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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Wednesday, March 26, 1986
Stable only in pyramids
The great pyramids of Egypt are included on the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. They stand strong, still and timeless and have become a symbol of immortality.
But riots that have erupted in nearby Giza and Cairo trigger the fact that Egypt is not as stable as its great pyramids symbolize.
Many in Egypt say the country is troubled under the military rule of President Hosni Mubarak and a push toward Islamic rule is imminent.
Unemployment is high, oil prices are dropping, tourism is at a low after the Achille Lauro incident and the hijacking of the Egyptian aircraft. The poor are poorer, and the hungry are getting hungrier. The people's discontent is evident by the riots, and some say
they see no other salvation from tineir misery than to turn to Allah.
"Egypt of 1986 is not Egypt of the mid-1970s, and Mubarak is not Sadat," an Egyptian official said.
And no one knows how long Mubarak can survive.
Egypt's international relations are low. It's at odds with the United States and with the Soviet Union. No one knows how long it can stand as the only Arab country at peace with Israel.
mubarak has turned to rule by gun but his control is weak. If things grow worse, and many think they will, that gun will be turned to shoot down his corrupt government. Until then, the rumors of revolutions will not stop, but the pyramids will still stand.
A thoughtful change
Chicago, the site of the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, recently became the largest U.S. city to declare itself a nuclear-free zone. This action could have a resounding effect on the defense industry should it spread to other industrialized areas.
Nuclear weapon-free zones have been steadily gaining ground since the early 1980s when several small towns and counties passed non-binding resolutions banning the manufacture, design or storage of nuclear weapons. But the movement has so far lacked a foothold.
Admittedly, Chicago is not a hot bed for nuclear weapons production, but the addition of such a large city might give the nuclear-free-zone movement the push it needs.
Specifically, the law prohibits the production, deployment, launching, maintenance or storage of nuclear weapons or of parts of nuclear weapons. It does nothing to preclude nuclear weapons research by the universities of Chicago, nor does it attempt to prohibit the transportation of nuclear
weapons through the city.
What the ordinance does do is to prevent private contractors from taking on federal defense contracts involving the production of nuclear weapons or parts for the weapons.
Illinois Governor James R. Thompson calls the law "stupid and un-American." But there will always be those who denounce any challenge to the military machine as being unpatriotic.
For the second time in as many weeks, we are reminded of the scare tactics of the 1950s used by one of our leaders. This kind of knee-jerk response should not dawn attempts to control one of the biggest hazards of our time.
Albert Einstein predicted our folly 40 years ago when he said splitting the atom changed everything but our mode of thinking.
Now, while the Soviets are pursuing a nuclear weapons moratorium, might be the ideal time to change our mode of thinking. The Chicago city council, in a rare show of unanimity, did just that.
Gain in acid rain fight
The president who once said trees cause pollution has finally taken a positive step toward solving some environmental problems.
Last week, Reagan formally acknowledged that acid rain was a serious problem and endorsed a U.S.-Canadian report that calls for curbs on airborne pollutants.
Acid rain is mainly caused by airborne emissions from industrial coal-fired furnaces and has killed life in freshwater lakes and streams as well as damaged trees, other plant life and human health.
In the past, the Reagan administration has refused to join Canada in combating acid rain, saying more study was needed to determine its causes and effects before taking steps to get rid of it.
It is a relief to see that Reagan may have finally realized that the problem will not disappear simply because
he refuses to acknowledge it. After five years of sticking his head in the sand, he may be ready to take a responsible stand on this environmental threat.
But all is not resolved. The report calls for $5 billion over five years to develop and test cleaner ways to burn coal. It suggests the government pick up half that tab and encourage voluntary contributions from private industry.
In these budget-slashing days of record deficits, the government ought to do more than simply solicit contributions. Pollution from industries is largely responsible for the acid rain problem, and industries should be responsible for solving it.
At long last, Congress has necessary presidential backing on the problem and should waste no time in requiring industries to meet strict emission control standards - at owner's expense.
California not paradise for Jayhawk
A film and video production major lured me this year from the University of Kansas to the University of California at San Diego where I now pursue my studies with the casual energy so uniquely characteristic of this part of the country.
As a newly transplanted Jayhawk, I have wanted to share with the folks back home my very subjective comparisons of southern California and eastern Kansas.
The questions I am most frequently asked include: "Lawrence — that's the place they nuked, right?" "What happened to the red shoes and the little dog?" "Has E.T.'s come to Kansas vet?"
I cheer about the Royals and it's as if no one here even watched the World Series. UCSD has no intercollegiate football team, and Jayhawk basketball doesn't seem to bolt a lot of excitement for them.
residential fraternities and sororites.
The fledgling greek system is fighting a national history of questionable reputations and it doesn't seem very likely to flourish here. Almost two-thirds of the students live off campus. The campus has few
Allison Wood
Guest columnist
There is no such thing as a business major here — Management Science is as close as it gets. Nor do they teach journalism. The number of biology and engineering majors more than makes up for these absences, however.
And I'm proud to say that the visual arts majors are no more, ah, individualistic than the ones in Lawrence. Except . . . you remember the fluorescent colors that were really big last year at the Limited? Or those highlighter pens that practically glow in the dark? Then you're familiar with the latest trends in hair color on the West Coast.
People seem to go out a lot more in Lawrence than they do here. Californians definitely party, but the school is actually located in La Jolla which
is a haven for wealthy retirees and basically pretty sleepy. And downtown San Diego is a good 20-minute drive.
Here, too, you don't find the familial, exclusively college atmosphere that dominates Massachusetts Street. When you go out here, you and your friends enter other people's worlds.
KU students are pretty much sheltered from that in the clubs around Lawrence. It may seem stifling to some of you, but there is a lot to be said for going to school in a small town and developing that camaraderie.
I must say, the people here are incredibly, genuinely nice. If you ask directions, chances are someone won't just tell you, he'll walk you where if it's relatively close.
I honestly am amazed that I already miss (some parts of) the Midwest seasons. Everything here is "cool," from the weather to the windsurfers. I long for the crisp coldness that snaps you awake October mornings on the Hill.
There is a surprising lack of affection among the students here. They are pretty confident of who they are, and whether or not you can accept them is not their headache.
Unfortunately, one does overhear talk of gnarly waves and serious attitude. But if you can deal with all the rad dudes who are constantly stoked and have major stress, you'll survive.
Obviously, every school in every city has its benefits as well as its disadvantages. And being away from KU, especially after having grown up so near it, has finally cemented my appreciation for the traditional beauty and fine education it offers.
California is wonderful. But nowhere is paradise, and a part of me will always remain on the jill.
Attison Wood studied Radio-TV-Film at KU for three years. She is now a student at the University of California-San Diego.
Blowing the whistle on a loud silence
In the past few weeks, this country has learned so much about the dangers of space travel. We now realize how little we knew about the potential for disaster that existed every time astronauts were being sent aloft.
Take those things called O-rings, which are supposed to seal the segments of the booster rockets on the shuttles. Six months ago, how many Americans had ever heard of O-rings?
Oh, there were a handful of engineers at the company that made the boosters who knew what O-rings were. And were worried that the O-rings were dangerous. And there were some people within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration who knew of their fears.
Or cold weather. I doubt if one out of 10,000 Americans knew that cold weather could, in so many ways, endanger the lives of astronauts on the space shuttle.
and the brakes on the shuttle. Did anyone you know realize how concerned the astronauts were about chronic problems with the brakes when the shuttle landed? Or that some of the astronauts wanted some kind of escape system?
Mike Royko Chicago Tribune
Of course we didn't know. Most of us knew almost nothing about the long, long list of dangerous elements that were part of the shuttle launches.
These dangers, we now realize, included the hurry-up attitude of NASA, even if it meant bending the safety standards.
Somebody knew, though. Now that there has been a tragedy, people are talking about the dangers. Some are talking openly, at the Rogers Commission; others as unnamed sources to the press.
At both NASA and the companies that make the equipment, there were engineers who knew, administrators who knew and astronauts who knew.
Maybe no one person knew about *all* of the dangers. But surely some of them knew about *many* of the dangers. And there was someone who knew about each specific danger.
But among all these people, one type of person was lacking.
And that is the whistle-blower.
There was nobody who would go outside the structure of the contractors or of NASA and say, "Something is wrong, and maybe the rest of the country ought to know about it."
Apparently there was nobody willing to go to a senator or one of the nation's more influential newspapers and put some persuasive documents on the desk and say, "People ought to know what's going on before somebody gets killed."
Instead, it appears that everybody who knew something had trust in the structure, the bureaucracy, the chain-of-command.
Unfortunately, organizational structures can't always be trusted, as the deluge of new information about NASA is showing us.
Organizational structures are just people. They might be extremely bright people, with impressive titles and sparkling credentials. But they are people. And there will always be some who make dumb decisions, pass the buck or avoid the buck entirely.
And that's where the whistleblower comes in. Somebody decides that the structure can't be
trusted to repair or monitor itself. That maybe the rest of us ought to know what's going on.
Whistle-blowers have told us about waste in the Pentagon and other governmental agencies; about phony enemy body counts, phony鉴论 of enemy strength and phony allegations of battles won in Vietnam; about corruption all the way from the rural courthouse to Congress.
It was a whistle-blower, known only as "Deep Threat," who helped expose the crimes of Watergate.
Being a whistle-blower isn't easy or comfortable. As we've seen many times, bureaucracies that are embarrassed by the sound of the whistle may be vindictive.
Fortunately, though, there are people who think it's worth the risk. Without them, we'd never know what was being done to us before it was history.
So, it's kind of a pity that all of the frankness, the concerns and the self-criticism we're now hearing from the space community was lacking only a few months ago.
All we can do is hope that in the future there will be someone, even if it's only one person, who will be willing to confide in the other 200 million of us.
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Could this mean that computers and other high-tech equipment have replaced buttonholes as the standard and conventional teaching aids now used in educating members of Congress?
Earlier this month, the American League of Lobbyists sponsored a Washington conference on the new techniques and technology that have been developed for shaping legislation in the 1980s.
Technology is replacing buttonholes
A league spokesman to whom I put that question gave me a press brochure reporting that the practive of lobbying has changed greatly over the years. I can believe it.
For one thing, there are more women senators and representatives to enlighten.
Women, it may surprise you to learn, don't always have buttonholes handy. In which case, it may be difficult for lebbysts to find something familiar to grab and hold onto.
Dick West
United Press International
It's understandable lobbyists would switch to computers and other high-tech teaching aids.
In my time, I have known several persons who were being paid to make sure Congress was aware of the issues. None, in my judgment, have been more education-minded than consultants.
Every year, all sorts of government experts resign to become private consultants. If I were a public-spirited citizen bent on edifying certain lawyers, I would not hesitate to hire a consultant to approach them.
To begin with, consultants are unusually knowledgeable in specific fields and most have no compuene-
Clearly, some legislators need all the consultations they can get. I, for one, am pleased to see such groups as the American League of Lobbies exhibit a willingness to step into the breach.
tions about sharing their erudition with members of Congress.
Not long ago, a national magazine reported the lobbyists had become more numerous and brazen than ever before. If so, I would say it is because senators and representatives are more abysmally ignorant about the national issues than in the past
I would say that by whatever name, they share a common goal teaching.
The magazine to which I previously alluded said some lobbyists called themselves lawyers or government-affairs specialists as well as public relations consultants.
Forget what you might have heard
or read about influence peddling.
Money is strictly secondary. The average lobbyist, I can tell you,
primarily is interested in imparting
information.
Almost to a man, or woman, they are natural pedagogues. Too bad the United States' school systems can't always line up teachers who are similarly dedicated.
I don't profess to be acquainted with all the new technology that lobbies employ. But I saw one the other day who actually was using a lobby to get his lessons across.
This great, if somewhat old-fashioned, educator was making sure our representatives had all their butts when they came off the House floor to run for re-election, or whatever.
Some things, apparently, never change.