The Wichita Police Department’s new prostitution Web page is its most viewed, averaging more than 1,500 hits a day. The page has pictures and names of people arrested and charged in connection with prostitution. It’s a pretty scary bunch. The purpose is to shine some humiliating light on both prostitutes and, perhaps more important, their customers. It’s a good idea, though some have raised concerns about posting pictures of people who haven’t been convicted yet of a crime. And one Opinion Line contributor suggested that the site might be used in an unintended way: for customers to determine who is really a prostitute and not an undercover police officer.
Meanwhile, Eagle columnist Mark McCormick wrotetoday about a growing problem of teen and preteen prostitutes.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Joe Klein pulls no punches in his latest Time column, writing that the Bush administration is in the midst of an “epic collapse,” as reflected in three big stories so far of 2007: The decision to “surge” in Iraq, the Walter Reed hospital scandal and the U.S. attorney controversy.
Quote: “I’ve tried to be respectful of the man and the office, but the three defining sins of the Bush Administration –arrogance, incompetence, cynicism — are congenital: they’re part of his personality. They’re not likely to change. And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., had a commentary in Tuesday’s USA Today pleading the case against the latest Senate effort to further fund embryonic stem cell research. “For the sake of the patients, we should fund adult stem cell research to the exclusion of unethical embryonic stem cell research,” he wrote. Rooted in his opposition to destroying embryos and his contention that “embryonic stem cell research has not yielded any treatments or applications to date,” Brownback’s call is unlikely to receive majority support in the Senate. But President Bush sides with Brownback and likely will veto this stem cell bill, as he did the last.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Good for President Bush for continuing to push for comprehensive immigration reform. But his new proposal isn’t practical and is unlikely to attract much new support.
Although Bush has been vague about details, the new plan reportedly would require each illegal immigrant to return to his country of origin and pay a $10,000 fine to obtain a three-year work visa. But it’s unlikely that the estimated 12 million illegals who are already in the United States would be willing or able to return to their countries and pay that much money. Or that our economy could handle the disruption. Many GOP lawmakers who are skittish about anything that might be considered “amnesty” also are unlikely to support Bush’s plan to allow those who arrived in the United States prior to June 1, 2006, to seek citizenship if they pay fees and fines and meet other criteria — even though it’s a reasonable proposal.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Three top executives of the CIT Group’s student loan unit, Student Loan Xpress, have been suspended due to conflicts of interest involving stock ownership by financial aid administrators at three universities, the New York Times reported. An investigation has begun to look at the relationship between loan companies, academic institutions and government officials.
According to the College Board, students took out $85 billion in loans last year. It looks as though college students are getting a lesson in how to buy friends and influence people.
Posted by Patrice Hein
The Wichita school board was wise to delay approving funds for a medical and dental clinic to be attached to a new K-8 school near 25th and Grove. Board members wanted more information about how the clinic, which is supposed to be run by GraceMed Health Clinic, might impact the nearby Center for Health and Wellness.
If the board and school district had done more due diligence before initially approving the project in February, they would have identified the concerns about having two low-income clinics operating so close to each other. But the conflict is unfortunate, as the board and GraceMed had the best intentions in proposing the clinic. And as board member Lynn Rogers noted, the needs of the roughly 12,000 students who live in that area are great.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee