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Wednesday, February 13, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Ordinance restricts bars
Proposed nuisance-control ordinance gives city too much control over drinking establishments
The nuisance control ordinance proposed by Lawrence city management analyst David Corliss would be an annoying and unnecessary regulation for Lawrence's private clubs and drinking establishments.
Under the new ordinance, any bar that "creates, fosters, causes, attracts or otherwise allows conditions or conduct to exist within 1,000 feet of the licensed premises" and "constitutes danger or harm to public safety, health and welfare, regardless of whether such conditions are intentionally created" would be subject to having its license revoked.
The problem with this type of ordinance is that it is aimed at only one form of business - drinking establishments. Thus, if the
ordinance is passed the city would have the power to close those clubs that do not comply. Lawrence could eliminate any bar or club it did not want to see in operation.
These proposed licensing changes are considerably more restrictive than current statewide rules. To receive a license, the applicant must have state approval, and the location of the business must meet zoning requirements and other city ordinances. These requirements should be enough.
By enacting stricter licensing requirements, Lawrence would be limiting the normal operations of its bars and private clubs and perhaps even could eliminate them completely.
Brent Maycock for the editorial board
Medicare faces cuts
Reduction in payments could limit health care
President Bush has proposed cutting $23 billion from Medicare in the next five years as part of his $1.44 trillion budget plan. Last year Congress approved $32 billion in Medicare cuts.
Medicare, a health insurance program that serves 33 million elderly and disabled people, reimburses doctors and hospitals through federal subsidies.
Bush's proposal could have devastating consequences for U.S. senior citizens. If the government does not provide federal assistance, many will not be able to afford vital hospital care.
Richard Darman, White House budget director, said the majority of the savings would come from reducing Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors.
If hospitals and doctors do not receive payment for their services, they cannot afford to provide full health care for all who seek it.
They need money to maintain expensive machines and to equip operating rooms. Hospitals and doctors cannot absorb the cost of elderly health care.
According to a National Association of Public Hospitals survey, public hospitals have become so overcrowded and financially pinched that they are eliminating services and closing their doors to people who are not
seriously ill. The report also said a decreasing proportion of hospital revenue came from Medicare, Medicaid and local government subsidies, leaving hospitals with operating losses.
Health care is a business, and hospitals cannot afford to operate in the red. If neither the patient nor the state can pay hospital bills, hospitals will have no choice but to turn patients away.
Acting under the country's largest deficit, Bush has to divert money from some programs to finance our wartime budget. But Medicare should not be slashed again. Thirty-three million elderly and disabled people already have suffered from last year's cuts, and additional cuts will compound the problem.
Most senior citizens rely on Medicare to take care of unexpected emergencies that can destroy families financially. Medicare ensures that loved ones will not be stopped at the hospital door. These additional Medicare cuts not only will affect our nation's health, they also inadvertently will create more problems. Expensive health care saps the savings of the elderly, forcing them to turn to welfare, another federally subsidized program, to survive.
Jennifer Schultz for the editorial board
Care for citizens first
Federal officials reason that these new immigrants will pose no threat to Americans because the diseases, including human immune deficiency virus, which causes AIDS, are not spread by casual contact.
The Bush administration has announced plans to lift restrictions that prohibit foreigners with several contagious diseases — including hepatitis A and B — from sexually transmitted diseases — from entering the United States.
Other Voices
The reasoning may be valid — as far as it goes — but the administration may well be opening up a Pandora's box of heavy financial burden, especially for the health care system and resists and assists patients with AIDS.
The Bush administration should rethink its stance.
The United States has a difficult time giving quality health care and assistance to its own. Allowing more people who require treatment into the nation will only make quality care more expensive and more costly for our own citizens.
From the Farmington (N.M.) Daily Times
Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., is on the right track with his call for changes in Pentagon policy on military families.
Kohl has introduced a bill which would require the Pentagon to formulate rules to keep single parents and their children together.
The legislation is aimed at service personnel, mostly single mothers, who are assigned to places they cannot take their children.
However, we hope Kohl's bill will require the Pentagon to deal with those relatively few situations in which both mother and father are members of the military and are shipped out at the same time.
While the demands of military duties must be honored, there are many ways in which the relatively few service people who would be affected by his proposal can fulfill their responsibilities.
The best argument for Kohl's bill is in our nation's purported commitment to, and respect for, the family unit.
From the Journal Times, Racine, Wis.
Talks encourage peace
Still, the meeting between rival South Africans Nelson Mandela, African National Congress deputy president, and the Inkatha Freedom Party chair Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, manage to grab hold of the news pages.
Like all historic events, the war in the Persian Gulf has obscured significant change in (parts of) the world where the spotlights no longer burn.
"We call on all people of the ANC and IFP, as well as our allies," they said in a joint statement, "to cease all attacks with immediate effect and to promote the quest for peace in the community."
The movement toward peace and majority rule, which President F W de Klein is attempting, would be difficult to achieve without a clear interment between the ANC and IFP.
Though there are no guarantees that the meetings will end all hostilities between the two factions, peace is much closer now thanks to the dialogue between Mandela and Buthelezi.
For this meeting, too, was historic. It was the first meeting between the two in 30 years.
From the Phoenix (Ariz.) Gazette
Homelessness isn't just about cardboard boxes and shelter
Several large cardboard boxes. Cheerful, well-fed, warmly dressed students taking turns sitting in them. Signs prominently displayed, asking for donations to help the homeless.
That's how KU students are calling attention to the problem of homelessness. It's a nice demonstration — simple, direct and highly visible. But that isn't what it's like to be homeless.
Being homeless is not just about spending time without adequate shelter. It's not about sitting in a box for a few hours, knowing you'll have a warm house and a soft bed to go home to after your shift is over. Being homeless is about not having a place to go home to at all. It's about leaving work or school every evening, knowing there won't be any place where you belong until the next morning. It's about trying to get to work or to school every morning knowing there's no place where your
Simha
Ruben
Guest columnist
Being homeless is not a time-limited project. It's not about setting aside a few days to stay outside and then going back to your home and your life. Being homeless is a way of life, and it's for the duration. You get tired before after awhile. After awhile you realize that it might be this way forever.
Being homeless is not about being visible, calling attention to yourself, and counting on passersby to be
friendly and helpful. Being homeless is about trying to be invisible, stay out of the way, not be noticed. It's being careful not to hang around the same places too much, not to let anyone see that you have nowhere else to be. It's about trying to sleep with one eye open, ready to move on if anyone finds you. Being homeless isn't just not having your own place. It's knowing no one else wants you in any other place either.
When you see those students sitting in those boxes outside Watson Library, stop and listen to what they are talking about. Give what you can to their project.
But don't think homelessness is just about cardboard boxes. There's more to it than that. That isn't what it's like to be homeless.
Simha Ruben is a Human Development and Family Life graduate student from Lawrence.
War causes a conflict of values, offers chance to examine norms
From all around the globe, we have come to KU to be edu
Four are a rock, four are a have come to KU to be educated and to prepare ourselves for life. From here, we will go to the four corners of the planet to build the new world of our dreams, or to follow established ruts and repeat the nightmares of the past.
Ndomby
Fhunsu
Staff columnist
Years of traveling and sojourning in several cultures have taught me that the destiny of people and of nations is determined by the values that govern their decisions. International news makes it clear that our world is in a deep crisis. The crisis is fundamentally spiritual, even though it has political, economic and military outlets.
At the University of Kansas, a microsom of the world, the juncture is testing our character and is giving us the opportunity to re-examine the values that we accept as norms for our daily lives.
In this spiritual crisis — a crisis of values — the inherent common sense, wisdom and justice are at odds with the tendencies that push toward materialism and egotism, causing among us discrimination, divisions, psychological damage and even physical destruction.
Conscious of the problem, the U.S. government has declared February African-American History Month, and the department of student housings has named it Diversity Month. As a humble contribution to this
Spirit of cooperation. The unfolding events in the Middle East have made us realize how interdependent we are. Just as in the human body the brain needs the mouth to voice its opinions, and the heart needs the lungs to breathe its breath, so also need one another. Let's, therefore, establish good and sincere relations with those around us, based on mutual respect.
Love for truth. Here lies the foundation for a progressive society, free from ensuring prejudices and stereotypes. For example, if you view me as a Black, male and non-traditional student, you will miss a treasure. But if you approach me as Fhusun, a special and unique individual, worth getting acquainted with, then you certainly will know the truth about me, develop a new perspective and enrich your life.
Personal responsibility. The world comprises individuals. The overall quality of our society will depend on
In this month of diversity, I picture our community as a beautiful flower garden, sparking with life, colors and fragrances, and each one of us as a flower in this living mosaic. As we honestly ponder over our common destiny, we will find other helpful values to base our social interactions on. The three I have discussed here are at the heart of my personal philosophy as I gratefully sail on the rivers of life.
Finally, let's not give up on our ideals. Let's continue to study, dream, believe and work for a better consciousness in the human race. As we stand on the platform of public discussion, let's widely share these ideals. Let's break the walls of prejudices and stereotypes and commune with the people we have never addressed before. Let's learn from them new ways of saying "freedom" and "peace," and different ways of looking at life. Maybe they can help us. Maybe we can help them.
Ndomby Flunsu is a freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
the quality of each member. You and I count. Together we can make a difference, no matter how small. We just need to do our best, wherever we are, because change begins with one person. We can initiate, literally, a chain reaction of positive changes in this hurting world.
praiseworthy effort, I suggest that we consider the following values as guidelines for our daily decisions.
by Tom Michaud
Home Remedies