To the editor:

I was intrigued by the comment of the Kansas University anthropology professor who is lobbying to train international analysts on college campuses (May 13, Journal-World). On hearing that the Senate had allocated $8 million “to look into the plan,” professor Felix Moos remarked, “Eight million these days is nothing, but it’s a start.”

In their study of human behavior, anthropologists must not overlook the obvious. In the same edition of the Journal-World, there is a detailed story (“Silent Squalor”) of how the poor in Lawrence struggle to maintain decent housing, where some have to use their ovens for heat. Eight million dollars would go a long way toward alleviating the misery among the growing number of homeless in Lawrence. Instead of helping to devise post-9-11 windfalls for our bloated military-industrial oligarchy and cashing in on ephemeral international fears, KU academics ought to labor for a more just society here at home.

Ray Finch,

Lawrence