OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
August 30, 1983 Page ↵
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1839 by students of the University of Kansas
The University of Daily Kanean (USP$ 605-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 181 Stauffer Fink Hall, Lawrence, KA 60043, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., except Saturday and Sunday, where daily pledges are $1 for six months and paid at 12 p.m. The county hall are $1 for six months or $2 a year in Douglas County and $1 for six months or $3 for a year outside the county. State subscriptions are $1 per month in Douglas County and $1 per month outside the county. Send subscriptions to USP$ 605-640, Flint Fink Hall, Lawrence, KA 60043.
MARK ZIEMAN
Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM STEVE CUSICK
Managing Editor Editorial Author
MICHAEL ROBINSON Campus Editor
ANN HORNBERGER Business Manager
PAUL JESS General Manager and News Adviser
DAVE WANAMAKER
Retail Sales
Manager
National Sales
Manager
LYNNE STARK Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Advertising Adviser
Let them howl
Earlier this summer, the residents of Montgomery County in southeastern Kansas circled the wagons in opposition to higher property tax bills that were brought on by a new method of appraising their property.
property. Judging from the rumblings of wheels around Lawrence, a similar effort is starting in this city. The state official responsible for carrying out this new method was to speak today at a meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.
The official, Philip Martin, director of the Division of Property Valuation of the Kansas Department of Revenue, probably won't provide much comfort to aggrieved businesses, as he didn't in the Montgomery County case.
Based on events in that county, Martin can be expected to explain himself and his job clearly and to show why the new method was indeed set up in a professional and reasonable manner.
He has said during the course of
several trips to Montgomery County in the past few months that he wanted to use a better and more accurate system of appraisal.
He required that all county appraisers use the so-called "trending factors," which multiply the cost of equipment times a figure based on the Consumer Price Index. The anticipated life of the equipment also is part of the formula.
puff of the figures were then used to calculate tax bills, and the net effect for some businesses was a dramatic jump in those tax bills. Did the wolves ever howl. Martin — despite pressure on the governor's office to force a change in the appraisal method — stuck to his formula, complicated though it is.
Martin is seeking a better way of appraising property, and his system of trending factors has been supported by at least one decision of the state Board of Tax Appeals.
If Martin can explain himself sufficiently, perhaps he will show that the new system is a better one. Let the wolves howl.
Obeying an unjust law
The dilemma goes back to the days of Socrates and probably before. And the dilemma is this: If a law is unjust, should you obey it or should you disobey it?
By obeying it, the citizen is perpetuating an injustice. But by disobeying, the person violates a law set up by humans.
The regulation requiring students receiving financial aid to sign forms saying they had complied with draft registration is an unjust law. It is discriminatory because it affects only those who need financial aid and not those who have the money in the first place.
Yet, about 4,500 KU students, although many probably thought the law was unfair, signed the forms when they paid their fees two weeks ago. Not one of those students registered a formal complaint with financial aid officials. And even more are expected to sign the forms for federal work-study jobs.
Students who are not required to register also had to sign. So those
who must register aren't the only ones affected by the law.
ones that are more difficult.
But there is a catch — and that catch made students obey the laws of economics rather than conscience. Those who refuse to sign don't get financial aid, and that aid is likely to be their lifeline through school. Although the law is unfair, disobeying it would probably mean dropping out of school for some.
The price of forfeiting financial aid weighed against signing a piece of paper left students going for the money. It's simple - all they had to do was sign the paper and then they'd get the aid.
they u get the aid. But the justness of the law, and not only just the verification requirement but the whole draft registration law, may someday have to be decided by all who must register for the draft.
And the result may be different when they're asked to do fatigue and tramp through a Central American jungle. Just signing a name won't do.
Toxic waste still burns
Toxic waste still is burning our fingers.
The latest plan is to use government-owned lands as dump sites. That has a certain logic. It identifies the waste as a public responsibility, which some of it is, and it is cheaper than buying more land for dumping.
But let's be as cautious with public property as we should be with private.
The administration soon learned that much of this land was highly regarded and used by many people, who wanted it kept as public property.
The Reagan administration has not been a good custodian of public lands. "Public" is a nasty word now. So the Department of the Interior wanted to reduce its acreage bv
selling public land to private enterprise.
Every state, nearly every community, has some toxic waste to dump. It's likely we won't get a real solution until an edict bans any more production leading to toxic waste without place to put the dregs.
As things are now, we simply drift from crisis to crisis, and hope. That won't make toxic waste go away.
-The (Burlington, Iowa) Hawk Eye
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 Kansas also offer scholarships to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office. 111 Staffier-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS POLICY
Sampling could aid enrollment
Although KU administrators and professors chortle about the efficiency of the computerized enrollment system, students still struggle with an inadequate adddrop policy that begs for change.
Usually, two-thirds of the students at the University of Kansas change their schedules after enrollment, and only a quarter to one-in-four schedules completely
Pre-enrollment may benefit faculty, but students, with their changing attitudes, preferences and lives, don't always keep the same class interests throughout a summer.
Classes change during the summer, too. When students convened in one honors class last week, an apologetic graduate student said he was going to replace the popular professor whose name was listed in a table.
the instructions "I'm sorry," he said. "You can drop if you want to."
little rubber stamp that frees students from monotonous professors from classes that are too hard for them. Students from various scheduling conflicts.
So another student trudged to Strong Hall to get that miraculous
the roll or distribute syllabuses on the first day of classes.
Another professor refused to call
KIESA
ASCUE
Staff Column
Staff Columnist
At Harvard University, students spend the first two weeks of cach semester shopping for classes.
"Some of you may want to drop and add." he said.
The students register for enrollment then attend any classes that might interest them. Professors teach their classes as scheduled in the timetable, but without any official class roster.
Students complete class preference cards after they have sampled a variety of classes and professors. Students will be asked to spend solid days after the shopping period.
Much time, paperwork and inefficiency could be eliminated if the University of Kansas would let students choose classes before enrollment begins.
the registrar for the Harvard School of Liberal Arts and Sciences said that although students can drop class to receive penalty through December, few do.
For students, a course description cannot match the value of an hour in a class. Class enrollment is a substantial commitment of time and money to teach the subject as much as possible about classes before enrollment.
recommended by other students. An incoming freshman who seeks a high-quality liberal education can rely only on advisers, and few advisers have time to educate themselves about every class opportunity or to know each freshman well.
Now, students choose classes that fulfill requirements or have been
The shopping weeks could be hectic, especially for professors. Students might besiege some sections of popular classes and avoid others altogether KU lacks the excellent academic reputation of Harvard, so perhaps tower students. The advantage of the sampling time.
However, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Students who care about educating themselves would not use the extra two weeks for learning to keep up with the two-week shopping period, enrollment could proceed as usual.
KU students would benefit imme-
tually from sampling classes before they sink $34 and then have to scramble to get classes they want.
Wolf Creek price keeps going up
The problems that have plagued construction of the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station may have utility executives wringing their hands and bemoaning the day they decided to begin the costly
proiect.
But in the end, the utilities customers will pay for the executives' poor judgment.
When Kansas Gas and Electric Co. of Wichita and Kansas City
DIANE LUBER Staff Columnist
But construction and legal difficulties have forced them to repeatedly revise their estimates so that by this summer, they are hoping to finish the plant by the spring of 1985 at a cost of $2.5 billion.
Power and Light Co. of Kansas City Mo., announced their plan in February 1973 to build the 1,500-megawatt nuclear plant, they estimated the project would cost $4 billion and would be completed by mid-1982.
The plant is 80 percent complete.
Some landowners in the path of a transmission line that would carry power to Johnson County have successfully blocked construction of the line. And the Kansas Corporation this summer denied the utilities permission to build the line, arguing that using lines owned by another utility would be more economical.
but a new snag promises to set its completion date back again and add millions of dollars to the final price tag.
But these negotiations take time, and KCP&L President Arthur Doyle has said that further delays could cost his utility $2.8 million a month.
engaging the commission's decision.
They plan to meet with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to find out whether they can get an open license and transfer power over the plant to transmit power over three lines instead of tour, as originally approved by the NRC.
before economic conditions. The utilities have filed suit in the Kansas Court of Appeals challenging the commission's decision.
Previous delays and the costs associated with them have strained the utilities' financial resources almost to the breaking point.
in January 1979, the concrete base for the reactor failed strength tests. Although follow-up tests found the concrete to be sound, construction
did not resume until July of that year.
In October 1979, safety welding was halted for six days when it was discovered that necessary inspections were not being made.
But if the plant is ever completed,
the immense financial burden will
become a golden opportunity for
you to save the expense of the rela-
tive customers.
The day that Wolf Creek goes "on line," the utilities' customers will begin to pay the utilities' stockholders a return on their huge investments.
In 1973, utility executives touted the cheapness of nuclear power, saying that uranium was much cheaper than coal.
But they downplayed how much the cost of a nuclear plant, known even then to be more expensive than a coal plant, would affect utility rates.
In the spring, while trying to convince the Kansas Legislature that they should be allowed to pass the construction costs of Wolf Creek on to the customers before the sale was completed, the state officials in the farmers' utility bills would increase as much as 90 percent once the plant was finished.
An error in judgment, perhaps,
but one for which utility customers
have no choice but to pay.
Israelis are facing 3 options
JERUSALEM The resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin would leave Israel with three possible scenarios: the formation of a new government, early elections for a new parliament or the current coalition continuing in a caretaker capacity
Begin's resignation Sunday caught the Jewish state in the midst of two crises — both stemming from the frustrating war in Lebanon.
Although the Israeli army is poised to redeploy and withdraw from Lebanon's Shouf mountains, it has become clear to the Israeli people that their sons, husbands and children live in the country for many months.
The war has added to Israel's serious economic woes. The Cabinet has passed new taxes and a series of unpopular austerity measures that triggered threats from the Tami
MEL LAYTNER
Faced with these kinds of problems, even a younger, more robust leader would consider resignation
United Press International
Party to bolt the coalition and bring down the Begin government.
It is now up to President Haim Herzog to decide whether the ruling Likud bloc or the opposition Labor Party can try to form a new government. By law, this process can take nearly two months.
In any case, the current Lakud-led coalition may use its parliamentary majority to call for new elections in the Knesset. Whether it can without the popular and characteristic party is far from certain.
There is a third remote scenario: neither Likud nor Labor is able to form a new government and Parliament must enjoy more votes in election.
That would leave Begin in power of a caretaker government immune to parliamentary no-confidence elections next scheduled elections in 1985.
The 70-year-old prime minister has aged visibly and lost weight since the death of his wife of 43 years, Aliza, last November. His aides say mounting Israeli war casualties have taken a toll on his mood.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
U.S. should yank support for Marcos
1 a applaud the Kansan for the editorial of Aug. 25, 1983, calling for President Reagan to cancel his planned visit to the Philippines this coming November and for continuing to focus on the Philippine political situation in your news coverage the past week.
To the Editor:
The cowardly and brutal assassination of my country's foremost opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, not only raises questions as to the possible involvement of the Marcos government but also focuses on an issue that the American people must eventually face up to.
This has to do with the U.S. policy of supporting right-wing dictatorships with gross human rights violations but who are pro-U.S. and serve U.S. economic and strategic interests. In the Philippines case, this is part of multinational investments and the retention and control of two key military bases in the region.
In exchange, the Philippines
receives military and economic aid amounting to some $900 million. Intended or not, this is viewed as U.S. support for the Mares regime, a regime that has subverted a constitutional democracy into an authoritarian government.
The memories of what happened in Vietnam, Iran and Nicaragua are still very much with us and one would hope that some lessons would have been learned from them and that the same mistakes are not committed by U.S. policy-makers not in the Philippines but in Central America as well.
Americs was meant to stand for certain ideals in this world. Support for repressive regimes was never meant to be one of them. But here lies your predicament as well as ours. It can be argued that the Philippines and the United States need time share a necessary, though uneasy, relationship. The Marcos government serves U.S. strategic and economic
interests. In return, the U.S.
bestows upon it its good house-
keeping of approval. But this
reason could not be proved and
could crumble at any time.
These are critical times for us Filipinos. But it is also a time for Americans to reflect on the bargains and compromises your government is forced to make to uphold your ideals and protect your interests, which more often than not contriive to defeat them. Thank you.
Ray Dean Salvosa Philippines graduate student
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