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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Wednesday, April 30, 1986
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The game is won
The Kansas House of Representatives finally took the sales tax plunge, and not a moment too soon.
After months of playing politics, the House passed the full 1-cent sales tax increase in the final minutes of a marathon wrap-up session last weekend
Although both the House and the Senate agreed throughout this legislative session that a tax increase was necessary. House members were determined to save their political skins by splitting the increase into two phases, supposedly easier for constituents to swallow.
The House wanted to increase the sales tax a half-cent now and a half-cent next year, which would have raised $30 million less than the full increase in the coming fiscal year.
but the entire 1-cent increase has passed, much to the benefit of education, agriculture and economic expansion. The state squeaked by a potentially devasting financing shortfall that would have occurred had the sales tax not been increased.
Much of the credit for bringing the House around goes to House Speaker Mike Hayden, R-Atwood, who had vowed to kill Gov. John Carlin's "last hurrah." In an early-morning flash of responsibility, Hayden forsook political pride — and perhaps a chance for the governorship — to meet his obligation to the state.
Eleven other representatives followed the leader after Hayden espoused legislative responsibility and the state's finances were saved.
It's disturbing, however, that such an important bill was almost sacrificed in the mire of political games.
A call for escorts
As the semester winds down, some issues that have been around for years still remain unresolved. At the top of the list, despite significant progress recently, is the question of campus safety, particularly for women.
We've seen the appearance of the SecureCab program as one effort to address this problem. Although designed to keep students from driving drunk, SecureCab offers safe transportation to those who have to stay on campus after midnight.
And plans were laid Friday for better lighting on Jayhawk Boulevard from the Chi Omega fountain to Bailey Hall. When finally in place, the lights will add significantly to the safety of a late-night walk on campus.
But as important as these improvements are, they're not enough. Some well-traveled routes on campus will remain inadequately lit, and even a well-lit path does not make someone walking alone immune from attack.
ble and convenient, could fill the gaps left by the present safety programs.
An escort service, if accessi
Running the service would not be difficult, although it would need financing, probably from the Student Senate. It could operate from one or two locations near the center of campus and provide escorts after the buses stop running and possibly through the night.
Funds from Student Senate would pay salaries for the escorts, as well as provide cards identifying the holders. Escorts would work in pairs, a man and a woman or two women.
The need for additional safety measures is not always apparent, in part because most assaults on women still go unreported.
That these attacks occur at all is intolerable, particularly when men can walk anywhere on campus at any hour without fear while women are at risk merely by walking alone.
An escort service, better than any other safety measure, could insure that this never happens.
Worst always possible
The White House Council on Environmental Quality has thrown those traditional words of caution to the wind — to add to the pollution, one might say.
People always say: Plan for the worst—it may happen. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Look both ways before you cross the street, you never know what may hit you.
Last week the council decided to scrap the worst-case environmental rule, a rule that requires federal agencies to consider the worst environmental consequences that could result from their actions.
Since 1970 the National Environmental Policy Act has required federal agencies to prepare detailed analyses of the environmental effects of dams, nuclear waste disposal sites, pesticide-spraying programs and other federally
financed projects.
The council called the rule unproductive and ineffective, contending that the rule bred endless hypotheses and speculation.
However, the council said agencies still would be required to consider low-probability effects, but only those that were reasonably foreseeable.
That's where the council is blinded. Many minor accidents are reasonably foreseeable; no one really foresees serious disasters. But the worst can always happen.
The worst-case rule is the best way to measure the effects of events that are unlikely to happen, but would be a disaster if they did. It's better for those agencies to plan for the worst than to be sorry later that they didn't.
News staff
Michael Totty ... Editor
Laurette McMillen ... Managing editor
Chris Barber ... Editorial editor
Cindy McCurry ... Campus editor
David Giles ... Sports editor
Wilfred Lee ... Photo editor
Susanne Shaw ... General manager, news adviser
Brett McCabe ... Business manager
David Nixon ... Retail sales manager
Jim Williamson ... Campus manager
Lori Eckari ... Classified manager
Carolina Inneses ... National manager
Pallen Lee ... National manager
John Oberzan ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Sparky could spike up pet memorial
My first dog was a little mutt named Sparky. He had a curly tail and联想 chasing rats. His mother was a cat with a fluffy tail wandering stranger who got lucky.
When Sparky died of old age, we dug a hole in a corner of the yard, put him in a crate from the vegetable bin. He gave her this name painted on it as a gravestone.
That and a faded old snapshot in one of the family albums were his only memorials. But if Sparky had been born earlier, he would have done so much more.
We might have placed him in something called "The Animal Hall of Fame Almanac," which is sort of a Who's Father of the beloved pet world.
As the company says in its sales literature, "Turner-Bradshaw proudly announces the opening of the 1886 Animal Hall of Fame Almanacs."
Yes, a company in California — where else? — is now publishing fancy leather-bound "heirloom" books that will contain the pictures and text. Beloved pet Dogs, cats, birds, horses, maybe even gerbils.
"This Almanac is a limited edition masterpiece featuring pets from around the world with photos and
"Entrance into the Almanac is limited to only 500 pets per edition. Each edition is printed once a year, and it is featured in his or her own full page.
Mike Royko Chicago Tribune
stories submitted by their owners.
"You will notice the fine heady smell of fine leather. The Gold Embossed cover design is magnificent. Page edges are glued on three sides.
"You and your pet are members of an exclusive family. A brotherhood of 500, worldwide, now and forever."
And how do you get your pooch or cat into this leather-bound book? It'll cost you $500. That's about it.
The book was the idea of Jan Bohusch of Los Angeles, who works at Turner-Bradshaw, which publishes magazines and other publications.
He says, "We've done a lot of market research and determined that there are a lot of people in the U.S. and worldwide who, well, you can freeze-dry their pets, use pet cements or keep pets are important in their lives.
"I came up with the idea of the concept for printing a book where their pet is featured in a full page. It's a memorial or an heriothon that can be used on for generations. It's a cocktail table book published once a year."
The company ran some ads and sent out "teaser" mailings, and the response has been impressive. More than 1,000 people have applied.
And what kind of pet owners are most eager to see their dogs in living color in a leather-bound book?
"Poodles. I don't know why. The largest response has come from dog owners, and poodles are the biggest."
I'm not surprised. It doesn't sound like something that the owner of a junkyard dog, or a tavern hound, would **do for**
Those who apply are asked to write personal biographies of their pets.
"Here's one letter," said Bohusch,
"from a doctor and his wife. They have a cat they say is their Siamese
son. It answers to its name and it likes to hide in the laundry hamper. In fact, it lives in the laundry hamper.
"And here's one from a woman in Miami. She says they have two extremely spied poodles and they want both of them in the Hall of Fame.
"You see, it's like a social register for animals. Oh, and they'll get a Hall of Fame certificate, like a college diploma. It's stamped, numbered and certified, and suitable for framing."
Let's see — with 500 pets at $500 each, that comes to a quarter of a million dollars in revenue. But Bohusch says each book costs $200 to print. So that cuts the take down to $150,000. Not a bad profit.
Of course, for the cost of a roll of film and developing, you could plaster an entire wall with pictures of your favorite beastie.
But if Sparky were alive, I still might spend a bundle to put him in the book. Especially if I could get it from a picture with his favorite firebird.
With that picture, it would be the ultimate in the elegant cocktail table book.
Let buyers beware of fat-less brews
The government has announced new rules governing the use of the word "lite" to describe meat and poultry products.
The regulations were changed, in part I gather, at the behest of the British Meat Institute. Too bad the brewer had not weighted in with a similar request.
"We need to ensure that labeling information on fat content of meat and poultry products is clear and not misleading." said a federal official
“At the same time, we don't want to be so strict with our labeling standards that we discourage industry from producing lower-fat products.”
If ever I read a statement that also could be applied to the brewing industry, that is it.
Well, for openers, I recommend that the government adapt the meat
But what should federal standards for beer labels be?
Dick West
United Press International
and poultry standards.
The term "lite" may be used on meat and poultry "containing at least 25 percent less fat than the market products in the marketplace."
That, to me, seems like a fair standard for beer labeling.
Let's say the brewers of "Old Spumeundschalmz" wanted to cash in on the current mania for slimness among beer drinkers.
They couldn't merely change the "Old Spumeundschmaltz" labels to spell "Spumeundschmaltz Lite" and be done with it. Under my plan, they might have to change the recipe as well.
