Opinion
The University Daily Kansan
Published daily since 1912
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
4A
Wednesday, January19, 2000
Clay McCuistion / KANSAN
Editorials
Kansan report card
PASS
CCO MLK Day project --- CCO volunteers worked at various agencies around Lawrence to keep Dr. King's dream of service alive.
Hazzard reruns, we have never had as much fun making ourselves better.
- Long Break — Students historically have never been averse to long breaks from school. We even think that the last month has not been a break, but rather a time of enrichment. From learning crochet to watching Dukes of
Y2(K) Worry? — Those of us who stocked our garages with canned foods, pinto beans and bottled water were not upset that nothing bad happened. In fact, we are elated that we did not have to use our hoarded supplies. And if you believe this, we have several generators we would like to sell you.
FAIL
■ John Rocker — if the Atlanta Braves are America's Team does that make John Rocker America's Bigot? The chasm between athlete and intellect has been wider. Rocker's New Year's resolution: Call Charles Barkley for advice.
70 is not worthy of being stopped.
**Seat belt crackdown-- Gov. Graves believes that police should pull over drivers who fail to wear seat belts. While increased seat belt usage is an admirable goal, we don't think it is a worthy enough offense to be pulled over. Of course, we also believe going 85 in a
African-American enrollment — Despite a stated goal of increasing minority enrollment, the University has allowed African-American enrollment to decline. Making this campus more diverse is imperative. Try harder!
Mobile phone use should be curbed
In the midst of a nationwide monet-
tum toward banning cellular phone
use in cars, the Missouri legislature
recently introduced its own proposal.
Legislators and voters in Kansas
should take heed.
Like many localities around the nation, we should consider introducing legislation regulating cellular phone use while driving.
According to the Jan. 8 edition of the Kansas City Star, driver inattention in 1988 contributed to 754 accident deaths, 47,046 injuries and 78,722 instances of property damage in the state of Missouri alone. No doubt similar statistics exist in other states, including Kansas.
The Legislature should consider new cellular phone laws
Highway patrol and police officers claim, and have documentation to back up, that cellular phone causes driver inattention. Studies in Finland report that cellular phone use also results in an average of a half-second delay in brake reaction, a time increment that increases with the intensity of the phone conversation.
For this reason, state legislatures across the United States have begun considering legislation to curb the use of cellular phones while driving. California, Florida and Massachusetts
Current proposals vary from complete bans to mandates on proper use. And in many cases, drivers still can use hands-free phones.
Some law enforcement officials claim that enforcement of most cellular phone laws would be nearly impossible. And admittedly, there are other issues on both sides to be addressed, such as individual rights and other existing distractions in the car such as the radio or screaming children. Nonetheless, this is clearly a subject that legislators and voters at least need to discuss.
already have passed such laws, and in 11 states legislators recently have introduced laws for consideration.
Kansan staff
Ben Shockey for the editorial board
News editors
Seth Hoffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
Nadia Mustafa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
Melody Ard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News/Special sections
Chris Fickett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News
Jule Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News
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 McCuintiion . Wire
Becky LaBranch . . . Special sections
Krista Lindermman . . . Campus
Ryan Riggin . . . Regional
Anne Buckles . . . National
Will Baxter . . . Online sales
Patrick Rupe . . . Online creative
Seth Swimmer . . . Marketing
Jenny Weaver . . . Creative layout
Matt Thomas . . . Creative layout
Kenna Crone . . . Assistant creative
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Jon Schiltt . . . Zone
Thad Crane . . . Zone
Cecilia Curran . . Zone
Christy Davies . . Zone
Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Here lies Jan Smith, wife of Thomas Smith, marble cutter. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and a specimen of his work. Monuments of this same style are $250" —Gravestone inscription
**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 photographed for the column to run.
In tetters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Nodia Mustafa or Seth Hoffman at 864-4924.
If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (apinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4924.
Perspective
Library felons beware: They know who you are
There's a Dell Pentium computer sitting on a desk at the KU Card Center that has my dead-eyed mug shot floating in it.
I find this distressing for a number of reasons.
The other day I was informed by a brutal
The other day I was info letter from Watson Library that I hadn't returned an interlibrary loan.
I remember putting the book in the metal chute at Watson and watching it slide home to safe harbor. All the same, because my memory is fallible and I take it that the library's accounting system isn't, I'm now guilty of the most heinous of library crimes — losing the interlibrary loan.
Dan
Curry
columnist
opinionkansan.com
This crime is damning because it violates the honor code of librarians and destroys the trust among libraries. An interlibrary loan is a book lent from one university's library to another university's library. The option exists to give patrons of, say, the University of Kansas' Watson Library, access to all the information inside, say, the University of Nebraska's library. The loan, however, is made only with rigorous pledges on the receiving institution's behalf that the book it borrows will not, under any circumstances, be lost. To do so would amount to breaking a covenant.
I thought I gave it back, but the librarians informed me with three letters that, definitely and precisely. I did lose it.
I lost it
Therefore, because I have no money, I foresee a manhunt in the make. I see a dark moon rising. I see the librarians, their snare sets, manacles dangling at their hips, setting out to find and fine me.
