November 19, 1984
OPINION
Page 4
KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Dahlia Kampan (USP5) 602004 is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stuart Fint Hall, Lawrence Kampan 602005, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and final periods. A postal address of Lawrence Kampan 602004 Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $24 for a year for six months or $3 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $1 and are paid directly to the University address changes the University Dahlia Kampan 118 Stuart Fint Hall, Lawrence Kampan 602004.
DON KNOX
Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE HESS Managing Editor Editorial Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
DOUG CUNNINGHAM
Campus Editor
LYNNE STARK MARY BERNICA Retail Sales National Sales Manager Manager
SUSANNE SHAW
General Manager and News Advisor
JILL GOLDBLATT Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
New Frontier
As the results of last week's Student Senate elections are evaluated and re-evaluated for their significance, one point stands out: Carla Vogel, student body president, and Dennis "Boog" Highberger, student body vice president, succeeded in their goal to broaden the Senate's appeal among students.
The turnout of student voters, the greatest since 1971, serves as an indication of the increased interest in Senate affairs that the pair had sought in their campaign a year ago.
Although Vogel and Highberger got the students to speak, what was said was not entirely favorable to the incumbents. The record margin for the victorious candidates for president and vice president — Frontier leaders William Easley and Jeff Polack — shows that students who voted liked little else of what Vogel and Highberger had done. Easley and Polack, running a campaign that stressed tradition, had the largest margin of votes since the current Senate system was begun in 1969.
The second-place candidates, running on the & Toto Too coalition, had promised to continue the changes in the Senate system that Vogel and Highberger had sought. The Kansan Editorial Board endorsed the presidential and vice presidential candidates of & Toto Too because it agreed that the structure of Senate, not the people in it, was the problem.
Now Frontier, which also picked up a majority of Senate seats, has a chance to prove its contention that the system can work, that people can bring about change through the system without changing it. However, the changes sought by Frontier emphasize issues — such as campus safety — that have been kicked around in Senate for years.
One of Frontier's main proposals, to finance student groups with the goal of weaning them from Senate financing, is promising — Who doesn't want more student groups to be self-supportive? — but a scalpel, not an ax, is needed. Some needed organizations might never become self-supportive, and one year of bad leadership for an organization should not doom the organization the next year.
A revealing aspect of the election results is the split between on-campus and off-campus students. On-campus students — those who have stayed with their original living group — appeared to go with Frontier, and off-campus students voted heavily for & Toto Too. Highberger attributed the difference to an age gap; older students know "what a charade" Senate has been, he said. Brian Raleigh, campaign coordinator for Frontier, said, "I believe we got a big Greek turnout. Last year, the Greeks found out what happens when they don't vote."
For Senate to work, cooperation is needed. The combatants of the election must now work to become the cooperators of the student government.
Habit of labeling others hard to break
I used to ride to work with a woman, exchanging polite greetings and random thoughts.
She used to get disgusted with racism, complain about people who needed to drive big cars as status symbols and sympathize with the unemployed.
Based on these tidbits of opinions and occasional remarks, I thought I knew what she would think about many other issues.
One or two opinions had not been enough to define her, though that is precisely what I had done.
One day, however, I discovered that pigeonholing her as I had had been an error on my part.
It turned out that my friend had many other facets of her personality that I had not known.
She preferred Harlequin romances over news magazines, spent money on lavish entertaining and went for long bike rides. She was quite efficient at doing a very demanding job, but in her free time she didn't think about work or issues of the day, immersed herself in manial labor.
Someone tells us about growing up on a farm, and we assume, without ever asking what kind of farm it is, that we know all about wheat, corn and milo.
I had made a mistake to take so much for granted, yet many of us do this We take a few random facts as examples and categorize the person's opinions and categorize the person.
Then we decide for ourselves where that person stands on a multitude of other topics.
We are surprised when we discover that another person, with whom we discuss sports every time we see him or her, is in training. We date for a doctorate in engineering.
When we define people, mentally placing them in a certain category, we cheat ourselves. We decide that someone who is an aloibolic probabilistic psychologist is because his whole world is the corner bar, where we usually see him.
Such assumptions steal from the man any chance for him to discuss his lifetime involvement with politics.
We define the boundaries of another person, based on the limited information that we have about him.
Staff Columnist
MARGARET
SAFRANEK
denying that person opportunities to define themselves for us.
Someone tips us off that a person's father is a staunch Republican, and we decide that we know where the
son undoubtedly stands on political issues. Forget that the person has a mind of his own and that among those who know him well, he is famous for ideological differences between him and his father.
Our first glimpses of the person give us enough to go on, or so we think.
