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September 27,1984 Page 4
OPINION
KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University, Daily Kansan, UMPS 604-640 is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Straffter Fink Hall, Lawrence, Kanus. 604-640 daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and six periods. Second class payment帖位 at Lawrence. Kanus 6044 Subscriptions by mail are $13 for six months or $2 a year in Douglas County and $18 for six months or $1 a year outside Douglas County. Send address changes to the University, Daily Kansan, 118 Straffter Fink Hall, Lawrence. Kanus 6044
DON KNOX Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE BESS 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
Shirt tale
It's difficult at first glance to decide what one's reaction should be, laughter or disgust.
The "Fagbusters" T-shirts circulating around campus borrow elements from a popular and humorous movie, "Ghostbusters."
However, the T-shirt must be considered for the idea it presents, not for its colorful design or its association with "Ghostbusters."
The idea behind the "Fagbusters" T-shirt is neither humorous nor attractive. Stereotypes do not represent enlightened comment, nor do they lead to greater understanding.
Hatred of homosexuals is not a laughing matter.
Perhaps the T-shirt is the result of an effort to reconcile homosexuality as a practice with homosexuals as people. Approval of homosexual practices is not a prerequisite for recognition of homosexuals as people. The T-shirt, however, goes beyond the question of homosexual practices and attacks people.
A complicating factor is that Steve Imber, leader of a petition drive to place the funding of a campus homosexual group on a referendum, also sold a T-shirt to a Kansan reporter. He has said in the past that he opposed financing of Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas because the group could be self-supporting and therefore should not receive student fee money.
A previous editorial pointed out that it would not be fair "to deny the financing of GLSOK without having the chance to vote to deny the financing of other student organizations that also could be considered self-supporting."
The "Fagbusters" T-shirts hurt the credibility of the notion that a referendum would be based on the financial standing of GLSOK. The petition as it stands should be rejected. If a referendum is to take place, the petition's objectives should be clearly stated, not implied.
Desegregation
Thirty years after the landmark Supreme Court decision that forbade segregated schools, the Kansas City, Mo., school district last week was told it was guilty of illegal segregation.
A federal district court judge gave school officials 90 days to develop a desegregation plan — no small feat for a district where 68 percent of the students are black.
The ruling is another chapter in a story that began nearly 10 years ago when the Office for Civil Rights, part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, investigated Kansas City schools and found what it thought was a disproportionate racial balance.
An HEW administrative law judge agreed that the segregation should be corrected and suggested that $7 million of the district's federal funds be cut if the schools remained segregated.
So, with the beginning of the school year in 1977, about 6,300 students were bused within the district to even out racial composition.
The busing plan displeased most parents — black and white — and failed to integrate nearly 30 black schools.
Last week's ruling gives the district another chance to try to develop a solution, a chance for which the school board should be grateful.
The school board has already announced what would and what would not be included in those plans.
Officials say that without the involvement of students from suburban areas, little can be done about the racial mix within the district.
Instead of implementation of mandatory busing or redrawing of district lines, however, the board wants to desegregate the schools through voluntary transfers.
Board members hope to attract students from the suburbs into the city with magnet schools - schools that have special programs, more teachers or more academic opportunities.
At the same time, officials hope, improvement of programs to attract students will help overcome any deficiencies now in the schools.
As is the case with many jobs, however, the task is much easier said than done.
A complicating factor is that the suburban Kansas City school districts were not found to be contributing to segregation — they were dropped from the lawsuit earlier this year. In St. Louis, however, interdistrict transfers to magnet schools has been credited with helping to integrate schools. The desegregation settlement for that city specifically involved a mandate for transfers between city and suburban schools.
Extra incentive must be included in the plan to encourage suburban schools to become involved. That extra incentive must come from exceptionally high-quality programs.
The school district has been given chances before, and has not been entirely successful. Now the board bears the burden of creating magnet schools that work.
If the board can make the most of this chance, everyone stands to win. Worries over segregation could end and education would be improved.
Kansas creepy critters bug Coloradan
Maybe now, with the recent spell of cooler weather. KU students will not have to deal with the one inescapable fact about this state — Kansans must share their part of the world with every disgusting bug, spider and organism known to man.
Although I realize that these creepy little beings—which flew and crawled around campus in August and half of September — serve a purpose in the ecosystem, this fact does not reassure or comfort me. They invade my privacy, eat holes in my clothes and jump out from behind every corner I turn.
When I left my comfortable home in Colorado three years ago, I was confident that the University of Kansas would bring me the knowledge I sought to enable me to compete in the job market.
However, my academic choice turned out to be much better than the climate and surroundings.
Now, I have learned to tolerate the humidity and I can even handle the drivers who panic at the sight of one-half inch of snow on the road, but tolerating these other pesky inhabitants of Kansas is something I cannot take so easily.
The locust is top on my list of useless, displeasing creatures. Its
its ability to take a flying dive at any unsuspecting pedestrian along the street.
In Colorado, the climate is generally too cold for the common house fly and lightning bugs, and chiggers are an unknown phenomenon. Yes, we have ants and mosquitoes, but not all of them especially disturbing creatures that never let up in their battle to annoy the everyday human.
Besides this, the noise it creates all night can be compared to the cacophony of an electronic alarm clock that cooks up noise because no one turns it off.
Moreover, its flights through the air often end when its crunchy body breaks apart.
ROBIN
PALMER
Staff Columnist
to let go as its legs cling to the person like a sticky piece of velcro.
The fly. I know, seems to be a small matter to argue about; however, when a person is used to silence and lack of interruptions during study, studying is often a bad habit for person's head hour after hour becomes more than a slight nuisance.
The worst characteristic of the fly is that it seems to be insecure; it never seems to be able to get more than an arm's length away after it's decided to keep someone company with its incessant buzz. A fly never hovers about on its own; it simply follows every sign of life or food.
And then, Kansas.has the beloved chigger.
At least with the mosquito, I could see the enemy attack. With the chigger, I knew when to expect the results, but I did not know that one short afternoon spent sitting in the grass could leave me with a permanent itch that doubled those I had received at home.
All of these organisms mean one thing to someone who has never had to deal with the intrusion of bugs and spiders.
Ultimately, I despise every corner I have to turn, knowing that some creeping, crawling or flying creature is waiting on the other side.
Johnny Appleseed as 1980s celebrity
Johnny Appleseed roamed the countryside in the early 1800s. Some people think that Johnny Appleseed was a myth, but he wasn't. His real name was John Chapman; he was born in Massachusetts in 1774, and he devoted his life to making fruit available for pioneers.
He often traveled barefoot, and sometimes he wore a coffee sack for clothing. He planted his seeds in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.
Because of this, the story of Johnny Appleseed was passed from generation to generation; he became a genuine folk hero.
But what would the story of Johnny Appleseed have been like if he had never learned?
He might start off in relative anonymity, but a reporter from the "P.M. Magazine" television show in Pittsburgh would hear about him.
Soon enough Charles Kural would pick up on the story for CRS TV.
Within a week, UNA Today would gift ApplePlex its ultimate accolade to the team.
Phil Donahue would invite Apple-seed to appear on his show as a representative of a coming trend
one and a story about him in the Life section.
By the end of the first month, Appleseed would sign on with the International Creative Management
-a small color picture on top of page
BOB
GREENE
Syndicated
Columnist
talent agency in New York. Appleseed's new managers would hire the bicoastal Rogers and Cowan public relations agency. Reporters would have to settle for prepared statements that quoted Appleseed.
Appleseed would sign a book contract to tell the story of his life, and the book would be sold to NBC-TV for a mini-series.
Appleseed's managers would li-
case designer versions of his coffee sack clothing, but they would fail to find a way to license the rights to his bare feet.
A chain of "Johnny's Apple Shops" would be franched. The stores would sell apples, apple pies and on. The visual trademark would be a plastic apple tree planted in front of each store.
Appleseed would make a national promotional tour, visiting the stores and signing autographs. This effort would be buttressed by a series of television commercials, in which Appleseed would say, "Hi! I'm Johnny Appleseed, and I'd like to invite you to my Apple Shops."
Appleseed would retain a team of investment counselors to advise him. He would move to Reverley Hills. He is now in the company of Cathy Lee Crosby.
Appleseed would appear on the TV show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." The feature would include a look at a young girl and headaches of being a celebrity.
Westinghouse Broadcasting would offer Appleseed his own talk show. Appleseed would have to give up the coffee sack and instead wear clothes made especially for him by Ralph Lauren. He would also wear the talk show chairs, however, a logo showing Appleseed in the coffee sack would be displayed.
Johnny Appleseed's celebrity status would last two years; in the third year, the book, the talk show and the rest would decline in popularity.
By the fifth year, the book would be out of print, the mini-series would be off the air, the designer coffee sacks would be out of production, the Johnny's Apple Shops would be in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the talk show would be canceled.
In the sixth year, Johnny Appleseed would be arrested for possession of cocaine. His managers would say in a statement that he had had "personal problems." A judge would release him on probation, or the stipulation that he seek counseling
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Crowding in economics courses hurts students
To the editor:
The article on crowded foreign language courses (Sept. 18, "Surge in language enrollment crowds classrooms") was a real eye-opener.
I would like to extend my sympathy to those students who must suffer the crowded conditions of those enormous classes. However, they can take heart from knowing that the institution for taking courses in other departments where crowded conditions have prevailed for years.
In economics, for example, students can only dream of small, uncrowded classes. The introductory classes are many times the size of those in foreign languages. Almost all the discussion sections in economics have enrollments in excess of those language classes.
courses in economics average 31 students this semester, while the intermediate level courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics average nearly 50 students. In all these cases, these averages are far from average. Moreover, the administration wants us to teach over big classes.
The business school students and economic majors subjected to these large classes are, of course, the lucky ones. They managed to enroll in these courses before they closed during early enrollment in April.
Although about 800 students managed to squeeze into micro and macro, we estimate conservatively that we turned away 100 or more, thereby thwarting their plans to study abroad. We chose the choice, or delaying their graduation date. The real shocker is that, without additional resources, even
Worse, the junior-senior elective
more students will be closed out in the spring semester.
Thomas Weiss
Department of Economics
If service had been provided by many different companies, then person A would not be able to talk to person B if both had different companies. One company had to handle one network and another one that way, service and maintenance would be handled much more efficiently. Gee! No, AT&T
Bearish on Cubs
The other day the news media broadcast pictures of the celebration in the Chicago Cubs' locker room. The Nationals captured the National League East title.
To the editor:
Not to be outdone, Robinson praises the destruction of Death Phone, commanded by Darth Bell, head of the Devil Monopoly.
Robinson should write about something he knows a little about, like his own neptness
The pictures prompted questions in my mind. Where, for instance, are the indignant condemnations? Where are the expressions of fear and alarm at possible disillusionment of our innocent, properly bred youngsters? I am horrified at the immoral and blasphemous conduct of these and other athletes, people 1 once upon a time idolized.
Column on 'Darth Bell' lacks facts
To the editor:
After reading Michael Robinson's
logical column (sep. 17, "Ma Bell's
AT&T has provided and will continue to provide the best telephone service in the world. No Western nation comes close to providing the best and the cheapest service that AT&T has provided.
Robinson says that "AT&T didn't give a damn what we thought (before the breakup)." Apparently he didn't do a single job of investment but he helped his column. This is typical for his type of journalism, no facts.
Also, if many companies had been in competition, people in rural areas would lack telephone service because it would be unprofitable for companies to spread long lines to very remote areas for one or two telephones. AT&T did put lines for all rural folks and didn't charge them anything extra. So much for the selfishness of Ma Bell. Every time I pick up the receiver, she's there to serve me.
Then comes our wonderful government and, in its most infinite wisdom, declares the best telephone system in the world to be too good and needing to be broken up.
Victor Goodpasture Topeka sophomore
Individuals displaying such blatant indecency as pouring over themselves and others, not to mention actually ingesting, drugs as these ballplayers did should be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Upon the rendering of the only possible guilty — they should be executed
Doug Humphreys Great Bend senior
To the editor:
Sad patriotism
In the column, Margaret Hosty of Chicago is quoted: "If I ever found out that a Communist was living next door or on my block, I almost feel like smuggling my M.I.16 rite into the army of the people." In a neighborhood
To the editor:
After reading Bob Greene's column of Sept 17 "Teenage girl prepares for Soviet invasion", my reaction was: sad
Although I bear little love for any totalitarian system, I feel that Hosty would do well to remember a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance "one
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
That "all" means everyone: Communists and Nazis, as well as Democrats and Republicans. As long as they obey the laws of the land, all citizens are entitled to the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.
Patriotism can be a fine thing, but it is no excuse for totalitarian practices in what is supposed to be a democracy.
Stephen M. Smith
Stephen M. Smith Eudora graduate student
Women's pay
In her attack on comparable worth (Sept. 19, "Hidden dangers of comparable worth"), columnist Jennifer Fine misogynely encourages women who wish to receive adequate compensation for their work, to enter vocations traditionally occupied by men.
History has shown that the value of a vocation changes drastically when a shift in the sex of the participants occurs. For example, in the era when male secretaries were the norm, secretarial workers were highly respected and well paid. Conversely, women are more frequently the recognition it is due as a profession, largely because of the growing number of male nurses.
Reliance on market values that reflect society's sexist assumption that men's physical labor is worth more than women's intellectual and physical labor is hardly a fair system.
Although comparable worth as *sessions would require the difficult and subjective determination of job worth, they would generate an economic shift to parallel the politi- cal shift toward the valuing of work for its consequences rather than on the basis of who performs the tasks.
Donna E. Dees
Derby graduate student :