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Opinion
University Daily Kansan, July 29, 1982
Painful budget surgery
A few weeks ago, the Board of Regents found themselves in a no-win situation. Funds that the State Legislature had allocated to Regents schools suddenly were not there. So more money had to be cut from an already tight budget.
Before the messy task of axing funding began, the Regents knew that any decision would be unpopular and that some injustice would be done. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Regents had to choose which funding was crucial and which funding was merely very important.
The new equipment that was to be purchased undoubtedly was needed, the promotions that were to be given undoubtedly were deserved, and the new personnel that will not be hired undoubtedly will be sorely
missed. And there is no doubt that the cancellation of the classified employees' merit pay increase was a raw deal for many hardworking state employees.
But the budget decisions made by the Regents were made according to a sound goal: to protect the quality of education at the University of Kansas. At a time when the federal government is cutting back student financial assistance and when KU's faculty salaries have fallen dangerously far behind those at peer institutions, priority had to be given to these areas.
Although no one likes it when KU is stuck between a rock and a hard place, at least the Regents proved themselves to be on solid ground.
Don't touch that dial... there's a commercial!
By GEORGE KONETSKY
Guest Columnist
MODERN MEDIA are prized for their ability to produce high-speed transmissions of news, sports and programs at the touch of a dial. Condensed versions of breaking stories and even some books and movies are brought to vouchily and above all, quickly.
For a time, watching television was a certain fascination for me. There was much tighter censorship, and therefore more careful writing in the past, "The Avengers," for example, new science fiction to die off camera in true Victorian fashion. Even in the wild and woolly '60s, the sight of Barbara Eden's naval during prime time on I "Dream of Jeanne" was considered scandalous and was censored by NBC (perhaps because her name was the subject of a book called "Angel" and "Dallas" would have had to have considerably tamer in those days.
But I became really interested in television after an unusual night in grade school. On a local New York station, a horror film abruptly ended several minutes before the hour. It must have been a result of some technician's error, but it is not as horrific as it looks on commercials. These included some of the best, and of course some of the worst, moments in television.
THEE WAS THE "Stronger than Dirt" and one that featured bellies of every description at work and play accompanied by the then popular instrumental "No Matter What Shape You're In." And there was an intriguing soft-drink ad that showed a glass of ice being filled with beverage to background sounds of laughter and conversation. The last sound was the fizz dissipating. I was becoming thirsty.
It was then that I realized one of the great truths about television. Most commercials, no matter how innocuous they seem, are as good as the average program for their wit, artfulness and clarity. In fact, in most cases, comedians are simply better. That's right, better.
COMMERCIALS GENERALLY OFFER a specific product simply, artfully and quickly. There is no waiting around to see "Charlie the Angels" finally figure out who the crooks are when we knew a half-hour ago. The dialogue is so rich that you can tell one who watches soap operas knows how vacious the verbage can be in an hour of programming.
And do you remember Karl Malden's nostalgic chatter in that one crime-stopper show? Like most TV detectives, he does things his own charming way. He is a hero and a father figure. He closed the generation gap and he is a good guy and a bit of a fascist. How ironic that we believe him when he sells us travelers' financial security.
FINALLY, there is one area where commercials are without equal—the area of artful visual imagery. During the last Super Bowl, I saw such an optical odyssey. It began with a man in a suit holding a gold emblem that surrounded him and receded into the distance behind him (could this be a symbolic vision of the fruits of corporate America?). This was my first time ever raising up and then floating gently above billow clouds. It was beautiful.
Now you could argue that commercials deal in stereotyped images of people, all with the same needs and ideals buying the same products to make them healthy and happy. But surely most programs, featuring "beautiful people," all well dressed and self-satisfied, project the same homogenized ideals. You are actually being sold a lifestyle by most programs, especially ones that give away greed-busting prizes and money.
IT MAY BE A TESTAMENT to the growth of cable TV that the rest of television has gone to saucer programs and dramatic one-minute news breaks, which are essentially commercials for regular news programming that打你 into a sense of feeling inside of the Russians. The growth of the movie industry caused a similar decline in vaudeville.
In some ways commercials can be surreal, or just plain cruel. As when, especially on a weekend night, one sees "beautiful people" partying and girls at the beach drinking "just one calorie" only to be shifted to a tantalizing close-up view of the terrain of a delicate molten-c cheese pizza with a thick crust. Or on one football afternoon, when the bumping and running are followed by the sight of a beautiful mountain vista and a catchy tune about being all you and a tank suddenly rises into view and points straight at you.
ONE SUNDAY that scene was followed by several men in identical suits carrying identical briefcases out of identical neighboring houses. They all checked their watches in tandem and climbed into identical Japanese cars, only to repeat the scene as they entered the same office building, presumably to carry out their functions in the private sector. This is so close to reality that it is scary. No primetime program would do that!
There have been demographic changes in the TV audience that have had an effect on shows also. The popularity of "Dallas," a prime-time opera, may be because of the increasing number of working mothers who once saw such programs in the afternoons but now watch them only in adult nature of the shows may be because, for the first time in the history of the United States Census, more households in America are occupied by unmarried people than by families. Despite the Moral Majority's complaints, which overlook this fact, shows may show that these women are restrained. After all, have you seen your favorite on "Fantasy Island" yet?
BUT THROUGH ALL the trends, commercials have had to retain the same level of quality as always, and have even been enhanced by adapting to newer technology faster, such as computer-aided imagery. Perhaps programs should follow their lead and condense whole adventures into one or two minutes themselves, preceded occasionally by a half-hour pilot to fill us in on the details of the characters or of the general story.
IMAGINE THE SKILL involved in condensing a plot down to only the most relevant parts, or choosing suggestive images to be interlaced with some dialogue or narrative. You will see that it is important what less so, by conceiving a program around the products of a certain company that was saving a marriage or a life or that was solving high crimes and correcting injustices. "If the killer had only used 'Henderson' cleanser and 'Fluffy' paper towels to clean up the evidence, or maybe a 'Johnson Power-Mate' drill, he would have been able to complete the rest of the time could be filled with movies and sports, and of course those colorful, flavorful and exciting commercials.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and is currently a senior in the School of Fine Arts.
Sue Santos '82
'An American Gothic Horror Story'
By JOE BARTOS Editorial Editor
Ever since philosophers and scientists first preoccupied themselves with the nature of human existence, age has been a vital concern of Western humanity. As individuals and as a society, the passage of time has tested our customs and our beliefs. This experience has proven age to be a powerful undercurrent that inevitably surfaces to sweep us in some new direction.
Age is an inevitable part of our lives. We age.
We are an age. We are living in an age. And
throughout our lives we pass from age to age.
AMERICA IS A NATION that was born with the onset of the industrial age. With abundant natural resources, a constant supply of cheap labor and an abundance of our country rose to dominate the modern era.
we in the New World were spared much of the anguish suffered by the Old World as the industrial revolution tore up the social fabric of Europe. We had a fresh start, and by lucky accident, became an industrial society with relative ease and even greater success.
BY THE END of World War II, we had grown to become the dominant power in the world, at the center of a vast military and economic system that stretched across virtually all parts of the earth and influenced the daily affairs of most of the planet. The next two decades saw the rise of the United States and further extended the nation of our nation in the activities of far-flung corners of the world.
The age which the United States had come to dominate was fed by industrial growth. Sustained economic growth has been the basis for the American story of success. But events of the past decade indicate that we may have discovered limits to our growth and that with that discovery of limits, we may be witnessing the passing of the Industrial Age.
WE ARE ENCOUNTERING LIMITS both within and from without our economic system. From within, we are experiencing a growing inefficiency in our system due to rising energy costs, rising costs to control pollution and the increasing autonomy among nations that in the past have supplied us with cheap labor and resources. From without, we are experiencing physical limitations due to finite supplies of natural resources and the loss of markets, again, because of increasing autonomy among developing and Third World nations.
Thus, in the past decade, we have begun to feel the rumblings of change: severe inflation, unemployment and economic inertia. As these problems have become chronic, the American public has become disgruntled, voting to change presidents three times in the past six years.
WHERE THIS GRAND SWEEP of events leaves us is here, now, with Ronald Reagan, a man who promises us a return to the good old days—a very popular promise in an America suffering from chronic pain. Playing on the dissatisfaction of the American government and with Jimmy Carter in particular, the skilled, seasoned actor delivered his promise two years ago to an eager
audience that longed for the golden years that Reagan spoke so affectionately of.
But the golden years that Ronald Reagan promises is a senile dream. To repeat the past may be fine for an interior decorator, but as a national policy it is a disaster. The many miracles Reagan has promised have simply not materialized.
HE PROMISED a balanced budget and he delivered a record deficit. He promised a consistent, strong foreign policy and he delivered an agenda that included reducing unemployment again and he delivered record unemployment.
But Ronald Reagan is not to blame. He did not invent the theory of supply-side (trickle down) economics or the notion of the Red Menace or the Black Nuclear against the serious extremism and intolerance of his policies.
THE REACTIONARY FORCES that Ronald Reagan represents are not to blame either. They are too small to have elected Reagan and too weak to push his policies through Congress.
Who is to blame is the American public and their desire to believe in simple, easy solutions to complex problems. Without the American public childish belief in Reagan's Norman Rockwell fantasy, the Reagan presidency would still be a distant, harmless threat.
THE PASSAGE OF TIME is inevitable. And with it, so is an advance in age. To deny a change in age is to deny reality. To cling to a dead past is folly. Unless America can somehow come to its senses, the next chapter of our history may be a horror story.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
On Jan. 11, the other departmental secretary took a medical leave of absence; since that time I have been doing the work of two secretaries. I have worked through my lunch hour many times trying to get caught up with all the work. My supervisor recognizes my efforts and asks me to re-classify the work more than a year. His request to have my position reclassified to secretary III was denied.
