OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
February 21, 1984 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kansas (USPS 604-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stuart-First Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 604-640, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays, and final periods. Second class postage paid at Laerweng, Kan. 604-640. Subscriptions for students are $12.50 per student through the student activity费 POSTMatter. Send address changes to: USPS, 118 Stuart-First Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 604-640.
DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX
Managing Editor
SARA KEMPIN
Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY
Camps Editor News Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER
Business Manager
CORT GORMAN
JILL MITCHELL
Retail Sales Manager
National Sales Manager
PAUL JESS
PACIOSSESS
General Manager and News Adviser
JANCE PHILIPS
Campus Sales Manager
DUNCAN CALHOUH
Classified Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
A bad agreement
One can hardly blame the Chinese for reaching an agreement with three West German firms that want to ship nuclear waste to China for storage.
The agreement — still only a tentative one — calls for China to accept up to 4,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel through the end of this century. The used fuel would be buried in the northwest part of the country, and China would receive payments that could amount to as much as $6 billion.
The West German companies could funnel nuclear waste from plants throughout Western Europe to the dump in China. For Western Europe, the problem of nuclear waste is defused in a simple fashion — let someone else worry about.
And the Chinese receive a large amount of badly needed Western currency — something they can hardly be faulted for wanting.
however, is a troubling one.
Plutonium can be recovered from the spent fuel rods. Plutonium can be used to make nuclear bombs.
And the idea of letting someone else worry about nuclear wastes instead of finding a safe way to store them — if such a way can be found — is simply a crass way of passing the buck.
A certain desperation seems to color the agreement, as several Western European nations lack the will or resources to build their own waste dumps.
The nuclear waste issue has, at times, engendered entirely too much emotional hype and too little thoughtful discussion. The hype is luckily absent here, but so is the discussion.
Computer illness is terminal
The agreement, far from being one that is beneficial to international relations, makes a part of China a dumping ground for waste that the rest of the world doesn't want.
I saw another one today. He was stretched on the pavement, mumbling incoherently. His dilated pails twitching, mouth fouling, he lay collapsed in a pile of green and white paper with perforations lining the edges. I lost it . . . access gone my uncles. . . no output no file . . . you
The medics soon arrived. After significant looks passed between them, they reached a diagnosis: terminal illness. A hopeless case.
Although terminal illness has not yet reached epidemic proportions, the virulent bacteria that cause diarrhea are highly potent, capable for insinuating themselves
HELAINE KASKEL
Staff Columnist
into even those who consider themselves immune (e.g. drama majors).
The ranks of the "hackers" — computer addicts particularly vulnerable to terminal illness — know that a computer, sex, age or intellectual persuasion.
The dread disease strikes without prejudice, laying prostrate the flower of American youth and cutting a swath of mental destruction with its deadly, invisible sickle.
Because terminal illness defies the capabilities of current medical classification, it has been largely ignored by the medical profession. Many centers for disease control likewise have yielded little response.
So, what to do? Indeed, an important question
The following is, admittedly, a important question.
When he murmurs the litany
layman's guide to recognizing and combating terminal illness. But conscience refuses to let the case rest until the utmost has been done. Warn humanity of this encroaching threat to the sariyety of society.
B be aware that the victim of terminal illness often substitutes computerese for his native tongue. If he tells you he went out and bought an Apple, don't expect it to be a MacIntosh from Food Barn.
First, learn to recognize the signs of terminal illness. This initially may be a difficult task, especially for those whose definition of "hardware" is a screwdriver set, and who thought that Fortran was a coast-to-coast train route offered by Amtrak.
When he boasts that he just got his hands on the software package of the girl next door, don't get upset—chances are he's only borrowed a few floppy disks for use in his inedible Apple.
SKELTON
"Cobol, Basic, Pascal" over and over in his sleep, he is not praying to the holy trinity of a campus cult he has joined.
And "jy joysticks," a term common to computer video game freaks, are not a new type of chewing gum laced with amphetamines.
Other words to watch for: glorik, grok, frobizn, gweep, crusty and cuspy. Don't even bother with their definitions, which can be found only in "The Hacker's Dictionary". available exclusively to those "computer-literate" people able to call it up on their terminals.
In addition to his offbeat semantic prestidigitations, the victim of terminal illness may keep odd hours for months prior to contracting the disease. This is because of the lower cost of nighttime computer units.
Also, because terminal illness is
His random access memory will sometimes render him amnesiac, so do not hold him responsible for any damage. You should also these late night terminal hooks.
highly contagious, the fraternization patterns of those in the high-risk category (hackers) must be carefully monitored
A tendency to socialize with people whose idea of a good time is a Saturday night night with the Honeywell twins (DPSSE and DSEE) in NYC provides an indication that incubation of the terminal illness virus is in progress.
Unfortunately, the only treatment available for terminal illness at present is to physically restrain the patient until he returns to the real world.
Chaining the victim in place where exposing him to desensitization films in which animated computers are displayed has worked in isolated cases.
Science has not yet found a cure, but it seems the hackers take care of their own. Rumor has it that they are working on a desensitization program to run before a user leaves the terminal. Pretty user-friendly, huh?
Italy and Catholicism
Italy, a nation that for many years has recognized Roman Catholicism as its official religion, has ended its confusing and contradictory relationship with the church.
Italian Premier Bettino Craxi and Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the Vatican's secretary of state, signed an agreement over the weekend that abolished Roman Catholicism as the state religion and reduced the church's influence in public schools.
The agreement replaces the Lateran Pacts, which have been in effect since 1929. It is expected to gain approval from the Italian Parliament.
Italian citizens, who have become increasingly secular, have chosen some values that sway from traditional Roman Catholic beliefs.
Abortion and divorce, for example, are legal in Italy; yet they are condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.
Obviously the state and the church are independent and sovereign. They should be treated as such.
It's new agreement is a positive step because it reflects changes in the nation's modern society that conflict with conservative Catholic doctrines.
Italy has had a tougher time making a clear distinction between church and state because of the Vatican's inescapable presence in Rome.
The agreement is a realistic and contemporary document which does not repress or restrain Roman Catholics in Italy. Instead, it shows the inherent weakness in a marriage between religion and the state.
Student shouldn't pay
The University of Kansas Athletic Corporation met last week to discuss ways to cut an estimated $300,000 to $500,000 deficit in its budget in the next fiscal year.
As a way to reduce the deficits, the group is considering increasing ticket prices to some KU athletic events next year.
Although student ticket prices now do not seem to be in line for an increase, the possibility for such action exists.
We hope such an increase is not necessary. Students struggling to get through college on tight budgets can least afford to pay to bring the KUAC budget deficit down.
The athletic corporation's Ticket Policy Committee has proposed increasing by a dollar the price of
Board members, however, did not raise much objection to the proposed ticket increases at last week's meeting.
No action was taken on the issue at the KUAC meeting, and final approval of any increases will come when the board meets in April.
reserved seating at football games and single-game basketball tickets.
Under the proposal Junior Jayhawk and Family Plan prices would also be increased by a dollar.
Administrative assistant to the athletic director Mike Hamrick said that he would meet with the Student Sports Council to discuss student ticket prices.
But should the question of raising student ticket prices come up at the meeting, it should be met with a resounding "no."
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-space 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 qualifications. 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.
LETTERS POLICY
Goodbye to life as we know it
Perhaps I'm a little off-base, but I think video-rock is destroying life as we know it.
That may be a great opening line, but the truth is that I am dead serious. I cannot come up with one socially redeeming facet of Music Television and other such videos.
This is true unless, of course, you happen to be involved with the entertainment industry and are lining your pockets with money from America's videoaddicts.
I first became aware of the anti-social effects of video-rock at a party, a year and a half ago. About 15 of us were in the kitchen, mixing strawberry dairies in a blender while the living room, sipping, talking and listening to the stereo.
Suddenly, one genius got a bright idea to turn on the television to infamous Channel 3 MTV changed the mood of the party instantly, from one of social interaction to one of audio-visual absorption.
Even the people in the kitchen started gravitating toward the living room to sit in solitary silence, alone in the midst of 30 other people. Video-rock: the
That is what worries me most
HARRY
MALLIN
about video-rock The music makes it too easy to tune out everything and everybody else.
I confess that I've spent afternoons in front of the tube, watching MTV, unable to pull my self away. But I stopped when I began to realize how destructive it was.
In 1961, Newton Minow called TV "a vast wasteland."
People defend video-rock by claiming it is creative. I agree, in part.
Twenty-three years later, video-rock in itself has become the new, vast wasteland.
It was creative for the men or women who produced and directed it. They took some music from different sources to create hype together. That is creative.
Unfortunately, their creativity has destroyed ours. Once you have seen their version of how the song should be remembered, you simply cannot listen to it without seeing it any other way.
I used to enjoy listening to the Pink Floyd album, "The Wall." The music is 'overly visual by itself.
After I saw the movie — someone's idea of the story behind the music — I could not listen to the songs without seeing images from that depressing, imposing film.
Hooray for Bruce Springsteen and any other performer who refuses to sell out to video!
As if video-rock hadn't invaded
my life enough, one of my favorite clubs recently installed no less than three video screens.
Big video screens. You can see at least one, no matter where you are in the bar . . . except the bathroom.
Not only do the monstrous screens distract me from watching what I came to watch originally, they distract what I came to watch from watching me.
What is the appeal of videorock in these bars? While people are dancing, are they watching excelses, pretending to be the stars?
Or are they too insecure to meet the eyes of their partners? People look right through you at bars now, and I hate that.
Is video-rock here to stay? As long as there are video-junkies who will line the pockets of the rockers who will sell out, the answer is yes.
But, for the sake of society and the musical sound of human conversation, let's hope it's just a fad.
ETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A cultural mecca
To the editor:
I hope all the people who have been arguing about Lawrence as a place to live will read this letter.
I'm not sure I understand the confusion. There seems to be three main areas of disagreement — scenery, culture and entertainment.
As for scenery, who said that Kansas has the most eye-pleasing landscapes? Well, I'll leak the story now. Kansas is not "God's Country," but I'd take it over Times Beach, Mo., or say, Love Canal.
Colorado, however, has some of the nicest territory in the country, and if Kansas is too much to bear, the bus depot is at Sixth and Michigan, a short walk from campus.
Kansas, the cultural mecca of the country? Who sold you this idea? Abbey Hoffman? I hope this doesn't come as a shock, but Lawrence is in the heart of the Bible Belt and is not a mecca but more of an oasis.
Finally, there seems to be much anxiety over entertainment. How can any place of Lawrence's modest size please everyone?
If so, there's a great place for you in Dallas. Radio and television? If you don't like what you hear on KJHK, simply turn your receiver to "tape" and put on something you like.
Could this be why tape players were invented? And of course there is the polyester salesperson, my favorite complaint.
Ever been to Southern California? I'd pit their car salespersons against ours in a cheesy ad contest any day. By the way, what is someone of your high cultural stature doing watching television anwav?
So why not relax, call up some friends (we do have telephones in Kansas) and have a good time? If you find Kansas too much to endure, though, feel free to pack your bags and leave.
When you arrive at your geographical nirvana, please pass on your feelings about Kansas. This region is home to many interesting points — low population density.
Robert Fuller
Check the facts
To the editor:
What human rights violations? What aid to Salvadoran rebels? What elimination of political dissent? How? When? Where? Is that a newspaper you're putting out?
I suggest you check your facts;
The Feb. 16 editorial concerning Nicaragua was interesting. Where did you find such an ill-informed and radically right-wing staffer?
then write a valid editorial
"black," "woman," or "indian," they will continue to fight against the invasion of their nation from within.
Dana Apple Lawrence graduate student Preserving rights
Or, if you don't want to spend the time, just listen the word "Nicaragua" when it occurs and insert "El Cien" (to refer to Chinatown). You'll be much closer to the厚事.
The same may be said for those of us who would fight for a people while opposing the ruling powers holding sway over them.
To the editor:
Would you fight to defend your country?
I would fight against the invasion of this nation from outside as well as within. The subjugation of any segment of the population by the rest when that segment is not a danger to the natural rights of the rest is certainly an invasion from within.
The United States of America is probably one of the better places to live. I would fight to defend my right to live where I want and as I want, but only so long as my way of life doesn't impinge unduly upon others.
Until the word "American" need not be qualified by words such as
Such was the case with the plight of American Blacks and women. Although things have been much worse for both of these groups, much remains to be changed before they will enjoy the same privileges of being American that the rest of us know.
We see governments in El Salvador, Nicaragua, the U.S.S.R. Eastern Europe, South Africa and South-East Asia seeking to maintain ties with countries while refusing to acknowledge the basic equality of all humankind.
Some of us see these repressive governments as being aided by the United States, Cuba, France or the Soviet Union. We see these powers sending arms, advisers and occupiers into hostile territory and games that we feel should not exist.
And if our government were to call upon us to fight in support of these oppressors — whether their foes were backed by the Soviets, the Israelis, Standard Oil of California or Cuba many of us would not go. Beyond this I cannot speak for anyone else.
I will not fight against any man who asks only for a right to live with dignity.
I will fight against any man who seeks to take the dignity out of the life of any other man.
Donald H. Burke
Fayette, Mo., senior