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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Thursday, Sept. 5, 1985
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
When students take too many classes and earn poor grades, academic advisers and grumbling parents have a term for it: spreading oneself too thin.
Spreading it too thin
That's exactly what the Legislature will do with state money if it tacks Topeka's community-financed Washburn University onto the sixmember Regents system. Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University comprise the regents system.
One semester of spreading it too thin usually teaches most students not to do it again.
So perhaps the Kansas Legislature committee that meets today in Topeka, whose members will consider expanding the Kansas Board of Regents system, should hear testimony from a few KU students who've felt the anxiety of spreading themselves too thin.
Earlier this week, Chancellor Gene A. Budig voiced displeasure with the plan, saying, "State universities in Kansas are underfunded. I question whether Kansas is in
u position to assume additional fiscal responsibilities."
If that happens, small Regents schools especially will feel hunger pangs.
Arguably, the Regents system is already over-extended. Adding another dependent will only mean divvying supper among more sitters at the table.
Over the past six years, Emporia State University already has suffered more than $1 million in budget cuts because of declining enrollment.
Many see the problem at Emporia State as a sign that Kansas is saturated with state-financed universities.
State Sen. Wint Winter, R-Lawrence, a veteran of Regents financing fights in the Legislature, says adding Washburn "is probably going to mean less money for KU, and less money arguably leads to less quality."
Indeed, if quality is lost for quantity, students here and on other campuses across Kansas no longer will have to spread themselves too thin to get less of an education.
The Legislature and the Regents already will have done that for them.
KAL questions linger
Two years ago on Sept. 1, Korean Air Lines flight 007 was shot down by the Soviet Union because the KAL plane had gone off course and was heading into Soviet airspace. All 269 people aboard, including a U.S. congressman, died.
Two years of investigating has, if anything, raised more questions than answers. The United States continues its official position that no one knew the plane was off course.
The incident has opened questions about the practice of numerous governments' having planes deliberately into enemy air space. In a similar incident, another KAL plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1978.
However, documents filed just last week suggested that monitors in Alaska, where the plane had stopped, discussed warning the pilot about something. And some records of that day were destroyed soon afterward on the grounds that they contained nothing but routine matter.
More than a dozen airliners
of the Soviet Union and its allies have overflooded U.S. air space in the past few years. Not surprisingly, they somehow tend to get lost over sensitive military sites.
These types of flights regularly involve passenger planes. That fact indicates the high value governments place on information that comes from forcing a nation to use its radar systems. And it shows again how little regard governments can have for human lives when they play for high stakes.
Although most observers assume that such espionage occurs, it continues because individual cases are so hard to prove. And the bet, of course, is that the violated nation will choose not to endanger innocent passengers.
It would be naive to think this betting would end. But it also would be naive to think the case of KAL 007 would close soon. And the longer the facts are hidden, the more people will speculate on just what the plane was doing.
Uncomplicated access
Life is complicated enough.
Life is complicated enough.
Planners and builders often erect barriers without intention, often without thinking. In many cases, those barriers limit the access to buildings or places for the handicapped.
For someone in a wheelchair, a curb sometimes can become a frustrating obstacle.
Before this summer, Wescoe had such a barrier for its serving line. A narrow doorway and a turnstile comprised it.
This summer, the turnstile
was removed, and the opening became wider. As Delores Miller, cafeteria supervisor said, "Life is complicated enough."
Students not confined to wheelchairs may not notice the change, just as they might not think very much about the ramps to buildings and to sidewalks. But others will notice.
It may seem to be a small change.
Rob Karwath
Editor
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Variety of patriots welcome Reagan
President Reagan's visit to the Santa-Cali-Gon in Independence, Mo., on Monday was a lesson in practical patriotism. The lesson lay in the assortment of people gathered in the Jackson County Courthouse square. They called to mind a lot that is good about this country, and some that isn't so good.
A block away from the bunting-laced square, the streets were barricaded with city dump trucks. The heavy trucks not only controlled pedestrian traffic but also would have stopped any vehicle that tried a suicide run — a danger increasingly of concern to the Secret Service.
The Secret Service and various police did their patriotic chore with easy courtesy and remarkable thoroughness. Every second-story window in line of sight of the platform would have seen the men or blinds. The men on the courthouse roof would have detected any movement at a window.
The crowd generally was good-humored despite a bright sun, hot pavement and tight quarters. Some people passed time looking at booths for Jesus, Halley's Converse and booklets or carpeting. Members of
Other folks, having claimed positions against ropes marking an area in front of the platform's covered wagon facade, clung to their positions for four hours. For some months they were known to know that tickets were required for the favored spots within the roped area.
the Eastside Lions showed their national spirit by making a bundle on soft drinks — much of it will go to eye research, I'm sure.
As word spread, people wanted to know where to get tickets. Of course, the tickets had gone to members of the state and local power structures — a fact of democracy at work.
Twenty minutes before the speech, the crowd was allowed to fill what remained of that space.
People were glad to have the president visit, and a majority seemed to support him. Other patriots used the occasion to express sentimental opinions, usually through signs about jobs and prisoners of war.
The effect of imports was the big topic. Signs said, "Imports cost me my job," "Fair trade not free trade" and "Who elected you? Not the
The show that must go on is media coverage of the president. Reporters and photographers shared the buzzing heat of the early afternoon with everybody else. On risers directly above the stage, photographers stood by their tripoles and envised the shade of people who envied their location.
Dan Howell Staff columnist
Koreans." One sign, apparently about POWs in Vietnam, read, "Rambo a Republican." Who should be填rel or insulted by that unanswered question?
Few people heckled the president even though they raised signs. In fact, when someone shouted, he usually wanted someone else to lower a sign so that he could see.
But most people accepted the signs as the right of others. In a democracy, tolerance is part of patriotism.
President or no president,
Santa-Cali-Gon Days is an annual
event celebrating the heritage of
the old West. That is a patriotic gesture.
Still, one act in the stage show was in
poor taste. A group did one of those
silt staged gunfight routines about
an hour before the arrival of Reagan,
who of course has been shot once.
That was one show that should not, have gone on.
Most journalists take their work very seriously as a vital function in democracy. However, their patriotism tends to be abstract, built on fear and anxiety that the government directed particularly at its emblems, such as the flag or the president.
And what of the president's speech in all this? Reagan is a patriotic man, no doubt, but his ideas were tangential to the display of patriotism Monday. Amid all the security, sign-waving and sweat, not even the Great Communicator could really stir anyone toward an exalted patriotism for some ideal "America."
No, the special day Reagan came to Santa-Cali-Gan turned out to be an exercise in everyday democracy. It was a lesson in practical patriotism.
Contras tap private aid in U.S.
Jerry Lewis and his kids, UNICEF World hunger. These are the images brought to mind when the idea of professional fund raising is mentioned. But a new twist has emerged over the past few months — private fundraising to support the contras in Nicaragua.
The main leader of the save-the-contras movement in the United States is retired Army Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub. His organization, the Council for World Freedom, and other groups have raised as much as $25 million from private sources to aid the contras.
One of Singlaub's big supporters is Ellen Gawarth, Austin, Texas. In August she donated $65,000 for the purchase of a helicopter. And previously she gave $50,000 for Singlaub to buy boots for the contrasts.
Organizations that raise money for the contrasts are springing up all over the United States. There's the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund, under the leadership of former Treasurer Secretary William E. Simon, which has raised $350,000 for the contrasts.
The Nicaraguan Refugee Fund and Americas are two more groups raising money for the contras. Even the Christian Broadcast Network has jumped on the fund-raising bandwagon.
It's pretty scary to think that man like Singlaub stepped in to raise
Kathy Flanders
Staff columnist
Staff columnist
money and advise the contras after Congress, acting on the wishes of the American people, cut funds and CIA help.
Singlaub said he would'like the Nicaraguan Democratic Force — FDN — the main U.S.-based guerrilla force, to use more former members of the defunct Nicaraguan National Guard. This is the same group that Gen. Anastasio Somoza-Debayle used to terrorize his opposition before his overthrow by the Sandinistas.
According to Searchlight, a British publication, Singlab is president of the World Anti Communism League. Searchlight reports that Singlab uses known neo-Nazi as recruiting agents for the organization.
The publication also said he had received assistance from the publisher of the mercenary magazine, Soldier of Fortune, Robert K. Brown. Searchlight reported that Singlaub and his Soldier of Fortune associates helped set up a paramilitary training camp in Boulder, Colo.
Singlaub is also linked with Western Goals, a "far right/wing foreign affairs lobby which he helps to run." According to Searchlight, this group has set up a private computerized office to monitor and assemble files on politically suspect Americans. It was discovered that they were storing masses of confidential data stolen from police computers.
It appears we have returned to the McCarthy era, but this time around Singlau doesn't just bark, he bites as well. After serving in the military for years, he has the contacts necessary to accomplish his goals.
Men like Singlaub have convinced the American people to give their tax-deductible dollars to a cause which goes against our democratic principles. And Singlaub brags that he continues to raise $500,000 a month for the contra cause.
Singlaub believes he is fighting to eradicate communism in Nicaragua. He has taken his private crusade to the American people in his determination to win the fight.
It is puzzling that Americans are listening. With all the genuine need in the world, it's a wonder that people would donate money to arm an illegal army fighting an undeclared war against a country with whom we are at peace.
Who wants to enforce beer ban?
Residence halls. Beer. Seem to go hand-in-hand. Until now. And here. Or is it?
Wonders like: I wonder whether this policy is really necessary. I wonder who will enforce it. I wonder whether anyone really cares whether it's enforced.
The recent beer ban on campus has sparked little controversy and much wonder.
All right, all you RA's out there,
how many of you want two black eyes
from a tight tail who's more than just
a tight tail? No hands breaking the
air here.
How much money will Kwik Swifts make on Cherry Coke during Country Club Week next year? I know I'm running out right now to stock up.
No one will work their way up to a "10" as the night wears on at hall parties. Let's face it, Dad's root beer boat do much for water displacement.
If RA's plan to enforce this, then let's be real. Who's gonna yell at them? Their mothers? Or do residents get paid for that? Does that come with the 1-meal plan? Something like home improvements on a rental house? Does that include a reduction on the first month's rent?
Yelling fights in windows will develop into pen-pal letters. How quickly they can develop is better to buy. Like two 100-year-olds getting married for the first time.
Why don't we form a protest group and re-enact "Taps?" Let's head over to the houses of this three-generation Carrie Nations. See the in-home liquor store. See the swizzle sticks in nine different designer colors. Would you like to know how young people react when you hear early he starts? He knows parting with liquor is not sweet partying.
See Mister's college annual. See Mister win the gold flask for the longest drinking binge during finals week. See Mister preach what he hasn't practiced. See the angry students sabotage the $75,000 home.
Remember prohibition, Mister Remember bootlegging to get through school? I thought all you guys were dead by now. Say your liver's a bit green?
Kimberly Hurley Staff columnis
So make it our problem. Let us make our own mistakes. That's what growing up is all about, isn't it?
Let's be real. How are weekends in the residence hall since this policy took effect? A little loud? Say it smells like a brewery on Sunday?
Okay, kids, how many of you didn't drink before you were 18? How many just winn' they'd crack down on the guy next door who gets stoned every night?
How many of you will move to an apartment, even if it means a penalty? How many incoming freshmen plan to join a house?
They say it's a matter of compliance with state law. Compliance. Right. Maybe they think it's their job to police us.
Think this policy's been the least bit effective? Think it's gonna get any better? I bet.
Mailbox
Lack of insight shown
In reference to Mark Gillen's letter of Aug. 30, certain crucial points need to be corrected. Mr. Gillen, with his accusation of lack of understanding on the part of the KU Committee on South Africa, seems to demonstrate an extraordinary lack of insight himself.
He reminds us that America is a republic, known as a government by law, but I must add that a republic contains voting citizens and elected officers to carry out majority policy. South Africa also touts itself as a republic.
To make it clear, the ruling white minority seized control of the country uninvited, displacing the blacks, banishing them to impoverished homelands while imposing strict limitations on their movements.
In applying his rather shallow perception to the situation, he seems to have concluded that "the majority of blacks are not native citizens of the country." Employing his usage of the word 'native', I must conclude that he is not a 'native' citizen of America. I would go so far as to claim that his ancestors fleed Europe seeking a better existence.
In reference to his statement that total divestment would lead to more riots and black suffering, I must enlighten him with the information that riots are occurring right now and blacks are dying, not as a result of limited divestment that has taken place but due to frustration at the system of apartheid. Nobel laureate Bishop Tutu, a voice of moderation has pleaded for international sanctions against the white minority as a last chance for a peaceful resolution (Aug. 30, Kansan).
Mr. Gillen's solution to apartheid is not as simple as he envisions. His advice that we should listen to the blacks seems to have been ignored by himself. I suggest he utilize his time more efficiently by supporting the KU Committee on South Africa in its fight against apartheid.
Ninan Chacko Penang, Malaysia, senior
Catering to cretins
To the surprise of no one, the University Daily Kansan ushers in the new year, still catering to cretins. With its habitual lack of imagination, the Kansan fires its opening salvo at (guess who?) South Africa. It promises to be another season of desultory "journalism," highlighting the eternally limited horizons of the Mt. Oread intelligentsia.
Oblivious to the assorted gulans which dot black-ruled Africa, today's cheeky college student zeros in on the continent's one nation where democratic change is still a possibility measured in the measure, to the fusian generated at our institutions of "higher learning").
Not to be outdone by his drug-taking ancestors of the '60s, the present-day specimen will even risk a night in jail (free meals)? "if that's what it takes to make 'em listen!" Mustering all their wits to arrive at a tortuous logic (one that only devotees of Eleanor Rosevelt could appreciate), these graduates of freshman speech class see divestiture as the surest way to eudaemonia. They probably reason that a white South African fears divestiture as much as they dread the loss of student loans.
'I'd bet even money that the administration will eventually cave in to this disheveled band of moral midgets, who couldn't even fire South Africa on a map if his name didn't reveal his location.
Tim Williams graduate teaching assistant French and Italian
.