4A
Wednesday, January 18, 1995
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: DISMISSAL OF THE HOUSE HISTORIAN
Teaching anti-Semitic views key to preventing future holocausts
The purpose of history is to remind us of our past in an attempt to better guide us in the future. By firing House historian Christina Jeffrey, Newt Gingrich, who has a doctorate in history, overlooked that fundamental tenet to instead "cut his losses" in favor of political reasons.
Jeffrey's doom was rooted in her comment that objected to the lack of coverage in a history program of both the Nazi and Ku Klux Klan points of view. To most people this comment hurts because it would be easier to pretend that anti-Semitism and all its horrors never existed. But therein lies the problem. As the old adage states, if we deny our past we are in danger of repeating it in the future.
It is lucidly clear that Jewish people have been unjustifiably persecuted throughout the ages. Although the very term anti-Semitism has existed only since 1879 its horrors have been felt by the Jewish people since the fall of Jerusalem over two millenniums ago in 587 B.C. Sadly, as the neo-Nazi movement remains strong in Germany and elsewhere, anti-Semitism is a force that
"The poorest contribution one can make toward the solution of a problem is to pretend that it doesn't exist."
seems poised to continue into the foreseeable future. However, by teaching anti-Semitism viewpoints in a balanced classroom we stand the chance of reversing this longstanding prejudice against the Jewish people as the foundations of Nazism and other racist ideologies are proven bankrupt and undeniably false.
George Sacks, an author of Jewish history, said, "The poorest contribution one can make toward the solution of a problem is to pretend that it doesn't exist." Jeffrey heeds this advice as she acknowledges that education and not ignorance is our only weapon to defeat anti-Semitism. Ignoring the past will not help change the horrors that the Jewish people have endured for more than two millenniums.
By examining Nazism and its ancient anti-Semitic roots in the classroom we can disprove its myths and help protect mankind from future holocausts.
LANCE HAMBY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ISSUE: NO MORE FREE RIDES
Free bus rides end unexpectedly
Student Senate introduced a KU twist to the phrase "no free rides" last fall when it decided to eliminate the no-charge bus rides for the start of this semester.
And because of the lack of publicity about the decision, quite a few students were justifiably upset about the change.
Last semester, buses ran at no charge for the first four days of classes so that students would have the opportunity to buy bus passes.
The program cost Senate about $4,000 last fall, so it was cut. Many students were caught unaware by the $1 charge on the first day of classes. They did not know they needed to buy their passes early and counted on the free bus ride for transportation.
This is not a big deal for someone going from Wescoe Hall to the Kansas
If Student Senate wanted to cut spending by eliminating the free-ride program, why is it asking for a $25,000 budget hike?
Union, but it is for a student going from Trailridge Apartments to the Union.
If Senate needed to save money by cutting the program, why wasn't the decision publicized extensively? Would signs or an advertisement saying, "Buy your bus pass early" have been too much trouble to plaster across campus?
Apparently, Senate executives salaries are far more important than the students, who elect the senators only to have them eliminate the free bus rides without publicizing it.
And besides, if Senate is trying to cut spending, why is it proposing to raise its budget more than $25,000 for fiscal year 1996?
MATT GOWEN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news advise
Editors
News ... Canos Tojada
Planning ... Mark Martin
Editorial ... Matt Gowen
... Heather Lawrenz
Campus ... David Wilson
... Colleen McCain
Sports ... Gerry Fey
Ashley Miller
Photo ... Jarrett Lane
Features .. Nathan Olson
Design .. Brian James
Freelance .. Susan White
Robert Tapley / KANSAN
NNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Beth Poth
Regional mgr ... Chris Branaman
National mgr ... Shelly Falvitsa
Coop mgr ... Kelly Connayse
Special Sections mgr ... Brigg Bloomquist
Production mgrs ... JJ Cook
Kim Hyman
Marketing director ... Mindy Blum
Promotions director .. Justin Frosolone
Creative director .. Dan Gler
Classified mgr .. Jieaa Kulseti
Add-drop woes? They're here, and they're not going to change
Sex in the add-drop line.
This thought occurred to me at a party two summers ago, at a party where several of my drunken friends were engaged in a game of one-upsmanship. The focus: what is the most public, most student-familiar place on campus to have sex?
One friend of mine mentioned the stacks in Watson Library. Another mentioned the Astroturf in Memorial Stadium. Somebody I didn't know said he had had sex at half-court in Allen Field House, a claim I wonder about to this day.
But as I left the party, the add-drop line sprang to mind as the place most familiar to KU students. How many of us have stood in the line semester after semester, whether through our advisers' mistakes or our own laziness? How many of us have had to look up our add-drop times in the timetable, gone early and found a line stretching across the length of Strong Hall anyway? Lots of KU students have never stepped foot in the field house, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a student who has never waited in the add-drop line.
It would mean an end to the irritated staffer who shouts the times down the line, looking to see whether any 2:30s are left before he or she calls out for the 2:45s.
So far this semester, I've had no reason to go through add-drop. And it's my last semester at KU, too. What a pity. I think I'll go through it sometime this week, without adding or dropping anything. Just for old times' sake.
So when asked what's the wildest, most public place to have sexual intercourse, why shouldn't the add-drop line spring to mind?
STAFF COLUMNIST
It would mean an end to the truly strange people you can meet in the add-drop line. I stood next to a student once who told me she needed to add a bowling class so she could stay enrolled at KU and keep her Student Senateate talk. Another told me he was dropping a class because his classroom stank.
It would mean an end to waiting all afternoon in the line only to find out at the end that even your alternates are closed. The computer operator, who has seen a dozen students in similar situations all week, usually takes pity on you and puts you in that doctorate math class that, gee, you've always wanted to take.
Yesterday, the University Registrar announced another delay in devising a computerized system to get rid of the adddrop line. It would have been replaced by a computer system that would allow students to sit down in front of a terminal at home or on campus and add or
drop classes themselves. This, of course, is supposed to make the system simple, which will be a great consolation to all those students who find computers simply inscrutable.
So the current system has been saved an ignoble death at the hands of computer-minded technocrats by yet another snafu. No matter how hard the Enrollment Center works, it can't get rid of the antiquated process. Apparently the add-drop line is like a lost and hungry dog that the Enrollment Center has fed but doesn't have the heart to send back into the cold.
Believe it or not, I'm gladdened by this. I'm a child of the add-drop line. I've been through it each of my eight
semesters at KU. It's a silly and inconvenient process, but I'll miss it all the same.
Carlos Tojada is a Lawrence senior in Journalism.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Misconceptions abound over city rights ordinance
Today, members of the Lawrence City Commission will discuss adding "sexual orientation" to the Human Relations Ordinance. There is a considerable degree of mishinformation about this issue, and I would like to clarify how this will affect our lives.
What exactly will it mean if the commissioners decide to pass this ordinance? It will mean that Lawrence will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment opportunities, public accommodations and housing.
I should not have to fear that I legally could be denied a place to live, a job to support myself and to pay for an education, and service in public establishments simply because I am a lesbian. Without an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on this basis, this is exactly what could happen to me and to many others.
Data from national sources clearly demonstrate that lesbian, gay and bisexual communities face an epidemic of bigotry. The American Bar Association reported in 1989 that lesbians, gay men and bisexual people are subject to widespread harassment and discrimination. Lacking any comprehensive federal or state protection, lesbians, gay men and bisexual people remain vulnerable to discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.
A study conducted in 1898 by the Department of Health and Human Services states that, "We do not, as a society, want to continue to hold the untenable position of senselessly hurting others — especially the young. Gay males and lesbians need to be accepted as equal partners in
our society." (p. 133)
These findings strongly suggest that the implementation of policies and laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is essential to a just and responsible society.
By adding the phrase sexual orientation to Lawrence's Human Relations Ordinance, a clear message would be sent that acts of discrimination are not acceptable and will not be tolerated in our community.
I implore everyone to make a phone call to the city commissioners in support of the dignity we all deserve.
It is not an issue of Democrat versus Republican, liberal versus conservative, or any other false dichotomy.
Christine M. Robinson Lawrence graduate student
It is an issue of fairness.
It's the second week of class, and the assignments and readings are just starting to pile up, which means it's just about time to get those after-Christmas thank-you notes done, if you ask me.
Dear Ezekial, thank you notes must include the essentials
I was just writing some of those very things, and it occurred to me
STAFF COLUMNIST
that there are a few things every thank-you note should have. I thought I'd let you in on what these are so that you can avoid the certain horrible embarrassment you would meet with if you sent out notes with anything less than the essentials.
First comes what experts call
"The First Part. I like to call it "The Heading," though, for clarification. It goes like this: "Dear Uncle Ezekiel and Aunt Matilda," and ends with a comma, just like that. Be careful when executing this crucial part of your note because many an novice has been sentenced to centuries of humiliation and shame for messing it up.
"How could you be so heartless," she asked me, "when you know those little things are Jeb's pride and joy? When we said those calendars were from the whole family, we meant Jeb's been crying for three days now."
Which brings us to the second lesson: Never give an emotionally unstable cousin an ant farm for Christmas.
When the gift is from an entire family, a very difficult decision must be made as to whether to write each name ("Dear Uncle Ezekiel, Aunt Matilda, Cousin Jeb, Cousin Tillie, Cousin Peter, Cousin Jeremiah, Spot and Fluffy,") or just lump the whole family into one ("Dear Endinglemeyers,"). I like to include everyone, just in case, even though I have been disowned by Aunt Matilda for going to all the trouble to write all those names out last year and not having the common decency to remember Jeb's pet ants.
Once you've cleared that hurdle, you need to get to the real meat of the note. This is the hard part. It's not good enough just to say thank you. The message needs to be fleshed out a little. Otherwise it would look like you were just writing to say thank you and were cranking out thank-you notes as fast as possible with as little thought as possible, which is exactly what you would like to be doing. Here's the right way. (Feel free to copy this exact format, making the necessary substitutions):
"Thank you very much for the lovely toolbox. It holds my tools so well. I have used it over and over again already — putting tools in and taking them out like there's no tomorrow. It was really nice to see you and your seven dogs this Christmas Eve. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the playful way they bit at my legs and torso. I hope you are enjoying the post-happy peace and having a happy new year. Hope to see you again soon — sometime during this very hopeful and promising 1995."
This indicates that you are thinking not only of the gift but of the people who gave it to you, which may be a load of scientists in the field call "horse puckey," but it is, as those very same scientists say, "the illusion of the thought that counts."
Which brings us to lesson the fourth lesson: If you have to fake it, then you need want those relatives anyway, so who cares if they disown you? That's just one less thank-you note you have to write.
Ryan McLee is a Worland, Wyo., junior in magazine journalism.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin