4A
Wednesday, September 25, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Congressional pensions are lavish, should be cut
As the presidential candidates consider plans for balancing the budget, they should keep in mind that the excess in Congress is a good place to
start.
Congressional pensions account for a good portion of the fat that should be trimmed. The average member of Congress earns $133,600 annually. After only five years, members earn a pension, and after 30 years, they are eligible for an annual pension of 75 percent of their three consecutive highest-paid years, according to documents from the Civil Service Retirement System. General employees earn just 56 percent. The National Tax Payers Union estimates that congressional pensions cost more than $500 billion, which is roughly one-ninth of the national debt.
This guarantee is lucrative for some former members. U.S. Senate candidate Pat Roberts and presidential candidate Bob Dole each have pensions in excess of $1.9 million. Although Roberts has voted twice in favor of pension reform, he still will benefit from a lucrative pension. Democrats are equally culpable of abusing the public trust.
In addition, when many members retire, they often are employable as a consultant or in some other occupation, and they are likely to earn a six-figure salary.
Two pension reform bills are in Congress, but it is unlikely that either will come to a vote anytime soon. Shakespeare wrote, "They are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing." Members of Congress deserve a pension for their service, but not a guarantee of retiring as millionaires at public expense.
NICK ZALLER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Altered traffic lights create need for cautious driving
For students who have been too busy lately to stop and look around, here is a piece of advice: Take the time to be cautious, at least when driving because Lawrence constantly monitors and changes traffic lights. The city recently changed traffic lights at two major intersections.
At the intersection of Ninth and Mississippi streets, the city has removed green left-turn arrows, which means that vehicles turning left must yield to oncoming traffic. After monitoring the traffic flow, the city realized leftturn traffic was not heavy enough to warrant use of the left-turn arrows. A "left turn yield on green" sign replaces the arrow. The change is easy to miss because the lights for north- and southbound traffic that goes straight through the intersection have remained the same. For students in a hurry, not taking a closer look at the light could prove costly.
The second change was made to the traffic lights at the intersection of Sixth Street and Kasold Drive. Just as the change on Mississippi Street, the lights for traffic proceeding north and south on Kasold Drive have changed for the better. The city decided that green lights timed separately slowed traffic unnecessarily. Consequently the city removed a median, producing an additional lane for traffic.
David Woosley, director of traffic engineering for the city, said that traffic in the city continually changes and that the department of public works would continue to monitor it and make changes when necessary.
Students always should be attentive while driving, but changes at these traffic lights mean drivers should use extra care to get to their destinations safely.
ROBERT FLYNN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
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At the recent Democratic Party love-in and hug-a-thon in Chicago, politicians harped incessantly and unmercifully about their vision for the future.
Shawn Trimble/KANSAN
the future seems to have become the all-encompassing theme for the campaign of President Bill Clinton and Assistant President Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Colleagues reflect nature of president's character
At the convention, Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Gov. Mario Cuomo and every other sweaty-lipped liberal loosely related to the Democratic Party spoke ad nauseam about, well, something. I admit I didn't pay attention too closely.
I did, however, catch a part of Sen. Ted Kennedy's, D-Mass., speech that crystallized the convention's theme and the last four years.
Kennedy showed up at the convention looking rather distinguished, which of course confused me. But his speech, with its reliance on audience participation, confirmed that this in fact was the Big Ted. He had the Democrats chanting Dole, Kemp and Gingrich — at every clause where blame was assigned.
Kennedy's speech was a traditional lambaste in the GOP's direction, and to someone who had not yet reached the age of reason, it might have been regarded as serious political ideology.
And really, the only line that warranted any attention was another reference to George Bush. Kennedy bellowed, "Before you read their lips, you'd better read their platform!"
I believe the last platform of import in the good senator's life was the platform that divers used near the Champaquidick bridge.
How interesting.
Chaplin: In any event, my point — which the senator's speech illustrates nicely — is that the Democrats want you to look toward the future because they want you to forget about the failings
STAFF COLUMNIST
of the past.
Bill Clinton said in the 1992 campaign that he would have the most ethical administration in history. The past few years dismally fail by that standard. The Clinton administration makes the Harding administration's Teapot Dome Scandal look like nothing
Judge the president by the company he has kept. Forget thinking about Clinton's tomorrows. The last four years have been more than enough.
Don't believe it? Read the annals of the White House for the last four years:
but capricious tomfoolery.
(to say the least) journal, reported that no bullet was found. No trace of soil was found on his shoes, according to the Spectator, even though he walked 700 feet into the park. Foster was a former lawyer partner of Hillary Clinton's and, Aldrich contends, allegedly her lover during the 1992 campaign.
Vincent Foster adds the Ben Matlock element to the White House story. He was found dead in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia after allegedly committing suicide. The American Spectator, a conservative
Mike Espy gets the Huey P. Long Memorial Citation for allegedly taking kickbacks from Tyson Chicken as agriculture secretary. According to the *Deseret News*, a Salt Lake City newspaper, Espy resigned in December 1994 because of the investigation into the alleged favors. In a rare presidential decision, meaning one with which I agree, Espy was replaced by Kansas' very own Dan Glickman, the only Democrat in Kansas save Greg Montgomery worth mentioning.
Hillary Clinton started off the administration by taking her friends to the normally private traditional send-off tea with the Bushes. Gary Aldrich, a special agent for the FBI stationed in the White House, reported in his book, Unlimited Access, that she was screaming at the president-elect through the windows of Blair House minutes before.
Anyone heard from David Watkins? I doubt it. He's been a little out of the loop since he left the White House after being caught using Marine One, the President's helicopter, as his personal golf cart.
The theme song at the 1992 Democratic National Convention was Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. That was a fine editorial choice — in line with exactly the type of spin the president will need to get re-elected.
Remember Zoe Baird, the Clinton's first choice for attorney general? When she still was practicing law, her household income was upward of $500,000. Yet Baird decided she could save a few thousand dollars a year by not paying taxes on the illegal aliens she employed around the house.
Lastly, the Freud Award for Political Foreshadowing goes to Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-III., who said, "Good morning, Mrs. President," to Hillary Clinton at the President's Prayer Breakfast.
Without a doubt, there were some relatively positive things to be noted in the last four years. But they escape me at the moment.
The man from Hope wants you to look toward the future to a second term, in which we can only imagine what other liberties he and his staff will take in the White House.
Andy Obermeyer is a Liberal, Kan.,Junior in Journalism.
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Taking dose of vitamins need not be a dull affair
I get my vitamin C from the herb called rosehips, or as indicated on my bottle, Rose Hips. I make no apologies for that. The bottom line is that I need to ingest a chalky little pill once a day, right? What's so bad about it having a little sex appeal?
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STAFF COLUMNIST
Rose Hips: a 500 milligram seductress—the daily antioxidant of Dick Morris—is an *au naturale* source
of vitamin C. My girlfriend isn't sure about this arrangement. I mean, I see Rose Hips once a day at least, and I make no real effort to hide that from her. Morning, noon, night, it doesn't matter. I just need my Rose Hips. My father loves his Rose Hips. My mother says I
need my Rose Hips. That should be all the go-ahead I need. Is anybody going to argue with her?
More than half of Americans admit to indulging in vitamins regularly. Why should I be any different? People have been ingesting vitamins since the very beginning. It's one of the world's oldest obsessions.
You can't hold me as immoral or amoral when all I'm trying to do is put the kibosh on free radicals — those extremist oxygen molecule groups with an electron missing upstairs, if you know what I mean.
Rose Hips, the vitamin C that's good for what ails you, is the heart-of-gold supplement to your empty places.
I try to tell my girlfriend that my time with Rose Hips is a boost to our relationship, not a negative. Boston University researchers recently concluded that vitamin C may help keep veins and arteries loose and pliable, thereby discouraging the blockage that can cause heart disease. More than 50 studies have shown that people who partake in high levels of antioxidants have a lower risk of getting cancer. Vitamin C has been shown to strengthen the immune system against the common cold and diabetes. These are good things, aren't they? To heck with the gaggle of sanctimonious researchers who dismiss those claims.
Surely not from Roseanne Hips. Marketing would never sign off on that one.
So let's not break Scott's chops without thinking about this. I could go on with the positive effects of Rose Hips. It may be essential to the viability and motility of sperm; it may dissuade your face from wrinkling. But what's the use? Everybody's going to unfurl their judgments upon my beloved Rose Hips anyway.
How can anybody look scornfully upon such a win-win situation. She gets money, I get what I need. This is so clear to me, perhaps because studies have suggested vitamin C decreases the risk of cataracts and guards against macular degeneration, a retina problem that can lead to blindness. And studies suggest it may protect brain cells from oxidative damage, preserving mental health. It's no wonder Americans spend more than $3 billion a year on vitamins. Rose Hips, the financially independent pill whom you need but who doesn't need you; the tangy tart with healthful benefits that just won't stop.
All I'm saying is that it shouldn't be taboo for a guy to swallow down his vitamin C with a smile. From what other source do you want vitamin-producing companies to cull this life-preserving substance?
THE AVENGING VARMINT
Scott Worthington is a Kansas City, Mo.
graduate student in Journalism.
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