4 University Daily Kansan Opinion Wednesday, July 9, 1986 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN The Kansas Board of Regents asked last week for a 14.5 percent budget increase for its institutions in 1988. As badly as the budget increase in needed, it won't be filled. KU can prove its worth But if the Legislature were to fill the request, an extra $44 million would have to be pried from state funds. State revenues fell $25 million short of expectations in the fiscal year that ended July 1 despite the 1 percent increase in the state sales tax — and Harley Duncan, secretary of revenue, has already warned that revenues in fiscal year 1987 may be $40 million less than expected. The increase is needed mainly because professors are leaving the University of Kansas and the other eight Regents institutions for higher salaries elsewhere. Faculty salaries would jump 8 percent in the Regents 1988 budget, compared with the 2.5 percent raised this year. The state is collecting less revenue because the Kansas economy is poor. As long as Kansas voters are tightening their belts, both they and the Legislature will be dubious about 8 percent pay increases for professors. KU's task force for economic development may improve the case for a budget increase. The task force of 13 KU staff members was formed in mid-June to find ways in which the University could help improve the Kansas economy. It is to report its findings by the end of the year. Some of the value that KU holds for the citizens of this state was demonstrated when Anthony Redwood, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research, presented an economic development study to the Legislature this year. The study was instrumental in developing the state plan for economic development. Consenting adults are not free to do as they choose in the privacy of their own homes. The U.S. Supreme Court told us that last week when it ruled 5-4 in favor of a Georgia law that punishes by up to 20 years in prison any act of oral or anal sex. If the task force can show promising proposals to the Legislature next year, the prospects for higher faculty salaries may improve. An inalienable right Such a law might incriminate many of us, but we needn't worry if we are heterosexual. The law is used only against homosexuals, even though it isn't limited to acts between partners of the same sex. The Georgia law and 23 others like it across the United States are part of our society's code of conduct: the acts that heterosexuals choose to do in private to express love and caring should be sacrosanct; the "unnatural" acts that homosexuals choose to do even if they are the same acts even if they are the same acts — shouldn't be allowed. In fact, the people involved should be punished. Such blind prejudice is more appropriate to the Klu Klux Klan than the Supreme Court. Of course, the court's majority cloaked its prejudice in words about precedence, Justice Byron White wrote that acts of sodomy could not be claimed as a traditional right because our society has always had laws against such acts. And what of the constitutional right to privacy that the Supreme Court used to establish a woman's right to choose abortion? White wrote that engaging in acts of sodomy bore no resemblance to other rights announced under the Constitution. If the Supreme Court had always followed such reasoning, fewer than half of us would have the right to vote. The right to love whom we choose as we choose should be one of those inherent rights we all have as human beings, one of those rights that should be self-evident — even to the Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court is finding its way out of the 19th century, the rest of us needn't be blind to the right of homosexuals to be treated with the dignity befitting fellow human beings. We, in our tolerance of others, can have the final say. Mailbox Mr. Colbert, I question your claims regarding the pro-life movement (Kansas, June 25). Did you do your homework? Column one-sided You asserted that "the anti-abortion movement is responsible" for the Witchcraft clinic bombing, "one of hundreds that have occurred since 1981." The June 11 Witchcraft Eagle record lists all of the 43 incidents on record. Did you catch the Eagle-Beacon's editorial? It stated that "Those who Perhaps you also overlooked Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spokesman Tom Hill's statement in the June 14 edition of the Eagle-Beacon: "We've no reason to believe they (the convicted bombers) are members of an organized, nationwide conspiracy." would connect the bombing with the responsible majority in the anti-abortion movement should think again that it's important to another that it's outrages have nothing to do with whether one believes in abortion. Mr. Colbert, have you ever studied the literature from both sides or talked with pro-life activists or known any woman whose lover pressured her into having an abortion? Have you ever worked with poor children or noticed an increase in birthright support groups? Did you assist in your child's birth? I have. Others have. There's more, but the point is that they were fair to both sides. So be fair; be factual. Cover all of the bases first, then draw conclusions. Floyd A. Lee Topeka News staff News staff Cindy McCurry Editor Kady McMaster Managing editor Shawn Aday Editorial editor Grant Dawner Campus manager Dawn O'Malley Sports editor Shwahn Norfleen Photo editor Tom Eblen General manager, news adviser Business staff David Nixon Business/production manager Beverly Kastens Retail sales manager Denise Stephens Campus sales/sack buyer Richard Harrison Classified manager John O'Dermann Sales and marketing adviser Letters be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. Guest shots be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The The Kansan reserves the right reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuifer-Flint Hall. The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045, during the regular school year, excluding Sunday, Saturday, holidays and finals periods, and on Wednesday during the summer session. St class conference postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 66046, and $18 for six months and $35 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stupper-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045. Star Wars may be our ultimate fantasy T. S. Eliot wrote: "Humanity can only deal with so much reality." We often indulge in fantasies. They break the monetary of our lives, which all too often are less fulfilled than we want them to be. If we don't want them to be, we can always escape reality by entering our vast imaginations. Fantasies can become dangerous, however, when we confuse them with reality. Fantasies become immeasurably dangerous when they dominate the political arena. Two years ago, President Reagan announced his Strategic Defense Initiative plan. In his speech that announced SDI, or "Star Wars", Reagan asked the scientific community to help the Pentagon develop a defense system that might render nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete." Christian Colbert It should come as no surprise that the notion of Star Wars did not emanate from the scientific community; it flowed from the un sophisticated intellect of Ronald Reagan. To most scientists the notion of Star Wars is preposterous. Many experts doubt that such a defense can Staff columnist ever be deployed. The Pentagon's own chief of research said, "Star Wars would requirebreakthrough in the fight against aliens equivalent to or greater than the plan to spend $30 billion on the idea in the next five years. But that's only a pittance compared with the actual cost it will be needed to complete Star Wars. Let's suppose that we could overcome the giant technological hurdles and somehow come up with the $1 billion to build the city wouldn't be safe. It's naive to think Star Wars, in effect, will stimulate an escalation of the arms race into space. If there was ever a time not to spend money frivolously, it is now. It is unconscionable to speed $1 trillion on a pipe dream when people all over the world, even in this country, can't get enough to eat. 'Let's suppose that we could overcome the giant technological hurdles and somehow come up with the $1 trillion to build Star Wars. We still wouldn't be safe.' Manhattan Project that produced the first atomic bomb." Of the few scientists who believe the system is feasible, none will guarantee a perfect system. Most believe that as many as 10 percent of the nuclear warheads launched could penetrate the Star Wars defense. In spite of the numerous difficulties that would be encountered trying to build Star Wars, and its potential to destabilize U.S.-Soviet relations, we I, too, fantasize. But unlike Reagan who dreams of unachieving military superiority, I dream about brave new leadership with the vision to end the deadlock between Washington and Moscow. I dream that both superpowers, instead of trying to outdo each other, could solve the human needs of this world, a world scared by poverty, repression and sickness that is crying for action. the Soviets won't find ways to counter a Star Wars system. They could do this by building more missiles and decoys to overwhomp our system. They could attack our space-based devices with anti-satellite weapons. They could rely on other means of delivering nuclear weapons, such as bombs, cruise missiles or even terror tactics. No doubt, they will think of many more ways to circumvent Star Wars. Now, before it's too late, we need to confront reality and recognize the insanity of Star Wars. We must question the assumptions that are rapidly this country toward an escalation of the arms race into space. Unless we, an aroused and informed public, act as an opposing moral force, the arms race will continue until it inevitably destroys the world. That is a reality humanity must deal with. Summer's real scoop in Washington So meet Wayne Smith of Frederick, Md., an authority on ice cream scoops. Even during this period of budget restrictions, it appears Congress still can afford one or more experts on practically anything. It may be true that Smith, a mailman, only collects ice cream dipiers as a hobby. But because one never knows when Congress may need his type of expertise, it is good to have him on tap, so to speak. I ran into Smith at the fourth annual Ice Cream for America party given in a senatorial courtyard. "I mainly just answer questions, anyway," he told me. According to a printed list of events, he was scheduled to discuss the history of the ice cream scoop, but someone had neglected to tell him he was part of the speaking program. Like: Have there there been any major modern innovations in ice cream dipping? Dick West Smith is indeed extremely enlightened in his chosen field. Or else I am so abysmally ignorant about ice cream dipping that he seemed enlightened to me. 'He pointed to a couple of senators who were helping themselves to . . . the frozen confection in the VIP DIP tent.' United Press International Anyway, he told me an invention in the 1930s still serves as the basic model for scoops used to dip ice cream today. He pointed to a couple of senators who were helping themselves to a heap of the frozen confection in the VIP DIP tent. "That's the kind of scoop they're using," he confided. I did not inquire whether the senators were among the charter members of the "ice Cream Lovers" group, but they could well have been. The scoop they were using looked like a throwback to the Pioneer Era (1876-1900), when ice cream dipers were first invented. At any rate, it had none of the levels, springs and stuff that came along during the Innovative Era (1900-10). Nor was it when people started serving square-shaped ice cream was introduced. Smith explained that the Depressor Era (1930-40) scoop a hollow handle that could be filled with a foam canister, and when used on the human hand, would cause the dip of ice cream to melt sufficiently to come freely out of the dipper. absence of springs and levels. It might also explain why the senators were able to retrieve ice cream untouched by human hands. See? That would explain the Until mass production after the turn of the century, Smith said, it generally took two hands to dip ice even with the aid of a metal scoop. Most of the early scoops were made of tin and steel and "were not very sanitary." he added. Then came brass scoops with wooden handles whose springs, levels and other tricky release mechanisms can be tipped to dip ice cream with one hand. I was informed by the event sponsors, the International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers, that a number of present-day members of Congress once held jobs as soda jerks. Presumably, when customers ordered a "Coke float," they could dispense the ice cream with one hand. U.S. overlooks treatment of Indians The time has come for Americans in the United States to face the harsh reality of the situation in South Africa and the white man's traditional treatment of natives in his home lands. It's easy for us in the United States to be treated as natives in South Africa, we, however, are not without sin and are putting our self-righteous feet in our mouths. Jon Gregor Many of us believe the upheaval in South Africa can have only one satisfying conclusion — the end of the white government's racist and brutal treatment of black man Jack manh is borne in which the black man has wrongly entrenched himself. Staff columnist have left many Americans with a bitter taste in their mouths. Let's check our feet, folks. with great prejudice toward the American Indian, we now live in complete control while they fade away on reservations. Our government has routinely practiced prejudice since its own establishment, and is a source of Tears of the Cherokee or the fact that we have practiced genocide On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto riots of 1976, South African President P.W. Botha shut down any sign of protest from within the black townships. Scenes of police armed with guns and snarling attack dogs making midnight rounds at the houses of black activists, and President Botha's vow to preserve "our heritage of more than 300 years," When I see Americans on the evening news protesting the South African 'The American Indian is the rightful heir to this land. We have no more right to be in power here than the white man does in South Africa.' minimal and we can never repay what we have taken from them. The South African government's crime is also the United States' disgrace. Regardless of the era, regardless of the victims, the white man has been the one to make religious on the "heathens" throughout the world. It is a legacy ingrained on the face of the Earth, one that will not easily die. government, I'm surprised to see so many whites joining in. The white man who was killed had the lives of this land with violence and brutal, degrading policies. against the American Indian. We have robbed them of their culture and their land. They have been hered like cattle onto reservations. We are much the same as the country we find so appalling. The American Indian is the rightful heir to this land. We have no more right to be in power here than the Native Americans, because past generations have acted The U.S. government has worked hard to protect the heritage of the white man in America. Concessions to the Indian people have been Congress isn't holding back on criticizing the South African government. Cries demanding reform echo throughout Washington. But if the rest of the world applied sanctions to us because of our treatment of Indians, we would laugh at the notion of giving back the land we have taken. The next time we seek injustice to condemn, we should look at ourselves. Examples of injustice can be found on every reservation in the United States. We should concentrate on correcting our own shameful legacy before we focus on the moral crimes of other nations. . --- [ ]