OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
September 28,1983 Page4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University of Dassman Kannai (USPK 600-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer-First Hall, Lawrence, KA 60045, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer sessions. Subscriptions to mail are $15 for six months or $2 per year in Douglas County and $18 for six months or $3 for each outside the county. Student奖学金 are $5 a semester补助 through the student activity fee POSTMASTER! A send-out letter is sent to you by Mail, Attn: Postmaster, University of Kansas.
MARK ZIEMAN
Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM STEVE CUSKIN
Managing Editor Editorial Editor
ANN HORNBERGER Business Manager
MICHAEL RORINSON
Campus Editor
PAUL JESS
General Manager and News Adviser
DAVE WANAMAKER MARK MEARS
Retail Sales National Sales
Manager
LYNNE STARK Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Advertising Adviser
Loss of direction
The Lawrence City Commission cannot decide which way to go on downtown redevelopment. But more seriously, it cannot decide what its options are. In the past weeks it has allowed another proposal to compete with those already under consideration.
The options, until a few weeks ago, seemed extraordinarily clear. The city could allow the infamous "cornfield mall" to be built either south of town or in another area near the city. Such a hall takes its name because it would be built in an area near the edge of town — perhaps even in a genuine cornfield.
The city also could support a massive downtown redevelopment project. But it hasn't and won't provide that support, because such a project, as was proposed a few years ago by an out-of-state developer, would encompass several square blocks of the downtown area and would require wholesale demolition of downtown buildings.
Another option, that of a moderately sized mall in the downtown, has received the most study so far. The city conducted an extensive search last year for a developer to
provide some plans to work with and then carry them out. Sizeer Realty Inc., from Kenner, La., has so far provided those plans.
But despite that work, the city is considering a longer lease for some land in the 600 block of New Hampshire Street, which would allow a local developer to undertake a different downtown project.
Why not projects in other parts of the city? Surely another proposal or two couldn't hurt. And how about another two or three years of delay in considering any plan for redevelopment of the downtown area?
For that matter, why do anything at all? The entire premise upon which downtown redevelopment rests surely must be faulty. Lawrence, with its thousands of students, couldn't possibly support any additional retail stores. And besides, Topeka and Kansas City are close enough for a lovely day of shopping.
The city was once at a crossroads regarding downtown redevelopment. Now the city appears not to know which road it's traveling on, and little more about the choices available.
The growing unrest
President Ferdinand Marcos appears to be tightening his bloody grip on the Philippines. He warned earlier this week that he would use "force against force" to fight anti-government protesters.
The protests have become bloody and more frequent since the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino. At least 12 people have died, and hundreds have been injured. Calm is not likely to return until the mystery of Aquino's murder is solved.
To quell the protests, Marcos said Monday that he would reorganize a commission now investigating the killing. The opposition, however, wasn't satisfied. Marcos has yet to prove that he was not involved in the
Before announcing the reorganization of the committee, Marcos said he would arrest and prosecute business executives involved in anti-government activities. He also said he would order the arrest of those whose "words stimulate mob terrorism."
But Marcos will arrest anyone who disagrees with him or calls for free elections. That's what he's been doing for the past 18 years. Despite the threats, though, the cries for his resignation will continue to get louder. He had better listen, and so should his American friends.
Old Abe's predictions
We're in trouble. "Abe Weatherwise," the venerable forecaster for the Old Farmer's Almanac, says winter will come with "a bite" earlier than normal this year.
Old Abe, molding his words to rhyme, predicted that the cold would come ahead of schedule — in early November — and that we'd 'be cruisin' for a bruisin' " when mid-February blows around. But the time in between will be mild and dry, Abe says, and the nation's snowfall should be lighter than normal.
For you skeptics who don't believe
Abe can tell us how it'll be — look at
his record. He's reputed to be 80 percent accurate — and he doesn't even use satellite photos or multi-colored weather maps to forecast the coming snows. For the past 192 years, his predictions have been sandwiched between tips on planting potatoes and other tidbits in the Old Farmer's Almanac, the granddaddy of American periodicals.
His record includes an accurate prediction of the April blizzard that buried New England a few years ago. He must have a secret or two that our radar-equipped, up-to-the-minute, checkered-suited TV forecasters don't have.
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 position. The Kansan also invites individuals to submit short 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
Neighborhoods are ties that bind
In a world of sprawling cities and large bureaucracies, neighborhoods remain the threads that weave into the population into a fabric of many husks.
Neighborhoods were the focus of many studies in the 1970s. Karl Hess and David Morris in their book, "Neighborhood Power," attempt to define the modern role of neighborhoods, which have played an important, yet underrated, part in America's history.
KATE
DUFFY
Staff Columni
But there's more to a neighborhood than just the size. A definition of a neighborhood may vary from one neighborhood resident to another. A good place to raise children for some may be for others just a place to move for a while as they move up the business ladder. Others may choose their neighborhood because they like living near downtown or because they have family already living there.
"What is the neighborhood?" they ask. "It is a place and it is people. It has no defined size or even scale, although common-sense limits do appear throughout history. The homestel tests for neighborhood would include the fact that a person can easily walk its boundaries.
"It is not so large that going from one side to another requires special effort. Its physical size means that it is or can be familiar turf for everyone in it."
The oldest neighborhood in town, East Lawrence was part of the original Lawrence townsite settled in 1854 by the New England Emigrant Aid Society. It suffered along with the rest of Lawrence from Quantrill's devastating raid in 1863 that killed much of the male population and destroyed most of the town's homes.
As far as Lawrence neighborhoods go, the East Lawrence neighborhood is probably one of the city's best kept secrets. Longtime home to white, black and Mexican-American families, the neighborhood has all the makings of a good natchwork quilt.
So, the real physical history of East Lawrence began after 1863 when much of the town was rebuilt and the fabric of the neighborhood was revived. The homes, homes, but churches and businesses as well. Hotels, boarding houses.
grocery and dry goods stores, factories and social halls went up throughout the neighborhood to serve its growing population.
During the post-Civil War era, waves of European immigrants, especially Germans and Swedes, as well as blacks and whites from other countries in the country made their way to Lawrence. Many settled in East Lawrence.
The Germans settled mostly on New Hampshire and Rhode Island streets, building their Turnbale, a social club and gymnasium that still stands at the corner of 9th and Rhode Island streets.
The Swedes settled throughout the neighborhood, and black families settled mainly along New Jersey and New York streets. The very poorest settled in an area near the river called the "Bottoms," which Langston Hughes immortalized as a child in his autobiographical work, somewhat autobiographical book about his Lawrence childhood, "Not Without Laughter."
Today the East Lawrence neighborhood is still a melting pot where residents, for the most part, have managed to coexist peacefully. It still somewhat resembles a 19th century neighborhood despite the
many coats of paint that have been applied to it.
On certain winter days when the air has a dusky quality to it and smoke from wood stoves in the neighborhood lingerers over the fireplace, Lawrence is transplanted back to its roots in the Victorian estate.
one pace is slower in Eas. Lawrence - maybe because many of its residents are elderly. In a 1978 survey by Lawrence's planning department, 44 percent of the respondents said they had lived in the neighborhood for more than 25 years, and about 21 percent said they had lived there between 10 and 25 years.
Perhaps the slow pace is simply a throwback to the 19th century when people may have been more reliant on each other. Entertainment is cheap in the neighborhood; people need to stand back fence and on their front porches.
Not all older neighborhoods are as viable as East Lawrence, but many have just as rich a history and as interesting a population. These neighborhoods have given residents the opportunity to live in cities have become too large and city governments too distant from their citizens.
Gaffe sparks reconfirmation talk
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary James Watt's most recent off-the-cuff disaster "a 'black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple" — deeply disgusted many senators.
Mixed with the revulsion was a frustration born from their inability to do anything.
True, many expressed themselves in the strongest possible terms, rushing from the Senate to the House to link the lineries in his haste to be heard.
The peak of their power in the Watt affair came with the demands that the loose-lipped conservative resign or, barring that, President Reagan fire him.
But the debacle renewed talk, probably wistful, that, at the least, members of the Cabinet return for a second confirmation hearing if Reagan should win a second term in November 1984.
STEVE GERSTEL United Press International
The idea — not new with him – was raised again by Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd
the day after Watt made what even he concedes was a "mistake."
Byrd told reporters that "Cabinet members ought to come back" and that such a requirement might make them watch their words with more care.
"They would be less inclined to make abhorrent statements like that." Byrd said.
But the idea of a confirmation hearing at the start of a second term probably would not achieve what Byrd has in mind.
Even assistant Senate Republican leader Ted Stevens, a friend of Watt's who tried to excuse the blunder, said the idea of a new confirmation at the start of a second term was "intriguing."
A president, coming off re-election, would probably be granted virtually the same consideration as he is at the start of his first administration.
As Byrd said, Watt would run into terrible problems. So, probably, would CIA Director William Casey.
In other words, even if President Reagan — under the Byrd proposal — sent the current Cabinet to Capitol Hill for approval, the Senate most likely would acquiesce.
Asked whether Watt could be confirmed again by the Senate, Byrd said "as far as this senator was concerned I wouldn't be and I'm not alone."
The Senate could jump on Watt for his numerous indiscretions but Watt's policies on the land, resources, the environment and so forth — which probably bother many senators just as much — are really the administration's policies.
But if Reagan chose to run the gauntlet, the Senate might even confirm a Watt or a Casey the second time around.
Watt certainly is a disaster. But he is Reagan's disaster, not the Senate's.
Cease-fire won't end problems
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The shooting may have died down, but the unknown goals of Syria and the hatred still dividing Lebanon's religious factions threaten to derail peace efforts or bring lasting peace to the country.
The cease-fire that stopped the shooting went into effect Monday after 22 days of bloody fighting in more than 700 people were killed.
But along with the cease-fire, the only other announced step toward peace was a call for convocation of a so-called national reconciliation
A lack of progress in the talks or hesitation to implement reforms is
ACK REDDEN
likely to be interpreted as a sign of bad faith, and traditionally in Lebanon that has led to violence.
"As long as the government shows it wants to be fair, I think we can pull it off," a senior American official said.
United Press International
He conceded that the biggest obstacle to ending the deep distrust that has spawned eight years of brutal fighting will be getting the Christians to share more of the power with Lebanon's Moslems.
In a country that is probably about 40 percent Christian, the Christians dominate most institutions. The Christians are a minority in Lebanon, are largely powerless.
The United States, which helped negotiate the cease-fire, is counting largely on a belief that the Lebanese are suffering from "war weariness" and are ready to bury their deep differences and blood feuds.
If the Lebanese government expects Washington to exert the pressure that will make the prosecution more difficult, it should remember the past year.
The United States hoped to arrange a speedy withdrawal of Israeli and Syrian troops, but a year later it learned Lebanese from shooting Lebanese.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Column about pageant was of low character
To the Editor:
Baaersted that the winning of this title wasn't worthwhile and was a setback to black women and all women. This is definitely wrong. As a black woman, I am very proud that Vanessa Williams won this title. She brought to the attention of the world the beauty of the black woman. It is finally recognized that all beautiful women are not just white girls but also people who have the qualifications, intelligence and beauty to compete and even win in any pageant, especially those which previously excluded them.
The article in Friday's Kansas by Deborah Bearn titled "Beauty Pageant Still Meenaming" was of low character. In her article, she decided to single out the recent Miss America pageant.
As far as the pageant being demeaning to women, that I do not want to argue. However, I disagree with Beer's saying that pageants compare women to dogs. "That
I suggest that Baer study pageants, their functions and purposes, then make her analysis. Also, before she starts writing about how black people feel about a situation, she should check if she feels she leads to a false conclusion. In other words, Baer's article had no truth to it at all.
statement is ridiculous. Is it correct to assume that pageant participants must meet the criteria of a dog? No way. Many pages do honor women and are instrumental in exposing their talents and helping them to achieve their goals.
Paula E. Drungole Starkville, Miss., law student
A breakthrough
To the Editor:
Deborah Baer's column in Febronish Baer's winter in Kansas titled "Beauty Pageant Still Demeaning" was unfortunate writing of unqualified
The well-known statement, "If you can conceive it, achieve it," takes on new meaning as a black woman serves as the symbol of beauty and poise for the United States.
opinion. In the column, Baer wrote that NAACP Executive Director Benjamin Hooks was "mistaken" to compare Vanaesa Williams' winning of the Miss America pageant with important, historic breakthroughs for blacks. I offer an alternative opinion.
The selection of Williams as the first African-American Miss America is not only a significant historic event, but also sends a positive message to blacks and other minorities. The message conveyed is "never compromise one's highest goals."
your spirit. "I understand Jackson's comments to mean do not let anyone hold you down or tell you, 'you can!' Williams, in reaching her goal, provides all people, especially blacks, a positive inspiration to achieve.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson frequently says, "Do not let them break
Personally, Williams' victory challenges me to: develop my skills beyond the level of adequacy; truly believe all barriers can be overcome; remain strong and with purpose in the face of that which serves to discourage; and believe I can achieve my highest goals.
I congratulate Williams on her accomplishment because she has knocked down another barrier for minorities and has provided me a role model to emulate.
Kevin J. Jones Grand Rapids, Mich., graduate student