4
Friday, September 4, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
A minor decision
California is about to pass into law a bill requiring parental consent before a minor can have an abortion. It will become the 29th state to do so, and Kansas may be the 30th.
29th state to do so, and Kansas may currently, Kansas requires no permanent permission or notification of a parent of 18 to have an abortion. Yet the parents of a minor must give consent before any other serious medical procedure can take place.
The Legislature, which is currently considering a parental consent abortion bill, could incorporate the "judicial bypass" clause. But legislators should at least establish that minors seeking an abortion must have their parents' or guardians' consent.
The Legislature, which is currently considering a parental-consent abortion bill, could incorporate the "judicial bypass" clause. But legislators should at least establish that minors seeking an abortion must have their parents' or guardians' consent.
The landmark Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973 allowed states to pass parental consent laws with the provision that the minor could request permission from a judge to have an abortion, essentially bypassing her parents.
Opponents of parental-consent laws worry that poor communication between parents and children will drive a pregnant teenager into an alley for a dangerous — and possibly fatal — abortion.
"Learn to labor and to wait," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells us.
tells us. NASA is taking his advice.
NASA booster
NASA is taking his advice. Nineteen months after the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration successfully completed its first full-scale test Sunday. Engineers from Morton Thiokol Inc., under contract to NASA, have been working diligently since the explosion to redesign the rocket booster that caused the tragedy.
are solutions to launch the next shuttle in June but is keeping that date festive. More tests and more hard work await.
Learning from past mistakes, NASA is keeping the pressure off to make launch schedule deadlines. The test, in which the booster was bolted to the ground and fired, comes after a three-day delay because of minor plumbing and electrical problems. The test was set for Aug. 27, but it was aborted three times, twice within 15 seconds of its firing. Meteiculous attention to detail and hard work are responsible for the successful test of the new booster.
The victorious test of the redesigned rocket provides an encouraging outlook for the space shuttle program. NASA is showing the public its commitment to excellence. Diligence and patience now characterize the program. Efforts to improve and correct past mistakes are indeed successful.
And so, until the shuttle is perfected, NASA labors and the nation waits.
Distinguished centenarian
Kansas' elder statesman is 100 years old
Kansas' elder statesman is boo'd by Alfred M. Landon will celebrate his birthday Sept. 9, and the state should recognize his accomplishments as well as his longevity.
Landon, a former governor, provides an example of the results of a lifelong commitment to political service. Beginning as a precinct worker, he worked his way up through the party ranks. He worked for the cash-basis law that all-
Kansans have him to thank for the cash-basis law that allows the state to spend no more money than it brings in. And he has continued to be an instrumental adviser to state Republicans.
Landon's independent spirit shines throughout the span of his long career.
He left the Republican party to join Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose party in 1912.
In the face of adversity, Landon ran in the 1936 presidential race against Franklin Delano Roosevelt He carried only Maine and Vermont.
After his defeat, he did not accept an offer to move to Washington as a Cabinet member. He once said of the decision, "We decided we preferred the comparatively simple, but more intelligent, life in Kansas."
We salute him.
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board
News staff
NEWS EDITOR
Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
John Warren ... Managing editor
John Benner ... News editor
Beth Copeland ... Editorial editor
Sally Streff ... Campus editor
Brian Kaberline ... Sports editor
Dan Ruitelmann ... Photo editor
Bill Skelter ... 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 ... Consumer sales manager
Greg Knipi ... Production manager
David Derftel ... National sales manager
Angela Clarke ... Classified manager
Ron Weems ... Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
**Letters** should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words and must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University of Kansas, please include class and hometown, or staff position.
faculty or staff position.
Guest shots should be typed, double-spaced and less than 700 words. The
photo will be photographed.
writer will be photographed. The Kansas man is the right to reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be sent to the Kansas newsroom, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall.
can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office. Letters, guest shots and columns are the opinion of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansan. Editorials are the opinion of the Kansan editorial board.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan, 6044, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage is paid in Lawrence, Kan, 6044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $40 in Douglas County and $50 outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansas, 118 Stuart Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045
Of pig tents in Yawnsville, Iowa
Respectable candidate would avoid pancake feeds in dull states
Some of the Democratic presidential candidates are complaining that they don't get enough attention as they handshake their way through Iowa and New Hampshire.
ioWA is an aide to one of the candidates whined to the
New York Times:
"We're out there slogging away at state fairs and beating our heads against the wall, and people are more interested in whether Gary Hart is coming back early from Ireland."
While I can sympathize with the candidates, it seems to me that the public's indifference is evidence of the public's good sense.
evidence of the poetic's going interesting. There are far more interesting things going on in the world than Michael Dukakis praising an Iowa farmer for his attractive cows or Richard Gephardt feigning delight as he nibbles on the prize-winning brownie cookies.
Are we expected to become giddy from excitement when we read that Paul Simon received a standing ovation outside of Yawnsville, Iowa?
immediately. Just that they are being ignored, it is because they should be ignored. Anyone of sound mind who spends these fine summer days wandering around Iowa deserves what he gets — which will probably be dug all over his Guinea.
Try going into your favorite bar and starting a lively conversation by saying: "Hmmm, I see that Sen. Albert Gore dropped into a coffee shop in Clods Corner, Iowa, and one of the five customers, plus the grill man, recognized him immediately. Isn't that something?"
The candidate I could support is the one who would have the courage to say;
"I am announcing my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president. And the first
campaign promise I will make is that I am not going to loya.
going to now.
"I will not go to any county fairs, state fairs or pancake breakfasts, or stop my car to shake hands with some befuddled farmer who wonders why all those TV cameras are suddenly being pointed at him.
"You ask why I am not going to Iowa? I will answer that with a question: Why don't you go to Iowa?"
iowa?
"The fact is, very few Americans ever go to Iowa, except those who live in Iowa and have little choice in the matter. And I don't blame them. Iowa is dull. It might even be duller than Indiana, and that's saying something."
"That's why you, my fellow Americans, overwhelming make the free choice to go somewhere else. When you have a few bucks and vacation time, some of you go to the North Woods to do some fishing. Or maybe to Florida to slap around golf or tennis balls. Or to a Club Med to see whether you might get lucky. Or to an island in the Caribbean to soak up sun and rum. Or on a cruise to get fat. Some of you might even go to the Big Apple and take in a show or two. Or go skiing in Colorado or Utah. Or maybe to Vegas to try your luck at the tables.
"There are so many wonderful places to go in this great land of ours, so many fun things to do. But, boy, they ain't in Iowa."
"So I call upon you, my fellow Americans, to ask yourself this question: With all of these travel options, would I choose to spend my time browning around the pig tent at an Iowa county fair?"
"And your answer, I'm sure, will be, 'What do you think I am, nuts?'"
"Well, then I ask you this question: Do you want as your candidate a person who would do something the overwhelming majority of Americans think is dumb?
thus. "Of course not. You want someone whose thinking reflects the mainstream of America. And the mainstream position of this great nation is to stay the heck out of Iowa."
"Now, I make this decision knowing that I might not win the nomination. Somehow, this country has put itself in the ridiculous position of making the political opinions of a few low stump-jumpers and New Hampshire syrup-supers more important than the teeming masses of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other great cities.
is to stay the neck out.
"Therefore, while the other candidates are in Iowa, I am going to campaign in Aspen, Carmel, Palm Beach, Martha's Vineyard, Hawaii, the Four Seasons Restaurant in Manhattan and all the other places you would visit if given a choice."
"Well, I'm having no part of it. And maybe I will lose. But there's one thing I know for sure. When this campaign is over, my shoes won't smell funny."
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Narrow-minded view
The "columnist" attacked every lifestyle in an offensive and stereotypical manner. He leaves no lifestyle unabused.
In response to the article, "College lifestyles fuel clique war," by Jon Gregor, I cannot believe that the Kansan allowed this narrow-minded and uninformed article to be printed.
How annoying it is to see the student body represented as jocks, long-haired dumps, dumb blondes and drug addicts. It is obvious to me that KU offers a lot more freedom and variety in choosing a lifestyle than Gregor has let unspecting freshmen to believe. KU is what you make it, and he is not making much of it.
Gregor concludes by suggesting that if you do not fall into one of these lame categories, you
are a nobody. And I quote, "The worst that one can do is not in any group at all." It seems to me that the idea of individualism is foreign to him and that he would rather see people blend into cliques as nameless, faceless people. God forbid that you stretch yourself and be your own person.
This article left me angry and confused. The article seems to have no other purpose than to put people down. If there is another point to be made, I sure would like to know what it is.
Kelly Luck, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed