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Tuesday. October 11, 1977
University Daily Kansan
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Comment
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Kansas editorial staff. Signed column represent only the views of the writers.
HELP needs help
Because of the continued delay in the arrival of money from the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), Kansas college students should not be faulted for thinking they placed too much trust in the state's ability to help them on schedule.
that trust seemed well placed last semester, when the new loan program was approved as a way to correct deficiencies in the Federally Insured Student Loan
It had been apparent that private bankers could make little, if any, profit from providing federally insured loans. The bankers charged for the much-publicized student default rates.
Eventually the chances of receiving a federally insured loan grew almost nil, and the search began for a replacement. The searchers discovered the Higher Education Assistance Foundation, a Minnesota state agency converted into a nonprofit foundation of collecting bonds to back the Federal Insured Student Loan Program in Minnesota.
Oct. 1, the expected beginning date of HELP in Kansas, has come and gone; the Federally Insured Student Loan Program has extended its date and the wait for HELP money continues.
THE MINNESOTA FOUNDATION offered to expand into Kansas, and Kansas Board of Regents officials found the offer almost too good to be true. Here was a foundation willing to become the guarantor, and lender of last resort, of millions of dollars in loans to Kansas college students all at no cost to the state of Kansas or the students. The plan was approved by the Regents and Gov. Robert Bennett, and the wait began.
But although one would expect HELP to be able to use the time to better prepare for the money's arrival, KU's financial aid office reports that it has had problems receiving an adequate number of application forms and that Kansas bankers are still working with the program, even and even of the program's planned existence.
JEFF WEINBERG, associate director of the KU Office of Student Financial Aid, said last week: "They can't even deliver the application." "There are no longer a $15 no wonder they can't deliver the money."
Unfortunately, Kansas students—who were led to expect HELP money by about Oct.1—a are caught in the middle of the buckpassing. At KU, these students are relying on Kansas' short-term loans and, as Weinberg said, "are understandably getting very nervous."
Kansans are growing impatient with HELP delays; HELP supporters say that the delay is on the side of approval for approval U.S. Office for Justice that the money will *offen as soon as possible*.
Until then, state officials should forgive Kansas students if they think that the program that sounded so good indeed might have been too good to be true.
As with most bureaucratic mixups, confusion is the key, and fault for the HELP mistakes is difficult and probably pointless to determine.
What is important now is for financial aid officers, who will be responsible for disburasing HELP funds; Regents officials, who vouched for the program; and the governor, who approved HELP, to pressure HELP into getting itself in action.
Unless HELP is eventually proved effective at increasing the number of federally backed student loans, officials should understand why Kansas students might think that the state ducked its duty by choosing HELP from Minnesota instead of establishing its own program.
Vocational programs too costly for taxpayers
By ROSEMARY S. POOLER N.Y.Times Features
ALBANY,N.Y. "H-i-Pay, for College" the lure of private vocational schools becomes siren-like this time of year as new high school graduates find jobs or for everyone who wants one.
Later, the agency discovered that only 96 of the students referred to the school had graduated, and that only two had found jobs for which they trained.
Unfortunately, the smartest thing for must students to do is turn a deaf ear—even to the government-passed training.
A case in point: Last year, a New York City agency referred staff to private school teaching radio and air-conditioning repair and provided full-furniture and expenses for each student enrolle
THE CITY paid the school $44,511 for the students' expenses; the school—without authorization from the city—qualified to pay $14,916 in grants and loans. The cost for each student placed in a job was $25,000, almost all of it borne by the taxpayer. The cost of hiring a teacher be worse than most, but it illustrates some central problems
with vocational education today.
- It's very expensive. The courses described here cost about $1,100; other programs cost much more. In New York City, it can cost $1,750 to study beauty culture, $3,400 for refrigeration repair, $3,600 for computer programming.
- Even for graduates, vocational training often doesn't lead to a job. Although government records are meager, the indicate that some program place over half their graduates but many others place few or none.
- There is no coordination, at any government level, of the millions spent for private vocational training. In the New York City program described, no public agency knew how much money the other agencies were providing.
- Government funding continues to flow to schools even if they are spectacular failures in training and placing students. The school described here is still in business, still advertising on television and still receiving government money.
ends in failure, the taxpayers' obligation often lives on. By March 1975, for example, 33.7 per cent of the government-guaranteed loans made to bequeathed by banks and 24.2 per cent of the loans made to trade-school students had ended in default.
Tax money has made private vocational schools a very profitable business—the same thing that happened to Medicaid, nursing homes and school lunches.
- When vocational education
All this does not deny the importance of vocational education as part of any effort to create job opportunities.
But we cannot tolerate the level of waste and failure we now experience in private vocational schools.
What we must do is reward the schools that train, graduate and place in jobs a high percentage of their students. And we will help schools off the tax money, those schools that profit by failure.
As in all these programs, we cannot sit by as by people in need become cash chips for the management traded for government funds.
Rosemary S. Pooler is executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board.
The proposed Panama Canal treaties, already on the ropes with the American people, may have been knocked down for the count by Kansas' favorite street fighter.
Dole fighting dirty on Panama Canal
And in playing Rocky to the Apollo Creed in the White House, Bob Dole, the junior senator from Kansas, has hit President Jimmy Carter below the belt.
Dole has two things on his mind these days: running for president in 1980 and defeating or completely revamping the Obama administration, it is not surprising that Dole last week leaked a confidential State Department cable that raises disturbing questions about whether the Obama administration ratify the Panama proposals.
AN UNNAMED source gave Dole the confidential cable, which was filed by Raymond Gonzalez, acting chief of the U.S. Embassy in Panama. Gonzalez allegedly quoted statements that directly contradict the Carter administration's interpretation of the treaties.
The treaties, according to the State Department, give the United States permanent defense rights to the waterway. The cable, according to Dole, proves that Panama disagrees with the State Department.
Specifically, Gonzalez reportedly said that the Panamanian treaty negotiator had told embassy officials, "Panama cannot agree to the U.S. right to intervene. Intervention is simply forbidden by international law."
The negotiator, Lopez Guvara, also was quoted as saying that the United States would not necessarily get top
John Mueller
Editorial Writer
priority in sending warships through the canal during times of emergency. Carter administration officials have maintained that the treaties guarantee the United States the fight to intervene militarily to keep the canal open.
DOLE WAS understandably elated at being able to seize on the cable as evidence for his opposition to the treaties. He said the cable "shows beyond a doubt the vast differences in the laws of the art that portion part of these treaties—that portion which bears on our vital national defense interests."
In the first place, Dole is a self-proclaimed conservative. As such, he could have been expected to show more concern for "national security" that nebulous concept conservatives pounce on every time he gets into trouble at the jail. Scherr makes unauthorized disclosures of secret government information.
The cable is indeed disturbing. But so is the way Dole leaked it to the public.
Dole's sudden interest in "open government" is, to put it mildly, perplexing. Maybe the senator now realizes that Ellsberg and Schorr really were only something important for the state, and their unfavorable a revelations about past administrations.
PARTISAN POLITICS aside, a more fundamental
problem with Dole's disclosure of the cable is that leak amounts to giving the public access to information isolated piece of information before the nation raises the unanswered question of what is in other classified material that may or may not have access.
Other classified information presumably could further substantiate or possibly refute the treaties, but never know; however, the over-all appearance of the treaties may be seriously misinterpreted. The treaties are of information that is devastating to them.
That the junior senator has made a serious objection to the treaties cannot be ignored. Mr. Church, Didaho and acting chairman of
"THAT'S MY FINAL OFFER—TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT."
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that the Senate might reject the treaties unless it received an explanation of what the cable meant. The Senate would be on target in making such a rejection.
BUT DOLE simply botched his senatorial duties by releasing the cable. He could have approached the Foreign Relations Committee privately about the information. He could have sought to have the material declassified. He could have used the cable as a way of sarcastically criticizing the "great, open administration we're dealing with."
It is fortunate that the administration is turning out to be less open than Carter last year promised it would be. It should not damage or issue on a foreign policy matter. If the Senate truly wants to assume a more active role in foreign policy, it cannot expect to ask the administration for information that State Department officials can expect to see in print the next day.
If the Senate wants access to all of the pertinent details about the treaties, it will have to accept the unpleasant fact that some of those detainees will be held behind closed doors. And the Senate deserves to know the whole truth about the treaties; the State Department must stop withholding information the state may want, because it can cast an enlightened vote on the proposed pacts.
The next time that the junior senator from Kansas trades punches with the White House, let's hope he does so wisely. Diplomacy is too important to be handed by light weights.
Treaties don't require full agreement
Some members of the Senate seem to be a bit naive about the nature of diplomacy. They're just pretending well.
Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., is a leader of the senators opposing the new Panama Canal treaties, which must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Senate. Last week he leaked a classified State Department cable revealing that Panamanian officials and negotiators have different interpretations on two important points of the treaties.
Ross McIlvain Editorial Writer
U. S. officials say the treaties guarantee America the right to intervene militarily, if necessary, to keep the canal open. The Panamanians say no.
The Panamanians say the U.S. warships wouldn't have rights to priority passage in emergencies. U.S. negotiators
say the treaties give America those rights.
DOLE MAY have been right in concluding that the Carter administration should not keep such important information secret, especially after Carter's promises to run a highly open, honest government.
However, he and other opponents of the treaties are wrong in arguing that the Senate should reject this treaty because of the ambiguities.
Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho and acting chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said Sunday that the Senate should, as a matter of general policy, reject
treaties if the other countries in the agreement have different interpretations of some parts of the treaty.
What some of our senators seem to be forgetting is all the other treaties the Senate has approved. The ones in which America and the other countries had the same interpretations of all parts of the treaty are rare, if they exist at all.
WHEN, AS is often the case, countries can't agree on all parts of the solution to their mutual problems, it is a common custom to use treaty language so ambiguous that either side can draw its own internetations.
This may sound silly and so some extent it is) but diplomas usually operate on the assumption that a general build will be achieved during summit meetings" in the extremely dignified language in
the trade) and a partial agreement is better than no communication and no agreement at all.
If total agreement were necessary, no agreement at all would be possible in many cases. The Panama Canal treaties seem to be such a case.
If we try to nail down an agreement in favor of American interpretations, the Panamanians probably won't accept it. Americans would run the risk of bloody riots in the Canal Zone where a lot of American citizens are living.
IF WE nail down an agreement in favor of the Panamanian interpretations, we may have to break it. If we had to use that cannail in a decent American administration would hesitate to use force. We shouldn't make promises we can't keep.
But if we simply make no agreement on_the issues of
priority passage for American warships and military intervention in emergencies, then we can go ahead and use our own interpretation. As long as both sides know the interpretations of the other, the United States doesn't about it. The countries have simply not made a real agreement on those issues.
With luck, America should never have to spill blood over a muddy malarial ditch, but if America's safety ever depends on using that canal, America will use it. Panama isn't just powerful enough to keep her from it. America has the right to protect its lives and vital installations in the Canal Zone.
If American negotiators could get Panama to agree to our interpretations, that would be fine. But otherwise, Panama would treat it. After all, some agreement is better than none at all.
Check old gas meters, pipes for leaks
To the editor:
The gas meter in my basement efficiency apartment leaks. The device, mounted on the wall opposite the study closet, clicked and squealed after I moved into the dwelling. I notified the person who logged the meter's indication of a monthly check, and be that said
lubricants in the gas pipes would stop the clicking. After half a year, the noises did stop. The noise pollution wasn't really serious, as I spent much of that span with stereo headphones coupled to my aural senses.
Later, I began experiencing occasional breathing difficulties while resting in bed, and excessive weariness after a day of work in the study. I suspected that it was breastfeeding. I got on my phone and smelled gas from the meter. I notified the Kansas Public Service Company office, 733 Mass. St. The repair person it sent rubbed soap bubbles to the joints of the device and declared it to be nonsteroidal and accepted his examination and wish I didn't.
After a healthy spring and summer, with very little gas usage and a great amount of ventilation, the symptoms worsen. I noticed the weather in autumn and the closing of doors and windows. I notified Kansas Public Service and a repair person came, did the soap bubbler out, but must be without leaks. On this occasion, I demanded another, closer examination of the device. He returned with a mechanical gas leak that required me to derive negative results.
After he departed, I coated every connection of the meter with Duco cement. Seven leaks were revealed as significant bubbles in the cement as it set. I returned to Kansas Public Service to leave a debt for the cement ($1.98 and eight
Letters
If you have an old gas meter in your house, nose that meter closely. Be satisfied that it doesn't leak. The gaskets and pipes should have rotted long ago. With this season, houses close and gas usage increases, thereby allowing greater numbers of gas molecules to escape from the room, accumulate in rooms. The large natural gas molecules decrease the efficiency of breathing, interfere with oxygen intake and the resulting dimness might mean a "B" grade for a student performing "A" grade work.
cents tax) and a request that the device be properly sealed.
Lawrence E. Smith
1032 Tenn. St.
Vet questions tuition policies To the editor:
After reading a story that appeared on Oct. 4 about tuition payment and enrollment certification, I was a bit concerned. I am a veteran, and like most students, I need a scholarship. Kansas, I am concerned with the fees I pay to get an education. It seems to me that the Board of Regents is more interested in getting our money than in giving us our money's value. I'm asking the amount for six hours that we pay for 18. The policy of certifying a student as half time and
charging full tuition is a little inconsistent. Are all hours taken beyond six free?
Ward Zimmerman was quoted as saying that he knew the fee process is not identical to the fee process in schools. Does this mean we pay higher or lower fees? K-State also charges full fees after six hours, but Wichita State charges according to the number of hours. Does the state university system in Kansas set different
standards for each school in the system. It seems strange that the Veterans Administration would go along with this type of policy, but it does not seem that veterans who are put in a bind by this policy; it's every student who takes between six and 12 hours a semester. It would be interesting to hear from the Veterans Administration and find out the reasoning behind this inequitable policy. I'm sure that every KU student would want to be part of the Board of Regents and the V.A.
Henry L. Johns Lawrence Junior
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