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Monday, November 27, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Play shows fears, ignorance of AIDS still in strong supply
Citizens of Springfield, Mo., were up in arms when they heard that Southwest Missouri State University would produce a play in the city about homosexuality.
"The Normal Heart" is a play by Larry Kramer. It was written in 1985, a time when the world was being bombarded with new information about acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It was also a time when the number of those inflicted with the disease began to skyrocket.
When word of the play hit the streets of Springfield, tempers flared, to say the least.
hared, to say the least. Some, including a group supported by a strong fundamentalist church, said the play was immoral because of the number of offensive words it contained.
Then, those opposing the play expressed their real concern about "The Normal Heart." They opposed it because they thought it somehow promoted homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, as if someone in the audience might be triggered to become a homosexual.
Then, the opposition, including support from a state representative, charged that the play should not be shown at all, especially on state property.
Before it was all over, some of the school's alumni threatened to stop supporting the school financially if the play was produced.
But the show went on
But the show.
The same night the play opened, the home of a student who
watched the play was set on fire.
supported the play was set on it. Investigators said the fire was set intentionally, but no one has said there was a direct link between the fire and the play.
Big coincidence. The school and those who supported and participated in the play should be commended. Not only did they exercise their artistic freedom to portray a subject that we just can't say enough about, but they also proved their bravery, knowing that their lives were in danger.
"A Normal Heart" is a play that tries to increase our understanding about two topics we are still too timid to discuss. If the citizens of Springfield disapproved, they should have stayed home.
Tiffany M. Harness for the editorial board
Military budget reductions must be made cautiously
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney made a smart move last week.
He ordered the armed services to plan for cuts of nearly $180 billion from the 1992 through 1994 fiscal budgets.
billion from the 1992 through 1994 fiscal budget. The plan for the cuts can be called realistic in view of the federal budget deficit crisis and the rapidly developing reforms in Eastern Europe, but they should not be allowed to significantly weaken the U.S. position in the world.
significant cuts are by no means permanent, but they will force the military to make some tough choices. The armed forces will be prioritizing the planned cuts. All of the cuts may not be made, but some will.
With the reforms now happening in Eastern Europe, many on Capital Hill feel that the American presence in Europe can begin to be cut. It is estimated that 60 percent of the U.S. military budget goes toward the defense of Europe.
The cuts being planned would represent only a 5 percent decrease annually over three years but cuts of this magnitude may mean the closure of military bases and the cancellation of weapons development.
Already the Air Force has announced that bases may be closed in the near future, and the Army has all but given up on the modernization of the M-1 tank. These decisions will strike close to home for many Americans. It could strike communities in Kansas and Missouri supported by military bases or people employed in defense industries such as Boeing or McDonell-Douglass.
Though the cuts are a good move, those making the cuts should be careful not to go too far. A strong U.S. military has been the backbone of the defense of the West, and that should continue. A more pragmatic view of the future role of the military may help the armed forces work better within a smaller fiscal arena.
Brett Brenner for the editorial board
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
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MAKELYChicagoTikTokme
Withholding data violates freedom
When I read that the FBI was going to give its "CISPES" and "Library Awareness Program" records to the National Archives, I was taken aback. These two cases make me wonder about other covert governmental actions that are taken against common citizens who are merely exercising their Constitutional rights.
ing their contacts.
From 1983 to 1985 the FBI investigated members of the Coalition in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. This group was opposed to U.S. policy in Central America. That investigation gave birth to another one, known as the "Library Awareness Program." Under this program, the FBI earlier this year questioned librarians and others thought to be able to assist in identifying Soviet spies. The FBI wanted to verify its belief that Soviet agents were using libraries to obtain technical or scientific data.
The National Security Archives was able to obtain the "Library Awareness Program" records under the Freedom of Information Act. This act requires that federal agencies make information affecting the public available to the public. There are nine exemptions to the act. They are, according to Ralph L. Holsinger in his book, Media Law: (1) Materials properly classified under executive order "to be kept secret in the interest of National defense or foreign policy." (2) "Internal personnel rules and practices of an agency." (3) Materials exempted from disclosure by a specific statute worded in such a way as to leave no doubt of the intent of Congress. (4) "Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained" with the assurance that it will be kept confidential. (5) "Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" that would not ordinarily be available to outsiders except in connection with a lawsuit. (6) "Personnel and medical files and similar files
Kathy Walsh Editorial board
The law "establishes procedures under which each of us can examine any files kept on us by the federal government and correct errors found there."
the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. (7) "Investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes." However, the law requires disclosure of records that will not interfere with an ongoing investigation, identify confidential sources or methods of gathering information, invade privacy, interfere with a fair trial, or endanger lives. (8)Maerials bearing on the operating conditions, regulation, or supervision of financial institutions. (9) "Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells."
so why has it taken so long for the CISPES files to be released? According to an article in the University Daily Kansan on Nov. 7, Marc Becker, a member of Latin American Solidarity, said "We've been pressing them to release them (the records) because we wanted to see what they had to say about us." The article said that Becker had tried to obtain the records through the Freedom of Information Act, but had failed.
the obvious taws of this law are exemplified in this case. According to Holsinger, FOI is supposed to forbid “agencies of government to keep records bearing on how an individual uses First Amendment rights, unless such information is pertinent to a bona-fide law enforcement activity."
In my opinion, the investigation of CISPES members is no more bona-fide than an investigation of other groups that are opposed to U.S. policy. Freedom of speech is non-existent when laws are unjustly imposed upon a group of people who disagree with U.S. policy.
usage of FBI's efforts to keep this information private is intolerable in these two cases. In a great society such as ours, where civil rights are guaranteed and taken for granted, one would think that such a travesty would not be allowed to continue for so long. The victims in the CISPES case are the people who placed faith in their Constitution and sought to exercise their freedoms without being questioned. I would hope that all of us care enough to exercise this right. The victims of the Library Awareness Program could have been any of us who used a library.
investigations are rightfully initiated when there is some indication of wrongdoing. But when the FBI bases high caliber investigations on the presumption of illegal conduct, we know there is something wrong with the system. And if the government and the FBI did not view these people as a national security threat, then I ask upon what grounds they based their investigation.
Our national security is threatened more by a government who fears the voice of opposition and thus interreferees with an individual's effort to exercise their Constitutional rights than it is threatened by that individual. For the fall of a democracy will quickly follow the elimination of civil rights, especially freedom of speech.
Kathy Walsh is a Lee's Summit, Mo., senior majoring in Journalism.
Conceptual '90s arrived years ago
An editor for one of those trend-setting, Manhatan-based glossy women's magazines called with a question:
What did I think would be a good name for the '90s?
I thought I might have misunderstood
"The tote bag" gave "sweat vest." is
"No one even has any idea what's going to happen in the '90s," I said. "Usually people wait until a decade is over — or at least until it's been around for a few years — to give it a run."
"what"
"thing you want to name it," she said. "Sort of 'Life Mr. Decade' but for the '90s.'"
"The sons haven't even been yet," I asked. "We know that," she said. "But we are asking several people to come up with a name for it."
"Yes, but we want to get this into our January 1990 issue," she said.
the baby of the pool guy
Most decades are allowed to be born, to feel their
Which brings us to the real point here: If you think of the '90s as a person, you've got to feel a little sorry for the poor guy.
1990 issue, I began to understand. In this hurry-up world of intense media competition, no one wants to be last, or even second, to hit the airwaves or the public prints with a concept. Granted, no one has any idea what the '90s will be like. But if you wait until 1996 or 1999 to name the decade, you're going to be standing at the end of a very long line.
Bob Greene Syndicated columnist
way around for a couple of years, to develop a personality to mature and then to fade peacefully away. The '90s, though, are going to have to hit the gruff running. As a matter of fact — thinking again of the '90s as a person — this poor baby has been forced to sprint full speed while he is still in the womb. I think it was 1987, maybe 1988, when magazines started heralding "the end of the '90s." The decade was over, or so we were told, even though the calendar indicated otherwise.
Any new performer, politician or "personality" who comes is referred to as "the (pick your name) of the '90s." No matter that we're not there yet. The most obvious example is Arsenio Hall, who has been called "the talk-show host of the '90s," so many times that he would have every right to dread the stroke of midnight this New Year's Eve.
Eve, the same with the Oakland A's, "baseball team of the '90s", Michelle Pfeiffer, "actress of the '90s"
"90s"; and all of the other people, places and things who have, before the fact, been chosen to epitomize the decade. They are all part of an era that has become so impatient with today that tomorrow must be willed into existence well in advance.
Save your true compassion, though, for the '90s itself. Thinking of the decade once more as a person, the poor, puzzled decade is going to arrive right on schedule. Only it will be greeted by a nation that will gaze upon it and think, "You again?" The '90s have been with us in spirit for so many months now that when the decade actually shows up, much of the country will be bored with it without knowing precisely why.
without knowing it. But back to the magazine editor from Manhattan and her request for a name for the '96. She did not seem interested in hearing reasons why it makes no sense to name a decade before the decade starts.
"All right," I said. "The '90s is the last decade of the century, right?"
"That's right," she said.
I said, "then how about something along the
way?"
lines of "Get us out of Here?" "
"The 'Get us out of Out Decade'?" she *waked*
"The 'Get us out of Here Decade?' " she asked.
"It's just a thought," I said.
just a thought.
> Bob Goreene is a columnist for the Chicago
Tribune.
CAMP UHNEELY
BY SCOTT PATTY