GUIDE
Opinion
Page 4 University Daily Kansan, October 27, 1981
Unions lose magic for teachers. labor
For labor unions, that time has come.
At some point in time, the continued use of beneficial and efficient tools must be cared for.
Labor unions have played an important role in American history, bringing relative prosperity to a large segment of the American population that might otherwise have continued to be exploited by the growing industrialization of the 20th Century.
For too long, leaders of the Teammasters and of large AFLC-IIA affiliates have been let loose on society, allegedly for the sake of the nation's interests. In an effort to protect those trade unions may as well be corporations themselves. Their leaders are as wealthy as the executives of businesses they are supposedly protecting the wage-earner from, while those employers are forced to pay higher and higher dues.
Today, however, few unions are still concerned with bringing their members' incomes above the poverty line, and those that are, such as the citrus fruit or grape pickers unions, have few things in common with organizations such as the Teamsters union.
Big labor has become almost a synonym for crime and underworld activities.
On the whole, unions are no longer needed; one may suggest tat they are no longer wanted.
White collar workers earn $175 or $250 a week work little sympathy for union members
They are sick of finding their tires slashed (or worse) because they crossed a picket line of workers demanding four-day work weeks and $20 an hour.
Younger workers do not want to be told there is no work for them because the union already has so many members that it can't place them all in closed shops.
Ideals are tired of this idea, unique to the 20th Century, that seniority, not talent and hard work have made women less attractive.
The American economy can no longer accommodate the employee mediocrity, outrageously high wages and restraint on product cost and reduced sales.
Unionts at the beginning of this century strove to bring disadvantaged workers into the middle class. Today these workers want the upper crust—the good life, not just a better life. That is well and good, but they should not expect this at the expense of the rest of us.
We are just beginning to realize that runaway unions must be brought back under control, the
REBECCA CHANEY
As such, Thursday's ruling by the Federal Labor Relations Authority could not have come at a better time. The agency ruled that the professional Air Traffic Controllers organization was violently and intentionally "warned" law with a strike last August, forfitting its right to exist.
A federal appeals court has blocked the order; nevertheless, PATCO is on its death bed, and few Americans other than the air traffic controllers themselves seem willing to revive it.
KU faculty members announced last week that they were updating procedures to protect their jobs from a possible financial emergency, without the help of a union!
Realization of the increasing shortcomings of unions has had its effect even here, at the end of the 1980s.
In fact, SenEx last spring rejected overtures by the Kansas National Educators Association for unionization, stating that it believed it could work with the administration and legislature
more efficiently through direct representation interference by a national organization
Since then, SenEx has demonstrated its ability to adequately and more, the University faculty.
Re-examination of the procedures for dismissing tenured faculty in case of financial crisis.
Must of the credit for this self-sufficiency must go to Ernest Angin, SenEx chairman, George Worth, former SenEx chairman, and David Shulenburg, president of the KU University Professors, for their dedication to keeping KU faculty unified, but not unionized.
In the case of the nation's educators, whose already low salaries are dependent on unpredictable legislative allocations, it has been difficult to resist the surface appeal of unionization.
Yet, the NEA has not been very effective in raising the wages of its members. On the other hand, it has demonstrated a heavy hand in policy matters even on the local level, resulting in past and continuing friction between teachers and the union's upper-level bureaucrats and lobbyists.
In summary, as Worth told KU faculty last spring, "If faculty here or anywhere think that organizing with the KNEA for purposes of collective bargaining is going to result in dramatic economic benefits, they are in a dream.
"I think our colleagues have been misled to believe that they may out of the economic problems of the 80s," she said.
Indeed, Professor Worth, not only educators but an array of the nation's employees have been accused.
However, they would be sadly mistaken to think that unions in their present state will continue to be a respected bargaining tool, or they would continue to will continue to yield meekly to their demands.
Class officers' unpaid bills show lack of responsibility
Let's play "Name that Organization."
This anonymous organization was described by Carryl Smyllh, the group's adviser and dean of student life, as providing the opportunity for students to get better grades in the course. The University and to build a bridge between University life and the Alumni Association.
What? You say you've never heard of a
that does that these marvelous things?
What?
