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Opinion
University Dally Kansan, September 3. 1982
Political action blunted
Add two more names to the list of neverending political action committees. The latest two, both formed this summer, are trying to mobilize college students concerning the issue of cutbacks on federal aid.
The National Student Political Action Committee was formed in July — mainly by the United States Student Association — to supposedly mold students into a potent voting block. It plans to remove those congressmen who voted for the aid cuts. The committee has its own so-called "hit list," called "the guaranteed student losers."
In August, the Iowa State Daily reports, the Young Americans for Freedom and other organizations formed the Student Coalition for Truth to fight the political action committee.
The coalition contends that the committee is a liberal group that represents a small percentage on the nation's college students.
The truth in that is self-evident. No group can claim it represents the thousands of students on the hundreds of campuses in the country.
In its editorial, the Daily says the committee's formation marks the rebirth of student activism. Maybe.
KU students, as well as students at every other school, should be stirred into action to let Congress and other political leaders know that government aid to education is vital.
But when the Student Coalition for Truth is added, the result is two small groups of students trading charges while the mass of students continue to cope with the lack of money on their own.
At first glance, the National Student Political Action Committee appears to be a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, both it and the coalition may turn out to be dead ends.
Students' eyes-down bearing makes campus too, too quiet
I put off writing this as long as possible, not for the sake of procrastination but in hopes that it will be useful.
When I entered the University of Kansas as a first semester freshman, a bit of culture shock hit me. It didn't stem from the effects of leaving college and from observation that we really have a quiet campus.
This campus is so quiet, many students listen and look to their shoes for between-class
HAL KLOPPER
entertainment. Why? Perhaps there is a gigantic "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging above Mount Oread that I haven't noticed yet.
One KU student, who is quite vocal about the situation, says, "It seems that most of the pedestrians are in their own little world. They are like zombies, they live around almost like zombies. It's frightening."
What is happening, Jayhawks? Granted, noise pollution has become a great concern recently. But there's no evidence of an increase.
national average. An unofficial poll was taken on this hushed subject, but no one would answer the questions. Is there a big secret nobody told you to drop a big (titanqueril in the water supply?)
Perhaps this is being a bit harsh on the average student, and maybe I am blowing things slightly out of proportion. After all, we are here for the education, not the socializing, right? And Wesco Beach produces a somewhat acceptable dim of noise when crowded, doesn't it?
Yes, yes, but traveling down sidewalks is not part of the University's academic program, and the Beach makes up only a small part of the campus.
Eunice Stallworth, a resident assistant at Munihmib Hall, told me his so-t quiet on campus. He said he was on vacation.
Maybe the reason for this dilemma stems from that ABC movie filmed in Lawrence. "The Day After" deals with a city in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. Did they use real radiation to make the movie? That would certainly shut me up for a long time.
Somehow, I get the feeling many students are following Rick Springfield's advice when he sings "Don't Talk to Strangers." But can nearly everyone search in search of higher education be all that bad?
Not really. My philosophy used to be that man was basically good and would make an honest effort to respond to a greeting with a sincere 'How's it going?' or a 'Hello' or even a 'Hello' again. My philosophy has been greatly altered in view of KU's unwritten law of non-verbal excommunication.
Anybody could argue my point and ask, "Why sav help to a stranger?" Well, whn not?
There are more than 22,000 students at KU. It would be quite difficult to get to know every one of them personally, but I may never again see the people who pass by me for the rest of my life. A strong friendship could develop from a chance encounter. Many a potential wife pass by me each day, ignore my greeting and, consequently, lose out on the opportunity for a free dinner.
Communication is one of mankind's most vital and fortunate gifts. It helps others to know what is going on inside the body. A simple "How are ya?" could provoke a quick, one-word response or a lengthy dissertation on world affairs. Talk is essential, why not take advantage of the bargain?
people do talk. I know they're out there. The only problem is that they come too few and far. It can be frustrating.
Therefore, I propose that KU's student body open up to the exciting world of conversation, promote a more amiable campus and possibly gain some friendly smiles. At the very least, talk about the weather. Doesn't everybody complain about the weather?
Something big could happen here. Imagine a bubbly, effervescent University full of chattering students who walk around looking and talking to other people instead of relying on their shoes for a nice conversation. It might take some time to, but the results would be worth the effort.
Walking up Mount Oread could actually be an enjoyable experience. Students might want to go to Wesco Beach instead of Padre Island for spring break.
I remember riding on a nearly empty bus one day last spring. A girl pulled the cord that rings on her bracelet.
I wouldn't have given the action a second thought, except that she was sitting in the seat directly behind the bus driver. The softest whisper probably would have knocked the driver's hat off. The whole thing seemed so impersonal.
I am waiting for the day when teachers will not provide 'the only source of speech in the classroom, when students will talk about the weather on campus, when bus passengers will clear their throats and say, "Would you stop at the next corner, please?"
I want this camp to be so noisy that people miss class because they are not able to hear the horn over the roaring of voices. I want the National Guard called in to control the noise level. When it gets to that stage, I'll write another column telling everybody to be quiet.
Ab, that will be the day.
But until then, it seems that we will have to depend on noisy cars with damaged mufflers for audible campus entertainment.
This fall, the most volume to come my way was last Monday, when a guy walked towards me. I saw him, and I knew he was
They were pretty loud.
So this was where Simon & Garfunkel wrote "Sound of Silence."
Pot Shots
Lawrence residents might not be aware of it, but there is a war going on — right here in this
And it is not just any war, it is a nuclear war. Yesterday or the day before, Kansas City was hit by a nuclear bomb, and right now, even as you read, thousands of former Kansas City residents are on their way to Lawrence via D77 to escape the war-ravaged metropolis.
How to go to college
Actually, the "former residents" are mostly
Never, never siln at or near the front of the class. It may signify that you are interested in
Never, never go to a professor's office and ask about anything but what the test questions may be or how many points you need for an A. Remember that anything not on the tests is "experience."
Subscribe to Time magazine, display it prominently on your desk, but never, never be
I was horrified to notice, while looking out the window of one of ourallowed campus buildings, that someone had found c new and exciting way to kill pigeons.
You are familiar, of course, with the disgust aroused in the hearts of certain bird-hating University officials whenever pigions fly. They make a mazy mess on the sidewalk, after all, and you never know when you'll feel that sickening splat on your head.
It was pointed out to me that turning on an air
Catherine Behan
Tom Gress
KU students working as extras on the ABC film, "The Daw After."
The film crews have set up a realistic shanty town for the "refugees," and Allen Field House has been turned into a "refugee center" for the film.
KU students have been recruited to work as extras in the film so that the ABC people can make their film more realistic. Most notably, they would be willing to shave their beards who would be willing to shave their beards.
I would want a lot of money to shave my head, and ABC is offering a paltry $75 dollars. Maybe those brave enough or poor enough to have an entire set of lipstick? After all, what else could top the Palmyo shirt?
The filmmakers also have asked students working as extras to refrain from showing for several days and, for men only, to avoid shaving -- that war-ravaged look. I guess.
This film has brought all kinds to Lawrence. I just hope they're through working by the time classes resume Tuesday, especially now that the air-conditioning is off.
caught actually reading it.
If you must do research papers, remember, there is probably a test file with a variety of DARTS files.
Try to find classes for which the books either color-coordinate with your wardrobe or for another purpose.
Never, never say that you learned something from a class or that you were even mildly funny.
Never, never attend a lecture, speech or film that wasn't assigned to you by a professor, unless, of course, there will be drinking afterward.
Never, never tell anybody that you read a book that had nothing to do with a class.
Tracee Hamilton
Read only the comics, Ann Landers and the sports page of the newspaper.
Follow these rules and you will no doubt receive a good job. Whether you will have an employment or not, you must
If you must read anything outside of class, play PlayBoy. And look only at the pictures, not
conditioner after a winter of pigeon residency can be an unpleasant experience. The diseased birds are carriers of enough germs to wipe out the population of Lawrence, they say. But having to clean up a few feathers is no excuse for pigeon genocide.
Pigeons are fun birds. They like people, particularly people who feed them well. I can understand the University asking that no one feed the pigeons on their window ledge.
But prongs? Metal spikes lining the window and of pint Hall" these are sharp, pointy, needle-like prongs.
Perhaps we all should be issued a drum Luger at enrollment. Then we could blow the bores off of the tubing.
Feathers were scattered among those prongs that day, signaling that at least one University-style execution had been carried out.
I hope I never have to look out that window and see a smoky gray pigeon impaled on those prongs.
U.S. aid to Israel should be sent to Lebanon
Bv GEORGE W. BALL.
BY GEORGE W. BALL
New York Times Syndicate
PRINCETON, N.J. — Now that the drama of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon is in its final act, it is time to think of the morning after. Who is to pay Lebanon for the damage wrought by Israel's roving air force and army? Equiped with the finest planes, tanks and guns that American factories could produce, they have devastated a nation, killed or maimed civilian men, women and children. They have rendered thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands — at cost of rebuilding, of compensating survivors and emergency shelter will require billions of dollars.
Though some Israeli officials assert that the self-reliant Lebanese can carry the burden unassisted, that is merely black humor. Huge amounts of outside aid will be needed and, under the aggressor, would normally be expected to the extent that states might have been considered liable for damages had they come to the defense of the PLO. But they did not. The Lebanese civilians did not ask the Israeli to destroy their houses and take the property, and it would be immoral if they were left alone.
But will Israel supply the resources required? If past experience is any guide, Israel will disclaim responsibility and pass the burden to the United States. Yet that would be carrying presumption beyond tolerable limits. How unfair are taxpayers, at a time of recession and large-scale unemployment, were to be made the fall guys as if America were responsible for the carnage.
We did not wage this war, nor did we ask Israel to wage it. Having created a pretext, the Israeli arm wasted our own prior knowledge, choosing a moment of weakness in busy at the Vernalia summit conference. They
also misdirected their objective — they were, they
only clearing an area 25 miles north of their
In the name of humanity and decency, we should provide ample help for the Lebanese people, in the name of logic and justice, we should provide ample help that from our annual subsidy to Israel.
That subsidy is large enough to help materially with Lebanon's reconstruction. For the past several years, it has amounted to almost one-fourth of our total foreign aid — which, for a country with a population less than that of Detroit, and only one-tenth of 1 percent of the world's population, suggests some distortion of values.
Our government's annual assistance to Israel amounts to roughly $7.2 billion — $750 a head for Israel's 3.5 million people. It is as if the American family of five gave Israel $70 a year—and, as the economist Thomas R. Stauffer contends in a forthcoming issue of the journal, Middle East International, even that figure may be understated. If more Americans were aware of these calculations, it might add perspective to the current federal budget argument.
The diversion of our subsidy to help pay the Lebanese people for the quantifiable costs of devastation would not, of course, recompense America for the political losses suffered by the government. We should be negotiating for the departure of the PLO leaders while silently enduring the Begin government's posturing and hectoring and its continued harassment of the Beirut populace, we have appeared as an accessory to Defense Minister Ariel Sharon's effort to destroy the Palestinian nation.
destroy Beirut and for an increased subsidy to help meet the estimated $2 billion or more that the war has already cost its own hard-pressed economy. Indeed, before Israeli troops are fully withdrawn (there is increasing evidence they may plan to keep control of southern Lebanon up to and including the watershed of the Litan River — the last large water resource divertable into Israel) the sum could be more than twice that.
Past experience has shown that we can expect little gratitude from the current government in Jerusalem. Israel will almost certainly press for changes to its nuclear and bomb cluster bombs to replace those it has used to
Nor will the dispersal of the PLO make begin and his colleagues any more flexible in addressing the Palestinian problem. Hope for that ceased when we ended the danger of a two-front war by neutralizing Egypt through the Camp David accords. To talk as if eliminating the PLO leadership will improve the chances for a Palestinian settlement is fantasy.
George W. Ball was unders secretary of state in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
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