Opinion
The University Daily Kansan
Laura Roddy, Editor Shauntae Blue, Business manager Sarah Hale, Managing editor Brad Bolyard, Retail sales manager Kristi Elliott, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser Scott Valler, Technology coordinator
Tuesday, January 25, 2000
Seth Jones / KANSAN
Editorials
Naughty But Nice a poor excuse to regulate adult stores' locations
The opening of the new adult store Naughty But Nice has been met with resistance by some residents of the surrounding neighborhood who find the store's location problematic. Although the city is considering new statutes that would place more regulations on adult stores, it is unclear whether Naughty But Nice should be the impetus for such change.
The store, at 1741 Massachusetts St., has been criticized by neighbors for being in such close proximity to a residential neighborhood. The problem with this claim is that it essentially makes all of Lawrence off-limits for such stores. While there are homes surrounding Naughty But Nice, other businesses dominate the block, clearly demarcating it as a business area. Further, one would be hard-pressed to find any area in
New store does not harm neighborhood or attract unhealthy people to area
Lawrence that is very far from a residential district.
Perhaps the biggest concern about the location of Naughty But Nice is the fear of neighborhood degradation that allegedly accompanies adult stores. This argument is not based on sound reasoning but on an infatuation with promoting a clean image. In our own city, one only need look at Priscilla's on 23rd Street as proof that neighborhoods don't deteriorate with the introduction of adult stores. Priscilla's has been open for several years under different names, and res-
identes of the surrounding neighborhood certainly will refute the claim that they live in an area of decay.
Even more dubious is the assertion that Naughty But Nice would be visited by more "unhealthy" people than any other business. To assume this would be to assume that "unhealthy" people don't shop for groceries at Dillons, opposite the store, like the rest of society. Picturing the patrons of Naughty But Nice as people who only leave their homes to shop for pornography is laughable.
Mayor Erv Hodges has said future regulations could restrict hours of operation, the age of customers and the visibility of store items. These are valid concerns that the city may want to deal with, but the location of Naughty But Nice should not be one of them.
Jeff Engstrom for the editorial board
State should not skimp on education
The last few weeks have presented developments that might stall temporarily Kansas's progress in secondary education. Because of a shortfall in tax revenue last year, Gov. Bill Graves has urged the Kansas Legislature to lower its proposed $50 per student increase in funding for education to just $37.
This may seem like a small amount, but it becomes a substantial difference when multiplied by the hundreds of thousands of students in Kansas classrooms. While our state legislators fight to increase the quality of our education, President Clinton has decided to take another approach by making higher education more affordable for middle income families.
Last Thursday, he unveiled a plan that would create a $30 billion "College
Schools have become victims of Legislature's budget battle
Opportunity Tax Cut," allowing families who earn less than $120,000 to receive a tax deduction of up to $10,000 for tuition, fees and job-related training. But will all this money really make a difference for students and their parents? And does providing national funds for higher education mean that the state can ignore funding quality education at the secondary level?
Educational costs continue to increase at an astonishing rate because of factors such as technology and high schools, middle schools and elementary
schools deserve adequate funding. Furthermore, decent salaries certainly are required to attract high-quality teachers or build better educational accommodations.
Admittedly, throwing money into the educational system without regard as to where it is spent or if it is achieving its goals is foolish. We must make sure that these resources and opportunities are used carefully and conscientiously.
It is imperative, that education be a priority in both good years and bad. Clinton and the Legislature should stick to their guns in the budget debate. Our progress as a nation is largely dependent on the quality of education. Waiting for a windfall to support our schools may cost us far more than we ever expected.
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 . . Association features
T.J. Johnson . . . Photo imaging
Christina Neff . . . Photo
Jason Pearce . . Design, graphics
Clay McCuistion . Wire
Tom Broderick for the editorial board
News editors
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
Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It ended well. One no was hurt. Tired students, myself included, giped and dozed in the Ellsworth Hall lobby for an hour or two and then returned to McColum, opened a few windows for the lingering smoke, and went back to sleep.
We had a sort of dress rehearsal for a tragedy last week. About 4 a.m. Tuesday, the south wing of McCollum Hall suffered a fire in the trash area. Smoke spread rapidly through the garbage chutes, the alarm blared and fire trucks and ambulances raced to the scene
Seton Hall fire shows effect of prank alarms
The very next morning at almost exactly the same time, a fire started at Boland Hall, a six-story residence hall at Seton Hall University.
Mike
Loader
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
It didn't end well.
Perspective
Three students burned to death inside. About 62 others, some in critical condition, were rushed to the hospital.
And oh, the similarities, the sameness between the two fires. And the horrible difference.
Boland had been hit by a rash of false alarms. So had McCollum. In particular, at Boland there was a flood of frank alarms during finals week — just like at McCollum. Students at Boland no longer took the alarms seriously.
That also describes the attitude here at McCollum. I've lost track of the number of times I've heard someone say, only half-jokingly. "The next time that stupid thing goes off I'm just going to hide in my closet."
Everyone at Boland thought it wasn't real. There was no hurry. There was time to get some warmer clothes on, grab a textbook or Walkman and yawn and stretch.
I've always taken the alarms seriously;
they're too loud not to be taken seriously. I'm usually the first one out from my floor.
But on Tuesday night, I yawned, swore and took the time to change into some warmer clothing. I took a few seconds to grab a book and my reading glasses. Then I made for the exit.
As I left my room, I almost immediately started smelling smoke.
I live on the 10th floor. As the alarm screamed, I ran down the empty fire stairs. Empty. It wasn't until I got to the fourth floor that people began emerging from the hallways. By this time, the smoke was visible.
People didn't think it was real. Fire alarms are almost a weekly thing at McCollum.
If the fire here had started somewhere other than in an isolated, brick-lined basement, I think it is likely that we would have had a similar casuality rate. Higher, in fact; McCollum is a bigger structure than Boland.
They didn't think it was real at Seton Hall either. Three people are dead because of that. Many more are horribly burned.
Someone's been yanking the alarms throughout the past two years at McCollim. You've been lucky, friend. You haven't killed anyone yet. Someone like you at Seton helped murder three people.
But hey, it's all in fun. There's a man in his 70s on my floor, a great person. I hope I have half his energy and spirit when I reach that age. You must take great pleasure in jarring him awake, sending him running down nine flights of stairs. That's good for seniors, who so seldom have heart problems.
With hundreds of people, half-asleep, in carpet slippers on narrow, cramped stairs — what are the odds of someone tripping and breaking his or her neck? Wouldn't that be hysterical?
Such a funny man. Maybe you'll kill someone yet. We have the whole semester left.
oader is a Henderson, Nev., junior in journalism.
Want a personal shopper? Old Navy is your store
So after a week of finals and lack of sleep, I was under the impression that I would finally get a break. No more disappointments at the bookstore, finding out that my books were worth jack squat or that the editors had come out with new editions.
I had decided before Thanksgiving that I was going to work during break at some relaxed, easy job. I had decided not to overachieve this break and to spend my time at
Consumerism is supposedly a trend that is sweeping throughout the United States, urging all to learn more information about every single product. In my case, my seasonal job proved quite to the contrary. These shoppers didn't know more about the product; they didn't even look at some of the clothes they decided to purchase.
a no-brainer place of employment. After a day of filling out applications, I was hired by Old Navy.
Rupali
Limaye
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
As I was straightening jeans for the third time that day, a woman stopped me and asked for my assistance. First she inquired if I was a college student, and as I started to nod my head, she began pulling me along, encouraging me to show her our feature items of the week. Finally, she asked which clothing items I personally liked and would or already had bought. Being a helpful salesperson, I proceeded to show her a few, thinking that she just needed some direction
I knew that it would be a madhouse the week before Christmas. But, I figured that it would keep me busy and that I would score the extra cash that I badly needed. On my first day of work I was rudely awakened by the lack of sincerity of some consumers.
as to what seemed to be popular. As I pointed out each item, she asked me to grab every one to place in her bag. After picking about five, she politely thanked me. She explained that now she had bought her college-aged daughter all her Christmas presents, and she proceeded to the checkout lane.
To be honest, I was quite surprised. I couldn't believe that she had waited until less than a week before Christmas to do her shopping, but more surprisingly, that she had trusted the judgment of a complete stranger. Not only did she grab at all of my suggestions, I don't even think she glanced at any of the sizes, much less look at the actual clothes.
I thought that the situation was an anomaly, but I was proven wrong. The same day two other customers asked for my opinion and matched it to their checkbooks.
The worst encounter I had was with a man two days before Christmas. He walked into the store, spotted me in the women's department and cornered me. He thrusted a list in my face. I deciphered his babbling to realize that he still needed to shop for his girlfriend and his sister-in-law. He pointedly told me that I had free reign in the store, giving me a budget of $300, and that he would be back in half an hour.
I was dumbfounded. I reasoned that he probably didn't know much about clothing, yet I was still shocked at his request and attitude. I had now turned from a helpful sales associate to a personal shopping assistant, and I wasn't getting paid enough for the services I rendered.
After a month of buying clothes for complete strangers, I looked forward to returning to the good old bookstore. I figured that even though I was going to get ripped off, I at least wouldn't have to deal with lazy consumers.
Limaye is an Olathe junior in advertising and political science.
Feedback Religious Studies not moral studies
I need to comment on how my former student, Nathan Rice (as cited by Mike Hoffman), characterized my class, Religious Studies 124: Understanding the Bible. According to the article in the Kansan, Mr. Rice said that I "treated the Bible as a bunch of myths and fairy tales."
I am sure that I never used the phrase, "fairy tales" and that I carefully explained the technical way in which the term "myth" applied to a particular type of literary genre and does not imply either the truth or falsity of a narrative. I certainly never "sought to discredit" the Bible. I do, however, ask students to make sense out of duplicate narratives in a text and the relationship of the biblical narratives to various other data coming from the Ancient Near East. The point in these cases is neither to prove the Bible accurate nor to prove it inaccurate, but rather to show the type of questions raised in the academic study of religious texts and the methods for answering them.
Mr. Rice asks for a course that would show that the Bible "presented certain fundamental truths" and would "focus on the Bible as a guide on how to live a moral life based on the teachings of Jesus."
The department has a mandate from the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences to create principal courses that introduce students to a discipline or field of study. REL 124 is such a course. The task of the University of Kansas is nether to teach "fundamental truths" nor to guide people in how they live their lives. Rather it is to teach them the tools that academics use. That is the purpose of REL 124. If another course teaches other things about he Bible, that is certainly a worthy cause. It does not, however, fulfill the mission that the University has set for its Department of Religious Studies.
S. Daniel Breslauer professor of religious studies
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