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Wednesday, February 11. 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Think before slicing
Before the Student Senate starts slicing away at the budget, it should look a little closer at what damage it may do to the basic structure of student service provisions.
Last week, the Senate proposed taking the chunk of the student activity fee, which now goes to local community service organizations, and appropriating that money to other areas. The Senate argues that these organizations already receive revenue sharing funds from the city. Therefore, several students who pay property, sales, and liquor taxes will be financing these services twice. "We can't afford to subsidize the community." Senate treasurer Tom Woods said.
The backers of the proposal may be overlooking the valuable services these organizations provide to KU students. The Rape Victim Support Services, Women's Transitional Care Services and Headquarters, which specializes in suicide prevention, would be hardest hit by any decline in aid from the Student Senate. Each of these organizations claims that about 50 percent of its clientele are KU students.
These services provide students with daily support in handling life's inequities. They assist students in attaining basic confidence so that students can enjoy the other services provided by the community, including the University.
Revenue Code hearings on the proposals begin Feb. 21. Maybe the Senators will recognize the merit of carving a workable budget rather than putting the ax to the services that put life into the University.
By subsidizing the community, the Senate can help provide these necessary services without having to absorb costly and often cumbersome administrative duties.
Efficient travel plans
The recent switch in travel plans for state employees should be left alone, despite attempts by legislators to revert to previous arrangements.
As of Jan. 1, state employees are required to make all of their travel arrangements with one travel agency, which received a year-long contract. Before, employees could deal with the travel agency of their choice and then be reimbursed.
Several uprisings, especially from faculty members, have occurred as a result of the new plan.
Yet the plan, if properly administered, should save the state money and make it easier for state organizations to document travel expenses and take advantage of high volume discounts that many companies offer.
Complaints that have surfaced say that since King Travel Service of Topeka has
been awarded the yearly contract, it will have no incentive to provide the lowest prices and best service possible.
State Sen. Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence, is sponsoring a bill to permit state employees to shop around when making travel arrangements.
While the present plan could take the competitiveness out of traveling, its intention to save money and make arrangements easier to document needs to be preserved.
The budget ax is falling everywhere, and saving money is a necessity. The state sees this as one way to trim some fat. Under the terms of the contract, King Travel has to prove that it is offering the lowest fares. If it isn't, the state can get out of its contract.
While employees will continue to complain, nothing should be done until such allegations can be proven.
Racing into action
It is time for the Kansas legislators to move out of the starting gate and race into action on writing legislation for the pari-mutuel betting proposal.
Last week, the House Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony on a bill that would allow pari-mutuel betting in Kansas for the first time. This comes after voters approved pari-mutuel betting in a referendum in November.
Plans that would allow dog and horse racing were discussed. The committee also reviewed possible locations for the tracks. Because it is a controversial issue, there will be a lot of debate on the bill. But legislators should take prompt action in reponse to the voters of Kansas who
approved pari-mutuel wagering.
If Kansas proves to be as slow as Missouri in putting pari-mutuel into action, it will be a long time before any tracks open, even if the legislation is promptly approved. Legislators shouldn't waste time debating trivial issues in hopes of stalling the bill.
Kansas voters decided in November to implement parimutuel betting. Now it's time to tap a source of potential state revenue and take advantage of our reputation as a top breeding ground for championship race horses.
So let's see Kansas lawmakers speed up the pace in making pari-mutuel betting a reality.
News staff
News staff
Frank Hansel ... Editor
Jennifer Benjamin ... Managing editor
Juli Warren ... News editor
Brian Kelerine ... Editorial editor
Sandra Engelland ... Campus editor
Mark Siebert ... Sports editor
Diane Dutmeier ... Photo editor
Bill Skeet ... Graphics editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Lisa Weems ... Business manager
Bonnie Hardy ... Ad director
Denise Stephens ... Retail sales manager
Kelly Scherer ... Campus sales manager
Duane Calhoun ... Marketing manager
Lori Coppie ... Classified manager
Jennifer Lumianski ... Production manager
David Nixon ... National sales manager
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Opinions
Invasion of the 'presidential hopefuls'
iowa is a nice enough state, but I sure wouldn't want to live there — at least not for the next year or so. Yes, I've heard the people are friendly, and, after living in Kansas for 21 years, I probably couldn't complain about the scenery. The thing about Iowa that has turned me off is that the state is being taken over by a swarm of semi-parasitic beings called "presidential hopefulness."
Brian Kaberline
I can hear it now. A short, squat man stands up in front of a weekly Boy Scout meeting to discuss the dangers of the national deficit. "My fellow citizens," he says in a booming voice, "this problem will not be diminished by mere talk, we need action!"
editor
The next stop is at a Dairy Queen, where he tells three customers and the girl behind the counter about the nation's problem with terrorists. "My fellow citizens," he says, holding his strawberry sundae aloft, "this problem will not be diminished by mere talk. we need action!"
That's right, folks. Only three months after the seemingly endless Campaign '86 ended, Campaign '88 is beginning. On Feb. 8 of next year, Iowa will vote in precinct caucuses to begin the selection of delegates to the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Presidential elections are informative and even fun, if you have a high tolerance for cliches and worthless promises. But the poor lowans will be deluged worse than anyone else in the election process. Anyone who ever believed his mother when she told him he could grow up to be president will be shaking every hand in sight for the next year, hoping that 1988 is his big chance.
Two local candidates, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole and Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., already have started hounding voters. While Dole is a "strong early favorite" to win the Republican race, Gephardt is a "dark horse candidate" among the Democratic hopefuls. What they really mean is that Dole has a legitimate shot at coming out on top if he spends enough, while Gephardt will have to kiss every baby in the state to be among the front-runners.
it's worth the trouble. Think about it.
For the next year, the official wardrobe of Iowa will be brightly colored t-shirts, sporting names and smiling faces. Straw hats will be in vogue, as will campaign buttons. And it's quite likely that every citizen old enough to vote will be interviewed by the press or polled by three major survey companies.
On the bright side, though, t-shirt and button printers will be living high on the hog, and there probably will be enough free pencils and pens with a slogan such as "Joe Smith is the 'write' choice in 1988" to supply the state's schools for the year.
Personally, I would resent being made a guinea pig for public opinion just so some kid could get a free pencil and balloon. It would be nice to feel like you had a big part in deciding who would run for president, but I think that feeling would be gone as soon as the caucus was over and the surviving candidates moved on to pester the people in the next state.
Being the first race of the primary season draws a lot of attention to Iowa and quite a few dollars, but wonder if the people of the state think
By the end of the evening, this same speech has been given to a pancake feed, an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a bar mitzvah and crowds at two McDonalds.
Mailbox
I agree that an increase in the maximum speed limit would cost lives. Never mind that there are myriad variables involved in the cause of each accident. Let's just say, "Speed kills," and leave it at that.
Keep the limit at 55
I think the whole affair would be easier on the residents of Iowa if politicians could find another way to reduce their numbers without making nuisances of themselves for more than a year. Maybe a poker game would do the trick.
Never mind the major mechanical and aerodynamic advances in automobiles that have taken place since the 1974 decision to set the limit at 55 mph. So what if a 187 Buick handles better and is more fuel efficient at 65 mph than a 1974 Buick at the present limit?
Never mind that a significant minority of automobile fatalities occur in the areas in which a speed limit increase would apply.
Never mind that members of a National Safety Council are not clairvoyant; that they can neither predict with numerical accuracy that an increase in highway deaths will follow an increase in the speed limit, nor can they attribute any cause to the speed at which a car travels.
Never mind that the interstate highway system was built to accommodate a 65 mph speed limit.
I pay no heed to these facts. Instead, I subscribe to the linear assumption that increased speed inherently involves increased danger.
Perhaps I should begin my own safety campaign. I could call it, "25 saves lives." Sure, driving everywhere at 25 mph would be dull and inefficient, but, per the Feb. 9 editorial, ". . that is a slight inconvenience compared to the loss of lives that would accompany a higher limit."
Patrick Kirby
Leawood freshman
Carolyn Allbee West Des Moines, Iowa, junior
The column exhibited a sincere effort to gain public support, yet a questionable statement was written. It said, "How many of us are really going to go to school for five years with the prospect of earning as little as $16,000 starting salary when we graduate?"
All I know is that I will be doing what I love, and I will be in one of the most important and respected occupations that there is! That alone is all the motivation and compensation I need to continue my career plans.
Salary not a factor
As a current education major at the University of Kansas, I obviously support the prospect of increasing teaching salaries. However, I feel compelled to respond to Lori Polson's Feb. 2 column, "Teachers deserve higher salaries, too."
Let's get something straight. KU now has a five-year education program. I am really going to go to school for five years and will end up with a low salary. I do not care if I am in college for five, 10 or 15 years!
Games with hostages will go on
Terry Waite, who set out to free hostages in Lebanon, now has become a hostage himself, or at least a prisoner. Nabih Berri, leader of Lebanon's Shite Muslims, says the Anglican Church's representative
Paul
Greenberg
Columnist
has been arrested, not kidnapped, the precise distinction in status may be of only abstract interest at the moment; in either case he has fallen into the ever open net for innocents that is Lebanon.
The source may have been anonymous, but the report makes sense. Waite is essential to the drushe.
Waite can be assured that a lot of people are looking for him — and not just Westerners. The word from Beirut the other day was that Syrian, Lebanese and Iranian officials were beating the Bekaa for him. According to an anonymous Shiite source quoted in an Associated Press dishpoint: "The parties concerned are burning up the telephone wires trying to ensure Mr. Waite's safety. Plenty of Syrian and Iranian emissaries are shupping back and forth."
the Shites, the Iranians, the Syrians, and all the others who play this game. If they didn't have a Terry Waite as a go-between, they would have to invent one. What's the point of kidnapping foreigners if there is no mediator, no conduct through which to bargain, bully, and eventually collect ransom? Terry Waites are as essential to terrorism as Kalashnikovs. You can bet that the most prominent sponsors of terrorism in the Mideast — Syria, Libya, Iran — are deeply concerned for his health, welfare, and continued activity in the area.
katz
Ash Shiraa, the Lebanese weekly that scooped the world on the Reagan Administration's arms-for-hostages deal, reports that the kidnappers will keep their hostages, now including Terry Waite, "for a long time . . ." That is not a happy prognosis, but it's hard to argue with Ash Shiraa. Its contacts are so good that it apparently knew more about what the Reagan Administration was up to in Lebanon than the President did.
It's sad but not surprising. Even Waite seemed to expect something like this. Before he left for Lebanon, he is reported to have told his church not to pay ransom for him. That's such good advice in the fight against terrorism that it ought to be applied
in every case. If there's no ransom, what's the point of ransomnapping anybody? Kidnappers may be vicious but they're not dumb. It's those who pay ransom that wind up looking dumb. That includes this country's government, which for some time didn't seem to realize it was being blackmailed, or at least couldn't admit it. So long as there are governments willing to ransom hostages, hostages will be taken. Kidnapping is subject to the law of supply and demand, too.
Since Waite arrived in Beirut on his January 12th visit, at least nine more foreigners have been kidnapped in the city. It's as though his appearance had triggered a boom in the hostage market. At last count, the number of foreign hostages being held in Lebanon was approaching 30. Now add Waite. Nobody seems to count the number of Lebanese hostages anymore; one might as well try to get a specific count of Lebanese casualties in that abattoir of a country.
Pray for Terry Waite. And for all those hostages, those pawns in this sordid game, who will go on being taken so long as there are governments willing to pay for them and so long as there are Terry Waites to smooth the way.
k. l. thorman
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
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