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University Daily Kansan, October 5, 1983
Reporter says China is not a utopia
By CHRISTY FISHER Staff Reporter
The People's Republic of China is not an extraordinary country where all the evil of the world has been abolished, a New York Times correspondent said yesterday.
Fox Butterfield, formerly of the New York Times Peking Bureau and author of "Alive in the Bitter Sea: Daily Life in China Today," spoke to more than 200 people in Woodruff and told him he'd be dispelled some of the myths Americans hold about China.
Butterfield's book won the 1983 American Book Award for non fiction and the 1983 Overseas Press Club Award for best fiction.
BUTTERFIELD EXPLAINED THAT foreign correspondents who were given supervised tours created a myth that China was a country where a person could leave a used razor blade in a hotel wastebasket in Peking and have a room boy waiting for him in Shang-hai returning the blade with a smile.
In his book and lecture, Butterfield tries to present a more realistic and balanced representation of China. It is not a classless utopian society marked by the uniformity of baggy blue suits and an endless stream of bicycles, he said.
He said that China actually had many class divisions with varying salaries and degrees of political clout. He said the 40 million members of the Chinese communist party were divided into 24 distinct grades. Other professional divisions include 16 classifications for actors and musicians, 12 for college professors and four for chefs.
"THERE REMAINS A great disparity between the people on the top of the social scale and the people at the bottom," she said.
He said the government merely preserved an appearance of equality. For example, Butterfield said, a Chinese general might be simply dressed, but he is afforded a much higher standard of living than the masses.
Other myths Butterfield cited were that China was a revolutionary society that allowed for change and provided new forms of socialism.
Butterfield said that American sociologists had found that peasants today had less of a chance of escaping their bondage to the land than their ancestors did before 1949, when the communists took over. Men, if they joined the military, had one chance in 1,000 to leave their native villages, and had another chance in 2,500 to leave if they married someone in the military.
Butterfield said the widespread cynicism and disillusionment of the communist system left a profound impression on
Fox Butterfield, New York Times correspondent in the People's Republic of China, tells his experiences in China. Butterfield spoke last night in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
him. He said the newspaper People's Daily reported that 100 million people had been persecuted in those years.
"WHAT DISILUSIONED EVEN more people is that it all began as a noble purpose," Butterfield said. "Mao launched his campaign to eliminate poverty, bureaucracy and class oppression in the poor point of the people who were forced to implement his policies."
Although he said he disliked having to present such a somber picture of China,he said good journalism started from honesty and not self deception
"China's spirit has been wounded," he said.
China's spirit has been wounded," he said.
"They are now searching for a better life and I hope they find it so the Chinese will no longer have to describe themselves as survivors of the tragedy."
THE UNIVERSITY Forum will begin at 11:45 a.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Center, 1204 Groad Ave., and will feature a lecture by Charles Stamiser pitied "Prophets of Peace and War in Central America."
ON CAMPUS
TODAY
THE AMERICAN Israeli Friendship Organization will meet at 8 p.m. in the Hillel House, 940 Mississippi Street and slide show on Israeli program.
THE CONTEMPLATIVE Prayer Session at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Center will begin at 7:45 and then resume until 8:30, with a Thomas Merton reading.
FILMS TITLED "South Africa Belongs to Us," and "You Have to Learn" will be shown staring at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Dyce Hall.
THE OWL SOCIETY will meet at noon in Alcove D of the Kansas Union for a brown bag lunch.
DUNGEONS AND Dragons will meet at 7 p.m. in the Trail Room of the Union.
TOMORROW
THE CAMPUS COALITION for Peace and Justice will meet at 7 p.m. in the Oread Room of the Union. A speaker will discuss the Reagan administration's environmental policy.
THE KU GERMAN Club will meet at 5:30 p.m. on the west side of Murphy Hall to prepare radishes for the Octoberfest.
AN EPISCOPAL Eucharist service will begin at noon at Danforth Chapel.
THE ORTHodox Christians on Campus will meet at 7 p.m. in the Regionalist Room of the Union. Alban Cookas will speak about "The Orthodox Church compared to the Episcopal church."
Senators criticize plan for night shuttle-buses
By DONNA WOODS Staff Reporter
Despite concerns about campus safety, several student senators have said that they are reluctant to endorse a proposed shut-bus system that would restrict night parking on campus.
"I see it as it sort of an impractical solution," Mark Bossi, Winfield senior and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said Monday.
UNDER A PROPOSAL now being studied by a Traffic and Parking Board subcommittee, nighttime parking would be allowed to only those people with night or blue zone permits. Free parking would be available in parking lots during the weekdays at Watkins Hospital. Buses would run round-trip from the lots to campus.
JL. Jeanne Longaker of the KU Police said that a shuttle service to campus would alleviate student and faculty concerns about campus safety.
The subcommittee must first approve the plan, which would then have to gain approval from the Traffic and Parking Board, University Senate Executive Committee and the Board of Regents.
THE PROPOSAL PROVIDES that 1,000 night parking permits would be available to students for $10 each on a first-come, first-served basis or by class ranking. Blue zone permits are granted by a formula that considers the purchaser's age, years of University service and physical need.
If approved, on-campus parking would be restricted from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, to assist staff without night parking permits.
Russell Getter, the subcommittee
chairman, said that the proposal was drafted to deal with safety concerns, heavy traffic and parking space shortages.
Longaker agreed with Getter that a parking problem existed on campus during the evening hours, forcing him and members to park in poorly lit lots.
However, Bossi said the shuttle-bus plan could create more safety problems.
Bossi said that many students would not want to wait 10 or 15 minutes in the designated parking lots for a shuttle bus. Consequently, he said, more students would be walking further to the center of campus, often in poorly lighted areas.
He also said that the people who were afraid to walk on campus now would also be afraid to wait in parking lots for a rideable bus to drive them to campus.
LISA ASHNER, STUDENT body president, said that safety measures, including adequate lighting in the designated parking lots, must be provided.
Ashner said that because shuttle-bus service ended at 11 p.m., some students would still have to walk to parking lots away from the center of campus.
Loren Busby, chairman of the Student Senate Finance and Auditing Committee, said that the current method of handling parking on a first-come, first-served basis was more equitable than the subcommittee's proposal to sell permits for spaces.
Longaker said that fast-moving traffic, another concern of the sub-
way system, could be a factor.
"We've had a number of accidents on campus at night," she said.
International Olympics Organizational Meeting
Wed., Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m.
208 Robinson
Events: Track & Field, Soccer Archery, Table Tennis, Badminton Volleyball, Bowling, and Racquetball.
Call 864-3546 for more info.
Sponsored by Rec. Services, 208 Robinson.
PIZZA & VIDEO
All Hero Sandwiches
$1.95 Reg. $2.25
Oven Baked Heros
Ham, Roast Beef, Turkey, Cheese, New Yorker
Expires Sunday, Oct. 9
Any Large, Two Topping Pizza
Bring in this coupon
Expires Sunday, Oct. 9
Game Tokens
The Best and Cheapest Pizzas in Town Our Large Pizza is $5.95
Hay our New Lazer Disk—Cliff Hanger
$1.00 Off
Here's your chance to be counted,
October 5 & 6
No other coupons accepted with these offers.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at boots in front of Fraser, Wescoe, Robinson, and the Union.
—and
for
$500
Bring in this coupon
Expires Sunday, Oct. 9
Play our New Lazer Disk—Cliff Hanger
THE
in your Freshmen Class elections Held on:
VOTE
From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.at GSP, Oliver and Lewis (on October 6 only.)
Remember—bring your KUID!
university dance co·fall concert
Saturday October 8, 1983 8 p.m. Sunday October 9, 1983 2 p.m. Craft Prevention Theatre - Murphy Hall - Movements for Computer and Dancers
Sculpture Jean Van Harten Dance - Advance tickets on sale at KU dance馆 (844-5552) $5.30 General $2.00 Students and Senior Citizens
Sponsored by the Activity Fee and the Kansas Arts Commission
Three Solid Leaders!
DAVID EPSTEIN...PRES.
STEVE HICKERSON...VICE.
CHRIS BUDIG...TREAS.
FRESHMEN CLASS OFFICERS
PAID BY STUDENTS FOR TRI-ACTION!