4A
Monday, February 27, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: KAW RIVER DREDGING
Plan to dredge Kansas River could have disastrous results
Victory Sand and Gravel Company's request to dredge sand from the Kansas River is a flagrant disregard of all environmental, recreational and aesthetic qualities of the river.
This company is simply another self-interested business trying to maximize its profits at the expense of the many who enjoy the Kansas River.
Many powerful federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of the Interior's National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, have openly opposed Victory's proposal to dredge the river.
The company proposes to scoop out 300,000 tons of sand and gravel annually from the Kansas. If Victory is allowed to dredge where it wants, on river miles 57.5 to 59.0 in Jefferson County near Lawrence, many negative consequences will result.
Bald eagle habitats
First, Victory has proposed to dredge a portion of the river that is a prime wintering habitat for bald eagles. This habitat consists of mature cottonwood trees that lie on the north bank of the river. Victory would remove these trees in order to make room for the company's new sand plant and access road.
This action in itself has two negative impacts.
First, the bald eagle was listed as an endangered species until June, 1994. It is still a threatened species and cannot afford to have any of its prime habitats destroyed.
Second, the removal of these trees will increase the vulnerability of the river to erosion in an area that already has suffered from this process.
Recreational activities
The second major problem that would result from Victory's actions is a disturbance of all recreational activities that currently take place on the Kansas.
Gravel company is just another self-interested business trying to maximize profits at the expense of the river.
Kansans already are severely limited in the number of rivers accessible to public recreation. The continued scenic beauty and serenity of the Kansas is an important resource to the Kansas City-Lawrence-Topeka area. Dredging the Kansas would interrupt the free flow of the river, as well as greatly stir up sediment, both of which are counter productive to most recreational activities.
River bed erosion
The third problem this would present is the inevitable erosion, or wearing away, of the river bed. This leads to increased bank erosion and channel widening.
The concern lies not in these natural river processes but rather in the very unnatural toxic landfill that will undoubtedly be affected by this erosion.
This City of Lawrence landfill, which is closed, will become increasingly susceptible to leaking if an increase in river erosion occurs. Lawrence officials have no idea what chemicals are in the dump because it was closed prior to sanitary landfill requirements restricting toxic material disposal.
If Victory is allowed to dredge the river, the City of Lawrence had better be prepared for the toxic time bomb waiting to go off in the public water supply system.
Victory Sand and Gravel is crying foul by citing the Kansas River as the only suitable spot to mine sand and gravel. The company owns a pit mine in Jefferson County for exactly this purpose. Why doesn't Victory use it instead of destroying our river for the company's short-term needs at the long-term cost of the citizens of Kansas?
AMY TRAINER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editors
News...Cancos Tejada
Planning...Mark Martin
Editorial...Matt Gowen
Associate Editorial...Heather Lawrence
Campus...David Wilson
...Colleen McCain
Sports...Gerry Fey
Associate Sports...Ashley Miller
Photo...Jarrett Lane
Features...Nathan Olson
Design...Brian James
Freelance...Susan White
JENNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Jeff MacNelly / KANSAN
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Bath Phi
Regional mgr ... Chris Bramanan
National mgr ... Shelly Falevita
Coop mgr ... Kelly Connealy
Special Sections mgr ... Brigg Bloomquist
Production mgrs ... JJ Cook
... Kim Hyman
Marketing director ... Mindy Blum
Promotions director ... Justin Frosolone
Creative director ... Dan Gier
Classified mgr ... Jessa Kulesh
Andrew Debicki, dean of graduate studies, and David Shulenburger, vice chancellor for academic affairs, recently distributed a memo to graduate teaching assistants encouraging them to vote against collective bargaining.
Administrators' memo to GTAs misses union's point
They argued that the industrial labor-management model of collective bargaining is inappropriate for the university setting. This is true, but beside the point.
GTAs are organizing under state public-sector labor laws, not the National Labor Relations Act, which applies to private businesses. Public-sector collective bargaining, which has been rising in recent years, does not involve strikes and fights over division of profits. It provides employees with a chance to bargain fairly about terms and conditions of employment and to help shape the internal budget priorities of their employers.
They argued that unions concentrate authority and, eventually, stifle individual choice. But unions are democratic organizations. A GTA union will be operated on a one person, one vote majority rule basis.
If unions stifle individual choice, then so does the state of Kansas and the United States. All three operate on democratic principles.
Debicki and Shulenburger also argued that the real enemy is a frugal Legislature and that collective bargaining would not improve terms and conditions of GTA employment.
Three points. First, every detail of KU's budget is not set in stone. GTAs currently have no institutional mechanism for impacting the decision-making process here at KU.
GUEST COLUMNIST
Second, not all issues of concern to GTAs are related to money and subject to the approval of the Legislature.
Third, affiliation with the Kansas Association of Public Employees and
American Federation of Teachers provides GTAs, and potentially KU, with a lobbying in Topeka
The administrators argued that collective bargaining would adversely impact collegiality. This is false. Two years ago, KU administrators argued, before a state hearing officer, that collective bargaining would impact collegiality to such a degree that, regardless of the other evidence, GTAs ought to be denied their status as public employees. The hearing officer found that administrators provided no credible evidence to support this claim. Collective bargaining will not substantially impact relations among GTAs and faculty or mentors. And assuming reasonable persons operating in good faith, collective bargaining would not damage relations among GTAs and administrators.
Finally, Debicki and Shulenburger suggested that teaching contracts would be written centrally and collegiality, and the distinctions now possible from discipline to discipline would be lost. They go on to say that union representatives, not you, not your mentors, not your department chair, would speak for you.
This is false. Collective bargaining does not necessarily lead to any particular result except fair and honest dialogue. The only part of teaching contracts that might be written centrally are those that apply uniformly to all GTAs. These might include the benefits of a half-time appointment, the maximum number of hours
required for a half-time appointment, the availability of grievance procedures, sick and family leave provisions, etc. Details that should vary from department to department would be determined at the departmental level. GTAs have never suggested that they desire a contract uniform across all disciplines down to the last detail.
With respect to the claim that GTAs would lose their individual voices through unionization, let's be clear. GTA union members would elect a GTA negotiating team to work to secure general contract terms favorable to all GTAs.
Connective bargaining offers GTAs a chance to identify and to work together to realize shared aims. The administration can paint worst case scenarios from now until April 17. Such scenarios alone, however, do not constitute an argument against unionization.
Regarding unionization and grievance procedures, let us again be clear. The availability of grievance procedures does not preclude informal resolution of workplace conflicts through departmental chairs, mentors, whoever.
GTA union members would identify, democratically, their priorities and then vote to approve or reject an agreement. Ask yourself whether you currently have this much opportunity to determine the terms and conditions of your GTA employment.
Grievance procedures provide GTAs with another option in the event that all informal means of resolving a conflict fail. Grievance procedures allow you first to speak for yourself informally, and then, if that fails, and only at your request, to have your union speak formally for you.
David Reldy is a Lawrence graduate student in philosophy.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"I THINK THE NEW BRADY BUNCH MIGHT BE A LITTLE CHEESY. THE OLD BUNCH WAS COOL."
—Brian Vansaun, Lawrence senior, on the new Brady Bunch movie.
"MEN TEND TO WALK AROUND LICKING THEIR DRY LIPS. WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT."
— Chris Wondrack, Dillons, 3000 W. Sixth St., manager about whether men or women buy more Chapstick.
"IT'S A SYMBOLIC FUTILE GESTURE. BUT IF WE ADD ENOUGH OF THEM TOGETHER WE MIGHT WIN."
— Mark Creamer, member of Lawrence NORML (National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), a group which is stamping the words, "I grew hemp" on $1, $2 and $100 bills.
Compiled from Kansan staff reports the week of Feb. 20
Forget quality it's the color of the product that matters
Colors play a big role in the food industry. Bigger than you'd think.
For example, things that look like you can't drink them are big sellers with kids. Drinks that look like Windex or antifreeze with less the nutritional value seem to be favorites.
STAFF COLUMNIST
almost anything unnaturally colored seems to be popular with kids. Cereals on the kids-eye-level shelf at the grocery store have colors brighter than most tropical birds, which really isn't that strange when you think about it. Everything targeted at kids is brightly colored
When was the last time you saw anything olive drab in a kindergarten classroom?
But kids aren't the only ones fooled by colors. Some adults can be duped into thinking that just because a corn chip is blue, it is healthier.
These same adults also believe something is healthier because it doesn't have any color, as demonstrated by the recent clear and crystal craze. Clear colas and clear beers appeared on the market, leading to clear everything else; clear shampoo and clear soap to name a few.
Beers, come to think of it, have a whole color culture of their own.
Red beers are a big craze right now. All the scootiest beer drinkers say there is some kind of special brewing process that gives them a red tint.
Of course, the truly smoody could stand around all day talking about the shades of their favorite beers. There are pale beers, amber beers, dark beers, you couldn't see through with a spotlight.
But other times, this whole color thing doesn't have any credence, such as the newest efforts from a couple of major breweries.
The folks at Miller put out a beer a couple of months ago called Red Dog. I'm sure you've heard of it—it's the one with the sharp-looking English Bulldog in the logo. You know, "Be your own dog." Miller just barely beat the fellas at Anheuer-Busch who recently unleashed their newest creation, Red Wolf.
Of course, both beers taste the same as the rest of the beers those companies produce, but it's the color that matters.
If you have any sense, you'll be out beating the streets tomorrow with your own red animal product. As the bright-colors-and-kids phenomenon and the clear-is-good-for-you fad have shown, the hottest product colors always are tied to other products with the same color scheme.
The best part is that your new red canine product wouldn't even have to be red! Neither of those beers is the slightest bit red. All you have to do is find something that people already buy, give it a name that starts with red and ends with the name of some four-legged animal, preferably canine, (there isn't much room for expansion in the lupine category). Then, start raking in the dough.
Think of the possibilities: Red Schnauzer soda, Red Basket Hound shampoo, Red Terrier clothing and if we run out of dogs, there are plenty of other animals we can use: Red Pig potato chips, Red Tiger bananas and Red Gorilla rugs.
The revenue-generating possibilities are endless. All it takes is a little creativity. You don't even need originality.
But don't let me catch you using my ideas. Those are going to pay my tuition next semester.
MIXED MEDIA
Ryan McGee is a Worland, Wyo., junior in magazine journalism.
By Jack Ohman