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Friday, October 28, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Washburn not a game for Hayden's political play
Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden recently said the political climate in this state was never better for bringing Topeka's Washburn University into the Kansas Regents system.
Sorry,gov.
It's a still a bit cloudy over here on the Hill
And it will really cloud over if Hayden insists on linking admittance of Washburn with approval of the Margin of Excellence financing for the University of Kansas and other Regents schools, as he suggested last week.
The issue will be dead if Hayden insists on trying to bribe other Regents schools by implying the Margin will die unless Washburn is initiated into the Regents society. Playing political slimehall will get Hayden and Westbush rougehne.
After all, there is no reason not to consider Washburn's case on its merits
It also is failing financially. Although considered a municipal university - Topeka residents pay a hefty property tax to help support the university - the state already gives Washburn about $5 million every year.
Washburn is the state's fourth-largest university, it's in the state's capital and it has a predominantly Kansan student body.
Something needs to be done to help the school. But before the state admits Washburn to the Regents, it needs to answer some questions.
Specifically: What is Washburn's mission? What are the Regents long-range objectives? What role would Washburn play in the Regents system? Will the state adequately support two law schools — KU and Washburn — that are only 30 miles apart? Will KU lose any financing because of the extra cost? Will theMargin of Excellence be financed fully?
Hayden needs to answer these questions and honestly sell the state on the Washburn question instead of playing politics. Kansans are smart enough to intelligently judge the issue.
Todd Cohen for the editorial board
Not ready for Santa, yet
The last green leaves have turned to bright fall colors. The first light freezes have frosted the freshly harvested pumpkins. Children are preparing to trick-or-treat.
Must be time to trim the tree and set up the Christmas decorations.
That's what a couple of local merchants think, at least. While some of us have yet to plan for Halloween, the stores already are hawking fruitcakes, ornaments and artificial — oh, sorry — permanent trees.
- permanent trees.
Meanwhile, all of your favorite performing artists, the ones who've sold more records in England than Elvis or the Beatles combined, are crooning their most beloved carols at every commercial break. They're willing to share the joy of the season with you and your family for the low, low price of $19.95 for four albums or two cassettes, Visa, MasterCard and IOUs accented
As one of the three wise men said after his camel spit on him. "That's disgusting."
There's nothing wrong with thinking ahead. It's even understandable that stores would want to put us in that happy holiday-spending spirit as early as possible. Nobody's blaming them for wanting to make a buck.
But when people start going around saying, "Ho-ho-ho, happy Halloween," something is wrong.
This being an election year, some candidate should work something about the Christmas crisis into his or her platform. Perhaps a law could ban the sale of trees, holly, candy canes and red-and-green wrapping paper before Election Day, or until all the Halloween candy has been eaten, whichever comes first.
Violators would be sentenced to six months of listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks or 1,000 hours of picking up strands of silver tinsel off the rug in needy people's homes.
That might seem a bit harsh but something needs to be done. After all, if Santa and the reindeer get used too much in late October, they'll be worn out by Dec. 25.
So will the rest of us.
Michael Merschel for the editorial board
The editorials in this column are the opinion of the editorial board
News staff
Todd Cohen ... Editor
Michael Horak ... Managing editor
Julie Adam ... Associate editor
Stephen Wade ... News editor
Michael Merschel ... Editorial editor
Noel Gerdes ... Campus editor
Sports editor
Scott Carpenter ... Photo editor
Dave Eames ... Graphics editor
Jill Uses ... Artist/Fetcher
Tom Ebien ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Greg Knipp...Business manager
Debra Cole...Retail sales manager
Chris Cooper...Campus sales manager
Land Protoss...National sales manager
Kurt Messsmith...Promotions manager
Sarah Higdon...Marketing manager
Brad Lenhart...Production manager
Michelle Garland...Asst. production manager
Chaikun Linhman...Classic manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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The Duke's Cabinet Choices
Costumes for a Halloween scare Stage a fake presidential debate and watch them flee in terror
Halloween is traditionally the season of curried blood and spine-tingling screams. But like so many other institutions in our nation, Halloween has been treated a familiar, similar to a certain presidential campaign.
The demise of Halloween is unfortunate, especially so because we human beings always have been creatures of fear. Thousands of years ago many of our ancestors cried before campfires, hoping the light would scare away the monsters of the night. They sported charms and amulets, and muttered incantations to ward off evil spirits and unsavory magicians.
We remain fearful to this day despite our scientific sophistication and modern skepticism of "things that go bump in the night." The subjects of the book are changed. Unfortunately, Halloween have not kept pace.
So we're left with a holiday devoid of any real fear. Indeed, the only things taking over our streets after dark are small, noisy children with ill-fitting costumes and bulging grocery bags.
But we can reverse the languishing of the Halloween spirit. We can, without a great deal of trouble, get in touch with our modern fears, fears every bit as tangible and threatening as ghosts and goblins once were. All it takes to reverse the trend is the right costume at the right time.
I'm not talking about dressing up as a witch or as Frankenstein. Be creative. Think of what really scares your friends.
Let me offer a few suggestions:
Show up at the next Student Senate meeting disguised as Sam Donaldson. Scowl a lot and occasionally jump up and yell, "Hold on, Mr. President." It doesn't matter who happens to be talking at the time. You'll get attention.
Mark
Jost
Staff Columnist
Hang around the KU athletic department dressed as your favorite NCAA official. You don't have to say anything. Just mutter to yourself and take a lot of notes.
- Show your school spirit. Attend Jayhawk basketball practices dressed as Larry Brown. Of course, Coach Williams will be haunted by the team's past time, but perhaps you can serve as assistant coach.
- If history interests you, attend a Downtown Lawrence Association meeting dressed as William Quantrill. Be sure to ask lots of questions about the Eldridge Hotel.
■ If you're in the mood to travel, you might locate in New York and check out the stock exchange in your best Michael Dukakis disguise. Mere rumors of an anti-Bush article in the Washington Post last week sent stock prices tumbling. If you're really sadistic, take along a passport as Jimmy Carter and have him chant "Double-digit inflation. Double-digit inflation..."
If you don't want to travel, but still want to use your Dukakis suit, get one of your friends to dress up like George Bush. Then sneak up behind people, and before they can run away, start debating the qualifications of Dan Quayle or the future of Social Security
Pick up on a national craze and dust off your
Elvis suit. Stroll around dimly lit clubs and Laundromats while whistling "Jailhouse Rock." Your costume may not frighten anyone, but the historical Elvis fans will tertify Lawrence for years.
- A simple construction helmet and dusty work clothes serve as an inexpensive yet effective disguise. Just wander through campus buildings, taking measurements and making calculations. With all the construction going on, your appearance alone will be enough to make people wonder if you need the next to go. For even greater impact, spend extra time counting and measuring parking spaces.
- Celebrate the history of "dry" Kansas by going to your favorite fraternity party as Carrie Nation. This disguise seems to work better with a hatchet; at least it did for Carrie.
If hi-tech rather than history interests you, slap yourself between two squared sheets of plastic and go to the Computer Center dressed as a computer virus infected floppy disk. Bring friends with similar disguises and replicate yourself in front of the customer service window.
Most of these suggestions require a bit of bravado, and if you're like me, you're too shy to get involved. Fear not. Instead, you can care enough to send the very best: Halloween greeting cards. Get the KKU parking tickets. Just think of all the cheer you can spread with one pass down Jayhawk Boulevard.
These are just a few suggestions. You can think of more. With your help, we'll put the fear back in Halloween before you can say "trick or treat." What is it a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Wiesel's darker side
In the Oct. 24 guest column, Wendy Rosenthal tells us, as the headline reads, that "Elie Wiesel should inspire everybody." Wiesel's perseverance in the face of persecution and hardship is indeed inspiring. However, his involvement in producing and disseminating misinformation about the Holocaust in America is not and exposes a darker side of Wiesel we should not attempt to hide.
Evidence that Wiesel has been a central figure in this U.S. imperialist effort can be found in the Tower Commission's report on the Iran-contra scandal. Shown here is Oliver North's chart of important people who would hold profits from the arms sales to Iran, send arms to the contras and/or create and distribute misinformation about the contra effort. Wiesel was on the list. He sits on the board of PRODEMCA, a group suspected of being involved in the money-funneling efforts of the scandal and is definitely involved in pro-contra lobbying.
Wiesel also was one of four men who, in 1894, wrote "Central America: The Future of the Democratic Revolution." Highly touted by North and the White House, this pamphlet stood reason on its head by proclaiming that the governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are legitimate, but Nicaragua's Sandinista government is not. That the first three are not the only ones to have a terror in propping up their brutal regimes, while Nicaragua has held free elections, eludes them.
To make matters worse, the pamphlet provides unrelenting praise for the military's influence of these regimes. Linking the military to democracy, indeed, saying these countries even have democracy, is outright lying. Yet propaganda by the likes of Wiesel has allowed and encouraged the U.S. to spend millions to support such governments.
The fact that the man who claims to defend human rights, and even won a Nobel Prize, supports and produces propaganda for military terror in Central America is disgusting and disturbing. The apathy Wiesel and Rosenthal have been criticized for has arduous the ends of demasking hypocritical human rights crusaders such as Wiesel himself and bringing peace to Central America.
Christopher Kromm
Manhattan sophomore
A taxing issue
Note to students: Did you know that this semester you will be required to pay taxes on grants and scholarships? Have you noticed or read about the declining number of minority and lower-class citizens who have entered the universities of the United States? Will these new citizens be more likely to become "American Citizens" to advance through the educational system? ? Think not!
Please do not sit passively with the "democracy" and "liberty" of other U.S. citizens is being neglected. As Frederick Douglass suggested, we must constantly struggle to make democracy possible for all people. With this struggle, we must act, not stand by passively the rights to liberty and happiness are denied to other U.S. citizens. Action is the answer!
Use your democratic right and petition the leaders of our country on these and other injustices. These injustices will continue until they are resisted. Help realize the dream of a just United States. People: The dream of a democratic society is possible!
Daniel May
Lawrence senior
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed