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University Daily Kansan, October 3, 1981
Opinion
Sticky rise in prices
And now, just in time for the holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service proudly presents the 20-cent stamp.
Yep, on Wednesday the Postal Service voted itself another two-cent increase in the price of a first-class stamp, with the change to take effect Nov. 1. The separate, but not necessarily equal, Postal Rate Commission had already rejected three formal requests earlier in the year that would have raised stamp prices. The commission obviously was not going to cooperate, so the Postal Service merely went around it.
Not to worry—all this was totally legal. However, it does make one wonder about the practical use of a Postal Rate Commission in such situations, given the balance of power.
In any event, an perceptive person should have seen the increase coming.
After all, Postmaster General William Bolger has been saying for months that the Postal Service would continue to lose massive amounts of money unless it got another rate increase. Did any of you doubt for a moment that the price hike was only a matter of time? Several groups are challenging the increase, but even if they win the battle now, they are destined to lose the war in the near future.
Perhaps one of the most amusing responses to the rate increase came from Norman Halladay, head of the National Association of Greeting Card Publishers. "I'm shocked," he said. "I can't believe they are doing this right before Christmas."
Cheer up, Norman. At least when friends get a card from you this year, they'll know you really cared enough to send it—even if it's not the very best.
Authentic and useful footnotes now banned to back of books
Bv CHARLES L. ZERBY
New York Times Special Feature
AMHERST, Mass. — The footnote is an endangered species. I mean the real footnote, the one found at the foot of the page instead of at the end of the chapter or the back of the book. The threat to the footnote comes from publishers and others who find them unsightly, costly, forbidding.
This is nonsense. The lapperson as well as the scholar enjoys footnotes. They can be charming, an encouragement to read on, worth every penny of the extra expense.
"The Letters of Evelyn Waugh" might easily have been published without any interruptions by its editor. But then we never would have learned that the "pornographer" who Waugh said fed a horse vodka and got bitten for his pains was Norman Mail. 1
Such information keeps us reading, but information of the footnote is to interrupt. Simply interrupt.
A stern, no-nonsense lecture on the 18th-century belief that the universe was a smooth-running machine is delivered. Suddenly, from the bottom of the page, a voice whispers, "It should be pointed out, however, that de la Mettre, the metrician, man Mar The Mettre's invention, operational and goat; the machine too mealt." 2 The reader is intensely grateful for this human interruption.
1 Mark Amory, ed., "The Letters of Evelyn
Waugh." (New Haven: Ticknor & Fields, 1800). p. 109.
2 Daniel Bell, "The Coming of Post-Industrial
New York," *Books Jack* 1973, p. 177.
Being human, authors sometimes miscalculate, of course, which is part of the charm of footnotes. That gentlest of philosophers, William James, once interrupted his discussion of the brain to reassure the reader. "Nothing is easier than to familiarize oneself with the mammalian brain," he says. "Get a shea's head, a small saw, claw, and force."
and unravel its parts." 3 Only a reader with a maniac will gain the assurance James intended.
3 William James, "The Principles of
British Encyclopedia Britannica,
Inc., 1982."
Publishers have no stomach for any kind of notes. At one time notes ran conveniently down the side of the page. Called cut-ins because of the indentation in the print that allowed them to nestle close to the relevant text, they have all but been eliminated. Footnotes, or bottom notes, as
they once were called, are increasingly being
somewhere between the appendices and the index.
Now publishers have come up with a new gimmick to make footnotes hard to use. The game goes like this. First you must fix in your mind the number of the footnote, say 27; then you must remember the page number on which footnote 27 appears, say page 86. Then you must turn to the back of the book, trying to keep your place with an inserted finger, and scan page after page until you discover one headed "Footnotes for Pages 81-107." By that time you have forgotten the footnote number so you must start again by writing it out again, sitting small and sulky, in the text. Only enthusiasts for acrostic puzzles and nine-digit ZIP codes can possibly persist in the
In a fit of self-mortification, a friend of mine was trying to fight his way through an explanation of Kant's categorical imperative. The explanation, by an Oxford professor, was short, but after 60 pages my friend's eyes glazed over. Fortunately, a footnote interrupted.
the publishers' fear that footnotes will discourage general readers is misplaced. The reverse is true; the more difficult the text, the more welcome is an interruption.
"It is extraordinary," the professor wrote, "how early the human mind seems able to grasp the universality of moral law. A small boy of five, not especially conspicuous either for goodness or intelligence, was presented on a flag day with several flags. One of these he was kind enough to give to me. Later he gave another to his sister, who rewarded him with a sixtype. Whereupon-surely on the assumption that his sister's action was a manifestation of universal law (even if this was not without advantages to law) he-asserted, 'If G. gives me a sixtype, the professor will have to give me a sixpece, too.' "4 My friend felt as a windy man when I called him up a bedroom room; children's voices, distant band music drifted in. Refreshed, he managed to start marching through the text again. Someday he may finish it.
A critic once wrote that a writer's footnotes ran along the bottom of his pages like dogs yapping at the text. Publishers would like to have their books be translated to some dinky kernel at the back of the book.
4 H. J. Paton, "The Categorical Imperative: A
Tour in Gant's Moral Philosophy" (New York:
Hampton).
Thope the publishers get bitten for their pains.
(Charles L. Zerbry writes a weekly column for The Times.)
The longest-running Greek tragedy in recent history is not playing at Athens' Theatre of Dionysus, nor is it a Broadway hit. It might right here in lawrence on KU's West Campus.
Artwork neglected in classic fashion
Starring in the production are about 60
products, of which 14 are only available,
otherwise known as KAV. A Wilcox Collection
The life-size cast, along with lesser players that include ancient Greek coins and pottery, premiered at the draft tin shed near 15th and 24th Street, and they have been booked there ever since.
Elizabeth Banks, who doubles as curator for the Wilcox Collection and booking agent
Informally appraised at a value of $75,000 in
Obviously, there is no classics museum in the now-completed Wescoe. Thus, the valuable pieces of the Wilcox Collection remain in the tin shed, where many of them have become water damaged. An apparent lack of genuine concern for the collection on which the administration has stored the works of art to remain in the storage shed indefinitely.
As long as the collection is low on the administration's space-priority list, KU students will continue to be cheated out of the university by the collection of the University's most valuable collections.
The Wilcox Collection, which was moved from old Fraser Hall in 1965 and placed in "temporary storage," was to be housed in a studio. The new collection for the then-nonexistent Wescoke Hall
CORAL BEACH
for the tragic tin-shed show, has been trying to find a more suitable showcase for her players or the past several years, but to no extent have they succeeded. The players would be a nightmare to most other agents.
But it is unlikely that the Greek heroes will have the opportunity to play for an audience of KU students in the near future. The reason is the space shortage at the University.
Nothing would please her more than to receive the cancellation notice for the Wilcox Collection's gig on West Campus. Such a condition would mean University officials had finally found room for the collection to be properly displayed on campus. Banks could then remove the crates and garbage bags from the collection areas and could truly do justice to their love scenes.
1966, the collection, according to Banks, could have easily doubled in value by now. Is a damp, dirty, drafty tin shed a suitable location for a collection valued at more than $150,000? If the collection in question consisted of football equipment, University officials surely would answer this question than they have for the Wilcox Collection.
If the cultural, educational and aesthetic value of the Wilcox Collection has not touched the hearts of the KU administrators, the monetary value, and the fact that the collection is a financial asset to the University, should have tempted them to act by now.
Not only are the pieces now in the collection continually appreciating in value, but the collection as a whole is growing in size because of an annual allocation earmarked for the purchase of new pieces. The officials must ensure that all orders are then the collection, if for no other reason than protect the financial interests of their institution. Have they no business sense at all?
Granted, relocation of a collection the size of the Wilcox Collection is no small matter, especially when much of the campus is undergoing renovation. However, plans should be made for the space to the Wilcox Collection so that it can be moved quickly once the dust settles.
Several suitable locations will become available after the Watson renovation is completed and all of the books and equipment are moved back to the library. One of the old law libraries for the Wilcox Collection is the old law library reading room in Lippincott Hall.
The fact that the collection has been "temporarily stored" since 1965 is proof that previous administrations placed little value on the collection itself and on the numerous benefits it has to offer KU students. We can only hope the University's new administration will be able to shed some light—literally, as the storage shed is dark as well as damp and drafty—on the collection and its future.
American outlaws shrouded in romanticism
Last month, tales of the old outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde were brought to life seven inmates escaped from the Kansas State Penitentiary at Rosewood Corner. Additional outlaw idleaway, the Missouri Orakes,
These four were, shall we say, untrautative individuals. Murders. Rapiists. Kidnappers. Two of the convicts had to their eternal credit the crime of robbing a honeymonkey couple of $8 and raping the 16-year-old bride in a motel room as the groom was forced, at gunpoint, to watch.
Yet these men garnered something of a public following (not the least of which was a posse of 400 law enforcement officers) during the week that elapsed before the last of them was captured. I confess I was not totally immune to this sympathy, even though I could not rationally justify it. However, I think I can rationally explain it, with the help of a 9-year-old who said, as the search center on his Missouri hometown, "It's better than the movies."
Motion pictures have so instilled in our culture
Whatever the reason for the pennies being there, I must conclude that it's the Dyche honeybees that are responsible for the penny shortage I keep hearing about.
Pot Shots
A couple of things bother me by Dyche Museum. First, there's all that goop on the trees out front. Take a look; where else on campus are there trees with icky white goop them? I hope this goop isn't escaping from a jar of formaldehyde somewhere.
And second, in that big North American habitats exhibit, how do they get the little prey狼 dog to pop up out of his hole? Do they live in the hole for a little shock therapy, or what?
But most of all, I wonder about that honey
Could bee they're running a bank. First National Bee, so they’re the queen. The queen and all her drenns. If so, it is federally insured? If so, there are a severe penalty for early withdrawal?
Don Monday
tree exhibit on the upper floor. You know, the display where the beseive is.
Are they robbing gas stations by night? Or- judging from the preponderance of pennies in the tube—maybe they're mugging gumball machines.
Instead of continuing to ask the government to supply more money for loans, we need to understand that of these thieves so that a student who really has a loan, and who will pay it back, can get one.
Now, where in blazes do bees get all that money?
How 'bout it? Let's put pressure on these cheaters. City governments often print the names of delinquent taxpayers, maybe we should consider a similar policy.
Look at that little tube the bees use to go in and out of the hive. See all those pennies in the box.
A lovely bunch, college students are. We scream and kick because Congress is drastically reducing the size of the student loan program. No one will be able to afford an education any more. But before anyone takes it further, they must pay the sour apples who aren't paying back their loans. They are one reason the program is being cut.
George Stewart, the Endowment Association's controller, said it was difficult for him to understand why students borrowed books. "I'm not sure I can promise, I don't understand it either, George."
The Kansas University Endowment Association lost $78,000 last year in delinquent student loans. That money have paid 170 in-state tuition for one semester. Instead,
it has been written off and the rest of the students who borrow money are paying the price in higher interest rates.
Brian Levinson
Nationally, the federal government loses millions annually in defaulted student loans.
In recent years the telephone company lobbed another log into the hell of modern life. With Bell Telephone's Call-Waiting system, its mobile served phone conversations often sound like this:
"Ralph! This is Burf!"
"Calling from Hungry Horse. Mon.!"
Ralph. This is But!
{Bisloki? Burff Bisloki?}
"Hey, Martha- it's Burf Bielski all the way from Montana!"
"How's the little woman after twenty years, Rahib?"
"Has it been that---" CLICKETY-GLICK
"Let me put you on hold for a minute,
Burt."
(Ten expensive minutes later) "Sorry, Burf. I thought that might have been the president calling. I sent him a letter last week concerning my plan for the economy."
"Fine, Ralph. So how—" CLICKETY-CLICK "are you?"
"Uh . . . Burf, could you hold-Burf? Burf? Huey, Martha, Burfw up on me!"
Although this Call-Waiting system was designed for important people, most VIPs know better than to employ rude devices. I suspect Call-Waiting sels best to the person who lives on the edge of his seat, waiting for a bus or car; he will be bored if he bears tidings of only curiosity and concern, Call-Waiting's CLICKETY-CLICK often makes a slacky slippage in the face.
the notion of the outlaw as an attractive ad-
vice, which would mean a readjusted re洁读 to reality as we leave the cinema.
Recently I who "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." Who, with even the slightest bit of daring in his soul, could resist pushing for Kris Kristofferson to pull his gun on the deputies? The slack-jawed, lackadaisal manner of Kristofferson was the Kid" irresistible. We all like naturals.
But draw a bead on Billy the Kid as he really was. A photograph of William Bonney shows us
BEN
JONES
a small, impish face curled into a weak sneer. There is little of Kristofferson's broad, bronzed, easy-going grace. The movie was a glorification of a coward.
The American fascination for fugitives goes deeper than a strip of cellulose. The United States, developing from an untamed land, has spent much of its history with folks who paid no great heed to laws made by men in stiff-starched collars. I wonder whether our front past, combined with a flexible class structure, has not produced a national sentiment for the underdog that is stronger here than in nations. For Joe Suburb, who aspires to be upward mobile, it is a natural viewpoint to take.
The common obstacle to such aspirations is "the system." An escaped convict is pitted against the system in high drama; he is alone, but he has been so as he struggles against regimented supression.
From this detachment from society arises brazenness. A "lifer" can say what he likes because he has nothing to lose, having lost everything already. One tends to admire anyone who speaks his mind on all fronts. I am disturbed not because convicts can be honest, but because honesty surfaces so rarely anymore that even to find it in a murderer seems a refreshing change. The word 'conder' to what extent expediency governs the way and actions of those of us with a stake in society.
Such a role hints at our concept of tragedy and perhaps explains why the devout Milton could not overcome an unconscious sympathy for an antagonist whose actions were single and spurred by the moment. In "Paradise Lost," the character Satan actually emerges with qualities
Unlike the convicts, very few of us can afford to toss caution to the wind. As students, we must consider commitments and consequences; the convicts had no such concerns. Their "jobs" were life-appointed and waiting for them back at Lansing. In a sense, this "job security" makes it easier to have more integrity than many of us, for he can afford to be his own man, though it be in bonds.
much more vivid and attractive than those of either God the Father or the Son: Milton's inspirational fires created for Satan a much better literary figure.
In a similar way, the escaped convicts provided much better "copy" for journalists than did the law; the cons had better quotes. The last inmate to be captured was asked the question: Was he the one who was plied the ordeal was over. He responded in the true dauntless spirit of Milton's Satan:
I have a feeling the inmate wasn't alone in his wish. Inherent public sympathy for the wrong side seems to indicate that human nature is naturally evil and must be ruled by reason. Just as government must have a safeguard of checks and balances to prevent abuses, so must society have prisons to contain individuals who break its laws. It does no good to argue that prisoners who can outwit the system by escaping a maximum-security institution should not be caught and put back—that argument would undermine the very purpose of a prison.
To understand the true character of the escaped convicts, and to realize the true necessity of prisons, a quote by a hostage of the escape is helpful. The man, forced to drive for the convicts, said, "I was in prison for five years and I knew some bad dudes, but I never were around them," and as really spary, as these three. They just don't give a rip about anything or anybody."
To wish for the freedom of such men is to want our own destruction. I'll leave that one to the psychanalysts, but the phenomenon raises the challenge of strives for freedom without jeopardizing society.
Any profession will reward talent and effort with a loosened yoke. But such freedom to step out of the pecking order must come as a privilege, not from pointing an 12-guage shotgun at someone's nose. We certainly should not be glorifying actions of the latter sort.
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