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Wednesday, July 6, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
100000
VIEWPOINT
New recruits need apply for old civil rights battle
Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1964, young people around the country fought a crusade. That crusade, dubbed Freedom Summer, represented a yearning for equality and a loathing of the bigotry that for too long had kept America in a social Dark Age.
Thousands of college-aged men and women rallied to this cause. Their enthusiasm and devotion should be remembered and emulated by today's young people.
In 1964, African Americans in the South still were denied the right to vote and to an equal education.
Young activists envisioned a nation free of such injustice. In pursuit of that goal, many of them were viciously beaten. Some were even murdered.
Their sacrifice is not forgotten. These men and women inspired changes in our society. Sweeping civil rights laws finally passed the legislative lawrinth.
This summer marks the thirtieth anniversary of Freedom Summer. After 30 years, equal rights and opportunities are supposed to be an accomplished fact. Unfortunately, the bigotry of the past still exists. It just lurks in a more clandestine form.
Thirty years ago, young people saw a problem,and they mobilized to fight it.
We hide behind the new, more "sensitive" vocabulary of political correctness, but the whispers of racism still reveal the true feelings of too many people.
As the Freedom Summer showed, these are problems worthy of a crusade. The summer of 1964 also proved that young people can make a difference. It is time again for us to fully recognize the discrimination on our campuses and in our communities. It is time to fight the problem in groups or as individuals. It is time to finish the crusade of 30 years ago.
MATT HOOD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Tanning's false glamour belies threat of cancer
But as a recent effort by the National Weather Service should remind us, the pursuit of the so-called healthy tan is nothing more than trading off short-term cosmetic gains for possible long-term cancer risks.
This past holiday weekend, millions of Americans went outdoors to do some serious cooking - of their skin.
The National Weather Service started including an index of ultraviolet exposure levels at different cities across the nation. The organization has configured the index on a one-to-10 scale, with 10 considered "very high" levels of exposure.
Because long-term effects of unprotected tanning have effects similar to those of radiation exposure, the National Weather Service has done well to give those who choose to bask in the summer sun one more reason to stay shaded.
Daily reminders such as the new ultraviolet index may go a long way toward raising awareness and in reducing the number of skin cancer cases treated in the United States each year.
Nearly 700,000 cases of minor forms of skin cancer were reported last year, more than all the breast, lung and prostate cancer cases combined. An estimated 7,000 Americans die each year of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
More information about the dangers of sun exposure, such as the index from the National Weather Service, may get people to see the danger behind the fashion of tanning.
DAVID STEWART FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
DAVID STEWART Editor
JUDITHSTANDLEY Business manager
KATIE GREENWALD Managing editor
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CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
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Business Staff
Campus ... Roberta Johnson
... Susan White
Editorial ... Matt Hood
Photo ... Martin Altaeden
Graphics ... Dave Campbell
Copy Chief ... Kathy Paton
Editors
Regional zone mgr .. J.J. Cook
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Classified mgr .. Heather Niehaus
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Dole's support of Oliver North built on warped political desire
I voted for both, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. That seems like an odd combination now, but it didn't back in those heady days of 1992, when it looked as if President-elect Clinton might actually succeed in building the sort of moderate Republican/conservative Democrat coalition this nation so desperately needs.
But that was two years, one trumped-up real estate scandal, three trumped-up sex scandals, and who knows how many Republican filibusters ago. I'll never vote for Dole again. One reason stands out above all, epitomizing everything that is wrong with Dole and the poisonous politics he represents: that reason's name is Oliver North.
A few weeks ago, Dole endorsed Oliver North's bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate. It wasn't a perfunctory, hold-your-nose kind of endorsement, either. Dole warmly praised North's character and abilities, he gave North money, and he even volunteered to campaign for the ex-Marine.
Why? The answer is simple: ambition. Dole wants as many Republican votes in the Senate as he can get in
1995, all the better to derail Clinton initiatives like health care and welfare reform. A broken government under Clinton, stalemated by a hostile Republican-controlled Senate would suit Dole's overweening Presidential aspirations just fine.
Our Senator apparently doesn't care who he must court, to achieve this kind of control over the Senate and bolster his shot at the White House. He'll even woo Oliver North, a man who repeatedly lied under oath during the Iran-contra hearings, and a felon who avoided prison only by invoking the very sort of legal technicalities he and other conservatives are supposed to abhor. In supporting
North's Senate bid, Dole is shamelessly aiding and abetting a moral reprobate who, if elected, would pollute an important and revered institution of American government.
By assisting North, Dole is also indirectly assisting the evil — yes, evil — machinations of the increasingly powerful religious right. The minions of Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, Operation Rescue and others are rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in American politics. North was their boy. They poured millions of dollars into his campaign coffers, and he responded by selling them his soul (what's left of it), spouting appropriately pious aphorisms about God and country at every opportunity, and pledging himself to hardline fundamentalist positions on issues like abortion and school prayer. I suspect that, in helping North, Dole is also courting the money and votes of these religious zealots, who could provide yet another stepping stone to the Presidency.
the sight of a rattlesnake coiled in the grass, but one can hardly blame the snake for being a snake. Understanding the religious right's point of view is also possible. Pushed to a fanatical enough extreme, religion almost always tends to blur into politics, and the resulting bigotry and dogmatism is probably difficult to detect by those God-fearing souls who truly believe in what they are doing. They know not what they do, I suppose.
In a way, it's easy to forgive North for his Senate run. He is what he is. One can be frightened and revolted by
But Bob Dole is much harder to forgive; he ought to know better. Before now, Dole had kept his distance from both North and the religious right. But the pressing need to wreck Bill Clinton's presidency and lay the groundwork for his own seems to have corrupted his judgment. Dole's endorsement of North shows that the bottom line for him is not principle, but personal power.
It will be a dark day for this country if Oliver North ever darkens the door of the U.S. Senate chamber. And we'll have Bob Dole to thank for it.
Brian Dirk is a Conway, Ark., graduate student in history.
Health care reform is not up to par
Health care reform faces complete and utter failure for one basic reason: it ignores the mechanics of golf.
President Clinton has promised the nation universal health care. He has set the lofty goal of health coverage for every American.
EDITORIAL EDITOR
The golfing equivalent of universal health care would require Bill Clinton to hit a 330-yard drive over water, fading the ball slightly around a huge sycamore tree and landing it softly on a green the size of a postage stamp. That scenario sounds difficult for good reason.
It is not impossible, however. Golf courses have witnessed shots that have appeared to defy both logic and the laws of physics. Such incredible shots result from visualization and a smooth consistent swing.
Clinton has visualized the shot he wants to hit. Before him rests a ball labeled health care, and down the fairway beyond the lake, trees and sand lies the green of universal coverage.
The president has set for himself the noble goal of landing that ball on the green. A recent Newsweek poll showed that 74 percent of Americans approve of Clinton's vision of univer-
The ideal golf swing possesses all the poetry of Shakespeare's best sonnet. It rises and falls with similar rhythms. The club moves away from the ball like a broom sweeping dust off a porch step. In one fluid motion, the gentle turn of the torso and the
cal coverage. Such visualization and support from the gallery are both important.
As soon as Congress and the president had started the backswing, health care was in trouble.
Executing the visualized shot — the shot the gallery wants to see — is a different problem. Right now it's Clinton's biggest problem. Clinton can visualize hitting that green all he wants, but Congress has to help him swing.
steady climb of hands and arms unite to position the golf club at the top of the swing. The swing pauses there for a split second, a lone heartbeat sounds, anticipating the release of a perfectly coiled spring. Then, with grace and power, the club descends on the ball.
The current push for health care reform lacks this rhythm and sense of unity. The swing to pass health care reform has been compromised by excessive fidgeting and tinkering.
At least six different versions of health care reform, other than Clinton's, are being caddied around Congress. There's the Cooper plan, the Cooper-Breaux version, the Kennedy plan, the Moynihan proposal, the Chafee plan, and the Dole plan. Each one of these extra plans represents a hitch in the golf swing. Each one interrupts that melodious movement.
Many of these plans don't even target the green of universal coverage. They aren't health care reform. At best, they are heath insurance reform. The difference is like hitting a pitching wedge instead of a driver. The wedge's shot falls far short of where the driver's lands.
Even if Clinton can convince Congress to aim for universal coverage, the green will be almost impossible to hit. Conflicting plans have littered the near liquid motion of the backswelling with herky-jerky starts and stalls.
Perhaps Clinton and Congress need to step away from the ball for a moment and look down the fairway. They'll see hungry water hazards, monstrous sand traps and imposing trees. But they should see the importance of hitting that universal health care green.
All these plans, including Clinton's may fall short of that green. At present, the disjointed and competitive nature of these proposals will likely put the ball in one of those hazards.
Realizing the worth and importance of the universal coverage goal Congress and the president should strive for the same unity of movement so essential to the golf swing.
Health care reform would benefit it congress and the president would take a lesson from golf.
Matt Hood is an Overland Park sophomore in Journalism.
Study shows dangers of secondhand smoke
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
The evidence about the dangers of smoking are so clear that it is surprising — or perhaps amusing — that the tobacco industry still tries to refute the claims.
The latest study, showing that long-term exposure to secondhand smoke can increase the risk of lung cancer by 86 percent, is nothing new. Other studies have shown the same thing.
Nor is the tobacco industry's claim that nicotine is not addictive anything more than a cruel joke. It is, as
science and virtually any smoker can attest, among the most addictive substances on the globe.
Cigarette smoking costs lives — tens if not hundreds of thousands annually — results in poor health for many more, and costs the health system plenty.
Steps to discourage smoking should include increases on tobacco taxes; restrictions on the places people can smoke, gradually increasing their number and type; and public service announcements reiterating the health dangers to smokers and non-smokers alike.
By such an approach, we should be able to reduce the number of
The Times Union Albany, N.Y.
smokers considerably. The great majority of them will probably not object, since most already would like to kick the habit.
Clinton's legal bills are his own responsibility
It is worth noting that President Bill Clinton wouldn't be piling up so many legal bills if his powerful position didn't make him such a tempting target.
It also is worth noting that Clinton wouldn't be piling up such hefty legal bills if he were willing to settle
for lawyers who charge moderate fees.
But here is the president, slogging,
through a swamp of legal troubles;
with some of the nation's priciest;
lawyers at his side. So he has taken
to wondering if some of his fellow.
Americans might have pity on him
and chip in to cut the cost of his bills.
There is something about this pitch that doesn't sit quite right.
We elect presidents, after all, to help solve our nation's problems — not to burden us with their own.
The Plain Dealer Cleveland