Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Ann Premer, Editor
Gerry Doyle, Managing editor
Angie Kuhn, Managing editor
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Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
4A
Thursday, April 15, 1999
Editorial
Votes to affect campus safety issue
When students go to the polls, they should be aware that their vote will influence campus safety.
Last year's referendum on the Student Senate election ballot asked students to voice whether they would be interested in a campus Safewalk program. The referendum passed and Kevin Yoder, student body president, appointed the Campus Safety Advisory Board to evaluate safety at the University and determine which programs were necessary.
Now, one year later, Safewalk still is a major issue.
Students should consider that the president and vice president they elect have plans to improve campus safety. Delta Force wants Safewalk on campus
Coalitions focus on Saferide, implementing Safewalk.
and YOU wants to expand Saferide. Both coalitions' leaders would aim at enacting their respective platforms.
Yoder said the Campus Safety Advisory Board, headed by Aaron Profitf, would research other universities using a Safewalk program, find out where students did not feel safe and see what students wanted done to help them feel more secure.
After two months of research, Profitt said the board had found programs at other universities, such as the University of Colorado and University of Iowa,
to be scarcely utilized. He said that as few as 10 people per month used the program. Profitt also cited examples of failed Safewalk programs from the University's own past. He said the Army ROTC attempted a safe-walk program three or four years ago, but because of low usage it folded.
Proffit said he also worried about the cost efficiency of a program which would require extensive training, higher salaries for higher qualifications, equipment and wages for an unknown number of employees.
unknown number of employees Students should keep in mind that their vote may determine whether Safewalk is implemented or Saferide is expanded. It may mean the difference between a comfortable ride home or a long walk to the car.
Emily Hughey for the editorial board
Students deserve more data about center
Feedback
The other day, while seated outside Wescoe, some Delta Force representatives handed me a flier that talked about sending the proposal for a new rec center back to the floor. Although I feel like we desperately need a new rec center, I'm not sure what exactly is going to be included and excluded in the new rec center, should it be voted in.
I have a feeling that many of the other patrons of Robinson have not been informed either and would vote the proposal in simply because it states that we will have a new rec center. This is an injustice. The other injustice is the sad state of our center. I have visited the rec center at K-State, and it is incredible. It is spacious and has more equipment than Robinson.
Robinson:
My question is: Why doesn't the University of Kansas have something similar or better? We always like to claim that our sports programs are better or improving, but what about those who aren't in organized sports enjoy working out? Shall we slight these people simply
because they aren't on national television and aren't sponsored by Coca-Cola.
Which brings me to my last comment: Coca-Cola is ubiquitous on this campus. In fact, I would almost call the University a corporate holding of Coca-Cola.
Where exactly does the money go that we receive from this company? The University is in need of a new rec center, and I think that before we vote, the KU population should be informed in detail.
britta Ernst
Topeka junior
Being an avid reader of the Kansas, an active student member of Student Senate and SenEx, and the Executive Director of the Graduate and Professional Association, I thought I was well-informed about the recreation center proposal and that I understood it well. I was confident in the vote I was planning to cast. Then I read Kevin Yoder's letter to the editor yesterday, and now I am confused.
Yoder's letter confuses recreation center issue
urging a no vote to the rec center proposal: "the editorial notes that there is no guarantee that Robinson would remain available to students." He continues that "This is the reason a new recreation center should be built." Okay, so I'm thinking, Robinson is going to close; this is why the new center is so important.
First he quotes the Kansan's editorial
A few paragraphs later, I read that "Robinson will remain open. It will not close. No one from the University has ever stated that it will close." "Huh? I thought that the new rec center was built because Robinson was going to close. But now I'm supposed to believe that a new center will be better because students will be able to use both. It will be like two for one. You can understand my confusion.
Until the people pushing this fee hike come forward with a consistent and coherent message, I am left to believe that they do not have a consistent nor coherent plan. I feel that on I have no alternative but to vote no on this proposal.
Kansan staff
Partha Mazumdar
Pittsburgh, Pa., graduate student
Delta Force candidate for a Graduate seat
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Taxes, after all, are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society." Franklin D. Roosevelt
How to submit letters and guest columns
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.
Jamie Patterson opinion kansas.com
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.
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staufer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Ryan Koerner or Jeremy Doherty at 864-4924.
Apathy toward Senate steals students' power
Perspective
Jenny Lefkowitz
If you have general questions or comments,
e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com)
or call 864-4924.
We should all know by now that Student Senate is the single most influential student organization on cam
pus. Despite its influence, feel an unnecessary amount of apathy toward Senate.
Potential senators may have obstacles, such as outreach and apathy, to face before they bring the student body all the way to excitement.
The presidential and vice presidential candidates from both coalitions have acknowledged this apathy and have addressed it. Dede Seibel, YOU vice presidential candidate, said the coalition had chosen issues that the students would get excited about.
Today, all that's asked is that we give them a chance.
That may be. Potential senators may
Put aside old judgments of Student Senate, and I think you'll see impressive candidates from both coalitions. Take a look at Monday's Kansan, and try to learn what the candidates are about.
Compared with previous elections, a sincere interest in and concern for bettering our University seems to be consistent among the individuals running.
among the individuals Go vote. Take part in electing some of these individuals. Give them the chance to make the University a little better, a little more livable and a little closer to perfection They aren't asking much: Just make an educated vote.
I also am asking a little bit more: Once we have elected our senators, demand that they represent the student body. Demand that they are visible on campus and make strong efforts to get a hold of what this University needs.
needs. Next year's senators don't need an immaculate plan to increase Senate's credibility
and decrease students' apathy. The solution is simple.
virtually painless.
For the students who still believe that Senate is a formality filled with resume-building, self-interested individuals who bicker, please consider the following: with low voter turnout, it doesn't take many votes to land a spot on Senate. That's how the self-serving, resume-building candidates get elected.
next year.
Tonight, after the celebration is finished,
let's all take off the campaign buttons and
then get to work.
As newly elected senators, it will be your responsibility to represent the concerns of the students who elected you. Leave campaign politics at the door and do the job for the job's sake.
All of us. As KU students, it is our responsibility to be aware of the events and issues surrounding and encompassing the University. This includes supporting our Senate and being aware of what it is doing.
the job's sake.
To the students who simply haven't had time to vote: It takes three minutes, and it's virtually painless.
If an effort is made to truly represent the student body, no one will need a plan to increase student support. There may not be a need to make the annual plea for votes next year.
The solution is simple.
elected.
Forget that we only see most of our senators this time of year. Forget that partisan bickering will, without a doubt, take place.
Sometimes, highly unqualified candidates receive senate seats because students who do vote aren't educated.
The solution is shape Senators must do more than go to meetings. They must meet with constituents and know who those constituents are.
All of us.
There have been outstanding individuals standing on campus asking for the chance to serve on our Senate.
We should choose to give that chance to the candidates who will serve us best.
Patterson is a Minneapolis junior in English.
Today's election issues deserve informed voters
The first thing I said to Elections Commission Chairwoman Amanda Weinberg when I met her at LeaderShape this January was, "Oh, you have to deal with the crazy people."
They are crazy, voluntarily entering Senate, but they've been nice about holding back their insanity this year: no cars flipped and perhaps the cleanest campaign I've seen of late.
Nick
Bartkoski
opinion @ kansan.com
The important thing about Amanda is that as elections commission chairwoman, she set out to increase voter turnout. I think it's a commendable cause, and it would be
It's nothing against Amanda, the coalitions, my own editor or Jamie (see above). I think it's more important to see people vote responsibly than to see people vote.
I still would like everyone to vote if possible.
But rather than voting because the Kansan told you to, or because your roommate told you to; you should vote because you want to.
wonderful to get as many people as possible making their voice heard on Election Day.
making their voice heard on Election Day. However, I personally don't want most of you to vote today.
There are a lot of important issues, such as the new recreation center, at stake today. But the issue that may be more important is who to vote for in the elections.
The fact is that the people voted in are responsible for allocating nearly a million dollars, and the student body president is important for representing the students to the chancellor, the Kansas Legislature and the Board of Regents.
These are important decisions to make, not ones to be taken lightly.
The issues both coalitions are taking on are relatively similar. Both want to do something about citywide busing. Both want students to feel safe on campus. The question is: Who's going to get something done?
going to get something else. YOU presidential candidate Korb Maxwell probably is right when he says that these are efforts that will need coordination and an organized lobby effort. On the other hand, these issues were brought up by Delta Force members, and they have been furthered by the actions of these members.
At the very least, I think one should weigh the commitment of someone who has been fighting for a year for these issues versus someone who took the issue because students being surveyed said they wanted it.
being surveyed by the senate. There also are things that frustrate me personally about coaltion that I've noticed in the debates. I kept getting frustrated when the YOU coalition took credit for everything Senate has done in the past year as if Maxwell, Seibel and their hand-chosen Senate candidates — only a few of whom are incumbents were off making policy decisions by themselves. This is even more ridiculous when you consider that they're running on the idea that they're bringing fresh faces to Senate, but also claim they have more experience.
These are the facts: It's going to be small. It's going to be expensive. It's not going to accomplish what it's meant to do. If you really want to use an academic building during class time, you could always take a class.
The group of people the recreation center proposal seems targeted toward are those paying exorbitant fees for private clubs. I feel sorry that they pay these fees, but it's their choice. I've used Robinson about four times in my four years. I don't think people like me should be funding someone else's health kick.
These are my opinions, and I think they're relatively well-informed them, but don't blindly adopt them as your own. If you've decided you want to vote for the most qualified candidate and not your fraternity president, go out and talk to some of the candidates. Pick up some campaign material. Think critically, and don't take everything at face value. Then, as an informed and willing participant, go out and vote.
claim they have no experience. I also think that in their drive to be elected, YOU is overselling the importance of Senate reaching out to students. I think this is important, but it's not a cure-all. Outreach will not solve apathy. Outreach will not cause the administration to take Senate seriously.
Delta Force frustrates me because sometimes they're too radical for their own good. I support a lot of what Delta Force stands for and what they've accomplished, but I worry that when they talk about protesting and getting rowdy, they may not be representing John Q. Student who wants to sit quietly in his room and let someone he elected take care of the issues.
center proposal, which is sloppy proposal, based on a lot of misconceptions. Perhaps I take a different route to class than Student Body President Kevin Yoder, and that's why I've never seen the students protesting in the streets demanding an upgrade to Robinson Center. What I do hear is people complaining about how expensive college is, a fact that even the YOU coalition is addressing in the form of fighting for a tuition cap.
Then, there is the now infamous recreation center proposal, which frustrates me as well.
If we could get both my goals of an informed electorate and Amanda's goal of a large electorate, that would be great. But I'd rather have a one percent turnout of voters who legitimately care than have 100 percent who are voting a certain way because someone gave them a hot dog. This election is too important.
Bartkoski is a Basehor senior in journalism and English.
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