4 Monday, October 29, 1990 / University Daily Kansan Opinion U.N. Security Council United States should let United Nations provide primary leadership role in Persian Gulf conflict Three months into the Persian Gulf crisis, domestic pressure increases on the Bush administration to define the long-term mission of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia The United States, however, faces a no-win situation that demands a fresh military and political approach to Iraq's aggression. A continued standoff in the desert only works to the advantage of Saddam Hussein, allowing him to consolidate his military position in Kuwait while his army systematically disassembles the emirate and strips it of its wealth. Likewise, a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would be an economic, military and political disaster. Oil prices would soar to new heights in the aftermath of an invasion, destabilizing the world economy. Coordinating a successful attack with reluctant Arab forces and independently minded European forces would be next to impossible. There is some doubt that the Saudis would allow their territory to be used as a springboard for invasion of a fellow Arab state. Despite traditional U.S. assertions that the U.N. Security Council is incapable of enforcing its mission of collective security on its reluctant members, the end of the Cold War provides the United Nations with its first chance to work as its founders intended. Therefore, U.S. determination to see the status quo restored in Kuwait should be replaced with recently found U.S. goals in Iraq and the same goal. Resolutions condemning Iraq and implemanting an embargo have demonstrated that the world body has the strength to match its rhetoric. The United States should begin to abdicate its almost exclusive military role in the Persian Gulf, which does not have U.N. approval. Any military action against Iraq would have to be sanctioned by the world community. This would place the responsibility for stopping Saddam on the shoulders of the United Nations and ease some of the domestic and international pressure that is starting to wear down Western and Arab morale. A historic opportunity for the United Nations to finally become workable is being thwarted by the United States, despite its good intentions in forming the international coalition that guards Saudi Arabia. The Bush administration should be applauded for its actions to date, but it is time for the United States to step aside. Bryan Swan for the editorial board 25 years of success Head Start fills void for children, parents alike A federal program that prepares young children from low-income families to succeed in school will celebrate 25 years of success this year. The Head Start Program of Lawrence's Community Center, Inc., has served more than 1,000 at-risk children in its 25 years. Seventy-eight-3 to 5-year-olds currently participate in the program. Most of the children receive medical, dental and nutritional care that otherwise would be non-existent. Head Start counselors teach not only the children in the program but their parents as well. Head Start should be required for, giving underprivileged children equal footing with the rest of society. Money, or a lack of it. Head Start money from exciting. Head Start fills the void. Christine Reinolds for the editorial board “ I'm going in a totally different direction than Mike or Finney in the fact that I think we need to cut our budget back. Christina Campbell-Cline Christmas Campground Clinic independent gubernatorial candidate Independent gubernational c. " Vote the bozos out of office Soon our dutiful representatives will have roped out a new improved budget that will promote the public good. Ha! What President "Read my lips, no new taxes" Bush and the Gavin of $33 need to get pounded into their concrete skulls is that taxes are really quite high enough, thank you anyway. And when we have a scream for a balanced budget, it wasn't that we were saying to ourselves, "Gosh, my wallet is just too thick. I sure wish that the IRS would him it a little." Nor did it occur to us that, "What we need is a federal tax." Or that men in Washington are doing such a good job. Let's give them all a raise." Brandt Pasco Staff columnist What we were looking for is fiscal responsibility. The boos we have sitting about in Washington, on pretty dainty expensive chairs 1 might add, are sent there to make tough decisions. Not to waiver, not to moan, not to make great patriotic speeches, and certainly not to setup a group of every special group with a few backs for the next campaign For years now, Congress has been playing free and easy with our tax dollars. Now the day of reckoning is here. It is time for them to make an accounting to us, the people they were accustomed to stealing from, the general incompetence of everyone in Congress that when the going gets tough, it collapses. Why did Congress feel free to go on vacation in August when they knew tough budget negotiations were ahead" Unfortunately, because of our entrenched two-party system, we have little hope of immediate relief. Whether we choose Republican or Democratic candidates to represent us, we still get robbed. So the Democrats spend more on social programs and the Republicans spend more on industry and defense. The net result is the same. Spending and thus revenue increase will spiral. Look at the gubernational race here in Kansas. Our boneheaded Republican governor allowed property taxes to be jackuped to ridiculous, if not immoral, levels. The Democratic challenger promises property tax relief, in the form of raising other taxes. Why can't these people realize that we have enough tax? We have more than enough tax. They act as if, like the Beatles song "Somebody Like You," they take it all. Both parties should combine and form the Leech on Society party. One of the most frequent reasons people have for not voting in this country is that they do not know the issues. In the past, this was a valid, if unfortunate, reason for not voting. It is not a valid reason in the coming election. The single issue facing us in this election is the deploreable state of the economy and the economy, ever increasing taxes and a host of other ill plague us. Hame, in this situation, belongs in two places. We, the electorate, are indirectly at fault for letting things get so bad. More directly responsible are the bozos who are representing our better interests. The correct response is obvious. If someone is currently in office, they are either part of the problem or, despite good intentions, wholly ineffective in forcing constructive change. In either case, they should be replaced. When Congress voted itself out, it was clear that the party will attract quality people to office. The raise was totally underserved, but the rest is a good thought. Let's get some quality people in there, because we sure are lacking them now. No matter how one looks at it, there is only one way to achieve every elected official at both state and national levels should be removed. People say we have the right to vote. That is not true. Voting is everyone's duty. So go to the polls and vote. Only together can we succeed in achieving constructive change. > Brandt Pasco is a Lawrence junior majoring in political science. Soviet taxi rides provide glimpse of life in a changing country The taxis reveal a lot about a culture and a society. Whether it is the form they assume — bicycle-powered, human-powered or machine-powered — or the philosophy a driver imparts on his clients, a driver can discern a microcosm of society in a taxi. While in the Soviet Union, I relied heavily on this mode of transportation. I found that Soviet taxi rides are not just a way to get to some destination but are an adventure and an educational experience for a foreigner, especially one who speaks Russian. A Soviet taxi can take on many forms. Almost anyone will stop to give you a ride except for the official yellow taxis. Official taxi drivers hover in front of every hotel where foreigners stay, often working as pimps and currency speculators. Occasionally, they offer you a ride to your destination, usually for hard currency or five times the price on the meter. This type of taxi ride usually begins with the driver lighting up a cheap Soviet cigarette with the aroma of dirty socks, puffing a big cloud of smoke into your face so as to obscure the "no smoking" signs and pictures of naked women plastered all over the interior of the car, and stepping on the gas to screech out into traffic. As he sweeps in and out of traffic jams, barely missing old ladies and children who are crossing the street, he Howard Solomon Guest columnist takes a good look at what you are wearing. She usually gives a foreigner away. "Where ya from?" Before you can answer the driver will begin to tell you his life story. As he darts in and out of traffic, he pulls out pictures and shows you his family. After a brief monologue on how difficult it is to live in the Soviet Union, he opens the glove compartment, revealing a cache of Russian lacquer boxes, black caviar and fur cages. "Do ya wanna trade?" he pleads in broken English. "Sell me dollars, I give you good rate." If you want to avoid these pseudocaplants, it is better to take a "chasknit." This is the Russian word that means a private taxi. Chasknitns can be extremely colorful and memorable rides. I remember bouncing in a dump truck that was so loud that I had to scream to tell the driver where I was going. The driver was in the middle of a construction project, hauling dirt to a site, and added to make a few extra rubles on the side. friends to our destination on its way across town. In Yerevan, a police paddy wagon picked up me and my wife, not to arrest us, but to make a few rubles after work. Once in Lennengad, we caught a tourist bus, complete with a guide, to escort us across town. The driver and the guide "leave" for us, then "leave." (Russian for on the left) buses that charge five times the official cost for passengers yet provide fast and efficient service. A circus truck once ferried me and my A more standard chastink ride is in a private passenger car whose driver is usually on his way to some destination but decides to make a few rubbles on the side. These sort of taxi rides often begin with a heated bargaining session where the driver insists that he will not take you anywhere for less than 20 times what he will eventually settle on. After the driver realizes that the Russian Soviet salary for one taxi ride, he invites you to get in the car. A pack of U.S. cigarettes will often cut down the bargaining time. He then insists you put on the safety belt but not buckle it, for this is an insult to the driver's abilities. This is only for show in a GALSCHIK (traffic cap) should pull him over. A driver can be fitted on the spot for riding without a seat belt. Wheeler I tried to question the simple practice of not buckling up, drivers would invariably launch into a diarrhea about how they had been driving for years and never had an accident. These drivers would drive with the same recklessness of official taxi drivers, weaving and dodging what or whoever got in their way. We were often waved down by the GLalschicks for some unknown violation. Sometimes the violators were just trying to make a few extra rubles on the side. A 10 ruble note will usually get the driver off the book, although I've seen a half a pack of Camels do the same thing. I often found some of the most enlightening conversations in these private taxis. Drivers are from all walks of life, both educated and uneducated, white-collar and blue-collar. And they are often beinated, exuding the odor of vodka throughout the car. I remember riding with a middle-aged man who complained about the empty stores and shortages. He recalled how with Stalin they had everything, even three types of caviar. Out of curiosity I asked the driver if any of his family had been repressed during this period. He replied that his uncles and aunts had been sent off to the camps and his grandfather disappeared. Although he spoke with emotion about this, he seemed to psychologically separate his personal losses from the cloudy memories of abundance. One of the most interesting aspects of riding in a chastink is the interaction of other passengers and the driver. I remember being squashed into a car with a young couple and an elderly gentleman. The passengers began a heated debate about the Communist Party. The elderly man insisted that the party must lead the country despite past mistakes. The young couple dismissed the party as opportunistic hacks who were only concerned with their own well-being. There is occasionally some risk to take taxis. The driver can turn out to be a real psycho. On one memorable ride, a Moscow driver raced through the late night at speeds rivaling the Indy 500 as my wife, being thrown from one end of the back seat, another, pleaded with me to offer the driver a buck of Marlboro that he would slow down Despite the risks and constant attempts to get you to sell or trade something, taxi rides provide a small glimpse at what is happening now in the Soviet Union. Drivers readily share the details of their personal lives, their impressions of the tumultuous changes taking place in their city, just like taxi rides. Soviet society is full of human confusion, fear and adventure. Howard T. Scolombo is a Lawrence graduate student studying Slavic Languages and Literacies. KANSAN STAFF DEREK SCHMIDT Editor DERICK SCHMITT Editor KJERTNIST GABRIELSON Managing editor TOM ERLEN General manager, news adviser Editors News Julie Mettenburg Editorial Mary Neubauer Planning Pam Sollin Campus Holly Lawton Sports Brent Maycoy Photo Andrew Morrison Features Stacy Smith Editors MARGARET TOWNSEND Business manager JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser MINDY MORRIS Retail sales manage Campus sales mgr. Christo Dool Regional sales mgr. Jackie Schmalzmired National sales mgr. David Price Co-op sales mgr. Deborah Salzer Production mgr. Missy Miller Production assistant. Julie Axtland Marketing director. Audra Langford Creative director. Gail Einbinder Business staff Letters should be typed, double spaced and less than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name address and telephone number. 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