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Page 4 University Daily Kansan, April 26, 1982
Opinion
Off the back burner
Today, starting on page 6, the Kansas is publishing the salaries of all classified employees at the University of Kansas.
In many ways, KU's 1,980 classified employees are the silent minority of the University community.
For one thing, who are they?
Generally, classified employees are all workers who are not administrators or faculty. They are the secretaries, the night watchmen, the accountants, the clerks, the policemen, the computer analysts and the research assistants.
In spring 1980, classified employees said their current pay plan did not give them incentive to stay at the University.
In recent years, many classified employees have complained about their lack of recognition in the University. And many have complained about their salaries.
Most classified employees work quietly behind the scenes. But without them, the University would grind to a halt.
In spring of 1981, the Kansas Legislature granted them a 10 percent salary increase. But there was one catch—all classified employees would receive only half of the pay increase, the rest would be doloed out according to merit.
This spring, faculty salaries were a hot topic in Topeka, but the salaries of classified employees seem to have been placed on the back burner.
The Senate did recommend to the House that classified employees receive a 7 percent salary increase, including a 5.75 cost-of-living increase.
But again, there is one catch—the actual cost-of-living is estimated to be 7.5 percent.
Salaries seem to be an abstract concept when officials speak of performance goals and range numbers and one-step pay increases.
One of our purposes in publishing the
salaries of KU's classified employees is to make the problem more concrete.
We believe that publishing the real salaries of real people—some of whom have to make do with less than $10,000 a year—will make the issue of salaries more concrete.
Another of our purposes is to take the issue of classified salaries off the back burner. The salary problems of these people are just as important as the problems of people with doctorates or long titles.
(One note of caution: Before readers become too upset at large discrepancies among salaries, they should remember that salaries of state classified employees are increased by the length of time they have worked at KU and by cost-of-living increases that are built into the system).
The publication of these salaries may cause conflict among employees. Some have already complained that the unclassified salaries list that was published Friday has caused complaints about inequities.
Why stir up trouble? readers ask.
Perhaps we are stirring up trouble. But it appears that the trouble existed long before last Friday. And it is unwise to think that the trouble will disappear if we all choose not to talk about it.
The Kansan's editors chose to publish the list of salaries simply. No interpretation. No banner headlines. A minimum of editorializing.
We believe that it is one important function of a newspaper to present public information—especially the kind that the public rarely sees.
The lists of salaries might cause some strong reactions, both positive and negative. But we believe that strong reaction to a problem is better than no reaction at all.
Carlin starts campaign early tows severance tax along
It just might lead to a solution
What was he selling, you ask? Why, rothing other than a hat, the cure-all for what he was selling? Kansai bandages. Kansas bandages.
The 1982 version of Gov. John Carlin's traveling medicine show has come to a close, and like last year, it looks as if he had a hard time selling that medicine.
If a severance tax proposal fails to pass during this week's legislative wrap-up session, it is no surprise that the governor of November's gubernatorial elections. The severance tax is what he's basking his campaign
we won't know for sure until tomorrow, but judging from the reactions of the three state senators he pushed the hardest during this year's budget, we should stand against the severance tax will remain firm.
DAN BOWERS
on. A campaign that, as evidence by his travels around the state the last few weeks,
In the last few weeks, Carlin has visited no fewer than nine communities to expound on his
Carlin's press secretary, Bill Hoch, has said that many of these stops were scheduled long ago, but he admits that Carlin has squeezed in as many stops as possible in order to let his voices be heard.
And he has let these views be heard. Appearing in Emporia, Wichita, Garden City, Overland Park and almost everywhere else in between, he carried his road show to whoever will listen.
It can be conceded here that such a busy travel schedule is routine for a governor. His stops have included the dedication of a medical center in Colby and a Salvation Army dinner in Emporia. But the tone of his "State of the State" was one of his insistence on his need for a severance tax.
These are the same taxpayers who Carolin says a seventh tax will protect in the form of a special law.
In other words, in these days of presidential "working vacations" in the Bahamas, Carlin is hard at work—on the campaign trail. That's all fine and dandy until you remember who's paying for this road show. That's right, Kansas tax-payers.
m may be true, but the provision to armark funds for schools lasts only one year, and then, coincidentally after the elections will be over, who knows where the money will go? Property
It is a fact that a severance tax would greatly erode the local tax bases that depend on ad valorem taxes on oil and gas extraction for a large part of their financing—some as much as 70 percent. The severance tax would spread the tax revenue across the entire state, going into the general fund in Topeka and out of the local county courthouses around the state.
taxes will again be used to bail out the state's schools.
It doesn't seem fair that other areas of the state should benefit quite so much from another one.
But back to the roadshow.
- The state is headed into a very precarious financial situation.
- Serious problems with highway maintenance and school funding are getting worse.
KANSAN
- (Here's where he starts hitting below the table. He goes through a day-day session, did nothing to solve these problems.)
The University Daily
- The Senate can redeem itself by enacting a
verreance tax during next week's wrap-up
session.
Gosh, what a guy
In the show, Carlin says:
Boom, boom, out go the lights. He has taken a "State of the State" approach and turned it into his campaign for November's election by slamming his actions for ignoring what he problem
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That's right, while Carlin warns Kanans that a crisis is approaching, he is sitting on top of a state government that will have a healthy $101 million sitting in its coffers at the end of fiscal year 1983. That is a figure that both Carlin and his stuntship Republican opponents adhere to.
At that point, he can pledge himself to the cause of passing the tax so that we can all drive on nice highways and send our children to good schools.
Is the Kansas budget facing a crisis? State Sen. Paul Hess, R-Wichita, may have said it best: "The Wolf is not at our door. There certainly is not a crisis."
To students and employees at one of the financially starved public universities in the state, that statement may have "haloney" written all over it.
But figures show that the state budget has a healthy balance that has been growing well.
Chances are, its reception will again be unfavorable. But that may not bother Carlin as much as one might think—after all, he got in two free weeks of campaigning.
Regardless, that now Carlin's road show is over, he must sit with the rest of us and watch him. He doesn't.
Projections for future years are where the two
adds differ, but a $10 million surplus can hardly
be reduced.
Business Manager
Natealine Judie
... John Oberzan
Bick Musser
University of Kansas.
Sales and Marketing Adviser
General Manager and News Adviser
Pennv hoarders hurt what they love
I'm talking about pennies, or more accurately,
zins. Pennies aren't really pennies anymore.
They're mostly made of zinc. That's why I'm
writing and that's why I feel guilty.
You see, I'm a penny hoarer. I don't mind saying that publicly. Ever since I came out a few years ago, my life has been much easier. I still believe in the power of self-empowerment at my inside without feeling contempt.
I'm not alone. A lot of people hoar. A close friend secretly right to you, and you wouldn't even know.
As the price of copper went up in the 1970s, it became more expensive to produce pennies. Soon, it cost more than one cent to make a single coin. And since the Treasury decided to do something about it,
The numbers are overwhelming. Over 114 billion pennies have been hoarded since 1859, when the latest version of the Lincoln penny was first struck. There are only 40 billion pennies in circulation. A lot of pennies are being thrown into a lot of fars and dresser drawers.
Last December, it started minting zinc pennies. The coins have copper coating, but they are 97.6 percent zinc, saving the government $25 million a year. Worth only one-half of a cent in its pure form, the low penny is now worth only one-fourth of a cent.
Most people I know who hoard are amateurs, people who got into it accidentally. That's how I'm a little suspicious of that kind.
Hoarders can be classified into two groups. Professional hoarders try to make a profit on pennies. They get as many as they can, melt them down and sell when the price is high.
But they face quite a battle. The price of copper has to be $1.50 to make a profit. Even then, 240,000 pennies have to be melted to make the coins. This is Tuesday. The copper price was only 68.3 cents.
We boarders are to blame.
Steve was my roommate. He was older and all the things I wanted to be. Tall, Outgoing. Able to spend all night at Gammons and get up for his 8:30 class at a single bound.
One day, I had a problem carrying around
one day. I had a couple of quarters, a few dimes
and about a dozen pennies. When I walked the nose reminded me of a pepper vendor at Royals
"What can I do about all these pennies?" I asked.
"Uh, put them in here," he said, motioning to a jar glass about half-full of pennies. He said it was worth $2.50.
I had heard about boarders before, but didn't know one personally, or so I thought. But Steve was my friend, my idol. Swallowing my fear, I tossed the pennies in. They made an oddly pleasant clink as they fell. I smiled. I was booked.
I never thought something like that would happen, I didn't have anything against the penny, had never thought much about it. I never wore penny loafers. I saw "Pennies From Heaven" and liked it well enough, although it probably wasn't worth the 300 pennies to get in.
But I realize now that no matter what I said or did in public, I was harboring hostile feelings towards me.
ding and contributing to its demise. A lot of the penny's problems weren't its fault.
It wasn't the penny's fault that inflation took off, and penny cake wasn't anymore. Or that gumballs from the machines got smaller over the years.
The penny's size is what causes most of its problems. Pennies are small and they accumulate so easily. A lot of people are appalled by this. They have been several shortages the past few years.
The 1974 shortage started the talk of a zinc penny. As the plans for the conversion became final last fall, there was a minor penny shortage in Lawrence. Merchants pleaded for pennies. Wendy's, for instance, offered 20 rolls and a free small drink for every 50 roll of pennies brought in.
And now the true penny is no more. But even a 97.6 percent-zinc penny still has considerable hoarding appeal. So hoarders have to deal with it, and they must be patient and enduring to collect the new kind.
The total at the checkout counter will be $1.71,
and all I have is a $20 bill and no change.
Checkers will ask for a penny to give back 30
cents on the second dollar, and I say I don't have
any. I'm telling the truth, but they know I have at
last 389 pennies in a jar at home.
Friends act differently, even though they say it matters and matter. Cashers always seem to know that.
The next time you start to throw a few pennies into a jar or exile a couple to your turntable's tone arm, think again. Take them to a bank. Better yet, take a navery to lunch.
As for myself, I'm going to quit hoarding pennies. I'm into nickels now. Have you ever noticed how dummy they look, unlike any normal.
"Hoarder." their eyes seem to say.
Besides, nickel sells for $3.29 a pound, and I just might make a real killing.
Surely, many readers find this startling. It should be. KU students must begin to contemplate this.
To the Editor:
Letters to the Editor
Rarely is there a serious commentary on education on this page. Joe Bartos is to be thanked, then, for his April 7 column. Although many readers may be, at least, uncomfortable with Bartos' often gruesome vicious political cartoons, his column is noteworthy. Bartos recognizes the extremely poor quality of a KU education.
How should you, a student, begin considering the quality of your education? First, eliminate those pre-packaged answers found in the glossy publications of the education community (i.e., college advertisements, catalogs and anything so absurd that it compares KU to some obese West Coast state school that can't graduate half its freshmen, either). Look to your own experiences. Don't trust the opinion of someone looking to make a buck.
The student should decide what he wants to learn about, then compare that to what he is learning. So what are you going to learn about? Surely, if you are going to spend at least four years studying at a considerable expense, you want to learn something of importance.
So, what is important to you? Well, that Applied Thermonuclearreagulatorydynamics class is important. It is something to winten bacon with. But is it as important as your parents? Seriously, which one would you place above the other? How about that Analytical Symbolic Language course? Is that more important to you than your home or friends or sweetheart?
KU provides 'lower than higher education'
Now, I must be joking. Why would anyone come to a university to learn about his parents or his home? But consider this: Which is the wisest man—the man who goes to school to learn about the admittedly less important things in his life or most important things? Think about that, and you may reconsider the worth of what you have been learning.
The words "higher education" mean something. We should learn about the higher things. At KU, we get "somewhat lower than higher education."
If you have read this and actually thought about your education and how it relates to the most important things in your life, you are likely to be quite sad at this moment. You may feel that your major isn't for you. You don't know what to study. You don't know if college is even worthwhile. That is because you simply have not been studying anything worthwhile.
c can hear, even before this is published, the cries from the educators that "Parents and home and all those other things like Truth are not supposed to be taught here, but in the Real World." But that is not even historically true. Since their beginning, colleges have concentrated on the important things first. Besides what are we learning, if not the Real World?
If you want to start studying important things, don't look up important Things 101. It isn't there. Take a Great Books class. That is a class where students read the prose and poetry of the wisest men of all time. That, clearly, is where to find wisdom.
The poetry is still in the Integrated Humanities classes, though. There, a student can observe life in the round, uncondensed, with no fillers or by-products.
The Western Civilization program won't do it, though. All the poetry has literally been removed, leaving only a muddled plethora of parts of books. The program is like wheat that has been ground, processed and bleached until all the flavor, color and substance are gone.
Cary DuBois,
Lawrence senior
Fans fuel foolishness
To the Editor:
Bravo. Dan Bowers! Many people indeed
share the blame for our school's, and our country's, amateur athletic woes. And when you get right down to it, it's us, the individual fans, who are ultimately responsible.
If you don't believe it, consider: Why does ABC pay millions to film an athletic event (which is the first obvious link in the money chain)? Because advertisers know how many fools are watching and so, they pay premium prices for athletic event air time.
Until our national fetish for sport subsides, the money will be spent, and the athletes will be paid. (This does not mean coaches and school officials are not still accountable: It just means theirs will largely be in vain, as long as the economic realities of our era of sports worship persist.)
Solutions?
1. Turn off the tube, grab the B-ball and make your own sport. Not as polished, certainly, but in terms of skill.
2. Go to the waterfall.
2. Cultivate other interests. Learn a craft, do some constructive work, while your less-enlightened neighbor atrophies in the easy chair in front of the tube watching another game destined to become blurred together with all the rest.
3. Worship other gods. Who knows? Maybe Christ or Beethoven had as much to say about the meaning of life as do Ali or Larry Bird. And maybe the instant gratification we get from a high-spirited sporting event isn't as truly spiritually rewarding as the gratification of a more sustained, cultivated spirituality.
Sure, we all need some excitement and to be uplifted and challenged by an outstanding performance once in a while. But for the sake of amateur sports, the good name of our universities and other such healthy things, let's keep sports in perspective.
Charlie Hurley,
Lawrence law student