OPINION
The University Daily
KANSAN
February 16, 1984 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
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DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX
Managing Editor
SARA KEMPIN
Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY Campus Editor News Editor
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PAUL JESS
CORP GORMAN JILL MTCHISEL
Retail Sales Manager National Sales Manager
JANCE PHILLIPS  DUNCAN CALHUNH
Campus Sales Manager  Classified Manager
General Manager and News Adviser
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Nation shows off
Nicaragua wants to show off. For the first time in four years, the government says it will be having elections.
Earlier this week, Nicaragua invited the Democratic presidential candidates to a ceremony announcing details of those elections.
None of the candidates has accepted the Nicaraguan offer as yet, and because of the serious human-rights violations of the Soviet- and Cuban-supported government, they should not.
The Nicaraguan elections next year may be legitimate and free. But because Nicaragua tries to eliminate all political dissent, Americans should be skeptical of the results of the elections.
Americans, be they officials or presidential candidates, should not honor the Sandinistas with their presence until the Nicaraguan government has proven itself.
The Reagan administration has
refused to deal with the Sandinistas because of their human-rights violations and aid to Salvadoran rebels.
Yet the Rev. Jesse Jackson is considering the invitation and and thinks it is about time the United States recognizes the Sandistan government.
Jackson, and the other candidates, however, should not go to Nicaragua as long as they are serious presidential contenders, for such action might show acceptance of Sandinista tactics and send conflicting signals to other nations who count on American consistency.
Some may parallel Jackson's trip to Syria and the subsequent release of Lt. Robert Goodman earlier this year with the Nicaraguan invitation.
But this recent invitation is different in that the United States will sacrifice much from such recognition, while the Sandinistas will have even more to show off.
The thrill of a victory
Hurray for the red, white and blue.
The United States has finally won its first gold medal in the 1984 Winter Olympics.
All of those who have been following the Olympics, watching other countries win the coveted prize in one event after another, can now breathe easy and relax.
Debbie Armstrong, the fastest giant slam skier any country had to offer, did her best on the slopes of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Her efforts were good enough to bring the United States its 1,000th gold medal in Olympic history.
The Olympic games have critics. Some people think the attention given the event is overdone. The rising costs of the games and the amount spent on related activities have people questioning what role sporting events should have when money is desperately needed for other humanitarian endeavors.
But for the avid fan and the individual who recognizes the beauty of many of the events featured in the Olympics, the games are more than a competitive sporting event.
The high quality of the events raises them to something more closely resembling an art form.
And the glimpseps, every four years, of a town in another part of the world, its culture and its people, sandwiched between broadcasts of the sporting events add to the art of the Olympics.
The millions of dollars spent on the Olympics seem to be a little more justifiable when the games are seen as more than a mere television spectacle for the sports fan.
For those sharing in the thrill and the beauty of the Olympics, Armstrong's win for the red, white and blue has added to the enjoyment of the art.
Special type of courage
Over the past several months, I have been able to witness some of the greatest athletes in America. It has been a delight to watch the sheer artistry of a Mike Rozier or a Wayman Tisdale.
Today's athletes should be admired for the incredible way in which they control their bodies, somehow staying within human bounds while reaching new, untouched limits.
I have also seen the courage of players like Frank Seurer and E.J. Jones, who performed on the field while suffering injuries that would have kept normal players on the sidelines.
But this is not a story of a well-known athlete — at least in a fan's sense of the word. For someone like this man, courage shown by a player who performs at high level in malal. The constant grinding pain from arthritis has slowly deteriorated every joint in his body.
But he has never complained.
He grew up in Topeka, the youngest of two brothers. He played football in junior high school, earning the reputation of a good
JEFF
CRAVENS
Sports Edito
defensive lineman despite being the smallest person in the city playing that position.
His size, or lack thereof, helped him decide to give up football in high school so he could concentrate on other activities. He still participated in wrestling and city league basketball.
For anyone who has never experienced arthritis, it is an ugly disease. The pain feels as if every joint in the body has been severely sprained. The afflicted person cannot move without the painful reminder of the hated companion.
Right after high school, he enlisted in the Navy. While still in his 20s, the arthritis that now ridies his knees put him at attack, relentlessly and without care.
But he never complained.
Day after day, year after year, the constant pain remains. The maddening affliction is more tenacious than the pain of pass rush. And this man had it bad.
He earned his degree and started to work for the governor of Kansas. He and his wife then had a son, and he became a dancing the young boy how to play ball.
He served his time in the service, then got married. He worked during the day while getting a degree at night. When he had extra time, he took care of his wife and their two newborn daughters. The pain continued to get worse, especially in one knee, but he had other things to worry about. Others' problems were more important.
