4A
Tuesday, January 24, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: JAYHAWK FAN CAMPOUTS
Time out waiting for tickets is part of college experience
Sleeping bags, hibachis and UNO games, believe it or not, are an important part of tradition at the University of Kansas.
All of these items are dragged down to Allen Field House by students who are willing to go the distance for seats to men's basketball games. Many students camp out for days to get the best seats for home games. They are dedicated Jayhawks, true fans and a large part of tradition. It is important that the University and the Athletic Department continue to support the students who choose to camp.
The Kansas vs. Kansas State game Jan. 18 was no exception. About 50 students camped out in the field house from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Even Roy Williams, Kansas men's basketball coach, brought doughnuts and T-shirts to many of the dedicated campers.
But not everyone supports this student endeavor.
Many say that it is unfair to students who don't camp out. But the students who are willing to sacrifice their time and comfort for the love of Jayhawk basketball deserve to be rewarded for their dedication. If students want to camp in the field house, why should anyone stop them? These campers
Camping out at Allen Field House is just part of the education and tradition students find in men's basketball.
understand that the college experience doesn't occur only in classrooms.
They realize that losing sleep, wearing sweats like uniforms and waiting for the doors of the field house to open are all part of the college experience. They want lasting memories.
As the noise of the crowd at the field house roars and the air has taken on an intensity of its own, there will be a group of students who are more excited than anyone else. They have paid their dues by sitting on the floor of the field house instead of on their couches.
Others say that there shouldn't be so much emphasis placed on basketball. When one thinks of KU, the first thoughts might be of the great education, the top-notch programs, but chances are basketball also is at the top of the list.
As for those who want to whine about it being an unfair way to do seating, no one has ever said you can't join the tradition. No one has banned you from the field house.
In other words, put a tent up or shut up.
HEATHER LAWRENZ FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE: NUDE PHOTOGRAPHS, PUBLIC FIGURES
Photo files should stay closed
Dredging up compromising photographs or information about public figures seems to be all the rage in recent years.
Consider the fiasco over 1984 Miss America Vanessa Williams, whose nude photos ended up in Penthouse magazine. Or consider the honeymoon pictures of Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly.
It's a good thing, then, that the Smithsonian Institution has cut off all public access to a collection of nude photos taken of generations of elite college students, many of whom went on to become highly visible people in U.S. society and government.
Beginning in the early 1900s, freshmen at some colleges, including schools from the Ivy League, were required to pose in the nude
The Smithsonian Institute has justifiably blocked all access to the files of photos that once were used to study posture.
as part of a "ritual." Apparently the photographs were used to study posture.
Reports by the Associated Press say that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President George Bush would have been among those subject to the ritual but that it was not known whether their photos were in the collection.
While the photos of famous people would be in highest demand, every one of the subjects has the right to a level of privacy.
Besides, some things are better left to the imagination.
MATT GOWEN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
I've never had a cross burned on my front lawn by hooded men.
Tom Avery / KANSAN
Up until Ted Danson's antics last year, I'd never heard of a white man dressing up in black face.
KANSAN STAFF
Communication is solution to problem of stereotyping
Conspiraciences against the Black race? Those were about as paranoid as the people who go on about how pool is this racist game where the white ball has all the power.
I thought that America, although not perfect, was advancing beyond all that stuff.
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
STEPHEN MARTINO Editor
Vews ... Cenzo Tejada
Planning ... Mark Martin
Editorial ... Matt Gowen
Lake Elmo Editorial ... Heather Lewenz
Campus ... David Wilson
Colleen McCain
Sports ... Gerry Fey
Associate Sports ... Ashley Miller
Photo ... Jarrett Lane
Features .. Nathan Olean
Design ... Brian James
Freelance .. Susan White
Race riots didn't mean anything to me because they were happening elsewhere. And when one did happen in my home of Dallas, I — who was sound asleep when the riot broke out — was asked by every one of my white friends to explain it.
When someone would tell me about how Blacks are portrayed as violent and criminal, I thought that if a Black person did something wrong, that portraitay was right.
But is it really?
And my response was, OK:
How else was I going to respond?
All of my witty repertoire seemed to disappear at that moment.
Everyone was a little nervous and edgy, but I thought it was because we were all new to the University. But as we were walking back to the dorm, one of the girls from my floor came up to me and said, "I'm really glad that you're so nice. You're the first Black person that I've ever met."
And my response was, "OK?!"
JENNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
My first week here, a group from my residence hall went to see a movie.
But the stereotype that all Blacks are violent didn't hit home until I came to KU.
1 guess I was pleased that as her
Business Staff
Campus mgr ...Beth Poth
Regional mgr ...Chris Branaman
National mgr ..Shelly Falevits
Coop mgr ..Kelly Connealy
Special Sections mgr ..Briggs Bloomquist
Production mgr ..JJ Cook
Kim Hyman
Marketing director ..Mindy Blum
Promotions director ..Justin Frosolone
Creative director ..Dan Gler
Classified mgr ..Lisa Kulest
unely or to avoid the wrath of the angry Black youth.
Then I began to have the same feelings about my white roommate. Had he been walking on eggshells because he missed home? Or was there more to it?
In fact, my race did make him nervous.
We talked about it. We talked about lots of things.
Camping out should be replaced by lottery
We spent the first few days being overly sensitive, hesitant to ask too many questions.
Then, weeks later, I found out that his first impression of me was that I was this big, violent-looking Black man.
And I told him, when I first met him,
I thought he looked kind of nerdy,
like a hick.
I asked him why he put all that mousse in his hair. He asked about the "stuff" that Black people put in their hair. I asked him what his family's feeling might be if he brought me to his house. He said I'd hear, "So you're Rufus? A very big, scary Black man."
I told him it probably wouldn't be a good idea for him to visit my old neighborhood at night.
In the end I think we both came to the same conclusion, which is that for two people from very different backgrounds we had a lot in common.
I think that we both agreed that stereotypes were not going to be erased in the classroom or in the courtroom.
STAFF COLUMNIST
Rufus Coleman is a Dallas freshman in lounamall.
"first Black" I was making it a positive experience for her. But I began to feel more like someone's pet than a human being.
And despite my lack of words, one thing was clear to me.
offend me. I think she meant it in the nicest possible way. But I began to notice that people were a little bit afraid of me.
And the difficulties I have relating to others as a freshman are a hell of a lot more difficult when I must relate as the only Black in the class. I can't tell when people are being nice gen-
I don't think that she intended to
I wasn't in Dallas anymore.
I just think of myself as Rufus Coleman.
"Here, ladies and gentlemen, we have an 'angry Black youth' fresh from Dallas. Don't get too close, though, they're kind of violent."
I don't focus on the fact that I'm Black.
Wouldn't that set you on edge?
Wouldn't that make you a little paranoid?
I want to comment on student seating for KU men's basketball games. Students line up, sometime days in advance of games, to get seats. Why does the Athletic Department and the University support this operation when their first commitment is to helping students achieve a quality education? I obtained my undergraduate degree from a Big Ten university that had a much different process.
We're all going through this sort of culture shock on campus. We meet new people from all sorts of backgrounds. But I never thought that fear could be a factor in that.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I began to feel like I was on display.
Frankly, the idea of someone not having spent more than an hour upclose-personal with at least one Black person was a novelty for me.
A student and three of her friends would come to Assembly Hall on a certain day to put their ticket/student ID numbers along with other student groups in a lottery. A computer program then generated stu
dent tickets, which included an assigned seat, to all home games. Each student group had a third of the seats assigned at courtside, a third in the middle level and a third in nosebleed level.
This arrangement was fair and didn't prevent me from obtaining my education. I never waited in line for a seat. The Athletic Department should consider implementing this idea. The student seating already has seat numbers, so it would only require a computer program to generate the lottery and some coordination efforts.
Alison T. Reiff-Martin Ohio graduate student
What is more important: a great KU education or great KU basketball seats? The choice is obvious.
Shoving incident causes speculation
If true, it is very sad indeed that Tracie L. Simmons was physically "shoved to the ground" by sophomore tailback Charles June Henley as the two were returning home from a date.
The Kansan story indicates that they started arguing "after seeing a movie."
What was the movie that produced this sort of catharsis? "Little Women"? "Higher Learning?" "Dumb and Dumber?"
Paul Stephen Lim KU professor
Politicians: Cut the class terminology, not the taxes
To figure out what our Washington politicians are up to, it is necessary to learn to speak a foreign language known as Washingtonese.
When elected officials in Washing-
ton want to convey a feeling of gratitude, coupled with concern for their constituents back home, they say "middle-class tax cut."
STAFF COLUMNIST
Are you confused?
What is the difference between middle class and middle income?
This is a finer point of Washingtonese that most politicians would assume you don't figure out. As long as voters feel that middle class or middle-class income pertains to them, the politicians can sit back, put their feet on their desks and down a cold beer, confident we will appreciate their efforts.
To native speakers of English, the words "middle-income tax cut" do not convey a warm, fuzzy feeling of inclusion.
The politicians might just find themselves in trouble when those who thought they were middle class realize they are not middle income.
The middle class is a broad term. Class, after all, isn't always a matter of how much money you make but rather factors like where you grew up, your education, whether you have a minivan, 2.5 children, a house and dog.
There is one easy way to solve all of this. Don't cut taxes at all. Instead, find new ways to save government money and put the difference toward the debt. After all, how can we expect our government to tackle our debt with less money?
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, RGa., offers a plan that would give tax credits to those making less than $200,000 a year, and his colleague, Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, offers a plan that has no income cut-off for tax credits. Of course, it is really a matter of how far the money will go. A family earning $75,000 a year in New York City is living a different kind of life than one earning the same thing here in Lawrence.
Even if you don't have the minivan or the kids yet, you might regard yourself as part of the middle class. You might even be watching your student income as each penny slides out of your pocket knowing that someday, when you graduate, that tax cut will be yours.
Why wouldn't we all think we are part of the middle class? The words middle class invoke images of what we all want. We all want to have homes like the ones on television, where working moms come home and have quality time with their kids while wearing designer clothes and perfect make-up—homes where we all know the minivan must be parked right outside.
Even if that is not the reality of our lives, it's what we strive for, making us middle class.
Middle income, on the other hand, is more definable. It isn't an image of what we want to be but rather something that can be determined using real numbers and real lives. The politicians, who talk about the middle class, are working to define middle income. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., proposes a plan that would give tax credits to those making less than $75,000 a year.
President Clinton also is offering tax credits to those making less than $75,000 a year, but he would extend the deduction for education to families earning $120,000 a year.
Heather Kirkwood is a Wichita Junior in magazine Journalism.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin