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Tuesday, April 14, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinions
A compact has been regarded as an agreement between two parties, but it would appear that some members of the Kansas Legislature do not understand this. Otherwise, they would not be pushing the Legislature to remove Kansas from the Central States Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact.
Arguments come too late
By a legislative majority, Kansas officially joined the waste compact. The compact is intended to put low-level radioactive waste from five regional states into the state best suited for the waste site. Now that studies have concluded that most of the preferential sites are in Kansas, the lawmakers suddenly want out of the agreement.
They claim that having such waste within our borders
would be dangerous for communities near the dump site. Further, the withdrawal from the compact would allow Kansas to maintain its own low-level radioactive storage facility. Of course, these arguments make clear sense — so clear that they should have been used to evade entering the compact in the first place.
But such an opportunity was lost when the Kansas Legislature approved the compact.
We hope that legislators will not wish to damage Kansas' reputation for conducting interstate associations with integrity. The compact may not have been made in the state's best interest, but now is the time for our legislators to grin and bear the decision they have made.
It's not often that people get a second chance, especially when it comes to illegal activities. But some KU students have been given a chance to get themselves out of trouble before trouble comes looking for them.
MCI Telecommunications officials are conducting interviews at the All Seasons Motel, 2309 Iowa St., about the illegal use of long distance access codes. Officials have said that they won't prosecute students who come forward and pay for the damage they have done.
Calling all offenders
After MCI found several instances of fraud with its codes, it was discovered that several U.S. Sprint codes also were being abused, so now Sprint officials are helping the investigation.
Students who do not come forward to make restitution during the investigation will be turned over to local authorities. Douglas County District Attorney Jim Flory has pledged full support in prosecuting the students.
College campuses have become prime targets for these crimes that have resulted in the industry losing more than $500 million.
Abuses at the University of Kansas can be traced back to the 1986 spring semester, and those students are not exempt from criminal prosecution because the statute of limitations for this type of crime is two years.
Students can do one of two things - pay them now or pay them later.
The president insisted.
A noble gesture
But, in the end, he didn't get his way.
Although President Reagan got his way on the surface, he actually suffered a partial defeat.
Fifty-seven U.S. representatives and 13 U.S. senators flung a $12,100 pay raise back into the U.S. treasury or donated it to their favorite charity
At the time that the House and Senate were debating the raise, giving their annual salaries a boost from $77,400 to $89,500, the public may have thought that the congressmen were playing games for appearance's sake. Although the congressmen could almost feel the extra money in their pockets, they didn't want their constituents to think that they were greedy. So the House and
Senate voted against the raise.
Here's the catch. The vote came down one day after a presidential order already had established the raise. Their vote had no meaning or influence.
When representatives and senators recently received their paycheques with the first installment of the raise, some rejected the presidential order and the extra money.
The congressmen who rejected the raise deserve to be praised. They decided not to keep money they didn't need. Instead, they put their money in places that desperately needed it.
Correction
Their constitutents should remember these good deeds. Even if the congressmen refused the money in a politics play, the act itself was nothing but noble.
Because of an editor's error, the term of office for City Commissioner Mike Rundle was incorrect in an editorial.
Rundle, who finished second in the commission race, will serve a four-year term.
News staff
Frank Hansel          Editor
Jennifer Benjamin     Managing editor
Juli Warren         News editor
Brian Kaberline      Editorial editor
Sandra Engelland    Campus editor
Sport Subert        Sports editor
Diane Doulmeier     Photo editor
Bill Skeet           Graphics editor
Tom Eblen          General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Lisa Weems            Business manager
Bonnie Hardy        Advisor
Denise Stephens      Retail sales manager
Kelly Scherer        Campus sales manager
Duncan Calhoun      Marketing manager
Lori Copple        Classified manager
Jonathan McLainski  Product manager
David Nixon         National sales manager
Jane Hines         Sales and marketing adviser
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It is unfortunate that the business that is called the University of Kansas is not better at making money or distributing its available funds.
Ideas would discriminate against poor
In the interest of cost-effectiveness, minorities and others who have not had the benefit of attending high school in a wealthy suburb are being discriminated against at this public university.
Jon Gregor Columnist
The loss of remedial math and English courses will greatly affect incoming freshman. Students from inner-city high schools, where adequate instruction in these areas is hard to come by, will suffer the most. Unfortunately, most of these students are minorities.
Deena Cobb, assistant director of financial aid, was quoted in the Kansan last month as saying that "we seem to attract the student that comes from a higher-income family." Now, with the loss of remedial math and English courses because of a lack of funds, on top of other proposals dealing with these courses, that reality will continue.
To help those enrolled in the higher-level math and English courses, the University has proposed a generous offer of four tutoring sessions at a total cost of $200. (I guess they're trying to fully supplement the budget through one program.) If you are a student from Johnson County, or a suburb of Chicago or St. Louis, you probably won't need these sessions, and if you do, you probably will be able to afford them. However, many inner-city students, who are more likely to need help, also are more likely not to be able to afford it.
On top of all of this stimulating news, the University is studying the possibility of making continuous enrollment in math and English courses mandatory for future freshmen. If not, according to the plan, they would find themselves on academic probation.
So, the situation for the many minorities from the poorer school systems could very well look like this: If you do not enroll in the higher level courses, you are put on academic probation. If you do enrol, but can't keep up with the work and can't afford the tutoring, the likely outcome is, you guessed it, academic probation.
Any student in this scenario most likely will be through at this University.
Robert Lineberry, de of liberal arts and sciences, said it was "essential" for the college work to with high schools before enacting these ideas. From his statement, I gathered that the high schools would expand their respective curriculums to prepare students for the University's new policies.
Guess what — state high schools are having budget problems too and may not be able to make the changes necessary to prepare students for the more stringent requirements of the University when they go into effect. The result will be a gap between the demands of the University's classes, and those of the high schools. A gap that neither may be able to fill before many students are hurt, unable to adapt.
Some people have the crazy notion that this is a public institution, responsible for making a higher level of services available to the citizens of this state.
Haskell Springer, director of freshman and sophomore English, was quoted in the Kansan as saying, "KU shouldn't be required to educate everybody, no matter what their level of preparation." Does Springer believe this is a private college catering to Suburbia USA?
It seems reasonable to me that the University shouldn't have to teach high school-level courses, but until the state high schools start teaching them effectively, the University
should keep its remedial courses intact. The "Snob Hill" reputation of this school is being perpetrated by the administration through its policies. The school claims to have an educational philosophy that ideas become policy this will cease to be an institution of equal opportunity for all.
Mailbox
KU has lost its focus on what its job is in the state. Regardless of the budget crunch, this University is not acting like a public institution. The ratio of minorities to suburban WASPs is not nearly adequate in light of the number of minorities in the state. The University does little to attract them, but "seems" to attract more students who holds. If the University caters to them, it is no suprise that they flock to our front doors.
To conclude, the University has lost touch with the people of this state. The very same people it is supposed to serve. It has become an elitist institution providing education mainly for the wealthy.
Regardless of the financial difficulties, the administration must shoulder much of the blame for letting it go this far, and for not trying to change the trend toward policies that have helped gain the Snob Hill reputation they enjoy. There are no legitimate excuses for this. The trend must be stopped.
Marriage the answer
I am writing in response to an advertisement paid for by Student Senate that appeared in the Kansan Thursday, April 9. In that announcement alerting heterosexuals to the danger of AIDS was the claim, "If you are sexually active, you are at risk for AIDS." If a student were to answer 'true' to that statement on a true/false test, I would have to deduce that the room is that of a fundamental exception to the statement: sexually active people involved in a mutually faithful marriage relationship are not at risk for contracting AIDS through sexual transmission.
Mutually faithful marriage is the only provision God has made for a man and woman to express their sexuality. The fact that this protects us from diseases such as AIDS is but one example of how wise his plan is for us.
Clay Belcher
Clay Belcher assistant professor of architectural engineering
University, Daily, Kansan
There is no direct translation of the word homosexual into ancient Greek, so, in many cases, for ease of translation, specific acts were translated as homosexual. Nor does the Bible say anything about monogamous homosexual.
Points miss the mark
Paul Ahlenius Lawrence resident
3. Points one and two are taken so far out of context that I won't begin to start on those except to say that homosexuals are mentioned in lists that include adulterers, drunkards and thieves.
In a letter to the editor that appeared in the Kansan on April 6, Joe Vusch stated a few facts that homosexuals should be made aware of. Well, here's a few facts that you, Mr. Vusich, (and anyone else who likes to quote Bible passages) "should be made aware of":
1. ) In all of your points quoting Bible passages (points one, two and four), you begin each point by saying God has declared, stated or provided (respectively). You then use verses from Paul's letters to the Romans to explain why the greatest Christian writers, he is not God, nor are his letters Gospel. He is a human preacher relating his views of Christ's teachings.
2. ) In points one and two, you take the passages for what they say, but in point four, you interpret the passage to be about homosexuals. In Romans 3:21-24, Paul says "... for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Paul is talking about the morality, or lack of, of all people, including you and me.
State pays out-of-work criminals
An official-looking piece of mail arrived at Erik's Deli in a Chicago suburb the other day.
Matt Mueller, the manager, opened the envelope and found some forms that the state of Illinois wanted him to fill out.
Mike Royko Columnist
A a few weeks later, something strange happened at the deli.
One of the night-shift employees was taking out a can of garbage. When he opened the door, he met three men wearing masks and surgical gloves. One had a gun.
They concerned a young man named Anthony, who used to be a busboy. He filled the water glasses, cleaned off the tables and washed his hands when he went to the bathroom.
But after a few weeks, he seemed to lose his enthusiasm and energy. He'd show up late for work, leave early, and get into the mind seemed to be somewhere else.
They grabbed the employee and dragged him inside. They quickly rounded up the other employees, and one of the masked men pointed at the night manager and said, "That's
Mueller would tell him, "Anthony, you have to work harder." Anthony would shrug and say he was doing his best.
him."
The night manager was dragged into the restaurant office and told to open the safe. When he pretended that he couldn't, they whacked him on the head and threatened to shoot him. He instantly remembered how to open the safe and they left with $7,000.
Naturally, the police suspected that this was an inside job, since one of the robbers knew who the night manager was, where the safe was, and that it could be opened and would contain a considerable sum.
They began wondering: Could it have been someone like, say, Anthony, the ex-busboy? The problem was that because the men wore masks, there was no way to prove it had been Anthony, even if they could find him.
So several cops posed as customers and kitchen workers and waited. Sure enough, when an employee took out some garbage, there were the men in masks and surgical gloves. They barged in but were rudely surprised to find a bunch of cops there to greet them.
One of them bolted out the door and sprinted away. The cops chased him and they wrestled around a bit, and a gun went off.
While they wondered what to do, they got lucky. A tipster told them that the same guys who robbed the deli were going to knock off another suburban restaurant.
"Oww," the masked man said, since the bullet punctured his leg.
When they removed his mask, they found that their hunch had been right. It was Anthony, the ex-busboy.
The cops assumed that Anthony either took the busboy job in the first
place just to case the restaurant, or later decided that robbing the place paid better than filling water glasses
In either case, he and his pals were charged with both robberies and are awaiting trial. Since they were caught on the spot, it is assumed that even a Chicago judge will find them guilty of at least one of the robberies.
Anyway, that is what went through the mind of Mueller, the deli manager, when Anthony's unemployment generation papers came from the state
And he said, "Hey, wait a minute. The reason he's unemployed is that he is a stick-up man."
So he called the state office and told them that he didn't think it was necessary to give money to someone who hits people on the head and points guns at them.
He was told that this did not disqualify Anthony from receiving jobless payments.
"They are eligible," a state employee said, "unless they are convicted of public aid fraud, not for just some crime. We don't deny someone just because they have a criminal record."
Mueller took the forms and dropped them in a can with half-eaten corned beef sandwiches.
When we mentioned this to a state welfare person, she said, "I don't understand why he wouldn't want to help me, but he just trying to verify information."
Incidentally, the reason Anthony is not in jail, and is asking the state for walking-around money, is that he was able to post bond on the robbery charges. He plunked down $2,000 in cash.
No wonder the poor guy is broke.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed