4
Friday, May 5, 1978
University Daily Kansan
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Comment
Unused editorials represent the opinion of the Kanan editorial staff. Signed columns represent the views of only the writers
Some members of Owl Society, the junior men's honorary, wrote a letter to the editor a few days ago. In it, they stated their defense of why the group has yet to allow women as members.
Unfortunately, the Owls ignored the fact that the time for sexual discrimination at the University of Kansas has come and gone. Even Sachm, the previously all-male senior honorary, became coeducational this year.
It is highly insulting to both men and women at the University for the Owls to say "it is a misconception to interpret our membership as a proclamation about women." Of course it's a proclamation about women. It's an endorsement of everything from discrimination in hiring to promotion policies that not only keep women from advancing as far as their potential permits, but add insult to injury by giving women unequal pay for equal work.
At the University itself, the Owls are saying by their policy that discrimination in the name of academic excellence and leadership somehow is justified. Of course, the group hasn't always been unanimous on the point—two of its members resigned last year rather than put up with its policies.
years.
TO HEAR the Owl tells it, "It is our sincerest belief that the qualities we value so highly within our society would be forever lost by any decision to alter our membership." And just why would that happen? They don't say. The 'camaraderie of our society' presumably is based on basking in outmoded sexist assumptions.
outmoded sexism refers to the Owls refer to their resentment about "outside pressure to change our membership." Too bad. Such pressure has something that seems to be in short supply in the society—logic.
Given the structure of the Owls' constitution, it is doubtful that the group will ever see the light. Just one member can blackball any changes in membership policies. In the meantime, one can only hope for enlightenment among those who assert that they are smart leaders in the junior class. By maintaining their discriminatory stance, the Owls are proving that they are not.
As of July 1, the offices of the University of Kansas dean of men and dean of women will not be clearly identified. They will be found within the newly created confines of the dean of student life and the dean of faculty. The last title is ironic; services might suffer once the changes are adopted.
Reorganization raises questions
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said recently. "Some services may be too expensive to reorganization. We'll have to identify them. It will take extra patience and efforts by our students."
But for now, no one with the apparent exception of Ambler, who was behind the changes, seems to know what services will be lost in the sacred name of efficiency.
AFTER the reshuffling, the dean of student life will control the dean of foreign student services, the director of research programs and the director of admissions to organizations and activities.
The future dean of student services, Donald Alderson, is the chairperson responsible for the director of the University counseling center, the director of the faculty of mathematics, and the director of the student assistance
Policemen, city should grow up
Here we go again.
The table is the hallowed bargaining table and the men facing each other are policemen and city officers. They will "work agreement" with both groups can be said with
The men in blue are on one side of the table, demanding that they should be better taken care of by Mother City. The men in black are in the same table, pointing at their nearly pocket pockets.
The people of Lawrence should be tired of this scene by now—it's all too familiar. Last year, the bargaining ordeal dragged on for months. First there was the extreme stubbornness of both sides; then the collage in negotiating; then the police slowdown and speedup; and, finally, the threat of a strike.
This week the city and police have rekindled some of the old fire left over from last year, and there could be a lot of people scorched before it's all over-again.
THIS YEAR'S negotiations did seem to be staring out in a reasonable fashion. There
At this week's openings talks, city administrators made four proposals of their own in response to the 10 proposals set forth by representatives of the Lawrence Police Association.
LPOA officials came back with what they were five essential proposals for any new project.
Steven Stingley
Editorial writer
It seemed as though the ball was rolling in a progressive and orderly manner.
True, as negotiations developed it was easy to see that there were some serious differences between the two parties. But that is what the bargaining procedure is all about—to air the differences so compromises can be achieved.
The meeting this week, however, did not end on a compromising note. Toward the end of the bargaining talks, Kevin Burt, city employee relations director and chief negotiator for the city, asked the policemen whether they would accept the contract under consideration for a two-year contract, or the usual one-year work agreement.
IT WAS like throwing a wrench into the whole works, and the talks ground to a quick
The police negotiators were justifiably angry and surprised at Burst's sudden change in police. The police had come to the bargaining table with proposals that they understood to be for one year, and one year only. And of course, for the city to extend the length of the contract beyond a year would mean a bur difference for the police.
Gary Sampson, LPOA chairman, argued
that the two-year contract request was not
the city's official request before
receipt.
"We came to the table and they sprung the two-year thing on us," he said. "We'll have a party."
THE policemen's counsel, State Sen Arnold Berman, D-Lawrence, said that he would have to talk with the policemen and write a new set of proposals sometime this week before negotiations could even continue.
The optimism for a quick contract settlement between the city and policemen is now diminished. Inevitably, both parties will continue to pull tricks out of their hats in an effort for each to stay on top of each other at the bargaining table.
The whole messy procedure could be made a lot easier for everyone involved if all the cards were placed on the table at once. The cards that would have been could unfold in an open and frank manner.
COMPROMISING the proposals now at stake is going to take a miserably long time if the negotiators continue at this pace. Obviously, neither side can take the full brunt of the blame. Yet both sides must share the responsibility of pushing for a rapid agreement by being willing to give as well as demand.
It is hoped that negotiators on both sides have learned from last year's nightmare and that this year's shouting around the bargaining table will be swift and smooth.
Bob Beer
Editorial writer
center and the director of student health services.
Gil Dyeck will remain dean of admissions and records.
UNIVERSITY administrators are loath to discuss what will happen, saying only that Amber should comment on them. And thus far, Amber has not provided specifics.
According to Lorna Grunz,
assistant dean of women, all
professional staff members
have been assured of jobs. But
deans have been notified
about their new positions.
Also, the effect of the musical chairs is uncertainty about administrators' careers.
The uncertainty that arises from the reorganization comes not from employment, but where responsibilities will be.
THE positions, unlike some professorships, are not tenured positions. Contracts are let on a yearly basis.
If one person sees 30 students a day and another person sees 30 students a day, it presumably would not be necessary to have one person attempt to see 60 students a day.
MEN and women have been taught different roles when growing up; their socialization is different. Because of that, it makes sense to have separate offices to supervise men and women.
"It is also a matter of whether or not there is a difference in services for women and men," Grunz said.
Robert Turvey, assistant to the dean of men, has said, "Female students need to visibly see women at KU climbing the administrative ladder, and right now, there aren't very many women in University administration."
Grunz said that some careers would be enhanced by the move, particularly if jobs were expanded. But she added that some careers might also be hindered by the move.
"The number of students served will not be reduced," according to Grunz.
A student, particularly a new student, is more likely to approach an office that clearly identifies itself. The use of "woman" or "of women" is much more indicative of KU services than
"dean of student life." Score one for the use of bureaucratic jargon.
Imagine a freshman who fears that she is pregnant. She is scared and needs some advice. Does she go to the dean of student life or to the dean of student services?
The issues of the semester seem important to those close to them. But a look back 32 years, to the spring semester of 1940, to the class that was most important were important to the students of that time but now have disappeared from the scene.
It would seem that a student with a fear of being pregnant would rather see another woman about her problem.
IF SHE goes to the dean of student life, she will meet Caryl Smith, who used to be the associate dean of women. Smith will refer the woman to the school services, Donald Alderson.
But under Ambler's reorganization, the student might, in fact, choose not to see anyone at all.
And the Kansas Legislature gave KU some repair money for its decrepent library and held a meeting to raise the women's athletic program.
Students need assurances that the University will make sure students know exactly where to go for help.
it was an optimistic year, the first one after the end of World War II. The articles in the Kansan, unashedly sexist, dwelt on how the women on board of the war crew had died the men during the war, were anticipating the return of the males.
Ironically, the University was receiving gifts right and left for residence hall construction. That spring it had about $300,000, and all of its construction plans were held up by shortages of material and by the state architect's office.
Students chose new leaders—that is to say, about 2,000 students chose student body leaders at the campus of more
WAR was in the past, but the University wanted to remember its alumni who fought in it. The plans were announced to hold a large fund drive to build a Memorial
Sex semantics perturbs senator
THE RETURN of the males and accompanying problems were the main topics of study at colleges and universities across the country. KU's enrollment for the fall 1945 semester was 12,308 students in 1946 it jumped to 5,135 - a 35 percent increase.
About one-third more people were on campus, and there were severe space problems. While the administration was promising to turn one away from its classes, veterans and staff members of the vacancy" signs just about everywhere they looked. Old army barracks were quickly whipped into some kind of shape, and the University scrambled to find other places for students to stay. If put 80 people in the basement of Spooner Museum.
To the editor:
I am writing to express the sentiment of the Student Senate toward a particular editorial policy of the Kansan. The Senate attached to the Kansan's budget bill a strong suggestion that the Kansan respect the wishes of the committee chairpersons to be called by their official titles. The
We are becoming more and more used to instant history. Analyses of events minutes after they happen, books about events weeks after they happen and, of course, the newspapers to wonder about our time's place in history before it is over.
We stroll down memory lane..
Perhaps demonstrating how close we are to 1984, the issue of whether speech is free came up in two separate incidents. Arab countries were also camped on the camps of an Israeli digtinary, and many people complained when a museum exhibit dealing with Nazis was canceled after its scheduling the eve of a Jewish holiday.
The temper of the times at the University of Kansas in the spring of 1787 might not last forever in University annals. The University spent a lot of time screaming about a piece of bronze and whether that piece was really part of the campus to another. It was decided that the piece would stay where it was.
THE ATHLETIC director of the University chose to act in mystery-shroded, sometimes convoluted ways. Many people were confused. Some were angered.
Campanile, or bell tower, and a highway leading to and from it.
Other campus issues included establishment of a bookstore in the Kansas Union. The bookstore had been approved, but while it waited to be begun, construction started on a
Immediately there were protests. Why not build housing or a new science building or something else that would be useful? There was a and a few distinguished alumni. The plan from planners was that the campanile should be a memorial for everyone, not just residence hall dwellers or the particular academic subject.
recreation area in the Union's lowest level. Editorial favor from the Kaiser at this misdirected event was written in several editions.
DOUGLAS COUNTY commissioners provided the issue of the year off the hill by passing them in hand and placing in places that had beer licenses. The ordinance was quite unpopular. Students stormed commission meetings, shouting at the officers otherwise voiced their indignation. County commissioners, in retaliation, to link the combination of beer and wine increased venereal disease in
Thirty years ago, the Kansas's regular cartoonist was Dekler Bilder. Most of what he drew, reflecting campus attitudes, was in a less than
the county. They backed down, though, later in 1946.
Students chose their leaders—that is to say, about 2,400 students chose leaders for a campus of more than 5,000. The Kansas editorial writers chose the "low" 50 percent turnout.
A new celebrity appeared on campus when the winner of a cartooning contest became the Kansn's staff artist. Dick Bibler's "Little Man on Campus" featured nerdish men, voluptuous women and student-professional high jinks.
OTHER TOPICS of conversation: the practice of fraternities' "Hell Week" and whether it should be abolished; the role of a pre-enrolment; and advocacy of a field house for basketball.
Then again, some things never change. The spring 1946 Kansan noted that the nosmoking rules were being enforced more hardly but attempted to enforce them; it criticized the admissions policies of Greek houses; it contained news of low wages for student employees; and it reported that, according to a psychology professor, they were very sexy-conscious.
Proving what? Proving nothing. Providing evidence, though, that the transient population of an institution like KU is eternally testing, defiant and ready to protest. Only the objects of defiance and protest change.
But there is one evil that faces all students of KU and other universities. The years mean nothing when reporting of that menace is concerned. It is an issue that probably will be included in all future semesters 'Kansans, too.
For the students's life is naught but dust, and the final exams triumph over all.
dissatisfaction arose when the Kansan refused to refer to committee chairs in news stories as "chairman" for all Student Senate chairmen and used the word "chairman" instead. The reasoning behind the refusal was based on a stipulation in the supplemental stylebook drawn up by this semester's form worn word usage in Kansan news stories mandatory.
The word decided upon in this case was "chairman." Therefore, even after members of the Student Senate requested that they be referred to as "chairpersons" rather than "chairman" in news coverage, they were denied.
There are several points I would like to bring up in regard to this policy. First, the policy should not apply to official titles, but only to common use words. When the Kansan
This issue was discussed thoroughly by the Student Senate Communications Committee, representatives of the Kansas State University to air their positions on the topic, and both points of view were discussed. The unanimous sentiment of the committee, however, was that they pressed in later meetings was later passed on the Senate floor.
states a person's name and then follows it with her or his official title, it should print the official title decided upon by the person who represents the person for represents. For the Kansan to substitute whatever word it desires in replacement of an official title is like altering a brand name or would be like using a brand name to issue "Kleenex nose blowers."
Second, titles aside, we feel that the Kansan, as an up-to-date student newspaper, should strive toward neutral, objective language—language that promotes no bias toward sex.
Much of the problem is inherent in the English language itself. Although more neutral than many, it is
traditionally a male-oriented one. Words like "mankind" and "chairman," and "grammatically proper person" reflect a society that thinks in masculine terms. Perhaps the statement once made by a congress"man" will illustrate the need for more gender-inclusive visual shold have the right to an abortion if he wants one."
Ultimately, a society's language is a thermometer of its attitudes. Therefore, if our traditionally masculine values are ideally unbased upon sex, then our language should shift accordingly.
The Student Senate has made that step in its own language and publications. As a body that does the same for students, we views of most students on what we hope is an open-minded campus, we would respectfully urge that the Kansan, in their publications, do the same.
Margaret Berlin, chairperson,
Student Senate
Communications Committee
Nazi debate laced with insensitivity
It is quite surprising that the inept handling of the Nazi exhibit by the administration has become such an important issue. The social consciousness of the Japanese communities, asleep for the past five or six years, now speaks in unbelievably self-righteous tones of the loss of freedoms seldom exercised. In the shadows of Hitler's image the image of the conspiratorial Jew. Much of the drivel written about the issue is predicated upon the assumption that the administration was manipulated by a vocal and powerful Jewish hateful fabrication that could have been easily ascertained if the persons involved had been interviewed.
The outrageous Bartos cartoon—its a sad likeness of Nazi art-portrays the universal and anti-fascist figure Jew, trampling community interests. It is absolutely incredible that such a cartoon could have been run as part of a debate over the war in Iraq, but this figure is not a jew, but instead a self-portrait of the artist's
To the editor:
sentiments and the sentiments of a community that tolerates such crap. It is an unpleasant reality, but it is important to know that the racist stereotype survives.
It is crucial that we—especially non-Jews—speak out strongly against this image. Most importantly, the base reactions must be separated from the real issue. I have no sympathy for the administration's violation of free speech, this
issue is no excuse for reviving images of a Jewish cabal. Furthermore, I would hope that those of you who have spoken so often to me and the former right of free speech will begin speaking to the more substantial social issues that have been fostering since the early 70s and before as much as the lack of sensitivity expressed throughout this debate indicates that many of those involved, although expressing commitment to the cause, still talk about the concrete suffering of fellow human beings. Robert J. Antonio
Associate professor of sociology
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAN
...method at the University of Kansas daily August 19, 2018. Subscriptions to the College of Arts and Sciences and June and July expire Saturday. Sunday and holiday s
Editor
Barbara Rosewicz
Business Manager
Patricia Thornton
Publisher
Daliy Dailey