In other words "Old Spummeun schmaltz" couldn't be called "Spummeunschmaltz Lite" unless it contained at least 25 percent fewer calories than the majority of the beer sold, or the average bar or package store.
That should keep consumers on "Spumeundschmaltz Lite" from developing beer bellies.
As for taste, that would be up to the individual brewers involved. The government, of course, wouldn't even think of dictating taste applauded.
If "Spumeundschmaltz Lite"
tasted more like mouthwash than beer, so be it.
Previous labeling requirements allowed diet claims to be used interchangeably on meat and poultry production; remaining no more than 10 percent fat
Soft drink companies have
relatively little trouble meeting the criteria, but a diet beer would be automatically suspect.
Would you buy a six-pack of "Diet Spumeundschmaltz" from this man? I thought not.
But what if the brewers of "Old Spumeundschaltz" wanted to fancy up the label a bit by calling the new beer "Foambandgulf Lite?"
Well, in setting new standards for meat and poultry, the government says the term "litie" may be "part of fanciful names, trade names and trademarks only if the product meets the requirements for that claim," excluding brand-name products like frozen dinners.
That strikes me as a sound policy for beer as well.
But if someone tries to sell you a six-pack of "Foamandgush Lite" with ice on the label, let the buyer beware.
Advances demand earlier education
My friend, a physician, told me a story recently with a sad punch line. He had discovered, he said, that if he wants his 6-year-old daughter to go to Harvard someday, she has to be in the "great" kindergarten
It seems competition for the class of 2002 is heating up fast. Indeed, kindergarten is no longer where educational competition begins. Kindergarten provides ways to give their youngsters a winning edge at 3 and 4 years old.
And if you believe Glenn Dorman of Philadelphia's Better Baby Institute ("You provide the baby, we provide the child," the gold is almost over the academic hill.
Dorman thinks children should be doing math and speaking Japanese by then. He preaches that children learn to speak Japanese and untapped intellectual capacities.
Dorman's approach is disputed vigorously by some established authorites in early childhood development. They contend all a 3-year can really do is memorize or mimic, but not really process math. This "overstimulation" can confuse a child and help intellect-
Robert C.
Maynard
Oakland Tribune
Oakland Tribune
tual development.
They might be correct,but they are bucking a powerful trend.
Gordon M. Ambach, New York state commissioner of education, is among those who think 4-year-olds should be in school.
"You have to recognize," he told the New York Times, "that what children do in kindergarten now is to a large extent what they used to do in first grade, and what they do in pre-teen. And that they used to do in kindergarten."
Ambach has yet to persuade New York's Legislature to adopt his approach to 4-year-olds, but the trend clearly is headed in that direction.
Kindergarten now is supported universally by the states, and three — Delaware, Kentucky and Florida
- Delaware, Kentucky and Florida
- require 5-year-olds to be in a licensed school setting.
One state, Missouri, has bought into the concept of educating parents to be at-home educators.
White says we should be training parents to assist child development in infancy by having programs for the learning of their children's development.
If we hope to maintain our place at the head of the class among developed societies, we must do a better job of preparing our children.
Benjamin Bloom of the University of Chicago and Burton White of Massachusetts Center for Parent Education think the fundamental patterns of learning are fixed by age 3.
Missouri provides parent educators who visit the homes of children from newborn to 3-years-old and begin schooling parents in the developmental processes of infants and toddlers.
Even though such developments are novel in the United States, they are common in Japan and China and much of Europe. Children here are often taught in schools that school than children in much of the rest of the industrialized world.
That is why jokes about preparing for Harvard at 6 are only partly funny. Our current notions about school and child development were formed
Assimilating information, and the implications of information, is the challenge. It has been designed in recognition of that fact are a wise investment in our future.
The fundamental implication of that change is that the new unit of labor is the human brain. Brown has no great future in the modern world.
We have passed relatively quickly from an industrial to an information society.
Today, two things are different. First, the information age requires more intellectual versatility from all of us.
Second, we know from various studies that children can indeed handle more intellectual stimulation than we customarily provide.
Competition might not be the best reason for early child development. The best reason may be for the benefit of the child, who will have a greater opportunity to develop the marvelous gifts of intellect.
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