopedias for him.
"I always thought he was really intelligent, though he never did want to show it off," says his mother, who will be his year after 36 years as a teacher.
Highbinger's father, Clarence,
operates a farm equipment deal-
ship. His younger sister also lives
in Garnett, which has about 3,000
Higherberg moved from the small town to Lawrence when he graduated from high school in 1977. He lives in a green house with light-framed on Kentucky street and shares the home with eight other people.
The house, once occupied by followers of the Guru Maharaj JI, has two kitchens, one equipped with a dilapidated, black oven named
The group lives together much as Highberger hopes the Senate will work together - in peace.
Five windows fill one wall of Higherberg's room with sky. Between two windows hangs a poem by Richard Brautigam, "Karma Repair Kit, Items 1-4." It says:
1. Get enough food, and eat it.
1. Get enough food, and eat it.
2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet, and sleep there.
.
3. Reduce emotional and intellectual noise until you arrive at the silence of yourself, and listen to it.
4.
1