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Opinion
University Daily Kansan November 1, 1982
KU needs Carlin plan
The races for governor, state House of Representatives and Congress this year are crucial not only to the University of Kansas but to all Regents schools.
Generating more money while curbing government spending and at the same time finding the money to finance education has been the issue upon which these races seem to hinge.
The tax is not a cure-all for the state's problems. But it would generate $120 million a year — money that Carlin has dedicated to primary and secondary education. He says the severance tax would free general fund money that could be spent on higher education.
In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Democrat John Carlin has been charged with mismanaging the state's money surplus, ordering painful budget cuts and alienating the oil and gas industry by proposing a minerals severance tax.
Carlin's opponent, Republican Sam Hardage, has proposed no plan to finance higher education, other than to cut waste from the state Department of Education and other departments. His plan to increase revenues is to increase the gasoline tax that consumers pay by 4 cents a gallon. He has pledged that money, $55 million a year, to the state highway system.
The Kansan sees things differently
The severance tax would come out of the profits of large producers. Carlin has said that 80 percent of any gas tax rise would be paid by Kansas consumers, whereas only 2 percent of a severance tax would be paid by them.
The state's budget crisis illustrates the need for a tax increase next year — if the state plans to remain solvent. He is correct to maintain that Kansas should follow other mineral- and
oil-producing states and put some of the tax burden on the companies that have been exploiting resources that cannot be replaced.
Morris Kay, Republican candidate for the 2nd District congressional seat being vacated by Jim Jeffries, has tried to make that race a referendum on Reaganomics. He has assumed the role of the incumbent, choosing not to be as vocal as his opponent, Democrat Jim Slattery.
Both have served in the Kansas House. Kay gained name recognition as a gubernatorial candidate and chairman of the state GOP.
Kay supports the third phase of the federal tax cut, but Slattery says that implementing it while the government wrangles with inflation and a deficit would be unwise. The debate is a microcosm of national concerns. Kay's argument assumes that the cut will be offset by more personal spending. Slattery's is rooted in the reality of a deficit that already needs all the help it can get.
That business-like approach to running government is mirrored in the campaign of Bob Schulte, Republican candidate for the 44th District state representative seat. He thinks the University must prepare to shoulder its share of further cuts. His opponent, incumbent Democrat Jessie Branson, has been faithful to the University in opposing further cuts. But Schulte's attitude emphasizes that the state must stay on its feet before it can provide money for services.
In the 46th District, incumbent Democrat Betty Jo Charlton has built the foundation of a good relationship between the University and the Legislature. Republican Doug Lamborn lacks that experience, and would have to begin anew that essential link.
Band can do without abuse
This is an open letter to Kansas State University fans:
To the Editor:
What's red, white and blue? No, it's not an American flag, nor a bouncing ball. It's a KU band member. And underneath the dazzling red and blue uniform is a person lust like you and me
— a person who has feelings, pain and pride, a person who works hard to achieve excellence for the sole purpose of wearing a KU band uniform and performing for football fans.
The KU band sometimes travels with the football team to give the team needed support and spirit. The band doesn't have to go to other schools, but it does because its members are good at what they do and enjoy sharing the experience of a well-done half-time show with the audience.
The one thing that is obvious about the KU band is that, win or lose, the 250-piece band is still behind the football team and is continually showing the football players that someone cares about them, even when the final score is 36-7 against them.
Melissa McIntyre
Too bad the K-State fans can't make the same claim. The nationally televised Oct. 22 football
game between the Jayhawks and the Wildcats was evidence of that fact.
But it's hard to perform to your potential when you are afraid of being hit with oranges, bars of soap, ice and bottles. It's hard to raise the football team's spirit when your own spirits are dampened, when equipment and uniforms are stolen, broken or damaged and people physically and mentally injured. Harassment any kind is that it's even less fun when there is no place to hide.
Sure, the KU band is from Lawrence, the home of the Jayhawks, but is that any reason to verbally and physically assault the members of the KU band? They aren't responsible for what is happening on the field, so whyaint them with obscentes and hit them with oranges?
Melissa McIntyre Raytown, Mo., senior
That's news in Beirut
To the Editor:
I am presently in the Navy and assigned as the communications officer aboard the US Guam, which is now on station off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon. I am also a 1979 graduate of KU. I hope to do what I hope will be as amusing to you as the circumstances surrounding it were to me.
As an avid supporter of KU and a fan of its daily newspaper, I have subscribed to the Kansan to keep up with the alma mater. We all know that mail sometimes takes a while to reach its destination, particularly when that destination is in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ironic twist to this story is that I received the pictured Kansan the same day we landed our Marines in Lebanon. (The city in the picture's background is, of course, Beirut.) It is obvious that the headline was certainly overcome by events.
Another slight inaccuracy about us here at "Bagel Station" that appeared in the Sept. 22 Kansan indicates that the Guam is carrying the Harrier "jump jet" and Sea King helicopter. Neither the Guam nor the other amphibious aircraft are equipped with the UH-1 Huey, The Guam, however, is carrying the UH-1 Huey, AH-1 Cobra, CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Station helicopters.
In closing, I wish to thank you for publishing a fine paper and helping at least one "Gator" keep up with KU.
David Gannon
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy
Campaign darts distract voters
When political candidates provide information, it's supposed to make voters' decisions easier. But candidates tend to sling a lot of mud over them. "We want the voters, and it is the voters" eyes that become clouded.
This year's elections feature the usual battles between die-hard Democrats and Republicans, all of whom seem willing to fight to the death for every vote. Each candidate spends thousands of dollars to finance these wars of words in hopes of getting office and the glory and prestige that goes with it.
Most candidates, at least in races expected to be close, do not limit their campaigns to spen- ding time.
The possibility that the opposition might be hiding some deep, dark secret is always a vote-grabbing element on which to lean. It doesn't matter whether the opposition is a church elder, president of the local Eagle's club and a member of every charitable organization imaginable — he's probably done something that could be used against him by a crafty opponent. And if nothing substantial can be found, candidates can always resort to unfounded name-calling.
This year's campaigns seemed unusually full of politics' muckraking tradition.
Gov. John Carlin's campaign aides managed to find evidence that Republican candidate Sam Hardage had defaulted on a business deal years ago.
Hardage countered with commercials implying that important decisions were being made in smoke-filled rooms rather than at the Capitol. Mud-slinging wasn't limited to this year's gubernatorial candidates. It seemed to affect candidates for every office.
Morris. Kay's irrelevant accusations and refusal to shake opponent Jim Slattery's hand
during a recently televised debate make perfect examples.
Somehow, I thought I was witnessing a new wave of disgustingly biased campaign strategies by this year's candidates. I mistakenly thought I had seen an example of how and that candidates had stooped to new lows.
Maybe it was my inexperience at the voting booth that led me to think this election was different from others. Maybe I was just naive. Seeing a few back issues of the University Daily Kansan quickly opened my eyes to the realities of gutter politics.
The 1974 election, when the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, were first elected
TOM HUTTON
to four-year terms, provided lots of examples of name- calling and muckraking.
What surprised me were the similarities of the charges being made then and now; many of the candidates involved remain in the public's interest.
In that election, which came in the middle of the Watergate proceedings, collaboration charges against Republicans were common. The other parties were attempting to connect every Republican to Richard Nixon and Watergate, no matter what the merits of the candidates were. But it was a bed of deadness of the Republican Party in 1974 and was accused by his opponent of being part of Watergate.
"Bob Dole is a symbol of a type of politics, a
type of politics that should disappear from the face of the earth." Bill Roy. Dole's unsuccessful attempt to dissuade a public from voting.
Watergate was a common campaign jab mentioned in Democratic challenges for Republican-held positions in 1974. But, at least in Kansas, it proved an ineffective weapon for the Democrats.
Apparently, the endorsements of Republican President Gerald Ford weighed heavier in voters' minds at the polls in 1974. Republicans are using similar tactics in the 1982
Dole, now considered one of the most prominent U.S. senators by many analysts, campaigned for fellow Republican Hardage in Wichita at a recent $10-a-plate fundraising dinner.
It didn't matter that Hardage had no prior government experience. Dole said he thought Hardage was the man to be governor of Kansas. The senator's words were probably taken as an explanation of why he went out the money for dinner — the issues of qualification, experience and education were ignored.
No matter what the endorsements and commercials say, voters should look at the issues and vote for the candidates they think best represent their beliefs. Politics must be looked at more deeply than than the 30-second television yelling matches allow. Those short sound-offs are paid announcements by the candidates and have little bearing on the true issues
It's much harder to be a qualified, informed voter than to blindly flip switches in the election booth. And elections analysts predict that this year's elections will have the lowest turnout in
Maybe the value of disgrazing the opposition is becoming apparent. Voters really don't know who to believe; instead of trying to figure it out, they just stay home.
Time to accept non-smokers' rights
Smokers beware, this column could be dangerous to your habit.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment unveiled a plan last week to keep non-smokers away from the deadly fumes of co-workers' cigarettes.
The plan would allow employees, with the consent of management, to vote on whether there will be separate areas for smoking and non-smoking workers to work.
Well, that's great for non-smokers. There is probably nothing more disagreasing to a non-smoker than that.
The KDHE has come up with a reasonable plan that gives smokers a place to light up at work and non-smokers a place to breathe untainted air.
And a recent court ruling stated that people who are made sick by other people's smoke are entitled to compensation if a smoke-free environment is unavailable.
It can be distracting for people hard at work to be assaulted suddenly by the strong fumes of gas.
Secondary smoke has been proven to be as bad, if not worse, for people that the smoke that is emitted from a vehicle
The difficulty of the KDHE plan is that if non-smokers outnumber smokers in an office, the office is likely to vote to separate smokers from non-smokers. Either the smoker would have to move to another area, or he could not smoke.
Some smokers cannot give up smoking under any circumstances, much less when he is hard at work; consequently, the worker will probably move.
But what if he cannot move? What if, like me,
he must work in the area he is assigned to, or if,
like a secretary, he must work near his boss?
Too bad? You bet. Smokers have a right to the habit that they enjoy. But non-smokers have not had the chance, until now, to assert their right to air that is as clean as possible.
The key phrase in the plan, of course, is "after approval of management." Therefore, if man
agreement does not want the vote, then there will be no vote.
And no non-smoking areas.
Cigarette smoke has long been known to be harmful to health. It is also a harmful habit that it causes.
Aversion therapy might work. Have you ever been in a smoking car of a train? There is nothing more revolting than such a smoke-filled, enclosed area. But people who choose to be in those areas continue to smoke, despite the adverse conditions.
Similarly, a smoking area set up by a vote the kind proposed would also become a revolving room.
The smoke concentration would make working in the area difficult, but it probably wouldn't 'stop'
CATHERINE BEHAN
people from smoking there. It might, however, keep clients and co-workers from going there.
I have worked in places with separate smoking areas, which almost became unofficial break rooms. Smokers could volunteer to do work that would require them to be in that area. If no such work was available, they would simply go there for a smoke anyway.
Big help for productivity.
If the KDHE plan is meant, in the long run, to help employees who do smoke to quit, it probably will not work.
Because smokers will not give up smoking so easily, it will probably be necessary to build a special work section for smokers. That might
To quit smoking, smokers need more than a nasty work area for incentive. Being forced to smoke in a particular area would not be necessary, but was what a smoker had to do to get his nicotine.
mean adding expensive room dividers and,
possibly, requiring that there be more desks.
A company could decide to simply fire people who smoke or to require that people who do smoke not do so in the building. Either would be rather extreme.
Logically, the kind of vote being proposed would be the only way to offset two rights — the right to smoke and the right not to have to breathe other people's smoke.
If there is no such vote, then it is the responsibility of the smoker to make sure that his smoke does not bother anyone around him. Unfortunately, this basic politeness is often forgotten by smokers who light up anywhere, without asking whether it others people nearby
Smokers have the right to beofluid the air that they breathe, but they do not have the right to beofluid the air that they breathe.
To refrain from smoking can be difficult for a smoker who, either by a vote such as the one the KDIE is proposing or by basic politeness, is outraged at out his light, but it is the only fair thing to do.
I know, I smoke.
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