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Opinion
University Daily Kansan, June 22, 1983
Cool it, Summer is here
"Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumping, and the wheat is high."
A few words from George Gershwin's musical, "Porgy and Bess," with a little Kansas twang added for style.
Summer is finally here, having officially arrived yesterday. Its official arrival has also ushered the usual Kansas summer weather — heat and humidity. Without taking any glamour away from the meteorologists, we predict more of the same in the coming months. That's not a risky claim for the Kansan, either. Kansas weather may be famous for its unpredictability, but its summers are always the same. The power companies and airconditioner repairmen are laughing and sweating all the way to the bank.
The onset of the summer also brings with it a sense of quiet harmony in Lawrence. Most of the students are gone and the "townies" have breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, the students have taken their money with them, leaving many businesses in limbo until the Jayhawks fly back in August; but this is a time when Lawrence licks the many wounds that the student population has inflicted.
The wounds will heal in many ways. Some businesses wait until the students leave, in order to have time to remodel. The ground crews of Facilities Operations may use this time to reseed a well-traveled path. It's probably a futile attempt. The returning students will most certainly trample the seedlings into the ground again, leaving the same time-worn trail that has been followed for ages. But it's a nice gesture all the same.
The summer also brings the patter of little feet to Lawrence. We're not speaking of a rise in the birth rate at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Boys State, Girls State, Band camp and the many other groups that visit our town and stay in the residence halls bring many smiling faces to fill the void left by the college students. They also bring a few much-needed dollars to the town's straining economy. But, we hope we don't see too many of the younger faces in the local watering holes.
Lawrence moves a little slower in the summer, like some friendly beast, sunning itself on the side of a river. Enjoy it while you can, before the beast is awakened by the trampling of the masses.
Vigilantism abridges right to justice
Believe it or not, our judicial system exists for a reason.
And, like many other governmental bodies, it is freely criticized and often condemned by the masses.
Considering the alternative — a judicial system run by thoughtless vigilantes, however, is a frightful thought with fatal and senseless consequences.
Few will deny that the line between a crime and its appropriate punishment is a thin one.
But our forefathers created the judicial system for the very reason of drawing that line. Individuals should play no part in determining
But all too often, they do, and the results are frightening.
Two examples of products of our judicial system and its alternative are the Charles Manson murder trial and a recent shooting death of a Hutchinson teenager.
Manson, who was found guilty of seven counts of murder in the mid-1970s, was originally sentenced to death by a California court of law.
However, several years following the abolition of capital punishment, and Manson's sentence was
changed to life imprisonment with a chance of parole.
Manson is scheduled to appear before a parole board next year, 1864.
Last week, another "criminal" paid for his crime — with his life.
William Gunderson was shot in the back with a
WARREN BRIDGES
20-gauge shotgun for allegedly siphoning gas out of a truck — a municipal court misdemeanor. William was 16.
Montie Brown, the man charged with killing Gunderson reportedly told his lawyer that the shot was meant as a "warning" to William and another boy who was reportedly aiding him in the crime. The other boy was also shot and is now in stable condition.
Police reports show that Brown was only nine vards away from the boys when he fired the gun.
Either Brown is lying or he doesn't know how to shoot a gun.
In either case, a couple of points must be noted;
william Gunderson should still be alive today to face whatever punishment is deemed necessary to fit his crime. More importantly, the judge should have made that decision, not an individual.
The unfairness dealt Gunderson should not create a debate over whether capital punishment is constitutional. Nor does it imply a judicial system zone awry.
A court of law determined the fate of Charles Manson. He was presumably given a fair trial before a jury of his peers and sentenced by an impartial judge.
Gunderson's court of law jury, judge and executioner were solely in the hands of a man
with a gun.
It is little wonder pro-gun control people are fearful of senseless murders and innocent victims.
Brown has been charged with second degree murder and aggravated battery.
Today, he is free on some
I wonder if he got his gasoline back
Fowl play suspected in latest Pentagon gun
Rv DICK WEST
By United Press International
WASHINGTON — News reports the United States had successfully test-fired a "chicken gun" hit this town with a resounding splat.
A 20-foot cannon, developed at the Air Force base in Langley, Va., was said to be capable of propelling 4-pound chickens from the lower atmosphere at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour.
No less an authority than Senate Republican Leader Howard Baker, whose home state gave the world the recipe for Tennessee fried chicken, called attention to "this newest strategic
Asserting that biddy ballistics directly involved "our nation's safety and might even change the focus" of our war, he now says, "how far along the Soviet Union is with their deployment of the chicken gun?"
A good question.
The Air Force claims it is shooting chickens at jet engines, windshields and landing gear to gain information about damage caused by aircraft turbulence. The sounds like a typical Pentagon cover story to me.
Oh. I suppose the data could be valuable to pilots who must take off or land near large locks of seagulls. Of much greater concern, however, is the impact a 20-foot cannon loaded with chickens might have on the current arms control talks with the Russians.
Thus far, negotiators mainly have discussed the proposed introduction of U.S. medium-range missiles in Western Europe.
What if the Soviets became convinced some of those missiles, aimed at targets in their own territory, hit a plane?
Disarmament advocates have gained some strength from the "nuclear freeze" movement in this country and abroad. But pacifists tell me little would be gained by freezing chickens.
strategic areas in the United States be converted to chicken warheads?
If anything, the damage caused by a frozen chicken striking a military aircraft — or, God forbid, a commuter's automobile — would be even more devastating than a direct hit of fresh pullets.
Would they then feel compelled to beef up their own fleet of medium-range missiles? Might some of the intercontinental rockets aimed at
The danger of escalation also is ever-present. Once chickens begin to figure in the arms race, it is only a matter of time before someone develops a turkey bomb.
It is, I suppose, unfair to demand that the United States unilaterally stop atmospheric chicken gun testing. But let us get rooster reduction on the agenda at Geneva before it is too late.
"Octopussy" displays India in false, stereotypical light
Watching a James Bond film is like taking a tour of a fantasy island. It is a celebration of the incredible, replete with cars that turn into boats under water and deadly animals that carefully embellish the environment as Bond gets ready to perform yet another impossible feat.
"Octopussy" not only offered all the regular ingredients of a Bond film but it had another added attraction that made me want to see it. Parts of it were shot in India and that tickled my curiosity. So, ready to feel at home and play with it, I bought Bonds' version of India. And it was a blast.
Bond lands in India with the Taj Mahal in the background. I just started to get excited at the
familiar sight and suddenly the scene shifted to Delhi. Bond was being chased through the crowded streets in three-wheeled scooters.
The drivers of these mini-taxies are legendary for their skillful maneuvering through heavy traffic and for being faster than almost any other means of public transportation in India In "Octopuspy," Bond's driver outperforms the police officers on the street who have been planted there to show the large population of India, but also drives the small vehicle on its side.
It's a treat to plunge into this Indian scenario punctuated with nail and fire beds, ascetics meditating in the middle of all the pandemonium and colorful women looking with wonderous eyes. An occasional crazy is seen swallowing fire balls in the corner, to corner someone who can't look at the camera. Tigers and elephants take their cue from the general confusion and walk majestically. So there, we have the complete picture of what India is supposed to be like.
After seeing the film, some friends politely inquired if there were any areas in India (any at all) that were unpopulated. They had this vision of a vast, continuous river of boding. I knew they would be out there, other half begging to keep off starvation. When I told them it wasn't true, they looked at me believably.
I explained to them that I grew up in Delhi and that I always found room to move without colliding with bodies. The reality of the "Octopussy" tour of India is popular belief but certainly the truth. Nevertheless, it now being back in India with food and all the adventure.
Memories surged through my mind, enveloping it, with a feeling of home-sickness. Faces on the screen started to look familiar. One got cheap thrills out of watching Skims clashing swords and throwing a metal disc — a weapon that was alien enough to belong to a nasty E.T. The stunts reminded me of the whole quota of Hindi films that was a part of growing up.
Horsesmen galloped through as tigers appeared from bushes. But Bond was more than an able match for his foes and he emerged with a win. The other team was an unsuspecting devotee even garlanded him.
I thought of "Gandhi" as I walked out of the theater and was compelled to compare the two. Of course, it is not a fair comparison since one is a serious attempt at depicting the Indian reality while the other is a roaming holiday through the same landscape. "Gandhi" showed vast multitudes of people too, but they were always gathered together for a best match. In "Octopussy," people were crowding on the roads in their finery for no apparent reason.
But then, one is not supposed to seek truth and meaning in a Bond film. It is a high-tech amalgam of hair-breath escapes, super-fast jets, beautiful women and half-crazed Russians. And above all the war, it is a "Ripley's Believe it or Not," and I tend to not. But that does not detract from the fun of being in a Bondian world. So what if you have to willingly suspend your disbelief more than in other films.
Drinking laws need scrutiny
To the editor:
I nugted out loud when I read the Kanisan article of June 10 about minors buying liquor in Lawrence. Some of the quotes are hilarious to anyone who was ever a Lawrence teenager.
Lawrence Police Major Ron Oln stated that minors try to buy liquor was not a widespread problem. If this is true, or if the police believe it's true, it contradicts an extensive survey of Lawrence High School students conducted in 1880. The survey found that 40 percent of those who considered buying alcohol from retail liquor stores (more students got their alcohol from liquor stores than any other source). False ID? Who needs it? Of those who bought their own liquor, 66 percent did
so without being asked for proof of age. Less than three percent used a false ID.
Most minors in Lawrence who drink know those establishments that don't ask for ID.
I ask the reader, when was the last time you saw a 16-year-old who looked 21? The time has come for businesses to start obeying the law. They should ask for an ID on every sale and look hard to see whether it's real, or ask for two pieces of ID. Businesses can have their records checked and the police must permanently crack down on every offender, be it a business or an underage customer.
Marc Coan
Marc Coan
Lawrence Sophomore
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