But, according to Smith, the Board of Class Officers should do just that. She admits however, that BOCO "isn't nearly as effective as it should be."
BOCO is made up of the four officers of each class. Each class funds its activities through a contract with the employer.
This year's senior class card costs $15 and entitles the bearer to a senior shirt, free admittance to several class parties and legitimate senior status (as opposed to the illegitimate status of those of you who choose not to purchase class cards).
CINDY
CAMPBELL
Some of the senior class activities include the Regalia party, which was in early October, the HOPE award given to an outstanding faculty member nominated and selected as a senior farewell party, selection of the class year, fast for graduating seniors and their parents.
As for the other class officers, however, their purpose is to plan parties so class members can become better acquainted, to teach students about the University and to provide a bridge between student and alumni status.
I have to question the possibilities of learning about the University at a class party, especially a party whose success is measured by the number of keks consumed.
In essence, every November during Student Senate elections, we elect social coordinators for the freshman, sophomore and junior classes.
There's nothing wrong with social coordinators, mind you, but let's call a spade a spade. Their purpose isn't to teach students about the University.
Not only have class officers failed in the objectives set forth to them by the University, strange as those objectives may be, but for the past several years BOCO has functioned with virtually no direction in business matters.
Not that it's too much to ask college students to respond, but the fact is that he has led many to want
of the problems now faced by this year's senior class officers.
According to Chris Mehl, senior class president, bills from last year's "projects" are still rolling in. Bills to facilities and print services and several baskets lead to be cleared up earlier in the year before BOCO could continue dealing with the businesses.
"We're having problems because people are saying we're high risk," Mehl said.
"When a couple of bars sent us bills for when party parties held last year, we finally told them that Mr. Wilson, former senior class president, because we weren't responsible for them."
Wilson, a med student at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said he ended up paying a bill to Bottoms Up out of his own pocket, a bill he said was slightly under $200.
Another bill, for almost $600 from South-
western Bell, has been overdue for several
years.
"We paid all our phone bills when we were in, and so did the officers before us." Wilson said. "We always just ignored it because we thought it was a mistake."
Neither Smith, Mehl nor Wilson knows why the BOCO office phone is still in service if the bill isn't a mistake. Wilson said several former treasurers had attempted to get to the bottom of the matter but none had ever succeeded.
"We're trying to turn things around," Meli said, "but we're having problems because we've got all these bills and we don't know where the hell they came from."
Though this year's officers are hesitant to make accusations until they go through all the delinquent bills, Mhli said that the extra financial responsibilities left behind by previous officers were hampering the group's effectiveness.
"Last year's class donated $800 for a class gift," Mell said, "but they let so many bills unpaid that it's really setting this year's officers back."
"We need to take a look at how University organization treasures work," Smith said. "We also need to look into safe guards against theft." The staff would not be being as responsible as they should have."
Turnover of officers is inherent in a University setting, but it isn't an excuse for shoddy organization that allows unpaid bills to pile up, often for years.
Each group of officers should be held responsible for the debts they incur while in office. The companies that do business with student groups should list them emplyed, not unpaid, and officers did not be held responsible for the oversight and irresponsibility of their predecessors.
Letters policy
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 to the Editor
Criticisms of high-tech training are shortsighted in scope
To the Editor
The recent editorial by Brian Levinson, "HighTech Learning Track Makes Graduate Inflexible" (Oct. 14 Kansan), is a fascinating example of the kettle calling the pot black.
As a reminder of the central issue of the editorial, Levinson was concerned with the growing number of people who are going to technical or professional schools and ignoring education. This educational trend, he said, creates a "near-sightenedness that will forever regret."
The first criticism can make sense only in examining the population of students during the height of the baby-boom bulge. As those in Strong Hall concerned with future enrollments will be glad to tell you, the number of young available to go to universities is declining rapidly.
Unfortunately, the editorial itself displayed a great number of nearsighted evaluations of both the education of specialists and education in general. I wish to focus on three of these: 1) "College is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity;" 2) "Specialization will have hindered further progress," and 3) "A student should not go to college . . . for purely economic reasons."
This means that the University must, and has begun to, reach out to a new type of student, the older individual who has been away from academic life for several to many years.
These expanding efforts in continuing education believe the belief that education is a one-shot deal. Even more important, the older student tends to be more concerned with getting the most out of school and so makes valuable contributions to the educational process.
The second criticism is perhaps a greater indictment of the public school system than the university system. Communication skills are traditionally under the control of the early education system, so as to free the university system for the function of advancing society.
The implied demand that the technical and professional student should take more liberal
arts classes do hold merit. However, I also believe that students in what are traditionally liberal arts courses should take technical courses.
The number of liberal arts students taking even introductory level courses in engineering, law, education, architecture, business and journalism leaves much to be desired. Every one of these areas has major impacts on the day-to-day (and sometimes deaths) of all Americans.
In addition, such a statement smacks of sour grapes when most liberal arts degrees are professionally meaningless without eight years of schooling (i.e., a Ph.D.). Even with a professional degree, many liberal arts graduates cannot practice their professions—a rather sad job, work, especially meaningful work, is so very important to the health of most human beings.
Finally, the idea of a goal-oriented life as evil leaves me somewhat bemused. Unless the goals are unsullied by the taint of money, they are wrongful. This is in rather sharp contrast to the way most people live or are forced to live their lives.
The real key to survival in our society is not the broadness of education but the ability to think in a disciplined manner. Although the opportunities to do so are available in the liberal arts curriculum, most specialized technical fields obey it. And that is why technically skilled jobs from $2,000 to $3,000 a year to graduates of professional-technical departments.
Peter Pallj
Lawrence graduate student,
department of chemical and
petroleum engineering
High-techs flexible
To the Editor:
High-tech training has been often criticized as producing narrow, inflexible and unrealistic
This wide range of experience has convinced me that well-trained, high-tech people (by which I mean well-trained engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, management scientists and hard scientists) are frequently more flexible in their thinking and more realistic in their problem-solving than those trained almost exclusively in the humanities, behavioral sciences and social sciences.
Although I am a psychologist (much to the chargin of some), I have spent more time cooperating and working closely with high-tech people than with psychologists. Additionally, I am a student in sociology for a time, and have worked as an artist and as a mathematician.
In my experience, high-tech people have often been more appreciative of the complexity and majesty of nature, less willing to jump to conclusions, and more willing to listen to arguments with which they might initially disagree than their non-high-tech counterparts.
persons, as in Brian Levinson's Oct. 14 column.
From my experience, such criticisms may reflect the uninformed and sometimes blissed off those without good high-tech backgrounds.
As might be expected from such experiences, I have met fewer ideologues among well-trained high-tech people than among non-high-tech people.
Because people with good high-tech training are in a minority, the dominant view of the world is that of non-high-tech people. This tends to be an apparent validity of the non-high-tech orientation.
Experience suggests, however, that the high-tech approach to the world, although a minority one, may be much more appropriate. People with much more success than vice versa.
For example, some of the most interesting and useful ideas in psychology have come from psychiatry. We don't need to know all of them.
mathematicians, engineers, physicists, chemists and obviously biologists
In the long run, the importance of good hightech training in today's world, in which there may be a monetary crisis in 2 to 3 years, and in which we may have to increase food production by 60 percent in the next two decades, cannot be denied.
Perhaps the greatest remaining delusion, in the face of the importance of the complex and difficult theories of relativity and quantum physics is that the world can still be simply understood.
At an educational institution we should not let such a delusion erase the fact that on this earth we desperately need more and better high-tech training.
Maynard W. Shelly Professor of psychology
To the Editor:
Spy story surprising
I and many other fellow Chinese students were surprised to read your story about spying that appeared in the Oct. 21 Kansas. It appeared that you gave the news a headline just because of an unsigned letter, without interviewing any student from Taiwan.
Your story seemed to say that there are really some spies on campus and that all students from Taiwan are afraid of them. I know this is not true because I am from Taiwan, and as a foreign student at KU enjoy life here very much, just as I did in Taiwan.
Min-Shi Yen
I would not have known anything about spying until I read the Kanas. I don't think this unfounded publicity is a unique incident in Kansas; some people dislike the government in Taiwan just because this government is anti-Communist. I don't understand why some people in this nation who enjoy freedom themselves harass the government who fight Communism to protect their freedom
Min-Shi Yen
Taipei, Taiwan, senior
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