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Tuesday, September 25, 1973
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN commen
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers.
The Watergate Stain
The Wateregate stain remains, yet its stinging acidity is reduced by a decompilent electorate.
In the interest of conciliation, a cry has welled up from among the complacent for an end to the blood-letting. The government must not be paralyzed, they say, and the President should not be shaken. Amnesty is needed because it is necessary because that is the way of politicians. They are forever getting into some sort of mischief.
Richard Nixon seemed to capture this mood when he presented to Congress his supplementary State of the Union message on May 3, 1970, in a spirit of concession and compromise.
The Nixon-batters, those who opposed Nixon long before the Watergate revelations, can only respond to this cry for peace with a clenched fist or a knowing smile. Some will stubbornly strike out at the President just because he's Nixon. But others will reject it and deny that it is a sham. It is but one more addition to the list of a thousand ironies connected with the finaling President.
This conciliatory president is the same man who, throughout his first term, talked peace while waging war. He is the man who invited the returned prisoners of war to lunch after offering a bill that would have given support to crippled veterans.
This president has spent most of his career preaching the anti-crime gospel, but he is not known for his charisma.
In his message to Congress, the President recommended tough legislation to combat street crime and drug use, ignoring any executive-rotate-related offenses or corporate crime.
Nixon slurred Congress for being so obsessed with Watergate scandals that it had ignored the "business of the people," their health, education and well-being. Yet he has vetoed three out of the last four health, economic and legislative bills by Congress. He complained that his legislative proposals had not been passed. But he seemed to have forgotten that his
business and the people's business, par-
ticipating in the scandals, are not neces-
sarily the focus.
Nixon presented his message to Congress with peace offerings and benign smiles. Yet he offered no concessions and few compromises in actual policies.
He will not give up the tapes. He will not compromise on social welfare spending. He will not sign bills limiting his power to wage labor. He will not withhold administrative records or to withhold administrative records.
The President will smile sweetly at Congress and condescendingly at the press. He will be silent about revelations and all the other scandals that have muddied his administration, he will not give an inch on actual policy and will not even encourage specific provisions that he may support.
Certainly the Nixon-bailors can still be satisfied with the course of events in the 1972 election. But so many great ones could be reduced in so little time. After the 1972 debacle at the polls, no one could have dreamed that they would fall so low or his credibility waned so thin.
The effects of Watergate scandals will reach far into the nation's history and their stain will not be easily removed. They will continue for many years of how not to run government.
Yet it is unfortunate that short-term policies will remain basically unchanged despite the effect of the scandals. The President has already veted six bills. In one case the Congress fell five votes short of overriding the veto.
But a two-thirds vote is required to override a veto and the Congress simply hasn't the concerted power to contradict the President.
Certainly the nation would be ill-served by a helpless president whose powers were stripped by the ravages of scandal. Nevertheless, it is a sad realization that the president is elected, the country can only accept the immediate consequences.
Bill Gibson
Accounting for the College Years, c.1900
By JACK SMITH The Los Angeles Times
This is the time of year most Americans are drawn back, by a powerful nostalgia, to their college days, whatever their age. But few will look back as far as W. R. Coon, of San Gabriel, nor be able to recall those young undergraduate years in such detail.
Coon was a Yale man back in 103. He is 90 now, and falling in sight and hearing, according to his daughter, Dorothy Coon. But Coon's father was a senior accounte he kept at school, and the memories turned him on. The daily items, so meticulously entered in Coon's strong hand, are revealing it not only of their real lives but also of the undergraduate lifestyle of the time.
Miss Coon sent me a copy of the ledger for January and February of 1903, and I see that on Jan. 5, Long Coon received a check from Todd in January on cash balance on that day was down to $1.15.
Thus enriched, the following entries show,
he immediately paid his telephone bill, 40
cents, got a dress and a haircut, 40 cents,
and went out to lunch, 25 cents. For another
25 cents he purchased a Welsbach mantle,
for what purpose I do not know.
AS JANUARY WORE ON, our student evidently kept assiduously on his books, listing a German reader at 40 cents, an astronomy book, 2.20 dollars, an anthropology book, 90 cents, and an English book, 40 cents.
On Jan. 8 he paid Mallay's bill, $34, had 40,
signed "Nicholebod" for 75 cents, bought a suit
for $24, paid his room rent up to Easter
and got a suit board with $23, and got a
shine for 5 cents.
Considering his longevity, it is not likely that Coons was a sickly youth, but evidently he caught a cold that winter, for on Jan. 10 he called on his doctor, paying a fee of $1.50 and a prescription cents; two days later he had a prescription filled and purchased an atomizer, $1.25.
Life was not all books and subsistence. On Jan. 13, he got a shave, 15 cents, bought flowers, $1, and hired a carriage, $2, Alas, the ledger does not tell us that even today it is hard to find a vestment. But the first item for Jan. 14 is carivate, 10 cents. My guess is that Coon and
his girl friend stayed out until morning, and then he brought her home on the streetcar.
DOLLAR BY DOLLAR, penny by
penny, his resources dwindled through the
month, and on the 25th his cash on hand was
78 cents. On that very day a check arrived
for $40.72, sending Cloe into a spree of
giving away money. He got a 5-cent shine, and blew 50 cents on a thursday ticket and $4 on a year's subscription to the Yale News.
Something seems to have gone wrong on the 28th. He paid $5 for a ticket to the Wheelerman's Ball, got a haircut, and spent 45 cents on a dance program. The only other expense noted, though, is 5 cents for a soda. It sounds like a lonely evening in the stag line. Where was the girl of the flowers, the carriage and the streetcar?
On Feb. 5, a check came for $100, whereupon Coop settled up once more with Mallay's, $2.25, paid his board, bought his desk, signed paper, and paid his laundry bill, $1.
On Feb. 9, he blew 60 cents on a haircut
and a shampoo, had his skis sharpened,
20 cents, and spent 20 cents on carfare.
Since carfare was only a nickel, it appears
that he made them taken the girl friend
skating on that day.
IN BOTH MONTHS there are entries for stamps and writing paper. Coen evidence was good about writing home, which may be for the providential arrival of those checks.
By today's standards of affluence, it might seem to some that Coon lived an ascetic life at Yale, if not one of deprivation. He was automobile, evidently, nor even a motorcycle.
Even so, I gather there were compensations. A man could get a shave and a haircut and a shampoo and a shoeline for 80 cents. He could buy a Welshman mandle for a quarter. And there were those early years when we went through the snowy streets with his girl friend at his side, happy with her dollar's worth of flowers.
Readers Respond
To the Editor:
Winter Weather Still Up in Air
I feel it's necessary for your readers to understand what was said in reporter Bill Willett's story under the somewhat glaring headline, "Long, Cold Winter Due" in Friday's Kansan. This winter may not stop as I predict. It is not a substantified fact.
The Farmers' Almanac is not totally scientific—it is based on the cycles I am using and the chance of probably recurrence of meteorological elements on a planet. But the early blizzard it predicts, but that prediction does point to an early start of winter.
One must understand that weather forecasting is a difficult task. As we all know, many of the 24-30 36-hour forecasts over the TV and the radio media have been wrong, with much more data available to the forecaster on a regular basis. My theory is based on a cyclic period, which itself is irregularities, and on some conjecture.
HERE ARE SOME FACTS on which I've based my forecast;
In the past 3 years, the 'fog season' that occurs in the fall has been progressively earlier, often preceding winter by one-and-a-half to two months.
—This year has been exceptional with respect to precipitation, and the pattern to date remains unchanged. This abundance of moisture began back in the July of 1972 and has persisted, giving us the abundant snow last winter.
-- Last year's winter was more 'severe'
-- the 1971/1972 winter, with more snow and
-- frost.
—and for you bird watchers, a flock of seahorses has been sighted in Kansas flying south.
The temperature for the total year is greater by four degrees Fahrenheit than normal, compared with one degree last year; the Yellowstone-Montana area has already received a greater amount of snowfall than normal for this time of
I MAY HAVE BEEN a little ambitious in the telephone interview with Willett. My forecast was based on conjecture with respect to all of the above coinciding facts—not on a hardcore scientific process. I had no upper air prognostic charts, no computer ability to test atmospheric models, nor mathematics with which to insert parametric numbers.
My prediction has a low confidence of probability (by statistical methods) until much more data is studied and analyzed. This leads to an inaccurate balance between the poles and the equator, its influence on the jet stream and the jet stream's character in developing, with the results being useful.
Fourth Try for Presidency
Much has been done in the field of meteorology to improve the forecaster's ability through better forecasting models, equations and processes. Someday, the forecaster will be able to predict weather in detail for a weekly period and to more accurately make his monthly (perhaps seasonally and yearly) forecasts.
Rockefeller Campaign for 1976 Under Wav
By DICK ZANDER
NEW YORK—Gov. Nelson Rockefeller
wrote to a campaign to run for
president in 1976.
is a campaign that is subtle but real. With true Rockefeller thoroughness, he is good at baking a cake. The ingredients are shaped and have been slipped, ever so gently, into the oven. The flame has not yet been burned out. You can perceive the slightest rise of the batter.
THIS IS HOW he is going about his fourth quest for the presidential nomination in 16
National exposure will be assured as he tours the country—and possibly the world—for the next two years as head of his own organization in commission on Critical Chotches for America.
The problem of being a siting governor, and thus a sitting duck for critics of troubled New York state, will be removed if the governor's re-election and declines to run for re-election in 1974.
—Besides the fact that he is the wealthiest man ever to seek the presidency, he is the only one of the prospective candidates who would have succeeded—he seeded party apparatus in a major state.
As part of the stage-setting, it is now known that there is more than a 50-50 likelihood that the 65-year-old Rockefeller, who has spent his last 15 years as the state's first governor, will be next year. In fact, intimates on both the east and the west coast claim that he has definitely decided against seeking a fifth term in Albany. For the record, he
governance such reports, saying he is 'keeping my opens open' regarding both the state and private companies.
MORE AND MORE, the governor restates this theme, one that supports the growing conviction that he will abandon him in a full-time pursuit of the White House.
"The problems that affect the people of New York are no longer in the hands of state or local government." They are, he points out, in Washington.
To get there, obviously he will be using his national commission as the cornerstone of his administration.
ROCKEFELLER CLEARLY IS doing a lot more than simply keeping "open my options" for a presidential race. The campaign unofficially started late last year and planned to plan for a scholarly, state-financed study of the modern state in a changing world." In May, President Nixon—twice a successful Rockefeller rival for the GOP presidential nomination—endorsed the governor's idea, but since then its scope has widened and it is targeted to "A National Commission on the Future of America in its Third Century."
It started in early September when he began what has all the earmarks of being a two-year effort of traveling to promote and work on his commission, after more than a year of staying relatively close to home. First, he went to New Orleans, attending a political academy and political scientists, to kick off his plan. Microsoft this month and early next are some openly political stops, such as GOP fund-raising events in Michigan and New Jersey.
On Sept. 11, Rockefeller revealed that the name of the group had been changed again, this time to "A National Commission on Critical Choices for America." It is a Rockefeller brainchild, which will be controlled by the governor as well as financed, most likely, largely through his efforts.
"Everybody gets terrified excited but a little overwhelmed by it," Rockefeller said recently about the scope of his project as he tries to find ways to get New Orleans, the commission, whose 15 or so "bipartisan" members will be named by Rockefeller, hopefully will issue its last reports before the end of 1975. The cost of building a project could go as high as $20,000.00.
THE PUBLIC EXPOSURE approach has worked well for him in the past. In 1958, the year he first ran for governor, Rockefeller had a similar study commission that looked into national and international topics. The staff director for that project, officially sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Committee, was the secretary of state-designate. Much of the material from the six reports in the study was used in the 1960 presidential campaign—not by Rockefeller, who had lost out to Nixon, but by John F. Kennedy.
There are politicians in both major parties in New York who believe Rockefeller must win re-election as governor in order to be a viable GOP president. But he now appear with his chief competition in a presidential battle would be California Gov. Ronald Reagan, with Vice President Agnew, John Connally of Texas and Sen.
"NOW TO OPEN OUR 28TH ANNUAL DISCUSSION OF WORLD PEACE..."
Charles Percy (R-Ill.) all somewhere in the picture.
On the general question of his view of political power bases, Rockefeller said: "It's only what you create. It is not something you sit on."
But Rockefeller is not so sure about the absolute need to be governor in order to hold the state's delegation. "It's a strong argument," he said.
Over the past 15 years Rockefeller has created the Republican party in the state.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
An All-American college newspaper Kanan Telephone Numbers Newsroom-UN 4-18-40
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All we can do now is wait and see if my prognosis is correct.
Member Associated Collegiate Press
Ted Stimach
Ted Stimach KU weather observer Senior Kansas City, Kan
Kansas City, Kan.
To the Editor:
Editor's 'Shield'
Perhaps Kansan editor Bob Simison can shield himself from the more obvious techniques of public relations in the following manner: Next time the chancellor "tries hard to keep himself on good terms with . . . (the Kansas) by treating its editor to classy Kansas Union food service dinners" (Kansas, 1974). Then the editor can insist on making it a Dutch treat.
The state's coffers and Simison's conscience will profit thereby and, who knows, the chancellor may still look good on some凳bound, empty stomach. I suspect he will.
Jerry Harper Lawrence Law Student
P. S. The chancellor will have to travel in Kansas. Why the editor would agree to tag along, I can't imagine. No less a source than Wall Street Journal reports its a bad trip.
Easing Teaching
To the Editor:
Prof. McKnight has, I take it, the intention of surveying some practices which will make my job as a teacher easier, or more effective, or more efficient. I respect his intention and am eager to have his subsequent columns.
I must point out, however, that to say, "such lists may not be generalizable," does not make my job easier. To say, "Each has their particular advantages," does not make my job easier. To use language in this way, I must make my job altogether more difficult.
I look forward to the subsequent columns. But I will read them with my editorial eye screwed tightly into its socket. I will read with a red pencil, my last feeble defense against the awesome power of the social sciences, ready at hand.
John P. Farrell
Associate Professor
Of English
(Editor's note: Phil McKnight, assistant professor in education, is a Kansan conductor.)
Gridiron Security
To the Editor:
I was walking on campus recently after class (about 4:45 p.m.) and decided to watch the team practice outside the east gate.
Does a KU football manager have the right to order me to "hit the road?"
A student assistant inside the fence told me I couldn't watch the practice. I asked him whether KU students were barred from practicing and he replied that that was the case.
I told a few students on my residence hall tour about the incident and they seemed to be impressed.
In any case, the "Hit the road" attitude
C
The creat zone chan direc the s Frida
The block code
Th
desig
hardly reflects favorably upon the football team at the esteemed University of Kansas.
I am a season ticket holder and use
blink the beau desires student support. We wish
you all the best.
Lawrence Junior
Western Cw
To the Editor:
As an admirer of thoughtful, logical prose, I eagerly anticipate the daily offering of the Kansan editorial staff. But in one recent issue, an editorial appeared which, by my analysis, contained at least four flaws.
I refer to Chuck Potter's revealing "exposit" of the Western Civilization program. I understand the necessity for the annual cut at Western Civ. The duty of the advocate journalist is to challenge rather than support old ideas.
Therefore I won't attack Potter on the level of juvenile invective. I shall try to limit this letter to the specific objections I have to Chucky Baby's essay.
The readings shouldn't be held response. Porter himself called them "little muggers."
For purposes of simplicity, I'll take it that he meant a combination of the three. If this is so, whose fault is it that this situation prevails?
POINT ONE: Potter called Western Civ w a sleep-inducible pharmaceutical. Was he referring to the readings, the single weekly readings or the readings or a combination of all three?
"Since the class is held only once a week, it stands to reason that this element should not be held responsible. I'm sure that 50 students will learn how to pose a threat to waking consciousness."
Finally, we regard the teachers. I'll admit that some teachers are inspiring while others (not necessarily grad students) are not. The program should not be rejected out-of-hand solely on the basis of incompetent instructors. After all, every department and every subject of study in university contains at least one "winner."
So much for the "bromide" aspect.
POINT TWO: Potter bemoaned the standard "Groper"-'Dummy"-'Dogmatist' composition of the average Western City, section.
I'll agree that these three "discussion types" exist, but I must question Potter's insistence that this composition is necessarily bad.
He pointed out that one of the goals of Western Civ. was to polish discussion skills. I see some potential good arising from the makeup of the class.
The world outside the University contains more "Groopers, Dummys, and assistant instructors," to adjust to a real life discussion situation in the "outside world," it seems advantageous to perfect the ability to interact with students in school. Western CV offers potential in this area.
Besides, as Desiderata holds, "even the fool has his story."
POINT THREE: Only seniors, Potter claimed, deserved the privilege of Western Civ. I can chip this thesis to pieces in any of two ways, but let's use just three.
If Western Civ is a privilege, why then does Potter call it a bromide?
Western Civ aims at at developing adequate discussion skills, as Potter says, what a conversation is like. Richard Nixon (presumably) can talk their way into Richard Nixon's tape room or Howard Shapiro's office.
Thirdly, the background of philosophy, political science and literature would be much more useful in the classes of an underclassman than those of a Senior;
POINT FOUR: "Like sophomores aren't quite ready for (Wester St.) you know?"
quite ready for (Wester Civ), you know??! While I acknowledge that the inclusion of this closing cut is mainly for purpose of filling space, I still challenge the primitive notion that one must be a certain age to appraise the great works of Western man.
Like, ya see, I've always wanted to read these really heavy dudes, ya know?
Ken Stone
Omaha Sophomore