10
4A
Monday, October 31, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Findley for Kansas House
in replacing Betty Jo Charlton for the Kansas House's 46th district, candidates Troy Findley, Democrat, and Eric Schmidt, Republican, will have a hard time matching the seven-term incumbent's leadership and experience. But for the job, Troy Findley has the direction, temperament and values that embody the district.
Findley admits that he is an evolving candidate on the issue of qualified admissions; he is moving toward supporting them. His discussions with KU faculty and administrators has led him to believe that all Kansas high school students should be prepared for college and not for higher education failure.
He supports the Board of Regents setting reasonable standards that will help the University address its budget and growth problems.
KANSAN ENDORSEMENT Kansas House - 46th District
With respect to crime, especially crimes committed by youths, Findley has advanced the idea of a special youth authority to address issues of parenting, alcohol and drug abuse. Findley says that government, when looking for solutions for crime, should "not write off the kids." Schmidt's only apparent solution for crime is an expanded death penalty and life sentences for first time violent offenders.
Schmidt's most distressing views come in the area of equal rights for homosexuals—going so far as to compare homosexuality to pedophilia. He opposes recognition of same sex marriages and would not add gay rights to other minority protection in the state. Findley, on the other hand, said he favored special rights for no one and equal rights for everyone.
The 46th district encompasses the University and many KU students. Troy Findley has demonstrated himself to be an open and understanding candidate and deserves to be elected to the Statehouse.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Swall for Kansas House
The citizens of the Kansas House 45th district face a tough decision at the ballot box. The candidates for the state representative seat, Forrest Swall, Democrat, and Tom Sloan, Republican, appear equally capable. Both men possess a strong educational background and have firm experience in the public and private sectors.
KANSAN ENDORSEMENT Kansas House - 45th District
Although the candidates share similar views on a number of subjects, Forrest Swall exhibits a breadth of understanding on the issues that makes him the clear choice in the race.
Speaking withremarkable ease and familiarity on tough issues such as welfare reform and abortion, Swall spices his arguments with statistical evidence. He insists on fully understanding legislation before forming an opinion.
Sloan, on the other hand,
views this as one of Swall's
weaknesses. Sloan points
to several popular bills that Swall voted against and claims that withholding support hampers credibility and effectiveness among peer legislators. Swall responds that he will not vote for bad policy regardless of political repercussions.
It is this unwillingness to compromise his beliefs that makes Forrest Swall such a refreshing candidate. Too often elected officials opt to scratch the backs of colleagues rather than stand up for the needs of their constituents. When they do attempt to pass real legislation, they create hastily drawn proposals that do little to combat the problem.
However, Swall insists on informed, responsible policy-making. He sets himself apart as a different kind of politician and the best candidate in the 45th district.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
JEN CARR Business manager
CHRISTOPH FUHRMANS Managing editor
CAMERON DEATH Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
Editors
Business Staff
News ... Sara Bennett
Editorial ... Donella Hease
Campus ... Mark Martin
Sports ... Brian James
Photo ... Deron Bennett
Mellasa Lacey
Features ... Tracel Cairn
Planning Editor ... Susan White
Design ... Noah Musser
Assistant to the editor .. Robble Johnson
Campus mgr ... Todd Winters
Regional mgr ... Laura Guth
National mgr ... Mark Mastro
Coop mgr ... Emily Gibson
Special Sections mgr ... Jan Perrier
Production mgrs ... Holly Boren
... Regan Overy
Marketing director ... Alan Stigle
Creative director ... John Carlton
Glassell mgr ... Heather Niahas
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the signature, name, address and dephone phone number affiliated with the University of Kansas. Letters should be typed in a standard keyboard or a computer.
Guest column should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
Here it is Halloween, and everybody has morbidity on the brain.
Ghouls, goblins, darkness and the living dead. And the spookiest place to be is the cemetery.
But I bleg to differ. Cemeteries are not scary. There are no supernatural creatures waiting for fresh blood. It's just a bunch of stiffs laying around. (Please do not be offended at this disrespect for the dead.)
A graveyard is a lovely place to visit
Anecdotal tombstones are better material than any of the writers for Letterman or Leno could come up with. Personally, I hope somebody thinks of a real whopper when I kick the proverbial bucket. Maybe something like, "Her columns stunk as much as she stinks now." Or something poetic like "Here lies Donella, and next to her's her fella."
What most people miss in cemeteries is the humor and the beauty.
OK, so I'm no great writer of epitaphs. But I appreciate the love that
festival like the Mexican Days of the Dead. This holiday is a time when dead relatives are welcomed back to their families and their spirits are honored. What a glorious idea!
But until that is the accepted practice here I will find my loved ones in the graveyard.
DONELLA HEARNE
goes into creating good grave humor. The other side of cemeteries is more serious, serene. You can find some incredible marble in the graveyard. You also see people keeping in touch with the loved ones they've lost. Some find a kind of solace in verbalizing their sorrows and joys.
And you can call me morbid if you like. I don't mind.
I have just one request.
Some of you may be thinking now,
"This chick is way morbid." And
maybe this chick is morbid. But maybe I see something others don't.
I find calm in graveyards.
Before you go creeping into the graveyard to get your Halloween screams, don't forget that the monuments there are sacred and special.
When I see a grave I don't see that person's death. What I do see is his or her life. Was he well-liked? Was she young or old? Was she lonely?
I once visited the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe. It was breathtakingly simple. And I visited the mass graves of Holocaust victims where the grass was the color of blood.
I found sadness and strength in those places. I found strife and peace.
In cemetery I found love and hate in the lives and deaths of others.
And in certain cemeteries I can find my own loved ones, I can remember their spirits and love. And the memories rush back like a whiff of something clean and wholesome.
The sad memories never intrude on my graveward time.
Treat every graveyard as if it were an old cemetery in Europe or a monument to Holocaust victims or the resting place of your own loved ones.
If I had it my way we would never include symbols of death to celebrate Halloween. Instead we would have a
Have fun but don't forget your manners.
Donella Heme is a Wichita senior in Jour nalism.
Jeff MacNelly / Chicago Tribune
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Satirical column draws like reply
We care; therefore, we have developed an alternative solution for underage motherhood in response to Zackary Starbird's opinion column.
While our solution may seem ridiculous, it is no more absurd than the proposal made by Zachary Starbird. We feel much better. It is good to care.
■ Jennifer Cavanaugh
■ Elaine LaBach
Overland Park sophomores
Letters to the Editor should include name, year in school or occupation and phone number.
Writer's humor not appropriate
I am responding to Zachary Starbird's article, "There is a solution to unwanted pregnancies," on Oct. 25. I must admit that I was perplexed when I read this article. It is unclear whether Starbird was serious about his suggestions or if we meant his article to be a sarcastic vehicle for his opinions. Regardless of what his true intentions were, there are much better ways to discuss solutions to teenage pregnancy. To approach this issue, as well as other serious issues like birth control, welfare dependency, restricted freedoms and rape, with flippancy and ridicule is simply irresponsible journalism. The article brittles the struggles many women have gone through as young mothers. The article is an insult to the many concerned people who have tried to find ways to stop this crisis.
And finally, it leads readers to think that there are no attainable solutions to this problem. I would hope that people who read the University Daily Kansan are educated enough to realize the answers provided by Starbird are absurd.
Wendy Doyle KU alumna
And for anyone who may think his solutions were presented with serious intentions, I hope you will likewise see the solutions as the unrealistic options that they are.
Being gay in U.S. isn't so difficult
I'm getting pretty tired of the back-handed sympathy for gays and lesbians who argue that they couldn't have chosen to be gay because who in their right mind "would actually choose to become a member of the most disagregated and oppressed group in America?" (editorial from Oct. 20).
I may not have chosen my sexual orientation, but I certainly have the choice of whether or not to suppress it or act on it. I have chosen to act on it with pride and self-confidence, and not bigots have the nerve to disparage me to my face.
Moreover, to argue that it is unfair to discriminate against people who are not responsible for their status is to make an extremely limited argument. Whether a subject has chosen a particular status is not what makes discrimination based on status wrong.
Simply Equal advocates prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodation because sexual orientation is irrelevant to work performance or to the ability to pay mortgage or rent or to the ability to pay for services.
In any case, I wish you would forge the pity routine. I am one happy homo. And so are all of my gay and lesbian friends.
Maggle Childs
Maggie Childs Head of East Asian Languages and Culture Department
Phone wars cause shift in loyalties
I was proud to get the most out of my long-distance dollar. "Save on the person you call the most."
I was a Sprint fan, pure and simple. The idea of a calling circle or sticking with the standard long-distance plan repulsed me.
I got volume discounts, shiny calling cards with an important-looking international access code and a billing statement that was easy to read. I was also supporting a local business.
Then a friend went to work for MCI.
He would call me on his break to try to switch me over. I refused, noting that I was happy where I was.
We would argue for hours about the benefits of our respective companies, then we would team up and bag on AT&T. I scoffed at Whitney Houston touting her True Voice when I knew deep inside I could hear a pin drop on the nation's first fiber optic network.
When I moved into my new apartment, I signed up for Sprint on day one. My new roommate had friends overseas, so I signed us up for The Most International, which would save us 50 percent on the number we called the most. The Sprint lady assured me this was a wise choice with only a nominal monthly charge.
"And as you know," she warned, "other long-distance companies may call you to make counter offers."
"Don't worry," I assured her. "You have a faithful customer."
The first bill came. No problem.
Then the second bill came. Apparently Austria needed some crucial information that took about 40 minutes to divulge. I had just set down the bill when the phone rang. It was my friend at MCI.
"I called to tell you I just switched over to this small business plan," my friend said. "I only ended up paying $19 for about $45 in phone calls. And I can dial an access code that divides the phone calls between my roommate and I. So we never argue about who made what call."
"Hey, Iowe Sprint," I said.
Hey, how many spam I sent?
"How much?" my friend replied
"Over two hundred," I said.
"No." I said.
Over two hundred, I said. "Just switch to us." he said.
So I did. And I realized that nothing was different. I guess I thought I was in love with Candace Bergen.
David Johnson is a Coffeyville senior in magazine journalism.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin