4
University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1986
Legal disguises
Last week the Lawrence Police Department used a legal process to disguise illegal action.
Roadblocks were set up around town to check for persons driving with expired drivers' licenses or no licenses at all. Every car that passed through these roadblocks was stopped and every driver was asked to produce a valid driver's license.
The police call the roadblocks routine checks, and such checks for drivers' licenses are legal.
The roadblocks, however, were set up on late weekend nights, and almost all of them were just down the street from local taverns and clubs.
The underlying purpose for the roadblocks was obvious. The officers were hoping to snag drunken drivers, cite them and get them off of the road.
That may seem a noble cause, but it was achieved through a questionable use of
state laws. Although it is legal to stop everyone and check for drivers' licenses, it is illegal to randomly stop drivers to check for drunkenness without probable cause.
instead of driving home over the bridge from parties or bars across the river, many students said they took the turnpike to the other side of town. Instead of drunks driving 30 miles an hour, we had drunks driving 55 miles an hour.
As a result, they are on the verge of pulling out of ASK. a move that could cripple the statewide student lobbying group.
Before such a move, the Student Senate administration and its members have a lot to consider.
Their locations were publicized in advance, and drivers avoided them by choosing different routes instead of limiting their drinking.
Drunken driving is dangerous and methods to stop it must be found. But those methods should not bend or stretch the laws to achieve their end.
The Student Senate says that perhaps the University of Kansas is not best represented by ASK. It seems the Student Senate thinks that since KU is the biggest school in the group and contributes the most money, its interests should be maid special attention.
And legality aside, the roadblocks did more to harm the cause than help.
Statements made lately suggest that the Student Senate might better spend its money lobbying independently of ASK and looking out for only KU's interests.
Some Student Senate members have the wrong idea about what the Associated Students of Kansas is supposed to accomplish.
But ASK was not designed to look out for the specific interests of member universities. It represents the students of the six state universities and of Washburn University in Topeka. All of them.
Asking too much
KU spends thousands of dollars lobbying for KU-specific issues; ASK is designed to address statewide student problems in the legislature. The two do not, and should not, often overlap in their purposes.
KU has long participated in ASK. The recent flap has a great deal to do with the lobbying group's recent decision to take no stand on the issue of whether Washburn should be included in the Regents system. KU strongly opposes making Washburn a Regents school.
But Washburn is also represented by ASK, and a decision one way or the other would have pitted ASK against itself. No stand was exactly the correct move for ASK to take, and Student Senate should be able to realize that.
Change is brewing at Hashinger Hall.
After a boycott of the cafeteria last week and subsequent meetings between residents and management, many complaints have been aired and tensions dissipated.
Food fight folly
The cafeteria boycott followed the distribution of a flyer in which some residents alleged that the kitchen used grade D beef and the supervisors received kickbacks for operating under budget.
A situation that could have been hurtful to both hall residents and cafeteria workers was diffused, largely because of the finesse and sapience of Lenoir Eckdahl, the director of food services.
The authors of the flyer admitted they didn't know
But the process used to bring problems to the attention of management is a lesson in carelessness and irresponsibility.
whether the information was true; they based the flyers on rumors they had heard. And those rumors were false.
Many residents naively followed the leaders, trusting that the information was correct. Once the flyer was distributed, the battle cry of a few became a chorus. Suddenly Hashinger had the worst food and the worst workers of all the residence halls.
This time, the irresponsibility of these people did not result in permanent damages such as full-time workers being moved to other residence halls.
But none of the students involved in writing and distributing the flyer and in organizing the boycott had approached Ekdahl with his complaints before the group declared war.
But the potential for injuries should not be ignored. It should serve as a warning to future activists.
News staff
News staff
Michael Totty ... Editor
Laurettu McMillen ... Managing editor
Chris Barber ... Editorial editor
Gregy McCurry ... Campus editor
David Giles ... Sports editor
Brice Waddill ... Photo editor
Susanne Shaw ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Brett McCabe ... Business manager
Nixon David ... Retail sales manager
Jim Williamson ... Campus manager
Lori Eckert ... Classified manager
Caroline Innes ... Production manager
Pallen Lee ... National manager
John Oberzan ... Sales and marketing adviser
Letters should 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 should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The
writer. The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall,
The University Dally Kansan (USPS 650-040) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stuaffter Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and final periods, and on Wednesday during the summer months. Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $27 a year in Douglas County and $18 for six months and $35 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
Boston University
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansas, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 68045
Don't blame music for society's woes
A few nights ago, I attended a presentation at McColllum Hall by an individual who is making the rounds of the residence halls. I was able to watch a videotape and then listen to this particular individual discuss the evils of the values prevalent in today's society and offer his solutions to them.
to them.
His primary focus wasn't abortion, prayer in public schools, nuclear war, or even digestion, but rock music.
He began with a videotape documentary on the history of rock 'n' roll, which singled out such groups and musicians as AC/DC, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio, Van Halen, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Tom Petty as being bad influences on the impressionable, Silly-Putty type minds of American teen-agers.
Of course, to provide some measure of equality and fair play, the narrator of the video pointed to the bands u2, Kansas and one or two others as good influences.
Apparently, the video's objective was only to inform us that a problem existed, while the aim of its sponsor, a fundamentalist "Christian" was to introduce his answers to this burning issue.
He supported warning labels on records (CAUTION PARENTS): If your child listens to this album, he or she may entertain a sudden desire to commit mass murder, etc.) and changes, possibly forcible, within the recording industry to halt the spread of the music of these devilish, guitar-swinging, rock 'n' roll rebels.
Roger Long
Guest columnist
He alleged that rock music was a prime cause of violence and crime perpetrated by teen-aggers.
Someone sitting behind me countered that music only reflected societal trends; society affects music, not the other way around.
I was inclined to agree. After parental neglect and indifference, peer pressure and a host of other factors, the negative influence of certain kinds of music without a doubt trails far behind as a real attitude-forming force.
I wondered about who, or what,
would determine which bands are acceptable and which are not. The speaker answered, the Bible.
Well, that's all fine and good, but once the freedom of expression of Iron Maiden and Prince were eliminated, who would be next? Who would be the members of the board that decided what groups would be allowed? Who would interpret what the Bible had to say about heavy metal and punk rock, anyway?
Sound rock music end up being the only medium regulated? What about videotapes, T-shirts, hairstyles, radio stations, television stations, billboards, magazines and newspaper advertisements? What about books and personal ideas?
I realize this may sound a little farfetched, but it is true that any type of regulation of individual choice tends to lead eventually to its complete censorship. And, I thought, all of this is in the name of God and Jesus Christ?
Unfortunately for the people who push for censorship, they forget a key point. The point is that none of them is Jesus Christ, or even, I am sorry to say, a distant relative.
So who are you — and here I speak to every one of the Jerry Falwell disciples on this campus — to tell me
What, exactly, gives you the right?
Not the Constitution of the United States, that's for sure. The Bible?
Whose interpretation? Not, I might venture to say, Jesus Christ's.
what I can or cannot listen to, can or cannot learn, should or should not think?
It really is frightening that such backward and primitive thinking still exists in this country in 1986. Simple solutions just don't work any more — we are a complex society with complex problems. Maybe there would have been an audience for these "answers" a few hundred years back — perhaps during the Spanish Inquisition.
to those who see blatant immorality and injustice in our society, and to those who desire change, I agree totally. We definitely are not perfect.
But don't look for restrictions of personal freedom as the world's salvation, and don't support those who want to force others into their way of thinking. Instead, expect beneficial change to come from the individual, and allow him the liberty to make his own choice. That's what America and freedom are all about.
Roger Long is a Wichita freshman
Iacocca may run, but can his cars?
But is such a candidacy possible?
The Statue of Liberty financing dispute has stirred more talk about Lee laccocca as a possible presidential candidate. One of the national news magazines last week carried a scenario on how he might do it.
But is such a candidacy possible? There's no question that lacocca is smart enough to be president. If recent history has taught us anything, it is that just about anybody — even the bartender in "Cheers" — is smart enough to be president.
And there's name recognition. Because lacocca has been in so many TV commercials — the fastest route to celebrity status in America — he's much better known than the governors and senators who lust for the White House.
Some observers point to his best-selling book as evidence of his fame. But the book is just a byproduct of his being on television. If Charlie the Tuna could write, he'd be on the best-seller lists.
Iacocca's other credentials include the kind of hard-nosed personality this country admires, a successful business career and the up-by-the-bootstraps background.
But the question is, could he overcome his one, glaring, personal deficiency?
No, I'm not talking about his having too many vowels in his name, and the recent view of some political experts that an Italian-American would have a hard time becoming president.
Mike Royko Chicago Tribune
That's nonsense. If anything, we're in an era of Italian-chic. The movie screens have been dominated by people name Stallone, DeNiro, Pacino and Travolta. Sports fans idolize Montana and Marino. And we're consuming almost as much pasta as Italy.
raccoon's weakness can be found in a thick file I maintain. When it becomes more than a foot thick, I throw it away and start another one. I've done that at least a dozen times over the years.
over the years.
The file contains letters that represent the greatest common complaint I've had from readers. It is a subject that causes them greater outrage than the conduct of politicians, their utility bills and the sexual preferences of others.
It is cars. More specifically, new American-made cars.
"I bought a new car from Goodgy Dealer," they write, "and within a week, the woozits valve fell off, the hogmetam burned out, it developed a
wobble, a shimmy, a tremble, a cough and a stutter. I have had it in for service 48 times in the last six months. I spend more time with the service manager than with my children. I would go in my garage, turn on the ignition, and kill myself, except that the engine keeps conking out."
There is no product that we buy with greater excitement and anticipation. And none that begins falling apart as quickly.
There is no product that we buy with greater excitement and anticipation. No product, except housing, that we spend as much money on. And none that begins falling apart as quickly.
as quickly. Every morning across America there is a massive motorcade of misery and broken dreams. It takes shape outside the service entrances of the thousands of car dealers.
As the owner of one high-pired lemon wrote, "Do they have a special
training program so that poole who work in the service departments never look you in the eye, never ever glance at your face, never tell you anything except how much you owe?"
The name on the car doesn't matter. All the car makers roll out a certain number of lemons and limes. They all make cars with knobs and handles that fall off on the way home with latches that don't latch, light that don't light.
And this is what Isaacca would have to contend with. Once the initial hoopla was over, countless Americans would look at him and think of the window that wouldn't roll up, the door that rattled, the tire that wobbled.
'They'd remember those mornings when they waited outside the service entrance for the opportunity to be ignored by the guy with the clipboard
They'd remember making the last payment almost on the day that it gave one final grunt and died in the driveway.
There was a time when Richard Nixon's enemies got laughs by asking, "Would you buy a used car from this man?"
winn facceca it would be far worse — the tormented, accusing cry; bought a new car from that man. Can anyone give me a lift home?"
Mailbox
Stop parking takeover
The Athletic Department and parking services need to be put on a leash. Their slow but methodical takeover of parking lots on campus needs to be curtailed. Immediately. They have decided to include the Academic Computer Center parking lot in their ever-increasing takeover of parking lots on campus.
Responding to other complaints that they had been taking over too many parking lots, they had always taken the defensive, citing the academic computing lot as one that was near campus and was still available to students.
Well, what are they going to say now? As of right now, the lots they control are: 90 (O zone); 72 (Burge Union); 54,155 (west of Murphy Hall and south of Learned Hall); 56,57 (north of Allen Field House); 30,71,125 (surrounding Allen Field House); and 34 (Computer Center).
These total almost 1,912 parking spaces — an additional eight if you include handicapped parking. Since the field house seats 15,100 people, I see the entire campus parking eventually eaten.
For all of us students who need to work on something on the south part of campus, parking is becoming almost nil on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
True, this season is almost over. However, I for one, do not want to come back next year and find that I can't park in any campus parking lot short of the stadium parking lot.
Money is one thing, but our rights as students to partake in activities besides basketball (no offense please to our fantastic Jayhawks) is another.
It's bad enough we have to wait until 5 p.m. on weekdays to park on campus, and now we will have to forgo this privilege on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons as well.
Thurman Miller Seattle senior
Issue breeds enemies
I used to think Chris Bunker had future in politics.
Any smart politician knows that the moment you say anything about abortion, more people will despite you than will wear your campaign buttons.
It is bad enough to attempt to write about this issue, but not to rely on the dogma established by both sides is tantamount to heresy. Well, Chris would have voted for you, but it is the late now.
Paul Longaba Lawrence seni