Opinion
Page 4 University Daily Kansan, November 4, 1981
Soaring high—again
Within the next week, Joe Engle and Richard Truly will have an unusual list of chores: "Launch and ascent into orbit, open and test payload bay doors, meal, use robot arm to grapple with cargo, sleep, sample gas in ship, dump waste water, deactivate lightning survey experiment, meal, sleep."
Their novel tasks reflect the novelty of their assignment. Those two, of course, will be piloting the spaceship Columbia as it becomes the world's first craft to go into space more than once.
Last April, Columbia awed the world with its maiden flight. It blasted into space like a rocket, but it returned to Earth like an airplane, gliding gracefully onto a desert runway in as beautiful a display of precision and ingenuity as ever seen in the space program.
Now, we wait for the ship to prove that it
is indeed a reusable craft and that space travel may really become a part of everyday life in the near future. The project paves the way for the use of commercial space flights and, eventually, routine trips to other planets.
As it has so many times in the past, the dream is slowly becoming the reality.
KU takes a special interest and pride in this second flight of Columbia. Air Force Col. Joe Engle, who grew up in Chapman, Kan., and graduated from KU, is the ship's commander. At his request, several KU souvenirs will be making the historic journey with him.
It's nice that, in a way, we could go along on this flight. When the shuttle returns, the country will feel that it is welcoming back a courageous and inspiring part of itself. And we, too, will have come home.
Death of independent carriers result of paper-route battles
It is sad to say the independent newspaper carriers is a dying breed in this country. Newspapers across the land are pulling territorial rights from under the feet of independent publishers and are dividing service onto smaller routes that are contracted out to boys and girls on bicycles.
In this country, it is sad to say of anything independent that it is dying, but it is especially sad to say that of the independent news carriers. It is a strange industry in which many of them are being phased out.
The difference between an independent carrier and say, a boy on a bicycle who receives a ride from another person is that the carrier
KEVIN
HELLIKER
prospective independent carrier must pay a considerable sum to a retiring carrier for the exclusive rights to deliver a specific newspaper in a specific area. A typical price for a Kansas City Star and Times route 10 years ago was $60,000.
The carrier then buys as many daily copies as well as weekday copies and delivers them to the readers on his route.
Although one would think a newspaper should be free to choose who will distribute its product, what about the money sunk into these routes by the carriers?
But in recent route-custody battles fought in courts across the country, newspapers have maintained that independent carriers don't receive delivery and therefore have no exclusive delivery right.
In cities where the courts ruled in favor of the newspapers, many carriers were forced to declare bankruptcy or pay off loans on paper banks or owner-owned—or as the courts ruling never did.
Other newspapers, such as the Star and Times, have had trouble convincing the courts that carriers aren't owners. Independent newspaper carriers in Kansas City traditionally obtained contracts on routes through the Star Credit Union, which recognized the routes themselves as collateral.
(A federal judge recently issued a permanent injunction against the Star and Times in their bid to take over routes in their service area. The two newspapers have appealed.)
The battle in the courts is superficial. If they wish, newspapers can make life hell for the plaintiff.
For instance, a carrier who regularly received his newspapers at 2 a.m. at a designated spot might unexpectedly be forced to wait there until 4 a.m. every other day.
And then one day his newspapers might arrive in individual sections so that he must put them on the bulletin board.
And too, he might find a sales machine full of newspapers on every street corner of his route. The newspaper might then complain that his circulation is dropping.
Above all, though, the independent carrier is defenseless against a newspaper's whim to raise its prices to him. He consequently is forced to raise the price to his own customers, and with street sales remaining steady at 25 cents, his customers become fewer and fewer.
One way or another, the independent carrier most likely will lose or reluctantly give up his route. Newspapers will still be delivered of course, though I doubt with as much pride.
But then, I am biased. The year I was born my father borrowed more than $28,000 to buy a Star and Times route. Four years ago, when he figured the route was worth at least twice that, a letter from the Star and Times informed him he didn't own anything.
Until my brothers and I were old enough to drive, my father worked the route every morning, went to his regular job,跳 the afternoon shift, then attended lunch hour, and then returned to his job.
My mother, who now drives the paper truck, has always had to plan all holiday meals around the afternoon route. In high school, my brothers and I knew our cars would turn into pumpkins if we didn't return from school or from the Saturday night party in time to throw papers.
And because throwing papers is a seven-day-a-
ter year-long job, my family never has taken
even year-long paper.
How many boys on bicycles are that devoted to their jobs.?
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and 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 the class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters.
Letters policy
For the person with everything . . .
Good 'oI American ingenuity. It brought us the pet rock, Ronnie and Nancy Reagan cut outs (a political version of Barbie and Ken dolls) and hand buzzers.
With Christmas fast approaching, it is once again time to think of what you are going to get for Mom, Dad, Sis and Uncle Joe. To help you out in that annual "I don't know what to get them" crisis, some entrepreneurs have already written their names just perfect for the person who has everything.
Since you got Dad that decorator telephone last year—the one concealed in a box so nobody knows it is a telephone—how about a name for his telephone number? What, a telephone number name? You're obviously using a phone still uses those seven digits MaBelle gave vme.
For only $3, a company in California will furnish you with all 2,000 possible combinations of the letters that correspond to your telephone number. Just think, one less number to remember. But, if Dad can't even remember your name, how is he going to figure it out? And how do they figure in the number one, which has no corresponding letters?
limousine, complete with champagne and caviar, will come to your rescue.
