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Opinion
University Daily Kansan, January 18. 1983
Gas industry be careful
The conclusion of a study released recently by a Massachusetts energy group, that the natural gas industry was in danger of pricing itself out of the energy market, probably comes as no surprise to Americans whose heating bills took a big leap this winter — least of all to those who can't pay their bills.
The report was prepared by the Cambridge Energy Research Associates of Massachusetts and said, in part, that the industry was in a "transition that could send markets into turmoil."
It predicted that by 1985, when decontrol is due to take effect, gas will cost 117 percent more than residual fuel oil. Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission allowed gas companies to raise rates 2.5 percent because of increased costs.
The Natural Gas Supply Association, a national gas industry group, said the situation was not really that bad, but Americans across the nation, including Kansas, are becoming fed up with having to pay high prices for a plentiful resource.
Utilities blame the high rates charged customers on contracts that lock them into buying from more expensive sources, and the gas industry, in turn, says that government regulation is responsible, at least in part, for expensive gas.
According to the report released by the Massachusetts group, both are right. Unfortunately, the lame duck Congress refused to take up the issue during its session in November, blocking any possibility of alleviating the problem this winter.
Legislation has already been proposed in Congress, and it is hoped that this time it will be acted upon. But some responsibility for the present situation has to lie with the gas industry.
The industry says it is changing the restrictive pipeline-producer contracts to make gas cheaper for the consumer. But if the Cambridge report is any indication, those changes had better be made quickly.
Otherwise, the gas industry may find itself in the position of OPEC — with a large surplus and no market.
Ours is a nation that prides itself on equality of opportunity, and in the America of the 1980s, there is no more important opportunity than the chance for a good education.
So it's appropriate that Gov. John Carlin has designated this week Financial Aid Awareness Week, because for many of the thousands of students who go through Kansas' universities, financial aid means the opportunity for a college education.
Increasingly, as high technology creeps into nearly every aspect of our lives, a high school education is simply not be good enough; not only because individuals need more training to go into fields with a future, but also because those fields will need the personnel to continue growing.
The governor's declaration is timely. With budget cuts and prospective budget cuts, students are unsure of exactly what their position is. The attempts by KU's office of student financial aid to get the word out on the status of financial aid programs should give hope to students who feared that
they might not be able to return next year.
As Jerry Rogers, director of financial aid, said, "If you believe what you read, it doesn't look too good. We've heard that before and generally speaking, they come around and figure higher education is important and we continue to operate."
The shame is that these threats to higher education are made year after year.
There is something wrong with a society that continually has to deliberate whether to neglect the future of its youth, the future of the nation itself.
Just as government officials speak of the importance of long-term business and economic investments, they should be speaking of investment in education.
Rogers estimates that nearly 50 percent of all KU students receive some form of financial aid. Those students should not have to worry — because of a new president or a new Congress — whether they will be in school or in an unemployment line next fall because of budget cuts.
The University Daily
KANSAN
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Reagan goes to Fantasy Island
A tiny plane quietly sets down in the lagoon of a tropical paradise, while a diminutive man with a funny accent lips with all his might that the plane has arrived.
As a bevy of native girls, radiantly arrayed in stunning skirts, hurriedly prepare to greet the new guest, the midget desperately tries to keep pace with his boss, a tall, dignified man dressed in white.
"Well boss," the midget says, "do we have another 98-pound weakling who wants to be heavyweight champion of the world, or a shy, faceted girl who wants to be a Hollywood queen?"
"You mean Phil Gramm and the other Boll Weevils are coming here to ask for a tag team mud-wrestling match with Tip O'Neill and his team." "Their control of Congress?" Pappoo excitedly.
"Oh no, Pappo," the tall man, whose name is Mr. Dourkew, says. "Our producers wanted to add some serious material to attract the intellectual crowd. So what we do here for our next guest may determine the fate of the United States, as well as our ratings."
"No, no." Mr. Dourke blurred impatiently. "The man who wants our help holds the key that could open the door to economic recovery for the United States."
"John Houseman is coming here," Pappoo soaked eagerly.
"Oh my gosh, you have been watching those darned Smith Barney commercials too often," Mr. Dourke said, shaking his head slowly.
Mr. Debre Ahmoud, sharing his Just then, the guest inched away from the plane, waving enthusiastically to the native girls, who ran to him and smothered him with leis and kisses, then gave him a glass of warm milk.
'but want does the president want?' Pappo
added. 'he like Bob Hope and wants an Oscar
affer.'
The guest was Ronald Reagan.
"No, my friend," Mr. Dourke says sadly, "The president's fantasy is much more serious than winning an Academy Award. What the president is asking for may be more than even Fantasy
"The president's fantasy is for a balanced federal budget and a robust national economy
with both low unemployment and inflation rates."
Reagan sauntered to the duo, and said, "Well. Mr. Dourke, I see at least you listened to my plea about hiring one more employee. When I watched your show last Saturday, you had eight girls handing out leis and drinks, but you have nine girls now."
Mr. Dourke's response was interrupted by Beagan, who seemed to be thinking aloud.
"You know, I was looking at the outlay of your
BRUCE SCHREINER
island, and I think Fantasy Island could help stabilize national security. I've already recommended that the Love Boat be transformed into a nuclear-powered battleship to sail alongside the USS
"I think we could solve the dilemma about the MX missile by proposing a dense-pack basing system here. We could camouflage the missiles as coconut trees."
"That's a perfect script for another episode, Mr. President," Mr. Dourke said, "but we only have an hour, so we had better get to the business at hand."
"Well." Reagan said, "I like a man who shoots from the hip. Do you think you can give me my fantasy, Mr. Dourke?"
"I know how to balance the budget," Pappo said eagerly. "You could cut back on the number of staff members who help to keep you looking middle-aged."
"Pappo, that's ridiculous," Mr. Dourke said. A couple of miles in not going to make a demise would be better.
"I have been studying this problem closely, and I have come to the conclusion that instead of 'staying the course,' you should change the course."
you mean I should consider changing the tape in my hair as Jimmy Carter did midway through the war.
"No, Mr. President," Mr. Dourke said. "The mystical powers on Fantasy Island have given me the foresight that only a few men have been endowed with. So I think you should..."
enlower war, just before, Suddenly, just before, MF. 'Douke offered Reaganagency support to the ailing economy, which included closing the huge tax loopholes for private industry, scrapping the third phase of the 25 percent tax cut, forging a meaningful jobs bill for the unemployed, lowering cost of living increases for entitlement program recipients and tearing up the Pentagon's blank check, a mysterious figure hidden by a dark shadow vaulted into the open.
"Excuse me, Mr. President," Interior Secretary James Watt hissed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dourke, but you and your employees will have to vacate the premises. This land is owned by the U.S. government, and there are many entrepreneurs who want to buy the island and build beautiful condominiums and a nuclear power plant."
"Well," Reagan said, "maybe my fantasy was not fulfilled, but at least Mr. Watt's was."
Efficiency in farm fields doesn't produce profits
The complexity of the American farm system cannot be summarized in a cartoon, but a cartoon can capture the irony of President Reagan's proposed payment-in-kind program in which farmers would be given surplus government grain for growing smaller crops.
Farmers are certainly not singing about the
Once, in a Doonesbury cartoon, a farmer renowned as the most able non-grower of crops in the area explained happily to a city kid that the government gave him money for not growing potatoes. He striped the soil with a farmer singing "My Country," Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Subsidy."
JEANNE FOY
situation, however. They are suffering because they have done their job too well.
in 10 years, domestic grain overstocks have gone up 450 percent while export markets have been shrinking. In 1982, there were 180 million metric tons of surplus grain.
Record crops the past two years have seriously hurt farm prices. Net farm income in 1982 was at its lowest point since 1933. Some crops are sold at prices below production costs.
In order to help farmers and get rid of the surplus grain, Reagan has proposed the payment-in-kind program. Under PIK, farmers would receive surplus government grain for idling up to half their acreage. Farmers could sell the grain or use it for feed.
Perhaps PIK is the answer, at least for now. -But considering that Third World countries cannot produce or buy enough food for the minimal nutritional needs of their populations, it will be hard to feed them. But the too efficient-for his own-good American farmer is to tell him to produce even less.
PIK has its critics. They argue that diminishing crop production will hurt seed companies and manufacturers of farm machinery and that the government might be able to sell the grain at some later time. But no other plan has been proposed to help the farm industry.
In 1982, the United States spent $12 billion in farm-assistance programs, and the Department of Agriculture doubled its requirements for the percentage of cropland a farmer must keep out of production in order to qualify for low-interest government loans and cash payments.
Surely there is something wrong with a system in which farmers efficiently increase their production but can barely recover their production costs. What happens to a farmer's incentive to improve when to do so harms him and he receives government aid for letting his fields lie empty?
Some might say that the farmers are experiencing the consequences of not paying attention to the laws of supply and demand. They produce more than the market demands. Therefore, the argument goes, the resulting oversupply and low prices are the farmers' fault.
But who wants farmers to curtail production in order to create a bigger demand for their crops and therefore higher prices? We all want inexpensive and abundant food, and the farmer wants to farm and make a profitable living. Instead, he is given money and grain if he produces smaller crops. That's a Catch-22 even Joseph Heller could not surpass.
This is a nation that prides itself on its agricultural expertise. While the Soviet Union and other countries struggle to grow adequate food, they recognize that no other country grows food as well as ours.
But perhaps the time will come when the image of the farmer tending over his "amber waves of grain" will be replaced by the image of a farmer sitting in an empty field with empty grain bins, efficiently not growing crops better than any other nation in the world.