4A
Monday, November 21, 199 $ ^{a} $
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Housing could cost less
Students have complained about Lawrence apartment rental rates for years.
Those complaints received some creditability recently when a national study showed that Lawrence had the second highest rental rates in the nation when calculated as a percentage of the renter's total budget.
Students with little income obviously skew the figures upward, but there is clearly room for improvement.
The simple reason for high rental rates is the high demand for apartments. The reason for the high demand is that student housing has not made living on campus an attractive option.
If the University is truly interested in lowering rental prices, a substantial change in on-campus living is needed.
The Editorial Board proposes two changes.
The first change involves renovating the residence halls. First, student housing should turn some single rooms into suites. Each
HIGH RENT Alternatives are needed
suite should contain a bedroom, a study room and a lounge or living room. Putting kitchens in some rooms should also be considered. The residence halls would be more enjoyable and attractive.
The second change involves building nice, on-campus apartments. These apartments would be built in smaller groups, with 10 or more apartments in each building. Apartments would be available to all students, but they would not be loaded with the regulations that scare some people away from the residence halls. If the apartments are competitive in features, comfort, cost and location to what is currently available, then they should prove to be very popular.
The two proposals, if carried out, would create more competition for apartments and lower rental prices.
But whether student housing is willing to redefine its role and adopt such a proposal is a mighty big "if."
RICHARD BOYD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Frat house can be saved
Even though the outcome looks dim, Alpha Phi Alpha needs to work within its means to begin preservation of its house.
The fraternity has until Nov.30 to replace the roof, clean up the exterior of the house and secure it to keep out transients, the Lawrence City Commission decided last week. Otherwise it will be demolished.
But a little can go a long way.
Yes, the fraternity does have a few obstacles. It only has seven members, two weeks to do the renovations and it owes $5300 in property taxes.
The members of Alpha Phi Alpha should concentrate first on cleaning up the exterior of their house and boarding up windows and doors.
They also should begin contacting their alumni members and work to raise
BLACK FRATERNITY Members should save house
funds.
If they can show the City Commission that they have taken these steps, the fraternity should be given an extension to repair the roof.
These initial steps will be quite a challenge for the group, but if they honestly care about their house, they should make the effort to save it.
Otherwise the Douglas County Historical Society should consider taking the project upon itself. Because it is the first Black fraternity house west of the Mississippi, the society should consider the building to be of some historical significance.
But if no one in the community shows concern for the fraternity house,the city has little choice but to destroy it.
ROBERTA JOHNSON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
JEN CARR Business manager
STEPHEN MARTINO Editor
CHRISTOPH FUHRMANS Managing editor
CAMERON DEATH Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
News                                                                  Sara Bennett
Editorial                                              Donella Heame
Campus                                                         Mark Martin
Sports                                                     Brian James
Photo                                                     Daron Bennett
Mellissa Lacey
Features                                                            Tracel Carl
Planning Editor                                            Susan White
Design                                                      Noah Mussel
Assistant to the editor.                             Robbie Johnson
Business Staff
Campus mgr...Mark Maastrot
Regional mgr...Laura Guth
National mgr...Mark Maastrot
Coop mgr...Emily Gibson
Special Sections mgr...Jen Perrier
Production mgr...Holly Brown
        Regan Overy
Marketing director...Alstigic Stillegt
Creative director...Dan Gler
Classified mgr...Heather Neahua
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the University's signature, name address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas are required to provide a resume.
Guest columna should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansas reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansas newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
I didn't command them to do it,
plead with them to do it or urge them
to do it. I barely even suggested that
they do it.
felt strongly about being shielded from TV coverage, they could write to Judge Ito.
Public wants to wallow in the muck
This media critique is prompted by the news stories about the 15,000 letters sent to Judge Lance Ito by people who would like the cameras turned off in his courtroom.
For some reason, Ito had 21 cartons holding the letters stacked in his courtroom when he ruled that O.J. Simpson's trial could be televised.
This resulted in stories being written about them.
And Isure didn't know that 15,000 of them would take me seriously.
Chicago Tribune : The letters were "the result of an appeal to the public by Tribune columnist Mike Royko."
Here are a few examples of what the countless stories said.
The Associated Press: "After syndicated columnist Mike Royko called for a citizen rebellion against TV coverage of the trial."
Nah. Naaaaaah. I didn't call for "citizen rebellion." I didn't even "appeal to the public." The main point of that column — and the thought that took up approximately 95 percent of it — was
I want the trial on TV, every lurid, disgusting, heart-pounding, spine-tingling, fantasy-building moment.
But not for the lofty reasons offered by TV stations' lawyers. Unlike them, I don't believe the citizenry will be better informed about the legal system or that cameras will reduce sensationalism.
that Americans seem to have a split personality.
MIKE ROYKO
- People have moaned to pollsters about how "the media" have turned the Simpson case into a circus.
When they talked about the media, most were referring to TV, since today's newspapers are too inhibited to treat a circus like a circus, much less a criminal trial.
Nothing could be more numbing than sitting through hours of testimony about DNA tests. But the ratings for Court TV and CNN, which brought us all the DNA stuff, were incredibly high. There can't be that many chemistry freaks in this country, so why was the Simpson audience that big? Who knows why they watched? But they did.
Which seems to indicate that people aren't really sure what they want. Or that they want to sound like virtuous, responsible citizens who crave stories about economic pacts and international treaties when they talk to pollsters. But deep in their hearts, they really want to be shocked by stories of jealous rages, seething sexual urges, blood and murder.
But while they gripe about the circus atmosphere, the ratings tell us that they flock to their TV sets to catch the latest development.
No, I want to wallow in the muck just like millions of other muck-craving Americans.
And at the end of that column, I said, almost playfully, that if anyone really
Sean Finn/ KANSAN
Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Rock Chalk winners will be part of history
For the past several weeks, I've been faced with one question: "When are you going to choose the five shows for Rock Chalk Revue?"
Each time, I have to explain that I have nothing to do with the selection decision.
How the show is selected is one of the biggest misconceptions about Rock Chalk Revue. The process may seem mysterious and complex, but it is really quite simple.
Please allow me to explain the process here.
But first I would like to share a little bit of Rock Chalk Reveu's history.
In 1949, a highly motivated KU student by the name of Roy Wonder recognized the need for an all-campus variety show at the University of Kansas. The variety show he conceived was similar to Kansas State University's now defunct Y-Orpheum.
Wonder didn't receive a strong response from the KU student body. In an effort to raise excitement in his fellow students, Russ Miller, a K-State student and Wonder's friend, wrote a letter to the Kansan ridiculing Wonder and all of the University for stealing such a strong tradition.
As you can imagine, this mouthy Wildcat caused quite a stir on the Hill, and soon Wonder had a lot of campus support.
TOM FIELD
The show has encountered changes in its format, its judging process and its location.
Rock Chalk Revue's first show opened on April 1, 1950, in Hoch Auditorium. (For you younger Jayhawks, Hoch is the historic pile of ash and rubble between Wescoe and Marvin halls.)
The name Rock Chalk Revue came from a campus-wide contest in which the winner received $10.
An independent panel of judges selects five Rock Chalk Revue finalists. The judges range in age and background.
How we put on the show is what's really important.
They do, however, have a few things in common: none are affiliated with any KU living organization, none are KU students or faculty members, all have some knowledge of Rock Chalk
Revue and all have expertise in various aspects of theater.
After reading over the shows for two weeks, the judges interview the directors of each group.
With every aspect of every show taken into account, the judges finalize their decisions.
Each show is identified by a random number to ensure that all groups (scholarship halls, fraternities and sororites) remain anonymous.
After the judges vote for the shows, the ballots are tabulated by our faculty adviser and an independent party.
The voting results will remain in our adviser's care until Executive Director Libby Swed announces tonight which shows will be in and which shows will be out.
Once again, excitement will fill the Lied Center with the production of Rock Chalk Revue. "Caught In the Act" will be performed February 23, 24 and 25.
We had 13 groups turn in shows of outstanding quality. Unfortunately, only five will be performed.
Good luck to all who have tried out. And thank you for participating in the continuation of a well-loved KU tradition.
Tom Field is a Marietta, Ga., senior and the promotions coordinator of Rock Chalk Revue.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR All scholarships have qualifications
As the scholarship coordinator for the School of Business, I would like to comment on the article about the U.S. Court of Appeals' decision about race-specific scholarships. The Court needs to recognize that all scholarships have specific criteria. Donors give money to establish scholarships, and donors specify what qualities the recipients should possess.
If the Court of Appeals does away with racial criteria in scholarships, then shouldn't all criteria be eliminated? Students without high grade point averages could bring suit for mental discrimination, or someone who did not grow up in Kansas could bring suit against the University for out-of-state discrimination.
The University of Maryland was wrong not to give Daniel Podberesky information about all of their scholarships. Podberesky was wrong for making an issue out of the university's behavior. His action could cause the loss of scholarships established for students like himself: students with Latino heritage.
Sara Leigh Admissions coordinator School of Business
I recently came across some figures in the 1995 Big Eight Senior Student Affairs Officers' Meeting that show how much of student fees at the Big Eight schools go toward recreational services.
Figures show why services are weak
Only $9 of University of Kansas student fees, the lowest amount in the Big Eight, are set aside for recreational services, compared to a high of $61 at Colorado University.
I have often seen and heard people complain about the problems associated with KU's recreational programs. I, myself, have been upset with the lack of time and facilities available.
Iowa State University, the university that pays the second-lowest recreational fee at $24.55 per student, has a much better facility than ours. They have 32 basketball courts compared to our six, three swimming pools to our two, and 24 outdoor tennis courts to our 13.
Iowa State also has an aerobics area, three indoor tracks and four indoor tennis courts — all facilities that KU does not have. After seeing these figures and realizing how little we pay for our facilities compared to the rest of the Big Eight schools, it no longer surprises me that our problems exist.
MIXED MEDIA
Matt Brownell Lawrence senior
By Jack Ohman