4
University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Monday, Oct. 21, 1985
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
A porous drinking law
Drink-and-drown nights. Happy hours. Ladies' nights.
All of these club and tavern specials encourage excessive drinking, the Kansas Legislature decided last spring. All were banned.
But the new law barely went into effect before tavern and club owners found ways to get around it. Daily specials replaced happy hours; dime draws and 50-cent pitchers replaced drink-and-drown nights.
John Lamb, whose Alcohol Beverage Control division has to enforce the laws, recently warned lawmakers that they either would have to patch the loopholes or do away with the law altogether. As it stands, the law is an enforcement nightmare.
So State Rep. Robert H. Miller, R-Wellington, the moving force behind the new law,
wants the Legislature next session to close the loopholes and prohibit all drinking specials.
No business, or its customers, would stand for that kind of government interference.
But the state won't be able to stop drinking specials unless it wants to step in and set the prices bar owners can charge for their drinks.
Obviously, any business that encourages its patrons to drink too much risks charges of irresponsibility. No one wants the streets of Lawrence packed with drivers tanked on dime draws and weaving their way home.
In fact, until drinkers decide for themselves that too much booze is not worth the price, no matter how cheap the drinks, no legislation will prevent club and tavern owners from catering to their customers' demands.
Tampering with time
If Congress has its way, time would stand still on Nov. 1, 1988 — the date of the next presidential election.
Congress can't force the media not to report election results; the First Amendment prevents that. It can't even outlaw reporters from taking unofficial "exit polls," where informal surveys — not tabulated vote totals — are used to project election results.
A House subcommittee wants to tinker with the national clock so voters on the West Coast won't learn East Coast vote totals while their polling areas are still open.
This in turn lowers the number of people who cast votes in state and local elections.
Early projections of election winners can cause voters — particularly those on the West Coast — to stay home and not vote if they think a race already has been settled.
But it can tamper with the nation's time zones.
The House Administration Committee subcommittee on elections last week decided polls should close at 9 p.m. EST in all states except Alaska and Hawaii.
To give residents of California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and parts of Idaho a chance to vote after work, Daylight Saving Time in those areas would be extended every four years until the Sunday after Election Day.
That way, it would be 7 p.m.
on the west coast when it's 9
p.m. on the east coast, 8 p.m.
in the central time zone and
7 p.m. in the mountain time
zone.
This proposal appears to make voting in presidential elections more equal — although it might unsettle voters' biological clocks a bit
Of course the media could restrain their projections and exit polls. But such a move seems unlikely in this age of TV ratings wars and live-on-the-spot news updates
All U.S. citizens — whether in Boston or Burbank — should be able to cast their ballots with a minimum of outside influence.
The House proposal might not make elections entirely equal, but it might make folks on the West Coast more apt to visit their neighborhood polling place in 1988 instead of sitting at the supper table watching the projected winner on TV.
Second warning
Once again, the Surgeon General is looking out for the health of cigarette smokers. But this time he's spelling it out.
The government is replacing the bland warning on the sides of cigarette packages with ones designed to catch the eye, and maybe the attention, of smokers.
Under a plan developed by cigarette makers and the Federal Trade Commission, a series of four different warnings will be rotated every three months on cigarette packages and advertising.
One month smokers can read that smoking may cause lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. Or they might see that cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide and
that they can reduce serious health risks by quitting smoking.
The warning that should stop smokers in mid-puff cautions that cigarette smoke seriously can damage a developing fetus. Maybe smokers can ignore the risks to their own health, but they might hesitate before endangering the future health of their children.
But even these explicit warnings might not do any good. The Surgeon General's office already does more to warn smokers about the dangers of their vice than almost any other.
The dangers can't get much deadlier. The question is how vivid the caution signs must be before smokers decide to snuff the cigarette habit.
Rob Karwath
Editor
John Hanna Michael Totty
Managing editor - Editorial editor
Lauretta McMillen
Campus editor
Susanne Shaw
General manager, news adviser
Duncan Calhoun Business manager
Brett McCabe Sue Johnson Retail sales Campus sales
Megan Burke
National/Co-op sales
John Oberzan
Sales and marketing adviser
**LETTERS TO THE EDITOR** should be typed, double-spaced and less than 300 words. Include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. If the writer is not affiliated with the University, should be typed, double-spaced and less than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staffer-Flint Hall.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan., 6043, daily during the regular school year, except Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and final periods, and Wednesdays during the summer session. Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, $12 for six months and $27 for six months and $27 a year. Elsewhere, they cost $18 for six months and $3a year. Student subscriptions cost $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stauffer-Flinl Hall, Lawrence, Kan., 60045.
Understanding diplomatic fury
I think the average American has difficulty understanding high-level diplomatic relations. And there's a good reason for this. Most Americans have common sense and see things in simple but practical terms.
In contrast, many of the people who engage in big-time diplomacy often sound like they're nuts.
There can be no better example of this than the hysterical indignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
He's demanding that. President Reagan apologize to him. And not just to him personally. He wants Reagan to apologize to his entire country — every man, woman and child.
But what did Mubarak do? He said, gosh, he didn't know anybody had
He's in a terrible suit because our fighter planes intercepted his airliner and forced it to land in Italy, so that the fleeing hijackers could be arrested.
In our simple-minded way, we thought that people who hijack ships, terrorize the innocent and murder killless ought to be brought to justice.
He says that if he doesn't get an apology, our countries might not be close pals for long.
And he's not alone. It appears that just about everybody in Egypt feels that way. News stories are filled with accounts of gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair by Egyptians who feel their national honor has been stomped on like a helpless bug.
For the last few days, most Americans thought that we were the ones who were supposed to be mad at Egypt.
And with good cause. It was to Egypt that the four young terrorists finally surrendered after they struck a great blow for their cause by putting a couple of bullets into an elderly, crippled American citizen and tossing him and his wheelchair over the side of the ship.
Mubarak is so upset that he says he has even refused to read a friendly, conciliatory letter that Reagan sent him. If it's not a groveling apology, he doesn't want to be bothered
That's what I mean about the strange workings of the diplomatic机
been murdered. And by the time he did know, it was too late. He had already let the murders out of his country. To show what a compassionate guy he really is, though, he said that if he had known about the murder, he'd have never let them get away.
Right there, you have to wonder what kind of stiff the guy is. The least you would expect is that he'd wait for a head count on the ship before he sent the killers on his way.
Even while the terrorists were still in his country, he knew the murder had been committed. People in his government have admitted it.
Let us be charitable for a moment. Let us take the position that it's a tendency for most people to look out
So he flat-out lied to us and let the killers sneak out of his country anyway. The reason he lied is that he doesn't want the PLO or any other Palestinian terrorists mad at him.
Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
for their own hides. And that's what Mubarak was doing.
Fine. As the old saying goes: The Lord can't stand a coward. But he doesn't think much of fools, either.
But after he gave shelter to known murderers and provided the known murderers with a plane to fly them to safety, he seemed astonished that we wouldn't go along with his self-serving game.
When we saw the chance, we did exactly what we should have done. We intercepted the plane, persuaded it to land and saw that the killers were pinched. It wasn't really any different than cop cars chasing down crooks trying to make a getaway. They don't always have to get a warrant or a legal opinion.
Now any self-respecting lying coward would know what to do when caught in his lies and cowardice. He should have the decency to shut his mouth, maybe look sheepish and lie low until it blows over.
But what has Mubarak done? He's bowing that we are terrorists for forcing down the plane carrying the murdering terrorists. He's claiming that by catching him in his lies and doing something about it, we have insulted and betrayed him and his epic country.
If that makes sense to Mubarak maybe he's been out in the Egyptian sun too long without a hat.
Despite the intensity of Mubarak's indignation, I've noticed that he hasn't said a word about rejecting the $2 billion a year in welfare that his country gets from us. Without which, they couldn't survive.
I guess there are some limits to fellow's nationalistic pride.
Verbatim
Powerless rely on weapon of future
Terrorism
Terrorism has become a fact of modern life. We watch in horror and fear as the cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked and Americans and Soviets are kidnapped in Lebanon.
Interest in terrorism has attracted many students to ANTH 571, Violence, Aggression and Terrorism in the World. The class has been taught for six years by Felix Moos, professor of anthropology, and Maynard Shelly, professor of psychology, Kathy Flanders, staff columnist, recently talked about terrorism with Moos.
What prompted you to begin teaching a course on terrorism? MOOS: We can't exterminate terrorism — it will always be with us. But one way to better deal with it
— not eliminate it — is by trying to understand what it is, how it comes about and to know a great deal more about the world and how it functions.
What do you define as terrorism?
MOOS: Terrorism is the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals, often for political, social or future, by intimidation or coercion
Terrorism in terms of cost effectiveness is very, very cheap. It is the warfare of the present and the warfare of the future. In a crowded world, it is becoming the most effective warfare of the weak against the strong.
So do you think terrorism is on the rise?
MOOS. There are three types of warfare — nuclear weapons, Star Wars and terrorism. Nuclear warfare is outdated. The United States and the Soviet Union won't push the button because of the consequences.
I thought nuclear weapons and Star Wars would be the warfare of the present. What makes terrorism your warfare of the present?
But one million dollars will keep four to five terrorists busy for one to two years or more. It's more cost effective than a missile. The cheapest hand-held missile is $3,000 to $5,000. You could send a missile to Egypt for that. If any governmental battle between a $100 million aircraft carrier or support terrorists, which is more attractive for the price?
Felix Moos
MOOS: Oh yes. It's been estimated that terrorism has increased 12 to 18 percent per annum over the last five years or so.
Are there different categories of terrorists?
MOOS: Yes. I can divide them into eight types.
Political terrorists such as the PLO and Red Brigade are one type. There are insurgents such as the contrains in Nicaragua. International terrorists such as Action Directe or Japanese Red Army show the rise of multinational groups.
Also, romantic terrorists like the early Weather Underground or intellectual terrorists such as Carlos Mariquilla are emerging.
"Green" terrorists or violent environmentalists have bombed partially-built runways in Frankfurt to save forests. And hatrists, such as The Order, and functionalists, who work strictly for money, are the last two types.
What causes people to turn to terrorism?
MOOS: One mistake often made is to think terrorists are crazy or criminal. That's too simplistic. It underestimates the force of the weak against the strong.
Two basic causes of terrorism are population and unemployment. There will be more and more terrorism because people are going to be poor. More and more people are going to be left behind in the high tech revolution.
How does population affect terrorism?
MOOS. The world has 4.8 billion people and in 25 years, there will be 6-plus billion. In modern Britain, four families use one toilet. These kind of conditions won't change. These people are not crazy, but they are the weak and by terrorism they want to bring about change. People ask how a terrorist can calmly blow a person's head off. Living in bad conditions hardens them to accept anything.
So what are the goals of terrorism?
MOOS: They want to cause dramatic change in governments, by causing revolution, civil war or war. Another goal is to influence local, national or international policy decisions. And they want to gain political recognition as a legal body representing an ethnic or national group.
What do you foresee for the future and terrorism?
What are future and terверism?
MOOS: It will never go away. An Uzi, a standard small arms weapon which you can buy in Lawrence, Kansas, for $150 to $200 is cheap and can cut an opponent in half. You don't need nuclear weapons. You don't need Star Wars. You just need an Uzi.
Terrorism will continue to rise throughout the world when there are such available weapons. There is no free lunch and Americans have to learn to deal with terrorism. Any American going overseas today can't guarantee 100 percent that he will come back alive.
Mailbox
Endangered students
I am writing this letter in hopes of soliciting much-needed aid in my quest to protect what could easily become an endangered species — the KU student.
I am new to the campus and the Lawrence area, but was wisely warned ahead of time about the congestion problem on campus. I'm a pretty fair driver and a very safe one, but nothing really prepared me for the Jayhawker 500 that takes place daily here at KU.
It seems only logical, realistic and fair of me to assume that you, the student, are at least as interested as I am in seeing that you do not become a traffic accident statistic. No pun intended, but traffic safety is a two-way street.
Here's what I'm doing to to hold up my end of the bargain. I drive at or below the posted speed limit (road, weather conditions and time of day taken into consideration). I wait two or three seconds when the lights turn green just in case someone ACIDENTALLY runs a red light.
I always assume that someone is going to run or walk out from between parked cars or drive out of a parking lot without looking. I never assume a driver with a turn signal on is going to turn in that direction, or at all. And lastly, I always assume that I will not be seen by the other person.
Stop speeding down Sunyside Avenue and Naismith Drive. If you drive any variety of motorized, two wheeled vehicle, do not weave in and out of traffic, but do wear a helmet. If you ride a bicycle, remember that traffic signs and rules also apply to you.
Now I have some requests and expectations of you, the student. Please try to cross the street at crosswalks. If you can't use a crosswalk, at least look before you cross (as opposed to the standard routine of stepping off the curb with eyes glued to the ground.)
And lastly, stop assuming that because the 12th commandment says, "Thou shalt not physically harm a KU student while driving your car," no one will break the commandment. That assumption literally could be the death of you.
For those students who are as careful as I try to be, I apologize if I've insulted you. But to the thousands of whom my requests do apply — please help me.
You are the greatest national resource this country has and the loss of a single individual is felt by all, I will do my part. Please do yours
Phillip E. Litts
Philip E. Litts professor of aerospace studies