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Opinion
University Daily Kansan, October 10, 1980
A
More power to ASK in its fight to get a student seat on the Board of Regents. But the lobbyists had better realize that they have chosen to tilt at a stubborn windmill.
ASK's possible dream
Board members, not unlike their equally elitist appointees on the chancellor search committee, already are predictably nervous about opening their ranks to a mere student.
They argue that a student would necessarily be partial to student concerns at a particular school, while the rest of the Regents would remain objective in their decisions.
They say that the existing Student Advisory Committee, made up of student body presidents from the seven Regents schools, can do an adequate job of gathering information and representing student interests to the Regents.
They are wrong. But ASK must prove it.
It is essential that ASK get the Regents on its side before it tries to convince legislators that the student seat is necessary. Even if the Legislature were to vote in ASK's favor, a student representative could be locked out of important discussions if her or his presence were unwelcome.
Yet before ASK can move the Regents, it must demonstrate that a student can be mature enough to be above petty squabbles that prevent action in the best interests of the statewide system. ASK can start by eliminating its own factions that are reluctant to support the issue. The windmill is stubborn, not insumurable.
To those unbelieving pessimists in their midst, ASK leaders should quote the knight errant, "Too much sanity may be madness, and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."
Crime victim compensation puts payment in right place
Get assaulted; get a check. Get mugged; get a
check. Get shot; get a check.
That is the philosophy underlying crime victim compensation. This fairly recent judicial trend gives certain convicts a choice between prison and conditional probation. While on probation, they must repay their victims for damages suffered because of their crimes. The convicts also contribute a specific amount of money to a bail fund, which is paid directly to these ends are accomplished by making the convict get a job to complete the payments under penalty of imprisonment for breach of probation.
Kansas participates in this program through its Crime Victims Reparations Board. The board assists victims with bodily injuries suffered in unprovoked assaults by paying medical costs not covered by their insurance. Sometimes the board will pay the victim as much as $200 a week to compensate for lost wages. Families of murder victims may receive as much as $750 for burial costs, and dependents may get the difference between the murder victim's former wages and any death benefits they receive, such as Social Security.
The biggest chunk of the program, however, is collected by the individual courts and judicial districts. Any restitution, repayment as a condition of probation, is handled by the courts. The
BILL
MENEZES
state's reparations board only handles cases involving bodily harm, although it sometimes recommends restitution to the sentencing court in other cases.
The idea is catching on across the nation. Twenty-nine states have adopted crime victim compensation statutes. Twelve of those state also make the convicts pay into a common crime victim fund for victims who need immediate assistance.
Crime victim compensation seems to be an idea that works. The philosophy of doing something for the person who suffers most from crime, the victim, is an idea that, sadly, has been a long time in coming. Too much time and money are spent on "humane" imprisonment and rehabilitation programs that don't even dent recidivism rates.
The time when criminals' rights take precedence over victims' rights is finally passing. But this welcome movement has some pitfalls, which need to be addressed by any state wishing to enact such a program.
The system would be useless against crimes that defy compensation—murder and rape. It would also allow criminals to commit theft.
compensate monetarily a woman who has been raped. And although it's nice to help with burial expenses and lost wages, it’s tough to give a child the opportunity to take the place of a loving parent or mate.
The most significant flaw involves some of the convicts who might be expected to find jobs to do.
The habitual tie probably would jump at the chance to stay outside prison. But if he is stealing to support a heroin addiction, one would be dreaming to think that he could hold a job long enough to cough up the restitution money. It is more realistic to think he would come up with the money the same way he found it for his dope—through thievery.
And what about victimless crimes? Would those convicted of victimless crimes be eligible for parole?
The money itself could present more problems. How much restitution would be enough? A recent Kansas City Star story told of a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down after she was shot during a robbery attempt. She spent $100,000 in medical expenses and wages over a normal lifetime, in addition to spending that lifetime in a wheelchair.
Under Pennsylvania's crime victim compensation statutes, which set up what is considered one of the nation's model programs, she would receive only $25,000.
Although $25,000 is better than nothing, it's not even close to compensation for the damages she has suffered and will continue to suffer. Clearly, the amount should be raised in cases such as this if crime victim compensation statutes are to be effective.
