4A
Opinion
Friday, September 3, 1999
Editorial
Buying out Royals not solution to bigger problem in baseball
Latest proposal ignores tradition, importance of small markets
For more than 30 years, the Kansas City Royals have been a great addition to our area. To be sure, the team has had its share of ups and downs, and lately
there have been a lot more downs. But, the Royals' hard times shouldn't be allowed to end Major League Baseball in Kansas City
A proposal floating around Major League Baseball threatens to do just that.
The big-money team owners have battled the smaller market teams for years, and no one has come up with an easy solution to solve the financial disparity that runs rampant in Major League Baseball. The current idea being toyed with is the brainchild of Jerry McMorris, owner of the large-market Colorado Rockies. McMorris thinks the solution is to buy out and then dissolve two to four franchises. One possible candidate is the Kansas City Royals.
For the owners, this may seem to be a simple solution to a difficult problem.
The Royals are a tourist attraction. They are the only American League team in the area, drawing visitors from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, among others. A game is a great way for a family to spend a day, and attendance was on an upswing this year, despite a losing season.
Throw a little money at the problem, and it might go away. But, for the towns that could lose their teams, it is not so simple. A buyout and dissolution of its franchise would be a bitter pill for Kansas City to swallow.
Second, the Royals, despite their recent string of disappointing seasons, are a still large part of the culture of Kansas City. The recent induction of George Brett into the Hall of Fame provided evidence of just how many people in the city still care about baseball.
It may be hard for owners like McMorris to see, but baseball shouldn't be only about making money. It's hard to put a price on a
child's first trip to a major league ballpark, and owners need to recognize that. It's healthy for the game.
And, the prestige and publicity that comes along with being a major league city should not be underestimated for Kansas City.
The buyout and dissolution plan is short-sighted. The Royals have good young players, and, once the team's ownership difficulties are resolved, it is quite possible that the team will return to its former glory.
Fans of the Royals need to make sure to
Consider that if Major League Baseball had this problem 10 years ago, two prime buyout targets could have been the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves. Both teams were drawing paltry crowds and playing losing baseball. But both made serious management changes and are now two of the most successful franchises in the game.
make their voices heard before it's too late. There is no simple solution to the problems that exist in Major League Baseball. But, certainly, the best solution is not to strip cities of their teams. Instead, owners need to look past the bottom line and possibly toward a new generation of young fans that might never get to see a major league game. That in itself would provide healthy returns for baseball.
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
Abortion needs debate not a shouting match
Kansas is again in the spotlight of the debate about abortion rights, and the controversy illustrates all too well the complexity and divisiveness of the issue.
The case at hand involves a 14-year-old girl from Arizona with a troubled past. A chronic runaway, she has been a ward of the state since she was 5. Twenty-four weeks ago, she became pregnant. She asked the state for an abortion, telling a county court that the pregnancy was the result of rape and she had since abused drugs heavily.
Soon after her request was granted, she ran away again, and was not found until recently. Now to end the pregnancy she must undergo a late-term abortion, a procedure performed in only two states: California and Kansas. In a closed hearing last week, the court granted her permission to travel out-of-state and receive the abortion, which would be paid for with federal funds.
Until then, the rulings related to the case were kept secret because the girl was a juvenile. But news of last week's decision was leaked to attorney John Jakubczyk, who represents anti-abortion interests in Arizona including Arizona Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion lobby. The news quickly spread. Laura Schlessinger, a syndicated radio personality who opposes abortion, described the case on air and encouraged listeners to voice their opposition, resulting in more than 900 calls to the Arizona governor's office. Anti-abortion groups came out to counter their protests. The girl's predicament became an open door to a shooting match about the larger question of abortion rights.
MARK
McMaster
columnist
option@kansan.com
The case was turned to the Arizona Supreme Court, which on Sunday voted 3-2 to allow the girl to travel to Wichita to receive an abortion.
There is little reason to doubt that this decision will arouse the same charged debate in Kansas as it has in Arizona. There also is little reason to believe that any of the clash will help resolve the abortion issue. Most likely, there will be a rehash of former abortion-rights battles: groups on both sides will line up and shout
their familiar arguments to the media. Meanwhile, the public will sigh at revisiting a painful issue, tune out the discussion and individuals will fail to reconsider their abortion views in light of this special case. Close-mindedness will again prevail, and we will overlook the extraordinary nature of the young girl's circumstances, which so painfully capture the difficulty of defending a position either for or against abortion.
Finding ethical premises we can agree upon is easy. Who could disagree with the statement that any life, and most especially human life, is deserving of special protection? But on the other hand, we can just as easily say that an individual should make private decisions about his or her own health without intrusion of the state. In the debate on abortion we discover that these premises, both of which are fundamental to our values as a nation and a society, are contradictory.
Where do we draw the line on what kind of life we are compelled to protect? Many who oppose abortion might make allowances in situations such as this in which rapes has occurred and the mother's drug use threatens the health of the unborn baby. On the other hand, even those who support reproductive rights might question whether a traumatized 14-year-old is ready to make the decision to abort or whether federal funding should be used for the procedure
The lesson to be learned is this: the simple premises presented by groups in the abortion debate will do little to resolve the issue. Only through open-minded discussion, in which individuals set aside their polarized stances and consider the intricacies of the decision to abort, may we come to some moral consensus. We each have a responsibility to deliberate carefully on this issue, taking time to listen rather than shout.
Think hard about the plight of that young girl and the question of what the state of Arizona should do about it. Whether you are an abortion activist or opponent, see if you can understand the opposing perspective. If you feel less secure about your views on abortion, we are one step closer toward healing the rift that abortion has driven through our society.
McMaster is a Wichita senior in journalism, political science and humanities.
Kansas should not be mecca for late-term abortions
Kansas is staging a summer sequel. But, this sequel is not for entertainment. It is an epic tragedy with a mix of players that range from powerful state officials to the weakest of human beings.
Part I of this drama took place in July of 1998, when a then 12-year-old Michigan girl traveled to Wichita to have an abortion. She was in the 29th week of pregnancy, or about 7 months along. Her own state would not allow such a late-term abortion, and most other states don't allow them or don't have a single doctor willing to perform them.
But Kansas does have a willing doctor. George Tiller performed
the late-term abortion, and the Michigan girl returned home un-pregnant.
The case seemed so dramatic and the circumstances so unusual that it couldn't possibly confront us again.
Chad Bettes opinion editor
But it appears opinion@kansan.com that the sequel unfolded this week
In what is becoming an annual tradition, another young girl is thought to be seeking a late term abortion in Kansas.
Of course, she could not receive an abortion in Arizona at such a late stage, and it has taken an act of the Arizona Supreme Court to allow her to come to the heartland for one.
This time, the girl is a 14-year-old Arizonaan, reportedly 24 weeks, or 6 months, pregnant.
pointment in her Supreme Court's 3-2 decision. Her representative said a court order prevents the governor from commenting further on the case.
So what's going on in Kansas? The 1998 Legislature banned late-term abortions and partial-birth abortions. Gov. Bill Graves signed the bill into law. It would seem risky for people from around the country to continue to travel here for these very abortions at Tiller's clinic.
Arizona Gov. Jane Hull, a former Kansan and Jayhawk, tried to block the trip and expressed disap-
But, the devil is in the details.
Last year's abortion legislation apparently includes exceptions and loopholes for these late-term abortions — even on unborn children who could live outside of the womb. The problem is that nobody seems to know for sure.
Furthermore, Tiller modified his late-term abortion procedure, purportedly to meet the requirements of Kansas law. His spokeswoman described the abortion last year: "We are providing full cranial anesthesia, which causes fetal death, and we are in fact aspirating a portion of the cranial contents in order to comply with Kansas law."
Sadly, 58 of these partial-birth abortions were performed in Kansas in just the last six months of 1998, despite the law and national polls showing that a large majority of Americans think it should not be allowed. One legislator went so far as to dub Tiller the Dr. Kervorkian of abortion for his willingness to perform the procedure.
Pretty grusome stuff, which is probably why many politicians, prosecutors and government agencies are deafeningly quiet today.
the law by Tiller
The Kansas Board of Healing Arts, which oversees the state's physicians, has not taken any disciplinary action against Tiller. The board's executive director, Larry Buening, would not confirm or deny that his board had even looked into potential violations of
Attorney General Carla Stovall is leaving enforcement decisions about the abortion law up to local law enforcement, her representative said. In essence, Stovall has turned a blind eye to partial-birth abortion.
A representative for Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston would not comment on the Arizona case or the abortion law in general. She said these matters were discussed internally and not publicly.
In an amazing show of arrogance, Foulston, at least through her representative, refuses to give any explanation of her interpretation of this legal issue of great importance. I guess Foulston's inaction is telling enough.
Legislators opposed to late-term abortions are stymied. They say their legislative attempt was to stop these cases, not increase them. Anti-abortion groups are stunned at how the law is being interpreted and abused.
There's finger pointing all around. But something more must happen and happen quickly. Stovall and Foulson should be held accountable for their unwillingness to prosecute late-term abortion cases, even if it only serves to clarify Kansas law, which they claim is unclear. The Board of Healing Arts should initiate a full proceeding to uncover exactly what is going on in Tiller's clinic. And, the Legislature should rewrite the law from scratch if legislators' intent is not being carried out.
Kansas is becoming the late-term abortion capital of the nation, and viable babies are being killed. That's the tragedy, and it must be stopped.
Bette is a Shawnee graduate student in journalism.
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
— Hare Fond
Henry Ford
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
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This is in response to Mr. Loader's editorial of 9/1/99. The Department of Student Housing policy is to not respond to negative articles published in the local press. These are my personal thoughts concerning Mr. Loader's editorial.
I take exception to Mr. Loader's editorial's irresponsible journalism and the resulting ill-informed assertion that not all that could been done to correct the McCollum Hall air conditioning problem was done.
Feedback
Had Mr. Loader properly researched his article, he would have discovered: the problem was discovered by maintenance personnel about mid-morning on Friday and necessary maintenance personnel were pulled away from other projects to repair the leak. They had to troubleshoot and diagnose the problem.
I do not mind Mr. Loader's personal cheap shots at me. I figure that comes with the job and the territory. I do resent his malignment of many hard working maintenance personnel.
If any of the students living in McCollum do not believe the maintenance personnel did all they could to correct the problem, I and the housing maintenance staff apologize for any discomfort caused due to the lack of air conditioning.
Column did not tell the whole story about McCollum
When Mr. Loader called me on Monday, I can only recall him asking three questions: what my name and position were, what had happened at McCollum Hall, and what method the contractor had used to ship the repair parts.
Two maintenance personnel spent their lunch hour contacting potential electrical parts suppliers in the Kansas City and Topeka areas searching for repair
parts. When the repair parts had been located, one of the workers drove to Kansas City. These employees are just a few of the many that went above and beyond the call of duty to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
I feel Mr. Loader owes an apology to his readers for his irresponsible coverage of this story and to any and all McCollum Hall and Department of Student Housing Maintenance staffs.
Phil Garito associate director of student housing