University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, March 1, 1989
5
Emigre discusses Soviet problems
by Brett Brenner
Kansan staff writer
The biggest problem facing the Soviet Union is dealing with its internal nationalities, a Soviet dissident said last night.
Valentyn Moroz, a former political prisoner, spoke to about 70 people last night at the Kansas Union. The speech was sponsored by the department of history, the Oswald P. Backus Memorial Fund and the Maria Palj Memorial Fund for Ukrainian Studies.
Moroz said that the Soviet Union had started the process of decolonization, or decentralization, by letting some states, ethnic states, have some autonomy.
"The Polish Solidarity movement was not an explosion against communism but a process," he said. "It has great meaning for not only the Poles, but also Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Armenia and the Ukraine."
The nationality problem erupted, he said, when the Soviet government encouraged dialogue about social problems, such as alcohol abuse.
nationalities." he said.
Moroz does not foresee a simple or quick solution to the problem.
"The people thought they could speak out, so they spoke about
Valentyn Moroz describes his views of the Soviet Union's current changes and ethnic problems. Moroz, a Soviet dissident, spoke to about 70 people last night at the Kansas Union.
"Every aspect of Soviet life is seen in nationalistic terms, including economic and ecological issues," he said. "In my opinion, the (Mikhail) Gorbachev reforms are the last chance to save the empire."
Moroz said that the West had heard more about "perestroika," or "restructuring," than had the citizens of the Soviet Union.
"I talk to people who come out," he said. "They say that they see perestroika in the newspapers but not in real life."
Leaders of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union are not becoming liberal but are changing with the situation. he said.
"Gorbachev created the image that he is responsible for the change, he said. "But the situation of Gorbachev, not Gorbachev the situation."
for anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation. He was sent to a special hard labor camp where he began to write.
Nine months later, he was arrested again on the same charge and sent to a prison outside Moscow. During the
next nine years, Moroz spent time in two mental asylums, a prison and labor camps.
The failed war with Afghanistan has driven the Soviet Union into its current period of change, he said.
Moroz was released in 1979 and allowed to emigrate to the United States.
Moroz was a teacher in the Soviet Union when he was arrested in 1965
How to have fun and take it seriously Professor tells why laughter and games are more than just child's play
E. Joseph Zurga/KANSAN
Dwight Kiel, assistant professor of political science, gives reasons why laughter should be taken seriously. Kiel spoke yesterday to about 100 people at the Kansas Union.
by Kathy Walsh Kansan staff writer
Dwight Kiel pledges never to convince anyone to become serious, but that doesn't mean play and laughter shouldn't be taken seriously.
"Fairness rests in the practice of play," he said.
Kiel spoke on "Taking Ourselfs Too Seriously — What Happened to Play and Laughter in Western Thought?" before 100 people last night at the Kansas Union.
Kiel, assistant professor of political science, was the first KU faculty member to participate in the James E. Seaver Lecture Series on Continuing Issues in Western Civilization.
Kiel said play and laughter should be taken seriously because they were important to the development of a person's independent judgment and ability to think critically.
Also, children develop fairness by playing with other children, he said.
"They develop these ideas by developing their ability to see the rules from the viewpoint of other users."
Children see a big difference between selfmade constraints they impose upon themselves with their own rules and the constraints imposed
upon them by hierarchical commands, he said.
"The rules of children's games agreed upon by them in a polyvocal and cooperative way provide the way for the child to see something important in politics — the logic of laws," he said.
Playing provides for the development of a social animal who can reflect upon the rules of social organization and make critical assessments to whether these rules are legitimate. Kiel said.
Politics of premodern times can be found in the city, in and in the world of the carnival, Kai said.
"We forget sometimes that in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as many as 100 days out of the year were spent in festival and carnival," he said. "Over a quarter of one's life was spent producing the irrational and preparing for the comic and getting ready to wear the masks and costumes that would free one from the monotony of the self in the Middle Ages."
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