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Monday, October 30, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Buford Watson
It's hard to imagine Lawrence without Buford Watson.
It's hard to imagine Lawrence without Buford Watson. Watson, who had been city manager since 1970 and was only the fourth city manager in Lawrence, died of a heart attack early Wednesday morning.
For 19 years, Watson was the one constant in city government. City commissioners came and went, but Watson was always there. Watson was able not to survive but excel in a business that is dominated by the often arbitrary wishes of elected officials. No matter what the issue, Watson was always there with solid, pragmatic advice.
Watson also had a vision of the type of community Lawrence should be, and he worked toward that goal every day. The city's careful growth policy can be attributed to several people, but Watson's leadership ensured that Lawrence didn't expand beyond its capacity to maintain services.
Watson was the conscience of city government. He gave sound advice to city officials who sometimes were bent on pursuing illogical policies. Watson was a testament to integrity and dedication, even under fire.
Watson's leadership especially will be missed with the debate on the Western Development Plan and the Eastern Parkway. Both long-range plans will determine the shape of Lawrence in the future. Watson's clear-headed judgment would have been welcome in what is shaping up to be a divisive battle.
The business of city government will continue. The city commission will continue to plan for the future of Lawrence. For the first time in 19 years, however, Buford Watson will not be there to make sure the city is doing it right.
Lawrence is still a first-rate city, but it is a little less than it was now that one of its finest voices has died.
Daniel Nieml for the editorial board
Graduate students should be more active in Senate
Much ad has been made recently about the quality of representation graduate students receive, particularly concerning the spending of their student activity money. James Muir, formerly a graduate student senator, undertook a one-man boycott of Student Senate, claiming that graduate students were not well-represented. He was right. Only two of 14 graduate seats were filled, one if you exclude Muir, who was absent, observing the boycott.
The only other graduate student senator declined to join the boycott. So an effort to increase the control that graduate students have over their money ended up cutting in half the number of graduate students participating in decisions about how that money is spent. Not exactly what Muir had in mind.
But now Student Senate is doing something. A bill that would form a graduate affairs committee has been tabled for consideration Nov. 8. A number of graduate students (living, breathing graduate students,) have expressed interest in serving on Senate and on the committee. James Muir has expressed concern. He thinks the committee could infringe on the authority of the Graduate Student Council.
Muir was at the forefront of efforts to get Senate to be more responsive to the needs of graduate students. And now that Senate has taken action, Muir has resigned from Senate. What a shame. Although it is easy to claim that Muir's actions have been misdirected, without his actions, Senate would never have done anything to address graduate students' problems. The fact that 12 graduate seats were unfilled leads one to believe that graduate students weren't about to help themselves.
The problem was not the undergraduates who were in Senate, it was the graduate students who were not. Muir should have vented his frustrations at graduate students for not taking advantage of the opportunity to represent themselves in Senate. Instead, he made Senate his target.
Graduate students and undergraduates may not be alike in all respects. But they are all students at the same university, so one Senate can represent both groups.
Stan Diei for the editorial board
Muir is largely responsible for prodding Senate into action. It is too bad he can't be more supportive of Senate's active effort to encourage graduate student participation. The graduate affairs committee is a good idea.
Members of the editorial board are David Stewart, Stan Diel, Brett Brenner, Ric Brack, Daniel Nieml, Craig Welch, Kathy Walsh, Deb Gruver, Thom Clark and Tiflany Harness.
News staff
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
Daniel Nieml...News editor
Candy Niemann...Planning editor
Stan Dole...Editorial editor
Jennifer Corase..Campus editor
Elaine Sung...Sports editor
Laura Husar...Photo editor
Christine Winner...Arts/Features editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
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 Slankins...Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend...Co-op manager
Chelsea director
Christi Dool...Classified manager
Jeff Meesey...Teasheet manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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工程案例解析及技术指标
Long hair pulls up KU stereotypes
Image of burned flags, drugs and rebellion evoke laughter, not true lifestyle
You'd never guess my friends and I are head bangers. There's no way you could know that our idea of a good time is getting stoned, listening to Black Sabbath (real loud) and yelling at chicks while cruising in my roommate's Chevelle. We also occasionally enjoy holding up the local 7-Eleven on the way to our coven meetings north of town. And I believe if you met me, you never would suspect that the remains of a burned American flag hang in my room next to my Ronald Reagan dart board. Why, just the other a girl in my philosophy class was surprised (as anyone would have been) to find I the notorious Midwest-Barn Burner she saw on "America's Most Wanted."
"Yeah," I told her, "I love watching barns burn, all that hay and stuff. It's a rush." She asked me something, "No, the horses usually, nearly always, almost get out OK." At that, her expression changed, and she walked away disgusted. Some people.
Like I was saying, you never would know if you met me that I was such a rogue. The only thing that might tip you off is my long hair, the holes in my jeans and my Harley jacket. Of course, observant types might be tipped off by the Slayer concert T-shirt I wear everyday, but I doubt it.
I can't lie anymore. My friends and I don't listen
David
Hull
Staff columnist
The truth is that I was not surprised to find "one female senior of quiet demeanor" who believes that guys with long hair are "usually the ones who are on drugs or listening to loud music or hanging out down at The Crossing." I'm referring to the article in the Kansan (Oct. 18) headlined "Long-haired men cut stereotypes." I got a laugh out of this quiet-demeaned person. I think most guys with long hair should have.
to Black Sabbath. Well, only on strange occasions.
We don't get stoned nor do we lay at "chicks." On occasion we've been known to yell at young women (ones we know, of course). And my roommate's car isn't a Chevette. It's a Yugo, which we don't drive because we're too broke to buy gas. And since we don't belong to a coven, it is somewhat difficult to rob Lawrence non-existent 7-Elevens on the way to occult rituals. And truthfully, I think burning the flag is distasteful, but I don't think it should be unconstitutional. And the Reagan dart board . . . well some things are better left unsaid. About the barns, my grandparents are ranchers and I am very sympathetic toward barns and horses. I would hang (not literally) a person threatening either. I don't have a Slayer T-shirt, nor do I have a Harley jacket, but I would if they didn't cost so much. My hair is not incredibly long, but it's growing. And some of my jeans do have holes in them.
My hair is not terribly long. It's just long enough to make my parents uncomfortable and no, Bible Belt America, rebellion is not my motive for growing it long. I've not seen my grandparents since my hair was buzzed more than half-an-inch long last February. My grandparents are from a small southern Kansas town where hair is short and demeanor is quiet. Needless to say, this Thanksgiving is sure to be interesting. Mom wants me to get a little cut off in the back so it doesn't look so long. She says I'll be doing her and Dad a favor and also says something about saving face.
What I can't figure out is, why all the fuss over hair? I really don't mind the idea of getting my hair cut, but I'm afraid of what my dad will do when he sees the rose tatooed on the back of my neck.
▶ David Hull is a Wichita freshman majoring in journalism and Soviet studies.
Superman suit to go up, up, away
Most fancy auctions hold no interest for me. Paintings by Frenchmen, fragile-looking antiques, Chinese vases . . . hey, someone may be willing to pay a lot of money for them but I can never quite understand why.
There is an auction coming up Nov. 4, however,
that has me salivating. It is being held by Camden
House Auctioneers in Los Angeles and features a
number of valuable items. But the item that has
me almost giddy with excitement is a priceless
oil portrait or an exquisite Oriental tapestry. No,
this item, which is expected to sell for between
$50,000 and $60,000 is
Oh, let's just have Barry Vikin, the president of the auction house describe it.
"This is the actual Superman costume that
were wore in the 'Superman' TV series," Vikilin said.
And not just any Superman, but the television Superman as portrayed by George Reeves. Interestingly, to watch the "Superman" episodes today is to be struck by how un-Supermanlike George Reeves often appeared. He was OK as Clark Kent, but once he put that Superman costume on he seemed to take on an almost mincing quality that was more like a great aunt than the Man of Steel. We didn't notice that back then, though, and when Superman would fly into the air, with that theme music swelling in the background, nothing was
And it is true. "The Adventures of Superman" appeared on television from 1982 to 1987, and it is still seen in reruns. By the time Superman made it to television, he was already a comic book and radio hero, but the television series made him a universal icon. I doubt if there is an American boy of a certain generation who did not secretly fantasize about what it must be like to be Superman.
Bob Greene
Syndicated columnist
more thrilling.
And now Superman's costume is going to be auctioned off. Why does Barry Vilkin think that his auction house will get in excess of $50,000 for it? Why would people be willing to bid that kind of money?
Barry Vilkin thinks his auction house will get in excess of $50,000 for the Superman costume.
"For the love of the idea," Vilkin said. "For what it represents to them."
Certainly the costume itself is not worth that price. I have seen color photographs of it. It appears kind of moth-eaten and ratty. The top of it is made of a blue cotton-wool knit, with the "S" insignia made of red and yellow wool sewn to the front of the garment. The red, silk cape is attached to the jersey, gathers at the shoulders and hangs to the floor. There is another "S" insignia on the cape, identical to the one on the Jersey. There is a zipper down the back of the jersey, hidden by the cape. The matching blue tights have stirrups for
the feet. There are "creme salin undershorts"
(this is the official auction wording) to wear
beneath the tights, and a pair of red cotton wool
shorts to be worn over the tights. There are five
belt loops at various points around the waistband
of the shorts.
Whoever buys the Superman costume will use it in whatever way he or she wishes, of course. Vilkin's wife urged him to try it on, "but I'm not going to do that," he said.
There have been other Superman costumes in the years since the end of the "Superman" TV show, most notably the ones worn by actor Christopher Reeve (no relation to the late George Reeves). Viklin does not believe that the Christie-Reeves novel is a fictional price the George Reeves costume will get. Apparently the George Reeves, Superman mystique is much stronger.
Vilkin admits that one part of the costume is not in such great shape.
"The rubber false body is a little fragile," he said.
Is there a chance that this knowledge may dispoint potential bidders?
"Yes," Vilkin said. "There is a rubber, built-in body mold inside the costume's chest area." The rubber body mold was utilized to create the appearance "of rock-hard muscles in the shoulders, arms and torso. It was to make George Reeves look better. Apparently he was not that muscular."
The rubber false body?
"No." Vikin said. "There's something nice about knowing that Superman was only human."
▶ Bb Greene is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
CAMP UHNEELY
BY SCOTT PATTY