And I'm afraid they'll ask the KU Card Center for my picture so they may complete their file on me, using their extensive replication facilities to plaster campus with wanted posters featuring my deadeyed, book-stealing mug.
After all, the State of Kansas willingly lets cops rifle through the digitized driver's license mugs kept in the state's computers. And professors at Kansas State University can request the university's card center to make a class roster with student pictures.
"Once these sources of identification are
digitized, widespread and instant dissemination is possible," warns William Staples, associate professor of sociology, in his book, The Culture of Surveillance.
A new edition of his book, to be published soon, will address the KU Card Center's role in surveillance.
Concerned for my well being, I went to the card center to find out if I could request that my picture be deleted because I paid $15 for it to be made.
Nancy Miles, KU Card administrator, told me that she wouldn't immediately be able to delete it. She would consult University counsel first.
She did assure me, though, that Chancellor Robert Henemey couldn't get it, nor could any faculty or staff member. The Lawrence police might be able to, she said, but the card center again would need to consult lawyers first.
Miles' boss, Associate Provost Lindy Eakin, told me flat out that I couldn't get my picture.
My picture was no longer mine.
Get the feeling I don't have any.
And I won't simply be able to outlive the photo either — the card center will archive it after I'm gone. The same goes for all KU students. The computer that has stored my mug has yours and the mug shot of virtually every student who has passed through the University in the last two years.
I've never heard of administrative rights.
I got the feeling I don't have any
"Once [students] consent by getting that ID produced, they've given up the right to own the photo," Eakin said. "By getting that ID produced, we have an administrative right to the picture."
Staples said that officials always claimed that the files would be protected and that for the most part, they're sincere about their commitment.
The University should not require a student to carry a KUID and pay for replacing it if it is lost and then presuppose ownership of that information. The University should be able to inform users of exactly who might have access to that information.
"The problem is that those people don't always remain in charge." Staples said. "All kinds of things can happen that might make that information vulnerable."
If the University must hound its students, it must grant them the liberty to cover their tracks.
Curry is an Overland Park graduate student in journalism.
Want more out of life? Get out and take a hike
Last summer, I traveled out West and spent time in the Badlands, the Glacier National Park, the Quinault River area and the Redwood National Forest. These landscapes astounded me, and my time hiking was balanced with time set aside for reflecting and observing. I found myself vowing to spend more time outdoors, especially when I returned to the University of Kansas.
However, the most trot repeatedly occurred to me was the realization that millions of Americans never would see what I had seen. They will be too caught up in their American dreams to even step out into their suburban backyards and learn to recognize the species of birds that live there, let alone pack up the car and drive a few hours to witness what Mother Earth has in store.
Breeze
Luetke-
Stahman
columnist
What is the solution?
I am not exactly sure. While I am confident that I will keep exploring and discovering the joys that await me outside the walls by which I am surrounded, I am unsure how you convince a society in which many are addicted to convenience, regardless of price, to step outside and be amazed.
One answer could be taking baby steps, beginning with our community and exploring right here in Lawrence. Just off the top of my head I can think of some pretty incredible places fewer than 20 minutes away that deserve exploration .
First, there is Clinton Lake and the park that surrounds it. Pack a picnic lunch and go run around. Play in the water, climb trees or discover a favorite place.
Or there are the Haskell-Baker Wetlands, an area of land that many people in our community have worked hard to preserve. The boardwalk can be completed in an hour, including time to read the instructional boards and look at the wildlife.
Last but not least is the new Prairie Park Nature Center, just south of 23rd Street off Haskell Avenue. There you can see animals
After giving the whole outdoors thing a chance, see how you feel. You can't expect to be totally fulfilled living in a world of concrete, surrounded by goals and aspirations that include materialism and climbing the corporate ladder. But you have to be aware of how easy it is to slip into that lifestyle, dismissing what was here first.
being rehabilitated, attend an educational lecture, ask questions of the rangers or pick up a free trail guide and get walking.
Perhaps you can heal a little among the trees and beside the lake. Perhaps you would really like to be able to recognize the species of birds you see around you and have the chance to smile when that hawk flies overhead. Perhaps you really do have time, considering you would be getting exercise, breathing fairly clean air and thinking through or reflecting on a few things as you explore — possibly making your life a little more organized and less stressful.
We all want and need to make things as simple as possible, myself included. Sometimes it's a pretty tough challenge, with all the balancing university life requires. But it's as important to take a step back and look at your overall goals and health as it is to get to work on time, finish your homework, feed yourself and relax Outside, there is another world, one that anyone can enter.
After taking those baby steps and deciding that you like the workout, the peace and quiet and the sights, think about taking the next step. Plan a trip to the prairies of western Kansas, go to one of the many national parks throughout the country or pick up an outdoor sport. But don't dismiss the thrill of taking a walk along the Wetlands boardwalk just because you're not into becoming a skilled rock climber.
Keep it simple — just remember your possibilities. Who knows what will become of the indigenous land of our planet as our society continues to push preservation aside? If you don't discover what is in store, you won't have any connection to the land that you live on and live from. So go take a hike.
Luetke-Stahlman is an Olate junior majoring in economics and American studies.
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