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Wednesday, January 31, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Fiscal 1991
Latest budget proposal ignores social programs Eastern Europe for politically popular crusades
In the smoke and mirror production of his proposed budget, George Bush lost sight of how a $2.8 billion increase in the war on drugs would be spent and was blinded to an opportunity to slash the military budget.
In a time when democracy is breaking out all across Eastern Europe and the Soviet threat is subsiding, a mere slowdown in defense spending is unwarranted.
The proposed defense budget is less palatable when viewed in the context of worsening social conditions in the United States.
But the need for more thoughtful social programs has been ignored by the Bush budget. At yesterday's meeting of the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, the organization's executive director called the budget a "turkey" and said it conveyed the president's intention to further cut urban programs.
These facts from the first Bush budget bode ill for the possibility of anything but a continuation of the Reagan era.
Bush has latched onto the war on drugs for the same reason he pushed to make flag burning unconstitutional: It is politically popular and non-controversial.
Bush's apparent lack of understanding of the drug problem and his failure to seize a golden opportunity to cut an out-of-control defense buildup reveal the true political nature of his administration.
Other Voices
Study after study demonstrates that American schoolchildren fare poorly when stacked up against students from other developed nations. They don't know geography, can't do math, give up on science; their reasoning powers are relatively undeveloped.
So it is logical to presume that if the United States is, as President Bush has said, lavishing
"unsurpassed resources" on children's schooling, it is not spending that money wisely.
And it is equally clear that if we don't start spending money more wisely, the standard of living in the United States will continue to slide.
> From the Concord (N.H.) Monitor,
Jan. 20, 1890.
Sometimes you just need to run naked
In the last week, many hypotheses have been suggested to explain why members of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity went bounding joyfully and nakedly down Tennessee Street at midnight Saturday.
Some have suggested that it was an act of male bonding. Others say that it was immaturity solely for the defiance of accepted social behavior. We are victims of our environment. There are no playgrounds on Jayhawk Boulevard. There are no monkey bars. We don't have a carousel or curly slide. We don't even have a tree swing. What kind of school doesn't have a playground?
There are not very many places on this campus or in this world where children can be children. And whether we like it, we are all children. We are at a unique stage in our lives when we've almost outgrown our flowered underwear but aren't quite big enough for pinstires. One of my friends likes to play grown-up though, so he walks around in Dad's suit to a white. That's OK. My parent will dress me up like that. We all go to Easter Mass. But, you see, suits make me itch, and I get a rash from too much starch, and well . . . all my flowered underwear still fits.
When some of the members of our fraternity went streaking down Town Street at midnight hiding nothing from the world but their names, it wasn't their purpose to
And sometimes, when nobody's looking, I slip it on and run around for a while. I'll belch and see how many letters of the alphabet I can say before the burp runs out. Or I'll climb a tree just to see how far I can see. Or I'll nudge my fat black dog with my foot to just wake her up. There is no real reason for doing that thing. I do not. But when we are all in that stale age of the early 20s, fun really shouldn't be the only reason for doing something. It's not very mature, and my mother probably wouldn't like it.
Joseph Ramsev
Guest columnist
make a point or to enhance or detract from our image on campus. It was not a call to civil disobedience or a symbol of our hate for society. It was fun. Fun in its purest form, shedding all our cares and worries about social expectations and wallowing in life
'Streaking and childish acts are a little like flowered underwear, though, when you're 21. There's hardly an appropriate place to display them.'
— Joseph Ramsey Alpha Tau Omega member
and youth. That was the only purpose of running naked (yes, we can say it, "naked") down Tennessee Street. It was fun and we enjoyed it and we'were sorry if we offended some people. We wish you could have enjoyed it with
Streaking and childish acts are a little like flowered underwear when you are 21. There's hardly an appropriate place to display them. But if you lock a child up in cold steel clothes and barricades, you can get out of the scream to get out. Then whimper. Then he will starve. And die.
So please tuck your flowered underwear away in a secret place, and when nobody's looking, pull it on. And if it makes you feel good down on the floor, then you'll want to keep your you'll like it. Think of it as getting something for nothing.
> Joseph Ramsey is a Kansas City, Mo., senior majoring in journalism and English.
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Crafty schemes befit modern activists
Sometimes it helps to look back to get an idea where we may be headed.
For example, this campus was in the midst of an upheaval 20 years ago. A sense of activism prevailed in most students and manifested itself in the form of protesting the Vietnam War. In a serious vein, the Kansas Union burned in April 1970, and the school year was almost cut short a few weeks later as the threat of violence enshrined Mount Oread.
Above and beyond the protests and potential for violence was an atmosphere of change. The students of a generation ago questioned what was achieved almost everything in their lives. Experimenting with alternatives to the establishment was the popular thing to do.
In that spirit entered the Kansas Free University as an alternative to the University of Kansas, KFU formed in the Jate 1900s, and its classes were conducted by people who either were experts in a certain field or had a strong interest in a particular area. The classes generally met in the home of the class leader.
The philosophy behind KFU was
Steve Buckner
Staff columnist
articulated by one of its organizers, Leland McCleary, in an article in the Kansan of Sept. 18, 1969.
"Many students find school a drag," he said. "It is a constant struggle to please teachers and parents, to get through irrelevant courses, write so many meaningless papers and pass so many exams without much pleasure to themselves or excitement in learning what they really want to know. Since the Free University rejects the concept of education by coercion and bribery, there are no grades given, and no degrees are granted."
By Spring 1970, KFU offered 30 classes in Lawrence. No pre-enrollment was required (of course). The curriculum included a variety of music and craft classes, serious subjects, topical issues and several esoteric offerings.
The next question would be,
"What in the world should be taught?"
Indeed, the student of
today is a discerning customer.
The class offerings would have to
boost the upward and onward
career path of the students
because there is no time to waste
The serious subjects included
Well, for one thing, it couldn't be free. Students just don't flock to a bargain anymore. Tuition would have to be at least $300 per class for the typical student to figure it was worth doing.
two classes that remain timely, "Colloquium on Biotry" and "Drugs and the Mind." The topical issues included "The War in Vietnam" and "Draft Counselor Training." Judging by the titles of these classes, the esoteric field included "Gravestone Rubbings," "Sunsets," "Balance Skills" and "Beermaking."
Things are different at KU in 1990. Activists remain among us, but their energy is diffused by many causes rather than galvanized to one main issue. Also, most students are more career-minded than their counterparts of the preceding generation.
of something to think about.
With that in mind, the following suggestions just might appeal to the students of the '90s.
Co-worker Sabotage. How to get ahead in a company at the expense of your peers. Prerequisite: Absolutely no conscience or feelings of guilt
So could something such as Kansas Free University fly today?
Exploiting Eastern Europe.
How to make millions off the emerging non-Communist countries of the Warsaw Pact. Lengthy experience. Being able to identify Europe and its countries on a map.
- Consumption Maximization.
  to buy twice the amount of consumer goods as your earnings.
  Prerequisites: A short attention span and every major credit card charged to the limit.
Power Eating. How to make every meal count by breaking bread only with important contacts and clients. Prerequisite: Being able to talk with your mouth full without being disruising.
Beermaking. OK, so some things are timeless.
on something trivial.
Steve Buckner is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
LETTERS to the EDITOR Quote defended
I must admit that I did not agree with other College Republicans when the club initially began to use the quote from Senator Goldwater, "Sex and politics are a lot alike. You don't have to be good at them to enjoy them."
However, after that first meeting announcement in which we used it, several new faces appeared asking whether Senator Goldwater was going to speak to our group. The commotion and attention that the quote attracted had served its purpose.
We have continued to use the quote for several reasons. Primarily, we have used it to say that anyone can participate and have fun in politics, not just "wibrant young men" or "stodgy old men," as Mr. Evans suggests. College Republicans is an outreach and information group for college men and women. We are here to help everyone — especially young people with no experience who are not "good" at politics — become involved and enjoy themselves. Republicans all across the state of Kansas attempt to include young people in politics; College Republicans is one way in which we can get involved and make a differ-
CRs have had a hard time shedding their bad reputation — especially at KU — in spite of participation with KU Students Against Hunger and other civic organizations during the last few years. Unfortunately, some years ago an outspoken young conservative with whom few of us agreed began a misinformation campaign about CRs on campus. Even though here, CRs still must deal with the ill feelings and bad policy reputation he left.
Mr. Evans is also probably unaware that College Republicans (or CRs) offer a great leadership opportunity for women at KU. In the past three years, two women have headed the local chapter and one has headed the State Federation. The stereotype of "vibrant young men" just does not hold. (I hope he won't accuse us of being sleazy young women now).
Another reason CRs have continued to use the quote is to break the stereotype that TV's Alex Keaton unfortunately created for us. We are not money-grubbing, self-interested power mongers. In fact, we are a compassionate, fun-loving group dedicated to good government. Last semester, for example, we held information seminars and forums on environmental issues, legislation concerning senior citizens and anti-drug awareness.
We do not cling to the tradition left in the past. We are a large dedicated group that wants to
Brenda Eisele
Brenda Elase
Fredonia senior and former chair-
woman of the Kansas Federation of
College Republican
make KU, Kansas and the United States a better place in which to live.
Judging smokers
The state of Kansas, in its obscure wisdom, has already penalized state employees who smoke by imposing an additional $10 per month fee for health insurance (which goes to the state, not Blue Cross) — a discriminatory act, the law of which one has to question. Now the Legislature is considering further moral judgments via a five per cent pack tobacco tax and the third year of the Margin of Excellence (University Daily Kansan, Jan. 25). Legislators apparently continue drinking — no mention of an increased liquor tax.
While I applaud the intent of the Margin, I fail to understand why cigarette smokers should have to finance it. What has happened to all the revenue from "sin taxes," the lottery, drug racing and reappeal? Why have state universities consistently been the fall guys for budget deficits? (Recent statistics reveal a 4 percent increase in budgets for higher education in Kansas; 75 percent in California.) If legislators can't find a way to budget within their resources, why not impose an across-the-board
penalty on them of, say, $5,000 each plus a percentage of their salaries, and no further raises or expense accounts until they learn to live within their ways and means?
Or why not transfer money from the Highway Improvement Fund for the Margin? What family in its right mind would "linger awhile" in Kansas in July to picnic beside the largest ball of twine? (I've always thought a theme park based on Dorothy's adventures would attract tourists — build an Emerald City somewhere west of Salina, close to the Lake of Oswego. "The Land of Oz" and end the bickering over "Ahs" vs. 'Ah's.) Get real. Tourism simply is not a revenue producer and existing highways are adequate for intrastate travel.
Hayden's original declaration that he would veto theMargin of Excellence, followed by a statement that he might consider a tax increase on tobacco to finance it, is curious and suspect, given that this is an election year. By first canceling the final year of the Margin, he risks losing the vote of KU faculty and staff. By imposing his own moral judgments about smokers, he may gain some KU votes but lose more statewide — or has the rough and tough image of the Maribarro man faded from western Kansas? (Or will "hidden" reserves miraculously surface before November?)
Barbara M. Paris Administrative assistant, department of English
CAMP UHNEELY
WE PAID FIVE DOLLARS
A PIECE TO SEE A COV.
THAT GUY WAS POLLING
MY LEG.
BY SCOTT PATTY