Opinion
The University Daily Kansan
Laura Roddy, Editor
Sarah Hale, Managing editor
Kristi Elliott, Managing editor
Tom Ebien, General manager, news adviser
Shantae Blue, Business manager Brad Bolyard, Retail sales manager Matt Fisher, Sales and marketing adviser Scott Valler, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, March 1, 2000
John Trever / TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Editorials
Kansan report card
PASS
■ George W. Bush — After realizing that Catholics might vote or help pay for his catchy TV commercials, 'W.' apologizes for visiting Bob Jones University.
*Student Senate Blood Donor Proposal* — The bill would allow student laborbios to argue against allegedly discriminatory Food and Drug Administration blood drive regulations.
Robert Page — Associate director of multicultural affairs wins Citation for Leadership and Achievement in Student Services Award for outstanding service to the University of Kansas. Congratulations to all of the nominees.
**Grammy Winner** — Chris Moore, assistant professor of music and dance, wins a Grammy, but gets stuck in traffic and misses the show. Next
FAIL
A. W.O.L. professors — A discrimination lawsuit leads some professors away from their classes; some students feel like children in the middle of a divorce. In this divorce though, out-of-state students are paying $57 per week.
Bus Shelter — Student Senate uses student fees to offer a contest for bus shelter designs. It's a good idea, but it should be limited to KU students.
Candidates should stay on the grass
Few things are more annoying and discouraging to a student voter than being unwillingly approached by Student Senate candidates during campaign season. Tonight, Senate will vote on a bill that would allow candidates to do just that.
Passing this legislation will not improve the election process. It most likely will have a negative effect by decreasing voter turnout and further disillusionion nonvoting students. The existing policy on "active table campaigning," as this get-in-your-face-and-drag-you-to-the-ballot method euphemistically is labeled, states that Senate candidates are permitted to campaign in this manner only during election week. The bill, however, suggests that such a prohibition clearly is "a violation of candidates' rights to free speech." It recommends that all prohibitions on sidewalk campaigning
Allowing sidewalk campaigning may decrease voter turnout in Student Senate elections
be lifted, effectively making it open season on unsuspecting students.
Let us assume for just a moment that students actually don't mind being flocked by screaming candidates on Wescoe Beach during election week. Even then, the premise for this bill still falls on its face. The appeal to a violation of free speech is a ridiculous notion. Campus is a controlled environment, and the administration and Senate have the right, and the duty, to ensure that students are not harassed.
If the elections code allows for candidates to approach and even physically prod students toward the ballots, what's to stop credit card vendors.
Hare Krishnas and tree-stump style preachers from doing the same? It's safe to assume that most students are proponents of free speech, but it's a fallacy to assume that free speech involves physical persuasion.
The bottom line is that sidewalk campaigning violates students' rights if any at all. Most students who plan to vote probably already have decided who they will vote for. All of the potential voters are not likely to be encouraged to vote through verbal and physical harassment. One almost wonders if this bill exists to discourage, rather than encourage, any growth in voter turnout.
Sidewale campaigning should be prohibited altogether. Extending the term during which it is allowed clearly is a step in the wrong direction, and senators will do nothing but shoot themselves in the foot if they pass the bill.
Kansan staff
Ben Shockey for the editorial board
Seth Hoffman .Editorial
Nadia Mustafa .Editorial
Melody Ard .News/Special sections
Chris Fickett .Neus
Julie Wood .Neus
Juan H. Heath .Online
Mike Miller .Sports
Matt James .Associate sports
Katie Hollar .Campus
Nathan Willis .Campus
Heather Woodward .Features
Chris Borniger .Associate features
T.J. Johnson .Photo imaging
Christina Neff .Photo
Jason Pearce .Design, graphics
Clay McQuistion .Wiry
News editors
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
Advertising managers
"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." — Rebecca West, 1913
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
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Perspective
Equal rights within state key to personal identity
Like anyone who has moved to or visited a foreign land, I have had my own difficulties during the last few weeks. I arrived in Palestine during the worst snow storm the region had witnessed in 10 years. I don't speak the language well, I am unfamiliar with the area and I don't know many people.
Almas
Sayeed
columnist
goonindokkanan.com
In addition, there are always the really pressing issues such as where and what to eat, what is the most polite way to ask for the bathroom and what is the best way to fit in as quickly as possible. The last one is by and large hopeless for most Americans.
But the difference is that I am not really in a country — I am in Palestine. More specifically, I am in the disputed territory of the West Bank, controlled by the state of
Israel, Palestinians largely are autonomous within the West Bank, but there is still no sovereignty.
So far, what they have taught me is that as long as the great powers of the world demand that borders and states exist, it is necessary for people to identify with a state and country, and hence a people and a culture. Given time for reflection, I think most people would agree.
This strong desire for a state is the result of long-term political turmoil between Palestinians and Israelis. Although there are discussions about whether there should be two states or one state in this region, it is clear that the young people want others to understand their struggles for sovereignty.
Soaked in the memories of the intifada, a campaign of resistance that began in 1987, college students at Birzeit University, where I'm studying, are anything but apathetic about politics. Not only do the young people here face the everyday problems that most college students face — lack of money, family problems and grades — but they also are burdened by the fact that they do not have a state that is officially their own. Even the local Palestinian Authority is forced to defer to Israel in matters of great importance.
especially to Americans who are happy to criticize the government or who are tired of Monica and Bill jokes, But I quickly have learned that, for the Palestinian students I have met, the importance of having equal rights within a country with which a person identifies is intrinsically tied to personal identity. In this region of the world, Palestinians cannot even enter parts of Israel, including Jerusalem. Because of this border, Palestinians are restricted in their movements between the West Bank and Gaza, where most Palestinians live.
Many of the 20-something students I have met thus far have distinct memories of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and settlers during the *initifda*. Many of them lost their homes, friends and family, and a number spent some years in prison. Each one seems to repeat a similar mantra: "The sacricles will be worth it when we get our own state."
The lack of a state may seem inconsequential.
Editor's note: The area formally known as Palestine is now controlled by Israel. Palestine is not a state. Sayeed, a Wichita junior in philosophy, women's studies and international studies, is studying this semester.
Feminist ideals are lost in the land of machismo
It is not easy being a feminist in Spain. In fact, I'm not certain that the concept really exists here, at least not that I've encountered.
Spain is, openly and proudly, a machista country. Males from ages 20 to 70 swear that women have the same opportunities as men, and I once heard a 22-year-old Spaniard named Fernando rattle off that it seemed that all women were feminists these days. However, I have yet to find evidence of either.
Although my deduction could be flawed, this is
Emily Hughey columnist opinionkansan.com
For example, every time I pass the bar on the corner, which has been twice a day for the last month, I look in to find a crowd of men watching soccer, drinking beer, smoking cigars and staring at women through the glass as they pass by. Not once have I seen a woman inside the bar. The closest thing was the day the Real Madrid soccer team played
Although my duties my perspective thus far, and it's been formed by open-minded observations and frank conversations.
I took solace in the fact that the game was on, because that meant that I wouldn't be scrutinized or called out to when I walked by (as a general rule, the only sure thing that keeps Spanish men's eyes off women is soccer). Then, rounding the corner, I laughed out loud. Away from the throngs of men, young and old, who were pressed up against the glass trying to watch the game, was a table. Sitting around it were four women with Cokes and baby strollers, oblivious to the gruff cheering around them.
Manola, my 60-something host, always says of her husband, Paco, when he eats dinner in front of the television instead of with us: "The men, they like futbol, but I like to talk and watch movies much better."
Such seems to be the trend, not just with the older generation, but also with my Spanish peers. With my girlfriends, we talk most about boys, perfume, shopping and sometimes about studying. When we touch on politics, culture or religion, the boys in our group jump in, the girls shy away, and it's just me discussing issues with a group of verv opinionated Spanish guys.
Okay, I thought, so sports aren't her thing. Once I asked her about some women-related recent events, and she told me to ask Paco. In the next breath, she said she thought she was a progressive woman.
the seville team on pay-per-view and everyone flocked to the streets to watch.
They stand around, half-c confused, half intrigued that a girl is talking to them with confidence in her own beliefs and an idea of what is going on.
Although they've gotten used to it by now, I could tell it was different with them at first.
Once, one of them whispered to me, "I can tell you're a smart girl." The look on his face showed that what he really meant was "Damn! I'm going to have to change my approach if I want to get some American booty tonight."
Needless to sav,he didn't get it from me.
Even in the Seville Marathon last weekend, which I watched from my window, women were nearly absent. I kept making myself stay by the window until I saw a woman pass by, and when I finally saw her, she was walking.
I realize that I'm lucky to have danced through life to this point without any of the detrimental encounters with chauvinism I have found here. Even though I'm not naive enough to believe that sexism doesn't exist in the United States, or that some feminists aren't extremists, I admit that there's a lot to be said for the status of women in the United States.
In Spain, I never read about powerful women in the news, I rarely see fully-clothed and educated women on television, and I have yet to hear of Spanish women excelling in athletics.
I keep telling myself that the entire culture isn't as machista as it seems. Not every man likes to stand on the sidewalk and cat call to pretty girls, and not every woman loves it when they do. However, my present suspicion is that both sexes enjoy their respective roles and it, no doubt, has an effect on the status of women in this country.
Back in the United States, I never thought of myself as a feminist. I was, and still am, a supporter of the self-empowerment of all people, but never a feminist.
We have politicians, educators, scientists, athletes and every other imaginable role played effectively and with strength by U.S. women. Most of us are taught that the sky's the limit.
Feminism does not have to be an extreme; instead, it is an ideal that supports balance, equality and respect for women. However, it seems that oblivion to feminism is rampant within both genders in Spain.
Imagine: If I told a random someone I wanted to be a journalist in the United States when I grew up, he or she probably wouldn't flash a patronizing smile and say, "Really?"
Around the world, feminism often has a negative connotation. To many it means vigilant, man-hating, asexual social rebels. But now, more than ever, I realize that much of the world has the wrong impression.
But it's not like that everywhere.
So it goes here in Spain.
Hughey is an Overland Park junior in journalism and Spanish. She is studying in Seville, Spain, this semester.
Feedback
Not all scientists back Darwinian evolution
I would like to respond to Lynn Margulis' Feb. 24 letter. She is very correct in pointing out that Matthew Hastings (or the person he quotes) has confused neo-Darwinism with Darwinism.
However, her statement,
"Not only biologists, but all educated scientists, are 100 percent behind evolution," needs some clarification.
This statement is true if one defines "evolution" very widely, such as, "things change over time." Any reasonable person agrees with this observation. However, Ms. Margulis then switches definitions on us, leaving it implied that "all educated scientists are 100 percent behind" Darwinism, which states that all creatures are descended from a single common ancestor through a purposeless, unguided physical process.
This statement is quite false!
In a recent poll cited in the Nov. 1999 issue of Physics Today, 40 percent of scientists said that they believed that "evolution was divinely assisted," which is contrary to Darwinism.
Thus, contrary to Ms. Margulis' statement, only about half of scientists are fully behind Darwinism.
Brian Thomas Lawrence graduate student in physics
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