4A
Friday. February 10, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE ISSUE: RESIDENCE HALL SECURITY
Diners' valuables in jeopardy
The directors of student housing need to step up to the plate and address the problem of backpack thefts occurring at Ekdahl Dining Commons.
Students should be able to sit down and enjoy their meals without thinking their valuables could be stolen. The explanations offered by the directors of student housing of why they have failed to rectify this situation are feeble.
The directors and the food committee voted against hiring a security guard to guard cubicles where students leave their backpacks. Perhaps they think that the money could be better spent to purchase more decorative neon signs.
If the cost of hiring a security guard is too exorbitant, then why not simply reallocate the existing workforce
Housing directors must think of solutions to protect students' valuables while they dine at Mrs. E's cafeteria.
so one of the cafeteria's current employees could guard the voluntary bag drop? Most students would happily dish up their own French fries if they knew it greatly reduced the chance of their valuables being stolen.
The directors say that they are open to suggestions.
One idea could be providing each cubicle with a poisonous snake. Any student retrieving a backpack would be inevitably bitten. Life-saving serum would be provided only to those students who can prove ownership of the backpack, thus deterring theft.
But, again, they are open to suggestions.
WILLIAM KENEALY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE: HALF TIME STUDENT PROTEST
Rutgers handles protest well
The student skit Tuesday during the Rutgers and University of Massachusetts basketball game was handled well by Rutgers' security.
Rutgers was leading No. 4 UMass,31-29, adding to the intensity of crowd's insistence that the game continue.
However, security did not give in to chants from the crowd of "We want hoops!" and "Get off the court!," and guards let the protest continue peaceably.
A rumor had circulated earlier that day around campus about a possible protest concerning remarks made Nov. 11 by Rutgers President Francis Lawrence. Lawrence made remarks about genetic heredity and how it affected standardized test results. The remarks had not been made public until last week.
During the game's halftime, a Black female student sat down at halfcourt just as the second half was about to begin. Security guards asked her to get off the floor, but she soon was joined by more than 150 students. So Linda Bruno,
Security guards kept the basketball game sit-in peaceful with no fans or protesters coming to any harm
commissioner of the Atlantic 10 conference, suspended the game.
Lawrence's comments, whether they were intended to offend minority students, have angered students and faculty alike. He has since admitted that he did not mean what he said and regretted making the statement. But the damage has been done.
And although some administrators and students, including the son of civil rights leader and Rutgers graduate Paul Roberson, have shown their support for Lawrence, several people at Rutgers are calling for his resignation.
However, the security at Rutgers should be commended for handling the situation the way it did. Although legally they may have had the authority to arrest those on the basketball court, they did not and perhaps saved the crowd and the protesters from potential harm.
CRAIG LANG FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Jeff MacNelly / KANSAN
Hemenway invites students and staff to send suggestions
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the notes of congratulation and offers of help that I have received from so many of you. Leah and I have been touched by the kindness and thoughtfulness of the University of Kansas community, and it has diminished much of our natural anxiety over the mechanics of the transition. We clearly join a university that cares about its people, which is a principle that I will do everything in my power to foster and sustain.
I look forward to coming to Kansas every three weeks or so, initially to address the hiring of a new executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas Medical Center and later to begin my general orientation processes. I have much to learn, and I undoubtedly will ask questions you have answered often before. I pledge to learn as much as I possibly can by the time I assume the office of chancellor, between May 15 and June 1.
In particular, I think it is very important that the 1995 commencement activities be led by Chancellor Del Shankel. He has been a wise and trusted leader for many years, and his presence at this year's commencement will be a symbol of all that he has meant to KU.
I should also mention how cognizant I am of Chancellor Gene Budig's achievements and how respectful I am of his contribution to KU's success for more than a decade. I can only try to live up to the standard
INCOMING CHANCELLOR
Several people have asked about my management style.
staff to consult with the Kentucky staff at all levels about my manner and my management. I have a track record, and you should feel free to check it out. I am committed to the idea of KU as a community, a collection of people dedicated to a common goal: to make KU the best it can be.
My style grows out of my conviction and experience that the best decisions are made by those closest to the problem, armed with the best information.
I invite the KU
A public research university serves as a model for how teaching and this
You may have seen my remarks about the importance of teaching. I also should share how I believe research contributes to the goals of a great university. All disciplines must fulfill the social contract that obligates the university to contribute to the public good through research and development. In support of this effort, sources outside the university supply financing to many disciplines, especially to engineering, the basic sciences and the health sciences.
research effort contribute to one another. Undergraduate and graduate students are the beneficiaries of this relationship, and there must be an absolute commitment to educate them well and to ensure their success and the quality of their future.
I will ask KU to be a learning-centered university and a student-centered university, meaning that as faculty and staff, we will measure our success by the degree of learning that occurs in the classroom, laboratory, library and clinic. Learning cannot take place without research, both on the part of the student and the faculty member. Teaching and research cannot take place without the support of a dedicated, service-oriented staff.
I need your advice about how to achieve such ideas both across the university and in your particular work area. I invite you to e-mail me, write to me or call me with your thoughts about what should be on my agenda and what we should do to make KU an even better university. I promise to consider all responses.
To contact Hemenway, address letters to the Office of the Chancellor, Lexington campus, 111 Administration Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0032; address e-mail to rhemenwa@uklans.uky.edu; or call (606) 257-2911.
Robert Hemenway is the incoming chancellor for the University of Kansas
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
takes to foster that unbeatable feeling in players.
fan longs for good 'ol days of crowd spirit
Why? Because fans have begun to react like fans in every other arena. They cheer in response to the team rather than to motivate it. Recently when the Jahawks fell behind and eventually lost to Long Beach and Missouri, the field house was like a mortuary.
As a student from 1982 through 1988, I saw every game in Allen Field House. This span featured not only a national championship but something almost as noteworthy: A 55-game home-court win streak.
This is precisely when a team needs its fans most. Danny Manning heard the unmistakable roar of the field house even in diversity.
Will Jerod Haase hear it? I don't want to admonish current fans because "it's not the way it used to be." I just want it to be that way again. And it can. Just remember that the players need loud support far worse 10 points down than 10 points up. Let them know you never give up. That's the stuff of 55-game winning streaks. That's the real field house.
M. E. Wall Shawnee resident
Award winner fits quite nicely in one's desk.
During subsequent visits to the field house, I've come to wonder if that feat will ever be duplicated. While still an intimidating place to play, it may no longer have what it
Ellen Goodman is in my desk. Well, not the actual William White Award winner. Her columns.
Ellen Goodman is in my desk.
You see, I don't collect pop art or rock star memorabilia.
I collect columns. Files and files of columns by Mike Royko, Donald Kaul, Ellen Goodman, Anna Quindlen, Clarence Page and George Will pack the drawers of my desk. Syndicated columnists across the
land are my heroes. Shaq might dunk over Goodman in a game of one-on-one, but he probably couldn't editorialize his way out of a wet paper bag.
I used to see the news itself as relatively boring. But having an opinion about the you're talking. Now you're talking. Not only would that be
easy, or so I thought, it would be loads of fun. Take Kaul's satirical slam from 1993 on people who kill in the name of religion: "...the important thing is to keep Bibles out of the hands of teenage gangs, children and hockey players who might not have the maturity to use them in a safe and responsible manner." Or what about Goodman's 1993 commentary on the modern paradox handed to women by popular magazines: "There are thoughtful essays about the dangers of anorexia alongside photographs of models, role models, who are anorexic wails... There are articles both extolling the natural look and lauding the cosmetics that you can buy to achieve it."
In this confusing, information-soaked world, what could be better than the logical assembly of news and other forms of craziness into commentary that makes us laugh, yell or simply nod and say, "That is so true."
OK, maybe you don't get as excited as I do when I read something like Goodman's take on the relatively conservative results of the national sex study released last fall: "If Jesse Helms had known it would come out this way, he might have mortgaged the state of North Carolina to come up with the research funds."
But when I heard Ellen Goodman had won the William Allen White Foundation Award for 1995, instantly was reminded of why I love the newspaper business. The award is given to the person "who exemplifies William Allen White ideals in service to his profession and his community." And I strongly believe that Goodman is, just like past recipients George Will and Bernard Shaw were, richly deserving of such an award.
An associate editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Boston Globe, Goodman has written a book on social change and has had four collections of her columns published.
Arguably, none of humanity's pursuits is more noble than the pursuit of truth. In fact, the pope said as much to a group of journalists during his visit to Denver last year. And although reporting the news may not be as glamorous as writing columns, the uncovering or relating of truth in any form should be enough to get the juices flowing in just about anyone.
So if you can't find the time to hear her speak today at 1:30 in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union, pick up one of her columns next time you see one, and you just may find yourself nodding, too.
You might even put her in your desk.
Matt Gwten is a Lawrence senior in Journalism.
Editora
Editors
News ... Carlos Tejada
Planning ... Mark Martin
Campus ... David Wilson, Colleen McCain
Editorial ... Matt Gowen
Sports ... Gerry Fey
Photo ... Jarrett Lane
Features ... Nathan Olson
Design ... Brian James
Wire ... Katherine Barter
Freelance ... Susan White
Associate Editors
Associate editorial ... Heather Lawrenz
Associate photo ... Paul Kotz
Associate sports ... Ashley Miller
Copy Chiefs
Deedra Allison ... Jamie Munn
Joe O'Brien ... David Stuber
News Clerk
Kim Crabtree ...
Designer
Ashley Shultz ...
Graphic Artists
Kelly Cannon ... Micah Laaker
Noah Muusser ... Krista McGlohon
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
KANSAN STAFF
Reporters
Copy Editors
Casey Barnes...Tracy Broderick
Melinda Diaz...Andrew Gilchrist
Matt Irwin...Greg Johnson
Robbie Johnson...Mary Beth Kurak
Manny Lopez...Colleen McCain
Charles Menifee...Shannon Newton
Nathan Olson...Mary Rupert
Beatrice Springborn...Amanda Traugher
Brian Whitburn...David Wilson
Josh Yancey...
Robert Allen ... Jake Arnold
Jeffn Carlson ... Tom Erickson
Luisa Flores ... Christoph Fuhmans
Matt Hood ... Virginia Marghelman
Bob Mozyczlowski ... Eduardo Molina
Sarah Morison ... Ian Ritter
Paul Todd ... Brian Vandervillet
Teresa Veazev
Photographs
Yumi Chikamori ... Bean Croeter
Valerie Crow ... Richard Devillard
Megan Dougherty ... Kathy Driscoll
Paulo Ecklöchner ... Matt Flokter
Lisa Perry ... Julienne Peter
Eddie Rodriguez ... Jay Thornton
Photographers
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus manager ... Both Pois
Regional manager ... Chris Braman
National manager ... Shelly Falevis
Co-op manager ... Kelly Connelys
Special sections manager ... Brigg Bloomquist
Production managers ... JJ Cook, Kim Hyman
Marketing manager ... Mindy Blank
Coach manager ... Dan Gler
Classified manager ... Lisa Kuieth
Retail assistant manager .. Heather Niehaus
Classified assistant .. Nancy Eunsu
Zone Managers
Matt Shaw ...Mickey Burch
Stephanie Utley ..Heather Barnes
Meredith Henning
Retail Account Executives
Kim Tidwell...Rachel Cahill
Cady Bush...Laura Frost
Dan Thompson...Beth Cahill
Konan Hauser...Irene Piltursky
Anne Laurenzo...Jennifer Karkola
Charlotte Skelton...John Dohrman
Troy Sauer...Craig Hover
Carrie Sgiatat...Mark Gohen
T.J. Clark...Jennifer Carter
Debbie Greenfield
MARK MASTRO Retail sales manager
Campus Account Executives
Adam Ward...Krista Nye
Kim Windt...Jason Woxnlak
Weslev Stinson...
Regional Account Executive
Valerie Kelly ... Brian Roeder
Tom Dulac ... Dan Kopec
Account Assistants
Rachel Bloch ...Tom Bul
Karen Gersch ...Pecia Thomas
Mark Thomas ...Ulviye Emirzade
Angle Gunther ...Jody Groton
Heidil LaBaah ..Cary Bresloff
Norm Billow ...
Creative Staff
Creative Start
Megan Thome ...Tom Humphrey
Jeff Haugen ...Matt Spett
Mike Higgins ...Tomoko Teugane
Brian Platt ...Tom Lelnenger
PAT BOYLE Business coordinator WILLIAM THOMAS Production