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Wednesday, May 3, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Face up to your actions no one else can be blamed
Once again people are looking for a way out, someone else to blame for their own negligence.
In 1894, Candance Thorpe was pregnant, and she was an alcoholic. She has testified that there were several nights she drank herself unconscious during her pregnancy. Her son was born mentally retarded and with other birth defects, which is attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS. Thorpe is suing the liquor company, Jim Beam Brands Co., for not putting warning labels on its products.
The liquor company has denied there is a link between alcohol and birth defects, and that is something few could take as the truth. Alcohol consumption, especially to the point of unconsciousness, has been shown to be a health risk — especially for pregnant women.
especially in pregnancy. The liquor company, however, has said that any problems that may have been caused by alcohol were due to Thorpe's own negligence, and that is the truth.
The hazards of alcoholism have not been revolutionary findings in the last few years, and anyone who has not been exposed to the ill effects of drugs and alcohol has been dangerously closed off from this world. That is especially true of a pregnant woman, who is responsible for her own health and the health of her unborn child.
If Thorpe needs someone to blame for her gross negligence, how about family members and physicians who surely had noticed signs of her alcoholism? They can share the blame for not being alert and not warning her of the dangers alcohol brings to a pregnancy.
It's a tragedy that her 4-year-old son, Michael, is the victim of this ignorance. It's worse that his mother still won't take responsibility for her actions.
Jennifer Hinkle for the editorial board
Vaughn's drug experience should be lesson to athletes
Most people believe college athletes should not receive preferential treatment. At the same time, however, college athletes must realize that their performances, both on and off the field, reflect upon the schools they represent.
And now, as the sports world is trying to crack down on drugs, even just the appearance of misconduct can be harmful.
One unfortunate example is KU football player Willie Vaughn.
Vaughn had a spectacular senior season last fall. He was the Big Eight Conference's second-leading receiver and finished his career as KU's all-time leading receiver. He was rated highly as a professional prospect and was expected to be taken in the NFL draft.
But the draft came, and surprisingly Vaughn was not chosen. Then came word from his agent that Vaughn had failed to pass a drug test this summer at an NFL scouting camp in Indianapolis.
Vaughn denied taking drugs, but the damage already had been done.
Whether Vaughn has taken drugs or not, the episode should serve as an example for athletes at the University of Kansas.
An athlete may believe he or she can take drugs without hurting anyone while perhaps enhancing his performance at the same time, but if an athlete gets caught, or is rumored to have it, it gives the reputation of the Athletic Department and the University.
Many athletes are being given a wonderful opportunity to receive an education and participate in sports at KU. They shouldn't risk their lives and the University's reputation by taking drugs.
Jeff Euston for the editorial board
The editorials in this column are the opinion of the editorial board. The editorial board consists of Julie Adam, Karen Boring, Jeff Euston, James Fearquar, Cindy Harger, Jennifer Hinkle, Grace Hobson, Jill Jess, Mark McCormick and Mark Tilford.
News staff
Julie Adam...Editor
Karen Boring...Managing editor
Jen Lein...New editor
Deb Gruver...Planning editor
James Farquhar...Editorial editor
Elaine Sung...Campus editor
Tom Stinson...Sports editor
Janine Swiatkowski...Photo editor
Dave Eames...Graphics editor
Neel Gerdes features...Art/Film editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news advisor
Business staff
Dabra Cole...Business manager
Pam Noe...Retail sales manager
Kevin Martin...Campus sales manager
Scott Frager...National sales manager
Michelle Garland...Promotions manager
Brad Lenhart...Marketing manager
Linda Propp ...Production manager
Derek Martin...Asst. production manager
Kim Coleman...Co-op sales manager
Caitlin Cox...Gaslessier
Jennie Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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MMAELEYChicagoTribune
Key players fill the Alaskan stage
Notice: Casting call for the new off-
Anchorage spectacle, "The Exxon Valdez — A Ship of Fools."
Gregory T. Fisher: This zany third mate gets the keys to the supertanker Valdez and takes it, hellbent, for a spin through the Garden of Eden-like Prince William Sound. The plot unfolds when Fisher, miles off course, crashes and violates the virgin, Alaska. He is referred to as "uncertified," although "incompetent" is more accurate. He goes to jail at the end.
Capt. Joseph Hazelwood: The ship's captain is in a drunken stupor in each scene. His mad antics include relinquishing command of his vessel to the incompetent Fisher and later trying to "rock" one of the world's heaviest ships off Bligh Reef. He runs from the law after he determines that his pension will never be enough to pay back the $14 million damage done to the船. Eventually, his employers write off the damage, but he goes to aail for wrecking a state
Bush, Skinner and Llanen. This "Larry, Mo and Curly" trio of the executive branch wattle around in every act. They provide macabre comic relief by blowing the chance to save Alaska from the tragedy. In doing so, they set the nation's environmental standards for the next century. At
Tom
Wilhelm
Staff columnist
the end, the secretaries of transportation and the interior are shown with Bush in his new horseshoe pit, repeating. "We never said we were the 'ecology president.'"
Adm. Yost and Reilly: The pompous Coast Guard admiral and his sidekick, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, are the show's straight men. They bureautrical extras, sent to rescue the virgin Alaska, content themselves by reading from cue cards such dry chestmusk as "The spill is now beyond human control" and "The spill is not out of Alaska back as it was or pay an amount equal to the oil lost." They are finally booed off stage by the east and audience.
Gov. Steve Cowper: The ranking Alaskan official and mountain man spends the first half of the drama trying to get the other characters' attention. Once that has been accomplished, he
spends the second half explaining how Alaska is part of the United States.
Chuck O'Donnell: The local supervisor for the Alesky Pipeline Service Company is the expendable henchman of the Exxon gang. He fails to report that, long before the wreck of the Valdez, there was inadequate spill cleanup and containment equipment. He spends the entire event looking for receipts to show that dealing with the spill resulted in being someone else's job. He loses his job and moves to Washington state, where salmon fishing is still good.
Lawrence G. Rawl and Lee Raymond: These powerful Exxon executives represent evil in this bizarre tragedy. With the greed of Shakespeare's Shylock and the black heart of Iago, they distort the law. They repeatedly recant their public promises. In addition, they isolate the media by bribery, they sacrifice their crones, they befall big business in America by setting an evil precedent and they ultimately rape the virgin. But, in a weird twist of the plot, the audience leaves to find gas prices have risen 15 cents while they watched the spectacle.
- Tom Wiltshire is a Lawrence graduate student in Soviet/East European Studies.
South Africa is bad investment for KU
n a makeshift shanty somewhere in South Africa, a black family struggles to survive. Misery and despair are as prevalent as the system of apartheid that keeps them there.
A hemisphere away on a college campus somewhere in the United States another shanty is being built. However, no one is being forced to attend college, and no one is being forced to college students as a symbol of solidarity with that family and as a symbol of defiance toward a policy that helps perpetuate apartheid.
The University of Kansas Endowment Association refuses to disclose the names of companies in which it holds investments, contending that it is merely a financial institution, immune from political or social scrutiny. Therefore, we have no way of knowing if we are financing apartheid. Yet its spokesman are quick to proclaim that it is their policy to invest only in companies that comply with a set of standards for the hiring, salary and training of black South Africans.
The primary problem has been that this policy has ended up hurting the very people it was intended to help. The continued presence of U.S. companies and the companies of our European allies has legitimized the racist regime that enforces apartheid. The laws and restrictions
The guidelines, called the Sullivan Principles, are part of a policy that the Reagan administration dubbed "constructive engagement." The theory states that the continued presence of U.S. firms that are urged to comply with the Sullivan Principles in South Africa would hasten the dismantling of apartheid, more so than if all U.S. firms pulled out of the country.
But nothing changed in South Africa during the eight years of constructive engagement, save the entrenchment of Botha's regime and the disturbing growth of an ultra-conservative, white supremist Afrikaaner Party. Why hasn't constructive engagement worked?
Dan Grossman
Guest columnist
that Pretoria imposes on the non-white population are so oppressive that the real benefits that these people receive from the U.S. companies are negligible. Of what use are higher wages and better training in a country where discrimination is legislated and basic freedoms are denied?
Complete disinvestment of U.S. companies from South Africa is the only way the United States can hope to affect apartheid. Divestment of Endowment Association endowments from such companies is the only way KU can hope to hasten the U.S. pullout.
Opponents of divestment' assert that Endowment Association divestment would be ineffectual, financially unwise and contrary to the fiduciary purpose of the organization.
The chances that Endowment Association divestment would have a profound effect on the decision of a company to remain in or pull out of South Africa at best are slim, opponents argue. They say that by using its position as a shareholder to work internally for change, the Endowment Association would wield more influence in the decision.
Further, if the Endowment Association is, as it contends, a purely financial entity, why would it voluntarily use its position to influence a social and political issue? Chances are that it would
If the Endowment Association were to divest completely from these companies, they would not
be acting alone. At least 40 other colleges and universities have begun divestment programs, and many more are considering it. Collectively, these actions must be taken into account.
Opponents also believe that it would be financially unwise to alter an investment portfolio according to social or political interests. Not only is this belief morally offensive because it implies that monetary concerns should take precedence over social responsibility, but it also is fallacious.
Evidence that divestment would cause the Endowment Association's financial devastation is lacking. Studies that have been done on the effect of divestment on the average portfolio have shown that most portfolios excluding companies linked to South Africa fared the same or better than those that did not. As long as the Endowment Association invests with prudence, there is no reason why it should lose a significant amount of money by divesting.
Therefore, it becomes evident that the contentions made against divestment are unfounded and that the decision we must make is entirely a moral one. Henry David Thoreau wrote, "It is not a man's duty as a matter of course, himself to him, but as the most esteemable it is but his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support."
Students' efforts in the past led to the Endowment Association's present policy of only investing in companies that adhere to the Sullivan Principles. But more must be done. We must do so by providing a better method and hope for a free South Africa. Shanties at the Endowment Association? Divest now.
- Dan Grossman is a Denver, Colo., junior, majoring in political science.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed