4
University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Thursday, Feb. 6, 1986
know.
A bill that would shorten residency requirements for the seven state Board of Regents schools from one year to six months is a piece of legislation to be applauded.
Bill would benefit state
The bill, which passed the House Ways and Means Committee, would allow students to pay in-state tuition after living six months in Kansas. It also would allow those who moved to Kansas for jobs to gain immediate residency.
Although the bill passed in committee on an easy voice
At the University of Kansas,
out-of-state students now pay
$1,517 per semester, while
instate students pay $615.
vote, its opponents in the House stand ready to pounce.
Their argument is logical: If people stop paying more money for tuition to state schools, the state will lose money. The problem is no one knows how much.
The Board of Regents figures the loss could amount to about $250,000.
A shorter residency requirement would attract more students to Kansas schools and with them, an increase in revenue to the state, blowing a hole in an otherwise logical argument by combating the potential monetary loss.
The media, not wanting to look as if they are impeding the progress of the investigation into what went wrong, are not complaining too much. But the fact is that NASA was not as cooperative as it should have been in supplying prompt information.
NASA also acted in an unnecessarily heavy-handed manner when it impounded network tapes of the explosion.
Naturally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was sensitive about the release of information last week following the explosion of the shuttle Challenger.
It was almost five hours before Jesse Moore, NASA's shuttle program director, announced what most Americans already knew. The shuttle had exploded. There were no apparent survivors.
The impounding of material available to the press is usually reserved for matters of national security, when the country is at war and the information might be useful to combatants, or when secrecy is required for some other justifiable reason.
Lack of public concern
But the explosion of the shut-
The networks have said they would gladly have handed over any tapes or information that would aid in the investigation. It is in the interest of the media to maintain a cooperative relationship with government agencies in similar situations.
But it also is in the government's interest to maintain an honest, open relationship with the media as far as possible. The government is supposed to act for the people and the media are an important link to the heart and mind of the public. NASA's actions showed its lack of concern for that public.
Neither was the explosion of the shuttle a matter of national security as far as has been determined. It is unlikely that NASA would have risked carrying secret military cargo on such a well-publicized flight with the first truly private citizen on board.
Finally, because we are not in a state of war, no plausible explanation remains as to why NASA acted as it did.
te was no secret. Millions of people in offices, schools, factories, stores and homes immediately tuned into television sets to witness the gory instant replays.
Time to end contra aid
As the Reagan administration searches for ways to reduce the federal deficit at home, it also needs to look abroad.
In the next few weeks, Congress will again assist aid to the contras, who are rebels in Nicaragua.
Rep. Michael Barnes, D-Md., sent a letter to President Reagan two weeks ago saying that Reagan's present policy left the United States only two choices: Abandon the contras and sustain a foreign policy
But now, the administration is seeking to resume military aid, which will make up about two-thirds of a total contra aid package worth about $100 million, according to estimates.
Last year the United States spent $27 million for humanitarian aid to the rebels. Military aid to the contras was cut last year because of congressional outcry after revelations such as that of the CIA's direct involvement in the mining of Nicaraguan harbors.
The United States should not increase aid to the contras.
Unfortunately, the coming election year may make it difficult to defeat Reagan's complete plan, because few congressmen will want to appear to be rejecting the president and favoring the Sandinistas.
setback,or get directly involved militarily.
Although the government in Managua is oppressive, the contrasts have not ended their own human rights violations or provided a political plan of what they would do in the event they came to power. Besides, the rebels are deeply divided.
The Contadora nations, supported by Central American nations, are calling for the United States to cease contra aid and to help find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
It's time the United States stopped spending millions to support the contras. In the long and short run, the Contadora nations' suggestion is less of a burden for U.S. taxpayers.
News staff
News staff
Michael Totty...Editor
Lauretta McMillan...Managing editor
Chris Barber...Editorial editor
Cindy McCurry...Campus editor
David Giles...Sports editor
Brice Waddill...Photo editor
Susanne Shaw...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Brett McCabe...Business manager
David Nixon...Retail sales manager
John Williamson...Campus manager
Lor Eckart...Classified manager
Caroline Innes...Production manager
Pellen 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 homeetown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest shots should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The
Guest shots should be type, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject edits letter and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stairwater Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60405, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and on Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage paid at the post office. The student fee is $12 for six months and $35 a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 68045.
**STILL WAY OUT IN SPACE,
VOYAGER II PHOTOGRAPHS
URANUS.**
CHARTING THE PLANETS
BECKONING TO US.
BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE IS FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN.
THAT IS NOT A LESSON TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN.
AND ALTHOUGH SOME WILL DIE ON THE FRONTIER, FOLLOW WE MUST.
CHRISTA MCAULIFFE UNDERSTOOD THIS.
EXHIBITION
Reaching for stars never a lost cause
Pick up almost a newspaper and there will be a page of death notices and obituaries. People die every day. Some die young, more die old. Some suddenly, some after a long illness. Rich, poor, unknown and famous.
We pay little or no attention to most of them. In smaller cities, people might look a little closer at the obits because there's more likelihood that they'll know the someone.
But in the big cities, most people don't give them a glance. Or if they do, they just skim the names.
And nobody says that this or that death is a great tragedy, a terrible loss. We don't say that about the death of strangers. People die. That's part of life.
Yet, millions of people around the world were plunged into deep sadness Jan. 28 because of the deaths of seven individuals who were strangers to almost all of us.
On the streets, you could find ordinary people staring into store windows at TV sets that showed the explosion of the spacecraft, and weeping at the sight.
People phoned me, most of them shaken, subdued, depressed, just wanting to talk to someone about the tragedy.
She said: "It's because they were doing it for us. They were represen-
I asked one elderly woman, who had surely seen much death in her lifetime, why she was so moved at the deaths of people whose names she wasn't sure of.
They're special because they were among that small minority who don't do what they do for the paycheck.
Mike Royko Chicago Tribune
elderly woman said about the seven being special.
They were the fortunate ones who have the brains, the drive, the vision,
In a sense, it's the same reason we mourn strangers in the uniforms of cops and firemen who die while doing their jobs. It's because they're representing us. We delegate and they do our dirty and dangerous work.
ting us up there, weren't they? They were special."
In a sense, it's the same reason we mourn strangers in the uniforms of cops and firemen who die while doing their jobs. It's because they're representing us. We delegate and they do our dirty and dangerous work.
And I suppose that's part of it. Yes, they were representing us. The human race is going to explore space because it's in our nature to go where we've never been. And maybe we have to if we're going to survive. But we can't all do it. We have to delegate. And are they our explorers. They push back the boundaries for the rest of us.
the physical gifts, to accomplish things that the rest of us can only marvel at. In Tom Wolfe's phrase: the right stuff.
And there was truth in what the
So, it really shocking when we see such special people die literally before our eyes; when we see a great, adventure venture into a video hgrer.
It was a tragedy, yes. But I can't help but think that even in death, maybe they were still among the lucky ones.
And it's a jaring reminder of our mortality. How sure are any of us that there will be a tomorrow when even the very special, the very gifted, can be gone in an instant; when all the dazzling technology, the brilliant minds of the space agency, the meticulous planning, the countless safeguards, can't guarantee that a disaster won't occur?
I've known so many people, and you probably have, too, who have quietly slipped away after lives of frustration, drudgery, failure, disappointment and sickness. People who never had a chance to climb the mountains of their souls. Or who had no mountains.
The seven people on the spaceship, even the schoolteacher, had all chosen to climb. They wanted to walk the edge, with all the risks it involved.
I'm not sure that the risk wasn't worth it. Maybe it wouldn't be for you and me and most of us who prefer to play it safe. But the next time a spaceship is launched, there will be people aboard who believe that what they're doing is more than worth the chance. There will always be such people, and each of them will tell you that they consider themselves lucky, no matter the outcome.
So, in feeling grief, remember that the seven were special in what they did with their lives, right up to the end.
As someone once put it: "If I reach for the stars, I might not touch them. But I won't come up with a handful of dirt."
Mailbox
Standers are true fans
The real pride of the Jayhawks is represented by the students who are willing to show up early for games and enthusiastically express their support and their pride in a team which is nationally ranked and inspires an important sense of school spirit within the campus environment.
We are writing with regard to Marty Kral's letter on respect. She considers the students behind the bench selfish and immature for cheering while standing up, and implies that the fans who are seated represent the "pride of the Jayhawks."
If you feel that you are at a physical disadvantage, you can show up a little earlier.
Obnoxious we are not; conscious of the fact that the Jayhawks deserve all the support we can give them, we are. Yes, there are "diehard" fans, and the Jayhawks deserve at least this much.
As for the rest of us, tall and short alike, we will continue to represent the real pride of the Jayhawks.
Neei Caps
Aspen, Colo. freshman
Andy Strohman
San Diego freshman
Noel Capps
Problem not lawyers
In the Feb. 3 issue of the Kansan, Victor Goodpasture launched his latest tirade of inanities against the legal profession. So now he thinks America has too many lawyers.
If the results of the trials that he mentions are as spurious as he assumes, why did the juries decide in that fashion? If indeed consuming too many Twinkies is not a valid defense for murder, then how was a jury so convinced in the first place?
If the lawyers were not profiting by their adventures, they would not be so engaged. The problem perhaps lies in the legal structure that allows such nonsense to be perpetuated, but not in the sheer number of lawyers.
Goodpasture — never one to refrain from jumping like a high-hurdler over logical fences — quickly decides that "lawyers never were interested in justice." This column, which is representative of his usual standards of analysis, proves just as correctly that journalists never were interested in truth in reporting.
Indeed, the sheer existence of such sordid tabloids as the Enquirer and the Star proves that there are too many journalists.
Goodpasture, whether he thinks so or not, represents this University with his articles. If this is the best he can do, then the School of Journalism should be ashamed, and instead of turning Green Hall "into a shelter for obsessive Twinkie eaters" as he suggests, Stauffer-Flint Hall should be razed and turned into a convenient parking lot.
Brian Stayton Mayfield senior
Ticket troubles
Being part of a society ruled by government, I try to do my share to obey law and order. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way and sometimes I am punished by a fine for an occasional traffic or parking ticket. If I know I'm guilty, I have no problem with paying the fine.
Unfortunately, the handling of parking tickets on the KU campus is vastly different from anywhere else. At KU, your case is in the hands of law students, who act as "judges." Some of these "judges" make television's Judge Wapner look good. It's sad, but true.
My most recent case is a joke. I am a broadcast journalism student and part of my class requirement was to do newscasts at KJHK — the student-run radio station. Well, I got a ticket there last spring.
Usually, there are wooden parking permits at the station, which you stick inside your car. But on this particular day the permits at the station were nowhere to be found.
I hope all the law students can hear that tune the next_time they declare someone, "Guilty!" Unfortunately, the KU "judges" are the ones that are guilty. Remember, "judges," to make your checks payable to the University of Kansas.
I later found a ticket on my windshield. I fought it twice, with no success, and now I have to pay a fine of $7.50. Now, that may not sound like much money, but, frankly, I'd rather buy an album with that money than pay a parking ticket for which I wasn't guilty.
Roger Keys Glenview. Ill., junior
Choice is necessary
In response to Tim Erickson's column on the Supreme Court and the "bad call" of the Roe v. Wade decision (Kansan, Feb. 4), we would like to present a hitherto unpublicized opinion.
We do not like abortion; we hope that we are never faced with the prospect of making such a difficult choice. But it must remain our choice.
We are fully aware of your opinion. The same Constitution you criticize gives you the right to have your opinion printed. There is no law controlling your male reproductive capacities. Why should there be laws on ours?
Abortion is not a method of birth control and has never been advocated as such. It is a last resort for women in many painful and difficult situations. Would you rather have these women dead from botched illegal abortions? What if it were your wife; or sister? or daughter? Any woman can find herself with an unawanted or life-threatening pregnancy once reaching puberty. And in the United States, the age of sexual maturation has decreased rapidly.
compare an endangered species with the only creature who has the capability to destroy this world 50,000 times over? Making such a comparison seriously damaged your credibility for us.
As for your reference to the bald eagle and the punishment laws concerning the killing of this symbol of our nation, we ask: How can you
And concerning the example of the 24-week-old fetus that was allegedly murdered by the physician who "aborted" it, it is well known that no present-day physician would attempt to terminate such an advanced pregnancy intentionally. The risks to the mother are simply too great.
The Supreme Court has never claimed to be perfect. It is made up of humans, with prejudices and opinion, just like other humans. We agree with the decision it made in Roe v. Wade; we have disagreed with other decisions, past and present.
The Constitution was written to be amended. The decision to ban abortion was initially an amendment. To reverse the decision made in 1973 would be a serious de-evolutionary step in the growth of a democratic, free America.
We ask you: Would you prefer to have women free to choose their own destinies or see your 12-year-old daughter carrying your first grandchild?
Mary J. Rose
Leawood sophomore
Cheryl Scheer
Anchorage, Alaska, junior
Correction
Because of an editor's error, a letter to the editor in Tuesday's Kansan by Karl Shepard, Kansas City, Mo. graduate student, should have read, "Phill凯le, chairman of the Kansas Federation of College Republicans, claims that opposition to divestment is incompatible with the ideals and vision of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr."