Opinion
Page 4
University Daily Kansan, April 8, 1983
Specters from the past
The 15th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination passed Monday, and, not unlike the civil rights leader himself, the people took to the streets.
In Atlanta, King's hometown, about 60 people watched his widow, Coretta Scott King, lay a wreath on her husband's grave and call on the president for more jobs and the nation for more awareness of civil rights, social issues and the nuclear arms race.
In Memphis, Tenn., on Monday, about 300 people marched to the Lorraine Motel where King was shot and chanted for more jobs and the ouster of Ronald Reagan from the White House. Some of the marchers were bused in all the way from New York by the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that has sponsored the march every year.
Chicagoans were also taking to the streets, but with a different chant.
In Anderson, Ind., a city with an unemployment rate of 16.5 percent, the Rev. Jesse Jackson led thousands of marchers who chanted "We want jobs" and sang "We Shall Overcome."
Just hours after Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin had denounced the racial overtones of the mayoral election in Chicago, Democratic candidate Harold Washington, a black man, faced the second jeering crowd in a week as he left a reception in his honor.
To observers in Chicago, Memphis, Anderson and Atlanta, 15 years must seem like yesterday.
Bear in the briar patch
PARIS — The expulsion of 47 Soviet diplomats and journalists proves the Socialist government has not become the "soft-bellied" link in the Western alliance, a spokesman for President Francois Mitterand said Wednesday.
BERLIN — Two East Germans who staged a daring escape to the West over the Berlin Wall said Tuesday they risked their lives because they had "had it up to here" with conditions in the communist state.
VIENNA, Austria — One of the "Siberian Seven" Pentecostalists, who have lived in the basement of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow since 1978 to press their bid to emigrate from the Soviet Union, arrived in Austria Wednesday
on the first leg of her journey to freedom.
LONDON — Britain last week ordered the expulsion of two Soviet diplomats accused of being spies and warned a Russian journalist to leave the country within the week.
Perhaps the above incidents are little more than trifling bothers to the great Soviet Union bear, a few sticky thorns in his rough, hairy side. But even small, insignificant sticky thorns have a way of working themselves under the skin and driving their hosts, even large, hairy beasts, into a mad frenzy or panicky response.
As long as there is freedom somewhere, there will be sticky thorns. Unfortunately for the Russian bear, it is extremely difficult to get rid of both
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.
Letters to the Editor
Keeping freedom means guarding it
To the editor:
While Matt Bartel's column is well-intentioned, it does, rather unfortunately, miss the mark. Rightfully, he questions the unprecedented nuclear weapons production, but he reasons we must choose between what he calls "barbarian freedom and noble servitude." Certainly freedom can lead to barbarianism, but we should never cheat ourselves into thinking any freedom itself is barbarian. And as we praise those who revolt in Poland, we evince that "noble servitude" is nothing other than a contradiction in terms.
We, who are the defenders of the spirit of freedom, must know that the spirit can die if the force crushing it is great enough. By the spirit of revolt through reason, we gradually win our freedom.
If we cannot reconcile the ideological war of today, we must, as Einstein suggested, collaborate to create a world government. Until then, I will accept existing freedoms, seek further freedoms and support the defense of freedom. In the words of Obermann: "Man is free only when he is free and if our lot is complete annihilation, let us not behave in such a way that it seems justice!"
Tulsa, Okla., sophomore
D. Matthew Williams,
Jackson for candidate
To the audience.
In responding to a recent column concerning the qualifications of Jessie Jackson as a presidential candidate, I would point out that Jackson has been a leader in the civil rights movement since the 1960s. He has been out on the battlefield of freedom and returned with the Purple Heart. Jackson has consistently fought for advancement of minority groups in this nation. If blacks have not experienced progress since he has moved to the forefront of the civil rights movement, Jackson is not to blame. Rather, it is the fault of those who block the road to progress in our nation. It seems that some Americans fear Jackson because of the way he brings the bare facts of this nation to the forefront of political discussion.
To the editor:
the goal of Jackson's possible candidacy is to consolidate the minority vote in order to give minorities an effective tool to bargain with
Popular candidates wishing to become president will have to come up with some solid programs in order to gain the black vote.
To say that blacks should support a white candidate who has their interests in mind and stands a real chance of winning be a good idea if there were such a person. However, black people have for decades thrown their support to white candidates who supposedly had their interests in mind, only to find out that this was not the case. Minorities should not be limited to supporting white candidates — Democrats or Republicans. We should support those who understand our situation and Jackson is qualified. He knows what we are facing and he can bring awareness of our situation to the upper echelons of government.
Aaron Lucas.
Chattanooga, Tenn., senior
Jackson will get black support if he runs for president not because he is or is not able to place his name on accomplishments fought for by millions, billionaires and activists who reach the people who will support him.
Along with these troubled times, we need to remember that group of students who travelled all night long sometimes, missed classes, had every unnecessary verbal statement told to
Next year, tryouts are coming up in April and will be judged by groups from a national cheerleading company. This will prevent any type of prejudices from entering into the selection process of new members. The team may recruit new members from making the squad by the sole reason that they know the right person. This should make for a greatly improved squad in 1983 and 1984.
To the editor:
Spirit Squad improves
Like many of the athletic organizations at the University of Kansas, the Spirit Squad has also undergone a coaching change this year. Along with this coaching change is the fact that each year a majority of the cheerleaders are undergraduate teams and most of their college game before. To add to these problems, each year one or two members make the squad only to enhance their identity at the University. These problems add up to a lack of enthusiasm among those who enjoy cheering.
them and were bombed by things from oranges and lemons to cups and dead chickens, plus never received one word of encouragement from those who really did appreciate them. So instead of remembering all those bad times, remember those good times, which are many, that the Spirit Squad was there and did its job well.
Michael Black.
Athletes can learn
Michael Black
Leawood senior and former cheerleader
Athletes can learn
To the editor:
Dan Parelman's column on the opinion page of the March 19 University Daily Kansan was a typical example of the liberal, idealistic views usually expressed by those standing outside of athletics and looking in. I was one of the seniors interviewed by Parelman and I did not recognize any of my own views as they were given in the interview.
Parelman talks about all the athletes, especially black, who are victimized by the college athletic system, but he fails to realize that many of those people, black or white, would not have an opportunity to attend college were it not for athletics. Secondly, Parelman makes it sound impossible for an athlete to excel both on the field and off. He must not have checked the records very carefully or he would have seen those athletes who have had great degrees with very good grade point averages. Having through four years of football here myself, I know from experience and now from a few weeks of research, that anyone who wants to get an education here while participating in athletics can do so, and he will have it all paid for.
If there is blame to be placed anywhere, then it lies with the individual. Possibly a part of the responsibility lies with the ones who recruit someone who is academic and not professional. A Parelman saying, then, that we should avoid someone an educational opportunity to avoid victimizing them?
I think we should leave the choice where it belongs — with the individual. No one is forced to play college football, and if they choose to, let us watch them destiny, for then, they would really be victims.
Kansas City, Mo., senior
David Mehrer.
HARDLY ANY OF THE CLASSSES
I WANT ARE OFFERED ANYMORE!
Bob
PLO seeking Mideast peace; moderates want to negotiate
The association of the PLO with terrorism is a popular belief and it shrouds the fact that the PLO's stand has changed over the past few years. The leadership has gradually shifted to a position of reconciliation from one of adamant non-cooperation. Originally dedicated to annihilating the state of Israel, the PLO is now known for its willingness to enter into negotiations with Israel, thus recognizing it.
The words Palestinian Liberation Organization bring images of terrorism to our minds. The group has come to epitomize guerrilla tactics and assassination attempts. It doesn't want peace, most of us say to ourselves, recreating a picture of the bearded Vasser Arafat and the many terrorist activities of the PLO.
But Prime Minister Menachem Begin's government is determined never to engage in
talks with a "gang of terrorists," or allow the creation of a Palestinian state on the soil of Israel. The United States wants the PLO to recognize Israel and stop terrorist activity.
SEEMA SIROHI Guest Columnist
The hard-line radicals within the PLO oppose any peace plan that does not recognize Palestine's right to exist as an independent state. However, the moderates, headed by Arafat, continue to make efforts to bring peace in the Middle East by exploring various proposals. Arafat and his supporters said recently at the Palestine National Council's meeting in Algiers that they were not against U.S. involvement in the peace process.
The peace plan offered by President Reagan last September calls for Palestinian self-government in East Jordan in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. It does not propose an independent Palestinian state.
The United Nations had recommended the same solution that Palestinians want now. In 1947, the UN suggested partition of Palestine into two states—a Jewish and an Arab one. When the British left Palestine in 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed. The UN agreed to Jerusalem's claim and wars followed. As a result, Israel emerged with 50 percent more land than it had been allotted by the UN.
"It is for sure that there are positive elements in the Reagan plan, but it is obvious that they ignore the main issue: our right to establish an independent state." Arafat said in a television
It is evident that the PLO leadership wants to adopt a peace plan soon because Israeli
absorption of the West Bank is continuing at a rapid pace. The PLO's outer from Lebanon enhanced the crisis of an unfortunate people, making the need for a peaceful settlement even more difficult. For decades homeless since 1948 and the ones that are still in Israel are tired of being second-class citizens.
They're denied permits to tap the already scant water resources for agricultural purposes and permission to drill new wells. Many Palestinian farmers have been driven to bankruptcy as a result of the conflict, while the only ones allowed to function in the West Bank and Gaza, usually deny credit or easy payment terms to Arab enterprises.
They are unable to compete with Israeli firms that have flooded the occupied territories with property.
"The problem will be settled only through dialogue," says Ibrahim Bakr, a lawyer from Amman, Jordan, and member of the PNC, the Palestinian parliament in exile. But the ouster of the elected mayors of the West Bank and Gaza, including the Jewish community, National Committee of Orientation suggests that the Israeli authorities do not want a dialogue that could lead to giving up greater Israel.
"Greater Jerusalem," according to the Israeli plan, will absorb Bethlehem, Ramallah and other communities. The area to be covered by this metropolitan Jerusalem has already closed to the Arabs who are no longer allowed to acquire additional property or build in this section. Most major West Bank communities are already enclosed by the Jewish settlements and isolated from one another—a move designed to break the geographic unity of the Arab territory that Prime Minister Begin wants to absorb into Israel.
In light of these facts, the PLO sees the urgency of a settlement which provides for a stop to Jewish settlements. But George Habash, a PLO founder and now head of the extremist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, does not support the plan.
"We did not pay the price of blood in Beirut so that the United States could achieve a diplomatic victory."
Time will tell whether Arafat can overcome the adverse measures of the radical members and take proper measures for the PLO to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinians. He has been negotiating with King Hussein of Jordan to bring together the Palestinians and the Jordanians under a federation comprising the two entities.
But one must not ignore the fact that Israel has no political provision for returning all of the West Bank to Jordan. And Israeli policy in the past has been to acquire, not surrender, land. But there are signs of hope in the cooperation and trust between pacifist and leftist Israeli groups and the inhabitants of the occupied territories.
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