On to gift idea number two. This one is for the person who has just done all his Christmas shopping, but finds, when he returns to the store, that he has no car to put his purchases in.
Specifically, if your car is towed in Washington, D.C., or Boston and you have paid $45 to join Humilization Elimination Inc. (HUMILIZATION), you are eligible for a phone, and within minutes a chauseder
The limo will take you to where your car has been towed and a company staff member will stand in line for you to pay the ticket. The company is drinking and drinking like it was New Year's Eve.
All you students from big cities should think about buying Dad a membership. It is
BRIAN LEVINSON
guaranteed to be a popular gift. Maybe KU Parking Services should start a similar service to calm some of its more angry clients.)
Now that you have gotten a preview of two of the hot items for this Christmas, here are a few more that have not yet been developed but that I think would be big sellers.
How about electric jogging shoes? For everyone who wants to be in fashion and jog, or at least claim they jog, these shoes would be just the thing. You attach two sneakers to a pole that has a little battery to move them forward. You walk down the street with your pole, barely working up a sweat, and let your "shoes" do your running for you. It would be like the Yellow Pages where your fingers do the walking.
Another hot seller would be magnetically controlled racquetbaites. After all, we know nobody plays racquetball for the fun of it, but who does? We don't want people to waste all that energy and risk getting hurt.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to get on the court for your Saturday morning match against your neighbor, whom you haven't beaten in months, and watch him run all over the court chasing the ball while you stand there and have the ball come right to your racquet? Little would he know that your raquet had a magnet that pulled the ball right to it, eliminating all of useless running. You'd never lose again.
the perfect gift for people who don't have, heated garages, or who don't havegarages at all, would be a remote control car starter. You push a button from inside your house and your car automatically starts and warms up while you have a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. The car's horse would automatically start hooking when the car was nice and warm.
The fun would start when your car drove away without you in it. Only then would you discover that your neighbor also had a remote control unit operating on the same frequency and that your car was responding to your neighbor's commands.
Finally, a sure winner with students would be the Professor Silencer. If you got sick of listening to a professor's lecture, you'd open up a little box and unfold a portable sound-activated speaker that can relax and watch the prof talk at 100 words per minute and not have to hear one word.
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
Unions valuable to members, non-members
First, I contend that the column was for political purposes. Second, I contend that the column clearly displays your unfamiliarity with unions, and that this being the case, you can hardy consider yourself an expert in the area. This will similarly mimic the views of the status quo "elite."
I am writing in response to the Oct. 27 column by Rebecca Chaney on unions.
I will not deny that the citrus fruit union, or rather the farm workers union, has nothing in common with the Teamsters. But to put the AFL-CIO on the same end of the spectrum as the
Teamsters was an example of your lack of information.
To begin with, the AFL-CIO and the farm workers are homogeneous entities, very supportive of each other. The AFL-CIO has not affiliated with the Teamsters since the days of Jimmy Hoffa and in fact ceased its relationship with the corruption exemplified by the Teamsters.
The idea of the "union goon" went out of style years ago. If big labor has a synonymous relationship with crime and underworld accusations, it is hard to be written by the anti-union political advocates.
Had you done an in-depth study of the union, in particular the AFL-CIO, you would have discovered that the union has other interests and concerns besides wages. It has established resource centers to aid different groups of people: the elderly, the poor, women and minorities.
What the American economy can no longer accommodate is the hoarding of wealth by the upper strata and the unfair burden of taxes on the working class, including you.
In fact, if the union quit the extensive lobbying that it does in the areas of unfair taxation, safety nets to the poor, safe working conditions, voting rights and many other vital issues, we would see a more serious retrenchment of rights and benefits than we are experiencing today. There is no doubt that the right to be "once attained . . . are ours forever." The maintenance of rights is equally important.
On the issue of the National Educators Association, problems do exist with its effectiveness. But let's not blame the union for other influencing factors based on society's roles and expectations. The right-to-work law actually gives people/employees the right to work for them and the union cannot be blamed for the social pay status typical in a female-dominated field.
It is my contention that unions serve the people of America so effectively that they pose a threat to the controlling "power groups," and for this reason they are under heavy attack by the tools of the power groups—in this case, the media. If you are intimidation of positions, it is you, Rebecca Chapley.
Neutral on unionization
Jeannie Chavez-Martinez Parsons graduate student
To the Editor:
I wish to disassociate myself and the KU
AALP from Rebecca Chaney's anti-union editorial of Oct. 27, "Unions lose magic for
Although I am pleased with the assessment that SenEx and AUAP have aided the faculty in being self-sufficient, I am displeased with the faculty as it is dedicated to keeping the faculty non-union.
The AAUP on this campus have never taken a position on unionization. Officially we are
David E. Shulenburge President. KU AAUP
To the Editor:
Beneath 'Salina Piece'
One of the many ironies of “Salina Piece” is that the University of Kansas did a first-rate job with its concrete foundations. Once the wretched object itself has been removed, the University has had to reconstruct these foundations, perhaps building a low railing about them to keep nocturnal revelers from harm.
The resulting subsurface sculpture would place KU squares in the cultural avant-garde, without imposing anyone's surprising tastes upon KU's neighbors.
Arthur L. Thomas
Arthur Young Distinguished Professor, business
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