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Tuesday, January 23, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
An aging issue
Arrival of Roe vs. Wade's 17th anniversary finds little advancement in abortion debate
The 17th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision yesterday has not brought people in the United States closer to understanding or accepting the issue of legalized abortion.
But 17 years have left this country bitterly split and radially polarized on the subject.
The continued discussion has been led by confused state legislators, who have, if anything, further clouded the issue by drafting poorly thought out plans.
Individual states have made extreme attempts to test their ability to write anti-abortion legislation. Not that what they have written has been sound or reasonable, but it certainly brought out what a state could do.
Some states, Kansas among them, want pregnant minors to seek permission from their parents before having an abortion. That assumes that all pregnant minors have caring, understanding and concerned parents.
Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft recently proposed that a woman should be allowed to have only one abortion. He said that obtaining more
than one abortion showed that a woman was using abortion as birth control. Clinics and hospitals would be responsible for keeping a huge backlog of accurate records on each case. Of course, if the woman chose to leave the state for the procedure, the Ashcroft proposal wouldn't solve the problem it attempted to address.
Before the summer of 1989, talk about abortion had been kept relatively quiet in the political arena. But when the Supreme Court ruled in July in favor of more state regulation in abortion matters in Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, both sides got excited about the chance that the Roe vs. Wade decision would be reversed.
This social debate, coupled with emotional turmoil and clashing values, will continue to follow an irrational and confusing course within a government trying to please some of the people all of the time.
Tiffany Harness for the editorial board
The Board of Regents should be lauded for its decision to lengthen the school year and reduce the dreaded marathon finals period from 10 days to six. The decision brings KU in line with other Big Eight universities, and students will benefit from the additional days of instruction.
Briefly Stated
Despite claims that the University will be breaking tradition, the commencement committee made the right move in changing the time of graduation to 2:30 p.m. Families will be able to attend the ceremony and drive home while it is still daylight. The earlier time also will cut down on drinking.
Notre Dame recruits during Orange bowl
Vinny Cerrato, the recruiting director on Notre Dame's coaching staff, should be able to find a good job in the world of business if he ever tires of sports. He has already proven he is a born superinsalesman.
What Cerrato did at the Orange Bowl earlier this month was the stuff of sales genius. It had no other coach in its ranks, nor its own coaches called the plays against Colorado.
Cerrato, 30, stood on the sidelines with a cellular phone and a list of 35 high school seniors. Actually, he had two phones - a spare, and a pocketful of batteries. The seniors on his list were football players in whom Notre Dame was interested, and who had either visited the campus or had been visited by Cerrato.
When the game started - remember, this was potentially for the national championship, and was telecast in prime time - Cerrato started calling the high school athletes.
Cerrato first tried this cellular phone technique a year ago, at the Fiesta Bowl. "But it it did not work," he said. "I didn't have my own phone, so I borrowed one from the hotel, and it broke after only three calls. This year my phones worked perfectly. I was making calls from a few moments before the opening kickoff until the final gun."
"The high school kids could hear all the crowd noise, and they could hear our players hollering." Cerrato said. "I'd say, 'I'm on the 35-yard line. I've got the play for you. We're going to run a 34 A. 34 is a handoff to the backlash over the right side. I'd say to the high school kids, 'Watch the backlash.' And while I was on the phone, the backlash would run the play."
Perhaps Cerrato's finest moment came when he was talking on the phone to an extremely talented high school prospect, and Notre Dame speedster Rocket Ismail saw what he
Bob Greene
Syndicated columnist
"They were all watching the game," Cerrato said. "I knew they would be. So I called their houses all over the country, and I said, "This is Vinny Cerrato from Notre Dame. I'm on the sidelines at home when you watching?" And then I'd tell them the next play was going to be.
was doing
Cerrato said, "Rocket asked me who I was talking to, and when I told Rocket, he said, "Tell him if I give him the thumbs-up sign when I'm in my stance, that means I'm going deep." That's got to be pretty impressive to a high-school football player — a message like that from Rocket Ismail in the middle of the Orange Bowl game."
Because Cerrato felt that the phone calls would be most effective if they came totally by surprise, some of the high school players weren't home when he called. "They were over at their buddies' houses watching the game," Cerrato said. "So I got their buddies' numbers from the parents of the players, and I called their buddies' houses. In a way that was even better — their friends could get on the phone and listen, too."
According to Cerrato, all of this is well within college football recruiting rules. There are limits on how many times representatives of a college can visit a high school player's house, and how many times the player can visit the campus. But, Cerrato said, there are no limits on phone calls to the player — even calls via cellular phone from the sidelines of the Orange Bowl.
Back in the days when Knute Rockne was coaching at Notre Dame, he had to depend on other methods to persuade high school stars to enroll. Vinny Cerrato would never compare himself to Rockne, but he seems to have taken recruiting into a new era. His best line — repeated to more than one high school player after especially good Notre Dame plays — is a hard one to beat.
With the roar of the crowd in the background, Cerrato would say:
"Just look at this. This could be you next year."
► Bob Greene is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
News staff
Richard Break ... Editor
Daniel Nieml ... Managing editor
Christopher R. Relaton ... News editor
Lisa Mose ... Planning editor
John Milburn ... Editorial editor
Candy Niemann ... Campus editor
Mike Considine ... Sports editor
E. Joseph Zurga ... Photo editor
Stephen Kline ... Graphica editor
Kris Bergquist ... Art/Features editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Margaret Townsend...Business manager
Tami Rank...Retail sales manager
Missey Miller...Campus sales manager
Kathy Biolie...Regional sales manager
Mike Lenhart...National sales manager
Mindy Monta...Co-op sales manager
Nate Stamos...Production manager
Mindy Land...Assistant production manager
Carrie Brinkle...Marketing director
James Gianapp...Creative director
Janet Rorholm...Classified manager
Wendy Sturtz...Tearsheet manager
Hannah Hiltz...Sales and marketing sched
Business staff
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Saturday marked George Bush's first year as president of what he promised would be a "kinder, gentler" nation.
Bush's 1st year gets a 'B' from critics
Don't ask Manuel Norlege what he thinks of Bush's attempts to carry out that promise, not that his opinion matters. Besides, Bush did not promise to be kinder and gentler to drug-running dictators. However, with the one exception, drug cartels still are sending their goods to U.S. cities. Drug related crimes and murders have continued despite the declared war on drugs.
In a year that began a little bit pokey, policy-wise, Bush certainly wound up his first year as commander-in-chief with a literal bang. Counter to expert advice, which reads, "make your biggest moves while the public still likes you — coming out of election." Bush did not start the year by introducing his most dramatic initiatives.
At times it seemed the president would bide his time fighting the Supreme Court and civil liberties
Angela Baughman Staff columnis
supporters in his efforts to circumvent decisions on flag burning and abortion.
Bush's most profound actions since taking office are obviously the successful outing of Noriega from Panama, the largest armed mission since Vietnam, and the Malta meeting with Gorbachev. Both took place last year.
Some questioned whether the Panamanian intervention was justified, and others accused Bush of violating the Constitution, among other things. Still others found Bush at fault for doing nothing with regard to the bloody massacre at Tiananmen Square (he vetoed sanctions against China last year) and then carrying out the Panama mission. Many said Bush was too soft on the issue and was not acting in the best interest
of those asking for freedom.
of those asking. However, a Gallup Poll revealed that Bush received his highest favorable rating, 80 percent, after the Panama invasion.
Perhaps the most visionary thing Bush did was choose Dan Quayle as his running mate. After all, who wouldn't want that kind of life insurance?'
In a news service survey of six presidential experts, all scholars or former White House aides, Bush was given a "B plus" for his first year.
Democrats have found it tough to pick on him, but one bone of contention has been the excruciatingly slow pace at which Bush has made official appointments. His administration has been the slowest on record for making such appointments, and according to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bush has submitted only eight names for 60 vacancies in federal
courts.
The Democrat-controlled Congress has, in turn, defeated Bush-supported measures a record number of times. Thirty-seven percent of all House and Senate bills supported by Bush were defeated, according to a Congressional Quarterly study.
Many are wondering if Bush can effectively take the United States into the '90s and prepare it for the next century. His resume may be long and impressive, but so was Herbert Hoover's. Perhaps the most visionary thing Bush did was choose Dan Quayle as his running mate. After all, who wouldn't want that kind of life insurance?
Despite those few setbacks, Bush did manage to carry out his top campaign promise of not raising taxes. So, he's proved he is a man of his word. He has potential to be a good leader in the '90s, but it is going to take much more than filling a few campaign promises to be great.
Angela Baughman is a Lawrence senior majoring in journalism.
Invasion, history ignite 'war of nerves'
The fact that 79 percent of U.S. citizens supported the invasion of Panama and the apprehension of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, does not mean that this imperialistic intervention in Latin America was the proper thing to do.
it's true that most Americans (1 mean citizens of the three Americas, for there are three Americas that compose the American continents) greeted, as I did, the capture of the pina colada general with enthusiasm. But this does not mean that everybody was pleased with the intervention or that we should support it. It's hard for anyone to judge the validity of the invasion, especially after its success.
All Latin American governments are skeptical about the issue and continue to voice resentment of the U.S. invasion, although they are pleased with the return of democracy.
It is hard to decide whether the intervention was valid. We should not get caught up in the enthusiasm of having Noriega in Miami.
The invasion was a clear violation of international law, but that does not seem to be the issue anymore, after the attacks on Syrian oil mines and exploited Latin American countries
Andres Cavelier
Staff columnist
this century.
Yet Panamanians themselves could easily argue that the United States did the right thing. Most of the Panamanians that I know on this campus who went home during Winter break supported the actions, and said that people in Panama City cheered U.S. soldiers.
Why? Panamanians could not live any longer under Noriega. No one could withdraw more than $100 from a bank at a time; government employees could not speak out against Noriega; the newspaper La Prensa had been closed; and all the traffic lights had been turned off by Noriega in the capital, causing the worst traffic problems in that city's history.
One of my friends who was in Panama City told me stories as if he had been there the morning of the invasion. He said that women gave food to U.S. soldiers, while others villed "heroes" to the soldiers.
feelings, for this is a unique situation.
It's true that the morning of the invasion there were no shows of the enemy and no soldiers or their diers. But today, all Latin American governments continue to resent the invasion.
I respect and understand their feelings, for this is a unique situation.
No nation in the area has recognized the newly formed government. Peru's Alan Garcia responded to the invasion by declining to attend the Feb. 15 drug summit in Cartagena, Colombia.
Some Colombians support it. The other day I received a letter from my best friend in Colombia, who said "I am one of those of who think the United States did awesome. This is the only way to try to solve the problems of our countries." This kind of reaction was personal, yet not nationalistic, as it was from outside Panama.
In Colombia, President Virgilio Barco Vargas and the press opposed the invasion. The day after, Bogota's leading daily newspaper, El Tiempo, rejected the invasion with three lengthy editorials.
It seems that the United States is not interested in listening to other Americans who have been speaking out against imperialism and the Big Stick policy since 1909, when the United States first occupied Cuba. That was followed by four major interventions in the Caribbean from 1909 to 1933 — Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Latin Americans have learned to be aware of the United States. That's why those nations rejected the invasion. That's why Alan Garcia reacted as he did. That's why Colombia recently rejected any kind of blockade on its coast. That's why every time a problem arises south of the U.S. border, we have to open our eyes and declare our intent to fight for our rights.
CAMP UHNEELY
But here we go again. This week Vice President Dan Quayle will visit Panama, Honduras and Haiti to tell the Latin American nations that the invasion was good for not just Panama, but for the entire region. Especially the United States.
Andres Cavatier is a Bogota, Colombia senior majoring in Journalism and French.
LISTEN PACKARD, YOU MAY BE THINKING OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ME BECAUSE I'm YOUR TUTOR, BUT ILL HAVE YOU KNOW. I'M NOT
I DRIVE MY OWN CAR AND
CHANGE THE OIL MYSELF.
I PAY FOR MY DINNER.
I CARRY MY OWN LUGGAGE.
AND I WEAR A DRESS ONLY
BECAUSE MY REAR
IS TOO BIG
BY SCOTT PATTY
IN OTHER WORDS, I DON'T
TAKE #!!!@ FROM ANY
GUY. I'M A WOMAN OF
THE EIGHTHES!!
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