Page 9
Opinion
Page 4
University Daily Kansan, February 25, 1983
Damage already done
The Times Beach, Mo., saga has been unfolding for months now, and after the discovery that an entire town was contaminated with a toxic chemical and the Environmental Protection Agency offered to buy residents out, any surprises seem unlikely.
But that was before someone suggested the Times Beach Park.
Missouri officials are considering using the area — containing concentrations of the toxic chemical dioxin three times the level considered dangerous — as part of a scenic lake project to be built along the Meramec River on the flood plain the town now occupies.
Fred Lafser, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said that if the land were turned into a park, the clean-up would be less expensive because the level of dioxin would not have to be reduced as much
as if people were living in the area permanently.
Lafser's proposal is nothing short of incredible considering that Times Beach is now virtually uninhabitable.
To clean the soil, the government must spray the area with a neutralizing chemical, roast the soil at high temperatures in a rotary kiln or cover toxic areas with a layer of clay to reduce the possibility of human contact.
Lafser is apparently making the best of a bad situation, but the state and federal government should realize that the Times Beach disaster, and the pain it has caused the former residents, was preventable.
Making Times Beach "useful" again cannot change that, but ensuring that it doesn't happen again is probably the best use that could be made of the town.
Sour note to draft song
The Selective Service was on the offensive again earlier this week, singing the praises of the new rule to keep non-registrants from getting financial aid.
Thomas Turnage, director of the Selective Service, said that 97.7 percent of the "group most vulnerable to the draft" had complied with the registration requirements. More than 9.5 million men have registered for the draft since 1980.
"This rate would compare very favorably with compliance for any government program," Turnage said. "The revitalization of the Selective Service System is clearly a success story."
From the standpoint of efficiency, Turnage may well have right to be proud. Through fear and intimidation, he and his organization have succeeded in coercing millions of young Americans into registering for the draft
But apparently Turnage and Congress are not happy with even that rate of compliance.
Never mind that the financial aid rule, like the draft, is discriminatory by its very nature. It bars low-income non-registrants from attending college while allowing wealthier ones in without any limitations.
Perhaps the financial aid restriction's worst aspect is that it turns our universities into surreptitious federal police. The responsibility is now with financial offices around the nation to identify lawbreakers, to judge them and to pass sentence in the form of denied financial aid, and all this without any recourse on the part of the student.
And the law also places the burden of proof of innocence on the student, instead of the burden of proving guilt on the government.
At the very least, it stretches the definition of the term "due process" to say that this falls within that doctrine.
Four-year grads dying breed as costs of education go up
The four-year college graduate is becoming scarce.
It used to be that a student who took more than four years to earn an undergraduate degree was stigmatized as either lazy or slow. He couldn't work. He didn't wear a shirt. He couldn't handle a normal college workload.
Today, some of the brightest, hardest-working students are finding it impossible to complete their college work in four years.
Faced with cuts in financial aid, skyrocketing tuition and a rising cost of living, these students are feeling the sting.
JON BARNES
As a result, they can spend less time earning their degrees.
They make up the rapidly growing segment of enrollees classified as part-time students.
Record numbers of part-time students have overstated enrollment figures for the past few years. The number of students enrolled has increased in classes they are enrolled in have dropped.
The economic consequences of the situation are interesting. Who gains or loses when students become part timers?
Obviously, the students lose. They lose the extra time it takes to complete their education. They also pay tuition and living costs for five or six years and receive only four years of education in return. If they don't get a loan, then they will need some kind of financial aid to supplement their income, they find that their debts will keep them in hock until middle age.
Workers who try to learn their living in college towns lose, also. Jobs, which are already scarce, become harder to find because of the increased competition from students looking for jobs.
The general economy loses. Today, when unemployment is a big problem, highly technological sectors have job openings that no one is qualified to fill. Lifelong factory workers find themselves not only without a job, but also without much prospect of ever returning the remainder of their working lives. The economy adds a national retraining program.
But, at the same time that the economy would benefit from an increase in the number of technologically skilled college graduates, those students will be less likely to spend their time by working their way through school.
Who gains from this situation? Our hard-pressed colleges do. At the University of Kansas, anyone enrolled in more than six hours of classes a semester has to pay full tuition. Some students participate in part-time students who enroll in more than six hours a semester, and they collect for longer periods of time.
Years ago, college students could generally be classified into two types. The upper class students had their way paid for them by their parents.
Ronald teagan was this type of student. An athletic scholarship paid half his tuition at Eureka College in Illinois. He paid the rest of his way by working as a dishwasher.
The second type was the student who, with brains and stamina, goals and ingenuity, aspired to be a doctor.
Ronald Reagan would like colleges to revert to three good old days.
But times do change Society's conception of college education has changed.
o longer is college education a luxury for the rich or a dream of the ambitious. It is a necessity for economic survival.
Letters to the Editor
Senate rules account for diversity
To the editor.
In regard to questions, I believe it is important to explain the relationship between the Student Senate and Senate-funded organizations. It is clearly not the purpose of Student Senate, its committees or executive officers to censor Student Activity Fee-funded groups. However, it is critical that these regulations be able by Student Senate Rules and Regulations and Business Procedures Guidelines.
Student Senate fund a variety of organizations, currently numbering just more than 100. Many of these groups are allocated money for printed materials such as filers, posters and newsletters. As would be expected on a large university campus, there is great diversity of ideas and opinions among these groups. For this reason, in the Student Senate Business Procedures Guide, which is guide to the use of the student senate, "In addition, any organizational or personal opinions must include the phrase 'These Views Do Not necessarily Reflect Those of the Student Senate'."
It has never been the policy of the Student Senate or the Student Senate treasurer to discriminate against any Senate-funded organizations. However, it is the direct responsibility of the treasurer to enforce all rules, regulations and guidelines.
It is further stated that "Noncompliance with these provisions may result in withdrawal of
If there are any further questions or comments, I would encourage letters or calls to the Student Senate office.
Lisa Ashner.
student body president
Invite better speakers
To the editor.
I was utterly astonished to learn that the Student Senate recently voted to offer Gordon Liddy and John Ehrlichman nearly $9,000 to address students at the University of Kansas. My opposition to the Senate's action is strong, and the disgust and betrayal I feel about Watergate
I oppose student sponsorship of Liddy and Ehrlichman because I am a fee-paying KU student. I think my money should be invested in projects, events and opportunities which would otherwise not be available to me. I believe student funds also should be spent to benefit a wide variety of students. And I believe that student funds ought to be allocated to those projects and individuals representing human excellence in intellect, skill or spirit.
In inviting Liddy and Ehrlichman, the Senate ignores each and every one of these standards for responsible expenditure of student funds. Instead of providing an opportunity to see public figures who are not featured frequently in national reports, we have shown that these base views have been the subject of many books and articles and countless televised and published interviews. Students with a
Bob
curiosity about these men easily can discover all they might want to know about them in readily available sources.
Nor is it clear to me that Liddy and Ehrlichman could attract a diverse group of students. Aside from general warnings about the corrupting influence of power or the doing of evil deeds for good ends, what can these men tell us about the nature of government or the future of democracy? The witnesses of Warnergate will certainly reduce their appeal for student who are not familiar with the downfall of the Nixon presidency and don't especially want to learn about it.
Lastly, neither Liddy nor Ehrlichman can be recommended for their personal excellence.
Indeed, how much of this type of education, and the opportunities lost because of it, can the students at the University of Kansas afford? Helen Warren.
But the real tragedy in inviting Liddy and Ehrlichman has not been addressed by the Senate. Their decision would mean that money would not be available to invite other much more worthy speakers to our campus. There are several contemporary figures who, because of their intelligence, minority standing of controversial views, do not receive national press attention.
For instance, Sonia Johnson, the courageous Mormon who was excommunicated from her church for her support of women's rights, is willing to come to KU this spring. She can address a variety of topics, from the role of women in organized religion to the positions of men and women in future political and economic struggles. And Johnson is willing to come to KU to speak and visit informally with artists and engaged by Ehrichman and Ladd. But if these two are invited there will be no money left to sponsor Johnson or any other speakers.
Lawrence graduate student
Israeli system works
To the editor:
I am impressed with the capabilities of the Israeli judicial system. It managed to complete an unbiased inquiry into the tragic events of last fall. The present government had to act upon the commission's recommendations in light of the
To the editor.
report's prestige and publicity. I find it hard to believe that a nation in a constant state of war can actually criticize itself. That is proof that the democratic process is vitally alive in the Jewish State. Ariel Sharon was wrong and he is no longer Israel's defense minister.
I pray for the day when truly repressive regimes such as those in Iran, the Soviet Union and Syria can change their ways and investigate and correct their systematic policies of gross human rights violations. I hope for the day when all peoples can be as sincere as the Israeli people were in questioning the actions of their leaders. Dana Feldman
Mubathan Kan, junior
Unfortunately, the government of the actual killers has not been as up front about its own involvement. As of today, the Lebanese "com- mission" has not issued any statement of accountability.
one ideological one-sidedness of Latin American Solidarity is underscored by its unwillingness to speak out against the harshness of the military regime in Nicaragua and the military adventures of Castro's Cuba in Africa, while making every effort to expose the failings in El Salvador's attempt to establish democracy. I am truly sorry that my forced student dues are shared with an organization that is little more than a political tool of the left.
View of war simplistic
To the editor.
In Trace Hamilton's article "Student Senate efforts waited, again," she correctly stated that not very many students "would take issue with a pamphlet taking a stand against the slaughter of civilians in a bloody civil war, but I could be wrong."
Yes. Trace, I'm against civil wars, and I'm for justice, peace and other unquestionably positive virtues. However, your presentation of the issues surrounding the struggle in Central America leaves me unsatisfied. The issues there are not so much between civil war and peace, but rather more at an attempt at a Western-style democracy as opposed to a strongly socialist government controlled by men outside of the hemisphere.
Clay Center law student
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