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Tuesday, November 7, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Legislation vital to protect freedoms of homosexuals
Massachusetts soon will become the second state to enact legislation banning discrimination against homosexuals in employment, credit and housing. Kansas should become the third.
Opponents of such legislation point to a purported lack of evidence supporting a case that homosexuals are the target of discrimination. For example, in 1988 the Lawrence City Commission, after much debate, decided against amending Lawrence's human rights ordinance to prohibit homosexual discrimination. At the time, Commissioner (now Mayor) Bob Schumm said, "I find no documented evidence of discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation. We do need factual data."
The question is, how much discrimination is enough before government takes action? Documentation of discrimination often is difficult to find because people are afraid to testify.
Furthermore, even though overt and blatant discrimination might not be apparent, covert discrimination does exist and can be even more insidious. Enough homosexuals have come forward to offer examples of discrimination that it is impossible to believe it does not exist.
Opponents of legislation banning discrimination against homosexuals also say it provides rights to a group on the basis of its behavior. Government does not grant rights; it protects them from abuse. Each person has the right to live and work wherever he wants without fear of prejudice.
The issue is not so much a gay-rights issue as it is a civil rights issue. Discrimination in any form strikes at the heart of a free and enlightened society. Kansas should ensure that such discrimination does not find a place here.
Daniel Niemi for the editorial board
Minimum wage law leads to more harm than good
President Bush and Congress have buckled under political pressure and passed legislation that will increase the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.25 an hour by 1991. Increasing the minimum wage will be counterproductive in the fight against poverty.
First, the increase undoubtedly will put the working poor on the fringe out of work. Those earning minimum wages from employers who can't afford to pay more will lose their jobs. These are the workers who need help the most.
Second, this bill provides an incentive for employers to fire older workers, who are perhaps heads of households with families to support, and hire teen-agers. Because the bill allows employers to pay a subminimum training wage to newly hired teens, some employers will take advantage of the law and fire established workers to lower their costs. This incentive will be especially high in industries dominated by unskilled labor, where training is easy or unnecessary and where the working poor already is concentrated. Again, the working poor will be the hardest hit.
Third, even if you believe that a higher minimum wage is the answer, a minimum wage of $4.25 an hour still would leave a household of four with one working parent $4,000 below the poverty line. Obviously, another answer has to be found.
Congress is attacking the symptoms of the disease. Throwing money at the symptoms through social programs and a higher minimum wage will solve nothing. Congress should attack the problem.
Instead of trying to compensate for the economy's shortcomings by increasing wages and forcing employers to lay off workers and raise prices, Congress should concentrate on trying to maintain a healthy, growing economy. Increasing the cost of doing business contributes nothing to this end.
By leaving the market economy to its own devices and encouraging foreign and domestic investment, Congress will do more for this country's poor than any minimum wage law ever could.
Don't stifle the economy. Allow it to grow. Jobs and higher wages will follow, in turn.
Stan Diel for the editorial board
Members of the editorial board are David Stewart, Stan Diel, Brett Brenner, Ric Brack, Daniel Nieml, Craig Welch, Kathy Walsh, Thom Clark, Tiffany Harness and Scott Patty.
News staff
David Stewart . . . . .
Business staff
Linda Prokop...Business manager
Debra Martin...Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford...National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe...Marketing director
Tami Rank...Production manager
Carrie Stankina...Assistant production manager
George Townsend...Group Treasurer
Eric Hughes...Creative director
Christi Dool...Classified manager
Jeff Meesey...Tearsheet manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Brazil faces a turning point Citizens to vote in nation's long-awaited presidential election
In a time in which there is so much political instability throughout South and Central America, one important move is about to take place in a continent affected by poverty, drugs and wars. On Nov. 15, Brazil, the biggest country in South America and one of its greatest powers, is going to elect a president for the first time in 29 years, completing the nation's attempt to implement democracy.
The people of Brazil last elected their president in 1960. In 1964, after a military coup disrupted the government, Brazilians were ruled by a military dictatorship that repressed the country. The population lost its freedom, and the media could not express the real opinions of the nation. Many reporters and brave Brazilians, who struggled for the right to express their discontent with the dictatorship, were sent into exile, killed, or they simply disappeared. It was during this period that Brazil acquired its huge, unpayable external debt. The military leaders, in the name of developing and promoting the country, borrowed billions of dollars, mainly from U.S. banks.
Instead of using the money for the welfare of the country, as it should have been used, these leaders kept nourishing their bank accounts. This left the Brazilian population unattended and in misery. Brazil became a country in which the words "middle class" almost disappeared. Brazil has few people with money and power, and more than half of its population of about 154 million people are living in poverty.
