Page 4 Opinion University Daily Kansan, February 23, 1983 Action after the fact One thousand dollars. That's the cost of putting a 200-watt streetlight behind Spooner Hall across from the Kansas Union. It was there that a woman was raped on Jan. 30 — a little less than a month ago. The department of facilities operations is now installing a streetlight at the urging of area residents and the Douglas County Rape Victim Support Project. The new light is less than 10 feet from the spot behind Spooner where the woman was raped, and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of the week. Had it been placed there a few weeks ago, a tragedy might have been averted. Although it is not feasible to put lights everywhere on campus in the hope of illuminating every dark corner, it is unconscionable that women must fear for their safety every time they venture from the front door of a building. buiding. It is the responsibility of the University to educate the students, but it is also the University's responsibility to police its campus grounds and guarantee the rights of its students. Student Senate, as an organization formed to work with the administration to help solve student problems, would serve its constituency well to look into safety on campus and what can be done to improve it. But no matter how the problem is approached, it is hoped that it will not take another assault before further action is taken. Maintaining the peace "Posse comitatus" is Latin for "force of the county," and is defined as "any body of men that a sheriff or other peace officer is empowered to summon to aid in maintaining the peace." But some modern-day posses live up to our darkest nightmares of all the bad concessions a posse conjures. State House Judiciary Committee Monday heard testimony that a group in Kansas called Posse Comitatus is one of several in the nation that has been conducting paramilitary training. Last March, under the guise of a three-day environmental seminar, the group showed members guerilla tactics and how to handle weapons, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who infiltrated Posse Comitatus testified. The agent and others painted a picture of an organization that advocates violence against Jews and those who disagree with its point of view as a way "to maintain the American way of life." These groups have a right to their opinions, however twisted and offensive they might be, but State Rep. Robert Frey, R-Liberal, has the right idea in eliminating or limiting paramilitary training in Kansas. Beyond that, these groups should serve to remind us that no state — or nation — is immune to the corrosive effects of bigotry and hate. Ashner veto stifles discourse The first real action by the Student Senate has been scuttled by our student body president. The much-maligned senators finally did themselves proud — they passed a bill that would have used money from the Senate's unallocated account to bring some interesting speakers to campus. The Senate had have付 speech by G. Gordon Liddy and John Ehrlichman. But, no. Lia Ashner, student body president, decided to veto the so-called Wategate Bill, and TRACEE HAMILTON she held onto it just long enough to kill any chance for the Senate to override it. chance for the senators did make an 11th-hour attempt to call a special session to try to override the veto, but because of time constraints they were unsuccessful. Ashner's veto was timed so that it became too late for the Senate to reconvene or to try to find additional funding elsewhere. Annser said she vetoed the bill because the Senate's unallocated fund could not cover the fee. That might or might not be, but looking ahead to the next set of budget hearings when this year's are barely over seems a feeble reason. reason. It has become apparent that at least some officers did not want Liddy and Ehrichman heir because the two Watergate conspirators were convicted of crimes. In addition, it is now becoming apparent that our student body leadership is again playing party politics and is hopelessly mired in hypocrisy and double standards. Quick, where have you heard this one before? "A university should be a place of free and unhindered freedom of speech, opinion and research in order to promote open exchange and fruitful discussion of differing ideas." Yup, that your Senate speaking. Apparently the Senate thinks that free speech means it costs nothing and that unhindered speech is that which is first approved by the Senate. It seems a shame to have missed an opportunity to hear these two Nixon cronies. It is all the more upsetting when you know that most colleges have accepted both speakers without animosity. "They're no more upset by me than they are by (Lindbergh-baby kidnapper) Bruno Richard Hauptmann," Liddy has said "These young people weren't watching the Ervin committee hearings, they were watching The Flintstones." Not that that would happen at the University of Kansas. Students here are wonderfully adept at making speakers feel at home. Eldridge Cleaver was harassed because the Unification Church helped sponsor his speech. Phyllis Schaffy was all but tarred, feathered and run out of Lawrence on a rail. Those two were at least heard. But did the Unification Church's sponsorship of Cleaver make him a Moonie, and therefore dangerous to God, mother and country? Did Schlafy inciude hundreds of Lawrence men to keep their wives in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant? Granted, I agree with little that Schlafy has to say and only with part of what Cleaver says, but, by God, I'll defend their right to say it. And so should we all. Are we so afraid these days of viewpoints that differ from our own that we must drown them out or be swept under? Are we afraid that these two Watergate bad guys will suly our sacrosanct campus? That they will wiretap Chancellor Gene A. Budig's office? Surely we were all touched by Watergate. I know that journalism schools were inundated in the mid-1970s with hundreds of would-be Woodwards and hopeful Bernstein's. I am sure, too, that law students would be interested, not to mention political scientists, historians and education majors. So there are more professors and maybe a couple townpeople, too, who care about one of the most important political happenings of this century. But I could be wrong. The Senate will come to the end of its fiscal year, and on the last night of hearings, it will blow every penny of that money. It did last year. And we will continue to have nondescript speakers, unless KU's professional schools can afford to bring in speakers of the stature of Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. Supreme Court recognizes this? "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It is the First Amendment. I am sure it was the basis for the Senate's wording of the resolution that condemned racism. It is just a shame the Senate cannot live up to its resolutions. Soviet Jews try to win freedom Anatoly Scharansky is dying He was once a mathematician, programmer and chess master, but now he is a prisoner of conscience in the Soviet Union's infamous Chistupol Prison. He is dying. Christopher Friisson. *Last September, Scharansky began a hunger strike in protest of his inability to receive letters and visits from his family. The strike is over now but he continues to suffer from severe heart pains, and his physical condition has deteriorated to the point where he cannot participate in even a half-hour of daily exercise.* Scharansky is Jewish and has become a victim of the ugly bureaucratic red tape imposed on the Catch-22 world of Soviet Jewry. As the unofficial spokesman of the Jewish emigration movement in Russia, Scharsanky was arrested in 1977 by Soviet authorities for having a secret account of 13 years of forced labor in camps and prisons. labor in camps and prisoned the Sovietis imprisoned him hoping to quell the growing unrest, but just the opposite has happened. The movement's leadership holes were filled, and American organizations were established to aid Soviet Jewry. That Anatoly Scharsanyk was a mathematician is an irony, for where he once dealt with statistics, he is now himself on the verge of becoming a statistic. That Anatoly Scharamsky was a programmer is also an irony, for the Soviet government is attempting to program Soviet Jews to lose their cultural and religious identity. That Anatoly Scharsansky was a chess master is yet another irony, for the Soviet Jews are being used as pawns in a political chess game. But Jews in the Soviet Union refuse to become a statistic, refuse to become assimilated into a passive culture and, with increased pressure and negotiations, will refuse to be checkmate1. Since 1969, more than 260,000 Jews have been rescued from the Soviet Union, but about two million others still live there. Russian Jews live in a paradox. They are classified by their religion but are continually stripped of means to identify with its traditions. Hebrew is the only language banned by the Soviet government and raids are frequently made to confiscate the already dwindling supply of Hebrew literature. In suppressing the heritage of Soviet Jewry, the USSR is in direct violation of the Helsinki Agreement of 1975, the International Covenant on Civil Rights and even their own constitution. because of these injustices, a great number of Jewish families have applied to emigrate from the Soviet Union hoping to obtain their religious heritage and personal freedom. Some visa requests are granted, but many more are HAL KLOPPER rejected "Refuseikens" are those Soviet Jews whose applications have been turned down at least twice. Currently, there are more than 10,000 refuseikens living in Russia. 10,000 Responses The process for obtaining a visa is well worth the wait, but is humiliating. The prerequisite of applying for emigration is to receive an invitation from a close relative living in Israel. Adults must relinquish their jobs immediately after applying for their visas and have no chance of getting another job in their fields. Their children, if not harassed by other schoolchildren, are sometimes drafted into the Soviet army. They will then be classified as "possessing military secrets," further hindering the family's ability to emigrate. The initial response to a visa request can take up to six months, and the applications are often rejected. Those fortunate enough to be accepted have an additional time restriction in which to gather various signatures and papers. Failure to meet deadlines results in cancellation of the visa, and the family must wait another year before applying again. Why? 137 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. The Kremlin is steadily closing the dam on emigration. The plight of Soviet Jewry is largely political. With the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, U.S.-USSR relations diminished to a stallish. The United States dropped its wheat sales to the Russians. That's Kansas wheat. We in Lawrence are not so far removed from the situation. The Soviet economy has been ravaged by disastrous wheat crops, and we have a surplus of that commodity they so urgently need. Similarly, the American way promotes international human rights, and they have the people we are trying to free. Where we are using grain as a bargaining tool, the Russians are using Soviet Jews for the same purpose. Within the Soviet Union the Jewish people — more so than any other religious or cultural group — are the targets of oppression. They are scapegoats, relentlessly fighting for human rights. rights. But the fight for human rights knows no religious boundaries. There are thousands upon thousands of political and religious dissidents throughout the world involved in this same battle. in the struggle to aid Soviet Jewry, we are attempting to maintain and improve all human freedom. Americans have this freedom that others are struggling just to taste. Today is International Student Solidarity Day for Soviet Jewry. The University of Kansas, along with more than 50 other campus colleges in the United States, represents other countries, competing in the events. is participating in the event. We have an information booth set up in the Kansas Union. Representatives from several universities are lobbying their congressmen in Washington D.C., right now to push for a firmer U.S. stance on Jewry. Many students are fasting for 24 hours. They are going hungry for one day to show their solidarity with Anatoly Scharansky, a man who is literally dying to have his human rights. Please do not turn your back on this tragedy of humanity. Your concern and support will help others to share in our luxury of freedom. 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. Bob The University Daily KANSAN The University Daily Kannan, (USPNS 690-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Flint Hall, Lawrence, KS, 6045, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holiday, and final periods. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 6044. Subscriptions by mail are for $16 for six months, County and $1 for six months or for $3 each month. POSTMASTER. 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