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Monday, August 25. 1986 / University Daily Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Von Ende should resign
Richard von Ende's troubles have only just begun.
Von Ende, the University's executive secretary and representative to the Kansas Legislature since 1972, was charged July 22 with three counts of distributing cocaine and three counts of conspiring to sell cocaine. All are federal crimes.
In the United States, a person remains innocent of a crime until proven guilty. So, in the eyes of the law, von Ende is innocent, and rightfully so.
But the implications and inferences that accompany the charges against von Ende will make it hard for him to ever perform his duties as successfully as he has in the past.
As the University's main lobbyist in Topeka, von Ende has represented the school in some very important circles. The cocaine charges have tainted his reputation and could have
repercussions on KU's image.
In his years in Topeka, von Ende built a strong network of legislators and lobbyists. Many in that network will undoubtedly be wary of negotiating with a suspected drug dealer.
The University has made no move to remove von Ende from his $53,020 position as his case winds its way through the courts. He officially has been on sick leave since three weeks before the charges were filed.
Without a doubt, von Ende's persistent efforts to attain more money from the Legislature and the Board of Regents for the University have contributed greatly to the strong position KU now holds among the state schools in Kansas.
And for that, the University should be thankful.
But von Ende now can help the University most by resigning.
Legacy of service
Separate portraits of Laurence C. Woodruff remain on campus.
One is compiled from a list of the positions he filled, the societies he served and the honors he received. It is a portrait of involvement.
Another is more personal, drawn from the collective memories of hundreds of young people who took beginning biology courses at the University. It is a portrait rounded with a wry smile and punctuated by a man's droll humor.
Laurence C. Woodruff died Aug. 18 in Eudora. He was 84.
Mr. Woodruff joined the University in 1934 and worked
here until he retired in 1972. He was a teacher, the dean of men and the dean of students. He also was registrar during World War II, serving while the man who normally filled that position was in the armed forces.
When he was forced to retire as an administrator in 1967, he continued teaching for another five years. True to his legacy of service, he willed his body to the University of Kansas Medical Center for research purposes.
We can only repeat what is usually and rightfully said on these occasions: a good and special man has died, and such a loss diminishes us all.
A cordial gesture
In an era when the "take what you can get" mentality is pervasive, Chancellor Gene A. Budig this summer decided that enough was enough.
Despite his objection, the Regents forced the raise on Budig.
In late June, the Kansas Board of Regents approved a 5.2-percent increase in Budig's $96,000 annual salary. But the chancellor requested that the raise be limited to 2.5 percent, the same raise faculty members received for fiscal year 1987.
A pat on the back for Budig — a slap on the wrist for the Regents.
Budig's raise, which took effect July 1, makes him the first university president in Kansas to be paid more than $100,000 a year.
Undaunted by the Regents' insistence, Budig did some budget cutting of his own. He lopped 2.7 percent, or $2,252, off the increase, which brought him in line with the faculty raise. He donated the excess to the Kansas University Endowment Association's scholarship fund.
Interestingly, that record-breaking salary came at a time when KU faculty
Why did the Regents forcefeed an administrator who wasn't hungry when the faculty are consistently paid salaries that are lower than those at our 'peer institutions?'
members, like other state employees, were told that perennially tight budgets had little room for larger pay raises. And, for the third consecutive year, students endured tuition hikes this fall.
Regent Frank Becker, El Dorado, said, "We have to take care of our top administrators or we will lose them to other universities." It seems that Budig thought he already was well taken care of.
Granted, the Regents aren't entirely responsible for the low salary raises. The Legislature has been tight-fisted as well. But why give the money to Budig?
Regents officials tried to justify the raise by saying Budig had done a good job running the University. Didn't the faculty deserve the same? Haven't they also done a a good job?
Budig at least made a symbolic gesture to show some solidarity with the faculty. Good for him.
News staff
Opinions
News staff
Lauretta McMillen ... Editor
Kady McMaster ... Managing editor
Tad Clarke ... News editor
David Silverman ... Editorial editor
John Hanna ... Campus editor
Frank Hansel ... Sports editor
Jacki Kelly ... Photo editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
David Nixon ... Business manager
Gregory Kaul ... Retail sales manager
Denise Stephens ... Campus sales manager
Stuart Dewey ... Classified manager
Lisa Weems ... Production manager
Duncan Calhoun ... National sales manager
Beverly Kastens ... Traffic manager
John Oberzan ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Responsibility part of learning
Long before most students have unpacked their first box or paid their first utility deposit, a somewhat masochistic group gathers in the Kansan newsroom to help set the wheels of this paper in motion.
Terrified reporters receive their first story assignments from fledgling editors, and we all make a grand play at putting out a nightmare called the Back to School issue.
The first day of class then brings the first regular issue of the Kansan, and all too quickly the routine begins again.
This column, too, is part of that routine. Editors take this chance to exercise some greenhorn journalism philosophy and to guarantee that their pictures appear in the paper at least once a semester.
But there is a more noble pur pose behind this piece as well.
Thousands of freshmen, transfer students and other unfamiliar faces arrive on our campus every fall. So an introduction to the publication that will get ink all over your hands for the next 15 weeks somehow seems appropriate.
The University Daily Kansan is, by design, a laboratory newspaper for the School of Journalism.
It is a paper run entirely by students. More than once this semester, that fact will become painfully, and regrettably, evident.
Students in advertising, reporting, editing and photography classes put their homework on display every day, setting themselves up for some of the
And all of this is meant to be taken as an explanation, not as an excuse or apology.
Lauretta McMillen
Editor
toughest critiques they will ever receive. And, all too often, we fall on our collective face.
Names are misspeelled, incorrect titles are given and misquotes and other errors make it into print, despite our best efforts. Usually, we are quickly, and loudly, made aware of our shortcomings.
We take ourselves quite seriously and strive to maintain a professional demeanor as we learn the ins and outs of daily journalism.
And that's the way we like it.
hide behind that fact.
We are, and should be, held accountable for every word we print on these pages. There is no defense in being "just a college newspaper," and we try not to
Students who work for the Kansan also have a lot of fun. We learn a great deal, and most Fridays bring a feeling of pride and accomplishment that is well-deserved and well-celebrated.
But when we fail — when the name is wrong, the quote is out of context or the facts just aren't quite right — let us know.
For it is only when our errors are brought to our attention and corrected that we learn. And that's why all of us are here.
Reagan still sticks to his guns
One of the things I like about President Reagan is that he sticks to his beliefs. He doesn't back down or switch positions on an issue because of pressures or emotional appeals.
Consider the fight that went on in Congress over efforts to weaken the federal gun control law.
The White House supported the changes because Reagan is a big booster of the National Rifle Association, which believes that there should be no gun law at all.
But there was an unusual twist to that battle. It was provided by Sarah Brady, the wife of James Brady, who still holds the title of press secretary to the president.
Brady doesn't actually run the press office in the White House anymore. He's still partially disabled as a result of taking a bullet that was intended for his boss.
As everyone remembers, Brady was shot in the brain by a loomy who had bought a cheap gun in a Texas pawnshop as easily as if he had bought a cheap guitar.
Ever since her husband nearly died, Brady has had serious doubts about the availability of handguns in this country. She developed strong views.
Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune
She decided that she couldn't keep quiet any longer.
So she got in touch with Handgun Control Inc. and became one of its most vocal lobbyists.
During the hearings on the changes in the gun laws, she testified against them and has since made numerous appearances across the country.
Some people thought that Sarah Brady's involvement might persuade Reagan to rethink his position.
After all, Brady, who has long been one of his most trusted and loyal
workers, will never be the same man as a result of getting between the president and the deranged gunman.
And since the president also knows Sarah Brady pretty well, he could see what a wife and family were put through when a Saturday Night Special wound up in the hands of somebody who was insane.
But that's what I mean about Reagan sticking to his guns, so to speak.
We called the White House press office and got one of Brady's aides on the phone and asked how the president felt about Sarah Brady's efforts.
He said: "We don't have any comments on Mrs. Brady's opinions." And he said that the White House was still foursquare in favor of the changes in the gun laws.
I'm sure that wasn't easy for Reagan. Every time he sees Brady struggling to regain his health, he's got to be reminded of what one pawnb shop gun can do.
But I can see Reagan's side of it. He's now well into his second term
But I can see relegation. He's now well into his second term
in office. And in all that time, how many of his press secretaries have been shot? Only one.
Expanding the statistic - how many of his hundreds of other staff members have been shot? Still only Brady.
So, I'm sure that if you do what the president surely has done — if you take the big picture and keep everything in perspective — you decide that it's silly to get excited about a change in the gun laws when only one White House press secretary has been shot in the head while you were president.
For that matter, Reagan did not lose even one press secretary while he was governor of California. Or while he was an actor.
So, what are the odds, really, of another press secretary being shot in the head? As any bookie would tell you, pretty slim, pretty slim.
Looking at it that way, I can understand Reagan's position.
Mailbox
Communication myth
The myth of a state of the art communication system for the University of Kansas has been given new life by a recent article in the University Daily Kansan.
The story in the Aug. 20 issue did not provide any new or useful information. It also neglected to mention very important points concerning a data and telephone network for the KU campus.
The term "system" was used in the story but there was no description of the "system." It appeared that there may be at least two systems involved; one for data and another for telephony. However, the story was not clear in this distinction.
And although it was stated that there was no schedule for completion, the project was said to cost $3.5 million. Not only did the story fail to explain what the term "project" refers to, but it also failed to question how the University could spend $3.5 million on a project that did not have a schedule for completion.
My experience is that any project
without a schedule is usually not organized, not defined and usually never gets completed. I hope this is not the case with the mythical KU system.
Computer jargon was used rather loosely in the story, and I believe it tended to be misleading. Besides the problems with the technical language and terms, the story did us all a disservice by suggesting that the new system could replace professors.
I don't believe that any professor should worry about being replaced. Professors teach and explain things using their intuition, experience and knowledge. Not even the most naive person could believe that a telecommunications system could duplicate or replace one of our valuable professors.
I would appreciate hearing more details about plans to modernize and improve our campus telecommunications. However, it would be more useful to have better quality information and more factual data than has already been presented.
Gordon F. Sargent
Lenexa graduate student
Bring Zippy to KU
Let me be the first among many, I assure you, to humbly besease you, to beg, to implore, to cajole you to consider adding "Zippy the Pinhead" as a daily feature of the University Daily Kansas.
Zippy is wet, he's wild, he's a '49 Studebaker on a rampage in a bowling alley in Honolulu. He's having an uptight emotional experience at a picnic of octogenarian nuns.
Zippy would have been elected
president of the Association of University Residence Halls in 1978, but he was disqualified because his enrollment could not be verified.
Zippy The Pinhead
The Kansen needs Zippy; KU needs Zippy. Banana daiquiris, AstroTurf, "Leave It To Beaver" and miniature golf just aren't enough anymore.
It's time to put a real pinhead in the Kansan.
Dennis "Boog" Highberger Lawrence graduate student