But while the youngster was still growing up, his left knee deteriorated so much that he had to start walking with a cane. That didn't
And he never complained.
work, so the knee had to be fused, which means that a plate was placed over the joint so it can no longer be used. And the villainous disease kept spreading through his shoulders, wrists and hands.
He would go out in the front yard and toss footballs to his son underhanded because he couldn't raise his arms above his head. He encourage his son and coached his Little Giants and teamed up for some time him being eaten by the fact that he couldn't show his son how to run and play.
But he never complained.
His son grew up and played basketball and his dad could relive some of his athletic days through him. He became one of the biggest sports fans in the area, becoming active in the local high school's and university's athletic programs. Even after his son went away to school, he watched his youngest daughter play soorts.
Meanwhile he took on more and more responsibility at work, a job he enjoyed as much as any other facet of life. He worked with people and troubles to iron out a few of the problems that the world dealt out to them.
And the arthritis kept its unending charge throughout his body. Slowly but surely, all his joints were affected. First came the implantation of a synthetic shoulder, then, a fractured bone, and finally times the man became sick to his stomach because he had to take so many aspirin tablets a day.
But he never complained.
Unlike the shoulder and hip, there is no replacement joint. Fusing is the only alternative. The doctor told him that he would declare him insane. He could not give the word. Most people would not, admitting the opponent had won.
cartilage in the joint. Bone is grinding against bone and his ankle is constantly swollen to the size of a ball. You must be the most laborious of tasks.
Now his ankle poses the new problem. The stinging serpent has now lailed out to destroy all of the
He took the news as expected. He has decided to work at least through June and will devote his time to charity work, probably with the church, which has been as constant a companion as the pain.
He could smile when he said that he was going to have to give up the job he enjoyed so much. He is still working to make sure that the family is in the best financial shape possible.
At no time did the pain ever get the best of him. He never once mentioned it, even though his contorted joints and body movements screamed with excruciating pain at even the slightest twitch.
While athletes command respect for what they have to deal with, how can someone who plays with a sprained ankle be compared to having in pain 100 times as bad constantly, day in and day out, for years?
My father experiences this living hell — where getting out of a chair after watching a basketball game is a feat in itself. This is the kind of courage that should be applauded. The aches and pains that athletes suffer seem pale in comparison. But my father will never say a word.
Drama high in choosing candidates
WASHINGTON — Many political leaders seem to think that voting should take place only during an election year.
That ruling forced Iowa Democrats to go to court for legal sanction of their Feb. 20 caucuses.
Such an attitude was implicit in the Democratic National Committee's attempt to delay the start of the party's nominating process until Feb. 27 — the day the New Hampshire primary.
It is easy to understand why New Hampshire and Iowa, or any state for that matter, would want to be first in the nation to pick a candidate. The urge to get it over with is strong through the electorate.
Certainly the candidates aren't restricted to a particular time
DICK WEST United Press International
frame. There is nothing to prevent them from throwing their hats in the ring several times in advance, if they so choose.
It is true that most candidates, for pragmatic political reasons, wait until the year preceding the election to enter the race formally. But all start campaigning unofficially long before that.
I see no reason to penalize the voters by making them wait until an election year to indicate their choices. If, say, Florida decides its 1986 presidential primary in, say, 1987, what's the big deal?
Why, for that matter, should not the nominating conventions themselves be conducted a year before an election?
Members of Congress, a few of whom are politicians themselves and many of whom have even been known to run for president, like to attend conventions as delegates.
Congress, as you know, usually is just working up a full head of steam by midsummer. For the lawmakers to stop right in the middle of legislating and recess for the conventions can throw everyone off stride, including some of the candidates.
How much better all around it would be if the conventions were scheduled in November. By that time, Congress already may have started its Christmas adjournment.
Sure, moving the conventions back to the preceding November would add a few months to the final stage of the campaign. But look at it this way: By getting the nominations out of the way a year in advance, there wouldn't be a lot of candidates clustering up a campaign during an election year.
Possibly there is something to be said for waiting until the final year of a campaign to nominate the candidates. But how long can we stand the suspense?
Talk without polemics
While Konstantin Cherenko and George Bush were meeting Tuesday to discuss U.S.-Soviet relations, surprising news from Great Britain made us wonder whether past reports of strained diplomatic ties between the superpowers were entirely accurate.
Although a White House aide denied that there had been secret contacts as such, he did say that Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin occasionally met at the State Department.
In London, former British Prime Minister James Callaghan said that the United States and the Soviet Union have had "secret contacts" to try to defuse the East-West confrontation.
Although the secret conferences cannot be confirmed, the British reports indicate that a welcome change in tone might have been taking place during the often-criticized tenure of Yuri Andropov. Tuesday's meeting between Bush and Chernenko also showed signs of increasing amiability between the superpowers.
Callaghan said in a radio interview that he had explored the possibility of secret talks during a private visit to the Soviet Union last October in which he conferred with several Soviet officials.
With these foundations, perhaps future talks can be conducted, as Cherenken suggested, "from the heart... devoid of polemics."
LETTERS POLICY
The University Daily Kanan 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 position. The Kanan also invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kanan office, 111 Stauffer FKint Hall. The Kanan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
In the Jan. 20 issue of the University Daily Kansan, Ms. Tone Berg derided the prospect of an $8 billion manned space station. Ms. Berg demonstrated her ignorance on the subject with several statements and questions.
Furthermore, private-sector investment is likely to come from corporations involved in electronic communications, specialized materials, agricultural forcasting and pharmaceuticals.
First of all, Ms. Msg. Berg described the station as the "ultimate sign of U.S. greatness." If you will refer to readily available literature on the subject, you will see that Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency are contributing to cooperative development, use and financing of the space station.
Ford Aerospace — Communications, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics, Volkswagen and Johnson are but a few of the firms that have flown successful experiments on the shuttle and are now keenly interested in the commercial aspects of a space station.
This bolts down to the fact that the station can be an internationally financed project with definite potential for return on investment.
Ms. Berg worries "what to do when we run out of oil?" This can lead to others as well. One possible solution is nernical and safe energy would be in
Perhaps this type of blind criticism is not as restricted to the American culture as I had thought. Although the motives behind Mr. Reagan's support of the space station seem to be zealous patriotism, the fact that the space station have been developing since Ron was filming with Bongo.
Such a system could be in operation within 25 years. Experiments in space may prove or disprove the feasibility of this concept.
Ms. Berg, it is sad that you have pounced upon a project as soon as it was endorsed by a popular but less than exceptional politician.
the form of solar energy collected in space and transmitted to Earth.
In other words, the concept of a space station is not a government-sponsored imitation of a trite science fiction scenario.
If Ms. Berg desires to find $8 billion to help the poor, I suggest that she examine the details of the present defense budget for excess. The space station is, and should be, a peaceful scientific project with the potential for economic return and no strategic defense mission.
"Dreams over reality?" I don't think so, Ms. Berg. Space stations, pure drugs, better materials, advanced communications, solar power and incredible scientific gains may seem as dreams to you.
Eighty years and two months ago, two brothers named Wright realized their dreams. In 1903 there were abundant critics who scoffed at the use and future of manned flight. Those less informed members of the
Fourth Estate were proved wrong. You are not alone in history, Ms. Berg.
James E. Mitchell
little in the form of entertainment here in the heart of America. As for the car advertisements, we Kansans have little control over what goes on and why, so it is usually decided by the person who is paying for the advertisement.
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, senior
Kansas beautiful
I would like to respond to the letter that appeared in the Feb. 7 Kansas. I strongly disagree with what that person had to say about Kansas.
To the editor:
I have traveled all over this nation, and I still think Kansas is one of the most beautiful and fun places in America. As for entertainment, I don't know too much about large city of more than a million people to a college town of $2,000?
Kansas City, for example, has many fine restaurants, shops, theatres and clubs. The Plaza is recognized as one of the most outstanding entertainment centers in America.
You can also get a variety of other types of music: country, classical, jazz and even punk rock can be heard from the many Kansas City stations.
So you can't tell me that we have
If it's music that you are worried about, then try turning on your FM radio. For Prince, U2, Stones, the Who, or David Bowie you can turn to KYYS-102 for all of the hard rock and new wave music you can stand.
I can't understand her logic on that particular comment at all. We have few large cities in Kansas, but the vast sprawl of everything that anyone could desire.
You also wonder why Detroit (car capital of America) is in a recession. It's not because of the salesmen in polyester. Let me clue you in on one large problem with car sales in America; foreign car sales.
It's the people who buy Japanese and European cars who are putting Detroit in the red. There are other cars, but one, I think that this is a large one.
I can understand how one who comes here from a large city could say that Lawrence and KU are boring, but I don't think that she has seen the other side of the picture, so I want to learn more about it biased and naive to say the least.
My advice to people who have these one-sided views: give Kansas a fair chance.
One other point that I'd like to make is that most 21 bars here in Lawrence stay open until 2 a.m. well past the bewitching hour. As far as bedtimes go, I seriously doubt if one can say that many college students here in Kansas go to bed at or before midnight.
I again fail to see the reasoning behind that infantile stereotype. Remember, all I'm saying is that you give Kansas a fair chance before making silly statements and naive assumptions.
Stan Smith
Sinn Smith
Pleasanton sophomore