OPINION
October 30,1984
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Dalian Kansu USPS 606400 is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer Flint Hall Lawn, Kansei 60045, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and final periods. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansei 60044 Subscriptions by mail are $13 for six months or $18 for six months or two weeks (see *POSTMASTER* Send address changes to the University Dalian Kansu 118 Staffer Flint Hall Lawn, Kansei 60043).
DON KNOX
Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE HESS Managing Editor Editorial Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM Campus Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER Business Manager
SUSANNE SHAW
General Manager and News Adviser
LYNNE STARK MARY BERNICA Retail Sales National Sales Manager Manager
JILL GOLDBLATT
Campus Sales Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Seven days left
Enough already.
Tis the season of politics and campaigns, and most people have likely had enough.
Mondale. Reagan. Ferraro. Bush. Religion. Foreign affairs. Taxes. Social Security.
Voters everywhere have been asked to cast their vote in hypothetical polls days in advance of the actual election. Their responses to these polls have been printed and discussed until the media and many polls would have voters think that the race is over.
Words such as "massive lead," "far ahead," and "trailing by a large percentage" can be misleading. Should voters take the media and political polls too seriously, the results on voting day could be quite different.
No one really benefits when voters are convinced that there is a sure winner or that someone doesn't have a chance.
Walter Mondale's chances suffer when voters, thinking that the former vice president and his running mate don't have a very good chance of winning, pay less attention than they should to serious issues that are still cropping up in the Reagan camp.
Plenty of time is left to look at what the Reagan ticket offers...
And lest the voters in Ronald Reagan's camp become too smug, they, too, should remember that there is harm in taking too much for granted. Surveys done by the media that predict Reagan as the winner by huge percentages do not take the place of votes cast on election day.
No doubt just about everyone has had enough of the campaigning by now, including the candidates themselves, but there's still more to come. Responsible voters will do well to continue to endure and pay close attention to what the candidates are offering.
Bells of charity
Regardless of whether a person gives to that charitable organization, the plaintive bell sounding over the din of holiday traffic reminds us of all of those who have less.
The Christmas shopping season will be upon us. Hordes of that high-strung species called shopper americanus will descend upon stores. Some of them will no doubt rush past the familiar figure of a Salvation Army bell ringer.
Getting the message out can be difficult, however. The Kansas City Star reported Sunday that the Salvation Army had been told to keep its bell-ringers away from Dolgins Catalog Showrooms in the Kansas City area. A Salvation Army official said Dolgins had cited a company policy against soliciting on store property. In Lawrence, too, some stores in previous years have refused to allow the bell ringers, a Salvation Army social worker said.
An argument against them, the Kansas City official said, is that the sound of the bells distracts employees. Sometimes, too, the bell ringers gather with their friends in front of a store and block foot traffic. Corporations often invoke the old saw that if they let one group solicit, they have to let them all.
Baloney. The money that falls into the kettles of Salvation Army bell ringers is substantial and vital. The effort of the bell ringers is a symbol that everyone needs. Let them ring on.
Silence on Wvman
WASHINGTON — Reagan camp campaign strategist Sturge Spencer was asked by a reporter whether he had ever discussed with the president a sign held up at many stores to stop "Jane Wyman was right."
Wyman, an actress, and Reagan were once married.
Spencer said, "There are some things I never bring up."
SAM DONALDSON, correspondent for ABC-TV, was teased by Reagan in remarks at the Ohio Association of Broadcasters re-recorded his television had "joined a television network to learn to tell."
Donaldson and CBS-TV correspondent Leslie Stahl, both of whom are easily recognizable, are called by their first names when they are interviewed by campaign stop. As celebrities, they are asked for autographs.
There are occasional boos, too,
but Donaldson takes them in stride,
saying, "I'm going to ride
wrong" referring to the public
publicity.
REAGAN HAS managed to avoid conducting a news conference since July 24 and has had only formal sessions with reporters this year.
As a result, he is able to make speeches replete with charges that
The president is taking questions from students on the road, however, and many of them cover the same subjects that reporters would ask if they were ever given the opportunity.
often cry out for further explanation, amplification and a follow-up.
The questions include whether he thinks that age is an issue in the campaign, whether he supports
HELEN THOMAS
educational loans to students from middle-class families and how he wants to be remembered (as someone who gave governmental power "back to the people"). Another frequent subject of questions concerns his views of arms.
A HIGH SCHOOL questioner of Reagan asked him what he considered his biggest accomplishment in office.
The economic recovery, Reagan said. Reagan mentioned also "a change of spirit." He said, "Every place I go in the country, I find the American people are gung-ho and going forward."
We almost expect to see the familiar circle of people on the lawn as we pass Wescoe Hall. We also have a bird feeder, a member of that circle to be an evangelist.
Evangelist offered unique approach
Last week traveling evangelist Cliff Knechtle gathered a crowd on that usual place on the lawn — some people wanting answers to tough questions in their lives, some simply curious passers-by. Others, firmly rooted in their non-Christian views, came to test the speaker, possibly wanting to hear him say that he couldn't answer their questions.
However, the man could answer their questions — with a combination of intellect, humor and faith. He encouraged questions and opposing
LAURIE McGHEE Staff Columnist
other philosophies and religions. the man wasn't attempting to sway others to his opinion. A learned mind credited his credibility with the crowd.
views without the fire-and-brimstone approach that so often makes us want to turn away His delivery also was unique. He punctuated words with a languishing stance, his gestures and sweeping his arms for emphasis.
The crowd sensed his unique style of Christian ministry. Instead of accusations and preaching with a pointed finger, he asked the people for questions, and with his answers attempted to take them past the layers of theology to the primary message of Christianity — belief that Christ is the bridge spanning the gap between God and man.
His enthusiasm encouraged individuals to voice their doubts. Most impressive was his knowledge of
It can be pointless here to try deliving into psychoanalysis of the people disagreeing with the Christian point of view and their motivations for argument. More pointless is attempting here to answer the question of Christianity's validity.
The traveling evangelist has such a faith.
Cliff Knotchle has offered a very real challenge, one that can be taken at no risk and completely away from the judgmental eye of others. "Taste and see," he says.
However, in an age when so very many people search for what they think will make their lives complete.
Some may dislike, perhaps abhor, a facet of religion — whether it be the church they grew up in and its doctrines or rules, or the beliefs.
The college campus provides a unique opportunity to hear what evangelists have to offer us. We can
What's important is not so much the time of day on Sunday, but instead the faith that can create in us a love for God and a helpful we can not comprehend.
choose to stop and listen, and perhaps to re-evaluate our own beliefs, or to walk by.
Applause, applause, for the man's gift and for those who listened Perhaps some listeners discovered happiness in what the man was trying to tell them.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Hoch, underground proposed for library site
To the editor:
I would like to contribute the following to the discussion of the location and planning of the proposed second central library.
I suggest that the first phase of this library be built as an addition to the south (back) side of Hoch Audiotrium with the thought that the library would eventually be remodeled for library use as the proposed second phase.
Doing this would accomplish several things. There would be no great intrusion into the open space on the hillside; the building could span the hill. It could change the backside of Hoch into something more welcoming.
It would turn Hoch, which is not satisfactory for any of its present uses, from a white elephant into a highly useful building and one easily accessible to all the users of the various collections of books to be housed in the proposed facility. It would, by eliminating Hoch as a present and future white elephant, facilitate and help to accelerate planning for a quality performing arts center.
Hoch remodeled, in addition to serving as library space, could contain several lecture halls of considerably better quality for the large lecture classes currently taking place in it. It would preserve the facade of Hoch and continue the visual coordination that currently exists between Watson Library and Hoch. There could be great saxing in this case. Although already exists. There is the potential for a very interesting interior space within this shell. Finally, it would save the tree.
of architecture and urban design
Curtis Besinger
Allen Wiechert has expressed his dismay concerning the recent uproar over the site that has been proposed for a new science and technology library. He wondered why students didn't protest to years ago, when the site was first suggested. Perhaps he had noticed how often people were sent to his office; perhaps those letters never made it past the several wastebaskets en route to his office.
KU administrators, please picture this University overrun by bricks and concrete. Would it look more like the University of Missouri or like Kansas? You would see a beautiful campus. Once upon a time we had a very beautiful campus.
professor emeritus
However, let me remind him that 10 years ago, there weren't nearly as many bricks laid in the area. Malott was barely a third of the size that it is now. Summerfield wasn't nearly as large as it is now and only the first brick was built on its side. Pieces plated. Since the time I started school here, the construction in the area around the military science building has been extraordinary. There was
Campus decay
To the editor:
sufficient room for a library then, but now it's time to draw the line.
I never once suggested that we build the library on West Campus, though I think that it's time to begin developing that area. I understand the desire to keep the new library central to those departments affected by it. I suggest that we build the library underground as many other universities have done when faced with a similar problem. This could be constructed between Stauffer-Flint and Malott. I suggest that we build the library between Robinson Gymnasium and the Computer Center. I understand that there is concern for athletic use of that area, but it isn't used enough to warrant concern of that sort.
I wish that for once the administration would be honest with the students. That area is, in truth, designated for yet another building
— the newly proposed Handicap Research Center.
The issue concerning the library is not just ecology. This issue is not just the demise of a beautiful tree. Nor is the issue an effort to block the construction of a badly needed library. My concern is with the apparent systematic destruction of the KU campus, a campus I've known longer than our chancellor has.
I know we need a new library, but 10 years from now I want to show my children a beautiful campus, just as my father did. I want to be proud to send my children here. I don't want this campus to look like every other campus. We are unique, and anyone who wishes to destroy the aesthetic aspects of this campus will soon be in a fight they cannot win.
Mark "Gilligan" Sump
Lawrence senior chairman,
American Tree Committee
Rowing open
To the editor.
Charles J. Scott proposed (Oct. 25 letter, "Is it a fee or a tax?") that the activity fee was in fact a tax. This refers to the definition of the strict definition of fee and tax
Unfortunately, he attempts to support his argument with a contingency of fallacies. First, he misleads us into thinking that the fate of the activity tee is a dark secret. This is false. The allocations are printed in the Kansan, so if Scott has not seen them he must not read the paper very often. As an important funder are Headquarters, KU on Wheels, concerts and special interest groups. Furthermore, the Student Senate Budget Committee conducts meetings at least once a year at which groups may present reasons they think that they should receive funds.
Secondly, he implies that the KU rowing team is composed only of males taller than a given height. If Scott would go to the river on any afternoon, he would discover that the crew is composed of a variety of
people. There are women, men, highweights and heavyweights. They are all hard-working, dedicated athletes who have built a successful program in spite of a low budget and unpredictable Kansas weather.
Because the team competes against many schools that have rowing as a varsity sport, it is important to maintain squads in all divisions. The coach has been concentrating on recruitment of heavyweights this season because these numbers are often the largest numbers. However, anyone interested in competitive rowing is welcome to join the team.
Lisa Kunze
Overland Park graduate student
Crew diverse
To the editor
In reference to the letter by Charles J. Scott, the KU rowing club does not restrict membership in any form. The crew team is composed of a diverse group of students of both sexes whose most common denominator is the love of a little understood spirit. They are like anyone, regardless of stature, who is willing to put forth the effort required to compete on the collegiate level.
I resent the implication that our team is restrictive in any way. The only restrictions are those that require you to apply out to them selves.
Mark C. McMahon Lawrence freshman
Views of GLSOK
Since the beginning of the semester I've been following the controversy surrounding Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas. I would like to aim this letter at Tom Cramp, who is a master of the organization and its existence on campus.
To the editor:
Beside the fact that he doesn't like homosexuals, why is he so much against GLOSOK? I've read both of his letters to the editor, the half-page paid advertisement and the guest column; his devotion to the abolition of slavery, and probably all homosexuals, if he had his way — amazes me.
Is he so threatened by homosexuals that he thinks he needs to carry on this crusade and go to such extremes his goal and show his prejudices?
He says that other candidates will try to connect his "personal views" with what he does during the campaign (Oct. 24, 'Candidate passing new petition against GLOSK') So far all I have heard from him is his personal views. The GLOSK that he has worked so hard to mask through the use of intellectualization and support through use of the law.
If a candidate's "personal views'
campaign is off his campaign?
Waddah Ghoshi
Jerusalem seni
are not what his campaign is all about, then what is his campaign?
To the editor:
Mideast tensions
It has been almost a year since the U.S. Marine headquarters in Lebanon was bombed by a suicide attack by an unknown group, resulting in the death of 241 servicemen. This was not the only attack against the United States. A previous attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut resulted in a loss of life and several casualties. An attack several weeks ago on the embassy. Such attacks occurred not only in Lebanon but also in other places, such as Kuwait.
The Reagan administration tried very hard to identify the group behind these attacks but was not able to, and still does not know who this group is. Some people even think that a group wasn't behind the attacks. they think that it was done by a group of fanatics.
The questions that rose in the media concerned who had done these attacks, how they had been done, and whether the United States would retaliate. The real question is why they were against the United States.
Many things force people in the Middle East to perform such attacks against the United States. One of the factors is the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 127 Palestinians and 51 United States did nothing toward Israel; moreover, it knew about the invasion six months ahead.
Another factor is the killing of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chattila camps. The massacres were done by the Lebanese Christian phalangists with the help of Israel. What action had the United States taken when these massacres occurred?
Furthermore, the United States vetoes any resolution from the United Nations against Israel. The United States not only neglected the actions of the Israeliis, but violated its role as a persecuteeforking US country by bombing and gunshot at Druze and Muslim areas around Beirut.
Many people suspect that the United States was behind the planting of mines in the Red Sea. Not one of the many U.S. ships passing through the Suez Canal was hit by a mine. Now the United States is trying to persuade King Hussein of Jordan to sign a peace treaty with Israel through the Egyptian president. Such attacks are likely to happen if this is the role the United States is playing in the Middle East.
The United States wants to solve the problems in the Middle East in terms of its interests. The U.S. government should understand that the interests in that area are ours the people's, and nobody else's.
Mofed Mawani :
Oatif, Saudi Arabic
sophomore