OPINION
The University Daily
KANSAN
November 18, 1983 Page 4
November 18,1983 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kansas (USP$ 605400) is published at the University of Kansas, 181 Stauffer-Finn Hall, Lawrence, KA 60055, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer sessions. Subscriptions are $15 for six months or $27 for a year in Douglas County and $18 for six months or $35 for a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $12 for six months and paid through the student activity for POSTMASTER. Mail subscription is free.
MARK ZIEMAN Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM STEVE CUSICK
Managing Editor Editorial Author
DON KNOX Campus Editor
ANN HORNBERGER Business Manager
General Manager and News Adviser
DAVE WANMAKER
Retail Sales
Manager
MARK MEARS
National Sales
JOHN OBERZAN Advertising Adviser
LYNNE STARK Campus Sales Manager
Limit has no end
Both houses of Congress finally passed an increase in the country's debt limit this week.
The move really wasn't any surprise. Indeed, every time the limit approaches, debate starts in Congress' hallowed halls about not disrupting government operations.
Social Security checks might not go out, the talk goes, although to stop them would be politically disastrous.
Employees won't be paid, and the Washington Monument will be shut down unless the government can borrow more money to pay its bills. Millions for defense and not a dime for the father of our country.
The shutdown in many operations even costs the government money, as agencies must close down and then open up again.
Think of what raising the debt ceiling means. Congress wants to borrow more money to pay its bills. It doesn't want to just spend less. And of all things, it doesn't want to tax more, especially with an election year approaching.
The national debt clearly is a political albatross.
Increasing the debt limit provides an easy out for Congress. No muss, no fuss, and the machine keeps printing checks.
Surely, somewhere in the federal budget there is some fat that can be
cut. Perhaps a thousand or two thousand fewer dollars can be spent for each screw bought as replacement part for some piece of military equipment.
Perhaps the military budget could even be decreased, ever so slightly.
Ways to save money abound. Ordinary people save money all the time. They know what happens when they overspend and run out of money. They don't have any more.
Perhaps the nation's farmers could compete on the open market, or the subsidies might at least be reduced.
Unfortunately, the government hasn't learned that lesson. It spends and spends and then spends some more.
Some of the money is spent for good causes. To help the unemployed. To provide aid to single mothers who have children. To help poor people heat their homes.
But some of the money is wasted. By the military, although that is admittedly an easy target. And some probably is wasted by every other agency of government.
The government debt ceiling now means nothing. Government isn't a business and can't be run as one. But it could at least make an attempt, however feeble it might be or however long it might take, to live within its means.
Nerve gas, Nicaragua
Senate and House negotiators acted wisely last night when they agreed not to approve funding for nerve-gas production. But they weren't so wise in approving $24 million in covert aid for right-wing Nicaraguan rebels.
Production of the deadly nerve gas, which is even ghastlier than more conventional weapons such as bombs and guns, is something more fitting to Nazi Germany than the leader of the free world. And the negotiators made a sane move when they denied the funding.
and more hardship for the Nicaraguan people. Warfare between the CIA-backed rebels and the Sandinista government will leave the Nicaraguan people caught in the cross-fire. Besides, neither the Reagan administration nor members of Congress have proven that the Sandinista regime is a threat to the region. On the contrary, during the Carter administration, Sandinista land-reform ideas were greeted with approval. But now the country has been branded Marxist, therefore evil. Congress, unfortunately, seems to have taken on this simple, yet shortsighted, view of the world.
The money for the Nicaraguan rebels, however, only will lead to more instability in Central America
Better to take the loss
Did the Senate succeed this time in driving a stake through the heart of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor?
The experimental project with pork barrel appeal has been rescued many times, but the 56-40 vote against additional funds sent a message. U.S. Energy Secretary Donald P. Hodel said he would begin the "orderly termination of the project."
The reactor, authorized in 1970, would produce more fissionable fuel than it would consume. The technology was seen as aiding a conversion to nuclear-generated electric power to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
But a Senate majority has come to see it as too expensive and probably unnecessary, given nuclear power's diminished importance in meeting future power demand. Also undermining support for the breeder was the threat it posed, as a producer of nuclear fuel, in promoting the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
It took some courage to cut off funds after spending $1.7 billion for preparing the site on the Clinch River in Tennessee. It is better to swallow that loss, however, than to spend the additional $3 billion to $7 billion it would cost to complete the project.
