OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN March 21, 1984 Page 4
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
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DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY Campus Editor News Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
PAUL JESS
General Manager and News Adviser
CORT GORMAN JILL MTICHELLI
Retail Sales Manager National Sales Manager
JANICE PHILIPS    DUNCANCALHOU
Campus Sales Manager    Classified Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Discussion good
The City Commission has before it several proposals to shorten its meetings. Shorter meetings are indeed a laudable goal. The proposals the commissioners are studying are not the correct way to achieve that goal. They would shorten meetings at the expense of necessary public debate.
Public discussion and participation are crucial to a democracy.
One of the suggestions calls for people who want to address the commission to fill out a form at City Hall well before the meeting.
Far better to have five respected citizens gather each week to make their decisions in a public forum. Comments from the public at these meetings should be welcome.
Members of the Lawrence City Commission were elected to represent Lawrence citizens. To have the entire community gather each Tuesday evening at City Hall to discuss and debate city business would be ludicrous.
Another asks that most information be presented to the commission in written form and, if it cannot be presented that way, potential speakers are asked to explain why. Items of city policy would be discussed at the request of two or more commissioners, instead of only one.
The proposals are contained in a memo to the commission from City Manager Buford Watson Jr. Commissioners and city staff members have expressed concern about the length of commission meetings, which sometimes have continued until 1 or 2 a.m. The meetings start at 7 p.m. each Tuesday. Certainly they should be concluded by midnight.
Watson's suggestions are well-intentioned. And the proposals are only in draft form for the commissioners to study.
The proposals, however, would have the effect of seriously limiting public participation in city government. And for that, they should be rejected.
A Big Brother policy?
Comparisons to George Orwell's "1984" have already become clichés this year, but the Lawrence Police Department's policy of videotaping crowds is a flagrant indication that Orwell's fiction is becoming fact.
The policy subjects Lawrence citizens to unwarranted scrutiny by government officials. The policy would thwart possible illegal activity, but at the same time would intimidate and inhibit people from peaceably assembling.
crowd and actions occurring before the videotaping.
Probable cause may be based on the kind of event, size of the crowd, the composition of the crowd, prior history of the individuals in the
According to the policy, police may videotape a person or group of people when an officer has probable cause to suspect that a city ordinance or state or federal law is being or will be violated.
So far, videotaping has caught at least one culprit: a demonstrator was cited last year for illegally using a bullhorn in a march downtown.
Violence and crime stemming from crowds of protesters, although not trivial, is not as great a problem in Lawrence as rape, drunken driving or even car theft.
The money spent purchasing the equipment, training police officers and having an officer assigned to videotape an event should be used for programs that will do more to make Lawrence a safer community.
The policy is vague. No guidelines establish who will authorize videotaping, how long the tapes will be maintained or how the tapes will be handled if no crimes are recorded.
Meese taints president
Truth may soon drown Edwin Meese. And with the death of this conservative battleship, the Reagan administration may suffer irreparable damage.
During the past few weeks, senators have revealed evidence of political favors granted by Meese as a result of his business dealings.
Last week, the Senate confirmation committee provided proof that Meese did not declare an interest-free loan of $15,000 made to his wife before he took his position in the administration.
Meese's possible involvement in the Carter briefing book case also poses serious questions about the integrity of this national figure.
Whether Reagan's long-time friend becomes U.S. attorney general is uncertain. His confirmation is not the formality many expected.
James Watt's resignation last year embarrassed Reagan. And now, with Meese's obviously unethical behavior, Reagan's ability to choose honest, upright governmental leaders comes into question.
The results of the confirmation hearings, though, may not matter much. The damage to Reagan already has been done.
Reagan can only point for so long to the economic recovery in his campaign for a second term. Sooner or later he must justify surrounding himself with blunderers such as Watt and Meese by other than ideological alignment.
And with Meese slowly sinking in his own filthy mire, Reagan may not be able to defend such appointments. And the president may also go down, never to rise again.
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 position. The Kansan also invites individuals to submit past 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.
LETTERS POLICY
Who cares what's said about us?
The wheat turns gold; the south wind blows. Some things never change. Once more we Kansans are ready to go. We've sent comments made about our home.
First, we get some confused,
desperate man attempting to cover
his own inadequacies as a leader by
using the athletic ad hominem blast at Kansas
Then an amazingly well-informed young woman, who is quite ready to exploit what this state and school has to offer, somehow thinks this gives her the right to assassinate the character of Jayhawkers.
And finally, a classic glitter-coast airhead takes time off from Valley living to strip in front of millions, then makes an equally absurd attempt at displaying sophistication by running down Kansas.
Punny, isn't it? I used to get bitter and feel the need to destroy when someone talked down my home. But now such comments only arouse sardonic amusement among you. You can't care what anyone thinks about us anymore.
You see, I. and maybe you too, have gradually come to the conclusion that Kaine is the one who has taken the place. The people, far from being boring and uninspired,
are the most dymnamic, practical and well-adjusted in the world.
Not only are the people great, but
there is something in this environment
that accelerates growth and
change. I think there is magic here.
Look around. The evidence is everywhere. The facts build in
BONAR MENNINGER Staff Columnist
waves through your brain until our reality becomes incredibly, deliciously impossible to deny. All we need to do is seize it.
If America is the melting pot, Kansas is the titanium alloy of the new world. By the luck of the geographic draw, we are in the middle. As a result, we have the ability to synthesize the varied regions of the United States into a hybrid form.
We're southern enough to be free-spirited and downright ornery.
but not so far south that we cling to a lost cause and the dying past.
And western enough to know what the frontier means and understand the pioneer spirit, but not so far west where you can be unconnected and our livelihoods empty
And northern enough to know what practicality and the work ethic are, but not so far north that we're too barbarous by the sheer joy of life.
And just a little eastern — just enough to maintain continuity with history and the origins of our country, but not near eastern that we've become trapped by tradition and disillusioned and mean.
Look at the leadership role we have provided for this country. Twice Kansans have initiated a radical shift for the better in the direction of American society. The issue of racial inequality was, and remains, the most wretched contraption embedded in the American dream.
Yet each time there was positive change, who sparked it? For six years, the Civil War raged out here before the first shells landed on Fort Sill. The Army had been forced for words had passed and the fight was on long before the rest of the
nation did. We did not shy away from it.
Almost 100 years later, a family in Topeka tucked living a life and carried this battle for true equality and justice to the highest court in the land — and won.
What was set in motion by the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling triggered the civil rights movement and indirectly, the social upheaval of the '80s, the implications of which are only now coming into view.
In addition to the collective leadership Kansas has shown, we, as individuals, have consistently come to the fore. When Roosevelt needed someone to pull off victory in Europe, he turned to a Kansas boy. And today, regardless of what you think he was doing, bucking the administration and spearheading the fight against the cancer of the national debt.
In short, we are the champions.
It's time we realized it. The potential here is unlimited, and if we only believe in ourselves the future is ours for the taking. Come on,
Kansas, let's go to the stars. Nothing can stop us. Nothing can stand in our way.
We have produced poets, astronauts, doctors, and artists that are known throughout the world.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
I am appalled, but not surprised, at the implication that the University Daily Kansan considers the term "religious groups" to be synonymous with "Christian groups."
In the article "Religious groups provide support for students" printed March 7, the paper completely ignores the existence of Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist and other groups except in the chapter on Islam. The answer who was quoted saying that "Jews, Muslims and others who do not accept, will go to hell."
It is just this sort of narrow-minded bigotry that ignores the multicultural aspect of our society and hopes to intimidate legislators into forcing prayer into the schools.
It is understood, of course, that this is intended to mean Christian praver.
Richard Brown Lawrence senior
School lacks priorities
To the editor:
Far be it for me to resurrect the sports-vae academic arguments until the issue is solved.
On March 3. I came up to use the law library at 12:30 p.m. I was barred from parking anywhere near the law school unless I wanted to pay $1.50 even though I thought a sticker for the yellow zone.
When sports events bar a student from the University resources, I strongly protest. I enjoy watching basketball . . . this has nothing to do with enjoyment of the game or support of a University team. It does have to do with access and priorities to libraries and learning.
I had no desire or intention of attending the ball game. I just wanted to catch up on pax簿
And the fact that I was unable to park by the library, when the lot at that time was mostly empty is inexcusable as a University policy.
Later, after the game had started, I did go back up to park in the loading zone and run in to get some books 1 needed. Cars were illegally double-parked in that zone so I was unable to park
Also, cars were parked in the grass in the parking lots, but they had no tickets on them. I think it is significant that tickets are liberally displayed on the vehicles! Members have parked to go to the class or the library.
However, when a sports event is involved there
is a rear of ticketing some monied alum who would be offended.
As a tuition-paying student, I am offended at the University's blatant priorities and ridiculous parking procedures, barring students from library use unless we park far away or pay $1.50
Paul Hackney Lawrence law student
Protests of past useless
To the editor:
Complacency and apathy have gotten a hold of the throat of American society.
Even Kiesa Harris' — especially Kiesa Harris' column, March 7, University Daily Kansas, said recently that she has been sadly of the Holy Past instead of doing something. "Today's youth are more calm and seem to be
Today's youth are more calm and seem to heading quickly toward stagnation.
This does not mean, however, that all of our generation is sitting back doing nothing. Maybe people today are beginning to realize that "ban the bomb" rallies and "die-ins" are inflicted in a society that has weathered the revolutions in morals and philosophy of the '60s.
While rallies and protests allow for an outlet of exercise of positive forces in our culture, they do nothing to change this society. They end up only depleting the positive energy of the generation.
I think that this generation realizes that emotionalism cannot, cannot even nick a system such as
Only by getting the well-placed jobs and acting like good the captainals can we hope to pull off our job.
Yet, by working through the system, by using that system by effecting an attitude of passive cooperation, we can do "good" beyond the greatest deeds of and revolt without wasting the energies which are the only hope for curbing stagnation and degeneration in our country.
Kevin J. Wells
Mulvane freshman
To the editor:
Nonissues waste time
To the editor:
Are not 128 out-of-class hours enough to
Kids are in school no more than 40 hours a week; why should the limited time reserved for education be further reduced merely to appease some God fearing do-gooders?
As usual, you have come up with a blanket criticism of University students that is both unfounded and oversimplified.
The "Stars Back School-Prayer Proposal" story in the March 1 University Daily Kansas rekindled my infiltration at the way our elected officials in Washington waste time on such
Dearest Kiesa:
practice the often overemphasized rituals of one's relation?
A child whose parents desire him, or more importantly who himself desires, to pray to his deity or to contemplate the lack thereof can easily be called up between classes or during an unimspiring lecture.
The attempt to apply an official stamp on the already existent voluntary prayer time in school, and to maintain that such a maneuver will return some intolerant Bible-thumder's idea of morality to the classroom appears to be no more than a play by spineless, vote-hungry politicians to illustrate their holy nature and "concerned" parents to hold to their responsibility in the unbringing of their children.
Doug Humphreys
Great Bend, senior
Students desire change
We do not all exist in "little beer-sodden domains", behave as "cows", nor "scuttle across campus" like frightened "lemmings". Open your eyes and spend one afternoon on Wesco beach!
On any given day you will find students whose beliefs run the gamut of political, social, religious, economic and racial attitudes. There are greens, feminists and radical activists. There are pacifists, feminists and radical activists.
And yes Kiesa, we are concerned with the well being of the world out there "beyond our textbooks." Campus charity drives are both common and generous.
I seem to recall a rather dramatic protest against nuclear destruction in front of the Kansas Union earlier this fall, not to mention the turnout at the Cammanile after "The Day After."
A student-sponsored and student-financed Vietnam memorial will be built in front of the Frank R. Burge Union and the most controversial, bold of all. This university has taken place this year.
So stop, Bob Dylan said, "criticizing what you can't understand." These aren't the 70s any more, and we don't need rebels without causes "sparking up the dreams of the past generation" all because there are plenty of us who do care and are trying to contribute to the worldly cause!
Matthew Levi
1
Matthew Levi Lawrence freshman