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Thursday, October 15, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Moral dilemma
a year ago the Rev. Robertson was just another television evangelist. Steadfast of character, he preached, and above all led an honest and morally unright life
Just who is this Pat Robertson guy, anyway?
Today the presidential aspirant no longer calls himself "the reverend," is no longer unquestionably honest and can only exhort his followers to do as he says, not as he did.
When Robertson discovered that many voters had reservations about electing a minister to the presidency, he was quick to cast aside the image he cultivated for so many years. How much faith can the public have in a man who would so readily abandon his professed life's calling to accommodate the fierce masses?
Two weeks ago, Robertson was lecturing young people about the sinfulness of premarital sex. Recent revelations that he lied about his marriage date to hide the fact that his first child was born out of wedlock have made him appear both dishonest and hypocritical.
Robertson recently attacked the moral turpitude of other candidates and praised the press for ferreting out the wrong-doers. Now he whines about persecution at the hands of the media.
It is not so much what he did as the facade of lies that irk most people. Take for instance the Rev, Jesse Jackson, who still admits to being a minister. His first offspring was also conceived out of wedlock, but he never denied the fact nor attempted to conceal it. One must respect the relative integrity of this man who has neither shaped himself to the whimsical desires of the public nor lowered himself to blatant hypocrisy.
Morality misdirected
If there is one person who has remained dignified and collected throughout the AIDS crisis, it is Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Risking integrity, respect and even friends, he has taken a solid stand on how best to prevent the spread of this disease.
Even Robertson's self-serving morals cannot override the enduring maxim: He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.
not stand on how best to prevent the spread of it.
But it is not a moral stand, it is a medical one.
Both men strongly emphasize that sexual abstinence and monogamy are the best preventives, but Koop has remained realistic in his expectations. He knows young people will still have sex, and he specifically advocates the use of condoms. Bennett sticks with his morality as the best policy.
But it is not a hand, as stated, it is a credible one. On the other hand, Secretary of Education William Bennett has proposed his moral way of dealing with AIDS in a handbook recently published as a guide for educators.
Although Bennett surely has good intentions, he is stepping out of bounds in asking teachers to support his views in the classroom. It is not teachers' responsibility to advocate one person's morality as the only solution to AIDS.
The United Nations should exist to protect all countries
Policy progress
We live in a world with delicate national boundaries. Those of the weaker countries often crumble in the wake of quick tempers and the spread of ideology by force.
Koop, however, has made his decisions based on medical facts and as a representative of the nation. He may step on some toes, but his message will get farther than Bennett's, which largely may be ignored.
The bi polarization of the world to U.S. or U.S.S.R. ideology is dangerous for all and critically dangerous for the countries used as pawns. Advocating movement toward a more cooperative world community is commendable — especially when one of the superpowers does the advocating.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev recently wrote an article in Pravda strongly supporting international stability and security. This is a significant move from the traditional Soviet idea of world order based on Soviet control.
The United States should take notice of this attempt by the Soviet Union to advance world peace. Although sincerity will always be questioned when policy change is suggested, and well it should be, policy change is necessary to alter the course of international relations.
The United States has traditionally had trouble cooperating in the United Nations. Our record of 50 vetoes in the U.N. Security Council, compared to two Soviet vets, suggests that perhaps it is time to take a lesson in compromise from our fellow superpower. Military balance and international boundary security requires that all nations become united behind one goal.
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
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Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
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"OK, OK, LET'S COOL IT WITH THE POINTING FOR AWHILE ..."
Volunteers act on noted needs
My grandpa's favorite question was, and still is,
"How is the world treating you?" It was his customary greeting for just about everybody. The usual responses went something like, "Aww-wrright, I guess," or, "I can't complain." I don't think the respondents really understood the question.
The World, Life and Fate can be harsh, especially if you're born into a family with a certain financial status, skin color or with certain religious ideas. But for most people reading this paper, the choppy gales and waves of Life have been broken for us already. We're riding in the wake. We're skimming the cream, not doing the milking. For the fortunate sons, "How are you treating the world?" is how the question should be phrased.
Frequently, the attitude people have toward their brethren is determined by their view of their Fate. It's fair to say that the world is divided into those who think they're getting treated and those who think they are doing the treating. But, I don't think the late reggae star Bob Marley, who coined the term "birth suffer-ticket," had the same philosophy about his Fate as Nelson Rockefeller did about his own. Yet, both men gave the world an incredible amount of their time and energy. I think Rockefeller, who liked to hand out dimes to the public, had an easier time.
People treat others differently. Some people give their brothers and sisters shock treatment, others use the silent treatment on their fellow man. But, Americans are especially fond of
creating each other chemically, like a pair of contact lenses. People are used,ushed off with saline solution and put back in their cases on the shelf and forgotten for a white.
There are people who treat others with kindness and respect. They shun society's coaxing to "look out for No. 1." and think of others before themselves. Some even go so far as to help others instead of helping only themselves. They are called volunteers.
According to Time's estimate, there should be at least 3,600 potential student volunteers at this University, which means that there should be no problem for groups searching for volunteers.
A Gallup Poll last year indicated that almost half of the college-educated people in the country were involved in social services or volunteer work. A March 16 article in Time magazine estimated that 15 percent to 25 percent of college students were volunteers.
blood donations, feed the poor, care for the elderly, counsel those in trouble and teach adults to read and write. Many of these groups have said that the number of volunteers fluctuates greatly because of individual class schedules. Students don't have much time to offer and can't find a volunteer activity to fit the time they do have.
There are more than 35 organizations in Lawrence that need volunteers to help collect
An idea that would solve this occasional shortage already has been implemented at Rice and Georgetown universities. They have hired full-time coordinators to match students with projects and social services in their respective communities. Lawrence once had a Volunteer Clearinghouse that served the same function but now is offering credit for volunteerism by offering credit for volunteer work in a few cases, but more could be done to encourage volunteers with relative ease.
In this time of budget-cutting in the state's higher education system, I don't expect the state to dole out enough dough for such a program. However, merely considering the creation of such a program represents a realization that we are in a position to be doing the treating, not receiving the treatment.
Be a volunteer. It doesn't have to be as involved as promoting adult literacy or caring for the handcapped. It can be as simple as listening to your friend's problems, doing a favor for someone . . . even holding the door for the next person.
Tim Hamilton is a Wichita senior majoring in journalism
Canada, U.S. negotiate for free trade
It was a banner headline on the front page of the Toronto Globe and Mail when Canada broke off trade negotiations with the United States late last month. Canadian television concentrated on the stalled talks, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was cross-examined in parliament, the opposition went into full cry, and in general, all Hell, Heaven and Purgatory broke loose. Nobody within the distance of a newspaper stand or television set outside of the city knew where the south of the border, the story made the business section of the New York Times — at the bottom of the page.
That about sums up the relationship between the two countries, or rather how much attention each pays to it. A visitor from the States may have trouble remembering that he's in a foreign country. Canada is such a good neighbor it's taken for granted.
It shouldn't be. Who is this country's biggest trading partner? No, not Japan or West Germany but Canada. Our two countries did upwards of $120 billion in business last year. The province of Ontario alone does more business with the United States than Japan. Canada accounts for only a little less trade with the United States than the rest of the world. Canada exports more petroleum to the United States than any other? No, not Saudi Arabia or Mexico or Venezuela, but Canada
A trade agreement with Canada is a big deal for this country. It's an even bigger deal from the Canadians' viewpoint: they buy a lot from the Canadian companies that produce the output; we buy more than a fifth of the threes. That
helps explain why each little hitch and curve in these negotiations held Canada's attention and why only the successful conclusion hooked ours
Canada doesn't get just movies, songs, television, football and baseball from the United States but a bad case of nerves. It may have been Pierce Trudeau, the Canadian premier back in the '70s, who first made the comparison: Canada's mouse sharing a bed with an elephant. The mouse is bound to be the one more concerned about the arrangement, not to say agitated.
The mouse and the elephant now have agreed on a far-ranging trade agreement. It may even turn out to be a free-trade agreement if all the still-vague provisions and counter-provisions work out by 1999. That's when the tariff barriers between the countries are supposed to disappear, creating the world's largest open market. The Canadians would get a form of the binding arbitration they have been seeking in these negotiations; this country would get new opportunities for investment. Canadians won greater access to Alaskan oil in return for greater access
to their own. And the subsidies that each nation gifted industries would be phased out, or be less funded.
Much now depends on how the deal unfolds, and which will triumph in the end — the special interests in each country or the common interest of both. A deal this size could mark the beginning of a comeback for free trade worldwide. Or this may be the beginning of an all-out over every jot and title and export subsidy. The stage is set for a classic confrontation between mutual trust and mutual fear.
The opposition in Canada is already opposing. Its leader, Ed Broadbent, warns：“Jobs are at stake, our culture is at stake, our very sovereignty is at stake.” Canadian labor unions, joined by other of that country's more excitable interests, are putting up billboards that declare：“Brian Multonry's 'Free Trade' could cost us Canada.” Their strident voices will surely be matched fear for fear, narrow self-interest for narrow self-interest, by our own protectionists.
It might help to recall the last great dispute this county had with Canada. That was in 146—1946, when Canada was still British America, Great Britain had claim to the Oregon territory, and the United States counterclaimed British Columbia. In this country the cry was for "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" Instead, the two sides settled on the 49th parallel and peace. Over the course of the decades, that settlement developed into a friendship scarcely matched in this troubled world. This new agreement deserves a chance, too. Peace has its victories as well as war, and we may be in the presence of a great one.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed