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Opinion
Thursday, April 26, 2001
For comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Perspective
Bush defended American values in China crisis
Aside from a few pockets of criticism on the far right and left, President George W. Bush has received almost universal praise for his handling of the recent conflict with China over our detained Navy crew — and rightfully so.
Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-III) commanded Bush's "mature and responsible leadership." Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) spoke of "admiring [his] diplomatic skills." And even the usually hostile Jesse Jackson mustered a few kind words through clenched teeth for the president's performance.
Bush's critics on the right, however, argue that by not immediately recalling our ambassador, demanding an apology from
the Chinese for causing the accident and imposing trade sanctions, the U.S. has suffered a "national humiliation," to quote Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol. After all, we're dealing with a communist government that persecutes Christians, drives tanks over pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square, forces abortions on women who have "too
John McCool columnist opinion@ansan.com
By acknowledging that we're "very sorry" for the death of the Chinese pilot, even though he almost killed our 24 crewmen, we've effectively prostituted our own moral authority and invited future acts of aggression against U.S. citizens. Or so the argument goes.
women who have many' children, and imprisons dissidents for daring to suggest that these and other crimes aren't worthy of a civilized nation.
Bush's critics on the left have a different take: far from demanding an apology from China, they believe we should've issued a full apology immediately, without even waiting to determine who was actually at fault. We should've taken the Chinese at their word, that our unwieldy 737-style aircraft purposely rammed the Chinese fighter jet, causing both planes to nosedive toward the ocean. (One military analyst likened this scenario to a dump truck chasing down and sideswiping a Porsche on the inter-state.)
The ultimate, and only, goal should've been to get the crew back as soon as possible. "Just apologize, for heaven's sake," they said, "if that's what it'll take." Who cares if it's their fault? We mustn't antagonize the Chinese! Or so that argument goes.
Now, usually I'd say the only two things in the middle of the road are a moderate and a dead skunk, but here Bush's moderate approach was exceptionally prudent. First, by deflecting his conservative critics, Bush showed some diplomatic finesse: He apologized for something we actually were sorry about — the death of the Chinese pilot — while steadfastly refusing to apologize for anything else.
Thus, he satisfied the Chinese leaders and got our crew back, without really saying anything substantive. In short, he duped them. It's difficult to see how taking a harder line would've brought better results; it might very well have made things worse.
Second, as for his liberal critics, listening to them would've been truly disastrous. Their advice — the bend over, grab your ankles and beg for forgiveness approach — is the same bad counsel they offered during the Cold War, the same counsel rejected by President Ronald Reagan. By not appeasing and kowtowing to communist thug leaders, Reagan helped engineer the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bloodless liberation of millions of formerly oppressed peoples. "Peace through strength" worked then; it'll work now.
And considering our crew destroyed almost all sensitive equipment before being detained, and that the Chinese surely would've picked the plane clean no matter what we said or when we said it, I'd say under difficult circumstances, he handled his first diplomatic crisis quite skillfully. Well done. Mr. President.
By standing firm with China, President Bush has shown there's a new sheriff in town, one who'll defend American values and interests while avoiding gratuitous saber-rattling.
McCool is an Evansville, Ind., graduate student in history.
Kansan report card
Pfizer. Drug company and producer of Viagra donates $100,000 to the University for the Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Policy and Public Service. Maybe now, administrators can get it up. The Institute building, that is.
Pass:
Wayne Stayskal/TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Queens and Allies. Organization puts positive spin on Fred Phelps' protest of last week's drag show by soliciting pledges for every minute Phelps and Co. held those hateful signs. If groups did this everytime he came to town, we could buy Utah. Not that we'd want to.
Three successful sports. The baseball team conquered Nebraska, the softball team's win streak continues and the track and field team had a strong showing at the Kansas Relays. Enjoy the success while you can; football season is only four months away.
Fail:
State lawmakers. Once again, legislators screw students by yanking a $2.8 million addition to the University's budget and slashing $1 million more. Sure, classrooms will crumble, but hey, our property taxes will be dirt cheap!
- Lazy faculty. University Senate — which includes Student Senators, University staff and instructors, and meets only once per semester — couldn't vote on the course retake policy because there weren't enough faculty members present for a quorum. Now, we don't feel so bad for skipping class to hit The Crossing.
Fuel thieves. Gas prices jump, and car owners bolt from the pumps — without paying. Yeah, it's the oil companies' fault. We don't drive gas guzzlers like Ford Expeditions or anything.
Perspective
Low turnout reflects disinterest in Senate
Two weeks ago, Student Senate elections were held. What are the details of the vote?
T brought up an interesting question: Why are student voters so apathetic? A better question, however, is: Why is apathy bad in the first place?
The idea that we care only about major headline issues reflects prudent discrimination between trivial and important matters. Those matters, for the most part, are not discussed during the election. No candidate really
wants to take a position that differs much from those of his or her opponents. That might require saying something that someone might disagree with. I'm expecting next year's platforms to center around the idea that the University ought to officially recognize that bunnies are cute.
I can't understand why some people think that it is a cardinal sin to be disinterested. My excuse for not voting is not necessarily a lack
James Godwin
columnist
oilion@kanan.com
of interest, I have simply admitted to myself that I have neither the time nor the energy to inform myself to the extent that my vote would be more valuable than the flip of any fair coin.
Besides, if I had voted, I would have supported my friends, my friend's friends, and people whose names remind me of carton characters regardless of qualifications or issues. Since, those people mostly won anyway, I am all the more comfortable with my decision.
I was also concerned that if I did try to be part of the process only to cast a vote for a candidate who would become a hideous paragon of corruption or childishness that would sully the reputation of the entire university (or at least of Student Senate), then could I live with myself? A good example of this is how I'm beginning to feel
more and more relieved that I left the presidential portion of my ballot blank last year.
my response every time I was approached during this election season was, "No thank you, I won't be voting." I tried to sound extra polite because my intent really was not to belittle the candidates or appear to be rude. The reactions I got generally ranged from angry grimaces to faces that appeared so shocked that one would think that I had said matter-of factly, "I hate children and puppies." (Actually, I like both.) For some reason, being a confident non-voter is not allowed. I was beginning to regret my decision to come out of that especially dark closet.
I'm not saying that voting is not a good thing. When people who care about and understand the issues involved make their preferences known through the ballot, the process works well. Conversely, however, nothing good comes from uninformed people voting because of some ambiguous value attached to the practice, to get free candy or so that they can elicit approving smiles from random people on the street whose inquiring minds constantly want to know, "Have you voted yet?"
Although Student Senate may serve a useful role representing student interests, voter turnout is going to be low because most students do not feel that it matters who wins nor do they particularly care. The University already has someone (the chancellor) who has permanent veto power so that major policy problems will not arise from ill-conceived initiatives. In this light, low turnout is not necessarily a bad thing. I do my duty by not giving into the constant peer pressure to vote. I consider such fortitude virtuous. While few people will agree with that sentiment, I'm sure we all wish that we could make the walk from Budig to Fraser without having the privacy of our choice to vote (or not to vote) invaded.
Godwin is a Topeka junior in political science and economics.
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed. For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
free
all for
864-0500
864-0500
Keep God off of Wescoe.
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I don't know why Justin and Kyle want the ball anyway. It's not like those hippies can play any sports.
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Yeah, I just wanted to say to the people who throw food at my back at Mrs. E's and didn't even apologize: You guys remind me of caged animals who throw their food at people. Thank you.
Free for All? I thought this was the Reefer All. My bad.
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Did anyone else think the best part of the NCAA for a Day game was when Chenowith got dunked on by that dude, then that guy stared him down halfway down the court? That was awesome.
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I no longer fear hell because I spent a year in McColum.
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Doesn't anybody realize that sexual pleasure does not end with primates?
Who else, when they saw Ben Walker's name in the paper, said, who's that?
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The enrollment center needs to get its act together. They would not allow me to enroll because of a payment I owed. It turned out I owed nothing.
B
I think the time has come for Chancellor Hemenway to resign.
If I were a part of the pro-life coalition, I don't think I would I would be bragging in the paper that Justen Phelps is a part of my organization or who signed up for my cause.
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I can't believe that the University administration is still saying that GTAs are only worth $7,000 per year. It's ridiculous. It's offensive.
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Attention to the bouncers at Quinton's. Why are you letting nasty freshman girls in when I'm 21 and have an ID? I'm from Naismith.
Yeah, I want to point out in the Tuesday's paper with the political cartoon, the Klu Klux Klan doesn't exist. The ku Klux Klan, K-L, not KLU.
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Water balloons and Oliver Hall. No one can stop us.
Editorial
Student execs had mixed year
Walker and Marshall have left their marks on campus both good and bad.
Ben Walker and Marlon Marshall's tenure was marked with several commendable accomplishments and a few blemishes. Walker, outgoing student body president, and Marshall, outgoing vice president, earned a solid thumbs-up from the Kansan editorial board.
As a result, administrators are considering using profits from the University's contract with Coca-Cola to establish scholarships exclusively for minority students. That's a landmark step at a school that has no scholarships reserved for minorities. Moreover, Walker and Marshall got a student position on the committee that controls funds from Coke. This year, the committee gave $50,000 to student programs; next year, that amount will jump to $65,000.
Both deserve praise for working on minority recruitment and retention - a lofty goal at the University of Kansas, which ranks 10th in the Big 12 Conference in minorities enrolled. An effort to make the University more diverse is welcome.
Students will benefit from Walker's and Marshall's work to create a newspaper readership program. This fall, students on campus will be able to pick up copies of prominent newspapers such as The New York Times and USA Today.
Other notable accomplishments include the creation of a Student Senate outreach board; a semi-successful lobbying effort to reduce the impact of Lawrence's new student-targeted housing ordinance; and creating a committee to spend money from Senate's massive reserve account on student-oriented work.
But these victories contrast sharply with the scope of the duo's campaign platform. They promised to make online enrollment a reality sooner and to force state lawmakers to agree to increase financial aid when they increase tuition. Neither happened, mostly because these goals have always been out of their reach.
Walker's and Marshall's greatest failure is the last impression they leave on students' view of Senate. The duo entered office under a cloud; last spring, four students associated with their coalition stole 9,000 copies of the Kansan because they featured negative press about Walker.
Now, they're leaving amid venomous bickering about Walker's decision to keep items traditionally passed down to successors. Walker, in particular, made a poor choice in doing this. Actions such as these turn off students' interest in Snowy.
Aside from a couple of childish antics and a swiss-cheese campaign platform, Walker and Marshall worked effectively for KU students. Now it's up to new president Justin Mills and vice president Kyle Browning to pursue student interests even more aggressively.
Chris Borniger for the editorial board
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