Yet the compensation programs are moving in the right direction. Last year, Pennsylvania raised more than $1.5 million for crime victims through convicts' contributions to its compensation fund. Dedicated judges and probation officers are the keys to success.
As yet, Kansas and Missouri have no central crime victim compensation funds, but Missouri voters will decide on proposals for such a fund Nov. 4. In Kansas, the system seems to work well under the direction of the individual judges' orders and the reparations board.
Missouri is working under a similar judge-by-judge method. It will be interesting to follow the progress of the system once it becomes a formal part of the bureaucracy.
There doesn't seem to be any need for Kansas to fool with the system as it is now. Any new central fund probably would not raise substantially the compensation amounts in cases where more money is needed. But it would be a great thing to have in cases where immediate material damages are necessary. It also would move the burden of刑罚 for crime from the public to the convict.
Common sense tells us that's where it belongs.
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Letters to the Editor
Commercial TV takes unjustified rap
To the editor:
A few other assertions similar to the two I have presented, a short discussion of sponsorship and funding problems in television and some complaints about television's handling of some recent crises out the essay and lead us to a "radical" proposal. Proposed is the elimination of commercial television broadcasting.
I became quite dismayed reading Ted Lickie's editorial on the devastating effects of commercial television (Oct. 2). The quality of the writing should have been enough to prevent its publication, but the argument presented was worse than the prose. Perhaps I missed some subtle point that was hidden by an esoteric rhetoric. I doubt it.
Lichtigle's editorial is little more than a collection of unsupported sweeping generalizations and armchair psychologizing lament over the power of the purse in television.
He tells us that television "in general" has "mind-deadening" and "slow, debilitating" effects on "human motivation" and "the brain's thought processes." The research on television's effects would hardly support such a sweeping control of the controversy about television's effects and much controversy among researchers of the subject about the validity of each others' research.
According to Lickteig, a decision to eliminate commercial television is easier to make if we parallel the effects of the technology of nuclear power and the effects of television. Perhaps the effects of television as outlined by Lickteig better parallel the effects of addictive and debilitating drugs. Certainly, to the present, the effects of nuclear power technology are far less devastating than the effects of Lickteig's television.
Lückigie says that the introduction of television into daily life has caused the "alarming" dip in college entrance examination scores. This argument assumes a causal connection between television viewing and drops in test scores on the IGTV and other relationship. It ignores all the other factors that have led to the test scores of the huge group of people who are the "children of the 'fos.'"
Lickleig's argument for the elimination of commercial television could be used to argue for returning almost anything to pre-1960 levels. His claims are unsupported, and his logic is faulty. The sprawling disclaimer "OPINION" is no defense against assertions or all-encompassing generalization or editorial writing. Perhaps the editorial staff of the Daily University Karsan disagrees.
To the editor:
James T. Todd Lawrence senior
Watkins vs. Winn
James T. Todd
We must take issue with Congressman Larry Winn's paid advertisement, which amounts to a $10 million debt.
Winn, you will recall, is in a fight for his political life with Dan Watkins, former assistant attorney general and chief of staff to Gov. John Carlin and a 1976 KU School of Law graduate.
Winn's ad was a reprint of a column by the Republican publisher of the Overland Park Sun, Stan Rose. In his column, Rose purported to have received a letter from a Richard Wilson, administrator at the University Club, that declared "malicious tactics" Watkins' opposition to Winn's missing one-third of the votes in Congress last year while Winn was observing at the United Nations. Rose's implication was that many Democrats were accusing Watkins' "single-issue" nature of Watkins' campaign.
In the first place, whether Winn's visit to the United Nations for three months was worth all those missed votes and committee hearings is a valid question to raise. Winn since has recommended that future congressional delegates to the United Nations stay for only one week; apparently, even he didn't think the time was well-spent.
Second, Rose knew, but chose to ignore, the fact that the Overland Park Democratic Club exists in name only. Its membership is fewer than 10, if that many. He also knew that, for a club with more members long have disassociated themselves from Williamson and that think he speaks only for himself.
Third, Watkins has hit consistently on the major issues of the campaign. He has taken clear stands opposing Winn's vote against the Kemp-Roth 10 percent tax, his support of the Kemp-Roth 10 percent missile, his anti-ERA votes and his support of a constitutional amendment ban abortions.
The truth is that Rose's column was a partisan shot at a strong Democratic challenge. That Larry Winn would reproduce this column as a paid political ad for himself much, not only about the character of the man who has been our congressman for 14 years, but also about the usefulness of having political cronies in positions of public responsibility.
We know Dan Watkins personally. He is the kind of thoughtful, forthright, idea-oriented individual this country needs in Washington. We hope the Lawrence community will turn out in force 4. To help elect a new congressman who will represent us well—Dan Watkins
Tim Orrick, Prairie Village junior
Tim Knight, Prairie Village junior
Tim Kuhn, Overland Park senior
Thomas Jacqueti, Lawrence junior
Dana Bridger, graduate student
Tracy Burns, Lenae freshman
Young Democrats To the editor:
In a recent report in the Kansas about the diseased condition of the KU Young Democrats (of which only 12 members are still "alive"), a former president, Paul Rowe, suggested by his former president, Paul Rowe.
"They could spend $3 for a keg, and the response would be greatly increased," he said. By so doing, he demonstrated a seeming ignorance of widely known medical facts, not to mention an inability to diagnose the specific cause of sickness in this case.
In the first place, alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant, and, judging from the club's present symptoms, would no more revive it than it would deprive it. Alcohol would simply "deprine" things further, as addition, I suspect that smelling salts, or their equivalent, in this case wouldn't work, either.
The only real answer, to be frank, is a self-inflicted mercy killing. Let's face it. Important brain activity has ceased to function. I refer to a democratic platform, which, by its pronounced virtue, lets the patient do the pertinent brainwave read-out for our patient. Hmmm, and what do we have here . . . looks like the advocacy of, among other things, at least one huge new governmental agency that is both objective and indirectly, the forcing of 19-and 20-year-old men into army combat during a wartime draft.
Unless the KU Young Democrats aren't also Democrats, this is the underlying cause for their club's present death twitchings. But apparently Rowe and Joe Weissbeck, the current president, who, by the way, still owes me a $2.65 summer poker debt, fail to recognize it.
Eric Brende
Topeka sophomore
Libertarianism
To the editor:
Kevin Hellerik is to be commended for a truly fine article on libertarianism. There are two additional points on which I would like to comment.
First, there can be no doubt that in the
language of the great individualist writers of the 18th century it was man's "self-love" or even his "selfish interest," which they represented as the "universal mover," and that by these term he was a moral attitude that they thought was meant to inform him; did not mean egotism in the narrow sense of concern of the immediate needs of one's own person. The "self," for which alone people were supposed to care, did, as a matter of course, include their family and friends; it would have made no difference to the argument if it had included anything for which people in face of care
Far more important than this moral attitude, which might be regarded as changeable, is an indisputable intellectual fact that nobody can hope to alter and that by itself is a sufficient basis for the conclusions the individualist takes. It is therefore inherent limitation of man's knowledge and understanding that he cannot know more than a tiny part of the whole of society and that, therefore, all that can enter into his motives are the immediate effects that his actions will have in the sphere he knows. All the possible differences in man's moral attitudes amount to little as far as their significance for social organization is concerned. This makes perfect altruism, the human needs for which he effectively care are an almost negligible fraction of the needs of all members of society.
The main problem is how these limited concerns, which do determine people's actions, can be made effective inducements to cause them voluntarily to contribute as much as possible to needs that lay outside the range of their vision. What libertarians recognize is that the market system is an effective way of making man take responsibility for what he does, than he is aware of and that it is through the market that he is made to contribute "to ends which were no part of his purpose."
Second, another misleading phrase is the famous presumption that each man knows his interests best. In this form, the contention is neither plausible nor necessary for the individualist's conclusions. The true basis of the argument is that it is better to find the best and that the only way we can find out is through a social process in which everybody is allowed to try to see what he can do.
From the awareness of the limitations of individual knowledge and from the fact that no person or small group of people can know all that is known to somebody, individualism also finds a main practice of conclusion: its demand for a strict commitment to exclusive power. Its opposition, however, is directed only against the use of coercion to bring about association or organization and not against association as such. Far from being opposed to voluntary association, the case of the individualist rests on the contention that much of what, in the opinion of many, can be brought about only by conscious direction can be better learned through experience and spontaneous collaboration of individuals.
Patrick Goodwin Lawrence senior
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