Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Ann Premier, Editor Jamie Holman, Business manager Gerry Doyle, Managing editor Sara Cropper, Retail sales manager Angie Kuhn, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, April 21, 1999
Jamie Patterson / KANSAN
Editorials
Coverage of Brownback's speech misses point about Social Security
Recent media coverage of Sen. Sam Brownback's remarks linking abortion to problems with Social Security was misleading and detrimental to the public, politicians and the media.
The University Daily Kansas, The Laurence Journal World, the Kansas City Star and the Wichita Eagle all told the same deceiving story: Brownback blamed abortions for decreasing the work force and damaging Social Security. Brownback's single statement, not said or meant to be taken seriously, indicated what he thought was one of many contributing factors to a decreased U.S. work force that has caused a cash shortage in the nation's Social Security Trust Fund.
instead of focusing on Brownback's solutions for solving Social Security woes. The Associated Press and local newspapers misdirected their attention
The area newspapers' focus was misleading and detrimental for readers.
toward one quote taken out of context. In doing so, the media invited negative criticism, which benefited no one.
Although Brownback stands behind his statement that abortion negatively impacts the system, he does not advocate abortion restrictions to solve Social Security problems.
Brownback also does not blame women for Social Security's shortcomings. Instead, his solution to the problem is setting up personal retirement accounts. To find this information in the news coverage, one had to read past the several paragraphs of criticism first.
During his April speaking tour of nine cities, Brownback had voiced his ideas for saving Social Security, providing tax relief to voters and paying off the national debt.
Such issues may not be controversial to report on, but there still is value in informing Kansans what their senator believes will improve the country.
Moreover, reforming Social Security is a vital issue that needs nationwide support. Linking Social Security reform to negative criticism is damaging.
The media was wrong in its careless presentation of the entire story. What made the best story was not the most accurate story.
The worst part of this situation is that no one wins. The public was misinformed. The politician received negative attention. The media lost credibility for telling a tainted story.
Katrina Hull for the editorial board
Lewis Hall may hog campus leaders
But what happens when a group consists only of people who each consider themselves to be leaders?
Leadership is a difficult word to define. Some people consider someone who is willing to make decisions and speak out for a group a leader. When one appraises a group of people, usually it is not difficult to find the leader.
Residents of Lewis Hall may soon find out the answer, and they may not like it. Too many leaders together causes foreseeable problems.
Lewis is being renovated into a new suite system. The plan is for Lewis to be devoted to three ideals: community service, diversity and leadership. Students who attend the University on leadership scholarships will be
The suggested leadership floor is a bad idea for the University of Kansas.
encouraged to apply to live there
A group of current students wants a floor in the hall that is for leaders only. Other floors within University residence halls have themes, such as honors floors in both Templin and McCollum halls. The idea is to form strong ties within a floor of students who have similar interests.
more likely to breed hostility than friendship.
However, many possible problems with the prospect of a leadership floor exist. Who leads within a group of people who are all leaders? This appears
the other major problem would be be a possible shortage of leaders in the remainder of the residence halls. All halls and other living organizations need good leaders, and it could cause difficulties if the majority of the strongest leaders live in the same place.
Floors for people who share specific interests are a good idea. Honors floors have been successful. However, leadership is an attribute much more abstract and difficult to assess. Concentrating leaders on one floor of campus would be a disservice to both the students and the residence hall system.
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
Kansan staff
Ryan Koemer ... Editorial
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“Grab the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear.” —Zora Neale Hurston
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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n you have general questions or comments,
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Perspective
Alternative break shows inequality in America
I cannot say that Alternative Spring Break was a life-altering experience. I have been called cynical before, and I often comment on the lack of opportunity
for some Americans while a select few enjoy copious amounts of good humor and hope for a lucrative future. The facade of equity that this country propagates always has seemed base to me and after my brief visit to Philadelphia, this feeling became even more ominous.
While in Philadelphia, I worked with the National School and Community Corps, a subsidiary of
Nick Zaller
Quest columns
AmeriCorps, in Elkin Elementary School located just a few blocks from what many Philly residents call The Badlands. My official function was to act as a teacher's aid and to assist with after-school programs such as tutoring and beautification projects.
My real function was much more basic: to pay attention to the kids. I found that many of these children live in what now is considered a cliché a broken household. Many of them do not get any attention at home, and they loved our presence in the school. The rest of the group and I acted as big brothers and big sisters by interacting with, teaching and, most importantly, listening to the kids.
All of this sounds pretty normal, and most people think that this is nice and no big deal. Now here comes the frustrating part. We tried to help third and fourth grade kids who could not read a single word. We tried to help students do basic math problems, but they did not know what the signs for plus and minus meant. We helped plant flowers, but we spent much of our time picking glass out of the soil beds.
we ran into some kids with severe behavioral disorders and broke up fights that erupted on the blacktop where the kids had to play because of the lack of green space in the city's concrete jungle. As I looked into many of those kids' eyes, I tried to shut out visions of a bleak future. I tried to shut out the fact that many of them may never graduate from high school.
But to all those who say that there is no hope, I invite you to come and visit North Philadelphia. Amid the dilapidation, there are those dedicated to rejuvenation of a community stricken by the bitterness and apa-
ty of the outside world. Here you would not
expect dedicated teachers, such as Mr.
Traotner of DeBurgos Middle School, who
work their fingers to the bone and genuinely
care for the kids when so many have given
up on them.
The negative stereotype of North Philadelphia does not take into account the NSCC volunteers, such as Tony Rodriguez, whose sincerity and compassion is inspiring to all. Furthermore, you probably have never heard about some of the people in the community, specifically a woman named Nellie who runs a lighthouse community center. She invited our group to paint a mural at the community'center.
On the mural, wheat fields of Kansas are connected to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia by a bridge that signifies the union between two communities with a similar hope for a better tomorrow. We painted this mural along with neighborhood children and NSCC volunteers in a cooperative effort. It is this sense of cooperation that never will allow the flame of hope to extinguish.
I did not change the world during spring break. In fact, I feel as if I have taken more than I have given. Alternative Spring Break in Philadelphia gave me a new perspective. I cringed even more when I hear the argument against higher taxes for education because people don't want to pay for "other kids" to go to school. It is difficult to witness the white urban flight from cities such as Philadelphia.
No one can be blamed for wanting to give their child a good education in a safe environment. But the kids at Elkin do not have that option. They did not choose their lives. Are we going to punish them for circumstances beyond their control by not supporting public education? Are they not entitled to the same opportunity for a prosperous future as other children? These are difficult questions and Alternative Spring Break did not give me the answers.
Most of us at the University of Kansas are fortunate. Alternative Spring Break showed me that if we all show more compassion and think about the problems that others may face and try to understand these problems, then perhaps together we can figure out answers and the world will change for the better.
Zaller is a Tulsa, Okla., senior in microbiology and Chinese.
Death penalty deserves no place in U.S. justice
I hope that every person's reaction to the brutal murder of James Byrd Jr., of Jasper, Texas, was nothing short of rage, disgust and sorrow. The tale of an innocent
man dragger to his death and decapitation by a white supremacist, who had nothing to say at trial to the victim's family but obscenities, should evoke only the deepest, darkest emotions from a human heart.
it was no surprise that even this small-town Texas jury swiftly gave the defendant, John William King, a death sentence, allowing many angry Americans to breathe a sigh of relief and to praise the justice well done.
Shaun Morrell
Guest columnist
to praise the justice system for a job well done.
were done.
Soon, people may do the same at the conclusion of the Matthew Shepard murder, in which one of the two young men has pleaded guilty, getting two life sentences and the other may face the death penalty if convicted. The two are accused of beating the gay Wyoming student to death.
Cases such as these bring the spotlight to one of America's biggest and most tolerated mistakes — capital punishment. In the midst of a rabid "Get tough on crime" trend, the public overwhelmingly is accepting of this deadly judicial tool, a remnant of ancient times that turns the state into a murderer to punish murderers. The United States is one of only a few developed countries that still execute its own citizens in such a manner.
I could drone on with a list of statistics to prove that the death penalty is both costly and ineffective in reducing crime, but that would overshadow the simple fact that capital punishment is fundamentally wrong. No amount of economic or pragmatic justification could change that.
Many argue that the emotional satisfaction of a convict's death in return for a victim's death is justification enough because of the closure it brings for victims' families if you ignore the growing number of victims' families who have publicly denounced capital punishment.
I must admit that I probably would wish death on any person who would harm someone I love. The justice system cannot be run on victims' or the families' emotions. Concerning the severity of punishment, it must draw the line somewhere.
Sure, the system allows prisoners to appeal their convictions. Sadly, this right seems to annoy many pro-death Americans. These people might be reassured to know that it is extremely difficult to earn a complete and fair retrial after the initial conviction, which permanently brands any convict as "Guilty until proven innocent."
Even if the death penalty had all of the justification in the world, there still would be the eerie, over-lingering possibility that innocent people could be executed — irreversibly penalized — for crimes they did not commit.
Since the Supreme Court decided in 1975 that the death penalty was no longer cruel or unusual, some 75 wrongly convicted inmates fortunately have been released from death row. For the other 3,000 prisoners on death row, we only can cross our fingers and hope that our court system gave them all four trials and the best defenses available.
Take, for instance, Philadelphia activist Muma Abu-Jamal, who was convicted and sentenced to death based on highly sketchy and circumstantial evidence for the murder of a police officer. Despite the publicity given to the case, as well as enormous public outcry and numerous protests in his favor, his execution only has been delayed.
Most other death-row inmates are not fortunate enough to attract that kind of public attention. These include a disproportionate number of minorities, many mentally-impaired prisoners and 65 inmates who received their terminal sentence when they still were minors. Most will die with no more fanfare than small candlelight vigils outside their prisons.
As for King, his own reaction in court leaves little doubt that he is guilty of the murder for which he was convicted. The rightfully enraged American public must resist the temptation to execute him and other such criminals. Even the John William Kings of society are still human beings, as much as we hate to admit it, and their times and manners of death should not be decided by public policy.
Before we get any tougher on crime, I hope America realizes that the death penalty has no place in our "democratic" country. "An eye for an eye" only is bloody revenge, not civilized justice.
Morrell is a Salina sophomore in German and education.
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