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University Daily Kansan, March 30, 1982
Opinion
An overdue honor
Over the years, a lot of people have complained that women athletes at the University of Kansas and in general have not been given a fair shake.
And over the years, the problem of inequality has been studied and discussed, task-forced and committed. But recently, at least a few people have moved to do something about it.
One of these people is Renate MaiDalton, a KU assistant professor of business, who organized the Women's Athletic Fund to pay for awards to outstanding female KU athletes.
Her goal is to raise $5,000 by April 30. In the past few weeks, $795 has accumulated in the fund as students drop off $ and $10 donations and businesses mail in contributions of up to $100.
Mai-Dalton said she thought of creating the fund after noticing how differently male and female athletes were honored.
For example, male basketball players got watches and women got roses at the end of this season.
(Actually, the gift of roses was not as unjust as it seemed. The Big Eight, not KU, paid for the watches. KU bent its own rules a little to buy roses for the female graduating seniors.)
Now there is.
The differences between the two awards systems do not exist because no one cares about paying for suitable awards for female athletes, but because there was no convenient way to do it.
The organizers of the Women's Athletic Fund and the businesses and individuals who contributed to it all deserve a round of applause.
In the contest for increased support of female athletes, they have just made the first string.
Researchers unable to see forest for artificial trees
Once upon a time, the king of a certain country owned a fire on a hill.
Now, this king needed a great deal of paper because he liked to dictate very long laws to his scribes, who then copied them and sent duplicates to every province in the country.
One day, the king's daughter went walking in his forest. While she was walking, he heard two
"Mark my words, some day the king will chop
the trees in his forest," the first
woodnecker said.
"No, he won't," said the second woodpecker.
"He wouldn't do anything that stupid."
"Wouldn't."
"Wouldn't."
"Excuse me," the king's daughter interrupted, "but I didn't know woodpeckers could
"Well, we can," said the first woodpecker, who fell down and started pecking on her golden head.
"Anything," the king's daughter cried. "Now, get out of my hair."
"Ow! Stop that!" the king's daughter cried.
"Oh if you were one, nothing."
"Take this cak seed and plant it in a secret place. Don't tell even the king where it is," the woodpecker said, dropping the earth into her hands.
Then the only remaining tree in the kingdom
was King's window and all was well for a year,
his daughter's window, and all was well for a year.
So, the king's daughter went home and planted it under her window, where it grew and prospered, but the king never noticed because he was nearightened.
Finally, one day, the king had a lovely new law to dictate, but no paper. The only remaining trees in the kingdom grew on his hillside, so he made sure to chop them down and make muck out of them.
But soon a great plague of insects swept across the country and devoured all the crops. The people started to starve, and when the king's daughter came into window, she could hear their crying in distress.
The oak tree she had planted now grew taller than the tallest turrets of her father's castle, and she could hear two woodpeckers quarreling among its branches.
"I told you he would chop down all the trees," the first woodpecker said.
"You did not," the other replied.
"Did not."
"Did not." "Did!!"
"Excuse me," the king's daughter said, "but he did tell you so. I heard him."
"Did."
"Did not."
"There, you see?" the first woodpecker said, and the second flew away miffed. Then the first one flicked his sticky tongue, caught an insect and gobbled it up.
"Ugh," the king's daughter said. "Do you eat insects?"
"Yes," the woodpecker said. "Although it may be distasteful to you, if your father hadn't chopped down all the trees and driven the rest of the woodpeckers out of the country, they would still be here to keep the insect population in check, and the people wouldn't be starving."
By this time, even the king's daughter's
only possession was gumbling because she had eaten
only porridge.
"Oh, woodpecker," she cried. "Tell me what to do to save the people."
"First of all," the bird said, "instruct your father's artisans to mold 50 eight-foot-tall plastic trees and plant them on the hillside where the forest once grew."
The king's daughter did what he said, and when the plastic trees were planted, wood-peckers flew back into the kingdom to peck holes in the trees. But then, they flew away again.
Disappointed, the king's daughter returned to her window, and called the second woodpecker that
"Oh, woodpecker," she said, "your mate told me to plant 50 eight-foot-tall plastic trees on the hillside to bring back the rest of the woodpeckers, but they didn't stay to吃 the insects, and the people are still starving. What shall we do?"
The second woodpecker thought for a long time, shifting from foot to foot on her branch. Finally, she said, "King's daughter, you must climb up the hill where they are them on the hillside where the king's forest once grew. Then chop down this tree, saw it into planks and encase the plastic trees in the wood."
"I can't t," the king's daughter protested. "This is the last tree in the country."
"am! it is a little to be worrying about that now!" the second woodpecker asked. So, the woodpecker said.
When all the pastic trees had been encased in wood, the first taking woodpecker fluff up to one foot on the ground was a sight.
Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat.
The sound of his pecking resonated through the country, and soon the second talking woodpecker up to lay three procelain-white eggs in the nest he had just jeopardized.
When she had done so, the sky was darkened with woodpeckers returning to roost and eat
Letters Policy
By that time, the talking woodpeckers were arguing agin.
"Why didn't you come to nest the last time I poured the plastic trees?" the first woodpecker ate.
"Your beak doesn't make enough noise knocking against me, so I never heard you," he said.
With more woodpeckers and fewer insects, the people were able to harvest a bountiful crop, so that they could survive.
During the festivities, he turned to his scribes and said, "Chop down those fine new trees I saw growing on my hill and make paper out of them. I want you to copy down a new law—Henceforth, nobody shall shoot a woodpecker under penalty of death."
Addendum: Researchers at Ohio State University have found that woodpeckers will peck holes in plastic trees, but not nest in them. Now they plan to encase the plastic trees in plywood to see if the more resistant pecking noise male woodpeckers make in wood draws females to mate. The researchers hope woodpeckers can use these mixed areas where all the trees have been chopped down, but where there is still a need for insect control.
"But, father," the king's daughter protested.
"The woodpeckers must have to live in it."
The moral of this story is: **A bird in the plastic** is worth norn in the forest, but a flock in the forest is worth less.
"Why?" he said. "Those plastic ones seem to do fine."
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 words. 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 office position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters.
Joel Bontos' 82
"I have in my possession another documented report from El Salvador."
Political future looks good for Koch
Started thinking about the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections yet? Some people are. Already, proseptic candidates are looking ahead and acting presidential.
One man, in the midst of this burgeoning force, has a real force. Ironically, he isn't asking a nation to
The man is Ed Koch, Democratic mayor of New York, and he announced his candidacy for governor of New York state early this year, after Gov. Hugh Carey announced he would not seek another term. Already, there is talk about a Walter Mondale-Koch ticket in 1984 and a possible shot at the presidency in 1988, both of which Koch disavows.
Talk like this is premature. It is much too late to worry about the risk of or candidacies for elections six years away.
Instead of assessing his prospects for the presidency, let's say that Koch is a man worth watching, either as a candidate or as a model for other candidates. His record as mayor of New York is a good indicator of how he would do nationally.
Koch's background is the stuff of political legend. He was born to immigrant parents and he had a relatively poor childhood. After a stint in law school, he joined politics. He was elected to Congress in 1968.
He first ran for mayor in 1973, but dropped out because of a lack of funds. He again run in 1977 as an underdog and won by only 125,000 votes.
This is where the legend really takes off. Faced by the prospects of the city's bankruptcy, he headed a program of fiscal conservatism to get the city back on its feet.
When Koch ran again in 1981, he entered in both the Democratic and Republican primaries—and won both. Opposed by several minor candidates, he swept last November's
Koch had a lot of help from Washington and Albany, the capital of New York state. But he made the fiscal crisis his number one priority, and it paid off.
election with 75 percent of the vote, winning every assembly district in the city.
Now he is making a run for the governor's seat. It's too early to decide how he'll do, but his record and political style indicate he could win.
Koch's record as mayor is admirable. Besides the financial victory, other improvements he can claim are the renewed construction in the city and the return of the middle class, which began to flee the city during the 1970s.
He could not make good on other promises.
city services declined further, subway
transit operations delayed.
DAN TORCHIA
been reduced. Koch has tried to implement
them, but they are often thwarted by
factors beyond his control.
But Koch cares and he often voices the same concerns that average New Yorkers do. His efforts have drawn praise from both liberals and conservatives.
Part of Koch's appeal is his genuine love for the works of others, its values and its credits for investing in New York.
"They're the ones who pay the taxes and
pay the bills for poor children in his interview,
the interview of Playboy.
"And since I'm not able to do very much for them in terms of increasing services, at least they should know they have a friend in city hall who wants them to prosper, who wants them to stay here and who doesn't take them for granted."
This is one part of Koch's appeal that could transfer easily to the national level. The
Republican Party seems to be courting only the rich. Koch's own Democratic Party has not departed much from its blue-collar coalition. The Republican Party in the middle class, has tapped the high median.
But his personality causes controversy. Koch is like New York City—you either love him or
He is refreshingly honest. But others would say he is a loudmouth. Whatever his opinion, he speaks his mind and doesn't care much about his language.
"I if Call Billy Carter, a wacko, it's because everybody knows he's a wacko and it's probably what they've been calling him in private all along," he said. "They say to themselves, 'Finally there someone who says what has to be exactly the way I'd say it if i were there.'"
Now, Koch is attempting to try his common-sense style outside of New York City. It's hard to say how he will do. His Playboy interview, with his negative comments about suburban and farm life, initially was controversial. The outcry from the offended quickly subsided, and he may be able to turn around a potential liability.
Koch has a historical advantage. The governorship of New York has often been a springboard for national office. Both Nelson Rockefeller and Franklin Roosevelt were governors of New York. Koch would be in a position where he应负命他gubernatorial election
But Koch is a political man and he is not making any commitments. He flatly rejected any prospect of national office in the Playboy interview.
But in the same interview, he also flatly rejected any prospect of running for governor. Anything is possible. It would be a shame if the country would be denied New York's prize.
And it just might be that the man who has appointed New York might be captivating to the respect of all.
Letters to the Editor
I was pleased to see the coverage of the last student Senate meeting before spring break. In that meeting, a non-Senate member was not present at the meeting, which is held in El Salvador and Central America. The University Daily Kansan correctly pointed out the one-sidedness of the Senate's position. In a prior meeting, the Senate had voted in favor of the New York Poland activity, organized in the residence hills.
Important issue ignored by Senate
To the Editor:
I was also glad to see that a resolution has been introduced that would allow a non-Senate member to address our representatives. If this resolution passes, it will allow more dialogue to take place between the Senate and the students. The Senate should represent the students. How can this occur if it does not address the issues that concern KU students?
On the morning before the Senate meeting, the Kansas City Star ran the headline: "Reagan turns up beat on Nicaragua." A $19 million destabilization campaign was described.
It is common knowledge that the civil wars in Central America are the results of generations of conflicts over land and resources.
David Allen,
Education student senator
It is too bad that the Senate did not take the opportunity to listen to the arguments and go on record against the U.S. training of 1,500 troops at Fort Bragg, N.C. A national demonstration against escalating U.S. involvement in El Salvador and Central America has been called. People from across the United States demonstrated in Washington Saturday.
This is not Vietnam. Students then received deferments from the draft while enrolled in universities. I think students should know if a war breaks out in Central America, at this time, no student deferments are planned. We would be part of the perpetuation of injustice.
already involved; U.S. helicopters and guns are killing. Will the United States send troops? It is certainly possible. Why at this University is there so much violence against another Somalia? I doubt that there are many.
I think KU students support such actions and the Student Senate should reflect these sentiments. Particularly when it comes to issues related to student success, between a graduation row and a soldier's uniform.
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