4a
Opinion
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
For comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Editorial board: Bush starts out on shaky ground
Cabinet choices place Bush on divisive path
Saturday, when George W. Bush takes the soath of office to become the 43rd president of the United States, American politics just like the American economy will be in danger of descending into recession.
Texas record displays Bush's power to unite
To maintain our nation's prosperity, Bush truly must live up to his reputation as "a uniter, not a divider." Unfortunately, it doesn't appear he'll do that.
College Republicans: Bush will be an effective president
Ideally, Bush would interpret his slim margin of victory in the Electoral College as a sign that he should build a moderate administration. Instead, he's assembled a Cabinet that leans heavily to the right; consider John Ashcroft, a radical religious conservative and Bush's nominee to be the most powerful attorney in the nation. That's about a divisive choice as any Bush could make.
Sure, Bush included a Democrat in his Cabinet, but only to lead the Department of Transportation — hardly an influential office. Even President Clinton (who handily defeated Bush's father and Sen. Bob Dole) had the wisdom to appoint a Republican as his Secretary of Defense, the one who controls the Pentagon.
For the first time since 1954. Republicans will control the White House and both houses of Congress — barely. That's hardly a mandate.
But already, this country's most powerful legislators are gearing up to pass a laundry list of conservative bills, and Bush is ready to sign them. If he wants to maintain a legitimate presidency (given that his victory arguably was illegitimate), Bush must make considerable sacrifices in his agenda. He hasn't displayed any willingness in to do that yet.
Moreover, Bush told The New York Times Thursday that he had lawyers evaluating "every single opportunity" to overturn some of Clinton's executive orders to protect 60 million acres of forests from development. This isn't the kind of meddling mentality Bush should foster. He's an elected representative of the American people, not a corporate CEO for an oil company (although his ties to the oil industry are strong).
Those aren't the only big moves Bush has hinted he'll make. During the Times interview, Bush indicated he wanted to cut off or reduce financial support for Russia and several developing third-world nations. The success of democracy in these countries hinges on
through, these volatile Clay McCuslon / KANSAN nations would be in danger of spiralling into chaos. That's global division, the threat of which is even more ominous.
Naturally, Americans want a strong leader. Bush has shown he can be forceful, but he certainly hasn't shown that he can lead or that he can effect positive change.
Saturday, Bush inherits the opportunity to renew Americans' faith in their leaders. To succeed, he needs to pursue a route drastically different from the one he's on now.
Chris Borniger for the editorial board
Can George W.
Bush govern effectively?
The answer is yes.
Now that the election is finished, it is time for the pres ident and Congress.
Congress. Republicans and Democrats to come together to pass the legislation the voters supported during the election. While some extremists would rather talk about legitimacy than focus on issues, President-elect Bush is hard at work building a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to do the work of the American people.
During the campaign, both President-elect Bush and Vice President Gore talked about improving education, mar-
about improving education, marriage- tax relief, prescription drugs
for the elderly and preserving Social Security so that today's students will be able to take advantage of the program. They differed on the details, but they both recognized that these are important issues to deal with.
Bush already has begun to lay the groundwork for progress. He has met with congressional leaders from both parties. He has talked extensively with Democrats such as Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana. Bush knows that to get things done, you must build a relationship with people, even if they don't agree with you.
Building consensus is not a new challenge for
President-elect Bush. Through personal contact and a real desire to improve the state of Texas, Bush persuaded many Democrats to work with him for the good of their constituents.
The results were impressive. Texas schools improved thanks to reforms Bush championed. It takes real effort to build coalitions and to look for ways to reach across party lines. It is more difficult to actually work with people who disagree with you than it is to hide behind rhetoric and name-calling. Bush helped change the tone in Austin, Texas, and he will do the same in Washington, D.C.
Bush understands that working with others does not mean that you have to abandon your convictions. He is still committed to providing real tax relief to all Americans, not just a select few whom liberals have deemed worthy of tax relief. Bush campaigned as a compassionate conservative, and that's how he will govern. Bush developed the skills he needs to turn his principles into law while he was governor of Texas.
During the presidential campaign, many Texas Democrats stood next to Bush and campaigned for him. It takes courage to buck your party, but those people had seen the job Bush did in Texas and knew that his desire to be "a uniter, not a divider" was real.
Unfortunately, some people do not want to see legislation passed that would foster prescription drug benefits for the elderly, tax relief or any other issues. To some, accomplishments that benefit the American people threaten their political careers. If Republicans fail, it helps Democrats. Left-wing groups, such as People for the American Way, want to see Bush fail. They are not interested in doing what is right for the American people; they're interested in seeing a Republican president fail. This is the kind of spite that sours the national dialogue and moves us away from addressing issues important to Americans.
In a divided government, there is great potential for either progress or stagnation.
Compromise is a two-way street. If other people will not work together for the American people, it would be very easy to ruin a potentially productive session of Congress. If people would rather gear up for the next campaign instead of working to help Americans, nothing will get done. And Americans will lose.
Patrick Burger for College Republicans
Perspective
Kansan readers must hold paper accountable
Welcome back to a new year, a new semester and a new prime time television show - Temption Island.
I was not among the 16 million people who watched Temptation Island last Wednesday. The show had a bigger audience than the debut of last summer's reality-show hit, Survivor, according to preliminary ratings. But I am not among those critics and religious leaders who would like to see the show taken off the air.
But I don't think it should be censored. A show should not be taken off the air just because it offends a segment of the population.
To be perfectly honest, while entertaining, is probably the best shows to ever come into the homes of Americans.
To be perfectly honest, Temptation Island.
So it is with The University Daily Kansan.
As a student newspaper, we're not exactly "prime time" and we're not exactly going to entertain you with scantily clad, bronzed bodies.
Leita Schultes
readers'
representative
reader@kansan.com
But the connection
between Temptation Island and the Kansan is that both have the potential to offend people.
it happens despite all the efforts of reporters and editors to give you an absolutely perfect paper. It happens at the Kansan and it happens at The New York Times.
Here at the Kansan, we are going to cover some controversial topics. And we'll probably make some mistakes.
Last semester, stories on race relations, men-
sturiation and drunk driving led to heated feedback. Reporters were accused of being sex fiends, racists and Labrador-loving hippies.
But guess what? We kept running the tough stories, and we will continue running the tough stories — because those are the important ones.
When those stories show up in the paper, it's important that the Kansan knows its readers' responses, and therein is the role of the readers' representative.
This semester, Warisa Chulindra, the associate reader's representative, and I are working for you.
When the Kansan misses a story that needs to be in the paper, tell us.
When we screw up a story that makes the paper, tell us.
When you just have a question, ask us.
As journalists, we have to ask you, our reader, to have faith in us and to trust us to give you the highest quality news every day.
But we also have to ask one more favor: Hold us accountable and make us do our jobs.
Warisa and I plan to spend the semester learning about the Kansan's readers and the issues they want to read about. We will be talking to different people, going to meetings of different organizations and attending weekly office hours.
I'll be in the *Kansan* newsroom from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, and Warisa will be in the newsroom from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays. You can always e-mail us at readersrp@kansan.com or call us in the newsroom at 864-4810.
accuries is a Rolfe, Iowa, sophomore in journalism and religious studies.
Letter to the editor
Kansan serves valuable purpose for all students
I am a visiting scholar to the English Department of KU. I came from the English Department of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
When I came here the first time, I spent 13 months at KU in 1988 and 1989. I read the Kansan everyday then, and I have learned a lot from reading and studying it. I came here in the middle of September 2000 the second time. I am very happy since I am able to read the Kansan everyday again. I like to read it so much for several reasons.
First, it is very informative. By reading it everyday, I know immediately not only what is going on in the KU campus, but in the state, the nation as well as in the whole world.
From the Oct. 27, 2000 Kansan, I learned that some KU students held a demonstration against Israeli occupation of the lands that Palestinians claim. I was really moved by the KU students' deep concern for world peace.
Also, from the Oct. 18, 2000, Kansan, I learned hundreds of students had backed into the Kansas Union ballroom to watch the final debate. I could sense all the students were so interested and deeply involved themselves in the presidential election.
Second, the Kansan includes diverse
opinions of the students about all kinds of big events concerned with the campus, the state and the world.
Amanda Taba's letter in the Oct. 16, 2000 Kansan, she gave her opinions about her disagreement with what the American government had done about Israel and Palestine. It is also in the Kansan that students with disabilities have told about their frustration with daily campus life. I believe it is just the different opinions that make the campus improve. I think the diversity of opinions in the Kansan is the energy that keeps it going forward.
Third, the Kansan's language is easy to understand. Whenever I finish what I have read, I know immediately what the article or the piece of the news means. I think this is the most important character for newspapers to possess. The Kansan has achieved its purposes of publication: to inform the public and to let people give their own opinions.
As an English language teacher in China, I believe I have learned more about the English language from the Kansan than any other visiting scholars with other majors. The Kansan's staff writers are energetic and have their own way of thinking, seeing things and expressing them.
Finally, I want through this article to show my sincere thanks to all the Kansan staff writers because of their diligent and hard work. I believe my year at KU is the most important part of my career.
Xiaodi Shi Visiting scholar, department of English
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.
and typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
The problem with Lawrence is that there are no old ladies to spit on.
I just wanted to tell Michael Rigg that I don't understand how he ... says at the end of his column that it all depends on Chenowith. If you put the whole game on the guy that he thinks is going to win it for them, it's going to put more pressure, and I don't think that's going to help.
and typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
I'm going to have to do a lot of reviewing really fast because I've almost totally forgotten how to read and there's going to be a lot of that this semester.
Letters: Should be double-spaced, typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
How to submit letters and guest columns
Guest columns: Should be double-spaced
All letters and guest columns should be emailed to opinionn@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 1.11 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut
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