OPINION
1.2.2
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
January 26,1984 Page 4
The University Daily Kanaan (USPS 60-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer-Finst Hall, Lawen, Kanaw. 60-645 daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer session, or 60-647 on Friday and Saturday during the summer session by mail are $15 for six months in a Douglas County and $18 for six months or $3 for a year outside the county Student subscriptions are $3 a semester paid through the student activity fee. POSTMASTER Send address changes to uspsdc@usps.edu.
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX
Managing Editor
SARA KEMPIN
Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY
Campus Editor News Editor
PAUL JESS
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
JANICE PHILIPS DUNCAN CALHUNO
Campus Sales Manager Classified Manager
PROJEES
General Manager and News Adviser
CORR GORMAN JILL MITCHELL
Retail Sales Manager National Sales Manager
The hard line that the U.S. government has taken with regard to the Soviets has spurred advocates of such talks to complain that the United States is not searching actively enough for lasting peace. The Soviets, however, have been complimented for offering solutions.
But a report, recently released by the Reagan administration, somewhat justifies its hard line and proves that even if the two nations signed an agreement as a result of talks, the effects would probably be one-sided and could possibly be dangerous.
The report outlines various instances when the Soviets have broken or seem to have broken agreements with the United States.
Useless dialogue
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
The violations show with what type of government the United States is dealing - a government that makes promises with no intention of keeping them.
Dialogue and diplomacy are seen by many factions as being about the only way other than war for the United States and the Soviet Union to meet.
If the two great nations cannot deal with each other without the fear of being double-crossed, then the future seems bleak. But the solution is not concession for the sake of discussion.
The results of such dialogue, they say, are relatively unimportant so long as the two nations talk.
Serve student interests
The U.S. accusations are not new. Reports of Soviet violations have been circulating for some time, but the recent report comes at a time when disagreements between the two countries are worse than they have been in years.
And in March, when representatives from the Soviet Union and the United States sit down to discuss their respective global positions, the report will probably be used as U.S. ammunition.
Scott Swenson's decision to appeal the ruling that invalidated his Student Senate victory seems to be a calculated attempt to further stall the elections process.
Among other serious violations, the report says that the Soviets have used toxic weapons in Laos, Afghanistan and Cambodia, breaking a 1925 and a 1972 agreement.
A new student body presidential election probably won't be conducted until at least Feb. 29 and March 1, nearly three months after a president was supposed to have taken office.
Moreover, Swenson bases half of his appeal on what seems to be a minor point — that only four of five members of the Judicial Board were present when the elections decision was made. Yet none of the University's codes say that the judiciary must have perfect attendance to be able to render a decision.
cern when he questions the enrollment problems of Kevin Walker, presidential candidate from the Momentum Coalition. Swenson claims that because Walker was not enrolled at the time of the hearing, the Judicial Board should not have ruled in Walker's favor.
And if the University Judicial Board decides to consider Swenson's appeal, the date of the election could be pushed back again.
But the University administration has played down Walker's enrollment problems because technically he was enrolled as a student at the time of the election.
The enrollment problems of Kevin Walker should have been considered by the Judicial Board. They were not. But to bring them up again could again delay the elections, a situation that would not be in the best interests of the students of the University.
Clearly, Swenson's appeal could jeopardize student representation by altering the already altered course of Senate elections.
The Senate would benefit from a healthy dose of skepticism when confirmation hearings for President Reagan's nomination for attorney general begin.
swenson does have a valid con
Reagan has nominated Edwin Meese III to replace William French Smith. The cabinet member is considered to be lawyer for the country and chief federal law enforcement officer.
He is also the same man who declared in December that people choose to eat at soup kitchens because "it's easier than paying" for food. Such insensitivity to people who are swallowing their pride to stand in lines for a meager meal is hardly what the attorney general should have.
In nominating Meese, Reagan said, "Ed is not only my trusted counselor, he is also a person whose life and experience reflect a profound commitment to the law and a consistent dedication to the improvement of our system of justice."
The man has created much controversy as the President's counselor.
Meese is not known for his progressive approach to civil rights, nor has he been known to look positively on welfare programs. For example, he favors eliminating the Legal Services Corporation.
Only after careful evaluation should the Senate decide whether he is the person to serve as the country's legal representative.
Skepticism is needed
But the Senate should take a long look at what Meese's dedication to improving the system of justice is all about.
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 individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansson office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansson reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS POLICY
Perfect spot for U.N.
STRINGBEAN, Neb. — Snugged between cornfields off U.S. Highway 183, Stringbean, Neb., is a quiet university city with a decaying downtown and a population of 50,000.
"Geographically, it's ideal because we're right here in the middle of the country," he said. "We have plenty of room."
But Harvey Longstreet, the city's mayor, says it's the perfect place for the United Nations.
In a move that has brought him worldwide attention, Longstreet yesterday proposed in an hourlong news conference at City Hall that the United Nations should move its headquarters to String-bean. Longstreet said he had already sent a letter recommending his re-placement by de Cuellar, secretary general of the United Nations.
vacated this month because owners need more space.
A spokesman said that U.N. officials were considering the proposal but that they had not reached a decision.
Myrtle Shultz, a city commissioner and vice-mayor, said, "It is my understanding that we could probably get government financing for a project of this kind. Myrtle Shultz could work out rather nicely."
"Really, Stringbeen would be a lot better for all those diplomats than New York is," Longstreet said. "They'd get away from all the pressures and sins of the big city and do business in a nice, family atmosphere."
JOHN
HANNA
Staff Column
Assembly meet in the Stringbean Opera House, a 100-year-old concrete building that is marked for renovation as part of a $41 million downtown redevelopment plan.
Staff Columnist
Joe Zork, architect for Venture Venture Corp' said the building company is entering into a new development plan, which was adopted by the
Longstreet has proposed that the United Nations General
Other U.N. offices could be housed in the J.C Penney Co. Inc. store near the opera house, he said. The building will be
city commission last month after 12 years of discussion.
"Of course, the U.N. would look kind of funny in the middle of a downtown mall," he said, "but we could work on that."
Reaction to Longstreet's proposal has been mixed. Ron Pacific, leader of the Stringbean Coalition for International Peace and General Bliss, said the idea was a good one.
"They'd be in a relatively peaceful place, and they'd think of peaceful things," he said. "We'd have less war."
Longstreet said he was conidered that his plan would be considered seriously.
Critics say that Longstreet is simply seeking media attention. Ralph Hawke, a local conservative leader, said that the mayor had been outspoken since the made-for-TV movie "Diplomat Centerfold Girls" was filmed in Stringbean in November.
"It's really just another publicity ploy designed to promote the movie," he said. "Besides, I am still amazed at all of it was a pretty good laugh."
"Why not move the United Nations here?" he asked "After all, some guy in Kansas wanted to have an international summit in his city."
Military program unrealistic
adopted a more offensive strategy for conventional war and programmed new conventional forces to match, including two nuclear aircraft carriers and accompanying support ships.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Reagan Administration is discussing a hefty 17 percent defense budget increase for fiscal year 1985, to be followed by further increases in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
This expensive program reflects an ambitious military strategy — a new combination of strategic goals and contingency plans that together significantly expand America's military requirements.
Yet most of the new missions included in this strategy are unrealistically demanding, dangerous, or peripheral to basic American aims.
Accordingly, before Congress considers the administration's specific requests for defense appropriations, it should take a second look at the underlying strategy and ask whether its goals are sound.
First, the administration has endorsed a "counterforce" nuclear strategy in which each side would try to destroy the other side's nuclear forces rather than deterring it by targeting the other's cities.
Yet counterforce preparations raise the risk of war and render conventional war harder to control.
out given the huge size of the Soviet empire and the demanding nature of offensive operations, we could not hope to meet the opened requirements of an offensive conventional strategy without spending much more than even the Reagan administration proposes.
Second, the administration has
Administration statements suggest that American naval forces would strike Soviet air and naval bases on Soviet territory in a
conventional war. Plans for conventional war in Europe have also assumed a more offensive cast.
An offensive conventional war strategy would also raise the risk of nuclear escalation. One reason the United States maintains conventional forces is precisely to control the escalation of an East-West conflict by giving American statesmen a choice between using nuclear weapons or doing nothing if war breaks out.
STEPHEN VAN EVERA
Clearly, an offensive conventional strategy would undermine this objective.
Third, the administration is preparing for direct American military interventions in the third world. This shift is reflected in decisions to increase air mobility, "forcible entry" amphibious assault ships and new transport aircraft
The Reagan administration should look again at the old arguments against intervention. If we invest too much in it, we weaken ourselves — and indirectly strengthen the Russians — by wasting our resources on less important conflicts.
Soviet military power is the main danger we face, and we should structure our forces to confront this threat. We should be prepared to use a less extravagant strategy, we already may be spending enough to sustain it.
AN EVERA
Research fellow ___
History teaches that the Soviet empire does not expand through national revolution but by the lackboot of the Soviet Army.
Stephen Von Evera is a research fellow at Harvard University. This article is adapted from a longer essay in the book "Eagle Defiant," edited by Kenneth A. Oye.
Decision is called reasonable
NEW YORK - No document crafted by 12 people will be completely satisfactory to each of them.
But the "conditionality" clause and the proposed alliance for democracy, prosperity and security made me proud to sign the report of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, despite its occasional lapses into geopolitical turbulence.
Can reasonable people conceive of a sequence of events in Central America and Mexico — each of which is unlikely to occur but not impossible — leading to a serious threat to U.S. security?
The Kissinger commission's report makes the modest point that prudent president must take into account the risk of highly risky sequence of events.
Perhaps that hectic day sealed the approval of the finest part of our report — the conditionality clause making military aid contingent on progress toward free elections and the rule of law.
My proudest day as a member of the commission came in San Salvador, El Salvador, watching some of my conservative colleagues become increasingly outraged by the mounting evidence that right-wing death squads were not a liberal fantasy.
But what if the Salvadoran regime ignores the goals of conditionality?
CARLOS F. DIAZ-ALEJANDRO
Professor
this warning must be credible, otherwise death squads and electoral fraud will not be eliminated.
The United States must stand ready then to cut off its bilateral aid, seeking higher ground elsewhere in the region.
The United States must forcefully state conditions for its bilateral aid, but it cannot walk away from all of them and should not for reasons other than security.
Central American democrates are also likely to look with favor on the proposal that the United States and Central America enter into a contract in which Washington commits significantly increased aid to underwrite economic reform and recovery, while participating Centrally in republics themselves to greater respect for human rights, genuinely democratic processes and verifiable security assurances.
I did, nevertheless, register two fundamental disagreements with the report.
Finally, the covert aid probably makes successful negotiations with Managua less likely to raise a rising cost in the best interest of what Washington will do if they fail.
First, I would argue that the most cost-effective policy for promoting long-term United States strategic interests in Central America would be to offer complete and unimpaired access to the U.S. market to exports of goods and services joining the development organization proposed in our report.
Second, I believe that covert support to Nicaraguan insurgents hampers the democratic process in Nicaragua How? Covert support to some insurgents is used in Managua to brand all dissidents as collaborators. It is the legitimacy of dissent, especially among the nationalistic youth.
If promoting democracy is the aim, overt civilian programs to encourage Central American democrats would be a better alternative. The possibility of accidental war is also increased by the covert operation, otherwise shows tilted prospect of overthrowing Sinti insurgia regime.
Carlos F. Díaz-Alejandro, who was a member of the Kissinger commission, is visiting professor of economics at Columbia University
Better reasons needed
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor
Monday marked the second time that your editors attacked Mayor David Longhurst's
The first was in October, when he spoke to the Midwestern Governors' Conference. His invitation to Reagan and Andropov to have a summit with Gov. Brown, you write, "dear far more harm than good."
I can't figure out why this should bug you so much. Certainly, it cannot be the objection you state openly — that the city has other problems which should command the mayor's attention — because you offer not one shred of evidence that he is in any way shirking the duties of his office.
You imply that it is inappropriate for a local official to speak out on world issues. But global
What can be of greater importance to Lawrence than its continued existence and the life and death of its citizens?
issues, and especially this one, are also local issues.
Together with Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and now mayor of Atlanta, he held a national press conference on cities that were at a recent mayors' meeting in New Orleans.
"Longhurst," you claim, "has wasted crucial opportunities to talk about the city." Apparently you haven't noticed that he has been talking about Lawrence, and with far more effectiveness than any mayor in the city's history.
He has written an article on Lawrence and the peace movement which was published in more than 150 newspapers worldwide. He has been interviewed by newspapers, magazines, radio and
television stations from large cities throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.
After "The Day After" the Lawrence Daily Journal World published a letter from a woman in Massachusetts who said she was deeply concerned about the possibility of nuclear war.
She did not think it would do much good to write to Washington, so she decided to write to Lawrence instead. Our city has achieved that kind of public image not just because a movie happened to be made here, but also because David Longhurst and other citizens have presented Lawrence as a place where people are doing something about the threat of nuclear war.
So please, if you decide to launch a third assault on the mayor's effort in the cause of peace and international understanding, at least be good enough to tell us what really bothers you about it.
professor of anthropology