4 Friday, April 17, 1987 / University Daily Kansan Take with a grain of salt They've been talking and discussing and conversing, but what has been said? A better question might be: What has been accomplished? Opinions Secretary of State George Shultz visited Moscow last week for yet another round of talks to promote East-West arms negotiations. Proposals were heard from both sides, and the possibility of a future Reagan-Gorbachev summit encouraged. The two superpowers have, however, been down this negotiation road so many futile times during the Reagan presidency that any promise of agreement should be taken with a grain of salt. No treaty has been signed. There has been no nuclear weapons dismantled and there has been no slow-down of any developmental missile systems. Gorbachev offered to scrap short-range missiles in Eastern Europe, to seek a compromise on the U.S. Star Wars program, and to conclude a treaty on medium range missiles. Shultz has said that negotiations were in order for strategic offensive wepsons, anti-missile defenses and nuclear tests. Not surprisingly, he deferred comment on a possible summit until detailed "content" was prepared. If the content is as detailed as it was at the last summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, then expectations for success should remain low. Both governments have been whistling in the wind for a long time. The rhetoric surrounding the current U.S.-Soviet embassy games indicates East-West relations have not changed. An arms agreement is still a distant dream. Don't let violations pass James Scaly, the assistant to Chancellor Gene A. Budig, recently said he knew the chancellor's parking passes had been misused during the 11 years that he had been at the University of Kansas. The University administration should not have waited until the misuse became an issue to clean up the problem. Instead, administrators should have gotten to the bottom of the problem a long time ago. He also said he was surprised that the misuse had become such an issue. The issue arose in November when KU parking officials caught a student with a chancellor's pass. The student said she received the pass from Bradley Smoot, a Lawrence attorney and a former attorney for Richard von Ende. Smoot and von Ende were both convicted on drug charges last semester. Before von Ende resigned from the University, he had supervised the distribution of chancellor's passes. The University needs the new regulations to stop students and others from taking advantage of the system. Under the new system, Scally will have authority over the passes. Parking services will be able to keep track of passes with a list of the names of holders. Parking services and the University are tough on students, faculty and staff who park illegally and those who obtained the chancellor's passes should not be exempt from fines and punishment. University officials should not let students or staff get away with abusing their rules, especially now that the problem is evident. It's time for the changes. For whom the bell tolls Since 1951, the University carillon has rang out a lasting tribute to KU staff and students who served in World War II, lightened spirits with its music and kept the campus running on time. But time and a tight budget slowly are muting the bells. The carillon, which has been rated one of the best in the United States, has 53 bells, ranging in weight from 10 pounds to seven tons. In addition to Sunday afternoon concerts played by the University's two carillonneurs, Albert Gerken and Mark Holmberg, both professors of music theory, the bells chime on the quarter hour. KU's carillon, part of the Memorial Campanile, was erected in memory of the 8,000 KU men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II. It's $78,000 cost was paid for with contributions from the community. But with no maintenance budget, many of the bells no longer can be played, and others do not ring because of exposure to the elements. Also, the transmission, which connects the carillon keyboard to the bell clappers, is in disrepair and needs to be replaced. The carillon is on a list of major repairs that need to be made, but because its value is more aesthetic than physical, and because of recent budget cuts, any aid from the state may come too late. The thousands of students and staff members of the University of Kansas and citizens of Lawrence owe it to future generations to keep the carillon the ringing tribute it has been in the past. News staff News staff Frank Hansel Editor Jennifer Benjamin Managing editor Jul Warren News editor Brian Kaberline Editorial editor Sandra Engelland Campus editor Mark Siebert Sports editor Diane Gultmeier Photo editor Bill Skeet Graphics editor Tom Eblen General manager, news adviser Business staff Lisa Weems Business manager Bonnie Hardy Activist Denise Stephens Retail sales manager Kelly Scherer Campus sales manager Duncan Calhoun Marketing manager Lori Coppile Classified manager Mariam Follinski Product manager David Nixon National sales manager Jeanne Hines Sales and marketing adviser Letters should be type, 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 type, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The Guest shots should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed The Kansan reserves the right reject or edit letters and guest shots. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall. The University Daily Kansas (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, Kansas St. lighthouse Fint Hall, Lawen, Kan. 60454, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and on Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage paid in US dollars for submissions by mail are $40 per year in Douglas County and $50 per 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-Fint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045 Mandatory service sacrifices liberties There is a chilling draft blowing through the halls of the Senate Democratic caucus that causes those concerned with individual liberties to take note. And the effect of this draft would be much worse than merely catching a cold. Paul Campbell Columnist Some Democratic Party leaders are anxious to rid themselves of their image of being weak on national defense issues in time for the 1988 presidential elections. Their most dangerous proposals are a military force property and a reinstatement of military conscription, the draft. The country has drifted towards national affirmation under the Reagan presidency, which represents quite a change from the Johnson and Nixon years when burning the U.S. flag was commonplace on the U.S. campus. One plan for mandatory national service would tap this reserve of patriotism by requiring high school While the state has responsibilities in these areas, it is not the state's purpose to dictate the direction of the creative energies of the populace. As civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. put it, "Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man." Criticism of mandatory state service should not be inferred as criticism of some of the truly worthwhile activities the service might undertake, such as building hospitals or participating in conservation projects. graduates to donate a year or two of their lives to the interests of the state. proposals for a mandatory service he shows himself not to represent the most basic ideal this country stands for: the liberty of the individual. It is indeed morally bankrupt not to work in some way for the nation's improvement, whether by serving in the military or volunteering for an organization like Volunteers In Service To America. Feelings of wanting to contribute something to the country are indeed most moral and honorable when they come from the voluntary impulses of the individual. He is running for president of the United States in 1988, not prime minister of Italy in 1922. Unfortunately, Gary Hart, the liberal dreamboat from the 1984 elections who recently announced his 1988 bid, does not appear to agree with this assessment. While he states that he loves his country, by making While Hart graciously would offer military service as an option in his national service scheme, some of his Democrat colleagues who remained behind to guard the fort have other ideas. Senators Sam Nunn, D-Ga, and Ernest Hollings, D-Fla., have proposed legislation to bring back the country's largest farm subsidy of the country's conventional forces. While the government's primary responsibility is for national defense, a draft would not increase our strength. With demographics indicating the pool of military-aged men and women dwindling, draft proponents say the draft is needed to maintain troop strengths. This is all despite the fact that service enlistment goals are falling in the past few years with young men and women who are better educated and better motivated than those in the earlier draft years. Another argument put forth is that the draft somehow would reduce the operating cost of the military, potentially juicy bait to a budget-conscious Congress. A draft, however, would increase and shift military costs instead of reducing them. More money would be needed to pay, house the old debt, and replace the Democrats want to "find something for them to do," like randomly invade small countries like Burkina Faso. Make no mistake, the United States needs a military force second to none. There are totalitarian forces that greedily seek to take our place of world leadership. In the past 14 years, the All Volunteer Force has provided such a force. During wartime, a soldier committed to getting the job done because he voluntarily undertook the country's war effort. He had simply waiting out his conscription. Baseball language easy to fake At this time of year, I always think of Schultz. What a lucky guy, Schultz and I worked together for many years. We visited each other's homes, occasionally had lunch, stopped for a beer after work, talked shop, swapped war stories and were pretty good friends. Mike Royko Columnist It came out while we were having a drink after work and a ball game was But it was only after knowing him for a decade that I discovered that Schultz had this remarkable secret. I said something like, "That tall skinny guy's got a swing, reminds me of Teddy Williams." Schultz said, "Uh-huh." I said, "Williams. Best left-handed bitter it ever saw." Schultz said, "Uh-uh, yeah. He could really hit. The best." I said, "I wonder how many homers he would have hit if he had been playing in Yankee Stadium instead of Fenway?" He said, "Uh, the size of a porch?" Then suddenly I knew and it was too. I said, "Schultz, you don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about, do you." Schultz said, "Well, hard to say, hard to say." I looked at Schultz for several seconds and said, "Do you know what I want about?" I said, "It would have been a lot more." I said, "What do you mean — possibly. With the short porch?" in talking about: "Did you the size of a porch?" more. Schultz said. "Possibly." While few political watchers predict any sort of this legislation to pass, its appearance on the political scene is enough to cause great concern. If the United States lacks the moral authority to maintain its defense and protect its interests, no amount of coercion can regain it. And he confessed. He told me that, no, he didn't know what I meant by a short porch," which is baseball shirts. "What does that is unusually close to home plate. He only vaguely was aware that there had been a player named Ted Williams. He didn't know that Fenway Park, in Boston, was where Williams had played. He knew virtually nothing about baseball. His confession went on. He ha- never been to a baseball game. He had never watched a game on TV or read a story about a game. A box score was just a meaningless jumble of numbers. The entire language of baseball was a foreign babble. To him, a switch-hitter was someone you wouldn't want your daughter to date. "I know the pitcher throws the ball and the batter tries to hit it. Beyond that, nothing happens." I was amazed and said, "But I've been with you in groups when we've talked about baseball, and you know what we were talking about." He smiled and said, "I faked it. It really not hard. Until you got me on the short porch, I never been on, or try me. Make baseball talk." "Well, pitching is something you always have to think about." "Well, you never know. If every thing falls together, what the heck." "What do you think of the trade they just made?" So I did. I said something like: "You think the Cubs can go all the way?" "Did you see the play that kid at short made?" things about baseball, he could slide through a baseball conversation. "Sometimes," he said, "all it takes is a shrug. And if someone says something about the future, I'd say, 'Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see,'" he said, "that's just happened, I get by with, 'That's the way it goes.'" "Some kind of play." I asked him why he bothered with insult. Why he didn't just admit that he hated her. Because we have just begun another season. And all over the United States, millions of people are planning another summer of suffering. He was right. Without knowing a "What? And have them think I'm not manly, or I'm a communist? No, it's much easier this way." And why, you might ask, did I tell Schultz that I said saying that Schultz was a luck boy. Oh, some might be happy today because their team won. But the suffering will come it. It is inevitable. It might be tomorrow or the day after. You can't win ball Somebody strikes out. Moans of misery, grief and remorse. And before the season is over, the fans in all but one baseball city will suffer. Consider Boston last year. A summer of joy. But in the end, after that final game, Boston's fans rioted, wept, tore at their hair and kicked little cats. But not Schultz. He's oblivious to it all. When the man cries, "Batter up," Schultz ponders that for a moment. Then he says, "or maybe it's just that we don't know the entire universe, we really don't know what's up or down, do we?" Sometimes I wish I could be like Schultz. But even more, I wish I could have seen Ted Williams hit in a park with a short porch. Mailbox Protest Abrams' visit Elliott Abrams is currently the Reagan administration's chief publicist for the U.S. proxy war against Nicaragua. He should therefore, be welcomed with protests and demonstrations when he visits KU on Tuesday. Abrams is a right wing fanatic of the worst sort, keen to sniff out communities behind every bush. Last year, "60 Minutes" reported on the case of a distinguished Colombian journalist who was thrown into jail for a couple of days when she tried to gain entry into the United States to protest defended the incarceration, charging that the woman was a pro-Cuban terrorist but offering no evidence for his ridiculous claim. Recently, Abrams has been implicated in the Iran-contra scandal. A March 3 article in the Village Voice, based on interviews with government sources, reports that Abrams collaborated with Oliver North to supply arms to the contras at a time when such military assistance was illegal. Abrams then gave misleading testimony about his involvement to the Senate Intelligence Committee, then investigating the contra network. Responding to Abrams' testimony, the Republican chairman of the committee, David Durenberger, told reporters, "I wouldn't trust Elliott Abrams any further than I could throw Oliver North. Laird Okie Lawrence resident Offended by letter There is a very interesting letter by Mahmoud Abu-Ali in the April 15 issue of the Kansan about racism against Arabs. He complains about a lack of press coverage of Arab participation in campus events. But, because it appears that he is not a journalism major, what does he know about when to put certain articles in the newspaper? Next, Abu-Ali complains that the Kansan never states the Arab viewpoint when they have a grievance. The reason there has not been much coverage of the Arab marches is because the organizers do not put notices in the paper. They need to give notice to the Kansan when they are going to march so that they can get proper coverage. The idea that shocked me is when Abu-Ali says "It was too bad about Hitler and the Jews. Over six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. If someone went out and killed six Palestinians there would be none left." In his letter, Abu-Ali says the Israelis are taking revenge on Palestinians for events that occurred 40 years ago. Why are the Palestinians fighting with Israel? Isn't it because the Israelis took land that belonged to the Palestinians more than 40 years ago? Get your facts straight. Paul Fambrini Paul Fambrini Washington, D.C., freshman BLOOM COUNTY py Berke Breathed