4 Thursday, November 5, 1992 10. 【 】 OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN IN OUR OPINION We can rule the U.S. if we don't stop now At long last, the national party is over. Political signs clutter the landscape like so many balloons and confetti. Is this the end of our involvement in our government? Is it true that all that remains is to sweep up and get over our political hangover? No. While the vote is an important means that we have of influencing public policy, it is not by any means the only one. We have a number of ways to influence our governance, from lobbying our legislators to protesting a law to writing a letter to the editor, and although it is true that some voices are louder than others, all have the potential to bring about change. Who rules the United States? Scholars have been arguing this point for years. Some say that the United States is ruled by a small group of elite white males. Others say that the major corporations have the greatest influence on policy, or that the government bureaucracy itself has become the monster that rules us all. Politicians like to say that it is special interest groups that run the country by corrupting every legislator save themselves with large sums in order to further their heinous agendas. This last one is especially interesting, for what are special interest groups but ordinary citizens who have banded together to see that their specific concerns are addressed? And isn't that an option open to all of us? The important question in U.S. politics is not who rules, but who can rule. And the answer to that is that any of us can, if we want to. Voting is one way to do this, but there are others. What we should remember in the aftermath of this election is that we have the power to rule ourselves on every day, not just on Nov. 3. MARK COATNEY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE New legislation deals with Cuban sanctions In opposing the (Torricelli) amendment, Chile has made clear that if fully implemented it would seriously damage freedom of commerce. The irony of the situation is that the amendment is part of what its author, Rep. Robert Torricelli, has called Act for Democracy in Cuba. The reasoning behind the initiative is clear: by tightening the economic pressures that the U.S. government has exercised on the island for more than 30 years, one can expect that Fidel Castro will fall. The suffering of the Cuban people, which will be greatly increased by the restrictions established in the amendment, was not considered at all. This amendment is therefore extraordinarily serious. The anti-Castro strategy is being extended to other nations, thus violating every piece of legislation ruling international trade, because it establishes sanctions to nations negotiating with Cuba or extending credits to that country. The situation is even worse, because a change introduced by Congress gives the president discretionary authority to sanction nations conducting businesses with Cuba. The original text forced the president to sanction all nations doing so. The change paves the way for the president to punish only the smaller countries, because it seems unlikely that he will take measures against Britain, Canada or the European Community — which by the way have also expressed their total disagreement with this amendment. La Tercera Santiago, Chile LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Abortion views GTA unions tolerated at KU detrimental As a former student, I would like to thank KU for hosting the recent pro-life rally. Thanks also to the CALL staff and the KU Students For Life for running the event smoothly and providing accommodations for those of us who came from out of town. I'm glad to see that KU has come such a long way in allowing civil rights to work both ways since the days when their police used to harass me for my right-to-life convictions. Back in October 1989, an officer I believe to have been gay (why else he search me?) fondled me for utilizing my First Amendment right to ask a member of the Pro-Choice coalition the rationale behind her convictions. She reported me. This year, however, they both respected our rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and free exercise of religion. We all appreciated this respect. I also thank physician Clinton for taking the day off instead of killing babies. I hope he will consider using his knowledge of obstetrics to help women give life instead of helping them take life. When women choose to give life, they are almost always glad they did. When they abort, they quite often regret it. If he cares about women and not money, then he will follow this suggestion. And to the jerk who sprinkled us, and the other jerk who almost ran over a fellow Northern Illinois University student, thank you for keeping us aware that we have a bitter life for life, and his name is Satan. Thanks most of all to a great friend who provided for my safe travel and assured all of us a great success. His name is Jesus. To paraphrase Julius Caesar, Veminus, Vidimus Vicimus. I hope the change in the civil rights climate in the last three years, and the dedication of a much larger number of pro-life students than were around when I attended, are a sign of great things to come. Indeed, instead of making kickback money teaching students how to kill 72 babies a year (1989), someday I hope KU gains recognition as a pioneer in teaching the students the latest advances in prenatal care and fetal life-saving techniques. Then my time here would not have been in vain. God can do great things with a few willing hearts and souls. Michael McVey De Kalb, Ill. In the debate over GTAs and unionization, two serious points have been glossed over that will be detrimental to GTAs and the University First, a union bargains on "market economics." Market economics seeks to obtain the greatest benefits possible for the service rendered. However, a community of scholars, such as a university, is dedicated to a higher mission. This is to maximize the number of GTAs a department with available funds necessarily limited, can support. The rationale is to give the largest number a financial chance to scholarship. It is done by holding support at some established minimum necessary for a student to get through his education, independent of service rendered. A union's goal of more benefits for a few is contrary to the university's mission of providing the largest number of GTAs the minimum support to get through their degree. Second, considering GTAs as students on an educational stipend is strictly contingent on their admission to a degree. Making them employees on a job for salary will force the University to honor any qualified non-student as well for the position as temporary instructor. A fresh graduate student cannot compete with these non-students, such as qualified faculty spouses and others with years of experience. Removing this protection linked with student-stipend is detrimental to future GTAs. In respect to the scholarly mission and the postference of GTAs, vote against union and employee status. hoods. Lawrence graduate student T. S. David The anti-abortion cause this small group supports is neither offensive to me nor is it an issue here. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and I respect that. As a husband and father, I am somewhat sympathetic to the anti-abortion message. However, the methodology of radical groups such as CALL appalls me. Protesting in residential neighborhoods amounts to harassment, not only in the case of Lawrence's Physician Clinton, but of his neighbors as well. Asa A.U.S. citizen and member of the armed services, I fully believe in the Constitutional right to freedom of speech. I have taken an oath to defend such a right. Should my country ask me to fight for such rights, I would do so willingly. However, I find it very difficult to defend the actions of a small group of protesters, such as Collegians Activated to Liberate Life (CALL), who elect to express their opinions by picketing in residential neighbor- I do not appreciate looking out the front window of my home to find a group of protesters picketing with signs, regardless of the issue. I do not appreciate offensive, unsolicited pamphlets being left in my door by unseen individuals, an act I consider somewhat cowardly. This opinion is shared by many of my neighbors. In fact, I know of no one who would appreciate these actions in their front yard. CALL violates privacy rights So what does CALL and similar groups accomplish during their occasional neighborhood protests? First, it has little impact on Clinton. It has been reported by the Lawrence Journal World that Clinton never was home during these protests. Secondly, Clinton's neighborhood is either very angry or indifferent to the actions and methodologies of CALL, not Clinton. That leaves one thing. It appears that sensationalism and press time are CALL's only agenda. Unfortunately, this occurs at the expense of the privacy of many people's homes. The exercising of one's rights is a given in this country assuming the action does not infringe upon the rights of others. The recent actions of radical groups such as CALL may be in strict compliance of the law, but it tests the spirit and intent of the same law. There are proper and more effective forums to exercise freedom of speech rights. Unfortunately, CALL and other similar groups have elected to be sensation-alists rather than proponents of change, thus losing any sense of legitimacy the groups may have had. I believe that privacy rights are equally important as rights of speech. By respecting all people's rights, radical groups such as CALL may attain some level of legitimacy. Only until then, will their message be taken seriously. David Higgins David Higgins Lawrence graduate student COMMENTARY DAVID MITCHEL If Galileo was right, who else might be? The first step is admitting you have a problem. Last week the Catholic Church took a big step and admitted it was not an apostolic church. Italian astronomer Galileo Gallio invented the first astronomical telescope, perfected the compound microscope, discovered the stellar composition of the Milky Way and made a multitude of other important advancements. In 1632 he published evidence that supported the Copernican System that states that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo thus made a discovery in 1507 by counting the Ptolemaic System which was supported by the papacy. For his magnificent work, he was summoned before the Inquisition by the Catholic Church in 1633 and was forced to renounce his findings. For the final years of his life, the scholar was subjected to house arrest. Six years later, blind and in falling health, Galileo was refused freedom by Pope Urban VIII. After all, dying, old blind men are great threats to organized religion — especially when they have discovered the truth. In 1642, Galileo died. The next year, a proposal to build a monument to the discoverer who had been hailed in the Renaissance as a master of astronauts, was flatly rejected by the pope. Centuries passed. Men walked on the moon. Astronauts and cosmonauts explored the far reaches of space. Gallileo was proved correct. So in the late 1970s, more than a decade after President Kennedy opened the New Frontier and encouraged the space race, Rome found it necessary to investigate its handling of Gallilee Gate. It seems there was an outside chance that they might have possibly made a tiny mistake. It only took the church 13 years to get to the bottom of this great mystery. Yes, the pope came clean last weekend and admitted that the church had used poor judgment when it had censored Galileo's findings 359 years earlier. Boy, Gallie must really be relieved. Does this mean he can get a Out of Out? Tl bet his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, see the family named cleared. However, it is still uncertain what is more pathetic: The fact that Rome let the wrong go uncorrected for more than three centuries, or the fact that it took 13 years to conduct an investigation that was such a obvious injustice. Of course, this is the same religious sect that has recently admitted to the sexual abuse of children by priests after covering up the loathsome activities for eons. It has been suggested that the church took deeper into these activities and only knows long it might take for the pope to figure that one out. With all the Kennedy-conspiracy theories floating around, we can only pray that Rome does not take it upon itself to clear up the confusion surrounding the assassination of this nation's first Catholic president. Look for a finding sometime in the next millennium. 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