Opinion
Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Published daily since 1912
Ann Premer, Editor
Gerry Doyle, Managing editor
Angie Kuhn, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
Jamie Holman, Business manager
Sara Cropper, Retail sales manager
Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser
Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Thursday, May 6, 1999
Jamie Patterson / KANSAN
Editorials
Soldiers' release act of goodwill should not end NATO bombing
With an end to the fighting in Kosovo not yet in sight, the recent release of three U.S. soldiers after one month in Yugoslavian custody has been the only promising development since the bombing campaign began. Yet, this supposed act of goodwill on behalf of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic should be warily considered.
Spc. Steven Gonzales and Staff Sgts. Christopher Stone and Andrew Ramirez were taken captive March 31 while patrolling the Yugoslav-Macedonia border as part of a peacekeeping mission, seven days after NATO launched its bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. Sunday, the soldiers were finally released, thanks in part to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's
The United States should question Milosevic's motives, thank him for prisoners lives.
intervention, which did not have the White House's blessing.
The government continues to bomb relentlessly its targets in Yugoslavia despite the soldiers' release. Given that Milosevic shows no signs of leaving Kosovo alone, the release does not yet warrant a cease-fire.
Milosevic's motives in letting the prisoners walk free seem dubious. He is a vicious tyrant who has repeatedly shown his unwillingness to cooperate with negotiators. This alleged gesture of goodwill is
more likely a ploy to throw egg on the face of an administration that would not sanction Jackson's visit.
The simple truth is, before negotiations can take place, Milosevic must pull his troops out of Kosovo and cease his ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing. If NATO bombings were to cease before that happened, it would result in the unimpeded slaughter of thousands of Kosovars.
These soldiers are lucky to be alive; indeed, we should be thankful that no further harm was done to them. None the less, their newfound freedom should not be viewed as the catalyst for ending the bombings right away. There is still a long, hard road to peace in Kosovo.
Chris Borniger for the editorial board
SUA's Day on the Hill a sunny success
Despite budget constraints, Student Union Activities and all others involved put together a successful and entertaining Day on the Hill.
Because of earlier guests such as Paula Poundstone and Archbishop Tutu, SUA fell under abnormal financial constraints that could have put a serious dent in the success of Day on the Hill, if not abolished it altogether.
Even with these constraints, there were several entertaining bands that were present for the free concert, with Hum as the headliner. Other bands included Frogpond, Panel Donor and Son
Despite financial constraints and questions of interest, annual concert entertains.
Venezuela.
Before this year's event, there had been doubts about whether the concert would end this year, its eleventh. But, given the positive feedback, the event is now virtually guaranteed to continue.
The weather also was good and contributed to the event's success. The good weather and music brought out all sorts of spectators
— high school and KU students, and adults were in attendance. Concert-goers even brought their dogs as people lounged on their blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the good weather and music.
The atmosphere is much of what makes events such as Day on the Hill successful and beneficial to the University of Kansas — it truly brings out the whole Lawrence community.
With all of the hard work that went into the Day on the Hill, there are many pats on the back that should be given out. Hopefully, their reward will be a tradition of the concert for years to come.
Kansan staff
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
Ryan Koerner ... Editorial
Jeremy Doherty ... Associate editorial
Aaron Marvin ... News
Laura Roddy ... News
Melissa Ngo ... News
Aaron Knopf ... Online
Erin Thompson ... Sports
Marc Sheforden ... Associate sports
Chris Fickett ... Campus
Sarah Hale ... Campus
T.R. Miller ... Features
Steph Brewer ... Associate features
Augustus Anthony Piazza ... Photo
Chris Dye ... Design, graphics
Carl Kaminski ... Wire
Carolyn Mollett ... Special sections
Laura Veazey ... News clerk
News editors
Matt Lopez ... Special sections
Jennifer Patch ... Campus
Micah Kafitz ... Regional
Jon Schlitt ... National
Tyler Cook ... Marketing
Shannon Curran .. PR/ Intern manager
Christa Estep .. Production
Steven Prince .. Production
Chris Corley .. Creative
Jason Hannah .. Classified
Corinne Buffmire .. Zone
Shauntae Blue .. Zone
Brandi Byram .. Zone
Brian Allers .. Zone
Justin Allen .. Zone
Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“All bad precedents began as justifiable measures.” —Julius Caesar
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 home-town if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
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Students should relive easy summer pleasures
estly can't remember it,
truly was this simple, but
I know there once was a
time where my days were
one glorious play time
after another.
Imagine waking up day after day with no homework, no meetings and nowhere to work.
Jamie Patterson
union@kraan.com
Summer always has meant sweaty days and a heavy sun, warm breezes at night and birds singing in the morning. I hon- number the last time summer
Perspective
Somewhere, perhaps deep in our memories are days like the Country Time Lemonade commercials, where meandering along on bikes and dirt roads is reality
In the world most of us live in as college students, these days are beyond recall they can become unfathomable.
Just a day.
Face it, most students right now are focused on next week with a determined eye. They may or may not know from experience that six days of finals can make or break a little number that will be attached to your name for good.
Some are driven by that number and allow their grade point average to determine their self-worth. These are the people who have forgotten the beauty and joy in discovering something for the sake of discovery.
Some students are driven to define their self-worth by conquering awards invented for those who have forgotten the worth within friendship, a light chat and a good nap.
Finals week, for them, may mean a time to wrap up meetings, and make preparations for the coming year.
