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Monday, November 9, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Source of contention
When a project goes over budget and misses its deadline, it has failed.
The Jayhawk Course Source, a supplement to the catalog designed to help students choose classes wisely, was distributed after enrollment began.
Though the Course Source is unofficially for underclassmen, many of the classes listed are 500-level and above. So what is its real purpose? It is seen by many as a way to identify classes with no term or research paper requirement, or with multiple-choice tests.
The Course Source lists a rather random sampling of classes, which are listed according to whether departments turned in information about their programs. And it was produced with Student Senate money — money that should benefit all students.
In all fairness, this semester's Course Source is an improvement over last semester's. It is easier to read and lists four times as many classes. It also cost the entire year's budget - money that was supposed to have covered both of the issues for this year.
The idea to finance next semester's Course Source entirely with advertising revenue is a pie-in-the-sky plan. Advertising paid only 10 percent of this semester's book. Good intentions don't override the hard facts.
The Course Source is a losing proposition. Without responsible budgeting and more complete class listings that are of use to the entire student body, it is not a justifiable use of student money.
Change in China
The only thing that remains constant, so the maxim goes, is change itself.
International affairs, like everything else, reflect this trismus. The Soviet Union recently has made an effort to promote a more open policy in order to avail itself to the benefits of progress. But equally surprising are the changes occurring in the other communist superpower, China.
The history of Chinese civilization dates back thousands of years; tradition is held in high esteem. Past attempts to liberalize Chinese society, such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, have met with stubborn resistance.
Now, however, China appears to have made a significant break from the conservative remnants of the Red Guard, which stood in defiance of previous efforts to promote change.
At the Nov. 2 meeting of the Chinese Communist Party, ruler Deng Xiaoping led a mass retirement of older conservatives, making way for young leaders supporting Deng's policies of social and economic reform. The new Party general secretary, Zhao Ziyang, has promised that the new leadership will "keep the momentum of opening up to the outside world, reform and modernization."
Thus, just as the United States has an opportunity to reduce tensions with the U.S.S.R., so do recent developments in China afford a golden opportunity to forge new, stronger Sino-American ties. The potential benefits, from politics to trade, are substantial for both nations.
Poor judgment
Apparently, the Senate has abandoned consideration of issues rulings and legal background and opted for coffee shop talk.
There's no justice in the Supreme Court nominating process. Apparently, the Senate has abandoned consideration of issues written and latest background and ented for coffee shop talk
Now, Douglas Ginsburg has lost his bid for the High Court seat simply because he smoked marijuana. Admittedly, this revelation casts a shadow of doubt on the integrity of Ginsburg. But it should not be pivotal in determining his appointment.
In his brief term as a Supreme Court nominee, Ginsburg's life was dissected in search of nuggets of information that would reveal his true character. What they found was drivel.
David Letterman, on his talk show Friday, read a top-10 list that reflected the absurdity of the marijuana disclosure. In "The Top 10 Other Facts Discovered About Douglas Ginsburg," viewers learned that the judge used the Prell shampoo formula for regular hair when, in fact, his hair was oily.
What's frightening is that the Senate would be hard-pressed to compile a top-10 list of Ginsburg's philosophies and stands on topics such as abortion, affirmative action and freedom of speech.
Now we'll never know
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
News staff
Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
Jull Warren ... Managing editor
John Benner ... News editor
Beth Copeland ... Editorial editor
Sally Streff ... Campus editor
Brian Koberline ... Sports editor
Dan Ruettmann ... Photo editor
Bill Skeet ... Graphics editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Bonnie J. Hardy ... Business manager
Robert Hughes ... Advertising manager
Kelly Scherer ... Retail sales manager
Kurt Messersmith ... Campus sales manager
Greg Knipp ... Production manager
David Derief ... National sales
Acquia Curtis ... Classified manager
Ron Weems ... Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Violence erupts as hard times loom
There's something ominous about the first known fatalities of our stock market collapse.
During the 1929 crash, the first fatalities were Wall Street types with names like Chaucy or Fairfax who decided that they could not face life without their plump portfolios and weekend homes on Long Island. So they stood on the office window ledge, said "Farewell, cruel world," and did what they thought was honorable. They jumped.
It wasn't the brightest thing to do, since even life in a soup line is better than being a dead spiat on a sidewalk. But at least there was a certain place where in what they did, in that they blamed themselves.
A disgruntled investor walked into a brokerage office in Miami. He had bought stocks on margin, meaning credit, and couldn't cover his losses. In other words, he had speculated, gone in over his bank account. He was then briefcase, killed one broker, wounded another, and only then did he shoot and kill himself.
But now the first fatalities were more in keeping with our modern times and state of mind.
It's a tragic story, but it might give us a hint as to the kind of nightmare we might be in for if this market slump turns into something more, such as a severe recession or a full-blown depression.
This isn't the same kind of society that it was in 1929. The population is different. Attitudes are different. And so are the personal values, or lack of them.
Despite the legend of the Roaring '20s being a time of prosperity, there were many poor people in this country. But they were different than today's poor.
For one thing, most of the poor of that period didn't even realize they were poor. In the cities, many were immigrants who thought that if they
had a menial job, a roof over their heads, a not meal on the table and shoes on their feet, they were doing OK. They weren't used to much more.
Few had cars and didn't expect to ever own them. A streetcar or legs were adequate transportation. They had no instant entertainment on a magic tube in the parlor. Or even a radio. Air conditioning hadn't been invented and dirty clothes were washed by hand and hung on a rope to dry.
Those on the farms thought they were in good shape, too, if they scratched a living from the land and didn't go to bed hungry.
The poor today know they are poor. They've been officially categorized and have received formal notification of their poorness. Thanks to television and other forms of communication, they know what others have and they don't. And they resent what they don't have.
Actually, compared to the ordinary lower-class family of the 20s, today's poor are doing much better. A welfare family today is better fed, better housed and has better medical care than a lowly paid working family of 65 years ago.
But that's all relative. The measure is no longer what you have; it's what you want and don't have.
aren't going to like it. Nor will those who are somewhere on the next level — the almost poor,
those who are just getting by, just hanging on.
Recent years have been prosperous. Not for everybody, but for most Americans. Despite Reagananism, the social safety nets are still there. People don't have to go to relief centers, as they did in the '80s, and stand in long lines for a carton of basic groceries.
Yet, more and more people pick up guns and go looking for someone to divest of assets — frequently shooting the victims almost as an after thought.
We've become more and more violent. Sometimes for profit. And other times just for something exciting and macho to do.
So if in an era of prosperity we've become more violent, if our prisons are stuffed beyond capacity, if the cops and judges can't keep up with the time of crime, what will it be like if times get polluted?
Will there be a sense of community, of helping and sharing, as was often the case in the Great Depression?
Oh, sure, if we get genuine hard times, the Hell's Angel types are going to open soup lines. And the Insane Idiots and Deranged Demons street gangs are going to put down their Saturday Night Specials and begin baking bread for the needy, Yeah, and I'll suddenly grow a full head of hair.
I don't want to be an alarmist, but that confused crowd in Washington known as Our Leaders had better begin thinking beyond what the slumping Dow Jones means to next year's elections and their corporate contributors.
They might start by renting a video movie called "Road Warrior." But they shouldn't look at it as a piece of fiction. They should think of it as a documentary. One of these days, it could be.
Lacrosse exchange
Recently, the KU Lacrosse Club participated in an informal tournament at Oklahoma State University. Many of you many not even know what lacrosse is. However, I wanted to take this opportunity to write and tell you that it was our pleasure having your team come down and play here.
exhibited excellent sportsmanship throughout the tournament. It takes support from the faculty and students of a university to develop any successful program. I hope that the KU Lacrosse Club gets that support from all of you. We are looking forward to coming to KU and in the next month or so.
Although it is a new club, the members of the team were all gentlemen and athletes, and
Tim Allen, Oklahoma State University Lacrosse Club president
Rambo logic
Once again the Kansan has written another loud editorial without regard for facts. The recent toy-gun death in Topeka following a domestic dispute was not just due to someone having a toy gun. Any man who knowingly
points a toy gun at a police officer is obviously committing suicide.
In missing such a clear element to this story, the Kanan has brought to light a serious issue while trivializing the problem with shallow logic. Incidents where children have suffered ill consequences would better serve to strengthen your argument. Men committing suicide by forcing another to do the deed does not have any persuasive weight on the issue.
Also, pink toy guns, an incredibly dumb idea if I've ever heard one, are of no value. What is to keep me from painting my Smith & Wesson a pretty pink to match the dark red stain on the shirt of a police officer who assumed I had a toy?
J. David Gordon, Oklahoma City, Okla., graduate
katz
OUR STORY SO FAR:
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k.i. thorman
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed