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Monday, September 21, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Imagine smoking without the smoke.
Smoke-out
Imagine smoking without the smoke. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is on the brink of introducing a new cigarette in which the tobacco does not burn, thereby producing much less "sidestream smoke," the smoke emitted from the end of the cigarette. The company is trying to reduce the negative health effects of smoking, decrease the current stigma attached to smoking and increase the number of smokers.
to smoking and increase the risk. The idea of a smokeless cigarette is a good one, but the actual product has a long way to go. The irritating sidestream smoke will be reduced, but the smoke exhaled by the smoker still has as much nicotine and carbon monoxide as regular cigarettes. The cigarettes only offer about 10 puffs, and the first few still produce harmful sidestream smoke. Also, taste tests indicate the product to be less than satisfactory.
to be resented.
There is little chance of the new cigarette being accepted by smokers. It is an insult to smokers to think they will settle for an unsatisfactory product. Also, the marketing of this cigarette masks the inherent harms of smoking.
makes one to accept a cigarette that does not have harmful side effects is ideal, but the new R. J. Reynolds cigarette misses the mark. Neither smokers nor non-smokers will be pacified by this poor-tasting, almost smokeless cigarette, nor should they be.
Dan Rather would rather see news than tennis on television. Others would rather see tennis than news. Friday, the public got neither. Just six minutes of a blank screen.
The men's U.S. Open tennis tournament was projected to run over into the time allotted for the second edition of the "CBS Evening News." This upset anchorman Dan Rather, so he walked off the set. The time alloted for the first edition of the news had already been used for the tournament.
Out of place
dead an email enclosed.
Newcasters are subject to the scheduling decisions of network administrators and to programming priorities. Rather, too, is subject to these decisions. And he acted irresponsible.
After a compromise was reached and only a few minutes of the news broadcast were needed to wrap up the tennis coverage, the network cut to Miami, Fla., where Rather and CBS were covering the Pope's visit. But Rather was not in the studio. By the time he was located and readied for broadcast, six minutes of dead air had elapsed.
Only prima donnas and spoiled brats "pick up their toys and go home" when others refuse to play by their rules. Dan Rather has been an exemplary U.S. newsman. He should stick to his past professionalism and resist the temptation to expect undeserved clout in network decisions based on his prestige.
Equal opportunity is apparently still more equal for some than for others.
for others.
Recent reports from around the Midwest indicate a glaring shortage of blacks in managerial and faculty positions. Various reasons are cited for the white dominance in upper-echelon positions. But the fact remains that this is a serious problem that must not be dodged.
No excuse
Grow up, Dan.
A special legislative committee of the Missouri House of Representatives last week reported that although black employment in lower-level jobs roughly reflected the ethnic balance of the state, the door to management jobs was still generally closed to blacks.
We at the University of Kansas should be prompted by the recent problems experienced in Missouri and at KSU to take a close and honest look at our own minority employment situation as well. We are not immune to many of the problems that have grown to such great proportions elsewhere.
This response does not explain the overwhelming preponderance of whites who find the pay adequate. Moreover, it underscores the fact that in many instances institutions are more eager to deflect blame than to redress the racial imbalance itself.
Kansas State University has also come under severe criticism for the low proportion of blacks among its faculty, especially in tenured positions. Assistant to the president of KSU, Charles Reagan, maintains that the reason for such a conspicuous shortage of blacks is because faculty positions in general pay poorly.
Perhaps attention to the situation now will help KU unequivocally establish that it has more than excuses to offer minorities.
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
News staff
Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
Juli Warren ... Managing editor
John Benner ... News editor
Beth Copeland ... Editorial editor
Sally Streff ... Campus editor
Brian Kablerine ... Sports editor
Dan Rüettelmann ... Photo editor
Bill Sket ... 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 Derfert ... National sales
Angela Clark ... Classified manager
Ron Weems ... Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Student lobbying can help KU
We feel the impact of that dwindling state commitment to our universities every day. Outstanding professors are leaving KU because we are unable to offer competitive salaries. Our laboratories do not have essential state-of-the-art equipment and our libraries are falling behind in acquisitions. Then there is everyone's favorite — closed, canceled and overcrowded classes.
The state of Kansas has built an excellent system of public universities with wide program choices, top faculty, nationally-renowned departments and reasonable tuition rates balanced by adequate financial aid.
Onunatay, yuris. writes
Two simple statistics tell the whole story.
During the past five years, inflation has risen 30.1
percent. During that same period, state general
appropriations for higher education have
increased only 17.6 percent. That means that
state financing actually has decreased dramatically.
Unfortunately times are changing.
The reason students had to stand in the add / drop line at Strong Hall for three hours is that our university simply does not have enoughmoney to offer the classes students want and need. Classes that should have an enrollment of only 25 students are hard to find, especially from bad to worse, with no relief in sight. If the trend is allowed to continue, KU will no longer be one of the finest public universities in the country.
We'll just drift into mediocrity.
we if it just drift into mecledry.
OK, so we've defined the problem. Now, what
can we do to solve it:
"No, don't do anything. I'm just a student."
"I can't do anything. I'm just a student."
Wrong. You can make a difference. No, not the person sitting to your left - you, the one reading this article. If things are going to change around here, you're going to have to be the one to do something about it.
If the plan is adopted by the governor and the Kansas Legislature, we would see its positive impact almost immediately.
The administration and the Board of Regents realize what's happening. They can see that higher education is on the verge of taking a nose dive. In response, they've devised the "Margin of Excellence" proposal. The Margin is a strategy to raise state financial aid for poor peer institutions over the next three years. The plan provides more money for instructors, program support and equipment.
Notice the "if" in the last sentence. That's a big "if." And that's where you come in. As students, we have to convince our elected officials that we desperately need help. The only way we can do that is by making our voices heard.
We know that legislators listen to students. We proved that last year. Our efforts played a big role in getting the fee release money that precluded them from paying all but canceled. And we've got to do it again.
You need to be a H.E.R.O. The Higher Education Rescue Operation is a grassroots student lobbying campaign led by the student government associations at five other Regents schools.
The Jayhawks are joining the Wildcats, the Tigers, the Shockers, the Gorillas and the Hornetis in defending the quality of Kansas high education at building support for the Margin of Excellence.
We need you to get involved by writing the governor and members of the Legislature, by contacting parents and alumni and asking them to get involved, and by going to Topeka to meet with key decision-makers. No one else is going to do the job if you don't. Watch for H.E.R.O. activities and get involved. You need to do your part. You'll make the difference.
Martie Aaron, campus director of the Associated Students of Kansas, is a Wichita first-year law student
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Blatant bribery
Take the Iran-contra affair; for example. The City Paper of Washington quoted a recent study by Edward Roeder of political contributors from PACs (political action committees). Statistics reported in the July-August issue of Palestine Perspective indicate that the pro-Israel PAC had given $280,000 to members of select committees investigating the Iran-contra affair, including the two chairmen, Sen. Daniel Inouye and Rep. Lee Hamilton.
As Americans, we need to take a good, hard look at the people we have elected to represent in Washington. It seems that they have fallen prey to a trap of greed and sub-standard values.
The newspaper said these two Congressmen "negotiated secret agreements in closed-door meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir that essentially allowed the government of Israel to conduct Congress' investigation into Israel's role. Under the agreements, which have never been made public, the select committees cannot subpoena any Israeli documents or citizens, nor interview any Israeli officials involved."
In. Innoye received more than $48,000 from the pro-Irael lobby, and Hamilton got more than $14,000. And the Roeder report quotes that pro-Iraael PACs "demand strict loyalty from the candidates they support financially."$^{14}$
In my opinion, this blatant form of bribery is reprehensible. Shall we condone serving the interests of another country above doing justice to our own?
I think our representatives in Washington are most sorrowfully forgetting the principles on which our country was founded. It seems such a shame, this being the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.
Beth Mahmoud, Council Grove graduate student.
Harmful column
I suppose that staff columnist Brad Taylor is not the least bit aware of how his article on advising (Sept. 9) maligned the department of African and American Studies.
Dorothy Pennington, associate professor of African Studies.
katz
IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO PUT BIRD
REPELLANT ON CAMPUS BUILDINGS.
© 1987 9/21 K.L. Thomson
k.l. thorman
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
a 1983 Washington Post Co
NOW THIS IS WHAT'S GOING ON: ZSA ZSA HAS DROPPED ME HERE AT CAESAR'S PALACE. NEXT, I'LL GO UP TO THE 'SINATRA SUITE' FOR A SHMOZ MASSAGE BY JULIE ANDREWS.
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