We pollute?
Everyone is against pollution; no one is for it. Why then does it still exist?
It is fashionable these days for every politician, every columnist, and, in fact, (almost everybody to get up on his soapbox and mourn the earth's increasing inability to support life. Much brilliant argument and outrage are raised against the destruction of our environment by industrial wastes. Many great exposes have depicted the polluting of land, air and water. Still little has been done about eliminating the causes. Very few do not recognize the problem of pollution, and the causes are not difficult to find. Why, then, has nothing been done?
Could it be that Americans are not willing to sacrifice for the future?
The job of cleaning up the environment in the United States is one of the most difficult jobs this country has ever faced. It will, in the end, probably result in a lower standard of living and make the public give up many conveniences to which it has become accustomed.
For instance, how many men are going to be willing to give up their high-powered Detroit bombs and drive instead an electric car which produces no pollution? The electric automobiles that are being developed today cannot economically go faster than 45 mph.
Anti-pollution equipment for even small chemical plants and factories can sometimes run into the millions of dollars. If the federal government required industrialists to remove the pollution causing factors from their plants, they would defray the cost by raising the price of their product. Many shoe-string operations would fold up, taking away the livelihood of thousands of people. On the other hand, if the government decides to bear the cost, the taxpayers would have to bear the burden of increased taxes. How many politicians in office are willing to support a program that would increase unemployment and raise prices, raise taxes, or all three? They might feel that such a move would jeopardize their employment after the next election.
Maybe nothing is being done because not enough people really want something done. The saving of our environment for future generations may be necessary just so there can be future generations. But still it seems that few are willing to make the sacrifices to do this. How can the America that throws trash on the highways and doesn't give a damn start caring about the way things will be 20 years from now? We can only hope that somehow it will.
Nixon and the vote
President Nixon recently signed a bill giving 18-year-olds the right to vote, but he signed it in what appeared to be a mere political move. Little evidence indicates that it was his desire to see the law go into effect.
The bill was signed in a hideway office with an ordinary silver fountain pen and only an aide present, lacking the pomp and pageentry normally associated with something of such magnanimous effect.
The President issued a statement at the time acknowledging his awareness of the consensus among constitutional experts that an amendment is required for such legislation.
Nixon also endorsed "the likelihood that the 18-year-old vote provision of this law will not survive its court test."
A basic examination of the bill structure provides further evidence of Nixon's political maneuvering. The 18-year-old-vote measure was a mere rider on a bill that extends for five more years the protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 against racial discrimination.
Nixon also stated:
"If I were to veto, I would have to veto the entire bill—voting rights and all. If the courts hold the voting-age provisions unconstitutional, only that one section of the act will be affected. Because the basic provisions of this act are of great importance; therefore, I am giving it my approval and leaving the decision on the disputed provisions to what I hope will be a swift resolution by the courts."
In the probable case of a necessary constitutional amendment, little hope exists for passage.
Nixon no doubt is extremely sensitive to the general public's tendency to shy away from placing responsibility in the hands of college-age youths because of recent campus disorders. He also realizes the policy among state legislators to please their constituents.
As further proof records show that in the past 15 years no state has lowered the voting age, including voter defeat of referendums in eight states since 1966.
It is unlikely that 37 states would ratify a constitutional amendment giving 11,000,000 18-21-year-olds the right to vote, as it is likely that Congress has not the authority to enact such legislation. Jolynn Bugbee
kamper kansan
Kamper News Office—112 Flint Hall
Camp Office—214 Murphy Hall
864-3755
The Kumper Kansan, camp newspaper at the Midwestern Music and Art Camp, is published four times, on Fridays, during the five-week camp sessions on Fridays. It is written by the members of the Journalism Division of the Camp.
The opinions expressed in the editorial columns are those of the editorial staff of the newspaper. Guest editorial views are not necessarily those of the editorial staff. Any opinions expressed in the Kamper Kansan are not necessarily those of the Midwestern Music and Art Camp or the University of Kansas.
Executive Staff
Editor-in-Chief Bunny Miller
News Editor Jolynn Bugbee
Editorial Editor George DeTar
Feature Editor Chandra McCormick
Sports Editor Dave Gossen
Photography Editor Ken Meade
Reporters and Copy Editors David Brown, Curtis Castelle, Donna Clurn,
Maureen Cook, Penny Crews, Marvis Sorrell, Vivian Walden
Michelle Witcher, and Gary Zink
Kansan Adviser Calder M. Pickett
Photographic Advisers Gary Mason, William Seymour
Meditation Increases Awareness
By DEBBIE JONES
Kamper Kansan Reporter
Most men seek happiness. To some it represents the ultimate goal in life. To others it is a spiritual fulfillment, the by-product of sacrifices. Few men, however, have discovered the secret to obtaining this emotional ecstasy.
According to Casey Coleman and the Students' International Meditation Society, the mystery has been unfolded in the form of transcendental consciousness.
As man utilizes more of the mind, he perceives more of the world. He becomes responsive and aware. This fosters a feeling of happiness. With approximately five to eight years of meditation, estimates the Maharishi, an individual can be using all of his mind, thereby marking the epitome of human awareness.
Since man does not utilize 94 per cent of his mind, he exists on a subhuman level. He is unresponsive to nature and other aspects of existence. This form of semi-consciousness produces frustration.
First explained ten years ago by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi of India, it is a form of meditation revolving around the theory that men utilizes a mere 6 per cent of his mind at any given time.
Before a group of approximately 60 people assembled in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union July 1, Coleman, who has recently returned from India where he studied with the Maharishi, outlined the concepts behind transcendental meditation.
Meditation "utilizes the natural tendency of the mind to seek greater and greater happiness," reports Coleman. "It allows us to experience thought. It's a technique of action, dynamism. We meditate to enjoy life more."
"Meditation improves us from within," observes Coleman.
"Meditation approaches life on all fronts," explains Coleman. "By improving yourself, you improve all aspects of your life."
Coleman feels that many of these concepts will be borne out by science in the near future.
Maybe that is what it is all about.
Sex outlook changing with times
Have you noticed (it is hard not to) that a sexual revolution is upon us? Conversations between sexes are increasingly becoming filled with what used to be forbidden words. Now it is common to hear such unmentionables as . . . well, I won't mention them.
By VIVIAN WALDON
Kamper Kansan Reporter
An overall picture might be gained by looking at the starting point for us all in elementary school. This innocent portion of education is today being filled with, of all things, sex education. Secondary schools are now telling children what they already knew anyway, but it has taken a long time for them to do it.
To look at this situation from another view, look at teenage pregnancies. Nice to look at? (Well, that is up to you.) If you had been a mother or a father 20 years ago, you probably would have gotten out the shotgun. Parents of today no longer rely on the shotgun. They try to seek communication with their daughter to find out why.
What is all of this leading to?
A sexually free society? The answer is up to us, the young.
Photo by Ken Meade
Joan Baez—Midwestern style
Singer-guitarist Donna Young displays her talents as campers gather for the hootenanny.
A doubt on inspection
Because of one of the Hall rules here at camp, campers have reason to feel a bit confused as to the purpose of our stay here. The rule I'm talking about is our daily rigamarole of room inspection. I, for one, came here to learn about journalism and, due to the cash outlay involved, I believe the other students are here to learn about their chosen field of study also. Then why, may I ask, are we all forced to take a full-time course in janitorial training? Actually, there has been no announced purpose of room inspection. I feel there is none, other than to provide the wing counselors a little fun by competition. If all a compulsory rule accomplishes is this, I believe we had better see about getting rid of it, for we can get all of the competition we want on the playing field.
Realistically, does making sure your closet doors are shut in the morning make you a better artist? Does making your bed to the supervisor's satisfaction allow you to play a better chromatic scale? And this "gig" business is ridiculous. "HA HA HA 2 North, dropped 7 gigs today, didn't ya!" The fact that one of them was for an open desk drawer that is physically impossible to close makes no difference. I suggest we do away with the present practice of room inspection by the supervisors and adopt the following:
1. Every morning, the wing counselors would inspect the rooms to their satisfaction.
2. They then would write "inspected" on a slip of paper, sign it, and post it on the hall door.
3. The supervisors could then tell at a glance whether the hall has been inspected or not.
What could be simpler and more efficient? If the wing counselors are responsible enough to hold their position, then they are surely able to handle room inspection. Furthermore, very seldom does General Wheeler inspect every battalion in the U.S. Army.
Unless the supervisors really get a thrill out of room inspection, unless they can show us some rhyme or reason for it, I think the campers are ready to do away with it.
Gary Zink
Union as omen
Campus unrest, Student dissatisfaction. University violence. I had heard all these terms before, but they didn't seem to mean much to me. They were only a five or ten minute news story on the Huntley-Brinkley report, along with some film of heads getting cracked or a building being firebombed.
And then I came to the University of Kansas.
Everyone is talking about "last spring" and "the Union thing." I hear it in the Trail Room and on the street. Someone blames the radicals, and someone blames repression, and everyone blames the war. And suddenly my head is spinning.
And then there is the gutted Union. It stands not quite a monument, not exactly a warning, but more an omen. I can't help but feel that way. It stands there day after day, like a scar stands after a knife fight. And though the charred remains will soon be gone, their presence will be gone, their presence will be known in an intangible way.
And still my head is spinning.
Scott Hamilton