UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN editorials
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Kansan editorial staff. Signed columns represent the views of the editors.
September 10. 1979
Liquor ruling needed
In the midst of our nation's inflation syndrome, the Kansas Supreme Court should take advantage of an opportunity for a referral to retail liquor stores across the state.
Shawnee County District Judge Michael Barbara rejected much of the state's new liquor franchise law Aug. 19, 2014, the current liquor pricing unconstitutional.
Last week, the judge stayed his own ruling for 10 days at the request of attorneys for the Kansas Department of Revenue, who already have filed a notice of appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Under current law, liquor has a guaranteed minimum retail price markup of 28.5 percent, excluding the 48.5 percent minimum markup.
The retailer's markup actually has been a price control on liquor, and Barbara's rulng, in effect, would open a liquor industry to price competition.
Opponents of the order, including the state Alcoholic Beverage Control board, fear small retailers would be forced out of business because they
could not compete with larger discount houses.
But opponents should realize that lower prices are not the only means retailers have of drawing customers into their stores. Location, effective advertising, selection and courteous interactions are all factors that contribute to sales.
Furthermore, legislation might be considered to change a current Kansas statute that prohibits the sale of "any service, or thing of value whatsoever except alcoholic liquor in the original package..."
If retail liquor outlets were allowed to diversify their merchandise, then they wouldn't have to depend solely on liquor for their profits.
In addition, perhaps a question should be raised about the absolute necessity in a city the size of Manhattan. The report 27 independent liquor stores
But, if the judge's decision stands, at least retailers would be free to decide for themselves how much above their costs to charge consumers.
The court should give them that freedom.
Turn corn squeezin's into Gasohol for cars
The high price and scarcity of petroleum-based fuels has brought a lot of kooks out of the national backwaters. People are not allowed to mix alcohol with pure alcohol to fermented garbage.
My theooks—or imaginary drivers, depending on how you look at it—are good for more than an just-off-ahead feature on a laptop. You could spawn some low-cost fuel alternatives.
I now would like to add my name to the list of kooks.
Moonshine alcohol could be used to produce gasoline-alcohol fuel blends, thus conserving gasoline and saving the cost of expanding the legitimate alcohol industry.
At least, I add it a representative of a growing number who think hope might lie in the backyard of America's second oldest professional, the moonshiner.
Don't be so quick to laugh. The chemistry, quite literally, is right. Alcohol-gasoline blends such as Gasoline, a trademark of Mobil, are usually 90 percent unleaded gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. And ethanol and "white lightning" have a common origin.
It would cool the steam of Gasolol oppenents, who claim the country does not produce enough alcohol to make Gasolol production within economic means.
Besides saving the cost of expanding the current alcohol industry, moonshine would have other economic benefits. Some mountainous areas of West Virginia and Virginia, for example, are renowned both for their beer and for less healthy economics.
Allowing these people to sell their brew to cashal producers would not only provide a source of income, but it might dispel a certain insecurity that probably haunts still owners and governors.
Grain prices have been predicted to rise uncontrollably if Gasohol is widely produced, but if moonshins provided a percentage of the required alcohol, prices might not rise so much. The market already accommodates the moonshins' demand
Admittedly, there are problems with converting corn squeezies into car fuel. What's to persuade all the little old liquor
melissa
COLUMNIST
thompson
makers from drinking their nectar instead
* selling it wholesale to Gasol producer*s?
The solution would be an an-
Gasol producer would have to pay
many fees to use these in their
technology, equipment and materials. But how different would that be from other raw
materials?
Another problem would be controlling the actual product. Some old-timers might swear by their special recipe, but that certain recipe might produce alcohol with enough strength to sear a pig's hide at 40 degrees, to damage, to damage a car's interior workings.
Laws concerning home liquor production would have to be rewritten. But the agents, freed from hunting furtively on the backroads for whisky runners, could be used in the quality control part of the business, much more so much about the business as their queries.
A lot of this discussion about using moonshine alcohol is admittedly tongue-in-cheek. But the staches involved in implementing an unusual idea are more troublesome than the usual ones.
A more likely solution would be converting abandoned or low-producing liquor into alcohol, as well as gasolon. One liquor manufacturer already is considering this. An old Hiram Walker Warner was an inventor because of its inefficiency, reportedly being converted to make alcohol for the distillery.
The legitimate liquor makers have an opportunity to expand their market and, most likely, they won't ignore it. Sooner or later, they will find distilleries to convert and suppliers will have to invest in new factories. Then, the price of the product will go up—the old passport is now a gift.
So, maybe moonshining as a source of Gasol alcohol should not be laughed off too quickly. Sometimes, dumb ideas aren't so incredible.
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Russians in Cuba test US again
As the news began to unroll during the past week of a Russian military base in Cuba, the possibility of another Cuban missile crisis was envisioned by many government officials and by the American public. The United States came very close to defeating it in the Soviet Union during that crisis in 1987, and a similar scenario could result.
This crisis, however, comes at a precarious moment in the relations between China and the United States, will begin debates on the ratification of the SALT II treaty that would limit the number of warheads on nuclear bombs and missiles. The new system for both countries
After 10 years of negotiations, the accord is a major breakthrough for the limitation of some strategic arms and the important role that the nuclear power between the two nuclear superpowers. But now that treaty, U.S.-Soviet relations and hopes of arms limitation are in serious trouble.
Currently there are about 2,000 to 3,000 Soviet soldiers at the base in Cuba. A large number of American soldiers know why the troops are on the island, there is speculation that the Soviet Union and its allies want to win them back.
Latin American countries and to spread further its influence and power.
John COLUMNIST fischer
If this is the case, and undoubtedly the Soviet Union won't confirm it, the United States should reconsider its current position with the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union has continued to spread its influence and control over the world. It has strong support from several important European and Asian countries that have a special role in taking its naked into the Middle East and Africa—and now perhaps Latin America.
Like a fat, oblivious kid greedy for candy, the Soviet Union continues to buy it from the world. Communism, a form of government that is the scourge of a free society, is spreading like wildfire and threatening United States, needs to bring it under control.
We need to take a tougher stand toward the Soviet Union and its promiscuous attitudes. In the eyes of the Soviet Union,
the symbol of the United States is a weak and sickly chicken rather than a strong and proud eagle. This image needs to be strengthened our overall international foreign policy so that the Soviet Union once was an important party in world politics.
Since the presidency of John F. Kennedy, our foreign policy has been weakened by mistaken and poor judgement, which led to World War and the crisis in Iran in the past year.
In the eyes of many countries that had deep respect for America and what it stood for, the United States is seen as a cowardly watchdog with its tail between its legs.
It is time for the United States to change that image and become more aggressive and involved in world affairs, rather than plain the "wait-and-see" game.
The United States needs to assert itself and stand firm in its beliefs, such as in the battle against foreign intervention in african affairs. The United States will need areas that will be very important in the future of our country because of their importance, and continue to be trampled on and disgraced.
The pressure now appears to be on the
United States in regard to what happen next in Cuba. This would be a good time for the United States to show its force against such a peak image it has gained over the years.
The Soviet troops may only be there for military training or to support Cuba- or they may be there with plans to spread influence and power in Latin America.
The decision the United States faces of whether or not the Soviet forces should be removed from the country is one of the countries and other free countries in the world, we should not permit the US to do so.
If the United States permits the soldiers to live in the island, Soviet influence and dominance in Latin America and a military buildup on the island, resulting in still more problems for the nation.
The United States needs to take another look at its view of world affairs and its part in them. The bear is growing too aggressive and powerful and it needs to be tamed before it runs wild. An night of light on the town,nbw, is a good time for the bear to face the wisp and for the United States to reassess itself as a world power.
Irish turmoil political, economic issue
To the Editor:
In John Fischer's column about the IRA, he wrote, "I told him that disbanding the IRA was the only hope for peace in Northern Ireland. I would like to make several comments on the issue."
The first point I would like to make clear is that the conflict in Northern Ireland is not now, nor has it ever been, a religious issue. The conflict is strictly a political and social conflict, and it is very much like vs. Protestant) has been introduced by the British media to dissuade the real story.
The IRA also speaks for many more Catholics in Ireland that the media would like to show them both in the north and the Republic, don't condone the violence of the IRA they support the goals is stalking for: do Ireland or Ireland? The aim is rule and end discrimination against Catholics.
The IRA and organizations like it have been a part of Irish history since British rule in Ireland. They are different by different names. They also are inevitable because when you forcibly and violently take away a people's political and social identity, they can be heard, and this is unfairness.
The truth is that Northern Ireland is one of the last remaining colonies of a once mighty empire, Great Britain, and has been a colony, along with the southern part (The Republic of Ireland, which gained inureum in April 1493) for more than 300 years.
This goal will not easily be realized. Because although the Catholics are being
The sad truth is that the persecution of the Catholics still goes on in Northern Ireland. By accusing the IRA of preventing peace, you are merely "blaming the sympathies."
The colonization of Ireland began in the middle of the 17th century, when, as you put it, the Scottish Protestants were "given" land in Ireland. They were "given" the land in England by the king butchered more than one-third of the indigenous Catholic Population (616,000 of an estimated 1.5 million) which they refused to submit to British rule. It was this continued refusal to be subjugated against their Catholics by the persecution of the Catholics ever since.
discriminated against by the Protestants, who are in the most precarious situation. The most northern Northern Ireland is now an economic deficit to the British, who are losing millions of dollars.
To put it simply, the British want out. But the Catholics when they discriminated against for centuries, don't want to be abandoned by the British, see Ireland to be removed and in left-hand hands.
The result is that Protestant extremists, led by Ian Paisley, desperately want the British troops to remain and "keep the Catholics under" control; force of arms. In this way, the Protestant dominance and persecution of the Catholics is assured of success.
Indeed, Catholics in parts of the north are forced to live in such suburban conditions, their graftie on the buildings asks 'Is there life before death?'
The conflict in Northern Ireland is an ancient and complicated one. And the battle has been a very complex one—is equally complicated. But the blame for the prevention of peace in Northern Ireland should be placed where it properly belongs, which is the IRA, for they are merely the symptoms.
Brian Thomas
Philadelphia, Pa. senior
KU weight room stiffing, unhealthy
To the Editor:
I would like to complain loudly about the very unhealthy situation that prevailed in the gym at night. During a workout, I measured the temperature in the weight room. It was 107°F. I got ready and sat down with stcing due to poor ventilation, not only make it impossible but dangerous to work
Sure, it's easy to blame the hot weather, but the above measurement was taken at night when the outside temperature was a comfortable 75 degrees before the problem. Are the people in the department of health, physical education and recreation aware of I? Maybe if someone drops dead from heat or burns, the department J.V. Cain of the State Cardinals?
An air duct was recently installed in the weight room, but the "fresh" air blowing from it only seems to worsen the existing condition. The new room, which could help but doesn't, I carried this monstrosity over to the only door in the room several times and was able to find a window that let more light into the degrees. But the next day some microintelligent individual always puts it in one of the isolated corners at the other end of the room where it does nothing except use elec-
What really amuses me is that I found the conditions to be this bad at night when fewer people use the weight room and when the temperature outside isn't too uncomfortable. I can't imagine what people go to bed with in this "black hole of Calculus" during the day.
Robert A. Racca
Robert A. Racca Boston graduate student
I have been working out with weights for a long time now and I must say that the KU was great. We had fun without a doubt the worst place to train that I have ever seen. I wonder what the question of
Skateboard danger is a menace on Hill
To the Editor:
prising that little attention has been paid to skateboarding on campus. The carelessness of some students in these areas, especially Wescoe Hall terrace, is as much a concern as more publicized procrastination.
With all the consideration given in past years to such campus disturbances as bicycle riding, mopeds, peaceful demonstrations and even guitar playing, it seems sur-
Skateboards lack quick traking and accurate steering. This becomes a serious problem when skaters choose to travel on flat surfaces, or an easily run into unsuspecting pedestrians.
Skateboards may have their place as an alternate form of transportation, but with increasing enrollment yearly adding to sidewalk congestion, skateboarders should eliminate their self-gravity antes by using and using the less-traveled walkways.
The difficulty is compounded when skaters, in a vain attempt to appear "macho," faunt their abilities by weaving in and out of students rushing to class.
Dassoinski
Kansas City, Kan., senior
Lawrence Volker
Overland Park senior
Dole urged to reject Dept. of Education bill
To the Editor:
Enclosed is an open letter to U.S. Sen. Robert Dole concern the newly proposed U.S. Department of Education. It is intended for your editorial page:
I urge you to reject the House-Senate Conference Report on the Department of Education and its role in the job market. I will spend more of our money and give the federal government greater control of my budget.
The last thing we need is another federal bureaucracy and higher taxes to support it, especially because studies show that the federal government sets more involved.
Please let me know you will support tax savings and local—not federal—control of our schools by rejecting this bill. Thank you."
Mission Hills graduate student