Opinion
The University Daily Kansan
Laura Roddy, Editor
Sarah Hale, Managing editor
Kristi Ellott, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor
4A
Shauntae Blue, Business manager
Brad Bolyard, Retail sales manager
Matt Fisher, Sales and marketing adviser
Scott Valler, Technology coordinator
Thursday, April 13, 2000
Clay McCuistion / KANSAN
Editorials
Different requirements at Edwards undermine Lawrence curriculum
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in cooperation with the University of Kansas Edwards Campus and some academic departments at the Lawrence campus, is working on a new curriculum for the Edwards Campus. If everything goes according to plan, beginning Fall 2001, the Edwards Campus will be offering undergraduate degrees in English, biology and other subjects that officials were unwilling to disclose.
Now, the Edwards Campus only is offering graduate degrees that are not offered at the Lawrence campus. The new curriculum will incorporate degrees that already are offered in Lawrence. They will be regular KU degrees, and there will be no indication that they were earned at a location other than the Lawrence campus or that they were earned with a different curriculum.
Taking general requirements at community college counters their significance
The rationale behind this decision is supposed to be that the Edwards Campus mainly attracts nontraditional students who, for a number of reasons, do not have the opportunity to study in Lawrence.
However, there are serious objections to the wisdom and fairness of this decision.
The courses that will be offered at the Edwards Campus toward the completion of English and biology degrees will be junior- and senior-level courses. People choosing to follow these curriculums will have to take general requirement classes, including the biology labs, at Johnson County Community College or
other community colleges in the area. That very well could exceed the 60-hour limit the University has on transfer hours. It also undermines the significance of the general requirement courses, as well as the quality of the students' general academic experiences.
Another disturbing fact about the new curriculum is tuition. Edwards Campus has only one rate right now, and it is much closer to in-state than out-of-state tuition. If the new curriculum is implemented, students at the Edwards Campus will be earning the exact same degrees by paying much less than out-of-state students.
Edwards Campus is supposed to complement the Lawrence campus' curriculum, not compete with it. Offering degrees that are not offered at the Lawrence campus, and especially using different standards for them, definitely is not the purpose of the Edwards Campus.
Cynthia Malakasis for the editorial board
U.S. breaking its own laws for Elian
With Juan Gonzalez' arrival in the United States, it seems as though the Elian saga may finally be approaching its end. Despite the passionate efforts of Elian's Miami relatives to delay or change his return to Cuba, the end to this story should be very simple. Elian should be returned to his father.
Putting aside emotions and political rhetoric, the reason for his return is simple. It's the law. As much as some people would like things to be different, the reality is that the U.S. government has a duty to abide by its laws. If those who want Elian to stay want to change the way the government handles such situations, they should try
Given that the law is clear, the dragging out of this case is ridiculous
to change the law. Dragging out this emotionally charged custody battle and risking the further trauma of a child is not the solution.
Cuban boy be any different? Regardless of how strongly his relatives or others believe he should stay, there is no valid reason why immigration laws should be swept aside and an exception made for this case.
Given that the law is so clear, the way this case has dragged on is ridiculous. There seems to be no hesitation in sending back Haitian and other refugees immediately, although their desires for "better lives" are undoubtedly just as strong. Why should one
The U.S. government has no right to deny Juan Gonzalez the rightful custody of his child regardless of cool diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. To do so would amount to discriminating against him for his political beliefs just because he prefers to raise his son in Cuba. Such a decision could not possibly embody the freedom for which Ellan's Miami relatives say they so desperately are fighting.
Kursten Phelps for the editorial board
Kansan staff
Seth Hoffman ... Editorial
Nadia Mustafa ... Editorial
Melody Ard ... News/Special sections
Chris Fickett ... News
Julie Wood ... News
Juan H. Heath ... Online
Mike Miller ... Sports
Matt James ... Associate sports
Katie Hollar ... Campus
Nathan Willis ... Campus
Heather Woodward ... Features
Chris Borniger ... Jayplay
T.J. Johnson ... Photo imaging
Christina Neff ... Photo
Jason Pearce ... Design, graphics
Clay McQuistion ... Wire
News editors
Advertising managers
Becky LaBranch . . . Special sections
Krista Lindemann . . . Campus
Ryan Riggin . . . Regional
Jason Hannah . . . National
Will Baxter . . Online sales
Patrick Rupe . . Online creative
Seth Schwimmer . . Marketing
Jenny Weaver . . Creative layout
Matt Thomas . Assistant creative
Kenna Crone . Assistant creative
Trent Guyer . Classifieds
Jon Schitt . . Zone
Thad Crane . . Zone
Cecily Curran . . Zone
Christy Davies . . Zone
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you."
— Maya Angelou
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
How to submit letters and guest columns
Guest *columna*: Should be double-
spaced typed with fewer than 700 words
The writer must be willing to be pho-
graphraphed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be e-mailed to opinion@kanson.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuaffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Nadia Mustafa or Seth Hoffman at 864-4924.
If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opionian@kansan.com) or call 864-4924.
Perspective
Nnovivalent protest is unheard protest.
So send a feddy of mills
Tear gas, arrests make a story, not nonviolence
N So said a friend of mine, who has an alarchist tendencies, shortly after returning from last year's protests of the World Trade Organization summit in Seattle.
Violent protest is bastardized protest, I retorted.
I wasn't at the Seattle showdown last year. But, according to what I read in the newspapers, about 30,000 protesters broke windows, spray painted cars and generally wrought enough havoc to elicit tear gas and billy clubs from police.
Cauthon columnist
opinion@kansan.com
Phil
Media portrayals of the protesters' message was less clear than the image of mayhem. I got the impression, though, that these protesters were paranoid tree-hugging anarchist rebel rousers with a belligerent anti streak.
This friend of mine, a Jayhawk who now lives in Eugene, Ore., didn't exactly fit that bill. And although he didn't participate in the civil disobedience or rioting (depending on your perspective), he came away from the battle in Seattle a believer in the value of violence. He was so convinced by the events there that he had no qualms opposing the proven philosophy of Gandi or Martin Luther King with his argument: Today's media won't listen unless there's violence.
The skeptic in me saw his point but wasn't sufficiently cynical to agree entirely. And besides, I argued, what's the point in protesting if you debase any legitimate cause with savagery? That just alienates your potential supporters before they even hear the message, making it that much harder to win them over later.
My parents, for example, may very well agree that the WTO is an insidious extra-democratic bunch of smoky-room marauders trying to shanghai the world into accepting so-called free trade as a modern-day panacea instead of as the wolf in sheep's clothing that it really is. However, they never would identify with the cause of some mask-wearing thugs dressed in black, trashing Niketown to make a point even if the point was that the WTO is a proven cover operation for international trade in child prostitutes.
True, my amigo conceded.
But, he said, the Food Not Bombs folks or the Honk for Hemp guys never got media attention in Lawrence and they protested every week. And the kids in Eugene peacefully rally, picket and foment general discontent every day, and the media consistently ignores them.
The relatively infrequent eruptions of violence probably started out of sheer frustration, he reasoned. But whatever their cause, the violent outbreaks brought reporters and cameras where patient protest did not.
But our debate last fall was all very abstract. The peaceful protesting had barely been given a chance to garner media attention before the violence reared its sorry head. We only could speculate and counterspeculate about how the media would have covered Seattle sans tear gas and about 500 arrests.
But our debate just became quite concrete courtesy of my convenient location in a Washington, D.C., news bureau. Protesters began descending on the capital this week to express their distaste for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which is conducting its annual six-day summit here this week.
As an intern reporter, I didn't have my hopes up for the protest assignment. Surely, with interest in Elian waning and given Seattle's precedent, this was a choice story for a senior reporter. So I wasn't surprised when I was assigned a story on Phil Gramm's fight to negotiate North American Free Trade Agreement membership for Britain. But I was more than surprised to learn that no reporter in my bureau would be covering the protests.
In the words of the assistant bureau chief, there was no story there unless it got ugly and then we might send someone to report it. Otherwise, it was a local cop story at best.
To some degree, I saw his point. Even the organized protesters' message often stops short of substantiated facts in favor of accusations such as: The World Bank-IMF-WTO triumvirate is responsible for forcing structural adjustment policies on developing nations that reduce growth, increase unemployment and poverty, ignore human rights and degrade the environment.
The less organized protesters imprecate the IMF and World Bank as global capitalists or patsies for the corporate empire. Still other protesters just look ready to fight, only half interested in the rhetorical litanies being sung out around them.
But I mostly didn't see my boss' point at all. To not even send a reporter to see what's going on denies those thousands of protesters a chance to make their case before the country peacefully. When that many people agree on anything, no matter how absurd the content of the protest, it deserves at least some mention among the pages of any newspaper. Newspaper pages not only contain unread articles about politicians on their bully pulpit, but they also contain a record of human history.
Supranational organizations such as the IMF and World Bank potentially could affect us all, as their names suggest. A popular protest of those organizations, particularly in the U.S. capital, is a local story everywhere. And if not, how in the world did newspapers all across the country justify countless front pages featuring Elian Gonzalez?
As I reported on Sen. Gramm's proposal, the success of which is less likely than my winning the lottery without buying a ticket, I thought about that debate with my friend with anarchist tendencies. He did have a point after all. And a good one at that.
Cauthon is a North Richland Hills, Texas, graduate student in journalism. He is an intern at the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Houston Chronicle this semester.
Only weak leaders use a child as a platform issue
However, the recent declarations of Vice President Al Gore on Elian Gonzalez' future seem to contradict this. Gore seems even to be willing to go against President Clinton to get more votes.
The presidential primaries are finished. Theoretically, candidates shouldn't be fighting within their own parties anymore. Both parties are supposed to use this period to unite.
Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno will
chance to return to their native Cuba. Clinton knows the law and believes it should respected by everyone, including Elian and his Miami relatives. According to recent polls, two-thirds of Americans agree with Clinton.
However, sometimes it is better to please a motivated minority than a majority who is not influenced by what happens to the Cuban boy. In this case, the motivated minority are the millions of Cuban Americans
Cássio
Cassio
Furtado
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
in Florida. They constitute about 4 percent of all registered voters in that very important state.
Most of these Cuban Americans believe that Elian should stay with his relatives in Miami. They made Gore reveal his lack of leadership. Someone who changes his position on an issue in a desperate attempt to gain minority votes is clearly not a leader. A leader, especially the president, must respect the law. Most importantly, a leader should respect you and your intelligence.
But disrespect and lies have been common in this campaign — a campaign marked by so many truths, such as George W. Bush's landmark victory in the nonexistent Kansas primary.
Most of the southern states are considered to be Bush strongholds, including the Sunshine State, where Jeb Bush, his brother, is governor.
Bush, however, claims to be distant from the White House. He also tries to represent moral values or, as he wants to call it, "compassionate conservatism." Maybe that's a synonym for National Rifle Association money, big business and the death penalty. I wonder if Bush knows what compassion is. Sometimes I wonder if he can spell it.
Gore's desperate attempt to gain votes in southern states actually may show how weak his viewpoints really are. As a representative of the Clinton administration, he is the personification of a strong economy backed by weak moral values. He surely is a good vice president, but what do vice presidents do when the most powerful man in the world is alive? Sometimes they join spelling contests. Sometimes they write books on ecology.
What Gore seems to have forgotten is that his bid only has a chance because Clinton did a good job as president of this country. It is not a smart move to be distancing him from what his benefactor says. Therefore, he shouldn't be expressing positions that are contrary to those adopted by the administration of which he is part.
Elian is in the middle of this three-way duel among the White House, Gore and Republicans. Elian is considered to be a campaign issue. However, he is not. He is a young boy, and his interests need to be considered before real campaign issues. Candidates shouldn't be commenting about his future to gain votes.
Elian obviously needs to be sent back to Cuba, no matter whether Fidel Castro claims to have won a battle against the United States and no matter whether Cuban Americans will vote for this or that candidate. That is not the point, and Elian is not a trophy. Strong leaders follow what they think is right—no matter what the opposition says.
However, if you think that Castro can win any battle against the United States, that is a problem. Maybe you haven't been following what has happened with U.S.-Cuba relations for the last 40 years. Or are you still undecided about your candidate for the Kansas primary?
Furtado is a Pelotan, Brazil, junior in journalism and political science.