Merit pay loss undermines worker incentive
Your recent articles on the merit pay freeze have prompted me to write. I have been employed at the University of Kansas Medical Center for more than three years.
Two years ago a new merit raise system was put into effect. I, like many other classified employees, was bumped back to step A with the promise that this would be a better system — that in time I would be eligible for a three-step merit increase.
After waiting all this time I was finally eligible July I for the three-step increase. I got my usual "outstanding" evaluation, which qualified me for the three-step increase.
So what happens? Gov. Carlin squashes the merit increases. Oh, yes, we do get a 6.5 percent cost-of-life increase, but that is not a reward for a job well done. Any newly hired employee would benefit from that because it automatically reduces the minimum salary for every classification.
Kansas Telephone Numbers
Newsroom--864-4510
Business Office--864-4328
Linda D. Carr
KANSAN
The University Daily
Editor Business Manager
Coral Beach Sharon Boden
Managing Editor Marshia Finck
Campus Editor Janet Murphy
Assistant Campus Editor Catherine Belhan
Assistant Campus Editor Cynthia Henriot
Editorial Editor Joe Barton
Wire Logo Editor Kirsten Pownter
Retail Sales Manager Marshia Kobe
National College Classified Larry Allison
Back & School Coordinator Max Harron
Sales and Marketing Adviser John Oberman
General Manager and Classified John Oberman
What kind of system is this? Why should I continue to work so hard? Indeed, why should I even bother doing a good job? Where is the incentive?
(SUS 650-46) Published at the University of Kansas daily August through May and Thursday during June and July except Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas or at another location. Student subscriptions are $3 a semester, paid through the student activity fee. Postmaster: Send changes of address to the University Daily Kanaan, Finish Hall, the University of Kansas.
A new person starting at my job July I would make more than I was making June 30. What it boils down to is that, after more than three years of hard work for the state, I earn $51 a month more than a person coming off the street startling at the secretary II level.
Letters Policy
The new secretary has to learn the job, but,
because she automatically received the cost-of-
living increase, her salary is $15 a month higher
than that of the person she replaced, who had
worked here for one and one-half years and knew
the job.
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters.
University of Kansas Medical Center
On July 1 we hired a new secretary I to replace the one who had been on a medical leave of absence and has now been advised by her doctors that she will not be able to return to
Correct figures given
...ne thursday, July 7, edition of the Kanran,
two figures—$1.93 billion and $2 billion—were
quoted as the projected price for the Wolf Creek
waters were quite noticeable. But why the mix-up?
Kendall Simmons apparently thinks the discrepancy resulted from a "willingness to exaggerate one's facts and figures." Unfortunately, Kendall, nothing could be further from the truth.
To the Editor
The $1.93 billion price tag for Wolf Creek was quoted in reference to a May 23 Wishia Eagle Beacon article that forecasted a 69 percent rate hike for Kansas Gas and Electric Co. customers. The $1.93 billion figure was one of the criteria used in computing the rate hike.
In my guest column I asserted that Wolf Creek would cost at least $2 billion. That figure was taken from the June 10 edition of the Burlington Daily Republican, which stated, "the most recent estimate by KG&E is that Wolf Creek will cost $2 billion." In the same article, Richard "Pete" Loux, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission said that a Nuclear Regulatory
Commission forecasting team and he thought that Wolf Creek was nine months behind schedule. He also predicted that an additional $300 million would be added to the cost. So KG&E has denied that their timetable is inaccurate, but the last time the NRC team recommended a revision. KG&E eventually had to admit they were a year behind schedule.
So Kendall, the figures weren't conjured up by an anti-nuclear imagination. Furthermore, you shouldn't have assumed that the lower $1.33 billion estimate was the more accurate of the two. Indeed, I sincerely wish that the $2 billion or the $1.33 billion price tag was an exaggeration.
Charles Barnes Oklahoma City, junior
Small-minded display
Dear Editor,
Whose business is it what other people wish to buy, sell and read? For those who find Playboy distasteful, nobody is forcing you to buy it. As a result, many people use Playboy toothpicks and forced you to view the contents.
By the same token, I happen to enjoy the magazine and do not wish to have my choices violated by some gross form of magazine censorship. To tailor the world to fit one narrow set of choices is limiting. We should all have our free agency to make personal choices.
Removing those magazines from the Kansas Union shelves is the most ridiculous bit of self-righteous bullshit such groups could possibly waste their time with.
Furthermore, I am a Christian. I just feel that there are many causes far more worthy of support than worrying over what magazines are running about the day after whatever bit of scandal can be uncovered.
There are many abominable things in this world, but I assure you that one of them is not yours.
One of them is, however, the usurping of human rights, choices and dignity by self-rights little groups that are not willing to allow them to respond their own narrow matrices of guidelines.
Christoper Budd Lawrence, senior
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