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Wednesday, September 23, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Quote marked
Once again, ethics plague a Democratic presidential candidate.
This time plagiarism plagues
Joseph Biden, the junior senator from Delaware, is charged by critics with using quotes from such notable figures as Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey and British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock.
Biden claimed at the time that the Syracuse plagiarism incident was an innocent mistake.
And the shadow of plagiarism extends back into Biden's law school career, where he received an "F" for copying five pages from a law review article without giving credit.
The senator blames his aide for a recent quote rerun, saying he was at a loss of how to close a speech and his aide suggested using the Kinnock statement. The duplicated quote from Robert Kennedy was blamed on a speechwriter who, without Biden's knowledge, incorporated Kennedy's words into Biden's speech.
A presidential candidate should embody the values and ideas that would carry the United States into the future. In essence, the candidate should present the ideas that portray him as a capable leader with fresh approaches to lingering or deeply rooted problems.
Biden, known by many for his sharp wit and sterling oratory, has wilted under the pressure of delivering speeches on the campaign trail. Or, worse, perhaps Biden has resorted to others' ideas to mask his lack of imagination.
In either case, Biden, as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, is called to scrutinize the integrity of Appeals Court Judge Robert Bork.
And Biden expects a truthful answer.
Growing problem
Willie Nelson took on the Nebraska football team and won. But it may have been a hollow victory.
Some Nebraskans were upset when Farm Aid III occupied turf normally reserved for the Cornhuskers team to practice. Nevertheless, Nelson and the other performers prevailed, and the show went on as planned.
Just how much was gained is not clear. Nelson has no plans yet to organize an edition of the fund-raising concert next year, saying he is unsure whether he wants to put his friends through it again "for nothing."
Nelson's point is one well taken. Though Farm Aid is a worthy cause, the plight of farmers is one that seems to get lost in the shuffle. President Reagan contends that the farm crisis has abated, and the topic has been relegated to a back burner.
The fact that even Nebraskans, many of whom work the land to survive, would be upset that the cause interfered with the regular practice routine of the football team is evidence of the general apathy that pervades the issue. If residents of agricultural states are not fully committed to the cause, who will be?
Though the money raised through Farm Aid does help, it is only a drop in the bucket. Moreover, the existence of such efforts may give many who are not well acquainted with the issue the impression that farmers are being taken care of.
Needless to sav. this is far from true.
Perhaps it is time to realize that private charity is not able to alter that harsh reality of the farm crisis. It is a problem whose roots run far too deep to be tilled over by the earnest but ineffective efforts of a concerned few.
Clearance denied
"War Games" was showing in central Europe.
War Games was showing hobbyists in West German computer hobbyists have rummaged about in an international NASA computer network throughout the past three months.
That's right, an unidentified number of people were poking around in the system, which contained information on shuttle projects and rocket failures. The system carried no classified information, officials have said, but the break-in was a serious security breach, nevertheless.
security breach, the computer hobbyists were hackers, computer whiz kids who tried to break into private systems just for the challenge. In accordance with hacker ethics, no data were changed, but the capability existed along with the ability to paralyze the entire system. This display of mental strength may at first seem harmless and cute but at length poses the unsettling question: Is nothing sacred?
In a time when national security secrets are important, West German youths have been involved in illegal acts in the name of identifying security deficiencies. Consider the Red Square landing of Mathias Rust.
Is the unbreakable security system a thing of the past?
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
News staff
Jennifer Benjamin...Editor
Jill Warren...Managing editor
John Benner...News editor
Beth Copeland...Editorial editor
Sally Streff...Campus editor
Brian Kabertine...Sports editor
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Bill Skeet...Graphics editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
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Bonnie J. Hardy...Business manager
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David Derffelt...National sales manager
Angela Clark...Classified manager
Ron Weems...Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Student Senate's rubber stamp
Money should be allocated by student referendum
the role that student government plays in allocating money is an absurd bureaucratic nightmare. As an apathetic student, I used to mock that role. As a student senator and finance committee member, I am now puzzled about how to live with it.
At the first finance committee meeting last Tuesday, every member voted the same way on every vote. The committee acted as a rubber stamp. When the author of one bill retracted her support, we even consented to be its sponsor. I shouldn't say "we," because I didn't vote. I sat there appalled and regrettably silent as the committee gave out several thousand dollars without batting an eye. You might think such mindless action could have been completed in less than five seconds. Wrong. We spent several hours.
Senate met the following night. As a new member, I anticipated some debate from senators supporting various constitutencies. There was none. We argued for an hour or so about an obscure contradiction in the rules, whose source no one could recall.
Finally we came to the bill the finance committee had unanimously and mysteriously authored. I was quite surprised to learn its specific contents, since I had only heard it quickly read in committee and had never seen a copy. However, the other senators were not surprised at all, and it appeared as though this bill would also pass unanimously.
Regardless of the obvious merits of the bill, I had to get up and say something — and I did. I informed all of the senators that this bill was passed by an uninformed committee and that it had not been carefully considered. Ironically, a few minutes earlier we had been lectured to about the crucial role that committees must play in preparing bills. I pointed out that this bill had been ram-rodded through a new and impressionable committee and that its consideration was inappropriate.
I was supported by the senior senator present but the other senators lashed out against me. Even this minor threat to one of their bills was totally unacceptable. They immediately voted on the bill, and it passed with few dissentions, one of them mine. I shudder to think what might happen to a bill they didn't like.
of money — not just thousands, but hundreds of thousands of dollars. Something needs to change.
thousands in idea.
I have an idea that I hope will spark some debate. We can we change the allocation of money for students, you will vote for student organizations. The ballot will consist of several groups, and everyone will vote by allocating different amounts of money. Student Senate will be included among these groups, so if we truly support the Senate, we will give it all of our money.
It seems to me that the Senate is now an entity that is wholly unaccountable to the students. It is a frighteningly efficient politburo. If controlled by anyone, it is by the administrators. I realize most students don't care, but we are talking about a |the new budget.
This method of financing through referendum would eliminate the need for an elite student government structure and give everyone a say in how money is spent. Democracy would best be served because no one would be left out. The only problem would be finding something to do at Senate meetings.
However, if we want the money distributed differently, we will have the opportunity to voice our opinion. A list of groups will be provided, including a brief description of past budgets, services and current needs. For example, one of you might vote to give all of the money to campus transportation. Another might divide the money equally. That would be your right. The average of all of these recommendations would constitute the new budget.
Frank Partnoy is an Overland Park senior majoring in liberal arts and sciences. He is an off-campus student senator.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Segregation's source
Dan Houston: You are definitely right! It is difficult to pinpoint who is responsible for segregation between black and white students at the University of Kansas. Therefore, you should not have made the attempt without giving the matter more serious thought. It is absolutely ludicrous to blame any one group, especially one whose numbers are too few, for the segregation that exists at KU. We are all responsible, white students and their leaders included, since, as you openly admitted, they created the problem.
This generation of white students at KU still has attitudes and behaviors in ways that contribute to the problem of self-imposed segregation between black and white students. This is true, even though it may ease the conscience of some, like yourself, to use white students of the past and the black students of today as your scapegoats.
In your column, you described KU as a place where white students often and eagerly extended invitations for black students to join mainstream organizations. These black students, supposedly under the misguidance of their leaders who gain strength and membership to their own organization by convincing them that invitations are insincere, continually turned them down without so much as an explanation. A more accurate description is that, at best, white students passively accept black members who have taken the initiative to
If your column was intended to help bridge the gap between white students and black students at KU, I am afraid it was unsuccessful. In fact, by blaming the members and leaders of one group, without acknowledging the responsibilities of the other, did nothing but make matters worse.
join these organizations, on their own, whether they were invited or not. Black students who declined these offers did so because they felt more comfortable, active and rewarded as members of their own organizations that they, not a few power-hungry black leaders, have created. White students who are confused and bitter because of these rejections need to seriously consider how eagerly they would join the Black Student Union, or a black fraternity or sorority, if an invitation to do so was waiting for them in the mail today.
Mia Crawford, Kansas City, Kan., junior
AND THE TOP STORY TO NITE
IS...THAT AFTER REVIEWING
TED KOPPEL'S INTERVIEW
WITH GARY HART LAST WEEK,
THE SURGEON GENERAL
HAS ISSUED A STATEMENT
CONFIRMING THAT RICE
IS STILL BAD FOR
YOUR HART.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
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