OPINION
The University Daily
KANSAN
November 22, 1983 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University of Dayton, KANSAS (USK 606-644) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stuart Fruit Hall, Lawrence, KA 60045, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday in all season locations. Subscription fees are $15 per month, and for a two-year subscription, or $25 per month, a Subscriptions by mail are $15 each or $25 each in Douglas County and $1 for six months or $3 for a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $1 a semester pass through the BOOKSTUDENTS KANSA network.
MARK ZIEMAN
Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM STEVE CUSICK
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DON KNOX
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PAUL JESS
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Meaningless talk
"The Day After," its stark, ghastly scenes portraying the hell of nuclear war, was indeed a depressing movie. But the panel discussion on ABC-TV afterward rivaled the movie for imparting a sense of hopelessness.
The panelists - including Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara, William F. Buckley and others told us that the number of nuclear bombs probably would not be cut substantially in the next 15 years. They said, in essence, that we must continue to live with the bomb.
And then they said, just as Russell Oakes said to his wife in the movie, that man's rational behavior would keep the world powers from fighting World War III. But the unthinkable happened in the movie, and as the world's population of nuclear missiles grows, or even stays the same, the odds are that it will be repeated on the living stage. The effects, scientists agree, would be much more gruesome than what we saw on television.
Yet this group of "authorities" sat on a panel talking of "deterrence." us and them, and "the window of vulnerability." They've taken the ultimate threat to mankind and
turned it into harmless missile ratios and bureaucratic doublespeak. That's their "responsible" approach. Speaking in human terms is neither good politics nor good diplomacy.
The movie spoke in human terms. And the American public got the message — nuclear war can happen; it is deadly; and the death is ugly and inhuman.
Critics are right when they say emotion should not guide our nuclear-arms policy. But they are wrong when they cloak the problem in euphemisms and understatements about the horror of nuclear war. A mix of emotion — maybe some of man's finer traits such as trust and compassion — and realism would make for a better arms policy than we now have. The emotion has been gone too long, and we're thankful that "The Day After" was able to bring it back for some people.
Unfortunately, most of the panelists, seemingly untouched by the horrors we face, were able to talk of nuclear war only in cold, meaningless terms. We'll have to look for our hope somewhere else.
Stay out of Nicaragua
The administration of President Reagan accomplished its goal in Grenada.
The invasion was a quick one,
without too much muss or fuss.
Administration officials have until recently been quick, even eager, to point out the things that make Grenada different from other countries in the region. And besides, American lives were endangered.
And it was an infusion for the ailing presidency of Reagan, as the polls show that many Americans supported the move into the tiny Caribbean country.
Now, however, the protestations are not quite so urgent. Indeed, the administration appears to be mounting a low-key campaign to raise the possibility of U.S.-backed military action against Nicaragua or military insurgents in El Salvador.
Late last week, 1,400 U.S. Marines staged an amphibious assault on a
Honduran beach as part of joint military maneuvers.
Reagan has hailed the move into Grenada as a last-ditch stand against a Soviet-Cuban effort to turn that country into an exporter of communism. Reagan also has leveled similar criticism against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and against the rebels in El Salvador.
The latest administration moves, if they are indeed borne out to be action, would be a drastic escalation in the use of force by the Reagan presidency.
The administration's hints about what action might be taken also indicate a big change in the safety of the Western Hemisphere. Instead of an outside force interfering with the affairs of the Western Hemisphere, the United States would do the meddling. The United States, if it is wise, will leave well enough alone in Central and South America.
Diminishing returns
The numbers put out by the Postal Service, which says it is staring at an $800 million deficit next year, might make a strong case for its proposed 3-cent boost in the price of what is now a 20-cent stamp for first class mail.
But the law of diminishing returns makes a stronger one for turning it down.
Postmaster General William Bolger maintains that even with the boosts, the service will still be one of the best bargains around — and possibly he's right.
That's not likely to happen, though. Three years ago the Postal Rate Commission approved only part of a requested increase, but the Postal Service rejected that decision and put the whole gob into effect anyway. So the odds are that come
Oct. 1, 1984, we'll not only be paying 23 cents to mail a letter but it will cost 15 cents to send a postcard, and the costs of other classes of mail will also go up.
