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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Friday, Sept. 13, 1985
Anti-Asian racism
In the business world it's become common to refer to Japanese — who have been beating us economically for some time — as "nips," a demeaning derivative revived from World War II.
Two Cambodian refugees on their way home from a party were severely beaten last month by a gang of white men in Boston. One of the refugees died 10 days later from a skull fracture he suffered in the apparently random attack.
GM-UA studios was forced to add a disclaimer to its film, "Year of the Dragon," when the Federation of Chinese Organizations of America filed a $100 million libel suit charging that the studio falsely portrayed Chinese as murderous drug-traffickers.
At the movies we see Rambos slaughtering North Vietnamese who are portrayed as thoughtless amoebas apparently void of feeling.
Asian-American leaders, as well as government officials, say the murder of the Cambodian refugee in Boston is the
most dramatic example of what appears to be a growing problem of animosity toward Asians throughout the country.
But the current upswing in violence against Asians has more specific causes. The portraits of Asians by filmmakers eager to rewrite the history of the Vietnam War invite animosity. Politicians who blame Japan for U.S. trade problems add to the poisoned atmosphere.
They account for only 2 percent of the U.S. population, but compose 11 percent of the freshman class at Harvard and 25 percent at the University of California at Berkeley.
What makes this racism against Asians even more offensive is the relative success they have achieved in this country.
They've done well for themselves in the United States, and they should get our gratitude and admiration for their efforts — not our disdain, our hate or our misguided jealousy.
The words probably now are being whispered by President Reagan's retainers and political allies in the corridors of the White House and elsewhere in the City on the Hill.
Weak actions save face
He has done it again, they might say: he has won again.
Meanwhile, the river of blood flows on in South Africa.
Reagan on Monday announced a series of limited, diluted, economic sanctions against the government of South Africa.
On Wednesday, Pieter Botha, South African president, made an offer to some South African blacks — dual citizenship — on the assumption that they will see fractional citizenship as better than none. The Department of State amplified the move.
Also on Wednesday, Republican senators began a filibuster that prevented a vote on tougher sanctions. A vote to end the filibuster failed.
It is a nation where children are whipped by police for singing "We Are the World"
Meanwhile, in the United States, Reagan found a way to save face and even came out ahead. But the actions taken fall far short of what is necessary: tough sanctions that would send the white regime in South Africa a clear message.
outside a shopping mall, a place where Botha constantly defends the country's peculiar institution, apartheid. It is a nation whose white regime continues to ignore the firebell in the night.
The United States took a long time to end slavery and is still working on making all people equal; the nation has a lesson to learn from. We cannot change attitudes overnight, but we can spur more change.
As President Reagan and his retainers congratulate themselves in the coming days, more people probably will die in South Africa, where the only true victory is the end of apartheid.
Comparable worth's use
Comparable worth is a policy of assigning equal pay to jobs determined to have equal value. Within limits, it is a useful strategy for a laudable goal: to bring women's pay in line with men's.
Critics of comparable worth fear that its nationwide application would wreak new injustices, economic mayhem and unprecedented government interference in the marketplace. Those fears deserve consideration.
On Sept. 4, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt comparable worth a big setback. The judges reversed a 1983 order that told the state of Washington to give back pay and raises to women employees, steps that could cost that state $1 billion.
state of a mission The suit, considered the biggest test of comparable
worth to date, will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Comparable worth will have its time, but it also must have limits. No law should empower federal bureaucrats to assign values to all manner of jobs in every city and town. And requiring back pay sounds a lot like ex post facto law, not to mention the damage it could do to state budgets.
Within such limits, comparable worth deserves support.
Congress should phase in comparable worth for government employees, who form a large enough part of the job force to influence salary levels generally. State governments should do likewise; a few states have such provisions.
Comparable worth is potentially a tool of social justice. Like all tools, it must be used wisely.
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
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Communists endanger South Africa
When someone speaks out on the dangers of communism and its threat to democracy and freedom, the typical liberal reaction is to scoff at the speaker and make some sarcastic remark like, "there he goes again."
Little do those who ridicule realize that the danger does exist.
Such is the case in South Africa, where the threat of a communist takeover is very real indeed. Why the media and critics have chosen to ignore this threat is still unclear.
No one doubts that the South African system of apartheid is wrong and must be dismantled. But the mainstay of the divestment movement is to throw around arbitrary suggestions provoked by passionate emotion instead of careful thought.
