4
Tuesday, November 25, 1986 / University Daily Kansan
Opinions
Leave those kids alone
The problems of a troubled Kansas economy continue to spiral in wider and wider circles. Business is slow, and the hoped-for extra income from the "sin" amendments won't start to trickle in until late next year. The state faces a projected deficit of $13 million which must be eliminated.
Governor-elect Mike Hayden has proposed 3.8 percent cuts in state spending, with no favoritism shown to any agency, including state schools and universities. Sacrifices must be made, but cuts to the state's educational system aren't the answer.
Elementary and secondary schools statewide face a combined $24 million cut; KU's share of the burden amounts to $1 million. Chancellor Gene A. Budig, facing his second recession, has vowed to protect academic programs from any further cuts by trimming the budgets of programs such as facility operations. But the faculty faces the prospect of another pay freeze this year.
An educational system doesn't thrive on inertia. "Excellence" isn't something to be maintained; schools must constantly be growing, striving to be better and stronger every
year. KU has prided itself on its faculty, many of whom are world-renowned for their scholarship, but at the same time their salaries remain ridiculously low compared to their peers. If salaries don't improve soon, KU will lose its finest faculty members, and it will be hard pressed to hire new ones of equal stature.
And the problem goes even further than faculty. During the past six years, the University has seen tremendous growth. Without adequate financing, how are we to improve and update our laboratories and libraries? How will we finance research projects? How will we survive?
There have to be other ways of avoiding the deficit without jeopardizing education. The spending cuts don't have to be equal; not all agencies are equal. Education should be given priority. A tax increase on luxury items like cigarettes and alcohol could generate some extra income. Even a modest increase in tuition, such as the Regent's proposed 3.8 increase — an extra $15 to $25 — would be no hardship. Yes, sacrifices must be made in the state's budget. But they must not be made in education.
A time for thanks
Students, in their haste to get away from classes and home to the turkey and stuffing will most certainly have one thing on their minds: We earned this break. With midterms over and the dark cloud of finals before them, they will have little else on their minds than eating and forgetting about school for several blissful days.
Indeed, the pressure of college is enormous. The holiday is a welcome respite from the everyday grind of papers, tests, and all-nighters. But during this time to give thanks, pause a minute and think about all you have to be thankful for.
First, you are a student here. That alone is reason to be grateful. By virtue of your financial situation or ability to get a scholarship or financial
aid, you are gaining a priceless and unequaled asset: an education.
For many, Thursday, Nov. 27 will go unnoticed — or at least unacknowledged as a special day. Some will spend their day in the gymnasium of the Salvation Army.
Some students — namely foreign students — will be spending the holidays thousands of miles away from their families. It's not exactly their holiday you might say, but it's rough to spend a quiet weekend alone on an empty campus.
So when you take that last bite of pumpkin pie and plop in front of the TV, give thanks that you have a warm meal and a family that loves you. You drink from life's full cup while many are forced to go thirsty.
Don't drink the water
Switzerland brings to mind snowy mountains, chalets and cuckoo clocks; a scene of tranquility in the midst of the industrial bustle of Europe. So the story of a massive chemical spill into the Rhine River near Basel is a bit more shocking than the run-of-the-mill industrial accident. The question now is: What can we learn from how the liability of this will be handled?
Damages will almost certainly be collected by the injured parties. West European environmental policy is governed by the "polluter pays" doctrine — whoever puts the glob in the river has to clean it up. In this country, we pay lip service to this idea. The Superfund law, for instance, makes the taxpayers responsible for cleaning up pollution. This tends to diffuse responsibility for the accident and creates few incentives to avoid them in the future.
It has been years since Love Canal brought industrial pollution to the forefront of public concern, yet chemicals and man-made toxins continue to pile up in the ecosystem. We recently learned about dangerous levels of lead and other contaminants in our ground water supply and all we can do is shrug our shoulders. Who's to blame?
Some might say that pollution is the tradeoff for being an advanced society rife with conveniences. What's so convenient about having to purify our water and choke on our air?
News staff
News staff
Lauretta McMillen...Editor
Kady McMaster...Managing editor
Tad Clarke...News editor
David Silverman...Editorial editor
John Hanna...Campus editor
Frank Hensel...Sports editor
Jackkelly...Photo editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
**Business staff**
David Nixon...Business manager
Gregory Kaul...Retail sales manager
Denise Stephens...Campus sales manager
Sally Depew...Classified manager
Lisa Weems...Production manager
Françan Calhoun...National tour manager
Beverly Kastens...Traffic manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest shots should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The
writer will be photographed.
The Kansas reserves the right reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can
The Kansan reserves the right reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuaffer-Fint Hall.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stairwater-Fitt Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and on Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 60045 for $15 for six months or $27 a year, and $16 for six months and $38 a year. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
POSTMASTER Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stauffer Fint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045.
Prejudice on the playing field
The Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are three teams whose names are used in everyday conversation on the 6 'c lock news, "Entertainment Tonight," CBS Sports, etc.
Roger Holden Guest Shot
These names are so much a part of ordinary Americana that they go hand in hand with beer and potato chips.
But let's take another look at those names. What if it was said that those names might be considered offensive by certain people? "So what," you might say.
Then consider these names: the Washington Whities, the Cleveland Caucasians, the Kansas City Honkies and the Philadelphia Negroes. If you feel the least bit uncomfortable with those names being used by your favorite teams, then you might begin to understand how Native American people feel about the use of racial
A reply might be that one is simply trying to associate with the team the strong spirit that is inherent within the Native American culture.
If you still say, "So what," then there is no need for you to read any further because you simply don't care. You have become desensitized to the needs of a race who once lived on the land where those football and baseball games now take place. Need I remind anyone that these people were subsequently kicked off the land by the Washington Whiteskins?
slang or trivializing references to their culture in team sports.
I am a whiteskin who wants to say that it looks silly and stupid to accept a racial prejudice in the name of a football or baseball team.
It seems more realistic that the team names would be breaking that strong spirit by trivializing their race and culture in the name of hot dogs, swearshirts, beer and TV. Besides, I don't see any of those队 enterprises contributing money to Native American causes to help reinforce that strong spirit in their time of need.
as a professional athlete. Team sports can bring adversary nations together in good-natured competition, whereas politicians tend to bring adversary nations together in military confrontation.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing team sports. It takes a lot of hard work and raw talent to excel
Regardless, it is argued extensively that athletes should be placed on a pedestal, enshrined in wholesome habits that will influence young people to say "no" to drugs. But don't the aforementioned team names help reinforce racial prejudice in the nation's young and society in general? Shouldn't that be considered a bad influence children?
Those team names could be changed without hurting the status of sports in our society one iota. On the other hand, retaining those names makes it that much easier to trivialize and ignore fellow humans who have suffered greatly at the hands of our society.
The original Thanksgiving was an occasion in which Native Americans and white immigrants gathered and celebrated their mutual humanity. When we turn on the TV and watch the Redskins during Thanksgiving break, it seems that some of that humanity has been lost.
Do as Reagan says, not as he does
I'm thinking of having some bumper stickers printed that say, "Free Hormoz Hezar."
Or even better, "Hormoz Hezar deserves a presidential pardon."
Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune
You ask: Who the heck is Hormoz Hezar?
He's a 51-year-old Californian who has just been sentenced to three years in a federal prison.
He's guilty. No question about it. He admitted his crime. But he is deserving of mercy.
What Hezar did was try to sell military radios and spare parts to Iran, his native land.
He set up a deal to ship 2,000 of the radios — the kind that Gls strap on their backs — but was caught after only 50 of them were delivered.
The U.S. Justice Department prosecuted him for violating our trade embargo against Iran.
A week ago, a judge in Los Angeles sentenced him to three years in the jug and two years of probation.
three years in the jug and two years of probation.
That doesn't seem fair. Here we have a guy going to
Actually, Hexar's scheme could be considered much more benign than the president's.
But what Reagan did was send spare parts for grounded military aircraft. Thanks to the president, Iran can now get those planes airborne so they can drop bombs on Iraq.
All Hezar tried to send to Iran were radios. Sure, they were to be used for military purposes. But a radio is still a radio. Unless you drop it on somebody's head, it can't do much immediate damage.
True. there is a difference in motives. Hezar wanted to make some money for himself while helping his fellow iranians defend themselves.
the president says he did it because — well, it depends on when you listened to him and his aides.
At first, the White House sources said the president didn't do it at all. (At least Hezar should be given credit for confessing as soon as the feds grabbed him.)
Then the White House sources said the president did it because he wanted to get some of our hostages released.
Finally, the president said he didn't do it for the hostages. They were just an afterthought. He did it because he wanted to get chummy with Iran again, before the Russians beat us to it.
See, we don't want Iran lose its war with Iraq, so we secretly give Iran military hardware. Of course, we don't want Iraq to lose the war either. I guess we're hoping for a draw.
So that appears to be our foreign policy toward Iran and Iraq. At least, that's the foreign policy that was conducted in the White House basement and applies only to the president and his skunkies.
Our other foreign policy is that it's a federal crime to ship military gear to Iran. That's the foreign policy that applies to the rest of us, including the prison-bound Hormoz Hezar.
This double standard hasn't been lost on Hezar's lawyer, a federal public defender named Brian Robbins.
After hearing President Reagan admit that he shipped aircraft parts to Iran, Robbins said he's going to go back into court and ask that Hezar's sentence be reduced on the grounds that the embargo really wasn't our national policy.
"The strange thing about this case," said Robbins, "that it was told by U.S. attorneys that there was a major effort going on to ferret out any Iranian nationals sending weapons and technology back there — that this was a huge priority because it was absolutely against foreign policy.
But I have a suggestion. He should let Hezar speak for himself and save something like:
"The law says that if someone wants to send anything to Iran, they must have State Department approval. And now we find that the president went around the approval just like Hezar did."
Robbins hadn't decided precisely what arguments he would make in his client's behalf.
"Your honor. The president doesn't want the Russians to get in Iran and I don't want them to either. The president sent them some airplane parts. I sent them some radios. We're both on the same team, me and the Prez. I am following his foreign policy.
"So I don't think you should put me in jail for — like the president says — acting in the best interests of this wonderful nation of ours.
"But if you do send me to prison, your honor, then I think that you should give me a cellmate who committed the same kind of crime.
"Guess who?"
Washington answer man has hard job
WASHINGTON — The Washington Answer Man, who retired on disability after explaining the Carter energy program, has been called back to his country's service to explain the Reagan policy on terrorism.
Arnold Sawislak UPI Commentary
Q. Well, shall we get down to business? Just what is our policy on terrorism?
A. It's no pleasure, I can assure you, I was all but finished with my memoirs, "Euphemisms, Elusions and Evasions," when Don Regan insisted I come back to help out the White House Spin Squad, which is suffering from centrifugal burnout
Q. Welcome back, sir. We've missed your pithy explanations of what is going on at the White House.
A Very simple. We abhor it. We will combat it in every form and every place it appears. We will punish those who practice, support or condone it. If you do any of that, we'll bomb your house as Ask Gadfai, Gadfai.
A. Of course. We aborit you. If you do it, we'll bomb your house if we can learn your address. If we can t, we'll withdraw our ambassador.
Q. That's very clear. Now, is hostage-taking terrorism?
Q. Now, isn't the present government of Iran the same one that was responsible for holding 52 American hostages just seven years ago?
A. Of course, it is the same government in Iran. But it isn't the same government in the United States. The U.S. Embassy hostages were not seized during this administration. They were released during this administration.
The president made clear in 1980 that he wasn't going to negotiate with terrorists and that the Iranians released those hostages as soon as Mr. Reagan moved into the White House in 1981.
Q. You mean the Iranian government has reformed?
Q. Is that why we sent former nat-
erals to security adviser Robert
McKaylaan?
A. We don't know for sure, but we're trying to find out. However, you'll notice the Iranians haven't grown up in S. Hospices in Teheran since then.
A. Of course. We had to try to find out whether the Iranians have learned their lesson and want to make friends. After all, we can't have them getting chummy with their neighbors, the Russians.
Q. Well, is that why we send arms to Iran?
A. We send a few tokens of our good intentions, just as you might take a bottle of wine to your host when you're invited to dinner. But alcoholic beverages are not appropriate in this case, so we had to find some other small gifts.
Q. Small things? Like electronic parts for warplanes?
A. Like socket wrenches. Like toilet seat covers and coffee machines. The odd anti-aircraft missile, perhaps. Believe me, these are harmless gifts.
Q. I'll take your word for it. But aren't the Iranians now supporting some of the people who are seizing hostages in Lebanon? And aren't these girls really ransom to get those hostages released?
A. Absolutely not! This administration does not pay ransom to free hostages. You will recall we got the Daupin Army in Iraq and陪dipu Jays Russians a red cent.
Q. Now, sir, how about Gennady Zakharov's being permitted to return to Russia when Dani洛w was released? And how about the Rev Weir, Father Jenco and Mr. Jacobsen being released in Lebanon just after our gifts arrived in Iran? Isn't that ransom?
A. That, my boy, is coincidence. And you, I can see, are a potential customer for my book
Mailbox
Flooding in the future
The thoughtful article in the Nov. 13 Kansas on the runoff problems in Naismith Valley underscores the need for preventive measures, such as detention storage, to offset the greatly increased runoff brought on by the paving over of land on the hill and elsewhere. This point cannot be stressed enough.
Yet, despite a city policy requiring detention storage on some new construction projects in effect since November 1978, the community can expect more frequently flooded streets and basements in the future. Why? The University believes it is exempt from city development
policies; the University and the Legislature place such items at the bottom of their priority lists; detention storage is ineffective against major storm conditions such as those in 1977; detention storage is infrequently required and most of the existing detention facilities are not being properly maintained.
On the last point, the city pays little attention to these facilities once they are constructed, and most property owners don't want to spend time and money on something that is intended to benefit others only. The end result is detention storage facilities that fill with sediment and debris until they become useless.
Now is the time for us to inform our legislative delegation and our city
Nancy Schontz Lawrence resident
A great price to pay
commissioners of the need for more effective policies and projects throughout the city to turn the tide against unwanted and unnecessary flooding.
Doing something "people-to-people" is surely more meaningful, and less demeaning, for both giver and receiver. It but means involved. Perhaps too great a price compared to a pie in the eye.
What's so prestigious about a pie in the face "for charity"? The dogoooders are still blinded — now by the reality of poverty.
All the dollars collected for pie throwers' (or ball-bouncers, or jump ropers, or see-sawers) victims won't mean anything unless we actually see the effect of poverty and hunger in our home towns. Even a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, delivered without any human caring, will be hard to swallow.
So here's a warm hug for people who give themselves. And here's a pie in the face for people who participate in such inane shows of "social concern."
Barbara J. Michael, Lawrence graduate student
4