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Thursday, December 6, 1990/ University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Right in step
Talks between U.S. and Iraq a good beginning in the search for a peaceful Persian Gulf answer
Iraq's acceptance Saturday of President Bush's offer to send Secretary of State James A. Baker to Iraq for direct talks is definitely a step in the right direction in resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.
By accepting the offer, Iraq's central policy-making body, the Revolutionary Command Council, has shown the world that it would like to solve the conflict peacefully. The Bush administration, by making the offer, has shown that it too favors peace. But for how long?
Vice President Dan Quayle said Saturday that the administration would not allow Israel's withdrawal from occupied Arab lands to be linked with the gulf crisis. Quayle also said the point of the talks would not be to negotiate, but to convince Saddam Hussein that this would be his last chance to comply with the U.N. resolution before force is used.
The resolution gives Saddam until Jan. 15 to withdraw his troops from Kuwait. After Jan. 15, the use of force has been authorized to compel his withdrawal.
Bush said that Baker was not making "a trip of concession" but that he would be willing "to discuss all aspects of the gulf crisis." Middle East experts have said that trade-offs inevitably would be broached.
The Bush administration is justified in not allowing Iraq to negotiate the fate of Israel. Israel's policy concerning the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should not be used by Iraq or the United States as a bargaining chip to resolve their differences. But every other effort should be made to obtain a meeting of the minds concerning the gulf crisis. When war is the only other alternative, peaceful negotiations become paramount.
Mary Neubauer for the editorial board
Country club policy
Watson's departure sparks questions for KC clubs
Last weekend, the Kansas City Star drew attention to racial problems in Kansas City. In a front page article, the Star outlined questionable standards in some Kansas City area country clubs. The article paid particular attention to the recently denied membership of businessperson Henry Bloch (of H and R Block) to the Kansas City Country Club.
In response to Bloch's denied application, professional golfer and Kansas City Country Club member Tom Watson resigned his membership in the club on the grounds that Bloch was turned away on the basis of religion. Bloch is Jewish.
Kansas City Country Club isn't the only club where an exclusive sentiment appears to prevail. The Star's article reported that 12 of 19 area country clubs that responded to questions had no Black members.
Often, country clubs as a whole are stereotyped in the same category. But the Star's article made the careful observation that integration of Kansas City's country clubs could not be easily or quickly remedied.
Integration is in part linked to minority groups' move into affluent neighborhoods where the majority of country clubs are situated.
Not all clubs should be accused of discrimination. Many club officials said that they did not make note of a member's race or religion. In an interview with the Star, Ken Gaithers, general manager of the Meadowbrook Country Club, pointed out, "We don't have any Black members because no one has applied."
But the fact remains that Jewish businessman Bloch was denied membership on the basis of religion. As long as there are country clubs that rely on such policies, all country clubs be forced to bear the stigma of suffering from ethnocentric parochialism
Discrimination is unsetting in a decade when destructive stereotypes and prejudices should have become a thing of the past. The '90s should represent equality, not exclusion, in country clubs as well as society.
Sally Gibbs for the editorial board
Troops in gulf to keep us satisfied
According to the news, public support for action in the Persian Gulf is "soffening."1 but before we dust off our peace signs and accuse President Bush of being bent on war, let's consider who's really responsible for the gulf crisis.
Most of us have been voting in support of our military presence in the gulf for years. The ballots in this vote were car sales, and the polls were car dealerships and gas pumps. When we bought our cars and every time we filled them up, we were casting votes to send troops. We fed the automakers and oil companies well, built their economic and political muscles and earned our quality of life from their corporate health. In a free market economy, every economic choice is a vote for some set of consequences, and with a little foretight these consequences aren't entirely unpredictable. Am I stretching things a bit? Perhaps, but not a
Of course, gas isn't the only thing made from oil, but our love affair with the automobile has made us that much hungrier for oil. Our parents might be blamed for building our society around cars, but our generation is certainly doing its part to perpetuate their shortsightedness. We've done little in the past decade to weaken the chain of events that led
Roger Kramer
Guest columnist
“
Our demand for gas is like a spoiled child's demand for candv.
us to our current predicament. We're still so dependent on our cars that we seem to think congested roads and polluted air are more convenient than investing in and using efficient transportation. Of course, walking around in traffic can be traffic and build South Lawrence Trafficways, further compromising the environment to fix a problem that could be eliminated more easily.
Recently, the loudest whining has been about gas prices. Our demand for gas is like a spotted child's fleeing from an unseen threat in defending Bush's policy, but be's
only following our orders. Let's face up to our actions and come clean with our soldiers. They are there to keep us satiated! Ugly, isn't it?
Recent protests on Wesco Beach support the media's conclusion about public opinion, but it's much too late for theatrics and clever slogans to silence "Immigrant Thunder." The reins on this crisis are already in the hands of the international bureaucracy. We handed them over long ago as our society developed its automobile dependency.
The protesters' energies would be better spent trying to prevent inevitable future crises, rather than hypocritically lamenting the results of our past mistakes. Incidentally, domestic oil is not the answer. Oh sure, we might buy ourselves a few extra decades by ravaging (more of) Alaska, but the oil there is just as finite. No, the answer will probably demand — dare I even suggest this—a change in our lifestyles. We, the people,送 the troops to the gulf, not our politicians. They're merely scapegoats for our shortsightedness. Let's wake up to the long-term consequences of our individual actions and accept some responsibility for them.
Roger Kramer is a Leawood junior majoring in mathematics.
Alumna tabs KU as friendliest
Being raised in California and on the East Coast, I had always heard that the Midwest is full of friendly, down-home people. I didn't believe it at first, but after spending four years at the University of Kansas, I found there is no comparison.
It is generally accepted that freshmen are "lost" in their new college environment and that they walk through campus looking bewildered. a freshman and new student at KKU, I was one of those lost freshmen.
Elizabeth
Hewitt
Guest columnist
During the first week of advising, I was desperately confused about the terms "credits" and "hours." My adviser called me a "babe in the woods." The friendly people who work at the University of Kansas helped save me from all of this confusion.
I first noticed that down-home attitude while spending two hours with my adviser discussing my next four years at college. He invited me to call or stop by his office whenever I had questions. He, however, was not the only example; I soon discovered that many professors and other people were available for help. I felt comfortable calling on professors and the administrative staff whenever I had a problem with a particular class or the University environment.
Amazingly, a 24-hour telephone information line was available to save me, and others like me, from complete confusion. It was not unusual for a student to request help three or four times a week from the office; this is often the center was an exceptional and vital service to students because its representatives not only answered questions about KU but also provide
students with other interesting information, such as the starting time for a basketball game or directions to Flight Lauderdale or Spring Break!
Attending KU did not mean that college would not be frustrating at times. However, the people I encountered made my life easier.
One year after graduating, I am again a "freshman," only this time at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, where I am working toward a master's degree. Unfortunately, there is no comparison between KU and Maryland. Maryland is a commuter school for people from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In general, at least three of four people who I have dealt with at UMAB have been rude and unhelpful when I have had a question or problem.
Having just moved to the Annapolis area, I was not familiar with the university or Baltimore, and I had many questions. The university's hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., which forced me to call long distance from my workplace. My questions were generally simple — for example, how do I make an appointment, or when is the library open? What time does it close? Was that my call turned out to be 20 minutes long instead of five. I was often put on hold for more than 15 minutes or was transferred two.
three, and sometimes six times for one question. Quite often, a transfer call would be disconnected, and I would have to start at the beginning.
There are exceptions to the problems and rude people I encountered. The person in charge of class scheduling for the School of Social Work was exceedingly helpful. My plans were made easy when she called her four times last semester with schedule changes. She was very pleasant each time.
Another exception was my doctor at school. After only one office visit, I called with a question about a prescription. He returned the call almost immediately. In spite of his absence, I still had time to inform me that by going elsewhere, I could save $10 on the prescription.
I may be an older and wiser "freshman" now than I was five years ago, and I sincerely believe that nobody should have to go in without experience. I have experienced. Dealing with students is not the most glamorous job.
But those people who dislike dealing with students are in the wrong field and should seriously consider a career change. It is not difficult to be pleasant and to helpful when students are having difficulties, and staff at KU have figured out what it takes to make life easier for students and themselves.
Maybe the only way these people might ever understand the difference would be to go back to school themselves at KU.
Elizabeth Hewitt is a KU alumna and a graduate student at the University of Maryland-Baltimore.
Can't drink the water
I read with interest the article "Cool, clear water" in Monday's Kansan. For almost two years, I have been using bottled water for
all drinking, ice making and cooking. Whenever I make a mistake and drink Lawrence tap water, or even just let down my guard and experiment or use a stray ice cube, I get diarrhea and cramps.
I have several acquaintances who experience the same problem.
in Consumer Reports magazine, 50-year-old water treatment technology is no match for 1980s pollution, carcinoimages and toxins.
The chemical treatment Lawrence uses may have worked 40, 30, 20 or even 10 years ago. It did not worked for the past two years.
The Kansan article mentions using a 50-year-old process to treat Lawrence water and not changing the process because it "worked."
But, as pointed out in an article
Michael Bryan Kelly Lawrence child-development specialist
KANSAN STAFF
DEREK SCHMIDT
Editor
KJERSTIN GABRIELSON
TOM EBLEN
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
Editors
Editors
News. Julie Mittenburg
Editorial. Mary Neubauer
Planning. Pam Sollier
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Photo. Andrew Morrison
Graphics. Brett Brenner
Features. Britt Smith
Business staff
MARGARET TOWNSEND
Business manager
MINDY MORRIS
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
Campus sales mgr ... Chris Dool
Regional sales mgr.. Jackie Schmalzmiar
National sales mgr ... David Price
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Production mgr ... Missy Miller
Production assistant ... Jaxil Aylan
Marketing director ... Audra Langford
Creative director ... Gail Einbinder
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