What they're saying…

Excerpts from recent editorials in Missouri newspapers.

April 8

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on the Olympic torch's travels:

The very first Olympic torch relay was conceived by Carl Diem, the organizer of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and staged by Joseph Goebbels, head of the Nazi propaganda machine for Adolf Hitler. Sadly, it went off without a hitch.

The world is a little wiser now about the use of the Olympic ideal by repressive national regimes, and so it is that China is having trouble getting the flame to Beijing for the 2008 games that begin in August. The flame went out at least once during massive protests on Monday in Paris, and could face more problems the rest of the month.

The torch makes its only U.S. stop on Wednesday in San Francisco; after that it faces more uncertainty going in demcratic nations. ...

The torch ran into trouble in London on Sunday and in Paris on Monday because of the violent crackdown by the Chinese government on Tibetan nationalists that began in mid-March. ...

The violence in Tibet has crystallized opposition to the Chinese Olympics, which began building even before the games were awarded to Beijing in 2001. The question then was the same as it is today: Why should one of the world's most repressive nations host the world's most prestigious sporting event?

And the answer is the same: Because the Olympics can help bring China out of isolation, make it a fuller partner in the world and encourage peaceful participation in international affairs. The violence in Tibet suggests that China may not have understood fully its side of the bargain. ...

The Chinese government desperately wants the Olympics to succeed. The world community must support the torch protest and the legitimate concerns of the Tibetan government in exile. ...

By holting the threat of not playing games with brutal governments or, at the very least, not showing up for the opening ceremonies and their celebration of modern China, world leaders may be able to leverage China into moving closer to the ideals represented by the Olympic torch. Otherwise, it's just a cold fire in a tin can.

April 8

The Kansas City Star, on bus and smoking taxes:

The buses will keep rolling, and a tougher smoke-free law will protect more Kansas Citians thanks to recent elections.

The positive decision on buses will give the Area Transportation Authority a stable source of funding to continue improving service for tens of thousands of riders a day.

The three-eighths-cent transit sales tax, which had been scheduled to expire in 2009, now will last until early 2024.

It's not surprising that voters south of the Missouri River endorsed the tax by more than a 2-to-1 ratio; the area has most of the ATA's routes and riders. But it was gratifying to see that more than 55 percent of Northland voters also backed the buses.

Now, with long-term revenue nailed down for the buses, Mayor Mark Funkhouser and the City Council must deliver on their pledge to place a proposed light-rail system and a funding source on the November ballot.

Voters sided with protecting customers and employees of restaurants and bars from smoking's harmful effects.

The outcome was a satisfying defeat of Big Tobacco. The industry poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign to kill the smoke-free law, which had been placed on the ballot through a citizens initiative petition.

The law recently approved will take effect in mid-2008.

Health Director Rex Archer pledged that the city ''will fully enforce'' the new law. That's the appropriate stance to take, and it gives bar and restaurant patrons good reasons to report any future violations.

These positive outcomes mean that five of the six largest metropolitan area cities will have smoke-free laws covering restaurants and bars.

Kansas City, Kan., however, has not proactively moved to protect its residents from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The victory in Kansas City gives the Unified Government the perfect opportunity to join the rest of the metropolitan area to ban smoking in public places.

March 28

The Kansas City Star, on Gary Forsee's compensation from Sprint:

Talk about eye-popping. Gary Forsee's compensation from Sprint Nextel last year came to a cool $40 million.

And under his severance deal, the former chairman and CEO will receive $84,325 a month for life. That's about $1 million a year.

What's wrong with this picture? Forsee was forced out last October amid mounting displeasure from shareholders and board members. Sprint's merger with Nextel has failed to deliver many of the hoped-for synergies. The company is hemorrhaging customers and its stock price has plummeted by nearly 65 percent since last fall.

As Charles Elson of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance said, ''If you succeed, you should walk away with a lot. If you fail, you shouldn't.''

As part of his contract, Forsee received severance payments that came to $13.5 million for ''termination without cause'' -- in addition to the million-dollar-a-year-for-life payments.

Such excesses lay the groundwork for a backlash, which could take the form of an ill-considered move by Congress to directly regulate executive pay.

A better approach would be to give more power over executive pay to shareholders. If Sprint shareholders had had a greater voice in this, no doubt they would have a different idea about what the top person should receive on his way out.

March 28

St. Joseph News-Press, on Gary Forsee running the University of Missouri system:

There's a lot to like about Gary Forsee, who took over ... as the 22nd president of the University of Missouri.

By all accounts he is intelligent, personable and accomplished. His resume dispels any doubt that this former chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel is a Missouri native with a special interest in seeing the state and its citizens prosper. He is convincing in declaring, ''I have a passion for education.''

... Now comes the hard work of winning over his constituency.

It's a mixture of academics, donors, athletics boosters, alums, parents and students. It's a cross-section of Missouri, including wage earners, farmers and white-collar professionals. Relatively few owe their jobs or livelihoods to the new man in charge.

This is new territory for Forsee, who earned his stripes as a business executive during years with the nation's top telecommunications firms. He might not have a problem relating to people from different walks of life or on different rungs of the earnings ladder, but you have to wonder whether that goes both ways.

The former CEO resigned from Sprint Nextel under pressure, four years into a tenure that had high points and several low ones. The stock in the company has dropped nearly 65 percent since his departure in October.

And yet, in part because he was skilled in negotiating his employment, Forsee received compensation in 2007 totaling a projected $40 million. ...

... Can this high-profile business executive, with deep Missouri roots and a passion for education, indeed lead the four-campus university system to a new level of excellence?

Can he build support in and outside the Legislature to address perennial money woes, can he smooth over cross-campus jealousies and can he raise performance markedly in comparison to other regional universities?

Given the stakes, we all should wish Forsee great success -- something more on the lines of his personal financial success rather than the fate of his former employer.