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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 1985
Songwriters and poets enjoy writing ballads about noble efforts that fail. Perhaps soon a young Dylan or Tennison will write a ballad about anti-apartheid protesters, the KU administration and a task force.
'Task Force Blues'
Call it "Task Force Blues." The creation of a task force on South Africa and divestment, which includes faculty and administrators, seems nobile enough. No one should be faulted for trying to get people to talk to each other.
But if the task force's purpose is to get the Kansas University Endowment Association to take its money out of companies that do business in South Africa, it probably will fail.
First, the task force needs a specific purpose, a direction.
One member of the Black Student Union said the task force's purpose was to "examine how to deal with aparthief." Participants have "agreed to disagree."
Secondly, the man who is ultimately in charge of speaking for the University —
Chancellor Gene A. Budig — has said he will not issue a statement on the matter.
Finally, the protesters are talking to the wrong people.
The KU Committee on South Africa needs to realize that the Endowment Association and the administration are not one and the same. The Endowment Association is a private corporation and can do what it wants about divestment. As of now, it uses the Prudent Man's Law not to divest.
Obviously, a task force of Endowment Association officials and student protesters is needed, and both sides need to enter the discussion with open minds. Both sides must resist the urge to talk down to each other.
Protesters and Endowment Association officials have met before, but the protesters left that meeting saying they got a lecture about how the Endowment Association works.
Then perhaps another young poet can replace "Task Force Blues" with another, more upbeat song.
A rash Colombian blitz
The recent violence in Colombia pointed out the price that must be paid when governments react rashly against terrorism.
Leftist guerrillas last week seized the Palace of Justice in Bogota. They took about 200 hostages, including 23 Supreme Court justices.
Three hours later, Betancur sent in 300 government troops and police with machine guns, cannons and tanks. Twenty-five hours later, 109 people were dead: 12 justices, 17 soldiers and police officers, all 41 rebels and 39 others.
The terrorists demanded that President Belisario Betancur come to the federal building to be "tried" for failing to make peace with Colombian insurgents.
The government blitz did rescue most of the hostages. But one of the surviving
justices said more lives could have been saved had Betancur agreed to halt the assault the next morning when the terrorists said they wanted to talk. The justices reportedly were killed after Betancur refused to negotiate.
Betancur said the bloodbath was due to the rebels' refusal to surrender and accept his promises of safety and a fair trial.
A policy not to negotiate with terrorists makes sense. But it needn't rule out a reasoned, cautious response to their demands.
Perhaps lives could have been saved had the Colombian terrorists been given time to assess their situation. More time also might have allowed for a more precise plan by the government.
Volatile situations should be defused, not detonated.
Open to conversation
Searching for signs of progress in the 19-month hostage ordeal in Lebanon can prove frustrating. Last week, however, a series of events — a stirring after months of public silence — offered a peg to hang some hopes on.
On Thursday, an anonymous caller claiming to represent the Islamic Jihad told a news agency that the five or six U.S. hostages still held were being executed. But no bodies have been found despite instructions supposedly indicating their location.
Perhaps the captors simply hoped to make something happen. The next day four of the hostages sent a letter, probably genuine, to the Associated Press in Beirut asking President Reagan to negotiate for their release.
Late Friday. White House spokesmen delicately stepped around their own reiteration of U.S. policy not to negotiate with terrorists. One
spokesman said the United States would talk to anyone who could help secure the safe release of the hostages — but not about making a deal.
The United States is right not to negotiate with terrorists. It only increases the appeal of terrorism as a strategy. But the safe return of hostages still calls for open communication, which sometimes has been missing.
Of course, endorsing openness does not solve all of the problems. At least in public terms, the exact identity of the captors is unknown, as is their place in the endless hierarchy of power in Lebanon.
As long as the United States cannot determine who speaks for whom in Lebanon, it cannot be sure that words, threatening or conciliatory, mean very much from either side.
But finding a basis for conversation is vital to hopes for release of the hostages, as it is in every part of the Middle East tension.
Rob Karwath
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Protests have purpose
"And once again the protesters have wasted their time and effort." Such were the words of Evan Walter, staff columnist.
For you see, the protesters think that any creature claiming to be a
I would ask Walter to re-evaluate his position. Let us first consider the purpose that the protesters had in "stepping out to protest the establishment."
Their goal is to crush the apartheid system of racial oppression in South Africa, and ultimately, oppression in all shapes and forms throughout the world. Granted, this last protest did not finally convince President Botha to abolish apartheid, but it did take a step in abolishing such.
member of humanity, when presented with the facts concerning what apartheid is, will wish to take whatever steps are necessary to abolish this system.
In the United States, those who heeded the cries of the abolitionists fought a war against apartheid (oh, excuse me that's slavery).
the protesters were successful both in making their cause known and in exposing the evils of apartheid to those previously unfamiliar with the injustices of the South African government. In fact, Evan, you were actually an integral part of the protest yourself, for your column, with its large audience, helped fulfill these two objectives.
The distinguished Evan Walter, voice of the people, makes another
statement of extraordinary insight,
truly indicative of a man understanding
of international politics and the human character: 'If none of that has worked, why would divestment cause the government to change?'
Perhaps, and this is only a mere fasting thought, just maybe it is hearsay.
Divestment would result in the privileged white class losing its economic advantage over the oppressed majority. Money can be a great motivating factor — the basis of our capitalistic economy — and those who hold it are, quite understandably, reluctant to give up what they have, regardless of whatever moral hypocrisy they might be guilty of.
Money, not Afrikaans or English, is
the language South Africa understands.
Walter answers his own question in his statement. "Further outbreaks of civil disobedience could render South Africa's five million whites, already in grave danger, helpless in the face of angry mobs and in the ruins of a crumbled economy."
Such is the impetus that divestment would provide the South African government to abolish apartheid.
Finally, if the issue of wastedful protests is of such importance to Walter, why doesn't he go to another campus to live in peace, instead of inconveiencing my morality?
Darrell Craig
Topeka sophomore
Other causes worthy for protest
South Africa, the home of aparheid and oppression, has been the only important controversy on campus this semester.
It is surprising that unrest in another part of our global village sparks protests here at the University. But although the campus protests against South Africa and the columns and letters supporting divestment have been valid, the anti-apartheid movement as a whole has fallen short of any significant goal except increasing the public's boredom.
A few people are arrested, a few people march and shout, reporters write some stories, but for what? Pulling a few measly dollars out of multinational corporation stocks — big deal.
Dwight Hunter
The protesters' right to free speech is not the issue. The problem is that many causes exist in our world, problems that cannot simply be overcome by public protests and divestment. Concentrating on one terrible issue by protesting might make those who protest feel better, but it
Staff columnist
creates little action. Other causes exist that merit just as much attention. Contras in Central America, started with CIA training and support, continue to fight along the borders of Nicaragua. Hondurans and Costa Ricans watch the war without protection.
Any KU protests about something so close to home? No, South Africa has more media appeal.
In 1973, the United States supported the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende. The International Telephone and Telegraph Corp., among others, convinced the National Security Council that the government of Salvador Allende supported policies that hampered sound business decisions.
The CIA also helped Chilean army
officers who bombed the presidential palace and took over the government.
Any calls for divestment from Chile in 1973? Heck no, ITT is a sacred corporate institution. And besides, Chilians were and still are dying because of principles — not because of race.
Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel have limited freedom of the press and have promoted state-sponsored terrorism. News reporters have been threatened and continue to be harassed by government officials.
Any calls for a halt of Arab oil imports or an end to arms shipments to all Middle East nations? Nope.
The anti-apartheid demonstrations have shown why protests against these major world problems are nonexistent. They have no purpose.
Since 1963, 90,000 Latin Americans have disappeared, 39 percent of whom were Guatemalans. Yet no screams come when the United States sends thousands of dollars of military aid to Guatemala.
Without purpose, hope cannot exist.
Without a massive unification,
demonstrations, protests and divestment do not work. Do they annoy?
Yes. Do they accomplish anything?
No. Annoyance only spurs the call for a tougher defense.
Minute protests in the United States will never fundamentally change a system in another nation halfway across the globe. A sit-in in the KU chancellor's office is not going to send troubling trembles in the headquarters of multinational corporations.
The nonviolent protest movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s died when the followers realized that they could not demand action if they had no clout in the world of power politics.
Want apartheid to end in South Africa? Elect a president who will threaten that government with nuclear annihilation. Sound ridiculous? So are protests that do nothing but exacerbate hopelessness
Red-faced in Washington
Yurchenko defection embarrasses U.S.
Sometimes I really feel sorry for the people who live and work in Washington. D.C.
They seem to be far more sensitive and emotional than the rest of us out here. They're subject to extreme and sudden mood swings, from elation to deep depression.
I've learned this over the years by reading the various pundits who regularly tell us about "the mood of Washington."
Mike Royko Chicago Tribune
embarrassed by . . . "'A high-level source said that this has caused great embarrassment to the United States."
They were talking about Vitaly Yurchenko, the KGB spy who defected but has now decided to go back to the Soviet Union, or Big Mama Russia, as it was called in old Russian novels.
There have been times when they've written that "the mood of Washington this week is one of deep melancholy." This can be brought on by the arrest of a congressman for incarceration or by a loss by the Redskins.
It was only a few days ago that the mood of Washington was one of elation because Yurchenko had come over to our side.
But only a few days later, you can read that "the mood of Washington this week is one of great elation." That can be the result of the blooming of the cherry blossoms or the passage of a bi-partisan bill to limit the import of foreign canaries.
"No. I mean this embarrassing business with Vitaly Yurchenko."
I've always felt grateful that those in Washington keep these emotional swings to themselves. They don't expect the rest of us to join in or even go out with them, and I was brought on by the resignation of an under-secretary of interior.
She gave me a suspicious look and said, "I never been out with any guy by that name. And I went straight home last night."
But now that seems to be changing,
we're expected to share in their emoji
sounds.
I discovered that this morning, when I woke up feeling pretty good until I went through the papers and read the reports from Washington.
Most of the stories had similar phrases. "The United States has been
'But now, not only Washington but the entire country is embarrassed because he has pulled the old switcheroo, as they call it in the intelligence community.'
over to our country. But now, not only Washington but the entire country is embarrassed because he has pulled the old switcheroo, as they call it in the intelligence community.
Well, I'm as loyal a citizen as the next guy. So as I shaved, I could see my face getting redder and redder from embarrassment. I even found myself averting my gaze so as not to make eye contact in the mirror.
On the way to work, I stopped at the coffee shop for breakfast and I said to Yvonne, the countergirl, "I imagine you're feeling embarrassed this morning, huh?"
she tugged at her skirt and said, "Samthin' showing?"
"I'm talking about the Russian spy who defected and then said he's going back. It has caused this country, and all of us in it, great embarrassment."
"In what way?"
"Are you kiddin' Hey, I'm not embarrassed. I read about him, and he's the poor sucker who's embarrassed. I mean, he's really got a problem now."
"It says in the stories that the real reason he defected was because when he was in this country before, he used to get it on with some married Russian woman who was here with her old man. And Vitaly wanted to get things with her again."
"I read that."
"Yeah, but when he went to see her, she told him uh-uh, the party's over. She got kicks from swinging with a spy. But now that he defected, he's just another DP in a baggy suit." "He made the mistake of retention."
but, the pen.
"Sure. And he can't go nowhere without some CIA guys tagging along. With all that working against him, how he's ever gonna get into a single bar and get lucky?"
But that's not the worst of it. Now he's going home to his wife and kids. The poor guy is going to walk in and say, 'I'm home, Sasha.' She's gonna say, 'Where the heck you been, Vitaly?'
"He's gonna say, 'Oh, it was terrible. The Americans drug me. Take me to States. Try to make me tell secrets. Then I escape and come home to you as fast as I can. I don't even stop to have with the ones we. Now, do you think any woman's gonna believe that?"
"It is as little far-fetched."
"Yeah. She's gonna say, 'Vitaly, I warned you about chasing skirts. I'm leavin' and taking little Boris and the color TV with me.'"
"It's a story as old as man and woman."
"Right. But it just shows how dumb the Russians really are. He could have saved himself all that grief he had done what any American man would have done before he defected." "What's that?"
"He should have phoned his old girlfriend first. And if the old man had answered, upward."