Some of us are lazy and have forgotten that boredom is a self-inflicted disease. As the days grow warm and the world turns green, finals approach and somehow become a nuisance to an already empty schedule.
The idea of a sweaty summer filled with laughter and play must seem a cruel suggestion to those of us who will be indoors for three months flipping pancakes or licking envelopes for just more than minimum wage.
Sometimes we miss the days gone by, but mostly, aren't we all focused on the future — where we'll be, where we'll go, who we'll be with? And we miss the summer sun, the playing and the warm night air.
For some, it also means going home, working to earn next year's tuition, studying abroad, internships or summer school.
For almost all of us right now, summer simply means the end of this semester.
We don't have time for these things, after all.
But maybe you could try remembering all the things you have accomplished during previous summers.
Maybe you learned to ride a bike.
Remember piano lessons? T-ball?
(Maybe you gardened, shot hoops, swam, enjoyed your brothers and sisters, saw your mom and dad.
Remember piano lessons. 1-oat.
Forget the grade card that will eventually invade your mailbox. Forget the 38-hour weeks. Forget the summer school.
Summer is a time to remember the beauty of the world we're in and remember the sense of discovery within us that keeps us young.
For those of you graduating, being a grown-up might be tough, but remember the blessings of being childlike.
Continue to discover the world. Look in awe at anthills and summer sunsets. Don't for a second think that the world won't surprise you. If it fails to, you may not be looking hard enough.
Put aside the worries that are handed to you in the forms of tests, meetings and work. Winter has ended, and the world is new
Winter has ended, and the weather is warm.
Summer is coming, and it is bound to be full of sweaty days, warm breezes at night and birds singing in the morning.
Patterson is a Minneapolis junior in English.
Good things don't always come to those who wait
Another pair of semesters have come and nearly gone. This will be the fourth time for me, and every year it gets harder to make it through that last week.
Keith Burner
ooinion @ kansan.com
But, because many students try to make it through the year using academic bulimia — party binging followed by study purging and because this method seems to work for them during the slower, less stressful first part of the semester, many students don't realize how close the end is or how much they still have to do.
Finals, financial aid,
papers put off far too long,
books left half-read and
laundry left half-done are
sure signs that the last week of the academic year is here. Add to those things the stress of preparing to uproot yourself for the summer and planning next year's living arrangements — and then replanning them when your "friends" give you the shaft and you've got a full-blown
Students need to learn that good things don't come necessarily to those who wait, although waiting for the summer to partake in week-long parties — instead of doing it in March — isn't a bad idea.
So, to all you partying procrastinators: It's almost the end! You have a lot to do!
Here's last year's version of the yearly conversation:
I'm reminded of the problem of procrastination every year when I talk to friends who are completely oblivious of those two facts.
case of the I-wish-it-were-summertime blues. Most students handle this stress with about as much grace as a beaver freeing itself from a steel trap — cramming, taking caffeine through an IV and staying up for a week without changing clothes. This trap, which students gnaw their legs off to escape, is the trap of procrastination.
I asked, "Hey Dick, can I borrow a pen?"
"Sure, buddy," he replied. "Whatcha work
We shouldn't be too judgmental toward those procrastinating party animals in our midst, though. They're just experiencing certain aspects of life that are better experienced during college than afterwards. After all, there is more to college than just academics. Some people just need to learn to not make it too much more.
Burner is a Leon senior in journalism.
But the beautiful thing about being a student is that it's still not too late to change behavior. Time never stops, so everyone will make it to the summer — albeit some minus a leg, and some carrying around a trap.
And I'm pretty sure that Dick will get his stuff done. He's a smart guy, or at least he was before he pickled his brain, and we've been through this before — about the same time last year.
"Just some financial aid stuff," I said.
"God! I can't believe I waited until the last week of the semester to do this. How's your stuff going?"
Dick, who had dedicated last week to sleeping, drinking and vomiting, calmly replied, "AAAAAAHHHHHH," sprinted across the room to his bag, rummaged through it for some papers, gazed at them in wonderment, shot a wide-eyed, psychotic glance at his calendar, which was still on March, made a disgusting gurgling sound, burped up some beer foam and fainted.
ing on?"
I laughed. Dick faints too much.
This may sound far-fetched, but it's true. Question one of your heavily partying friends, you'll see. You can even have some fun with it; I know I do. Some might call it sadistic, though.
For people such as Dick, time is a cruel trickster that makes entire months disappear and makes today Monday and tomorrow Friday, with no indication of where the rest of the week went.
It's a sad fact that some students just don't see the end of the year coming until finals week whacks them on the head, or if a friend brings it up first. See, it's not sadism; it's friendship. Still pretty fun, though.
No matter. It makes your workload seem easier, at least compared to theirs.
Feedback
Parking department needs accountability
I have lived in Jayhawker Towers for three years and have had the experience of finding parking for that long, be it in my car or someone else's. I think that this year has been the best so far in regards to the amount of parking spaces here.
The problem? The parking department doesn't adhere to its own guidelines regarding parking signs. Outside of each Towers lot there is a white sign which reads, "JT Lot...24 hours restricted."
who get paid to ticket our cars earn that paycheck. C'mon, patrollers. Get out there and ticket those people without the white sticker that you all wanted to make us use this year. I promise, when that happens, I won't have anymore complaints for you.
This is where the problem lies. Let's hold the Parking Department responsible for the signs and regulations they post. Let's make those people
.
Jaime Young
Omaha, Neb., junior