We we it over and over again. A conservative-minded person is not one with whom we bring up the subject of poverty, and we carefully toe-around the subject of foreign affairs with someone who has discussed only batting averages and wall-papering with us in the past.
It's a mistake to decide who a person is, what he is about or what he thinks just because that person has made some small facet of himself to us.
But it seems to be human nature to label another person, a tendency to define and put that person in tidy order. A "foreigner" or "intellectual" "foreigner" or "intellectual."
So we cheat ourselves by missing opportunities to discover other aspects of a personality, and we cheat the other person by attaching to him a label that may be unfair or inaccurate.
What one thinks on a particular issue occasionally is tied to what he thinks on another, but not always. It can be that someone falls on one side of a line or the other.
Labeling and placing people in nice, tidy boxes is easy and manageable. Allowing people to reveal themselves to us offers a host of richer experiences.
Financial crunch sows troubles for farmers
Problems for the U.S. farmer are becoming more obvious this year than any other year since the Great Depression Economic recovery which is occurring in most parts of the country, is slow in reaching farmers.
Although harvests are big this year, falling prices — on top of huge debts and depressed land values — are causing difficulty
ice, said that he was earning $5.50 a bushel for soybeans, compared to $6.00 a year ago, and $2.77 a bushel for corn, compared to $3.10 last year.
The corn harvest is estimated at 80 percent above the level of 1983, as reported in U.S. News & World Report. Soybean production is up 26 percent. Also up are rice sorghum and wheat, which decline this year is in wheat and oats.
For many farmers the large yields from their fields result only in low prices. A Lecompton farmer, Jerry
On the positive side, farm income has climbed back to where it was in 1981. Fuel cost for machinery is down, and a poor harvest expected in the Soviet Union is forcing that country to import billions of grain from the United States.
RICK
SHERIDAN
Staff Columnist
Ice said the prices would just about cover his expenses.
Food prices at the supermarket are expected to rise this year, regardless of the lower prices paid to farmers. The lowest price on a market basket is weak despite Soviet purchases.
The heaviest burden on farmers is debt, estimated nationally at $215 billion — up from $35 billion in 1970, as reported in U.S. News & World Report. Of the $25 billion in loans
made by the Farmers Home Admin istation. 30 percent are delinquent.
Joe Kelly, president of Douglas County State Bank in Lawrence, said that he might help liquidate as many farms this year as he had in the past 30 years. The problem, he said, was that many farmers bought their land when prices were high for real estate, now that prices for farmland have dropped, the farmers are stuck with a large debt that is hard to pay.
Because of the problems of farmers, businesses in farming communities are suffering. Another result is social upheaval, such as alcoholism and wife abuse. An example of a man pushed to despair is the Nebraska farmer who fought off police officers trying to notify him of some unpaid debts. A gun battle followed, and the farmer was killed.
guarantees and makes available other assistance
The other measure provides aid for the Rural Electrification Administration to forgive $7.8 billion worth of farmers from the U.S. Treasury.
Congress has passed two measures to help farmers. One program defers a portion of interest and principal payments to the federal government, provides loan
Many farmers think that most Americans do not realize the seriousness of their problems. The issue of food safety will appear until problems become serious.
If problems are not dealt with by the U.S. public, the resurrection of radical farmers' movements, such as the Populist Party and the National Farmers Organization, is possible. One can only hope that deaths like the one in Nebraska can be prevented.
Farmers obviously need help with their problems, they are not to blame for the drop in land values over the past few years. Because all of us depend on the crops they produce, we need to sympathize with the farmers' difficulties and think of creative ways to deal with the situation.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Faith healer brings spirit to Lawrence after travels around the world
To the editor:
Even as much of our daily news contains reports of sickness, sorrow, defeat and death I'd like to report some local 'good news' that reflects the health, joy, victory and life that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
A recent visit by Charles Doss to the University of Kansas brought great spiritual and physical blessings to many who attended nightly meetings Nov. 11-16. Scores of KU students and people from the community enjoyed Doss, a Christian evangelist from India, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and non religious people alike witnessed the healing touch and miraculous power of the love of God As he prayed for those present at every meeting, and signs and wonders occurred. Faith was stirred up in the hearts of the people at these meetings, and miracles of healing resulted because of their faith in the spoken word of God.
Many were healed from their heart, lung and blood conditions. One lady had been having problems with her ketones and was in pain in her lower back area. She had told no one, not even her husband, but Dess prayed for these exact things, and she was healed. Another lady had been having problems of her stomach problems, she could eat only baby food for the past several weeks. Dess identified her sickness, prayed for her stomach and told her to go home and eat a good meal — she was healed also'.
Doss accompanied his teachings with songs and music on his accordion. The songs were simple yet contained the powerful message of truth and liberty in Jesus Christ and the cross. Several dozen people attended the service and savor after hearing and believing the love that God has for them.
The final meeting of the week was at McCollum Hall, where about 150 students heard Doss' account of his life. Until he was 14 years old, he had been plagued with severe epilepsy, kidney problems and curvature of the spine. He said that on his 14th birthday, God had completely healed him Doss, in 34 years of ministry, has traveled around the world 46 times and has seen almost a half million people come to Jesus and be totally healed — body, soul and spirit!
Think about it, Lawrence - this is good news?
No liberal bias
Lonna Whiteaker Lawrence resident
For the past two and a half months, as I have read the Kansan, I have seen various individuals cry foul about the paper's "bussed coverage" and "radically liberal" outlook on the press. "The liberal bias" ("Liberal bias"), lambasted the Kansan for "liberal columnists, liberal cartoonists, liberal edito
To the editor:
rials and liberal-slanted news stories” The Kansan, he says, represents the view of “just the radical left.”
However, from what little I've seen and read in the Kansan, there is on the average, no bias to its coverage. Let's take the point of liberal slanted news stories. In the Nov. 6 issue which would have been the opportunity of opportunities for the Kansan to flaunt its liberalism, the front page story was "Reagan and Mondale await voters' verdict." The story was from United Press International, which is blatantly liberal, according to Goodpasture. If Goodpasture had designed to read the entire article, he would have seen that 70 percent of its content was devoted to the Reagan campaign. Everybody knows that Reagan is a member of the radical left, don't they?"
Maybe
In regards to the complaints of slanted editorials, cartoons and columns, one of the best arguments to be used against people like Goodpasture is the big print at the top of the page that says "Opinion." It there is any place in a paper that can ethically show a bias; it's the opinion page. Editors and columnists are people, too, and they have opinions, just as the rest of us do. Is Goodpasture trying to say that they can't express their opinions in their own paper?
A final point. It is a trism that nothing is perfect. Every once in a while a story will indeed be biased.
the bias will escape the eyes of the editors, and it will be printed. It isn't necessary that we then go out and hang the reporters and editors for their error. Instead, just write a guest column or a letter to the editor, like this, and explain the situation as you see it. I'm sure that the editors will try to get it printed in a readable form.
Don't get all excited and emotional against the paper, save your emotion for the campaigns to get your referenda on the Student Senate agenda. Just present them as the manager, and reassure someone will listen to you.
Robert Woodard
Sulphur, La., freshman
Moped parking
To the editor:
I have noticed the need for "no moped parking" signs around some places on campus, for example, in front of the Academic Computing Center. Innovent moped riders have ticketed because of the lack of signs.
I took Computer Science 300 in the summer, and that kept me at the computer center a lot. I had seen mopeds parked under the overhang in front of it, so I thought that it was all right to park there
I had been parking there, in case of rain, for about a month when I was ticketed. Because I thought that I was innocent, I appealed the ticket
The hearing was on the first of this month, and I was confident of being granted the appeal because there was no indication that I could not park there; I had seen others park there; before, though I had parked there before, I had not been told that it was not allowed; and I was not blocking the door or access to the door.
The hearing went smoothly, and it looked like my case was going well. Aside from what I have already mentioned, another thing going for me was that the rules stated that if it was felt that the vehicle was not correctly parked, "the vehicle should be removed," which it was not.
After the trial, I chatted with the attorneys, and even the prosecutor said he thought that I should have been granted the appeal. Because it was his job, he had to present some sort of case against me.
To my surprise, they did not grant my appeal on the grounds that it was a fire hazard, and that I had parked it there for my own convenience Of course I parked it there because it was convenient. Would it I have been the lucky one to hear much of a fire hazard can a quart and a half of gas in a moped be?
So I appeal to Parking Services to put up signs if it really does not want mopeds parked there so badly
Also, I want to warn my fellow moped riders to park your mopeds only in bicycle stalls. Anywhere else, you risk a ticket; and even if you are obviously innocent, they can still nail
you on a technicality of their choosing. It is too late for me, but it would not want anyone else to fall into the trap
To the editor:
Ian Chai
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
freshman
Library site idea
My proposal for a site for the new science library is that it be directly south of Murphy Hall and west of Summerfield Hall.
The area is large and flat, and trees would not have to be destroyed for construction to go there in addition, it is only a few minutes' walk from Malott Hall. Furthermore, it is accessible to streets and parking, unlike the proposed site between Hoch Auditorium and the Military Science Building, as Joseph Ogiert pointed out (Oct 22 letter, "Proposed science library could harm design of campus").
The University of Kansas prides itself on being one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation. Many people would be extremely happy that peaceful grove and splendid elm replaced with concrete congestion
Lynn Lampe Pratt sophomo