-The Hartford (Conn.) Courant
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 a written proof of columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kanson office, 111 Stauffart-Fliiff Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS POLICY
Frack meets the Tweed Club
When the intergalactic space shuttle smacked onto the lawn in front of Watson Library Tuesday night, no one seemed to notice. The few students hurrying past were more concerned with the cold weather than with a chartreuse humanoid.
I stopped to help the creature, who was having difficulty with his craft's hatch.
"Thank you, Earthling. I am Frack. Take me to your leader."
"I don't care. I am here to survey University of Kansas politics."
*how can you speak English?* 1
*asked suspiciously.*
"If I explain that, you won't have time to show me Student Senate."
"Right. But, why do you even care about the Student Senate?"
"Somebody has to," Frack replied, quite reasonably.
"Walk this way," I said. I watched him scuttle along beside me. Frack resembled Truman Capote, only he wore a hat and fat, with a whimy, ashive voice.
"Why KU?" I asked Frack. "Why did you come here?"
"KU has the lowest percentage turnout of elective voters in the universe. It's even lower than that of my home planet, Algernon. In fact," Frack giggled, "the participation of students in textbooks as an example of how not to run a representative democracy."
"Now, see here, buddy," I began planting a forefinger in his fleshy green chest. "Our Student Senate is a collection of the most caring, capable students on campus. Our Student Senate is an assembly of dedicated legislators driven by an all-consuming desire to further the goals and ideologies of KU students, without a thought to personal gain."
"Save it, please. Apparently you are one of the few who voted?"
"Darn right." I said proudly
JESSE BARKER Staff Columnist
"Then why, if the student government is so important, did most students not vote?" Frack sensed that an answer was not forthcoming. "I'll tell you why. Apathy Except those who care and their loved ones, no one cares."
"But the Senate allocates a million-dollar budget," I protested. "If it weren't for the diligence and hard work of our Student Senate, the entire campus would grind to a halt."
"Oh, gag me with a gavel. You remind me of a Righteous."
"A political party, Algernon have three political parties: the Righteous, the Concerned and the Apathetic. We Algers have been overwhelmingly Apathetic for more than a millionium. On Algernon, we have harnessed the power of Apathy and have used it as a positive force to promote the purest form of representative democracy."
"What's that?"
v naturally, I was curious "How?" "A 10 percent vote for the official candidates would indicate a 90 percent vote for the Apathetics on Algeron.
"That would be quite a mandate."
"That would be quite a mandate.
"That's the beauty of Apathy. The actual officeholders are then selected randomly from the list of the novoking Apathetics. To qualify they must correctly answer one question: Do you want to work in government?"
"And I suppose 'I don't care' is the appropriate response?"
"You catch on quickly for a Righteous."
We had arrived at the doorway of the Student Senate meeting. Frack peered in, then shook his head.
"No. I wish to see Student Senate, not the Tweed Club."
"Sorry," I said. "This is the best we can do."
"You see what ignoring Apathy can cause?" Distaste curled Frack's lips as he watched the Senate in action for several minutes. "Oy," he said at last. "How about a drink?" "I don't know."
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Paper shouldn't endorse candidates
To the Editor:
Although I have been quite impressed with your newspaper since I began studying at the University of Kansas this fall, I was disappointed to find that you chose to endorse a this year's Student Senate elections.
While it is true that most newspapers do endorse candidates and parties during election campaigns, a college paper has responsibilities and duties entirely different from those of privately owned and operated papers. First of all, for all practical purposes the Kansas is the only source of campus news. By endorsing one party over all others, you not only deny those other parties an opportunity for equal time, but also leave yourself open to the accusation that you have skewed your coverage of the election all along.
This type of reporting is fine for a privately owned newspaper — readers expect such biased reporting. Indeed, for every biased privately owned newspaper there is nearly always another paper with an opposite bias. Furthermore, in elections of greater scope, there are other news sources as radio and television that normally do not have a widespread audience outside parties. The point is that all sides of the story are told. What good things about the other parties were not printed? What bad things about the party you endorsed did you feel we did not need to know?
By endorsing one party over the others you have taken on a responsibility that is not yours. You are a student newspaper and, therefore, must represent only a portion chosen to represent only a portion of the student body and although you may feel it is in the student body's best interest, that is not your
decision to make.
Tom Kaleko
Greeneville, Tenn.,
graduate student
I feel that you owe an apology to the students you serve if not a retraction of your endorsement.
Thanks, but . . .
To the Editor
While I enjoyed the photos of parts of the Computer Center in the Nov. 10 Kansan, I do have some corrections and a complaint. First, the Honeywell 6DPS computer system was purchased by the University in 1979 and was not donated by Honeywell as indicated. We do have a new DPS 820 system that was shown or mentioned Second, we have fewer than 50 "computer discs", but we do have several thousand computer tapes, which is what were shown in a photograb.
Now for my complaint. While the photos were interesting, they were totally unrelated to the stories with which they were associated. Furthermore, they tend to perpetuate misconceptions that the computer science department and the Computer Center are one and the same. The computer science department is located in Strong Hall and provides research and instruction in the computer Center, located on Sunnyside Ave, houses the office of information systems and academice computing services. Collectively these two are: KU computing services.
We provide the equipment and support personnel for computing services campus-wide. The computer science department is one of our customers as are the chemistry, physics, HDFL, psychology, engineering, business and 80 or so other departments and divisions.
The computer science department and the Computer Center have different locations, different staffs, different budgets, different administration and different missions, but thanks for the nice photos.
Jerry Niebaum
Director of computing services
Appalling photo
To the Editor:
I realize that the United Press International provides an insight into national and international affairs. I further applaud the efforts of the Kansan editors to have come to the realization that the world as an entity does not revolve around the likes of various KU fraternity and sorority events and to include the UPI stories in such a manner as to be easily viewed by the average KU student.
However, I am appalled by the picture on the front page of Monday's Kansan showing a U.S. soldier demonstrating the use of a machine gun to a group of Greanadian children. Why didn't you include a cute caption, such as "Look here I'm playing with you" or "14 people," or perhaps "Let me show you the real way to play cowboys and Indians?" This gun symbolizes President Reagan's method of dealing with an international crisis.
It is obvious by the choice of photographs you publish exactly where you stand with respect to this violation of international law instigated by President Reagan. I beg you to retreat to the position that you should be taking as an objective, unbiased news source.
Scott Francis
Scott Francis Fresno, Calif., junior
Aides see invasion as a success
WASHINGTON - President Reagan and his top aides are smiling.
They think they have a success story on their hands from the Grenada invasion and all good things may flow from that — such as the opinion polls, overwhelming support of the American people.
The administration officials are leaving up in the air whether Reagan's euphoria will prompt military moves in the Caribbean.
Top officials have refused from the start of the administration to rule out overt action against Markist-led Nicaragua and Cuba. In the Mideast, administration officials also hedge on the possibilities of reprisals against Syria, the bête noire at the moment in the continuing turmoil in that region.
HELEN THOMAS
United Press International
Reagan, Caspar Weinberger and Pentagon officials think that
Reagan is in the driver's seat. He can try to change the vocabulae and tell an invasion a mission" and publicly charge his critics.
Reagan, who has been criticized for not having foreign policy goals, except in terms of the East-West struggle, may decide that the military option can be used to recover some of the political ground lost over the last few decades. Since he believes that all the political turmoil in the world emanates from Moscow, he may decide to draw a line in the dust.
they have made the quantum leap and that the United States no longer has a "Vietnam syndrome" or apprehension over deep involvement, again in a category for thousands of miles away.
"It is very easy for some smug know-it-all in a plush protected quarter to say that you are in no danger," he told a welcome home honoree who more than 400 college students we were evacuated from Grenada.
"I have wondered how many of them would have changed places with you," he said.
But few doubt that the Vietnam syndrome would reappear in the populace if the president started spreading the troops far and wide where they would meet more of a fight from native forces than they did in Grenada, where a ragtag leaderless army was in disarray.
Before they left the White House Reagan enlisted the students to speak out about the "courage and commitment" of his military men who raised their fears to evacuate them from Grenada.
Despite the growing violence throughout the world, Reagan takes a more optimistic view of events in recent days.
On the eve of his Asian swing he told a Japanese television interviewer, "I think there is more of an awareness today that in order to have peace we must have strength, so I am not discouraged by what is going on."