But only a few years ago the service had a virtual lock on parcel post. Then private carriers took a huge chunk of it away by offering to deliver packages faster and cheaper, and now the service is scratching to get some of it back.
-Boston Herald
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 a holiday or staff member. 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
--will benefit from his recent trip to Japan and Korea.
THE DAY BEFORE.
Reagan may be unbeatable in'84
WASHINGTON — A year ago, it might have seemed to Democrats that just about anyone could retire President Reagan in 1984. Today, they may be wondering whether anyone can beat him.
In November 1982 unemployment had climbed past 10 percent, the economy was still in the dolrums and the Israelis, this country's main client in the Mideast, were occupying Beirut after invading Lebanon, ostensibly to drive the PLO away from their border.
This year, unemployment is down, the economy is up and U.S. troops are in Beirut. That last might be considered a political minus for Reagan except that he rallied solidly behind the president after more than 239 Marines died in the attack on their headquarters last month.
Furthermore, the polls also show that Reagan got a surge of support from the public after he went on television to give his reasons for sending troops to Grenada, and there is reason to think that he also
ARNOLD SAWISLAK United Press International
There are, however, still some small, dark clouds threatening the sunny days in Reagan's political weather forecast.
proudly proclaiming in recent months will be choked off by the high interest rates that will result from the government's overwhelming presence in the credit market. That could happen quickly, perhaps even by midyear — mid-election year, that is.
The federal deficit, for one. Some respected economists, including paul e. steinberg, say the recovery that the president has been so
Another potential problem is the arms race. Reagan says he will put Cruise and Pershing II missiles into place in Europe if there is no arms limitation agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviets have hinted that they will be deployed in Ukraine, perhaps within range of the United States, if the Cruse and Pershing II go on line.
11 those threats and counterthreats were poker players' bluffs, it begins to look very much as if the hands of both sides are going to be
called. And if that leads to no more than another increase in the level of nuclear tension, it could be a political problem for the president in 1984.
Still, far fewer knotty political problems face Reagan going into the campaign than seemed likely a year ago. The Social Security crisis, for example, was politically neutralized by the 1980s when commission came up with stopgap financing that both Republicans and Democrats publicly endorsed.
There is some talk of trying the same commission approach to the deficit problem. Such an arrangement might work to get the budget under control, but if it does, it can lead to a decrease in revenue away from whatever Democrat draws the straw to run against Reagan next November.
Convention may be needed to cut deficit
DENVER — For the first time since 1877, delegates of all the states may join in a convention to amend the United States Constitution. The impetus for this constitutional earthquake, whose size and scope judicial scholars are debating, is the failure of the president and Congress to take meaningful steps to reform the votes of two more legislatures must be necessary to set off this seismic shock.
All our political lives, both of us have opposed a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget. "Irresponsible, unnecessary and unworkable," we have asserted. But we well understand the public's growing frustration and implication that the federal deficit threatens our children's fiscal future.
We've worked in our own states to coalesce the votes needed to reduce spending and increase revenues to balance our own budgets. We urge the same approach in Washington, but fear that the necessary coalition will not form. We recognize that America is heading into a president-elect era, so our steps are not taken, we are afraid that we, too, will have to look seriously at the extreme remedy of a constitutional amendment.
The federal deficit is so big that no single measure will solve the problem. The nation must look at both sides of the ledger and find the political courage not only to increase taxes but also to cut spending. With military expenditures and entitlement programs consuming 60 percent of the budget, it is essential that they be critically scrutinized —
strong then constituencies. The nation's governors have assigned a top priority to bringing
RICHARD LAMM and SCOTT MATHESON
deficit has not and will not be a project
the nation cannot take a projected $23 billion a month out of its savings to finance a runaway deficit and
Democratic Governors
demandate. The nation's budget into balance the nation's budget into balance largely targeted reductions in domestic and military spending and increases in revenues. With certainty, the governors have warned that adding the projected $1.3 trillion in deficits over the next six years clearly would choke off national recovery and bring on an economic trauma of enormous dimensions. These views have been conveyed by international leaders of both parties — to no avail. The projected deficit has not shrunk; it has grown.
expect anything but sharply increase interest rates. It will soon take more than two-thirds of all loans to finance the federal deficit.
President Reagan has set an economic course in which his deficit will equal that of all previous presidents put together Federal deficits as a percent of gross national product will grow from 2 percent to more than 6 percent. Economists of both parties warn of disaster. Alan Greenspan urges a "national economic summit" to deal with the deficit. But congress and the president have not yielded.
The projected deficits are different qualitatively and quantitatively than our historic deficits. They will ensure that real long-term interest rates stay high. They will magnify an already unsustainable trade deficit. The biggest issue for history has the nation been more vulnerable, and never deficits taken such a large percentage of the GNP.
Today's policies borrow money from our children to give tax relief mostly to the wealthy. They borrow money from the future to avoid making hard decisions today about Medicare and Medicaid. They borrow money from our grandchildren to build B-1 bombers, which soon
will be obsolete. We collect $75 in taxes for every $100 we spend. Neither party can solve the problem. They have learned to cut taxes but not programs. The problem grows with each passing month.
The nation's governors, like Congress, face constituencies. We know the pain of hard and unpopular decisions. Yet we are determined to use our influence to fight for fiscal sanity. We are willing to share the political burden of action — but not of inaction.
Forty-nine of 50 states require a balanced budget. They live with and operate under such restrictions. They also need to set priorities and make hard choices.
While the analogy is not perfect, we wonder: Is the blunt instrument of a constitutional convention the only way to divert congress and the president from running the country? Or is the concession may soon provide the answer.
Even though our entire histories weigh against it, we both may find ourselves forced to support the amendment if the present fiscal course continues. We desperately hope we can avoid that decision.
Copyright 1983 the New York Times.
Richard Lamm, a Democrat, is governor of Colorado, and Scott Matheson,
also a Democrat, is governor of Utah.
A computer that every candidate must have
WASHINGTON — The threat to human job-holders posed by computerized "artificial intelligence" has been justly celebrated in song and story. But until this year, apparently, nobody suspected computers of having "political intelligence" as well.
What may be a breakthrough, of sorts, was demonstrated here this week at a meeting of the American Association of Political Consultants. In the proverbial spotlight was a software system named "Campaign" to provide to providers the political acumen the average candidate needs.
Billed as a "powerful, new campaign tool," this system, according to its developers, "has it all."
Not only will it do work normally performed by poll-takers, accountants, direct-mail specialists, media professionals. For $499.95, it also sends
thank-you letters to volunteers.
Moreover, it will put a candidate in touch with potential contributors who might have the wherewithal to offset the capital investment$^1$
Here are three other vital chores
DICK WEST
United Press International
tne "Campaign Manager" is said to perform:
- "Prepares your treasurer's report in compliance with state and federal guidelines."
- "Projects your budget (bumperstickers to store-fronts)."
- "Identifies ticket-splitting voters requiring special attention."
Why, says a company brochure, it will even "help you get your press releases out in time for newspaper deadlines."
The system is the brachiedue of Aristotle Industries of Norwalk, Conn. Aristotle, incidentally, is the middle name of the company president, John A. Phillips, who previously made headlines while a student at Princeton, by designing a do-it-yourself atomic bomb.
Part of the problem may be content. While this city, with its
He and his brother Dean, who has the same middle name and was instrumental in putting the political software together, figured that with a few exceptions he would be a big demand for computerized campaign strategies.
highly charged political atmosphere, might seem a natural market for software of this type. The Aristote product has no data on "dirty tricks."
Maybe they were right, But, although John Phillips said the program had been selling "very well" since it was introduced last spring, the demonstration here drew fewer political consultants than the Democratic Party has presidential candidates.
In devising a system suitable for all candidates "from the city council to the U.S. Senate," the brothers Phillips apparently envisioned campaigns in which the rivals would win the positive rather than slue mud.
It is all very well to have "opposition research, voting records and issues materials at your fingertips." But unless a candidate also is privy to the latest dirt, political shortcomings may develop.
Nevertheless. I was pleased to note that the system has an 'escape key' a campaign manager can punch. That presumably will come in handy whenever sudden bail-outs are indicated.