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Wednesday, January 24, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Ethics inquiry
Dismissal of Owen charges puts pressure on lawmakers to create ethical standards
Judge G. Joseph Pierron last week dismissed all charges against former Lt. Gov. Dave Owen, adding a new twist to the investigation into charges that Owen coordinated illegal contributions to Gov. Mike Hayden's 1986 campaign. Prosecutors plan to appeal the dismissal, but it is time for the Legislature to begin its own investigation and to establish a code of ethics.
Pierron dismissed the charges on the grounds that the two-year statute of limitations expired in December 1988, two years after Hayden filed his last campaign expense report, not in December 1989 as prosecutors had argued.
The dismissal is not an exoneration of Owen but a legal technicality. The facts of the case are still ambiguous, and the delay in filing charges has raised questions of political cronyism on the part of Republican officeholders.
officers. The state cannot leave this case unresolved; it has too much to say about the ethical environment in which officials and politicians operate. Recognizing this, State Rep. Kerry Patrick, R-Leawood, has called for a special legislative committee to look into the investigation. The panel would investigate the agencies
involved and would determine whether state ethics laws needed to be strengthened.
Before Pierron's decision, the Legislature planned to examine ethics and campaign finance laws this session. The Owen case now makes this imperative. Furthermore, Kansans deserve to know about Owen's involvement in fund raising, illegal or otherwise. They also need to know if political influence was used to delay the Owen prosecution. The investigation could reveal ambiguities in the state's election and campaign finance laws and could give legislators an idea of what violations occur regularly.
After the investigation, the Legislature needs to adopt a code of ethics. The code should be more than a broadly outlined statement of principles. It should explain what is and is not acceptable in political campaigns and require detailed financial disclosure procedures.
Above all, the business of Kansas should be conducted openly and fairly without the appearance of a conflict of interest or influence peddling. The Owen case, whatever the outcome, has tarnished politics in the state. The Legislature needs to make sure it does not happen again.
Daniel Niemi for the editorial board
Members of the editorial board are Richard Brack, Daniel Niemi, Christopher R. Ralston, John P. Milburn, Liz Hueben, Cory S. Anderson, Mercedes Ares, Angela Baughman, Andres Caveller, Chris Evans, Tiffany Harness, Stephen Kline, Camille Krethbiel, Melanie Matthes, Jennifer Meltz and Scott Patty.
Barry's just desserts
Mayor's action may be used against Blacks
When Bush-appointed drug czar William Bennett ascended to his throne, he announced he would start his campaign in Washington, D.C.
So when D.C.'s own mayor ignores the crackdown and continues his not-so-discreet drug use, he should be apprehended. Marion Barry was caught. It was his indiscretion and his inability to see clearly the consequences of his actions that ultimately hurt him.
However controversial and scandalous the episode has been, it is still just one man's
crime — a crime for which he is seeking treatment. But inevitably, it will be used ignorantly and blindly as cannon fodder by racists who will say Blacks cannot run government.
Of course, Blacks have proven this idiotic way of thinking to be false, and there are many other Blacks in power in the United States who can and will continue to prove it.
Cleaner skies should be everyone's concern
His was one man's crime. We cannot seek to convict an entire race for one man's crime.
Liz Hueben for the editorial board
A stained blue sign the size of two sheets of woodplants stand along 15th Avenue on the east side of Gary, Ind.
The sign is near the exit ramp from Interstate 65, which daily carries thousands of the exhaust-belching cars and trucks that contribute to one of the nation's worst ozone problems.
Rust coats nearby metal fences, and litter dangles from the tops of thick, cut road-side weeds.
A mile north is Lake Michigan, whose waters are so polluted by industrial chemicals that its fish aren't safe to eat. On some days, lucky beachcombers catch the smell of raw sewage wafting from the waters.
few seawater barge dock at some lake ports. Half-full barges dock at some lake ports because accumulated sediment makes the water too shallow to carry the deeper drafts of heavier loads. Dredging has stopped because the Environmental Protection Agency banned dumping the sludge, which contains heavy metals and other pollutants, in deeper waters, and no dumpsite on land would accept the toxic gas.
about the mile west of the sign is downtown
Derek Schmidt Staff columnist
Gary. Motorists hardly notice the ubiquitous garbage in the streets because they are too busy watching for axle-straining potholes. Half of the buildings are empty. Most are crumbling.
City buses pick up passengers from small, roadside shelters, many of which have been spray painted, pummed or otherwise defaced. The buses then start up in a cloud of choking, black diesel smoke that covers everything nearby.
Farther west is the city limit, where Gary borders Hammond. Ind. Years ago, Hammond spent federal money to build an earthen wall on the border. Critics compare the wall to the now-breached barrier in Berlin. But this wall serves a purpose. On the Gary side are two toxic waste dumps, both
EPA Superfund cleanup sites. The wall prevents runoff during heavy rains from carrying toxins through Hammond's streets.
North of downtown, a myriad of smoke-stacks dominated the view. World's largest steel mill, is so much a landmark in the region that a hamburger chain built a restaurant on its grounds, complete with panorama windows so diners could enjoy the view of heavy industry.
After eight years in an administration that blamed trees for acid rain, George Bush opened his eyes, and the smog stung them.'
Nobody passing through the area can miss the effects of the mill. The pungent odor of sulfur compounds permeates every cranny of the city and its suburbs. Clothing absorbs the stench from the mantle of brownish-yellow air that often hangs low over the area. A friend from the region visiting Columbia,
Mo, last summer was surprised that he could see so many stars at night.
Because old, Midwestern cities like Gary no longer monopolize the nation's pollution, environmental regulation is back on the political agenda. The Senate is scheduled to renew the air quality debate this week when it considers the first amendments to the Clean Air Act in 10 years. About 140 million people, three of five U.S. citizens, live in areas where air quality violates health standards. After eight years in an administration that blamed trees for acid rain, George Bush opened his eyes, and the smog stung them.
Congress has picked at Bush's clean air proposal for a year now, and legislation is likely this year. But regional interests threaten to water it down.
Cleaning air is expensive, and regions without serious pollution don't want to sign the check to clean cities hundreds of miles away. In a Lawrence news conference last fall, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole said he would support a clean air bill but would work to keep Kansas from paying for it because "we didn't create the problem."
we don't create the problem.
Rust Belt cities counter that they produce
the steel that reinforces our streets, supports our bridges and forms our cars and trucks. By exporting pollution to cities like Gary or Pittsburgh, states like Kansas gained the benefits of heavy industry without the side effects. Fairness dictates that we now bear our share of the cleanup cost.
Scores of similar clashes among interest groups will generate a haze that will threaten to obscure the bill's purpose. But when the political smoke clears, Congress and the administration will be judged by how much smog they eliminate and not by how well they balance competing interests.
Environmental awareness is growing, but merely knowing what to do is not enough. Promises and compromise won't clean the air. Touch laws will.
If our leaders stray from that goal, we should confront them with the sign on 15th Avenue in Gary. The sky blue paint on its face is peeling, and soot clings to it. But its soiled white letters are legible.
"Welcome to Gary. We are clean city conscious."
Derek Schmidt is an independence senior
majoring in journalism.
During break it was announced that the re-writing of the Lawrence Police Department's "General Orders" manual had been completed.
several months ago, I witnessed the use of excessive force by two Lawrence police officers who were arresting an individual for public口xotiation. Although this person was not resisting arrest, one officer twisted the suspect's arms around his back as he threw him face down on the sidewalk. After the man was handcuffed, the other
officer kicked the prostrate arrestee. One can only guess what additional "justice" was meted by Lawrence's "finesse" on the way to the police station.
In November, President Bush signed into law HR2916, which stated that no community planning and development grants would go to any municipality failing to adopt and enforce a policy that prohibits excessive police force against nonviolent civil rights demonstrators.
Excessive force by the police under any circumstances cannot be tolerated in a civilized society. I hope the newly required excessive force policy will be broadened to cover all situations in which the police come into contact with the public.
Clark H. Coan Lawrence resident
News staff
Margaret Townsend...Business manager
Tami Rank...Retail sales manager
Misey Miller...Contract manager
Kathy Stoltz...Regional sales manager
Mike James...National sales manager
Mindy Morris...Co-op sales manager
Nate Stamon...Product manager
Nate Land...Assistant production manager
Carrie Staninka...Marketing director
James Glanapp...Creative director
Janet Rothholm...Classified manager
Wiley Steitz...Tetra sheets manager
Jennie Haime...Sales and marketing adviser
Richard Brack...Editor
Daniel Nieml...Managing editor
Christopher R. Ralston...News editor
Lisa Moes...Planning editor
John Milburn...Editorial editor
Candy Niemann...Campaign editor
Mike Considine...Sports editor
Elisabeth Durango...Photo editor
Stephen Kline...Graphics editor
Kris Bergquist...Arte/Features editor
Tom Ebien...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
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Syllabus shock leaves students asking 'Y'
If we dig deep enough into our psyches, I would suppose that some of us, maybe most of us, were eager for school to begin. I mean, how much family, home cooking, sleeping late without penalty and skiing can a person stand?
Syllabus shock can afflict anyone, regardless of class standing, grade point average or the number of hours carried. Perhaps you have one class that sounded easy or came recommended by friends that instead requires twice the amount of work as your other classes combined. Or you may think you're immune for now, but an exam date or a term-paper will be moved and you'll be in the same overcrowded boat with the rest of us.
By now, however, I imagine that whatever grandiose ambitions we aspired to this semester have been blunted into submission by the harsh reality of demanding classes. All of our classes should have met at least once by the end of today, and now we know what we're in for through May 17. I call this awareness "syllabus shock."
Steve Buckner
Staff columnist
What can worsen the harmonic convergences is that it apt to fall on or near the social event of the semester or something else of universal importance, such as the Jayhawks making it to the Final Four.
The most common form of syllabus shock hits after receiving all of the syllabi from your classes. It slowly strikes the central nervous system as you spread out the papers and start writing down the critical dates of tests and papers in a datebook or on a calendar. By the time you get to the third or fourth syllabus, a disturbing pattern has no doubt emerged; one or two days or weeks looms as a living hell for you this semester, as everything is scheduled to fall due simultaneously in some sort of harmonic convergence.
So what is a student to do?
Don't lose heart. Two common and one extraordinary antidotes exist for syllabus shock. You probably practice the two common cures on a daily basis; worry and complain. It's easy to dread March 23, April 9 or the week of May 17th and have it gnaw on your subconscious from now until then. It's even easier to gripe and whine about it to anyone within earshot. The problem with complaining is that your audience usually can top your story. So you wind up listening to their version of academic torture, and nothing outside of spleen venting is accomplished.
CAMP UHNEELY
The extraordinary remedy also is widely recognized but only practiced by a fathical 0.1 percent of the student body, it is called "staying current," and it requires the rarest of human capabilities: discipline and will power.
The equation for staying current is straightforward. Divide the number of days before an assignment is due by the work involved, and thus turn a large project into manageable steps. This method can reduce a 10-book reading list into 50 pages a day and a day.
Personally, I use a hybrid of the methods, I tend to get way ahead in my classes, cruise for a couple of months and wind up a moaning, nervous wreck as I cram until sunrise. This probably explains y I had the idea for this column last year during a severe bout of syllabus shock, tucked it away in the back of my mind for months and finished it minutes before deadline.
term paper into weekly steps, such as locating resource material (one week), reading it (two or three weeks at x-number of pages a day), outlining it (one week) and writing and revising it the week it is due. See how simple it is?
What the equation doesn't consider is the y-factor, such as "Y aren't you going to the game or party," or "Y don't you quit studying so much and go out with us tonight." Of course, we succumb to the y-factor at least 10 times during the semester and, in turn, we rely on worrying and complaining to see us through.
> Steve Buckner is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
FOR ONE THING, THIS BAR
STOOL DOESN'T EXACTLY
PROMOTE GOOD POSIRE
AND IT'S ABOUT AS
COMFORTABLE AS A
TOILET.
BY SCOTT PATTY
SECONDLY, YOU'RE TOO INTOXICATED TO LEARN MUCH OF ANYTHING EXCEPT MAYBE THE LABEL ON A BUDWEISER BOTTLE.
FRANKLY YOU
DON'T STAND
A CHANCE
AS A TUTEE'
UNTIL YOU
BECOME A
TEE TOTALER!
Y'KNOW, WHEN I
SQUINT MY EYES
JUST RIGHT,
THOSE DATES ON
 YOUR FACE
SPELL OUT
"B-U-Z-Z
K-I-L-I"
V