OPINION
December 6,1984 Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily Kansan (USPK 620 640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer Fintl Hall. Lawen, Kanok 6005, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods. Second class postage paid at Lawen, Kanok 60045 subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or university students. Third class postage paid at Lawen, Kanok 60045 student subscriptions are $1 and are paid through the student activity for FOSTMASTER address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 StauFFER Fintl Hall. Lawen, Kanok 6005
DON KNOX
Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE HESS Managing Editor Editorial Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM Campus Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
LYNNE STARK MARY BERNICA Retail Sales National Sales Manager Manager
SUSANNE SHAW General Manager and News Adviser
JILL GOLDBLATT Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
House ethics
Geraldine Ferraro will not be a member of the House when the new Congress convenes in January.
She's lucky for this in the following respect: If she were going to serve for two more years, chances are that the House Ethics Committee would have chosen to take disciplinary action against her for the violation of House rules on financial disclosure. As it stands, Ferraro will escape with little more than a few days of front-page headlines — a modest reprimand.
In fact, she is apt to feel somewhat confused about her conduct as a congresswoman, because the committee's verdict of guilty coincides with a resolution passed this week by House Democrats congratulating Ferraro for her work in the House and "for being such an outstanding candidate" for vice president.
The scales of justice sometimes tip to the wrong side, but in the halls of Congress they don't "Tip" to either side. Instead they oscillate with seemingly no sense of balance at all.
One of two dissenters on the ethics committee vote correctly pointed out that Rep. George Hansen, R-Idaho, had been disciplined by the House for similar violations on financial disclosure,
The dissenter, Rep. Hank Brown, R-Colo., complained that the committee had established a "double standard" by failing to take further action on the matter. Brown is half right. Further action should have been taken, but, unfortunately, the double standard was in place long before the ethics committee met to consider Ferraro's violations.
The double standard was in place when Ferraro's political opponents started going over her records with a fine toothed comb the day after her nomination was announced. Had she not been nominated, it is safe to say that her financial conduct never would have been brought into question.
What the incident illustrates more than anything else is how unruly House ethics rules have become. An army of lawyers and accountants was needed to assess the technical aspects of Ferraro's violations. It stands to reason, then, that a similar army of specialists would have been required for compliance in the first place. Maybe it is the House rules, not members, that need to be put on trial.
Yet another bout with bureaucracy
One of the classic places to encounter the bureaucracy is, of course, a university. It's one of those things you expect to have to deal with and there's nothing for you but to go with the flow, right?
At first I was annoyed at the hassle of having to sort this out, but it turned out to be a good party conversation topic. I'm a New Zealander, you see, and was speaking English when I was still in diapers. In fact, other French students were怕讲 Francais, un peu. 'I can speak anything but English.'
I got a phone call quite out of the blue halfway through the semester from the Applied English Center. I was told that because I had a letter "C" on my student number - Hadn't it been printed in my English-speaking requirement of the University or I wouldn't be able to graduate.
So a few weeks ago, I found my way over to the Applied English Center all set for a big fight with bureaucracy. It didn't happen. The women at the center were very nice
You might say that I speak English with the best of them. I sound more like a Kansan every day. Why, if you were in Japan, would you test a test, might even say "real good."
about the confusion. It was probably my fault, they said. Perhaps I had checked the box labeled "foreign student" when I first enrolled.
A week ago - last Thursday, Nov.
29 - I turned up at my scheduled
enrollment time. After a while, my
turn came up. When I went to enter
I got my waiver and went over to Strong Hall, where I picked up a card from the graduate office it had. I was impressed. The system was working.
the room, I was asked for the card to remove the "C" from my number. Because I didn't have the card with me, I was sent to 103 Strong.
At 103, I was told that without my card, they couldn't vote out my "C" even if it was recorded on the computer that I had been granted a waiver.
I offered to get my waiver from my file at the School of Journalism office but no, that wouldn't do. I was told I had to have the card.
Having made a special effort to get to the University by 8:55 a.m. I wanted to enroll then and there, not at my other scheduled time.
I pointed out that at my other time, 4:15 p.m. I would have to bring all three of my children. Did they really want me to bring three boys aged five to nine-years-old to enrollment? Even customs officials, when they see me coming with the boys, say, "Go on through, ma'am;" without checking a thing. They can't wait to see me leave.
I got desperate. I went over to the journalism office and picked up my
waiver. I then took it to Strong and tried to get directly into enrollment with it. But I was foiled again. "Take that to 103." I was told.
Deciding that 103 was a lost cause (they had already said the waiver form wouldn't do the trick), I went to the graduate office, armed with my official waiver.
The woman who handled graduate business wasn't going to be back before the end of the week, but another woman helped me. Having checked her computer, she took her pen. With a stroke of her pen, she said, "No, I don't have a bona fide English speaker." I was able to complete enrollment.
When I got home and couldn't find the card in question, I realized that I hadn't picked up my card from the graduate office all those weeks ago. Rather, I had dropped it off there as instructed by the Applied English Center. I didn't even have the card any more. It was in the system!
Jill Ovens is a Coffeyville graduate student.
'Peace movement' confused
Letters and columns in recent weeks have addressed such issues as draft registration, disarmament, investment policy and U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Rather than respond to specific arguments, I prefer to offer some comments on what is eupherically referred to as the "peace movement."
I'm sure we we've all heard of the buzz words of the movement, such as "building trust and confidence", "peace with justice", "popular diplomacy", "progressive policy" and "war is unfixable". We have armies have a considerable impact in propaganda and, unfortunately, there is a great deal of confusion between propaganda and reality.
First, there must be an objection to the movement clothing itself in the garb of "peace," as if those us who oppose the policies of the movement oppose peace. Minor points aside, there are many substantive deficiencies regarding the movement's outlook on the world. A primary failure has been to look at the world as it should be, rather than how it is. Wars, oppression, brutality and bellicose ideology are basic fixtures in the world.
This situation will not be improved if we fail to confront it as reality. Political decisions must reflect an understanding of what could be lost in terms of non-communist world political and military policies, and a key pillar of defense against totalitarian oppression.
Does peace mean that predominately white nations should disassociate themselves from involvement in the affairs of non-white nations? Should we pretend the struggles between blacks or Asians or Latin Americans have no real impact on the cause of
There is a lack of any coherent, believable definition as to what peace is. Does it mean one world government, and if so, is communist domination to be somehow justified or war because of total surrender?
peace and consensus government? Should we let political problems "solve themselves?"
Just because communist "governments" have murdered over 100 million people in less than a quarter of that any reason not to "build trust."
There seems, in many quarters, a belief in the inevitability of progress, generally defined in terms of the advent of socialism. Indeed
BENJAMIN CASAD Guest Columnis
there is a pro-socialist double standard applied to some of the most important questions regarding the meaning of social progress and its possibilities in a given situation. What is or is claimed to be socialism is entitled to be given the benefit of the doubt for the future and seen by a different standard in the present. For example, internationalism and intervention in favor of socialism is acceptable as part of the struggle against "imperialism."
This double standard has led to a lack of appreciation of perhaps the fundamental lesson of the twentieth century — the near impossibility of any significant increase in mass militant victory. No people have ever chosen to have a permanent communist government.
Needless to say, such moves by non-communist regimes are considered provocative, bellose and totally unacceptable. Socialism cannot, of course, be described as imperialist, exploitative or unjust. Similarly, there are no left wing death squads.
There are several arguments made to suggest a response to the problem of the communist assault on the town. One probably is the so-called one probably is the so-called
"political solution." This plan calls for negotiations and compromise with communist factions, advocates "coilition" government and basic ally support the states. The plan has failed to distinguish between offensive and defensive military doctrine.
I'm not suggesting that political solutions are always useless, nor am I opposing dialogue and reform. The U.S. has very serious responsibilities. We should be cautious. Political solutions have a potential to become like protection rackets — we sell out the noncommunists elements in return for communist restrain.
The offensive and bellicose character of communism is abundantly clear. It has for the most part sought victory, not peace. It has made the maximum demands of its own people and also of the rest of the world. It has exploited every institution, negotiation and revolutionary situation it possibly could. There are in essence two peace programs, one negotiating peace from a position of strength, the other pleading for communist help from a position of weakness. Political solutions ultimately cannot be relied upon because communism is not a political doctrine. It is a military doctrine.
The major issues of peace and war will not be decided in the free world. It is vitally important to the cause of real peace and non-use of nuclear weapons that peace propagation has been achieved through programs of radical appeasement that are openly advocated.
These comments are not intended to belittle the struggle of many people in the world for peace and justice. Rather they are to suggest that since communism has redefined the nature of our struggle, we cannot remain oblivious to communist intentions in our response as an ally of the non-communist majority.
Benjamin Casad is a Lawrence resident.
KU's tropical, arctic buildings
As winter approaches, once again students at the University of Kansas must prepare themselves for the heat wave that comes every year.
Then again you never know -- students might have to prepare themselves for the arctic temperatures of the North Pole.
The problem is that finding a comfortable and average room temperature during the winter in KU buildings is virtually impossible; some rooms are unbearable cold. Only one lucky room for every building determines the heating for that building.
Because of this, the cost for heat,
heat which bellows into campus
buildings and residence halls with
the strength of a tropical summer,
continues to increase at KU every
year.
The problem of temperature control has been around for a long time, yet no one has come up with an adequate solution. Utility costs for maintaining temperatures have halts continue to increase, and students must suffer the consequences
The heating and cooling budget for campus buildings — not including residence halls — is $6 million this year, said Bob Porter, associate director of physical plant maintenance department of facilities operations.
Porter said that heating and cooling for campus buildings operated on a central system. For heating, the air is warmed at the power plant and piped to the buildings. For air conditioning, the air is cooled at the individual buildings.
Each building has its own circulation system, and the systems vary with the age of the building. Some offices can cool fans and fans, there with radiators.
Porter said the maintenance office of facilities operations tried to keep rooms and buildings at an optimum temperature. The facility has 18 degrees in the summer.
Fluctuations in temperatures between rooms could be caused by several reasons. Porter said,
One possibility comes from the fact that each building has at least one central thermostat. If the temperature falls below a certain level, the meets the optimum temperature, the
system will not continue to circulate warm air even when other rooms may be considerably colder.
Fluctuations could also be caused by the switching of hand valves on radiators or by some problem with dancer controls. Porter said.
With this arrangement of temperature control, it seems virtually impossible to run this system efficiently. The seller said it was inefficient at times.
During this semester alone, facilities operations has turned the air conditioning on and off twice. Porter
ROBIN
PALMER
Staff Column
Staff Columnist
said Facilities operations officials base the decisions on weather and campus activities.
However, in light of the temperature control problems in the system, the situation cannot be drastically improved. The conditions that result from poor temperature control can lead to inefficiencies are impossible to overlook, one need only walk into any campus building or residence hall.
I have always thought it was strange that residence halls are so warm when the temperature outdoors hovers at the 70 degree mark. However, I have learned never to underestimate the capabilities of the students and to control controls for residence halls — to turn the heat on when it wasn't needed.
I learned that when I lived in Gertrude Sellars Pearson Hall my freshman year.
The reading on the thermostat in the lobby was in the 80s the entire winter that year, and the temperature would have been the same in my room if we had left the window closed.
The system in the residence halls operates differently from that in campus buildings because each hall has its own central heating and cooling, said J.J. Wilson, director of housing.
The problems in this system arise because hot or cold water is circulated to warm or cool a hall. Temperatures cannot be controlled enough to provide a comfortable room temperature because of the time factor. To turn the heat off and switch to air conditioning the system must be completely drained and then filled again. This process takes hours of time and includes physical complications.
Wilson said that the office switched from heat to air conditioning in April, and switched from air conditioning to heating in September. He rarely completely shut off, he said.
This circulation problem only leads to waste when students open their windows because they can't bear the heat. Just stroll by any residence hall in mid-December, and one will see floors of rooms with open windows
Students should at least make an effort to report all circulation problems either to the housing office or to facilities operations.
Either way, the University and its students will continue to suffer until the system operates efficiently.
The waste that exists will continue under the current system, as heat is blown out the window on cold winter nights, because the system cannot circulate the air efficiently and control the temperatures.
GUEST COLUMNS
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The University Daily Kansan invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns should be typewritten and double-spaced and should not exceed 625 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. Columns can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject columns.
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