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Monday, March 21, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
If state toughens penalties it must review prison plan
The state's prisons are dangerously overcrowded. No one seriously has disputed that fact for the past several years.
The Legislature will be forced to work under the threat of a possible federal court order that would reduce the population at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing. Corrections Secretary Roger Endell has proposed a $100 million plan for adding more than 2,500 beds to the system by 1991.
Yet, in this election year, the Legislature is considering several bills that would increase the penalties for crimes involving drugs, and in the past several years it has created new crime after new crime.
That's part of where the problem lies. The Legislature is responding to what it thinks is the public's desire for the state to get tough on crime, often without thinking of the long-term consequences.
Endell's plan may not be a bad one, but it is an expensive one. Even he has said the state must get its prison population growth to zero; that is, as many people must leave the system as enter it...
And that means politicians will have to stop posturing on crime; they will have to start telling their constituents that getting ultra-tough means more building.
They must consider making it easier to parole low-risk inmates and resist the urge to create new crimes or increase the penalties for existing ones. A comprehensive review of sentencing laws and parole policies is needed.
And legislators must start talking about those issues now. If the prison population continues to grow, the state's troubling crisis will become a permanent condition.
Opinion
The Legislature may soon make it more difficult for convicted drunken drivers to be repeat offenders. In fact, legislators may force drunks to go to all the trouble of having someone else breathe into their cars.
Man,can you spare a breath?
A bill in the Legislature now would allow judges to require that "ignition interlock systems" be installed in the cars of convicted drunk drivers. The device would require the car's driver to pass a breath test each time he attempted to start his car.
The on-board, computerized breath analyzer would be connected to the car's ignition system. The driver would have to blow into a tube connected to the computer; if his blood alcohol content were deemed excessive, the car wouldn't start.
The system sounds futuristic enough, but it would be easy to circumvent. There is no way that the machine would know who was blowing into it, so the car's owner could ask a sober friend to blow into the tube. Or he could pay someone a couple of bucks to loan him a breath.
Designers of such systems say they have installed safeguards to prevent abuses. For instance, some systems will cause the car's horn to start blowing if the test is not retaken every half hour, but a drunk driver can do a lot of damage in a half hour. And some have special codes that must be punched in before the system will activate, but who is to keep a drunk from punching in the code and then asking someone to blow in the tube?
The bill would include, of course, penalties for those who were caught tampering with the devices and for those guilty of helping a drunk to start his car. Tampering might be easy to detect, but it would be almost impossible to catch someone blowing into someone else's breath analyzer.
Also, who will know which car the drunken driver will be driving? The device could be installed in one car, and then another could be driven to the bars.
Ignition-locking gadgets will not help alleviate the problem of drunken drivers. Forcing drunks to find someone to blow in their cars will only annoy them.
Alan Player for the editorial board
The editorial board consists of Alison Young, Todd Cohen, Alan Player, Jody Dickson, Katy Monk, Russell Gray and Van Jenerette.
News staff
Alison Young...Editor
Todd Cohen...Managing editor
Rob Knapp...New editor
Alan Player...Editorial editor
Joseph Rebello...Campus editor
Jennifer Rowland...Planning editor
Anne Luscombe...Sports editor
Stephen Wade...Photo editor
Richard Stewart...Graphics editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Kelly Scherer...Business manager
Clark Massad...Retail sales manager
Brad Lenhart...Campus sales manager
Robert Hughes...Marketing manager
Kurt Messersmith...Production manager
Greg Knipp...National market
Kik Scherma...Traffic manager
Kimberly Coleman...Classified manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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"WELL,ITAINT YOUR PRIMARY SYSTEM..."
Ninja training won't help U.S. trade
Japan, Western Europe get ahead because they get free bodyguard service
It was another of those TV shows explaining why the Japanese are out-producing and out-selling us. I think I've seen a hundred shows like it, and they're always the same.
We see the young Japanese managerial trainees standing outside at attention. A corporate drill master shouts something at them, and they respond by screaming slogans about their love of hard work, efficiency and devotion to the company and its bottom line.
The drill master shouts some more, and the trainees scream some more; then they all run madly into the building to infuse the workers with their frenzy to produce.
Then we see the workers outside on their frezy break. They, too, are being shouted at and are screaming back something about how hard work is the greatest thing since sushi.
So it's that simple. If we are to make better cars, TV sets and VCRs, what we must do is gather everyone in the company parking lot for what looks like a Ninja training session.
And anybody who believes that is just as dumb as the people who out those TV shows together.
We then see a U.S. TV commentator who shakes his head in wonderment and says something to the effect that, wow, this is the way we should do it if we're going to avoid being economically buried by the Japanese. Our workers and managers must develop that rah-rah spirit, that love of job, love of work, love of company.
The biggest reason Japan has become an international business superpower, while we have been slumping, has little or nothing to do with brainwashing programs for managers and workers.
Syndicated Columnist
Mike Royko
It has to do with how Japan uses its money as a
nation and now the multimillion dollar spent on $20 billion and $30 billion on its military.
That might sound like a lot. But in the same year, this nation spent almost $300 billion on its military.
Japan puts about 1 percent of its gross national product into its military. About 7 percent of ours
That means Japan can use far more of its resources to develop its industries, new technologies and so on.
It puts more money into research and development, which is why it stays ahead of us in making prettier TV pictures.
We put a lot of money into research and development, too. But about half of what we spend is for the development of new military gadgets.
Now, we don't have to spend that much just to defend ourselves. A big chunk of our military spending is for the purpose of defending Japan and Western Europe, which also has been cutting our throat in world trade.
About 16 percent of our military spending goes to protect Javan and other Asian countries.
We do this because after we defeated Japan in World War II, we gave it a modern government and a constitution that forbids it from ever becoming a military power.
It turned out to be a great deal for Japan. We assumed the job of protecting it because we said it couldn't become a military power. Japan then could concentrate on developing new high-tech industries while we had to get along with old steel mills and factories.
Well, the war has been over for 43 years. And it's about time we stopped providing free bodyguard service for Japan and Western Europe.
If a city wants a police department, the citizens have to pay taxes. If a factory wants night watchmen, it has to hire and pay them.
And if we're going to act as Japan's international bodyguards, we ought to be paid for it.
If Japan had to foot its share of the bill for its own protection, we would have more money for education and economic development. And it would mean Japan would have less. There's nothing unfair about it. When I pay my taxes for a police and fire department, I have less, too.
The same goes for Western Europe. They're big boys and should be able to look out for themselves, or pay up if they want us to do it.
U.S. workers to get them to work. All you have to do is give them a job and the right tools.
And the presidential candidate who says he's going to start sending Japan a bill, payable by the president.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Allocations confusing
For reference.
Earlier this year, Student Senate spent about $1,600 for the distribution of AIDS packets (complete with sample condoms) to promote an awareness of the AIDS crisis in the University of Kansas community.
Two days ago Student Senate allocated $1,550 to Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week, an event that promotes the very lifestyle that is a direct attribute, if not cause, of the current AIDS crisis.
Any explanations (other than platidutious allegations of my "homophobia")?
Randy Kitchens Lawrence graduate student
Everything's not heaven
John Holtke's letter in the Feb. 23 Kansan titled "View wars realistically" shows how important some articles, such as the one he is responding to, are. Reading through Holtkue's letter, I was amused at how little he really knew about the situation in the Middle East and at how involved the United States is in that situation.
Israel in its fight for survival. I would like to mention a few: the killing of children, which has been a semi-daily occurrence in the past few months, and the unlawful eviction of people from their rightfully owned land, which results in the destruction of homes and lives. The list goes on.
I would also like to disagree firmly with the limitations Holtke puts on the First Amendment. First Amendment rights are granted to everyone, even foreign students who happen to have a right to express their views even though they may prove uncomfortable to Holtke. What's happening in Palestine is wrong by all standards. This is a fact, that is, if you believe that the taking of innocent human lives is wrong! U.S. citizens have a right, if not a responsibility, to know what is going on in the rest of the world, especially when the foreign policy of this country protects a government such as Israel and helps it further its own interests in the region. Furthermore, a college newspaper such as the Kansan is a forum for all students from all countries to voice their ideas.
All of these things are done in the name of Israel's struggle for survival even when this struggle puts no value on human life and dignity. I'm sorry Holkke feels one-sided. It seems to me that he wants the world to tell him that everything is heaven beyond this "fortress of freedom." Well, it's not, and to use Holkke's phrase, "let the children who are dying every day in Palestine tell us who is right and who is wrong."
In reference to the unpopular things done by
Finally, I'd like to say that it's a wonderful
thing for one to be proud of his or her country.
This doesn't mean that country is beyond making mistakes. Remember that not every criticism is a "put down," and if you keep an open mind you can use some of what you learn to help resolve differences and "make peace under which you and we prosper."
Aida Dabbas Lawrence graduate student
Lawrence graduate student Column was misleading
Steve Gantz's March 10 column about fundamentalism was a bit misleading. He wants us to believe that the only goal of fundamentalists is to teach children to "love their neighbors." He neglects to explain why this love should not be extended to feminists, scientists and anyone else who thinks independently. A possible reason is that freedom of thought endangers the authority and wealth of fundamentalists such as Pat Robertson, Joseph Coors and Ronald Reagan, all of whom would stand to lose if great numbers of people decided to better their lots on earth instead of in heaven. For this reason, fundamentalist lobbies seek to take over our educational system and indoctrinate students so that they will use the reasoning displayed in Gantz's column. I agree that fundamentalist beliefs should not be censored by our school system, but students should still be able to choose alternatives such as democracy.
Springfield, Mo., senior
BLOOM COUNTY
STEVE DALLAS HAD PASSED ON
WITHOUT A WILL. A MEMBER
OF HIS WAKE WAS THUS
DISPATCHED TO FETCH HI5
EARTHLY BOOTY.
bv Berke Breathed
IT INCLUDED : LAW BOOKS,
A FRAT PIN, LOOSE CHANCE
AND A BOTTLE OF 'OLD SPICE',
WHICH PORTION ACCIDENTALLY
DRANK, CAUSING HIM TO RUN
AROUND THINKING HE WAS
"A NUN BEE."
A BOX OF TROJANS WAS ALSO
FOUND AND AFTER MUCH
DEBATE, FINALLY IDENTIFIED
AS POSSIBLY BEING MICRO-
WAVE JEEL-O MOLDS.
THE LATTER WERE FILLED
WITH WATER AND DELIVERED
AIRBORNE UNTO MRS. PAULA
PENHISTELE'S PASSING
PONTIAC.. WHICH PREtty WELL
WRAPPED THINGS THE HECK
UP FOR THE NIGHT.
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