UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN editorslals
Unsigned editors represent the opinion of the Kansan editor's staff. Signed columns represent the views of
MARCH 5,1979
Student vote weakened
The Republican majority in the Kansas House delved deep into its bag of political tricks last week, and the big losers were students at the University
or Kansas:
By approving an amended reappointment bill that seriously weakens student voters' clout, Republican House members, including State Rep. John Vogel, R-Lawrence, the amendment's sponsor, made it quite clear what they think of the student vote-
The amendment redefined the House voting districts in Douglas County, effectively dividing and diluting the student vote and seriously threatening the re-election chances of Democratic State Rep. Mike Glover.
THE NEW AMENDMENT would rip a large chunk of the student vote, including a large section of the Oread neighborhood, out of Glover's district and would push Glover's district farther west.
The original House bill would have created a new district in east Lawrence, while State Rep. John Solbach's district would still have included land on either side of Glover's district, dividing the vote of west Lawrence.
But, as far as Vogel was concerned,
it was far easier to divide up the student vote than the largely Republican vote of west Lawrence.
"WHO ARE WE going to disenfranchise," Vogel asked, "the permanent residents in west Lawrence who have been there for umpteen years or the
people in central Lawrence who are only going to be there two to six years?"
So in approving the amended bill down strict party lines—only four Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing the bill—the Republican majority student-stamped the idea of the student as a migrant worker—transitory, powerless and available to be pushed around at will.
In the process the bill has endangered Glover, who is a tireless worker in support of students and student-oriented issues.
AND ALL OF this in the name of petty politics. Ignoring the fact that western Lawrence is much newer and less cohesive than the areas of the Oread neighborhood that changed districts, the Republicans instead have moved to latch on to another Republican district in any way possible.
Fortunately, there still is hope. An error in the reapportionment bill will give the Democrats another chance to stop the bill in the House, and Gov. John Carlin will have the opportunity to veto the bill.
But it is unfortunate that those moves will be needed. The Republicans in the House have let their thirst for more political caches get the best of them, and in the process have seriously damaged the ability of students at KU to get a fair hearing in the Legislature.
That is a move that students should remember if those same Republicans ever come asking for their vote.
In a memorandum to President Carter last week, Schlesinger called for a five-year government program to promote the technology and use of power from the sun.
What common sense could not do, increasing oil prices worldwide did. Namely, move Energy Secretary James Schlesinger to increase the development of increased development of solar energy.
Carter holds power to tap the sun
Schlesinger, a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and a continuous lobbyist for oil and gas companies, recom- mented $3 billion be allocated to fund the program.
The money would be used to provide tax and credit assistance to producers and consumers of solar projects such as hot water systems and industrial project uses and industrial use projects.
If the program is implemented, it is estimated that U.S. reliance on solar power to meet energy needs would almost double from the current 5.4 percent to 10.6 percent.
But one should not be fooled into thinking the administration will advocate rapid development of solar energy. Indeed, before Schlesinger issued his memo, top officials in the Department of Energy argued about taking this new stance on energy policy.
SCHLESINGER'S sudden interest in solar energy ostensibly is the result of the halt in oil production by Iran, the continuous dwindling supplies and supplies increased fossil fuel prices.
Solar proponents both surprised and pleased by Schlesinger's enlightenment and belief in his action was a big step toward getting the power he wanted for the development of solar power. The surprise memo is expected to influence Carter greatly in his decisions on solar technology.
A LOOK at the facts reveals how long the acceptance of solar energy as a legitimate power source has taken and how far it has yet to go.
The energy department has projected that only 8 to 12 percent of U.S. energy needs could be met by solar power by the year 2000. But the *Press's* council on Environmental Quality has predicted that only 30 percent could meet 25 percent of our needs by then.
Of the $2.7 billion proposed by the energy department for research and development of nuclear energy, $1.3 billion was allocated for nuclear energy research while only $50 million was paged for exploration
Phillip Garcia
Jack O'Leary, Department of Energy deputy secretary, and said earlier that construction of nuclear power facilities would be delayed in 1979. "Moreover, in a speech last October to the American Public Power Association, Mr. O'Leary declared that solar energy had no place in this century.
PERHAPS MOST disturbing is the energy department's aburrd practice of awarding solar energy research contracts to energy companies. The agency is dealing with electricity and nuclear power.
In November, the Department of Energy awarded a utility and nuclear power company $500,000 to change electricity rates in Michigan. The company also received energy use. The company's executive committee chairman is a major shareholder in the Virginia Electric and Power Company.
Just as distressing is the ability of oil and gas companies, through the power of the almighty corporate dollar, to envelop more innovative solar energy firms.
Exxon was one of the top 10 companies earning largest revenues from solar sales in 2016 and leading the company. Tyco Laboratories and SES Systems are acquired by Mobil and Shell. Yet these same oil companies continue to run adverger relationships with the high cost of developing oil reserves.
THEME HAS not been a legitimate reason for the neglect of converting the sam's app to a web version.
The potential power from the sun is astounding.
It is estimated that 14 days of sunshine contain enough heat to equal the energy of a single cloud.
Unlike the high cost and potential dangers of waste from nuclear power plants, solar
energy is clean and provides a continuous supply of power.
It is also believed to be cheaper to supply 10,000 homes with solar water-heating facilities than to build generating plants to do the same thing electrically.
SOLAR ENERGY is being used more and more to supply power to homes. More than 50,000 solar-powered dwellings exist nationwide.
But there are problems in attaining solar power.
Solar energy has yet to be widely accepted as a legitimate energy source and thus there is no mass production of solar systems. The reason for this is that monopoly by corporate energy companies.
But the impetus for mass development and use of solar energy can be provided by the Carter administration. For too long rays from the sun have fallen untapped. There is a proposal to spend $4 billion by 1985 on the Carter need only review the current energy situation and his choice should be evident. Now is the time to develop solar energy.
U.S. shouldn't encourage bilingualism
To the editor:
Both Phil Garcia and John Scott make good points in their discussions, but we believe that they have missed the most serious ramifications of bilingual education.
It is good to see that the intellectuals of this great institute of higher education have time to turn from the pressing issue of discord between the two cultures in important problems of bilingualism in America.
There are numerous nations on the map today—Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany. We know that a degree from being polyvictor political entities
Canada, as we now know it, may be coming to a sad end. Why should we en-
large our borders?
If there is a need for an extensive and expensive English-language program in the school, you can
No one objects to second languages or cultural diversity. We encourage both. We do object, however, to cultural separatism and to not likely outcome of bilateral education.
Like it or not, and we happen to, English is the working language of the United States. No American should be without the skills and function in an English-speaking society.
Let's prevent it while we can
Some of the authors of this letter own guns and some don't. But we all agree that law-abiding citizens have the right to own firearms, whether the reasons be for interest in their sport or protection. Restricting guns by registration or confiscation will in no way keep them out of the hands of the criminal element. Instead, the opportunity and incentive for black market operations will be created. The greater risk to our own safety is small in comparison to the personal loss that could suffer, whether we are gun owners or not.
Andy Warren Mission senior Robert Green Hays senior
Bilingual education sounds ornamente like separate but equal to us, and the last thing we need is to become a bilingual nation like Canada.
I's invest taxpayer money in it on our own citizens rather than here on campus. No one should begin studying anything but English until he is proficient in it.
Gun restriction laws infringement of rights To the attorney
In regard to the dramatic letter by Kevin Kennedy that was printed in the University Daily Kansan, in which he repeatedly was accused of stealing a $10 million salary, Kennedy, because a person possessing his narrow-minded and distorted views would not stand, but to the more reasonable majority.
It would be nice if criminals would turn in their guns, but no one realistically expects this to happen. The reasonable solution for reducing crime is to keep repeat criminal offenders locked up, rather than to make it more difficult for honest citizens to possess firearms than for criminals to. Confiscation of guns would do just that, and mandatory
registration could be the first step. When guns are outlawed, only outwalls will have guns. Think about it. We hope it won't happen—if it does our Constitution is good.
Robert Jackson
Topeka senior
and four others
Article about disco overly opinionated
To the editor.
In response to Doug Hitchcock's antidiscope article which appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of the University Daily Kanusan, I am aware that the photographer is totally and treasonously opposed.
Had Hitchcock taken time to investigate his story in earnest, he might have had a credible story. He didn't. His story speaks best for itself; "The formula melodies, absurd lyrics and computerized rhythms are impersonal, sterile and boring... The real substance is tables violating state and federal intoxication levels, staring. Staring at you, staring into space, staring at the dance floor . . . Lines of people jerk and twist their way through amazingly repetitive group dance steps . . . the sexually unpredictable undulating drum beats and waaling synthesizers, all at incredible volumes."
A reporter who blatantly judges his story subject should become an editorialist. He can be a music roller. The spasmity and personalism of artists is, in my opinion, fantastic. Yet I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed myself as a journalist and I enjoy release and libration of dancing is nothing
I believe that discos are not the irredeemable dens of inequity that Hitchcock painted them, and I resent his use of a supposedly credible medium for his unbelievably opionated and exaggerated "news" story.
to be sneered at, Hitchcock, no matter how it is performed. Funky, tight music is generally not meant to be taken too seriously, it is just plain fun.
These gross distortions and leaps of logic defy explanation.
I consider going to discos a type of recreation, just as going to rock concerts, art shows or even going to the zoo is. There are many places where I can go with discos and I remember the story's implications.
An allegiance to rock 'n' roll does not require a running battle with dissident black music. His paranoia over disco and what spurred his vindictive article. Wouldn't anyone dance to the same sounds?
Stacev Lane
Shawnee sophomore
Disco, rock 'n' roll can exist together
To the editor:
First, I must commend Conkey on an excellent job. As one letter to the editor sarcastically stated, her, piece was a "pierring insight," and it truly was. Conkey was right on the mark with every point she made concerning the backward state of Lawrence's disco establishments. Hopefully this will help us realize in this town and put Lawrence back in the rest of the country in supplying its populace with a colorful nightlife.
The minute I started reading Katherine Conkey's piece on Lawrence's disco establishments (Feb. 16 Kansan), I just knew that the Kansan would come through with this controversial and all-important subject of disco; enter Doug Hitchcock's voice of dissent in the following Friday's edition. After reading both pieces and carefully weighing all the facts put forth, I decided to show my two cents worth onto the dance floor.
I was also impressed with Hitchcock's article, which was also well-written and raised many well-taken points. However, Hitchcock is fighting a blind cause. Like so many other supporters of the soon-to-be legendary adage "disco suck," Hitchcock has written that disco's merits as a viable music against Compare disco to rock 'n' roll is like comparing the drumming of Buddy Rich to that of Keith Moon, or the dancing of
What Hitchcock and others like him fail to understand that is disco is nothing more than an entertainment medium, a welcome form of escapism - certainly not a threat to rock 'n' roll that it stands for. In the words of the Showman, "Il," meaning rock 'n' roll, "will stand." Disco is a harmless form of energy release, an opportunity to entertain, but a chance to tap our toes without it to sit and think about what we're tapping our toes to.
Disco serves its purpose and rock 'n' roll serves a purpose. There's no reason why disco and rock can't live side by side without one bothering the other.
Mikhail Baryshnik to, of that, dare I say, John Travolta. Disco and rock are such different and distinct forms that com-
panies are not possible, let alone necessary.
As for the so-called "decadence" that surrounds disco, there was a time when music fans had to buy their records in plain brown wrappers and sneak into dark, boisterous clubs with the favorite performers. These performers played a brand of music we now call "jazz."
I admit that when the Ramones record a disco track we may very well be in trouble, but in the meantime, Hitchcock (may I call you Doug?), I'll see you at the Opera House on Friday, and maybe I'll bump into you on dance floor at Shenanigan's on Saturday.
Irwin Brown
So. Orange, N.J. sophomore
Music Director, KJHK-FM
*MASKED MANAGER* IF YOU CAN'T FIRE AN INCOMPETENT STATEEMPLOYEE, HOW DO YOU GET YOUR WORK DONE?
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BY MARSHALL GREEN
and ROBERT A. FEAREY
Features
Population rate a threat
WASHINGTON—A report by the United States Bureau of the Census and an earlier one by two University of Chicago demographers that say the world's population growth rate has been unfortunally misinterpretted.
It appears that the rate of growth of the world's population declined from 2 percent around 1970 to 1.8 to 1.9 percent by 1977. This is a welcome and important development. But it does not imply that the world population problem is significantly easing, or even over. the overwhelming reality, unfortunately, is that the present world population is growing at a rate pressing heavily on this planet's resources and environment, will certainly double, and may triple, barring horrendous disasters.
Since 40 to 45 percent of the developing world's population is under 15 years of age, the built-in momentum of future growth is enormous, even if fertility rates fall more widely and rapidly than they already have.
THE LEVEL at which world population ultimately will stabilize will depend heavily on the determination and the skill with which the world addresses the problem. The progress achieved since the early 1860s in awareness of populational problems and in reduction of births in some countries is highly welcome.
Nevertheless, population growth is far too rapid in too many developing countries, substantially offsetting economic gains, impairing the health of mothers and children. It's better life for generations to come. Aside from the dangers of famine and environmental deterioration, perhaps the most explosive consequence of continuing high population growth rates is large-scale development, especially in urban areas.
DEVELOPMENT IS proceeding slowly or not at all in most developing countries. Where it is occurring, it is frequently unbalanced, bringing little benefit to the population and reducing impact on fertility. Fertility reduction without the stimulus of widely shared development benefits is usually a protracted process, resulting in stabilization of populations in many developing countries after long delay and at very high levels.
Government programs are therefore a key factor in accelerating progress, and it is the consensus of our embassies around the world that in such programs the following factors deserve emphasis: leadership commitment; family planning; employment; and assistance pandued use of paramedics; improved status and decision involvement of women; research for better means of contraception; emphasis on population goals in social and economic development; a raise in the age of marriage, especially for women; and improved organ health. Government administration of population programs.
OF ALL, these factors, committing leaders and advancing the status of women are perhaps the most important. The need for proaches are being introduced or are under consideration, for example, in the field of community incentives, that offer greater benefits to women.
Those of us who regard excessive population growth as probably the most fundamental threat facing mankind reject unwarranted suggestions that the problem is resolving itself, just as we reject counsels of despair that nothing significant can be done about it. Much is being done by agencies and urgent expansion of effort if the world is to avoid unprecedented deprivation and turmoil.
Marshall Green is the State Department's coordinator of population affairs. Robert A. Farey is his special assistant.
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