Opinion
The University Daily Kansan
Laura Roddy, Editor
Sarah Hale, Managing editor
Kristi Elliott, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor
Shauntie Blue, Business manager
Brad Bolyad, Retail sales manager
Matt Fisher, Sales and marketing adviser
Matt Valler, Technology coordinator
Thursday, February 10, 2000
Seth Jones / KANSAN
Editorials
New college admissions exam is smart alternative to standard tests
The announcement by Colorado College that it will allow prospective students to take an alternative to the traditional ACT is a welcome innovation. Eight other schools have followed its lead and it is honed that more will do so.
The new test, which will include tasks such as building Lego structures and other hands-on projects, will focus on skills and intelligences previously untapped by regular college entrance exams. The attributes measured by these tests leadership, creativity and cooperation — arguably are far more important to the average college student than the ability to solve trigonometric equations. And now admissions personnel will have a measurable
Different testing methods could eliminate cultural bias of traditional examinations
indicator of students' capabilities in these areas.
Testing of this nature also eliminates any ethnocentric or cultural blases that critics of standardized testing have pointed to for years. It is hoped that this new test will allow all students to demonstrate their readiness for college regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds.
This test may not be a panacea for all the inequalities in American education, but it definitely is a step in the right direction. Even if the
test turns out to have only a negligible impact on who gets in to our American universities, we should applaud the willingness of these nine schools to experiment with new ideas.
Instead of relying on "the way it's always been done," these schools are blazing their own trails toward academic excellence. Our nation, if it is to continue to be successful, must tap into the resources and abilities of all its citizens, not just those who were privileged enough to read Geoffrey Chaucer in high school.
The University of Kansas should pay close attention to how this experiment proceeds. If it turns out to be successful, the University should adopt a similar model.
Tom Broderick for the editorial board
Peltier deserves a pardon; we can help
For 24 years, Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned for a crime that the U.S. government admits it cannot prove he committed.
Last year, President Bill Clinton denied him pardon. Peltier's last appeal was in 1987. Last Sunday was the anniversary of Peltier's arrest, and this is an opportunity for all of us to take a step toward helping Peltier get the pardon he deserves.
In 1975, two FBI agents and a Native American man were killed in a gunfight on a South Dakota reservation. Despite the lack of evidence, Peltier, a Native-American activist on the reservation, was convicted and sentenced to two life terms in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary for the murder of the agents.
The wrongful detention of the Native-American activist is an important international issue
More than two decades later, the government and FBI have admitted that they have no idea who actually killed the agents, but they continue to deny amnesty to Peltier.
Although the Free Leonard Peltier movement is based in Lawrence, the wrongful imprisonment of Peltier has become a national and, indeed, an international issue. Leaders and civil rights activists around the world and organizations such as Amnesty International continually lobby for his release.
During the last year, Peltier has
become ill, but the prison is unwilling or unable to provide the medical attention he needs. More than possibly gaining freedom for this accused man, lobbying for Peltier's release strikes a blow against wrongful imprisonment of political prisoners everywhere.
During this month and beyond, we can continue to make an effort to achieve Peltier's release by contacting our state representatives and making sure they are informed about his situation and know that their constituents want him released. We also can tell others about Peltier so that they too can contact their representatives.
Peltier should be allowed to live the rest of his life outside the confines of a prison cell, and our awareness and activism can give him that opportunity.
Kansan staff
Ben Shockey for the editorial board
Seth Hoffman . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable." — John Kenneth Galbraith
How to submit letters and guest columns
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.
Guest columns: Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be e-mailed to opinion@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-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 (opinion@kanson.com) or call 864-4924
Perspective
For GOP's 'Dubya, there are no sure things
Things had been looking pretty good for George "Dubya" Bush in New Hampshire. For his main political statement, he went to a pancake-flipping contest that's about the speed of My Man George when it comes to issues and legislation
I've gotta admit, he did pretty well. Wielding his spatula like a pro, he made a beautiful toss that earned him a 9.7 from the judges.
Gary Bauer, token Christian/ultra-Right former candidate, had a harder time of it. After doing unspeakable things to his pancake, he slipped, stumbled and did a back flip off the stage, landing in a heap on the ground. It was a pretty good visual
Loader columnist
opining@kansan.com
metaphor for his campaign, really.
"Dubya" collected the vaunted Golden Spatula of victory, shot the crowd his trademark smirk and waited for the presidency to be handed to him on a silver platter.
Then John McCain stepped on him. Hard — 19 percent lead hard. You could hear the squashing sound of Bush's smirk being ground underfoot five states away. I can just see Shrub turning to his handlers, hurt, bewildered and confused, saying, "But I won the pancake contest! I don't get it!"
This is, to great extent, the trouble with George W. Bush. He just doesn't get it. Throughout his entire campaign, he's acted as though the presidency was some sort of birthright — just give it to him, no questions, no need to actually lay out concrete issues or positions. And, unfortunately, much of the political establishment has bought it.
After eight years of Bill Clinton, the congressional Republicans are desperate to wrestle back control of the Oval Office. They're backing the horse they think has the best chance of beating Gore. They're horribly wrong.
Bush is a nothing. He's a mediocre, dim, arrogant scion of money and privilege. The more exposure he gets, the more it shows, and the less appealing he becomes.
If he wins the Republican nomination, I'm
predicting that Gore has a good chance of winning the presidency — because by the time the actual election comes around, the only people willing to back Bush will be the Republican party faithful. And that's not enough to get the presidency.
The media love McCain like other no candidate since Reagan. I've even heard a lot of liberals and independents, people who normally would sever a few fingers before voting Republican, seriously consider casting their ballots for McCain. He's a perfect example of a mainstream candidate — and he's not breaking his principles to be that way.
McCain is a conservative candidate; look at his record if you have any doubts. He has pushed a conservative agenda throughout his years in Congress, and there's every reason to suppose that he would do so as president. But "conservative" does not necessarily mean "corpure pawn of big money." It certainly doesn't to McCain. It doesn't to most Kansas conservatives. It does to Bush, however. And it does to a lot of legislators in Congress. People recognize this.
The Republicans are falling into the same trap that the Democrats were in during the 1980s. They nominate people who overwhelmingly appeal to their own party, then get crushed in the general election by a candidate capable of getting votes from both sides.
Bush? He's been trying to appease the ultra-Right wing of the party — that which many good Republicans want no part of. His first stop in South Carolina, for example, was at Bob Jones University, a place notorious for its ban on interracial dating.
"Although there is no verse in the Bible that dogmatically says that races should not intermarry, the whole plan of God as He has dealt with the races down through the ages indicates that interracial marriage is not best for man. We do believe we see principles, not specific verses, to give us direction for the avoidance of it," reads a letter from the university's community relations coordinator.
Is this the sort of crowd Republicans want to court and be identified with? Republicans made a big noise about character and principles during the Clinton flasco. Time to put our ballots where our mouths are.
Loader is a Henderson, Nev., junior in journalism.
Deep within the jungles of Thailand lies a rebel group commanded by a pair of twins that inspires more devotion than a TV evangelist and that smokes more dobage than Cheech, Chong and Willie Nelson combined.
U.S. voters could learn from gun-toting twins
Despite the fact that they appear no more menacing than your average machine gun-toting 12-year-olds, Johnny and Luther Htoo are the leaders of God's Army, a group of about 200 rebels seeking autonomy from the Burmese government. Believed to have mystical powers by the ethnic Karen minority, the twins serve as a sort of militant Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen for the oppressed natives of Southeast Asia.
The group has made the news recently after retreating into Thailand during armed conflict with the
Luke
Wetzel
columstist
opinion@bkansan.com
Burmese government and was also blamed for a hostage takeover of a Thai hospital. Why the group would attack innocent hospital patients and not an embassy or government building is anybody's guess. It might all be part of some cryptic plan, but then again, it could just be because of the fact that the ones calling the shots are a couple of drug-using preteens.
Far away from the supernatural forces and echoing gunfire of the situation in Thailand, the U.S. primaries are in full swing. Albert Einstein once said that the most beautiful thing we could experience was the mysterious. Southeast Asian culture relies on mysterious elements, while U.S. presidential elections have virtually none. But who says the two governing methods can't borrow from one another?
I'm not calling for a birth of religious demagoguery in America. The last thing this country needs is official recognition of the Interbaternity Council, the Illuminati, the International Bankers or any kind of secret political sect. But after the turbulent rock 'n' roll atmosphere of the Clinton era, candidates in the 2000 election may need to spice things up a bit to keep the public interested.
Sure, Bill Bradley was an NBA star, and John McCain has stories of POW camp. Al Gore was part of the Clinton administration, and George W. Bush can brag that his daddy sat in the Oval Office. Not bad credentials for a crew of middle-aged White guys. But as we learned from Clinton's inability to get perjury allegations off his back, ready smiles, expensive haircuts and savoir-faire will only take you so
You can bet that if this kind of fervor was shown in democratic America, more people would get to the polls. Digging up every detail from the candidates' pasts would be unheard of, as the dirt would be replaced with mythic folklore and political legend. Scandalous media practices would fall under a dark curse, as would dinnertime telephone poll takers. Candidates full of too much hot air would be subject to sacrificial rituals by more established members of their parties.
For all their lack of revolutionary success, the enigmatic philosophies of the Karen people could hold a few benefits for U.S. politics. For example, U.S. presidential candidates spend valuable time on countless photo-ops, TV advertisements and hobnobbing with voters. Luther Htoo, on the other hand, demonstrates his leadership ability by lounging around in rolled-up military pants, smoking cigarettes and shooting papayas out of trees with an M-16 rifle.
In a nation plagued by overexposure of its politicians, it would be interesting to see what U.S. politics would be like stripped down to a more primordial level. Until then, we'll have to take comfort in the fact that although U.S. politics aren't very exciting, scenarios involving Alan Keyes lugging around a semi-automatic rifle or Steve Forbes smoking a joint aren't likely to be found anywhere on the modern political horizon.
A nation led by democracy and a group led by magical twins clearly will have their differences. But the greatest contrast between the two cultures is perhaps the amount of support we put behind our leaders. With such a low voter turnout in the United States and with the same two political parties dominating the scene every year, it's hard not to wonder what U.S. politics be like with the mysticism shown by the Burmese groun.
Imagine the possibilities: Candidates would no longer travel the countryside giving speeches in small towns and spending the night in vans or hotels. Instead, they would issue manifestos to newspapers from large campaign tents hidden in national parks. Physical defects and drug allegations that ordinarily would hurt a candidate's chances would be regarded as signs of spiritual prowess. Debates simply would be televised tribal gatherings from secret locations, free of teleprompters, political analysts and overly rehearsed speeches. Partisan politics as we know it would be reinvented, if not eradicated altogether.
far.
Wetzel is a Westwood freshman in English and journalism.