4
Friday, February 17, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
State senators want limit on donations from PACs
One of the primary problems with last year's election was the overwhelming advantage incumbent Congressmen held over their challengers. Which is nothing new.
In the 1986 Kansas House of Representatives election, Political Action Committees donated more than half of all campaign contributions. Figures from 1988 haven't been tallied.
But PAC money often represents special interest groups or is closely tied to big business. And incumbents get most of that money.
The bill would limit total PAC contributions for Senate candidates to $3,000 in the primary election and $3,000 in the general election. House candidates would be limited to $2,000 in the primary election and $2,000 in the general election. Now, 251 PACs are registered to make campaign donations in Kansas.
PAC donations are more fair when they represent large voting blocs. But PAC money dominates campaign contributions, $956,580 in 1988 for the Kansas House and $599,288 for Senate, turning the election process into a battle of big money
Left out are the individual voters, those whose views aren't completely represented by one special interest group and who make small, individual campaign contributions.
Although the bill would affect only candidates for the state Senate and House, Winter's and Moran's proposal is an example other state legislatures and Congress should follow. According to a recent U.S. News and World Report survey, 43 percent of congressmen expressed dissatisfaction with the entire PAC system.
If passed, Winter's and Moran's bill would help reopen the political process to legislative challengers who are not wealthy and do not have big money ties. It also would encourage individual participation in the political process through donations and by showing up at the polls.
Winter and Moran should be commended for trying to bring the political process back to the individual. And Congress and other state legislatures should take a cue if they hope to keep voter turnouts from falling below their already-low level.
Mark Tilford for the editorial board
Success with a profession begins at high school level
Opinion
All in favor of education, please stand up.
It is easy to support education from inside a university community. It also is easy to forget about education that takes place outside the ivory tower.
Some educators in California have become concerned about vocational education at the high school level. They recently have made moves to integrate academic and vocational education in an effort to better prepare students for the workplace.
Businesses, especially the Silicon Valley computer businesses, have taken a leading role in giving feedback to educators about how vocational education could be improved to benefit both students and their potential employers.
California's superintendent of public instruction said that vocational education should teach people the practical applications of abstract concents.
Public schools in California have begun working with community colleges to coordinate vocational programs so that students could build on the knowledge they gained in high school.
The action taken by educators and businessmen in California should be applauded. They have recognized that vocational education has an important role in America's workplace and that just like education at the university level, vocational education needs to be continually evaluated and improved
It also is refreshing to see educators and people in business communicating. After all, preparation and communication are half the battle — at school or in the workplace.
Karen Boring for the editorial board
News staff
Julie Adam...Karen Boring...Managing editor
Jill Jess...News editor
Deb Gruver...Planning editor
James Farquhar...Editorial editor
Elaine Sung...Campus editor
Tom Stinson...Sports editor
Joline Swinkowski...Phone editor
Dave Eames...Graphics editor
Noel Gerdes...Arts/Features editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Debra Cole...Business manager
Pam Noe...Retail sales manager
Kevin Mumpsis sales manager
Scott Frager...National sales manager
Michelle Garland...Promotions manager
Brad Lenhart...Marketing
Linda Prokofi...Production manager
Debra Martin...Asst. production manager
Kim Coleman...Co-op sales manager
Carl Grassner...Classifier
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words and must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University of Kansas, please include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and less than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Letters, columns and cartoons are the opinion of the writer or cartoonist and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansan. Editorials, which appear in the left-hand column, are the opinion of the Kansan editorial board.
The University Daily Kannan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 6045,午达 during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Second-class postage is paid in Lawrence, Kan. 6044A Annual subscriptions by mail are $50. Student subscriptions are $3 and are paid through the student activity fee.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 118 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan 66045.
Oil change: good, better or best?
Classes sold this way would be meaningless, to say the least, or best
fitting through the plethora of coupon books thrust my way this semester. I recently came across this handy money-saving deal offered by a major
**money saving that differ by a major**
car repair shop
good —
$15.95, bikes $17.95, cars $22.95
Now I readily admit I know nothing about the inner workings of the automobile. Point me in the direction of a Buck, tell me I'll get $100 million if I can take the car apart and put it back together, give me 20 years to do it, and I still won't be able to accomplish the task. So would somebody with experience and knowledge explain the difference between a good oil change, a better oil change and the best?
For $22.95, do they use their most experienced mechanics who get a full night's sleep, virgin oil from their best retinieres, their top-of-the-line multi-lined oil filter and unscented grease?
If so, that probably means the "better" job uses guys who get home just before midnight on a workday, generic-brand oil that doesn't look too gray, a new oil filter made of expensive cardboard and recycled grease that hasn't been used more than a few times.
And if all you want is a "good" oil and lube job, expect auto-mechanic interns from the local vocational technical school, oil from a half-dozen pans that haven't been dumped yet because an auto mechanic has worked enough borough, a used filter taken off a car never driven faster than 30 miles an hour by a
Bill Kempin
Staff columnist
S.
So, would somebody with an auto-repair background please explain the difference between a good oil change, a better oil change and the best?'
grandmother who used her vehicle only for snowplowing and grease with the viscosity of charcoal briquettes.
The same auto-repair shop also has a money-saving coupon for a coolant drain and fill: good - $27.95, better - $37.95, best - $29.50. The 'best' job features a "power" flush. I guess the other two jobs use a mechanic with tremendous lung capacity who blows the old stuff out.
And what about the places that give you a choice when it's time to buy a new muffler? For $99.95, you get a muffler with a 90-day warranty. But for $109.95, the muffler comes with a lifetime warranty. You can buy it on land and fall off your car in four months and pipes that will survive ten years of road salt without
changing color is a measly $10?
Can you imagine what would happen if the University adopted that kind of multi-tiered quality to its curriculum? For $700 a semester, in-state residents get courses taught by stimulating professors in classrooms with a seating capacity of 15. Copious course outlines and study materials are educational devices that do not attempt to trick the student, and the final exam is optional.
For $500 a semester, your classes are taught by new professors who sometimes ramble incoherently and then expect you to repeat their thoughts verbatim when a surprise test comes your way. Nine textbooks cost $115 are required reading in each course, but only 22 pages of material are assigned from each book. The final counts for 95 percent of your grade.
And for $250, you get overworked teaching assistants who aren't sure when your midterm projects are actually due or how much they will count toward your grade. The lecture hall doubles as an indoor football stadium. Exams are made up entirely of essay questions, unless you like to write essays, in which case you are given a fill-in-the-blank test.
And, of course, all "good" courses have a 90-day warranty that lasts only until you forget the material completely.
**Bill Kempin is a Leavenworth graduate student in journalism.**
Tower's actions could be achievements
Most people would agree. But what brings on that observation?
f there's anybody I can't stand." Slats Grobnik said, "it's a snatcher, a tattletale."
"I'm reading about this little guy, John Tower,
the politician who President Bush wants to make
a statement."
Ah, yes. Washington is all atwitter about his past indiscretions.
"Well, this stuff about Tower is about as dumb a thing as I've ever read."
I've read dumber, but what is it that bothers you?
"How old is Tower?"
He'll be 64 on his next birthday.
He's more than five feet, but not by a great deal. I think he almost might qualify as the missile in a dwarf-throwing contest.
"What's he look like? Good looking?"
"That's what it says in the paper. Paul Weyrich, some kind of right-wing wheeler and
Far from it. He dresses well, but he has beady eyes and a wide face, and he favors the slicked-down up coat over his shirt.
You're referring to weyric: What's what?
Well, he might be a turn-on in a retirement room, but doubt if Cher would dump her building if she went.
"So with all that, am I supposed to believe he's one of the great lover boys of our time?"
"So he ain't no pretty boy?"
"Yeah, because of a snitcher, one of the lowest forms of life."
one of the great lover boys of o
That's what's being said.
Mike Royko
Syndicated columnist
dealer in Washington. Did you see what he did?" Yes, he appeared at a Senate confirmation hearing on Tower and revealed shocking information about the life of Jeffrey Meyer. Weve Richard felt it was his civic duty.
"His civic duty is to testify that he saw the guy have a few pops too many while he was with a stray chick?" Listen, if everybody thought finking like that was their civic duty, domestic homicides would be up 1,000 percent and they'd have to use football stadiums for divorce courts."
But Weytrich said that this wasn't just one isolated incident. He said that he saw this occur during the course of "many years" I assume that this was while Tower was a senator.
"And that's something I don't understand either. How come he was snooping around, like he says, over the course of many years. Doesn't he have anything else to do over a course of many years? What is this guy Weyrich, one of those voyagers?
You mean you vowure, a peeping Tom
"wow" think they ought to investigate
this guy Weirch.
You mean voyeur, a peeping Tom.
You're missing the point. The question has to do with Tower's character and stability. The answer is that she can't trust him.
cavorts with women.
"That's pretty stupid. If he was cavorting, his best bet would be a woman. I mean, any of the other options could really mess up his reputation."
It sounds to me as if you approve of Tower's alleed behavior.
"Well, if I was a Republican, I'd be proud of him."
What is there to be proud of?
"I'll tell you what. Who was the best-known political lover boy you've heard about recently?"
"Right. And before Gary Hart, who was the biggest lover boy of them all?"
By all accounts, it was John F. Kennedy, the Hefner of U.S. presidents.
father or U.S. presidents.
"Okay, what did these guys look like?"
"Okay, what did these guys look like?"
"I'm no judge of that, but most women tell me that they were handsome, dashing, suave, tall and lean.
"Exactly. So when you look like a Kennedy or a Hart, and you got power and fame, it airt hard to persuade some fluff that you ought to — and I am the kind of the Stupid Generation — get it on Right."
"So now the Republicans have a lover boy. But look at him. A stubby, aging character with BB eyes, a 1910 haircut and a puffy face. He looks like the kind of guy you see sitting alone in a hotel bar, who has spent all day seeing customers, and now he's going to have dinner alone, go to his room, phone his wife and wonder if his life is meant to 'Dean' a Salesman." ■ Hiroshi Akimoto, assistant wizard who
■ Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist who writes for the Chicago Tribune.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed