University Daily Kansan / Thursday, March 24, 1988
Campus/Area
3
Steve Stone, Louisville, Ky. senior, hands out helium balloons to students on Wescoe Beach to release in protest of the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Balloons launched to protest 'Star Wars'defense proposal
By Kevin Dilmore
Kansan staff writer
Their voices did not rise above the crowd, but their views did.
About 50 people sporadically released helium balloons at noon yesterday in front of Wescoe Hall in silent protest of the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative.
T
Steve Stone, Louisville, Ky., senior, planned the protest, which coincided with the fifth anniversary of President Reagan's announcement of the initiative, better known as SDI or the "Star Wars" program.
The initiative is a plan for a multilayered defense system based in space and on earth consisting of lasers and more conventional weapons capable of destroying missiles launched against the United States.
Stone passed balloons attached to bright green slips of paper to the
The protest coincided with the fifth anniversary of President Reagan's announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as the "Star Wars" program.
crowd, which had gathered more to watch a group of Maranatha ministers than to protest the plan. Stone said the green papers represented money that the government had wasted on the plan.
"This is in protest of a plan that thousands of scientists have said is not going to work and will only cause an increased nuclear build-up," he said.
"Rather than building a wall around ourselves, we should talk to our enemies and build a respect for each other," Stone said.
Nuclear Times magazine that said SDI protests were planned for yesterday on more than 200 campuses across the country.
"Some of the other protesters were using balloons," Stone said. "Others were taking umbrellas and making it easy to symbolize the defense shield."
Stone said most of the students he gave balloons to were unaware of the protest but cooperated nonetheless.
Stone said he got the idea for the protest from an article he read in
protest but launched a balloon anyway.
"Only about four or five people came up to me and asked if this was the case."
Joe Hayes, St. Louis senior, said he did not come on campus for the
"I'm not in favor of it, so I'll protest," Hayes said. "It's a pretty ridiculous plan."
Scott Berk, Leawood freshman,
joined the crowd while walking from
class and released a balloon after
talking briefly with Stone.
"he handed it to me, so what can I do?" Berk said.
"I think I reminded people of SDI, so that maybe the next time they read in the paper about the government pumping money into the system they will be motivated to do something about it," he said.
Stone said that although he wished his protest had not been overshadowed by the religious speakers, he was pleased with its outcome.
Oread rezoning debated at second public meeting
By Christine Martin
Lawrence property owners continued debate last night at the second public hearing on a downzoning request that would limit apartment construction in the Oread neighborhood.
At least 35 Lawrence residents attended the meeting.
The request calls for rezoning 119
streets and 360 buildings in Louisiana streets and the 900 and 1000
Kansan staff writer
blocks of Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee streets...
The area would be rezoned from high-density duplex, multi-family residential and residential office zones to the lowest-density multi-family zoning.
The Oread Neighborhood Association requested the downzoning in order to maintain the character of the neighborhood. The association consists mostly of large, older homes.
Mary Lynch, who owns property on
Tennessee Street and rents to students, said the downzingon would push students out of the neighborhood.
"These students are important to us," Lynch said. "I don't think Lawrence would be as nice a place to live without the students."
Bill Gadberry, co-owner of a duplex on Mississippi Street, said he did not want restrictions placed on his property. He said the downzoning would devalue his property.
"They're trying to improve their property at the expense of investors." Gadberry said.
But Fred Sack, president of the Oread Neighborhood Association and an owner of property on Ohio Street, said that although downonzing would decrease the value of land, it would increase the value of homes.
"It would have a positive effect on saving older houses." Sack said.
Richard Zinn, a Lawrence attorney representing two property owners,
said that the character of the neighborhood was improving without the downzoning because more families were moving into the neighborhood.
Todd Thompson, another attorney representing a property owner, Pamela R.
"There is no compelling reason to downzone," Thompson said. "This neighborhood is improving and rehabilitating."
would alleviate drainage problems, traffic congestion and a parking shortage in the Oread neighborhood.
But George Schmitendorf,
Lawrence resident, said downzoning
"Development in this area has already reached beyond the saturation point," Schmitendorf said. "Land use in this area is completely out of control."
Two Costa Rican legislators discuss politics,peace accord
The city staff recommended a compromise last month to the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission that would downzone property only at the owner's request.
Communism will remain in Central America, one predicts
By Dayana Yochim
Kansan staff writer
The Central American Peace Accord is a steppingstone that shows that a democracy can survive with a communist regime in the north, a Costa Rican legislator said yesterday.
"It's about time for Costa Rica to come to the conclusion that the only way to live with a communist regime in the north is to learn to respect our neighbors." Carvali said.
Mario Carvajal, leader assembly of the National Liberation Party, said that democracy in Central America has been the exception, not the rule. He said he did not anticipate a change in the next 15 to 25 years.
Carvajal and Rodolfo Mendez Mata, assembly leader of the Social Christian Unity Party, spoke to about 50 people yesterday in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union.
"Nicaragua has had 50 years, one half century of noocracy," he said. "Even if there was a miracle, I think that the forces of communism would be a great obstacle for them to overcome."
The parties are the two largest political groups in Costa Rica. The
The Sandinista government in Nicaragua follows a Marxist philosophy and accepts military and economic policies to immunize nations such as the $U.S.$ $S.R.$ $S$.
National Liberation Party is in power.
Both legislators are graduates of the University of Kansas. Carvalaj earned a doctorate degree in political science in 1972. Mendez Mata earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1960.
Costa Rica, which has had a democratic government since 1946, was the birthplace of a peace accord signed in August by the presidents of Costa Rica. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The accord was Costa Rican president Oscar Arias Sanchez's attempt to open up relations among those countries to establish democracy and economic development and to end hostilities in the region.
"I don't see any desire for the Nicaraguan government to change
"The Sandinistas were forced to go into negotiations with the contrasts not because they have commitments to change, but because they have economic problems," Mendez Mata said.
But the legislators said the accord and peace talks between the contras and Sandinistas were not going to change the situation in Nicaragua.
their regime," he said. "They say there can't be a political democracy if there is not an economic democracy."
Mendez Mata said Arias Sanchez needed to enforce the peace accord.
"He has the responsibility to make all other presidents in Central America comply with the signature," he said.
Mendez Mata said that his party supported Arias Sanchez's peace plan but that there was no willingness on behalf of the Sandinistas to comply with it.
Carvajal said he thought Nicaragua would stay a Marxist country regardless of the peace plan.
"The realistic role, if the peace plan is not accepted, is to accept the Nicaraguans as a neighbor," Carvajal said. "I think Costa Rica has to stay not involved in Nicaragua."
He said that U.S. aid to the contries would not change the situation in Nicaragua.
Carvajal and Mendez Mata also will speak today at a luncheon seminar at 11:30 a.m. in Alcove A of the Union. The talk will be in Spanish.
"I don't want to comment as to whether the proper reaction was to send troops or not," he said.
Mendez Mata said that the U.S. deployment of troops to Honduras was a response to provocation from the Sandinista government.
"The U.S. has always been too little too late," he said of contra aid. "I don't see a will in the United States to get the marines involved in Nicaragua."
Costa Rican legislator Rodolfo Mendez Mata and his son, Rodolfo, a KU sophomore, talk to reporters.
Politics is in the family for KU student
Kansan staff writer
By Stacy Foster
Rodolfo Jose Mendez, San Jose, Costa Rica sophomore and son of a Costa Rican legislator, said he had aspirations of becoming involved in politics, but he did not want to be known simply as Rodolfo Mendez Mata's son.
The elder Mendez, who is the assembly leader of Costa Rica's Social Christian Unity Party, was on campus yesterday and today discussing the peace plan in Central America and the politics and economic situation in the country.
He graduated from the University of Kansas and interested his son in coming to the United States. The
elder Mendez said he was suprised by his son's interest in politics because the two of them had never discussed it.
The elder Mendez said he hoped he did not have too much influence on his work.
"I hope he doesn't feel pressure from what I do," he said. "I'll be satisfied if he follows values like the ones he has seen in his decision he makes is on his own."
The younger Mendez said he had made many decisions on his own while at KU. He said he had learned a lot about himself in the two years he had been here.
"These have been the hardest years, being so far from home," he
said. "I've had to develop a sense of responsibility really fast, but I'm glad I came. I'd do the same thing again."
The younger Mendez said that becoming a politician was not his primary goal.
"I don't want to go to work right after college," he said. "I'd like to go to graduate school and get a master's degree in economics. Eventually I would like to get into politics but not right away."
The younger Mendez said he did not feel pressure from his family to succeed, but he put a lot of pressure on himself to do so.
"I don't want to become an example of what not to do," he said.
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