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University Daily Kansan, April 18, 1983
Opinion
A peacemaker needed
The Reagan administration might learn a lesson from some of our southern neighbors about settling disputes.
Last week, the Defense Department announced that U.S. radar surveillance planes were periodically spying on Central American air traffic, including planes in and out of Nicaragua. The administration has charged the Sandinista government there with supplying arms to the rebels in El Salvador.
The president said the United States was trying to cut down on the alleged flow of those weapons, not overthrow the Nicaraguan government, as some in Congress have charged.
What are Central American leaders doing in the meantime?
Daniel Ortega, chief of Nicaragua's junta, and Luis Monge, president of Costa Rica, where Nicaraguan refugees and rebel leaders have fled, are scheduled to meet and try to ease tensions between those two countries. Officials of both nations have been negotiating for several weeks.
This should be of interest to the United States, because so far in its dealings with Latin America, the Reagan administration has yet to try to get all the interested parties to negotiate their differences.
Until that happens — until we make an effort to get the shooting to end and the talking to begin — the United States will not be counted as an ally by Central America, and the president will continue to look like simply another ugly American.
City Commission squabbling can help produce decisions
The city elections are over — finally. We will not have to suffer through anymore of the innumerable quarter-page campaign ads showing candidates hobbing lightheartedly with Lawrence residents and community leaders in their homes.
LackCluster is probably the best way to describe the campaign. The six candidates basically ran on the same platform: Yes, we need downtown redevelopment, an industrial park, and no, we don't need a City Commission that argues incessantly about such mundane things as whether to build on a flood plain or how and when to evaluate the city manager's job performance.
performance.
This last item bothers me. I know the previous commission had a reputation for arguing about issues until the wee hours of the morning. And, I
KATE DUFFY
agree that they sometimes drove arguments into the ground that would have probably been better forgotten.
Much of the free-floating criticism about the previous commission's argumentativeness seemed to be directed at Commissioners Nancy Shontz, former commissioner Tome Gleason, and former Mayor Marii Francisco. Both Francisco and Gleason live in the older Oread neighborhood and were active in its association before running for office. All three garnered tremendous support from the older neighborhoods in Lawrence. In the 1981 election, Shontz and Gleason were billed as the unofficial neighborhood candidates.
The was new for Lawrence. The residents of the older neighborhoods, which compose the city's central core, had not really worked together before to elect commissioners that they thought would be sympathetic to their special problems — older housing, residential zoning for industry and rusting buildings. But Gleason was impressed and campaigned hard for the urban neighborhood preservation and rehabilitation in the '81 election and the older neighborhoods' residents voted for them en masse.
That Gleason, Shontz and Francisco had strong backing from a group of Lawrence residents who had not been represented for a long time was probably one of the reasons for the
rift on the commission. Lawrence suddenly had a commission that represented a more diverse population and naturally, there was more room for argument.
for argument.
For the most part, a commission that argues does not bother me. I consider it a healthy sign that all interests are being represented.
Lawrence is not a homogeneous town. It is made up of diverse groups that ought to be represented on the commission.
it is this diversity, a common thread throughout America's history, that makes people discuss and, yes, sometimes argue about issues that are important to them and their constituents.
cobber.
Sure, there were times when commissioners arrived about an issue long after they should have, but there were just as many times that a better and more equitable decision was made because it had been so thoroughly and hotly debated.
debated.
The representative political system was not meant to be an efficient, streamline process. One can't compare politics with business because the two are not in the same league, as much as some politicians would like them to be.
Democratic politics is clumsy, long-winded, tiresome and, often, terribly boring. But it is an art — the art of weaving individuals' needs and desires into the overall fabric of society.
In general, the older neighborhoods have not been represented on the commission. Lawrence's at-large election process, in which voters choose commissioners, does not address matrices or wards, has made it difficult to elect commissioners who live in the older neighborhoods.
The older neighborhoods usually have a higher proportion of low-income and minority residents, who can neither afford to run for office nor would be able to take off from their jobs for the regularly scheduled afternoon study sessions. The part-time nature of the position, coupled with the nominal pay that commissioners receive, made a lopsided City Commission, with members usually coming from the University, professional and business communities.
nities.
Like everything else, there are exceptions to this rule, but the point of a democratic system is to lessen the need for such exceptions.
The best city government is one that represents the most people. The best city commissioner is one who remembers that all Lawrence residents do not have the same beliefs, values, skin color or economic power—and then discusses the contested issue a little longer to make sure these differences are accounted for.
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Jackson eyes black candidacy in '84
BY JACK W. GERMOND AND JULES WITC-COVER
COVER
Fribune Company Syndicate
CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson, strong ally of Mayor-elect Harold Washington and the personification of many white voters' fears about black power in politics, sat in his Southside Chicago office the morning after Washington's victory, his political batteries obviously recharged.
Jackson described that victory as "the most important event since Selma" — the civil rights march in Alabama 20 years ago that was a milestone for black progress in the country. The reason, he said, is that blacks have now moved from protest to a drive within the political process for parity with whites in all aspects of American life.
Before Washington's victory, the conventional wisdom among white Democrats was that such a reason might defuse the growing pressure among some black leaders for a black presidential candidate in 1984. The rationale was that if Washington won, black leaders like Jackson would be less able to argue that black political objectives could not be adequately achieved through one of the several white Democratic candidates.
He credited much of Washington's victory to the mobilizing of black youth in Chicago that he said had grown to crusade proportions. He called the election of this city's first black mayor "a political riot," except that "its rage was disciplined by the political process."
Jackson has been widely mentioned. he
himself and others, as a likely black candidate, although many black leaders have been noncommitted on the idea. But far from Washington's election cooling the idea, Jackson argues now that a black presidential candidacy is or should be enhanced by it.
Fired up by Washington's victory, Jackson says, the potential for massive increases in black voter registration has been greatly boosted, particularly among young blacks who see clearwhat it it achieved in an election. "We've got a lot of the moment," Iavey said with unfeited enthusiasm. "The
objectives in the party. Even with a parade of national Democratic leaders from former Vice President Walter F. Mondale down, he says, only about 18 percent of white Democrats voted for Washington in his close race against Republican Bernard Enten
nation is on fire.
Rather than demonstrating that blacks can achieve their ends through the white-dominated Democratic Party and by inference through a white presidential candidate, Jackson says, the Washington election really revealed white Democraats' political impotence where black objectives are concerned.
"We've got to seize the spirit of the moment."
Jackson says with unfettered enthusiasm, "The
After years of white Democratic leaders looking to black Democratic leaders to deliver overwhelming margins for white candidates, Jackson says. "Now we must question white leaders' ability to make good. The all-stars failed. Their leadership by comparison (to that of black Democrats) is superficial."
of black Democrats Jackson compares black Democrats' relationship with the Democratic Party and National Chairman Charles Manatt to the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and its owner, Abe Saperstein.
"We have membership but no proprietorship," he says.
And he accuses Mondale of displaying "basic contempt" for Chicago blacks by having ignored their political strength (40 percent of the population) in backing Richard M. Daley against Washington in the Democratic primary in February.
He argues that there is no good reason why a black should not run for president as a means of inspiring much higher black registration. He estimates that from 10 million to 14 million more blacks might eventually be registered, redoucing to the advantage of all Democratic candidates.
Jackson notes that prominent black leaders plan to meet again late this month to consider further the idea of a black candidate. A number of other important blacks, including Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, are open cool to the idea and some of them cool to Jackson in particular as the candidate.
particular as the example. But Jackson says the proposal may be gathering such impetus among young blacks that such a candidacy may evolve with or without the black leaders. To stimulate enthusiasm, Jackson says, he will take part in a series of issues conventions among blacks in 25 to 30 states, starting in California in mid-May.
He says other black leaders such as U.S. Rep. Walter Faintroy, Mayor Richard Hatcher of Gary and former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson have the potential — with the kind of national television exposure a candidacy could bring — to become overnight political "stars." And, not surprisingly, he does not rule out the most flamboyant of all them — Jesse Jackson
Letters to the Editor
Homosexual minister false Christian
To the editor
Just as my annual attack of nausea from "Wear Blue Jeans if you're Gay Day" had wad off, I was treated to another case of the queasies when I read in the Kaman April 11 about a so-called homosexual. The man in the article Jamie Rush, is a former Methodist minister who lost his pastorate when he admitted to his congregation that he was gay. Whatever Rush's amenable circumstances may be, it truly sickens me that a man who hides behind the name of Christ would dare to proclaim that homosexuality "deserves to be celebrated openly." Such a comment deserves some response.
Although imposters such as Rush claim to be Christians, they certainly have no regard for the teachings of the Bible. How could they? The Word of God alternately calls their insane practices degrading, unnatural, indecent and shameless (Romans 1:26,27). By taking the name of "Christian," Rush is effectively
Almost everyone knows of the Biblical account of Sodom's destruction, but it is worth mentioning here. The homosexuals of that town wanted to rope the angels that had been sent to rescue them from God's fiery judgment. When Lot was told not to "toot an act wickedly," the homosexuals gave a response that some still echo today. They accused Lot of presuming to be some sort of self-righteous judge. Several thousand years later, this argument is still hollow. Neither Lot nor I or anyone else who speaks against homosexuality is presuming to be a judge. Rather, the true judge of the crime of homosexuality is the revealed Word of God.
Perhaps Rush takes consolation in the fact that the Christ God is a loving God. My response would be that yes, God had been very kind not to strike him dead for his corrupt behavior. Rush should further note that the book that reveals that "God is love" also proclaims that homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9,10). Rush may call himself a Christian, but he is fooling only himself, not God.
Bartel ideals vacillate
To the editor:
Matt Bartel's recent column is a typical example of his laissez faire humanism. He insinulates that democracy is just one of many ideologies, any one of which can be right or wrong on a given day," and reduces the East-West struggle to the fighting" . . . of a pack of dogs defending their right to tinkle on another's tree or hydrant." Sitting through Bartel's tawdy prose, we soon find a seeming contradiction: "If Socrates had possessed your ability to abandon ideals for a good fight, nobody would have known who he was." I don't claim to understand this statement, but reading Bartel has to wonder how much of Socratte Bartel has read. Later, he asks (perhaps rhetorically) why Jesus, Thoreau, Game, and Benjamin Sasaway (good grief) be so persecution. Why, indeed, they just insisted on their right to "tinkle on another's tree or hydrant." Never one to arrive at a conclusion, Bartel asks "Why can't ideals alone be good enough?" The answer is that ideals alone are good enough for those who (like Bartel, apparently) maintain them only until they are challenged, or simply become inconvenient.
condemning himself, for the very book that glorifies Christ accuses him of abomination (Leviticus 18:22).
Bob
To the editor:
Joe Vusich,
Fairway senior
Tim Williams,
Tulsa, Okla., graduate student
Letters Policy
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 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 reserves the right to edit or reject letters.