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Thursday, October 22, 1992
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
National debt needs immediate attention
As Ross Perot says, he is not inclined to spend ten hours on a ten minute problem. However, what we are facing in the national debt is a problem that is far more than a ten minute one, or even a ten hour one. In fact, it may take a generation or more to fix.
Presently, the national debt stands approximately at $4 trillion. Each year the government adds almost $400 billion to the debt. This breaks down to every American family being responsible for $60,000 of the debt. The yearly deficits are the products of poor planning, bad law, and our inability as a nation to confront the problem.
problem. The problem has so far defied political solutions. Remember the Grannn-Rudman Act of the mid-Eighties that was supposed to balance the Federal budget? Needless to say, it hasn't been successful in eliminating the national deficit. The most recent legislative attempt, a proposal to amend the Constitution to say that the government must have a balanced budget, failed in Congress. Why can't we seem to be able to balance the national checkbook?
The short answer is, of course, because we don't want to. We are all the recipients of federal largess, and the last thing we want to do is lose out on our piece of the pie. Unfortunately, that pie will soon be in our face unless some dramatic steps are taken. No one likes the national debt that keeps mounting every day, but we do enjoy the benefits that the spent money brings to our states.
One quarter of every tax dollar that the federal government receives currently is used just to pay the interest on the debt, and that percentage gets larger every year. This is a fourth of our money we send to Washington D.C.each year,and we don't get a penny's worth of services in return. Our economy cannot continue to operate under this strain.
Reducing the debt is not going to be simple or painless, but it needs to be done and it needs to be done soon. The economic viability of our nation depends on it. No candidate has come up with a realistic, viable solution; perhaps there is no way a candidate can and still receive enough votes to win. But that's up to us, isn't it?
MARK COATNEY, JEFF REYNOLDS, AND STEPHEN MAFITO
FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
New policy doesn't affect many students
Over the past few weeks, fiery undergraduates have assaulted the classrooms and hallways, as well as local print and radio media, demanding an end to unjust law affecting their personal freedoms. Like drinking on Campanile Hill Or being asked for identification in a bar. Or being pulled over at random driver's license checks.
These angry students protest that their rights have been abridged — that they deserve more respect from the city.
Even the body president, Brad Garlinghouse, is getting into the melee. Monday's Kansan said he planned "to write a letter to the city commission requesting that the drinking ordinance (on Cam-
panile Hill) be repealed."
It's interesting to note, however, that all these terrible injustices revolve around alcohol. Equally interesting is that only about 1/4 of the undergraduate population is over the legal drinking age of 21.
So what's the issue? Are there that many disgruntled seniors outraged because they can't have a champagne brunch on the hill?
Not likely.
More like hundreds of frustrated minors who can't wait until their next birthday.
Andrew Arnone
Dundee, Ill. senior
Pathetic.
Sex can sell papers,but readers should be wary of the personals
This semester, the Kansan introduced a new feature to its daily offering, the Jaytak Meeting Network. From the comments I have heard, this has become the most popular and widely read section of the paper. So much for all those ponderous ethics in journalism lectures. If you want to sell a paper, go straight for the relationship/sex ads.
I have been following the page myself, not because I am looking for someone, but because I want to be able to discuss current news with my classmates. And I am curious about the people who place these ads.
I spent some time researching the personal ads and came up with some interesting observations about the types of people willing to media date.
More than half the page is dedicated to men seeking women. Overwhelmingly, these men classify themselves as tall, attractive, athletic and humorous. Whether they really are, or simply think that is what women will respond to, remains to be seen. One guy also offered the fact that he has a truck and a job. In these times of high unemployment, those may be the
KATE KELLEY
most attractive qualities a man needs.
most attractive quantites a man needs.
Almost all of these men want tall,
attractive, physically fit or slender,
non-smoking women between the ages of 19 and 29. Long hair is preferred and a sense of humor is a must.
I guess she will need that when she finds out her six-foot tall attractive athlete looks more like Woody Allen than Joe Montana.
Men tend to be more specific about what the women should look like, including hair, eye color and height. Gee, guys, did it ever occur to you that if you were not so hung up on physical features, you might not have to advertise for a date?
Besides, most women, no matter what their size or weight, do not consider themselves slender. I've known Cindy Crawford look-alikes who, when standing in front of a mirror, see fat thighs, butts and stomachs. By placing this prerequisite on your possible date, you are eliminating probably 98 percent of all available women.
One woman sounded like a Stewart Smalley confirmation, "I am motivated, confident, and (gosh, darn it!) my friends like me."
Women looking for men tend to spend less of their ad space describing themselves. The women often use terms like easy going, active, sense of humor and a great smile. One said she was cute. Cute indicates to me "childlike." Buyer beware.
Women tend to be concerned with honesty, openness, intelligence, and a sense of humor. But lest I get too smug about the depth of my gender, they also listed attractive, tall and athletic, which describes most of the men looking for women. It seems to be a buyers market. Again non-smokers are preferred. These women want
romantic candle-lit dinners and wine.
But they want beer drinkers too.
These two do not go hand in hand.
Cowboy types were mentioned more than once. The Mariboro man image is still a vibrant one.
Men-senek-men ads were almost all identical. Most are straight acting, attractive, discreet, non-smoking athletic, and professional men who want exactly the same type. Queens who smoke are definitely out. Sincerity and honesty were mentioned quite often. They want friendship first. One guy asked, "Do any decent gay men still exist?" All of my single female friends have been telling me for years that all the decent single men are gay. I guess we have a decent man deficit.
There are rarely any women looking for women. I am not sure why these woman are not advertising.
I do not know what the response rate to these ads is. Perhaps hundreds of lonely people are finding each other, true love and happiness. But my guess is, that a lot of people are finding that tail, attractive and athletic are in the eyes of the ad writer.
Kate Kelley is a Fort Leavenworth junior majoring in English.
Students' excitement builds as Election Day nears
Over the summer, I was pretty worried about the presidential race. Clinton was still being bashed. Perot bailed and it looked like Bush was a shoo-in. People were fed up with the whole process. The prospects for the future looked dim.
Then strange things started happening. Clinton slowly started gaining approval in the polls. People seemed to be less and less concerned with issues like avoiding the draft and alleged infidelity.
And now, after three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate, I am actually excited about the race. Well, maybe not quite excited, but at least
mildly enthused.
And it's not just because the democratic candidate is leading.
Sure, that's what sparked my enthusiasm. But what really excites me is the interest in the race that people my age are showing.
JULIE WASSON
I the candidates this year don't seem to be a great deal more popular than the candidates were in 1988. A lot of people still seem to be viewing the choice of candidates as the lesser of three evils.
No matter what their affiliation, college-aged students seem to be more interested in this year's race than I remember them being in 1988.
"Personally, I don't like any of them," a friend of mine told me. "But I've got to vote for someone."
Another friend told me he thinks Ross Perot is responsible.
"Perot has certainly made the debates more interesting," he said. "And I think he has forced the Bush and Clinton to address issues that might not have been brought up in a two-man debate."
Friends who have refused to discuss politics with me for years are actually debating the issues now. We can't even go out for a beer without falling into a discussion about foreign policy, educational reform or tax increases.
And I'm learning a lot about these people. One friend, whom I'd always tagged as apolitical, gave me a lecture on defense spending recently that truly shocked me. I mean, not only did she know all of the candidates' names (that alone would have surprised me), but she knew their positions on defense spending and she had formed a lucid opinion on which candidate's
views were most closely aligned with hers.
But the most inspiring thing I've seen so far was the line at the Douglas County courthouse Monday night.
I stopped on my way home, just to see how many people were out to register at the last minute. While I was there, the line stretched from the back door of the courthouse all the way across the lawn to the law enforcement building.
A lot of the people in line looked like college-aged people. And a lot of them were enthusiastically talking about Monday night's presidential debate and who they were going to vote for.
KANSANSTAFF
College students are beginning to realize two things. First, that the outcome of this race will have a substantial effect on their lives. And second, that they have the power to help influence the outcome.
Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
ERIC NELSON
GREG FARMER Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
BILL SKEET, Technology coordinator
TOM EBLEN
GREG FARMER
Ast. Managing...Alimee Brainard
News...Alexander Bloemhoft
Editorial...Stephen Martino
Campus...Gayle Osterberg
Sports...Shelly Salon
Photo...Justin Knapp
Features...Cody Holt
Graphics...Sean Tevls
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
SCOTT HANNA
Business manager
BILL LEIBENGOOD
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Business Staff
Campus sales mgr...Aidley Clementor
Regional sales mgr...Marianella Terkip
National sales mgr...Brian Wilkes
Co-op sales mgr...Amy Stumbo
Production mgrs...Brad Bronen
Kim Claxton
Marketing director...Ashley Lingford
Market director
Classified mgrs.Judith Standley
Grace
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By David Rosenfield