To the north of South Africa lies Angola with approximately 35,000 Cuban troops. To the northwest the Marxist Mozambique and Zimbabwe. All three are intimately allied with the Soviet Union and have several thousand military advisors from the U.S.S.R., North Korea, Bulgaria, and East Germany.
The Soviet's goal is simple. It wants to install a pro-Soviet communist regime in South Africa. Such a regime would give the Soviets air and naval bases that would control the
Victor Goodpasture Staff columnist
sea lanes around the Cape of Good Hope, facilitating the interception of petroleum and other strategic materials essential to the economies and defenses of Western Europe and the United States.
South Africa supplies to the free-world chromium, manganese, vanadium, and other strategic raw materials. The only other major source of these materials is the Soviet Union. A pro-Soviet regime could restrict the flow of these materials which would be detrimental to the security of the United States and the rest of the free world.
The horrors in Mozambique serve as a reminder of what could happen to South Africa if a Marxist regime takes over
Between 200,000 and 300,000 Mozambicans are currently imprisoned in "re-education centers" that are similar to the Guang in Siberia. More than 75,000 have died in these centers, yet criticism from foreign nations has been nil.
Shockingly, 12,000 Mozambican children, 8 to 18 years old, are now enduring slave labor in East German mines and factories to help repay the huge debts owed by the Marxist regime.
Where are the international condemnations that South Africa receives? This is hypocrisy at its worst.
In Southwest Africa, also known as Namibia, Soviet-backed terrorists are trying to establish a Marxist regime. These guerrillas call themselves the Southwest Africa People's Organization (SWAPO).
SWAPO guerrillas are trained and armed in Angela by the U.S.S.R. Cuba, and East Germany. They are trained in sabotage and guerrilla warfare. They are ruthless terrorists.
Another terrorist guerrilla organization is the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC was formed in 1912 as a group that would unite the different tribes of South Africa and provide liberty to men of all race and color.
However, in 'the early 1950s', the South African Communist Party took control of the organization. The ANC is now trying to overthrow the South African government, which would replace one tyranny with an even more repressive and brutal tyranny.
The presidents of both SWAPO and the ANC have repeatedly praised the Soviet Union for the support it has provided. East Germany has also publicly supported SWAPO and the ANC.
These two organizations' terrorist acts are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. This kind of Soviet-sponsored terrorism has been neglected by nearsighted journalists.
If a communist regime does take over, the South African people will suffer horribly. A communist take-over means mass executions, Gulag-like prison camps, hunger and enslavement. There will be no hope of economic prosperity for anyone.
That is why the dismantling of aparthid must be a slow but constant process. A too rapid change-over could start bloody feeding between South Africa's tribes. The tribes are unfriendly toward each other and a sudden abandonment of aparthid could lead to a violent power struggle between the tribes. We have seen this already with blacks killing blacks in urban townships.
This is not a cop-out nor in anyway supports the terrible system of aparthied, but is the only way to safely rid the cancer without killing the patient.
Miss America attracts and offends
An estimated 60 million will tune in tomorrow night to witness the crowning of Miss America 1986 despite all the good reasons for not watching.
It's tough to argue with 60 million zealous viewers and one former pageant contestant about the stupidity and exploitive nature of beauty pageants.
For Nancy Cobb, Wichita senior at the University of Kansas and former Miss Kansas, who has heard a lot of these reasons, the Miss America Pageant is a scholarship pageant, not a beauty pageant.
"It's comprised of a lot of substance, and takes a good level of intelligence and research," Cobb said about the Miss America bageant.
Contestants are rated on poise, appearance and skill in swimsuit and evening gown competitions, a talent routine and their interviews with judges.
Intelligence and brainwork may be as important as Cobb says.
But come tomorrow night, 51 women will be parading around Atlantic City, N.J., being ogled by millions looking to see how ugly or attractive their homestate girl is.
Cobb defends the pageant by saying that serious college women looking to raise money for school and further their careers are attracted to the Miss America pageant.
However, Cobb admits there are women groomed to be a "Suzy Pageant," but says Miss America judges look for brains.
Cobb, a physical therapy major who entered her first page during her freshman year in college, said scholarship money was the name of the game for many of the women she met last year in the pageant.
"It's a diverse group," Cobb said. "One girl got a medical school scholarship and there were chemical engineering and business majors."
Despite what Cobb said, I don't think too many college women will squander six months to a year of their lives on the off chance that they
Michelle Johnson
Draft column
might be chosen Miss America
might be chosen only if the Title is highly enticing bait, though. Winnings include a $30,000 scholarship and up to $100,000 in commercial endorsements and appearance fees during the reign.
Even after the controversy in which former Miss America Vanessa Williams renounced her title because of nude photos published in Penthouse magazine, the pageant hasn't lost any of its dubious glitter.
Cobb was told by pageant officials that ticket sales increased 20 percent for last year's extravaganza and more people than ever tuned in to watch.
One of the greatest objections to the Miss America pageant, especially after the Williams fiasco, is
Miss America contestants are required to sign a contract promising "no acts of moral turpitude" during the one-year reign.
the pageant's hypocritical emphasis on wholesomeness.
Cobb said the public placed greater emphasis on the wholesomeness mystique than the judges did.
"The public's image of Miss America is kind of like Superman. She's not a heroine but an idea to look up to," Cobb said.
You just can't argue with 60 million people and one ex-contestant about a pageant, even when you know you're right.
Pageants still exploit women Beauty and showmanship and no brains are still the issue.
But maybe I'll tune in tomorrow night and view the pageant now that have the perspective of a bona fide contestant.
The truth is, I always peek at the ast five minutes anyway.
Mailbox
Sandinistas popular
This August I had the privilege of being included in an expertly guided tour of the six countries of Central America and their universities, sponsored by the Consejo Superior Universiterio Centroamericano (CSUCA). I have intended to write this letter since sometime in the middle of that trip, to convey my newfound strong impression of the error of current U.S. Administration policy toward Central America, with Nicaragua as its focal point.
Now, in the Sunday (Sept. 8) Kansas City Star Forum, William Pfaff, in a column titled "Reagan Argument Backed by Distorted Latin Picture," has articulated my feeling and concern. I would urge you to read this column if you have not already
I can only add that the impression that I formed from talking to people in the region — not only in Nicaragua but also in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and even in Honduras — is that the Nicaraguan revolution is really a popular one. It is certainly not without its detractors within Nicaragua, but educated opinions there indicate that somewhere around 60 percent of the population still supports the Sandinistas, which if we were to judge by our own standards, is nearly a landslide proportion.
The Central Americans who spoke to me felt strongly that the "North Americans" have ignored their opinions on this subject, and that the Reagan Administration's overt intention to see the Sandinistas overthrown is based on unceused political ideology alone, which they judge to be particularly dangerous and potentially destructive. Their evaluation coincides with that of Mr. Pfaff on this point.
Peter Frevert associate professor of economics
Supporting volleyball
As a supporter of the KU women's volleyball team, I would like to take this time to comment on the negative representation of the volleyball team by the sportswriters of the Kanan.
In a University Daily Kansas article on Monday, Sept. 9, Heather Fritz started her article with all of the records set by Nebraska and in turn down graded the great effort put forth by the KU women's team.
Yes, maybe it was Nebraska's 39th consecutive Big Eight victory and 350th career win, but so what? Why not bring up some more positive points on the team that we support -- KU. What about the returning starters and the excellent new recruits that have lists of merits
Some of us were there in Lincoln watching the volleyball team put up a fight against Nebraska and there were a lot more positive aspects that could have been written about our volleyball team rather than making the Nebraska Cornhuskers look as if they are perfect.
Fran Remer
Omaha, Neb. junior
behind them? And what about how hard the team has worked to improve, for example three-a-day practices in 98 degree weather.
Instead of downgrading the KU women's volleyball team, I think it is time to build confidence in our team and back them up in their efforts, so they can show us what potential they really do have.
I am writing in regard to your article entitled "Hottine has hints on syntax." This article erroneously reported that Emporia State University operates the only grammar hotline in Kansas. The Writing Center at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park operates a similar service.
JCCC Writing Center
I had the pleasure of working as a Peer Tutor in JCCC's Writing Center for three semesters prior to transferring to KU in the fall of 1984, and am disappointed that the University Writing Center has decided to abandon (at least for the present) its original plan to offer a direct service to students and instead has chosen to become a faculty research center. At JCCC, I found that sitting down with a student one-on-one and discussing his writing problems made a tremendous difference. Most students came back again and again all semester long for guidance and, by the end of the semester, their confidence and competence as writers had improved dramatically. I do not feel that KU's indirect approach can have the same effect.
As far as writing across the curriculum is concerned, The Writing Center at JCCC helps all students with all types of writing assignments even though its clients are predominantly from freshman composition classes. This is the primary flaw in the University Writing Center; in an effort to foster writing across the curriculum, it is ignoring the many freshman composition students who need additional help with their writing skills. For the benefit of these students, I hope the University Writing Center will fulfill its promise to implement a tutoring service.
Overland Park senior