THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2. 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
EDITORIAL BOARD
Not a walk in the park
Everyone has an opinion about the Parking Department, and it is generally a bad one. The editorial board would like to point out some of the good aspects of the parking department, but we maintain that there is some room for improvement.
In defense of the parking department, they are one of the only self-sustaining departments on campus. They pay all their employees and maintain all the parking lots on campus with money from parking permits and tickets.
The Parking Department and the parking commission have also been actively trying to build another parking lot on west campus and help buy new buses to move students from that lot. A transportation task force found that by building a relationship with the city transit system they could receive over 80 percent of the funding for the new buses from a federal grant.
In addition to these initiatives, the parking department hires many student employees to do things such as work at their office, run cash registers. All these students are paid a reasonable wage and work reasonable hours. As much as we don't like them, we need the Parking Department.
But we feel that there are a few small things the department does that gives students the impression it really doesn't care about them. To begin with, the lots are oversold on Daisy Hill and at GSP/Corbin. It doesn't bother the board that the lots are oversold. It gives everybody a chance to park where
they live, even if they end up in the overflow lot. However, it is unsettling that, even though the parking department admits the lots are oversold, they still overcharge for a parking space that could be by your residence hall or on the other side of Iowa Street, depending on your luck.
If someone bought anything else in the world that was as unreliable as a parking spot near the residence halls, then he would refuse to pay and ask for his money back. It's the low reliability for the high cost that is a problem.
We think another problem is how willing the department is to put students' welfare at risk. We're making reference to the parking conditions at GSP and Corbin. The dormitories are for girls, usually freshmen. The lots are oversold and the overflow lot is the stadium, two blocks away and several small, poorly-lit lots scattered around the area.
Although it is not the parking department's responsibility to make these lots any safer, they could make a few minor changes in the interest of students' safety. The housing department offices are under Corbin Hall and there is a large, well-lit lot that sits right next to the two buildings where only the housing department is allowed to park.
After several crimes last year involving girls in the "rape lots," you would think this arrangement would have been changed, but this year, the same unsafe conditions still exist.
What also should be pointed
out is how the parking permits work. GSP/Corbin permits and Oliver permits are valid on Daisy Hill lots, but not the other way around. It's unfair to charge the same for both permits.
When students do receive tickets, they are now reluctant to fight them, even if they have a valid reason to do so. Beginning this year, the department charges $5 to even try fighting a ticket, creating the risk of losing more money and time. Charging students to try fighting a ticket is insulting and we should be allowed to contest fines without having to pay extra.
The parking attendants should also make every effort to ensure that the tickets they distribute are done so for the correct infractions, especially now that it cost money to fight a ticket.
But, for all of its faults, the parking department is a necessary evil. They do a good job, considering the responsibilities they have on campus for the University and the student population. Unfortunately, we still feel like it boils down to simply considering the needs of individual students and not just looking at the numbers as a whole. If it thought about the girls at GSP more than the Housing Department or the people with "yellow" permits more than the ones with "gold," then we would feel our parking ticket fines were money well spent.
Dan Hoyt for the editorial board.
We can learn from hatred
If you're anything like me, you've often asked the question,
"What if the Olsen Twins were white supremacists?"
▼ WHEN IT RAINES IT POURS
Well, wonder no more. Thirteen-year-old twins Lynx and Lamb Gaede form the supremacist group "Prussian Blue," which packages candy-coated hate speech in jailbait teen-yop wrapping that no hot-blooded neo-Nazi can deny. Their songs include acoustic covers of popular racist hits, an ode to Hitler's deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, and their latest original "Victory Day," contains such inspiring lyrics as "Soon will come a great war, a bloody but holy day/And after that purging our people will be free..." in which the girls giddily advocate the wholesale genocide of, well, pretty much everyone different from them.
If the image of hate-peddling pre-pubescents performing songs chock-full of these disgusting lyrics is deeply disturbing to you, then you're having the right reaction. Armed with education, it's easy to see through the incredibly flawed logic that leads one to believe that a certain race is inherently superior to another.
But then, white supremacy isn't about intellectual heavy lifting. Racists are people who are angry, confused and lazy, so they seek the easiest explanation that frees them of any responsibility. You'll never meet a racist that blames his own race for the problems of the world. A racist is an intellectual coward, too
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Fred Phelps has somehow managed to intertwine Christianity and his obsession with homosexuality to blame gays for every wrong in the world-from hunger to hurricanes. Morally corrupt companies worldwide subject workers to slavery and extreme poverty to fill their coffers with ill-gotten wealth.
Such evil makes many of us want to turn our heads the other way, effectively covering our eyes and ears and humming sweet nothings to block out the vile images that such hatemongers inspire. To do so, however, only allows these problems to fester. Ignoring such issues leads only to ignorance.
All hateful extremists share these traits of fear, loathing and cowardice. Osama bin Laden wields his religion as an excuse to justify the murder of those who choose to live differently from him.
We should allow these extremists to serve as a shot in the arm. A tangible reminder of how far we've come as a country, how far we still have to go and why we should keep fighting. We can use their message against them.
afraid to face reality with open eyes and an open mind.
CHRIS RAINE
opinion@kansan.com
In direct contrast to the extremists' methods of blocking out all reasoning that doesn't lead to their predetermined conclusions, we should invite these groups to our campus so that we can be reminded of just how much hatred and ignorance survives in our country. We should invite Fred Phelps to host a lecture and book Prussian Blue as the opening act. Hell, bring back Ann Coulter for the nightcap. Tell me this wouldn't be an enlightening and terribly entertaining show!
This way, we can learn what the Civil Rights movement was really about. Why workers' rights are so important and worth preserving. How irrational hatred can warp a mind so fully that who a person is attracted to becomes more important than who they are. We can see these ideologies in person, in a vivid and tangible detail that no lecture or presentation could hope to match.
In this case, loyalty was not enough. The owner was a jerk. His philosophy was the more money you spent, the better service received. Since we each only ordered about six dollars worth of food, it was not enough money to get good service. We had to spend more money at the restaurant to get the service we wanted and tip the servers as well, in spite of the service received. He went on to say that we needed to lower our expectations or either not come back to his place, which would be OK with him. He even said that he did not care if we told the entire world that his restaurant sucked. In response to the owner's remarks, I blatantly told him that my friends and I would never patronize his restaurant for the rest of our lives.
The owner and I had a previous interaction because one of the servers overcharged my debit card by 100 dollars. I thought that the manager would have been more understanding and would be willing to work with us to improve our experience at his establishment. After all, we wanted to keep our tradition alive. Our loyalty should have been proof of that.
I do not believe that the owner realized his mistake. He has loss a great deal of money. Not only
Unfortunately, young Lynx and Lamb are probably already too far gone, victims of closed minds in a closed environment. Let us not be afraid of the fearful, or the unaware of the ignorant, or hostile or the hateful. Awareness and education is the key to combating these iniquitous ideologies, exposing their lies and transparent logical fallacies so that future generations do not fall into their trap.
My friends and I believe in getting good food and great service for our hard earned money, regardless of the amount of our bill. Therefore, if our food was not to our liking, we would ask them to take it back. Is that wrong to do? We thought not.
So, after tediously trying to explain that to the manager, I decided that we needed to talk to someone from higher management. I chose to talk to the owner.
Never tolerate poor service
There is an extreme difference between superb service, mediocre service and downright awful service. In regards to the restaurant business, customer service can make or break one's dining experience, regardless of the quality of the food. Superb service can make sardines taste like steak. Awful service can turn your best meal into your worst meal. I say this because I believe that nowadays, multiple restaurants have strayed away for making customer service a top priority.
Raine is a Wichita senior in journalism and psychology.
For example, myself and a group of friends have patronized this bar and grill since our freshmen year here. We are now seniors, and going to that bar and grill every Wednesday was a tradition for us. However, these past months have foreshadowed the end of a three and a half year tradition. It seemed like every dining experience ended with us talking to the manager about the attitudes of the servers.
will my friends not patronize his establishment, but many other college students have agreed not to go there any more. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. We are also in the process of getting in contact with the Better Business Bureau. In addition, I have sent out messages on facebook.com, alerting everyone not to patronize that bar and grill. That will definitely leave a gap in that bar and grill's budget. The mere fact that my friends and I will no longer spend our money there will be felt financially. I did the math, and the manager stands to lose a total of 1,512 dollars each year. I have yet to come across a smart businessperson that was willing to throw way 1,512 dollars.
With any situation, there is always a lesson to be learned. So thanks go to the owner for saving us money and making us realize the power of a dollar. We will never again settle for anything less than good service.
♦ Scott is a Chicago senior in journalism.
TALK TO US
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Matthew Savclk, opinion editor
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Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbicket@kansan.com
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864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Ellen Ford, Yantling Weng, Joel Simone, Dhowi Ovi, Annie Waintner, Jolie Parisi, Nathan McGinnie, Josh Gofting, Garica Garnic, Travie Brown, Julian Portillo, David Archer
SUBMIT TO
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Um... I WAS DRIVING
MY WIFE'S CAR... I LEFT
MY PERMIT AT HOME...
I WAS HERE FOR FIVE MINUTES...
I THOUGHT I COULD PARK
ANYWHERE... I'm your...
BOSS... I'm COLOR BLIND...
How much DO YOU GET
PAID?... Um... I'm THE
CHANCELLOR... I SAW
CHARLES GORDON HERE
EARLIER AND HE DIDN'T
GET A TICKET ?!
Free All for
Call 864-0500
Free for all callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kanen editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Instant message the Free for All at "uktreeforall."
And check out www.kansan.com for more comments!
My english 101 teacher really wants to get a Mini-Cooper and drive it down the steps by Wescoe. Does anyone want to donate a dollar to the cause?
Just tell your girlfriend that you missed lunch with her because you were stoned. She was going to dump you at that lunch anyway.
So, I guess I missed the memo... I didn't realize that every girl on campus was wearing North Face jackets these days.
+
Kevin McKernan/KANSAN
I just ran into a tree reading the Free for All.
I just saw that teleport'i raccoon again!
You know, the one I punched!
When you think about it, Inspector Gadget was not possible.
About love striking when you least expect it...it's true-just wait. One day-one when life sucks someone so great will walk in and all you will be able to do is hand over your heart. Love, Roof and Shotty.
♦
So, I just witnessed a bunch of guys dressed in all black with hoods that dumped a bunch of Tang in the Chi-O fountain. So, now it's all orange.
To the football team: We're proud of you guys. Good game on Saturday.
Message to your sports section: Way to print the exact same football story on every single page.
I just saw Mario and Luigi hugging the preacher outside of Wescoe.
Can you major in facebook.com and minor in Free for All?
Hey, Kellis, shut up. Just because different people have different methods of celebrating doesn't make them not fans. In fact, the true essence of a fan is celebrating hard every time we beat Missouri, no matter how many times, no matter how many years in a row, so shut up.
+
The athletic department might as well order two sets of goalposts, because they're coming down again after Nebraska.
Free for All, no. You are always full, but I have a very important message. The 5th floor of Oliver is going to get tea-bagged.