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Tuesday, September 26. 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Increasing minimum wage would hurt, not help U.S.
Congress is set once again to cater to the repining of the ignorant masses while ignoring economic reality, all for the sake of a few political careers.
A proposal to raise the minimum wage to $4.55 is in the works and is receiving support from congressmen and senators who care more for their own political necks than for the well-being of the country.
Raising the minimum wage will throw out of work hundreds of thousands of people who are employed by companies that can't afford to pay more. And many new and small businesses, the lifeblood of a growing economy, will be forced to close their doors, all because of more government intervention in an arena in which government has no right to meddle in the first place.
When businesses took advantage of workers in sweatshops and the country was deep in depression, the minimum wage was a valuable tool. Today, however, an increase in the minimum wage would hurt the people it was intended to help and would help only those politicians who would be able to point to their records and claim to have cared for the little man. Those politicians who do what is best for the economy and not for their re-election bids will pay the price. In a market economy, an increase in the minimum wage seems as viable an economic tool as the nationalization of industry.
The partisan nature of this issue in congress is a direct result of the Democratic party's "chicken in every pot" mentality, an axiom that is at best foolish, and possibly dangerous.
Stan Diel for the editorial board
While the establishment of a social welfare net is a noble idea, the course the Democrats have charted is one that would lead this country away from a free market system. Establish a social welfare net, but don't tamper with an economy already inundated with the misguided policies of self-serving politicians.
Abortion issue a question of women's choice, control
A booth operated last week by adamant pro-choice women in front of the Kansas Union sparked a lot of ethical discussion and debate. The women's message was clear: "Never again, we won't go back."
The message was seen on bulletin boards throughout the KU campus and the city of Lawrence. It was illustrated by a sketch of a hanger and was discussed, in length, at the prochoice booth.
It's a justifiable message.
As the message reaches state and federal governments, women continue to exercise their rights as citizens of the United States. They're working to keep abortion legal for women.
As women continue this fight, we must recognize that the abortion issue is an outgrowth of a more comprehensive issue. The real issue is whether women have the right to control their own lives.
The right to abortion is a path off this main road.
The right to abortion is a path off this main road. Many anti-abortion activists argue that an unborn fetus has the right to life. The question of whether a fetus is a human being is not one that can be answered here. Can anyone pinpoint when life starts? While anti-abortion activists argue this point, the danger of "home" abortions could becoe a reality.
Regardless of the status of an unborn baby, women must continue to be able to make their own choices. It is a right that should never be revoked.
The women at the booth put up with a lot of harsh words from anti-abortion activists, but the woman's dedication to this cause is commendable. When they said "Never again, we won't go back," they meant it.
We hope that KU students and faculty will support their cause at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the KU Pro-Choice Coalition's meeting in the Kansas Ballroom of the Kansas Union.
Deb Gruver for the editorial board
And we hope that they continue their cause until there is no longer a reason to fight.
News staff
David Stewart . Editor
Ric Brack . Managing editor
Daniel Niemi . News editor
Candy Niemann . Photographer
Dianel Diel . Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser . Campus editor
Eileen Sung . Sports editor
Laura Huser . Photo editor
Anthiine Winner . Artist/Fashion
Tom Eblen . news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop ... Business manager
Debra Martin ... Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford ... National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe ... Marketing director
Tamil Rank ... Production manager
Carrie Slankin ... Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend ... Co-op manager
Eric Hughes ... Creative director
Charlet Toolbox ... Team leader
Jeff Meesey ... Teamsheets manager
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Kansan editorials ignore facts
This is the first time, and hopefully the last time, that I will write a guest column for the University Daily Kansan. I do this after reading so many questionable editorials that I cannot in good conscience keep the facts to myself. It is my opinion, and I will use the rest of the guest column to prove, that the Kansan editorial writers are lazy, uninformed and incompetent.
First, I would like to address the editorial written by Craig Welch in the Sept. 21 issue of the Kansas concerning the boycott of Student Senate by graduate senators. I believe he wrote this editorial as a personal attack upon me. I had a lengthy, heated discussion with him regarding the responsibility of those writing editors to research the facts and statements of the parties involved before addressing important student issues. Even after our discussion, Welch was not able to correctly communicate statements made to him. I spoke to Welch before the editorial was written, yet he stated that I said graduate students should receive 7.5 percent of the funds freed up by Recreation Services moving to restricted fee status. What I actually said to him numerous times was, graduate students should receive 7.5 percent of the total student activity fee.
Furthermore, two of the main reasons for the boycott of Student Senate that I communicated to Welch were not even mentioned in his editorial. He failed to mention that graduate students wanted all the members of the Student Health Insurance Committee to be responsible for carrying their own health insurance coverage. We feel that no student who is covered under their parents' coverage should be on this committee because they have no vested interest in the final policy chosen. This probably would have eliminated the Equitable policy offered to the students the past year. The students on the committee at that time had no vested interest after Colonial Penn pulled out of the market and were not interested in putting in the additional time that was required to contact other carriers.
The second editorial I would like to address was written in late August regarding the Secure Cab program, which happened to be an editorial I discussed with Welch. Welch, in that editorial, called the Student Senate Executive Committee irresponsible for spending $43,000 on this program. In that editorial Welch stated this was a duplication of the bus service. What he failed to realize was that the bus service runs a limited schedule after 5:30 p.m., and many students do not live on bus routes. In the end, Welch ignored the facts and chose to write an editorial without reading the minutes of that meeting or questioning those involved.
Third, there is the Sept. 1 editorial written by Deb Gruver about desk assistant parking. I am not questioning the need for special parking for those who work in the residence halls and do not live there. What I am questioning is Gruver's not picking up a copy of the parking regulations and reading them. Those who have a yellow permit can park in residence hall lots from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday and from 5 p.m.
James Muir
Guest columnist
Friday until 7 a.m. Monday. This is just another case of Kansan editor writers ignoring the facts.
Fourth is another editorial written by Gruver in the Sept. 11 Kansan regarding the student health insurance program. Not only did Gruver simply write the editorial after reading only a Kansan article, but she also inferred that I work for the University, which I do not, and that I was part of the committee which took action on the Equitable plan, which I was not. I became involved in University governance because of that plan. The funniest thing about this editorial is that I had a 30 minute interview with a Kansan reporter and Gruver was not competent enough to talk to a person in her own office to get more facts.
Fifth, I would like to address the Kansan editorial written by David Stewart in the Sept. 20 issue concerning the University grievance system. He seemed to have written this editorial after speaking to only Hector Clark. There are members of the grievance task force who would have given him a totally different viewpoint. The main reason no action has been taken is that Clark refused to participate in the grievance process this summer. I also question what the difference is between being kicked out of the grievance process and simply stepping down. Does Stewart realize that Clark is asking Professor Sheldon to resign from the task force and not from a board that would hear the complaint? Professor Sheldon has at no time tried to influence the task force as Clark has claimed, and the actions that might be taken based on task force recommendations will not be retroactive with respect to any grievance that has been filed. As for Clark's abuse of the grievance process, I do not doubt that he will file a grievance against me if this is printed.
Finally, I would like to address Welch's comment that I "could find time to confront it (problems) responsibly." I put more time into this University than Welch could possibly imagine. I am the executive coordinator of the GSC, a graduate student senator, and a graduate representative to 12 boards and committees.
I would suspect that I put in more time than it takes Welch to write half-baked editorials on subjects he knows nothing about. I think the Kansan was characterized best by one student leader who stated his opinion of the Kansan as, "It is a colossal waste of paper and ink." At this point in time I will confine that statement to the editable page. Take a good look at yourselves before you unduly harass others on this campus.
James Muir is a Lawrence graduate student.
Victory cry surprises singer
President Bush, it has been reported, has a rather unusual phrase that he shouts when he does well in golf, horseshoes or tennis. When he wins, the president yells out: "Vic Damone!"
Apparently this is his way of declaring a victory. A long putt goes in: "Vic Damone!" He hits a ringer in horseshoes: "Vic Damone!"
Bush, who has a somewhat preppy way of expressing himself, has other favorite sporting phrases. When his ball lands in a sand trap during a round of golf, he says that he is in "Wedge City." When he twitches nervously while putting, he says that he has "the vips."
But "Vic Darnonet" — his expression of victory — is perhaps his most idiosyncratic declaration.
This has been noted in various national publications, but I had not heard a response from the person who might be most interested. So I checked.
Damone, 61, is the famed singer of the '40s and '50s whose singing carves like the careers of many other traditional vocalists — went into something of an eclipse when rock 'n' roll became popular. Damone doesn't make hit records these days, but he maintains a busy concert schedule and lives in California.
I said that surely he must have been aware that Bush was using the phrase. After all, when the president adopts your name as a synonym for victory, you're probably going to hear about it.
"You're kidding " said Vic Damone
"I did see one reference to it in a news story," Damone said. "But I didn't understand what the reference meant."
And he wasn't curious enough to look into it?
"I don't know," Damone said. "Who am I going to ask? Answer."
Am I going to call up the writer of the story?
Damone said that he had never met Bush, so he
assumed that the "Vic Damone!" cry did not come from
any particular fondness Bush had for him.
"Maybe it's just because my name is Vic," Demone said. "Vic Damone, victory . . . they kind of sound alike. That must be it."
And have other people, during Damone's long career,
used "Vic Damone!" as a synonym for victory?
Bob Greene
Syndicated columnist
"No." Damone said. "No one ever used it.
"Not really," he said. "People who are 35 and over
maybe 30 and over — usually recognize my name."
Damone said that he knew Ronald and Nancy Reagan during their Hollywood days, but that he had never been at a party with George and Barbara Bush. I asked if he assumed that everyone is familiar with his name. When he presents his ticket at the airport boarding counter, do people automatically look up?
"President Bush and I are probably around the same age. So, yes, I guess I can understand that he knows who I
Interestingly, had Damone not changed his name for professional reasons, the president might not be shouting it on the golf courses and in horseshoe pits today.
"My real name is Vito Farinola." Damone said. "When I first began singing, I didn't think that would look good on a marquee. So I changed it to Vic Damone. Damone was my mother's maiden名."
It was a lucky decision. Regardless of how much success the name might have given the singer, it is unlikely that George Bush would hit a winning tennis shot and shout: "Wite Pinola!"
Damone said that he was thrilled about the whole thing and that having the president use his name as a synonym for victory was one of the most gratifying experiences of his life, even though he still didn't cure understand it.
Asked if he had any message he would like to pass to the president, Damone thought for a few seconds, then said:
"Tell the president that from now on, whenever I sink a long put, I'm going to yell out: 'George Bush!'"
▶ Bob Greene is a syndicated columnist.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Senate not negotiating
I would like to offer a clarification to the news report 'Group wants to stop student noise' (Sept. 20). I specifically advised your reporter that the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods noise ordinance did not directed at students but rather to any excess party noise makers.
LAN stands ready to negotiate a compromise that will meet our needs. Unfortunately, Student Body President B. Jake White and "other members of the student senate" lack the rudimentary skills of even initiating negotiations. If a Dragonian noise ordinance is adopted, they will be responsible.
LAN developed the proposal after conferring with police chief Ron Olin and former city prosecutor Jerry Cooley. Member neighborhood associations have reported many years of frustration in dealing with excessive party noise with little success. Our concern is with the reasonable requests of the elderly and parents of young children for late night quiet time.
If KU student leaders had told us, "Hey, we'll talk to our party animals and ask them to cool it," we might have been assuaged. With B. Jake White and his cronies throwing down the gauntlet, they have created unnecessary problems for KU parties. It seems that KU students, through their elected representatives, are more interested in partying than studying.
Lawrence neighborhood appreciate KU and the richness it brings to our community. We are proud to be a college town, and we love students. However, we think you are not being well represented by your leaders.
Steve Lopes LAN chair
Financing art limits freedom
The Sept. 21 Kansan contained an editorial by Thom Clark entitled "Helms' loss boosts freedom." The editorial expressed support for the recent House of Representatives rejection of Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., measure to restrict government financing of highly objectionable art. Clark indicates that the legislation "does nothing less than jeopardize our constitutional rights." What Clark fails to realize is government financing of art and censorship are two distinct issues; to compel by tax legislation the citizens of this nation to pay for art which a large percentage of them find offensive is the real infringement of freedom.
In response to David White's column Sept. 19, who could say Einstein, a refugee, was a headache for the West? It was he, and others, who helped the West develop the nuclear energy that eventually assisted the United States in winning the Second World War. White is missing the point that East Germany does not like her young specialized workers to leave. And this is certainly not a victory for glasnost because so far Gorbachev's openness policy has not even reached Berlin. On the other hand, West Germany will benefit from this mass of emigrants who actually are like brothers and sisters to the West Germans — the notion of the melting pot is not appropriate here.
As long as there is public financing of art there should be accountability to those who pay for it. If artwork that is not objectionable cannot be found, then public financing should be discontinued. In this case, artists would retain their freedom of expression, and people who wish to support these forms of art may continue to do so. Those who for moral, political or financial reasons wish to abstain from the arts should have the freedom to exercise their discretion. Curtailing this choice is the true threat to our constitutional rights.
Ronald J. Mallon Salina freshman
Refugees not headaches
East Germans on the west side of the wall will look for a new life, opportunities and jobs. They have the same language and culture that will help them find jobs fast, therefore they will be making money. More income is followed by more spending which will result in the economic growth of West Germany. Finally, the economic growth of West Germany will positively affect the U.S. economy in terms of trade — yes, another victory for democracy and capitalism.
Shervin Resnavad Iran Junior