4
Wednesday, July 19, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Regents budget will need support for full financing
When it happened the last time, Gov. Mike Hayden had a handy scapegoat. But now the state budget is screwed up again, and he can no longer blame the Democrats.
Hayden later advocated the politically motivated return of the federal income tax windfall and proposed a budget that spent $117 million more than state revenue would bring in. And now state agencies will have to pay for Hayden'sPoliticking.
Hayden's budget director, Michael O'Keefe, last month warned all state agencies that 1991 budget proposals should be 5 percent lower than 1990 budgets. And for the Margin of Excellence, which depends on stepped increases, that spells trouble.
O 'Keefe said he was guardedly optimistic that the third year of the Margin would be fully financed, despite budget gloom and doom. But he did not say whether the Margin was on the list of priority items, for which money was being set aside.
The Margin should be at the top of the priorities list. Kansas institutions of higher learning are among the state's greatest resources. And so are their students. To deny them the high-quality professors and facilities can provide is ridiculous.
Right here at KU for example, professors are leaving at an alarming rate, lured by higher salaries offered by other state's institutions and industry. Facilities are steadily falling into disrepair as the University's budget for repairs and improvements goes begging year after year.
The quality of education offered undoubtedly has suffered under these circumstances. Students will soon join their professors in the exodus to states where educational opportunities are what they should be.
The fact that the Margin was approved and received 100 percent financing for its second year, which began July 1, shows that the governor and the Legislature realize higher education's importance.
Students, student organizations and faculty must not let them go back on their commitment now that headway has begun. Do not let Hayden step back from full financing of the third year of the Margin of Excellence.
Jill Jess and Ric Brack for the editorial board
Save the fort, spoil the land
As one drives through the rolling Flint Hills and breathes the fresh air, it is hard to believe that the region's majestic beauty could ever be spoiled.
But a part of the Flint Hills, Kansas' equivalent to California's redwood forests, faces almost certain destruction if an Army proposal now in the works passes.
The proposal calls for the acquisition of 100,000 acres in northeast Kansas to expand the size of Fort Riley, near Junction City.
Army officials say expansion is necessary so that personnel could be trained in large units to more closely approximate battlefield conditions. But it's difficult to understand why Fort Riley was recommended for expansion when the government is planning to close nearly 90 military bases throughout the nation.
No specific reasons for choosing the state's majestic Flint Hills and nearby farmland have been reported. One concern is that if the historic base is not expanded, it may be more vulnerable to closure.
But closing the base would hardly be a tragedy, especially compared to the destruction of the land.
If historic significance is the Army's only concern, the best way to preserve the fort would be as a government historic site open to the public.
The reasons why the base should not be expanded are specific. Not only would it ruin forever part of one of the state's best-known and most beautiful environmental areas, it would force farmers whose families have lived in the area for generations off the land. It also will cut into some of the richest wheat-producing land in the nation.
No amount of money can compensate for the loss of a family's heritage. Incidentally, the farmers who rent land won't get a berth.
The proposal has already been met with protest from those living in the area, but unless the people of Kansas take notice and stand behind them, the only reward they'll get for their efforts is a big chunk of money. And even they say that's no compensation for generations of hard work.
If you cherish the land and are in favor of preserving it and saving the homes of those who farm a part of it, you should speak now or be prepared to sacrifice the peace of the wide open spaces.
Kirsten Bosnak for the editorial board
News staff
Jill Jess ... Editor
Ric Ridick ... Managing editor
Simon Dine ... Samuza editor
Kelly Lamson ... Photo editor
Stephen Klane ... Graphics editor
Trent Emmett ... General manager
Business staff
Scott Frager...Business manager
Bernardford...Institute sales manager
Lori Plan...Campus sales manager
Adam Pfeffer...Production manager
Mike Lehman...Classified manager
James Martinez...Sales and marketing
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words and must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. If the letter is affiliated with the University of Kansas, please include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and less than 700 words. The writer will be photocopied.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuffer-Flint Hall, Letters, columns and cartoons are the opinion of the writer or cartoonist and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansan. Editorials, which appear in the left-hand column, are the opinion of the Kansan editorial board.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer-Final Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and final periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage is paid in Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $50. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118
Stauffer/Flint Hall, Lawrence, K6045.
George Bush sez every child has the right to live...
he never said how long.
Composure is name of game
Pete Rose maintains poise even when chips are against him
Call this, for lack of a better name, the summer of composeure. In the course of watching and listening to a hundred baseball gar during the
In the course of watching and listening to a hundred baseball games during the last few months, I've heard at least a dozen sportscasters make the following comment as Pete Rose sat in his Cincinnati Reds' dugout with his sideways and his hand in the latest he foot wank.
"Isn't it amazing how Pete can keep his composure with all the chaos swirling around him?"
Well, no, it isn't. Some of the most malevolent of miscreants in human history have hidden their villain behind the most quiet of demeans. As the latest Son-of-Sam clone is led away by a mysterious stranger, they hide their heads and say that he was such a quiet boy who never looked as if he meant any harm.
Don't get me wrong. We should all wish for the composeure of a Geraldo Rivera, who can put together a show titled "Men Who Marry Women Who Kill," confident that he'll find enough guests to fill the hour. or the composure of a Supreme Court that with Solomonic wisdom decrees that a woman still has a right to an abortion, but hospitals may not have the right to perform them.
Bill Kempin
Generally, composure is a desired quality, but a little bit of panic can be a good thing.
Staff columnist
If I were a future Hall of Fame shoo-in and
shoo-in
presently the manager of a baseball team in the throes of a pennant race, and if I were confronted by the fact that someone had arranged the evidence to make it appear that my fingerprints were all over gambling sheets and I was in hook on my haircut, I wouldn't be able to sit serenely on the bench and concentrate on the ball-and-strike game. I would be sweating through my double knits.
I would be gathering my wits and my alibis, trying to sift through the chaff and the wheat to figure out how I was being framed. And if the commissioner of baseball asked to hear my side of the story, I'd Charley Hustle to his office and take him there to give invitation with all the speed of a Rob Dobbifall fastball.
But, then again, I'm not as composed as Pete Rose
The Rose case has taken on all the aspects of a baseball rundown. Pete dances between first and
second base as Commissioner A. Barrlett Giamatti, John Dowd and an ever-growing cast of writers, announcers and disillusioned fans throw the ball back and forth. With the help of umpires like Judge Norbert Nadel getting in the way of the fielders, Pete keeps avoiding the ball.
A rundown play is interesting for the first two or three throws. But after that, even the most ardent of baseball fans get bored by it, then gryn at the way the play is getting batched. There is only one consolation. You know and I know that, you see with the ball in the glove will tar Pete Rose out.
When that happens, does Rose still belong in the Hall of Fame? To paraphrase Bill James' comments in his "Historical Baseball Abstract" about "Shoeless" Joe Jackson: Of course, he should. It is only a question of priorities. When we honest ballplayer who has ever played the game, when every coach, writer, ampire and organist who has helped to make baseball the wonderful game that it is rather than destroy it with the poison of deceit, when each has been given his due, then I think we should hold our noses and make room for Peter Edward Rose to join the Hall of Fame.
Forgive me if I lost my comosure.
Bill Kempin is a Leavenworth graduate student in journalism.
A guitar to warm the heart
Editor's note: This is one of Mike Royko's favorite columns, sent he when he vacationed recently.
It can lift the spirits to occasionally read an inspirational story. There are all too few of them in our hectic society. But here is one situation about how a stranger reached out toward another.
It began with something very commonplace — a win and in the Chicago Tribune for the sale of its winery.
The ad was placed by Bob Macey, 19, a pre-med student from a Chicago suburb. He wanted to sell his guitar, a fine Gibson, before returning to school. He wanted $350.
On the second day of the ad, he received a phone call. The man said he was interested, but for an unusual reason.
Now, he was in the hospital, slowly recovering. But his morale was low. So the uncle hoped that if he bought him a guitar, it would improve his state of mind.
He explained he was a physician and that his nephew had recently been seriously injured in an auto crash. The boy had been burned from the neck down.
"Would it be possible," he asked Macy. "for you to bring the guitar to the hospital so he can look
In the accident, the boy's guitar had been destroyed.
Mike Royko
The man said he felt personally responsible for the accident. He had been like a father to the boy, whose parents were divorced, and he had talked about it with his parents. The mother of the parents, During the drive, the crash had occurred.
"Fine," the man said. "When you get to the hospital, just ask the receptionist for Dr. Carr."
Of course he would, Macey said.
Syndicated columnist
When Macey arrived, the receptionist pointed out Dr. Carr, who was waiting in the lobby.
But Dr. Carr was upset and embarrassed. His
feelings were just plain bad. He was just not
feeling well enough to be surprised
"I realize I'm inconveniencing you," Dr. Carr said, "but could I ask you to come back again tomorrow morning?" I'm sure I can show it to him, but I don't. I'll buy it from you for the price you are asking."
Before he left, they chatted about the accident and the difficult family life the injured boy had. By the time they parted, Macy felt that he had found himself a hair-tenured, ruddy-faced, tweaked-coordinator.
The next morning, he was back at the hospital. Dr. Carr met him in the lobby.
It was a beautiful instrument, made of solid ebony with mother-of-pearl inlays and gold plating on the metal parts. Macey had shined it before coming to the hospital.
Macey opened the case and showed him the guitar, explaining how the various switches worked.
"I'm sure he'll like it." Dr. Carr said. "Let me take it to his room right now. Then if he wants it, I'll just give it to him."
As Dr. Carr ran off with the guitar, Macey ran after him.
after him
"I forget to give you the pick. He might want to
try it."
Dr. Carr took the pick, but he shook his head, saying, "No. he's burned too badly to be able to pick it up yet. But just looking at it will probably make him happy."
Macey sat down and waited in the lobby. A half hour passed, and Macey became concerned. Had the boy suffered a relapse . . . or worse?
After an hour passed, Macey asked the receptionist if something had happened to the boy.
She said she would check. She made three phone calls. Then she told Maceye there were no burn injuries.
Macey told her she had to be mistaken. Dr. Cart's geobee had been burned.
She told Macey there was no Dr. Carr on the staff.
"But the receptionist had pointed Dr. Carr out by name."
Yes, but only because the white-haired man had walked into the hospital, his name was Dr. Carr, that he was waiting to meet somebody, and said the receptionist please direct that person to him.
The police were called. They filled out a report and an officer told Macey. "Never trust anyone
I told you it was an inspirational story. It should inspire all gray-haired codgers who worry that the younger generations really are a lot smarter. Maybe the kids invented the phrase "rip-off," but smooth old guys in tweed coats have made it an art.
■ Mike Royko is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
K A N S A N
MAILBOX
The purpose of this letter is to point out laws that I think make a mockery of Roe vs. Wade and the views of the pro-abortion (I'm sorry — pro-choice) movement. They say that abortion is open mind. Maybe you will agree that a law giving women the right to kill their children is an abridge-
It's a fetal issue
1. If a pregnant woman does anything during her pregnancy that can hurt her unborn child, she can be put into a mental institution. In a case in California a baby was born already adicted to crack because of the mother's drug use. Explain why doing drugs to a minor Note: It is wrong to give drugs to a fetus, but it's OK to kill it.
ment of civil liberty.
3. If a doctor does something to a
2. If a teen-age girl goes into a hospital with a broken arm, doctors and nurses can't touch her. But they can give her an abortion. But they can give her an abortion.
I have this to say to the pro abortion (sorry again — pro choice) movement. Think about what you
pregnant mother that hurts the fetus, he could be faced with a malpractice suit. I know of a case in Kansas City where a criminal was charged for men causing the death of the fetus. He was charged with murder.
4. There are laws protecting animals from abuse. Some aborted fetuses are larger than many protected animals. It's sad that a white lab rat is protected by more laws than a human life. (And nobody can say for sure that a fetus isn't a living human.)
are saying. Most of you tend to be liberals supporting worthwhile causes like civil rights and an end to oppression. How can you support the taking of a life? Only a few radical pro-lifers are for totally banning abortions. We just think that 1.5 million children being killed each year is wrong and needs to be stopped.
Lastly I'm sorry for the victims of rape and incest. But I think many women will say they were raped just to save face. And in true cases in which a rape has resulted from a rape, it is that it is the baby who dies?
Overland Park graduate student