In 1984, for the first time since 1964, the National Congress installed a non-military president, Tancredo Neves. It was an important victory for the struggle for democracy that was begun in 1982 by former President General Joao Baptista de Figueiredo. He had allowed Brazilians exiled in the post-revolution period to return to the country to help start a new era governed by the democracy-seeking population.
Unfortunately, Neves, the hope of the whole nation, was unable to take office. He became sick the day before his inauguration and died a month and six days after what would have been his glorious day. However, Vice President Jose Sarney became a president who tried to follow all the steps Neves would have followed toward democracy in Brazil. Though Sarney has had a lot of problems during his administration, such as an inflation rate of 40 percent a month, he has supervised the writing of a new constitution. This framework gave him the legal
Isaias Reis
Guest columnist
tools to lead the country to its long-awaited presidential election.
Why is all of this so important for Brazil and for the world? Brazil is one of the countries that has a great deal of the world's natural resources. The Amazon Jungle has the potential to keep the world's population breathing. A strong and serious government is needed to save the rain forest. This same strong government is also needed to govern in a way that it can pay its external debt and keep the country moving toward becoming one of the main powers in the world. Brazil can set an example to the Third World by showing that there are ways out of poverty and underdevelopment other than drugs and wars.
The Brazilian population, faced with the opportunity to elect its own president, is having a hard time figuring out who the best leader among the candidates would be. Surveys have shown a tendency to choose the right wing candidate, Fernando Collar de Melo, who is a very successful businessman. Collor also has done a very good job as the governor of the state of Alagoas. On the other hand, people also show a great desire for a radical change. Surveys have shown the socialist candidate Leonel Brizola, former governor of Rio de Janeiro, in second place, and Luis Ignacio da Silva, a labor union leader, in third place. The popularity of these two candidates demonstrates the nation's discontent with the political ideas and behavior of the politicians now ruling the country.
Therefore, Nov. 15 will be a turning point not only for Brazil but also for the world. It is expected that this nation, given the power to choose its own destiny, will choose the right leader. More important, it is expected that such a leader will be able to help the world become a better place to live.
> Islasa Reis is vice president of the Brazil-Portugal Association.
Sea-condo idea is a washout
Company for the 'floating estates' must have gone adrift
First came the concept of condominiums, which wasn't all that difficult to grasp. You lived in a big building, at one time it would have been called an apartment building, but you didn't rent your apartment. You owned it.
Then came the concept of time-sharing, which was a little trickier. You bought your condominium unit, say, in Florida, and you stayed there during your vacations. When you weren't there, you rented it out to other people. If the deal was put together right, you could arrange to have the same groups of people staying in your vacation home during the same weeks of every year. Through time-sharing, your vacation condominium could pay for itself.
After that came the concept of weird condominium ideas. No longer were condos limited to apartments. In several large cities, it was proposed that parking spaces be sold on a condo basis. The idea was that parking lots were becoming so overcrowded that the wise motorist would be willing to buy a condo parking slot, just as he might buy a condo home, and thus be assured of a place to show the car every working day.
Now comes a new idea. As we shall see later in the column, this is anything but a done deal, and there are all kinds of questions about it. Nevertheless, it is a combination of the condominium concept and the time-share concept that is enough to make you shake your head in wonderment.
A company identifying itself as Swiss America Line has issued a proposal offering "A new investment concept. Purchase a sea-going condominium, your private stateroom on the luxurious cruise ship Violette I. . Unique opportunity for individual or corporate investment in the booming Caribbean cruise industry and one of the world's great cruise ships."
According to the proposal, persons who purchase the condo stateroom will be allowed "free use of your stateroom two weeks a year, and you will receive the revenues of its use the repainting 50 weeks."
Bob Greene
The proposal says that if you purchase one of these floating condo, also called "se estates," you will enjoy "the finest appointments: designer staterooms and suites, 4-star dining, fine wine, grand salons, friendly crew . . . and the pleasures of a Caribbean cruise; sun lounges, interiors, swimming pool, entertainment." Visit diff. sites every year as the Victoire I rotates her schedule throughout the Caribbean Islands and the world."
It's an intriguing idea, although not one for the skittish.
If you're the kind of person who owns a vacation condo
and is always wondering in the back of your mind just
what kind of time-share people are staying in your home
Svndicated columnist
this particular week, think of the anxiety that owning a sea-going time-share condo stateroom would bring on. Not only would you not know who was staying in your stateroom, but you wouldn't even know where the darned thing was. At least with a vacation condo apartment you can be pretty sure that it's sitting on the piece of land where you last saw it. With this thing, your condominium could be in Bermuda or off the coast of Nassau. Heck, they could sail it anywhere, and they wouldn't even have to tell you.
A company identifying itself as Swiss America Line has issued a proposal offering 'A new investment concept. Purchase a seagoing condominium, your private stateroom on the luxurious cruise ship Victorie I.'
Before you get too excited about this, we should back up. Earlier in the column, we mentioned that this seemed to be anything but a done deal. Please read on.
We attempted to contact the Swiss America Line at its Miami headquarters to find out more, including details about the ship itself, the off-referred-to Victore I. A man gave some sketchy information and asked that we call back the next day. When we did, a second man giving the same name as the first man gave us a bit more information. He admitted that they were different people but did not say why they had used the same name. We were advised to contact the company's San Francisco office.
In the weeks since, the company seems to have floated out to sea. In Miami, receptionists refer us to San Francisco. The San Francisco number has been disconnected. Often in Miami someone will pick up the phone and hang it up without saying hello; sometimes the phone will ring for awhile and just stop. After dozens of calls, we are left to conclude that the floating condominium time-share company does not wish to be reached.
Which is too bad. We just wanted to know if the deck chairs were going too too.
chairs were going comedo too.
**Bob Greene is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.**
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Hockey deserves attention
I would like to commend Elaine Sung on her column about ice hockey. It was refreshing to read an article by someone who appreciates the sport as much as I do. I, too, was surprised at the complete lack of interest in hockey when I arrived here in Lawrence three years ago.
It is rather discouraging to open a Kansas City newspaper and to see little if any hockey coverage. Furthermore, all of the television stations in Kansas City reported absolutely nothing during the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Every year Kansas City has an NHL exhibition game and draws around 10,000 people — for an exhibition game? There is interest in hockey in Kansas.
Thanks in large part to Student Senate, the University of Kansas has had a hockey team for five years and is undefeated in the season thus far. Do you think anyone even knew we had a team? I doubt it. As a member of the team, I am proud to serve the University of Kansas, as are the rest of the team. On road trips it is rather amusing to hear teams Iowa, Missouri and Illinois comment on hockey in the sunflower state. Comments such as "What do you do, freeze over the wheeled fields?" or "What do you use as a zamboni, a combine?" are frequently heard.
Todd Cleveland St. Louis junior
Elaine, thanks for your support of such a great sport. Don't worry, you are not alone in your love for hockey. Although hockey and Kansas are not exactly synonymous, there are nevertheless hockey enthusiasts in Lawrence.
Senate aim is sensitivity
Student Senate has not placed freedom of the press at the University of Kansas in jeopardy.
The bill passed by Senate two weeks ago requires that all groups financed by block allocations from the student activity fee present a plan showing a good faith effort to implement and enforce the recommendations of the Minority Issues Task Force. Groups failing to do so risk losing their funds from the activity fee.
Arguing that this bill constitutes a violation of First Amendment freedoms is absolutely ridiculous. The First Amendment protects the right of the press to be free of prior restraint from the government. This protection was strengthened by the Sulprem Court in New York Times Co. vs. United States, the 1971 case dealing with the Pentagon Papers. Student Senate has no ability whatsoever to exercise prior restraint on the Kansan. No government, including Senate, has a constitutional obligation to finance a media outlet, including the Kansan.
The intent of the bill is to increase sensitivity to minorities on campus. There is no reason the Kansan should be exempt from this legislation, any more than any other organization financed by Senate should be exempt. Moreover, if the changes recommended by the Task Force are "real and threatening", why did the Kansan staff see the logic to implement them on their own? If these changes have been made, there is absolutely no threat, real or imagined, of the Kansan losing financing from this legislation. Inasmuch as student government should not be involved in attempts to implement these changes, there are serious questions which should be raised about how "free" the teacher is when receiving funds from a governmental organization. If the University Daily Kansan truly wishes to be free of the influence of government, serious consideration should be given to not requesting funds from the Student Activity Fee. Only then could the Kansan truly be free of influence.
Senate acted in a prudent manner by passing this piece of legislation. Arguing that attempting to increase minority sensitivity on campus infringes on First Amendment freedom is ludicrous, especially in light of the fact that the Kansan has already implemented the recommendations and would obviously not be affected by the bill. Student Senate strives to protect students' right to free speech on campus and does not have the time, the inclination or the interest to interfere with the affairs of the Kansan.
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Pat Warren
Student Senate Finance Committee
chairman
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