Opinion
TRDT1915
The University Daily Kansan
Laura Roddy, Editor Shauntae Blue, Business manager Sarah Hale, Managing editor Brad Bolyard, Retail sales manager Kristi Elliott, Managing editor Matt Fisher, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor Scott Valler, Technology coordinator
Monday, February 7, 2000
Clay McCuliston / KANSAN
Editorials
Students need more time to opt for pass/fail opportunity in classes
A proposal to allow students to exercise the credit/no credit option as late as the fifth or sixth week of the semester, instead of the third or fourth, recently was rejected by a faculty governance committee.
This proposal, which was sent back to the drawing board for revision, would have given students more time to evaluate their academic progress and decide whether a particular class grade will influence their grade point average. This would the best way to achieve the original purpose of the credit/no credit option.
When students choose the credit/no credit option, they receive credit for the class if they earn a C or above, but the grade does not
Deadline for credit/no credit option should be extended to five or six weeks into semester
affect their GPAs. The credit/ no credit option counts only for nonmajor classes. Thus, it allows students to pass required courses outside their majors, without devoting undue time and energy to a subject in which they have little aptitude or interest.
Because the credit/no credit option is designed to be applied to classes in which students don't think they will perform well, it is imperative that they be certain
about how they're doing in a class before deciding to adopt that option. Usually, it is difficult to reach a such a decision within the first three or four weeks of classes.
The proposal to extend the time students have to choose the option was not adopted because it would not necessarily be feasible for classes that meet for only a few weeks. This, however, is easy to solve. A revised proposal excluding those classes should be introduced and passed.
It is only fair that students are given adequate time to decide whether they really need to opt for credit/no credit. Without this, an option originally designed to help students won't be helping them at all.
Cynthia Malakasis for the editorial board
Student grade cards not parent proof
Students should have the right to determine who is allowed to see their grades. Unfortunately, because of a lack of security in University of Kansas change of address forms, this is not always the case.
Although students can give the University an address where they want their grades, bills and other information sent, this address can easily be changed by someone else without the student knowing.
The change of address form recently went high-tech: It can be accessed online through the University's Web site. This is a good step. However, in its current form, it is too easy for anyone who knows a student's basic personal information — student ID number, birth
Change of address forms through Web and snail mail lack proper security measures
date, social security number and e-mail address — to change his or her address.
Students' parents, who easily can get online and change the address to which their kids' grades are sent, probably are the most likely to do this. Or, even simpler, parents who pay their children's tuition can fill out the change of address form conveniently attached to the bill.
This is unfair to students. At 18 years of age, students' academic records are their own. College stu
dents are adults and should be treated as such in respect of their privacy. They should have the last say in whether their parents are allowed to view their grades.
A possible solution to this lax security is to limit address changes to inperson or to online through e-mail only, similar to the system by which students can now receive their grades or schedules. This would require students to use their personal e-mail user names and passwords to make the change.
Students deserve privacy rights to their grades and other academic information. Although it may seem trivial on face, improving security in change of address forms would help achieve this.
Kansan staff
Heather Herrman for the editorial board
Seth Hoffman . . . . . . Editorial
Nadia Mustafa . . . . . Editorial
Melody Ard . . . . News/Special sections
Chris Fickett . . . . Nees
Julie Wood . . . . Nees
Juan H. Heath . . Online
Mike Miller . . Sports
Matt James . Associate sports
Katie Hollar . Campus
Nathan Willis . Campus
Heather Woodward . Features
Chris Borniger . Association features
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
Anne Buckles . . . 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 Schlitt . . . Zone
Thad Crane . . . Zone
Cecily Curran . . Zone
Christy Davies . . Zone
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
Advertising managers
"It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well."
--- Rene Descartes
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 columns: Should be double-
spaced typed with fewer than 700 words.
The writer must be willing to be photo-
graphed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be e-mailled 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@kansan.com] or call 864-4924
Perspective
Local activists can serve as role models for kids
W when was the last time you asked a child who his or her role model was? When was the last time you asked yourself?
Breeze Luetke
Stahlman
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
But with a little effort, role models can be seen and pointed out, and it's possible that communities again can have youth who look up to those around them.
Unfortunately, many of today youth will answer this question with a fiction character, one born in the world of television
thanks to mass media, today's youth often are not encouraged to see real people and their incredible gifts to a community or to strive to be like them.
A community is defined in Webster's Dictionary as "a social group whose members live in a specific locality, share government, and have a common heritage."
The people who strive to make the environment in which this community lives and functions a better place are activists. I usually say an activist is a person who challenges the way things are now in the world to make the earth and their communities, or someone else's community, better. I think too many people have given the label "activist" too narrow of a definition. Consequently, people are scared of the word, but really, many of these same people are activists themselves.
I work a lot with youth and often discuss this idea. The definition I use is this: "A community is made up of people who live in, the same place or have things in common." Let's keep things simple.
There are many ways of going about challenging the way things are now. On one hand, you could blockade the doors of the conference center where the World Trade Organization is scheduled to meet, demanding that the people whose lives will be influenced by the decisions have representation. On the other hand, you could write a letter to the editor and help educate the readers, your fellow community members, about the fact that you would appreciate
I didn't think of the column idea on my own. I had received a phone call one day from my aunt, who was calling to ask if I knew anything about Julia "Butterfly" Hill, a tree-sitter in California. Hill had been up in a 300-foot-tall redwood tree since Dec. 10, 1997, protesting the logging of old growth forest. My 9-year-old cousin had read an article about Hill and had become fascinated with her. She wanted to write Hill a letter, and not sure of where to get that information, my aunt called me, the "activist" of the family.
having bike lanes on some of the major roads in Lawrence because you would feel a lot safer if they were there.
After passing on the information and talking to my cousin on the phone, encouraging her interest, I thought a lot about how excited she had become about the interesting life of this 24-year-old woman. I then thought of all the other amazing people I knew and knew of and how their stories might spark that same enthusiasm in another child. The column was born.
Last year, I wrote for a publication that ran my column once a month. It was called "Just for Kids," and it sought to persuade 9- to 12-year-old youths to view men and women who are active in their communities as role models. While my column was geared toward youth, the publication was not specifically targeted at that age group, and with each column I wrote, I hoped people of all ages would be inspired.
I hope writing it was only my beginning. I want to influence people to talk to each other, and especially to youth, about the real people they admire. There are so many individuals who are changing their communities for the better, simply by trying to make their own lives better, more fulfilling and happy. Often they are doing so instead of trying to meet the goals American society instructs us to: Make money, be beautiful and buy things.
One person can make a difference, and it is these people whom we should all strive to be like. Luckily, they are all around us, present in every community. We just have to find them and give them the recognition they deserve.
Luetke-Stahlman is an Olathe junior in economics and American Studies.
Spain's architecture better than childhood fantasies
"The Arabs had the right idea," my friend Seth said.
None of us replied as we sunk lower into the steaming Arabic
— for those few hours in the baths, it was like we had been transported back to medieval Spain.
Baths of Granada. It was the last day of our orientation class on Islamic Spain, and for just less than $10 per person, five of us had gotten two hours in the baths plus a massage. The long soak felt great and seemed a fitting close to the class
The Arabic Batts are not original, but they are an accurate reproduction. Windowless corridors lit by candles lead into a small room with a cold pool. Around the corner and through another door, the area opens into a 7- by 25-foot pool filled with two feet of hot water. Arabic music floats in the background, and a low fountain continues to bubble with more hot water.
As time passed, we gradually numbed into silence, letting sweat drip off our
Matt
Merkel-Hess
columnist
pointer@kansan.com
However, the Arabic Baths are a sideshow to the real masterpiece in town, the Alhambra, a magical fortress that graces the skyline. The Alhambra, or "red one" in Arabic, is not the largest or most imposing castle you'll find, but here the ideals and construction techniques of Al-Andalus, the 800-year Islamic rule of Spain,
faces and the water soothe our muscles. After alternating between cold and hot a few times, we all came out with glowing, healthy skin. I felt more refreshed than I'd been in a while.
The cold stone castles of my childhood dreams in no way resembled the majestic beauty of the Alhambra, still standing as a monument to an era long past. But now I know better — they did have the right idea.
As a child, I had a great interest in medieval tales of knights in shining armor and the world of King Arthur and Robin Hood. But my readings and picture books concentrated on Northern European history or fanciful tales by David Eddings and J.R.R. Tolkien. I never touched the palm trees and orange groves of Islamic Spain, one of the most important and culturally advanced areas of medieval Europe.
The Alhambra was built in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Nasrids, the last family of rulers in Islamic Spain. Inside, fountains, running water and reflecting pools turn an otherwise drab area of Spain into a green oasis of pine, palm and orange trees. Elegant gardens and patios lead into magical rooms with ornate patterned tile, sculpted plaster and engraved Arabic writing. No furniture, carpets or wall hangings remain, but one can imagine the magical life of those that once lived here.
The Alhambra was crowded with tourists even in late January, and in the rush of people, it was easy to pass on by and take a few snapshots. But this is a place — like the Arabic Baths — that needs to be slowly and thoroughly soaked in, with pauses to take a seat in the sun, stop at a still pool or gaze out over Granada and the towering Sierra Nevada mountains that line the city to the east.
came to complete perfection.
Merkel-Hess is an Iowa City, Iowa, junior in journalism and environmental studies. He is studying in Madrid, Spain this semester.
Feedback Diversity requires respect of free speech
In the Feb. 3 edition of the Kansan, Amit Parekh had a column about baseball player John Rocker. The article leads off saying, "diversity matters," yet Parekh's seething anger has prevented him from remembering that "diversity" can only mean difference, and differences can only exist when freedom to express them is allowed.
Parekh would have Rocker receive the "fiercest punishment" and believes authorities should "teach him a lesson." Does this sound like a person who champions "diversity" or one who wishes to crush it?
Freedom to express one's opinion, no matter how unpopular, has always been one of the greatest attributes of our legal and political system. It allows dialogues and change to develop, while also inducing personal reflections about the opinions expressed. Perhaps Parek should consider why Rocker made these comments.
Could it be that Rocker, like so many "white heterosexual males," is getting tired of being the whipping boy for every form of media in this country during the last 30 years? Could it be that Rocker clearly perceives many immigrants coming to this country to exploit it rather than to embrace it, support it and assimilate into the American culture? Is it possible that Rocker understands that the moral and ethical decay of this country is rampant and he feels compelled to
comment about this crisis?
Rocker's comments, while certainly not popular, were caused by some personal assumptions he feels are significant enough to motivate him to express them publicly. It seems that a more sensible reaction to his comments would be to consider why he would say these things and what facts motivate a person to voice these opinions, and to consider what discussions with him might produce insightful results for himself and others. Nothing is to be gained by the harsh punishment or fascist-like oppression suggested by Parekh!
John Auld
Leawood non-traditional student
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