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Wednesday, April 27, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Opinion
WWII reparations payments should have passed long ago
A blind, ugly fear overtook much of the United States after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, and about 120,000 Japanese-Americans paid the price. They were rounded up and shipped to concentration camps; some would stay there until the end of World War II.
But finally, attempts are being made to make reparations to those who were victimized. The Senate voted tentatively last week on a bill that would give $20,000 tax-free payments to the estimated 60,000 survivors of the roundup. The bill also would require the U.S. government to make a formal apology to the survivors. Such an effort is more than past due and should be embraced by Congress and the U.S. public.
The roundups began almost immediately after the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, said Theodore Wilson, professor of history. Civilian and military officials were afraid that Japanese-Americans would feel strong ties to Japan and, consequently, would sabotage the U.S. war effort.
There was, however, no evidence that these people, many of whom were U.S. citizens, were a threat to national security. The roundups were mostly motivated by racial prejudice and thoughtless fear.
The Japanese-Americans were taken from their homes and moved to primitive concentration camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. They were housed in barracks with tar-paper roofs and plumbing. Some spent the entire war in these camps while others, the more fortunate ones, were allowed out starting in 1943 if they had "sponsors" who would give them work.
It's sad that it took the U.S. government more than 46 years to try to make amends for this crime against Japanese-Americans. But now that the effort has been made, the public should wholeheartedly stand behind it.
Alan Player for the editorial board
It appears that television analyst Dick Vittle will take his foot out of his mouth long enough to scrub the floor of Allen Field House at Late Night with Larry Brown Oct. 15.
Vitale's offer is not enough
He plans to make good on the deal he spewed forth in late February that he would scrub the field house floor if Coach Brown staved with the University of Kansas.
So Vitalte in all his glory will march into the field house this fall, mop in hand, to "humble" himself in front of the thousands of screaming fans sure to be in attendance. He predicts it will be "a good time."
Maybe the basketball fans at KU shouldn't make it so easy for Vitale. Instead of a mop, why doesn't Vitale use a toothbrush to clean the floor, or better yet he can use that tongue of his that he keeps wagging so indiscriminately. And while he is on his hands and knees he can kiss Coach Brown's ... feet.
Or maybe Vitale could provide a real service to the University and Athletic Department. Let him clean up the entire house after Late Night festivities, and he can still scrub the floor if he wants. Then he can do the team's laundry.
KU should not allow Vitale to turn the start of the Jayhawks' basketball season into a self-glorifying public circus for himself. If Vitale wants to humble himself, that is great — but he should do something everyone will really enjoy seeing.
Like keeping his mouth shut
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board
Editorial decisions are made by the editorial board at meetings twice a week. At these meetings, issues are discussed and stances are voted upon. The editorial board consists of Alison Young, Todd Cohen, Alan Player, Jody Dickson, Russell Gray, Katy Monk and Van Jenerette.
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A Study in STYLES
Money shouldn't rule immigration
Officials set poor priorities by placing a $2 million pricetag on U.S. visas
I wonder what Sarah Greenberg would think about the latest twist to immigration laws. It would allow people to enter the United States if they have $2 million to invest and can employ 10 people.
Sarah Greenberg didn't have $2 million when she got to the Port of Boston on February 10, 1921. She was 19-year-old Sarah Ackerman then, and I wasn't even a twinkle in her eye. She did have a certain knowledge of the immigration laws, gained from standing in line for days around the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw. She would remember almost wearing out the rubber heels on her shoes; she used them as erasers to change the answers on her visa application every time a new rumor would make it down the line to her — the United States was letting in only skilled labor, only unskilled labor, only people 21 years or older, only people under 21 . . .
Somehow she made it, as somehow she persevered through the chaos of World War I. For the rest of her life, she would never waste anything. I grew up in a house in which the handkerchiefs were mended, in which old washcloths and dustrags were sewn together to make one good one. A country girl from the village of Mordt in eastern Poland, she was a daughter of the miller, Paesach the Grittmaster, for whom I would be named. She was a scout, a cavalier and cupaller. And he didn't have $2 million, either, though he was considered a substantial citizen for a time. His labor force consisted of a horse. When the horse was sick, my grandfather would hitch himself up and turn the grinding stone.
World War I ended all that. My grandfather didn't survive it; my mother would wake up as a young girl and not know whether the Germans or Russians were occupying the town that day. She much preferred the Germans, on at least two counts: There were often Jewish boys among the German soldiers (this was World War I) and when the Germans took whatever little food the family had, they paid for with scrip, unlike the Russians. The script was worthless, of course, but my mother was one who always appreciated a gesture.
The war never left her. Fifty years later, murmuring in her last illness, she would keep telling her youngest child: "That's Bubba Rosa
Paul
Greenberg
Syndicated Columnist
and me, that's Bubba Rosa and me . . . " I thought it was just the sedatives making her rumble, bringing back memories of my grandmother, Bubba Rosa. Then I noticed the television set high up in the corner of the hospital room. On the screen were pictures of another war, Vietnam. There was a woman wandering on some godforsaken road, abandoned, confused, holding the hand of her child as troops kissed her face and artery. "That's Bubba Rosa and me," my mother was telling me. Across time and continents, the horror and stupidity of war had not changed.
All my mother wanted of Poland was out. In our house, when someone made any remark that might be construed as even vaguely critical of the economy or the political system or anything American, she would say nothing. And her silence would fill the room like a shriek. She would give the speaker what we kids called "The Look." It was an expression of contempt deeper than any words. The message was clear enough: What do you know of persecution, desperation, hunger, want? My mother pronounced the word "Europe" like a curse.
So I wonder what she would think about the proposal to put people with $2 million ahead of everybody else waiting to get into this country. I wonder what she would think of the idea that U.S. citizenship could be bought, and of some of the people who would rush to buy it — deposed dictators, drug kings, the type who think everything is for sale, including the United States. This $2 million provision is for the Ferdinand Marcoses of the world, not the Sarah Ackermans. I don't think she would say anything about it, but I can see The Look now.
One U.S. senator said something about it. He used to be a country lawyer from Charleston, Ark, but he has become quite sophisticated since, and now can defend his favorite special interests
Because the discussions and voting covered many months and were completely open to the entire University community, I am against reconsideration at this time. I think the students should accept the fact that an improved system is coming. In fact, now that the new system has been voted in, the college joins not only five other KU schools that have the plus/minus system, not only one but also such schools as Berkeley, Michigan, Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Stanford, Cal Tech, Cornell, Harvard, Yale and many others.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Finally, I would encourage all instructors to use this semester as a dry run for next fall when the system is initiated. Although plus/minus will not be recorded for this semester, assign such grades if appropriate and let the student know what they would have received. This dry run will help us to modify our grading schemes to include the new flexibility we have.
As the instigator of the movement in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to have a plus/minus grading system, I was always surprised by the complete lack of student interest. I find it interesting, perhaps even a little humorous, that almost two months after the College Assembly (composed of faculty and students) overwhelmingly approved a system of grading by students instead of the system. Students, through their elected representatives, not only spoke at the many meetings at which the system was discussed but also had the opportunity to vote.
Accept grading system
and dish out, partisan stupidity with the best of them. But his remarks on this issue reminded me of the "old" Dale Bumper, fresh out of West Arkansas, somebody without airs, completely rooted in his convictions and completely convincing when he talked about them. And I remember my first experience with him was around among other things, about this proposal to put a $2 million pricetag on an U.S. visa:
"Here you have a provision that was adopted on a very overwhelming vote by the Select Commission on Immigration. I will never understand that. Father Theodore Hesburg was the sole dissenting vote. Let me quote precisely what Father Hesburgh said: 'There is nothing wrong with persons who wish to invest, and investment is good for the U.S.A. But the rich should not be able to buy their way into this country.' I can talk longer than that, but I cannot say it any better.
Stephen J. Shawl
How many tathers and grandfathers and great-graftfathers of the Senate would be here today if there had been such an economic test for their immigration? Why on Earth would we allow somebody to come into this country because he can produce 2 million, while more than 60,000 brothers and sisters are on a waiting list and cannot get in?
Associate professor of physics and astronomy
"I was a trial lawyer for 18 years before I was a governor or a senator. I used to have a pretty good feel for what a jury is going to do before they came in with a verdict. I called two or three wrong. Sometimes a jury will fool you. If we had a chance to debate this before the American people, they would overwhelmingly repudiate this provision. Do you know why? Because they love their country. They love it because they are free, and they think that anybody else coming here ought to love it the same way. If somebody is coming here simply because he needs to get out of his country and he happens to have $2 million in his pocket, "I do not want him as a citizen. And yet he can become one under this provision. This provision is wrong, I do not care if the Commission voted 100 to 1 or 100 to zip. This is wrong, and I hope my colleagues will agree with me on it." They didn't, 51 to 33. But I think the American people would agree with Dale Bumpers. I can only give his words the highest praise: Sarah Greenberg would have approved.
Students are appreciated
Before another semester goes by, let me express an often unspoken word of appreciation to you, the University of Kansas undergraduates — not only the majors in our own fields or those with the top grade point average, but you who comprise so much of our daily experience. Your diversity challenges us; your enthusiasm encourages us. At times you may feel overlooked in favor of a research program or a graduate seminar, yet it is you who present us with some of the opportunities to facilitate growth and to grow ourselves as you grow with us, you give us time to continually re-examine our systems, practices and assumptions. In ways of which we are often unaware, you affect us personally and professionally with the richness of your experiences. Please know that you are an appreciated
Patricia Schoenrade Assistant professor of psychology
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
190 Washington Post Co
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ENGLISH !