Opinion
Kansan
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Ann Premer, 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 adviser Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Tuesday, March 9, 1999
Editorials
Verdict in Jasper, Texas, a small victory for hate crime intolerance
In one of the more horrifying hate crimes of recent memory, John William King was convicted of killing James Byrd Jr. King dragged Byrd with King's pickup truck until Byrd was decapitated. In a situation like this, it is simple to talk about how much hatred exists in this country. But just talking about the hatred is not enough.
The murder itself was a tragedy, but the fact that Byrd was so swiftly convicted and sentenced is a victory for the American justice system. There was a time in this country when some people in small Texas towns would not have even blinked when a black man was killed. Hate crimes by white supremacists were not uncommon 50 years ago.
Not only was King arrested, he was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to death. The small town of Jasper, Texas, banded together for prayer vigils, and people of all races
Jury should act as swiftly in upcoming trials of King's accused accomplices.
took part in the mourning. The jury that sentenced King to death had 10 white members, with the foreman being the only African American on the jury. This will be the first time a white man will be executed for killing a Black man in Texas, and only the eighth time in the United States since 1977.
The nation was shocked by this event. There was a public outcry for King's death from people who claimed to not believe in capital punishment.
A disc jockey in Washington D.C. made a crude joke following the murder. Upon hearing a Lauryn Hill song on the radio, he stopped the
track and said, "No wonder people drag them behind trucks."
This disc jockey did not make anyone laugh in his sickening attempt at humor. People called in to the station demanding that the disc jockey be fired, and he quickly was dismissed. The public will not stand for racial hatred to be taken lightly.
Yes, there still is evil and hatred in this country. It is disturbing to even imagine that people like King still exist in our society. Society has progressed to the point that the overwhelming majority of people do not take the brutal murder of a Black man any less seriously than if he were white.
Two men who allegedly were involved in the murder will be tried in the near future, and hopefully, the justice system will work just as swiftly and efficiently in those trials as well.
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
Nominations bring pats on the back
Today's first pat on the back goes to Dion Jones, Jermee Jones and the members and officers of the Black Student Union.
The BSU General Assembly recently received recognition for Most Improved Black Student Government in the Big 12 Conference. Jermee Jones, Topeka sophomore, also was elected assistant treasurer for the Big 12 Council. A final congratulations to Dion Jones, St. Crox, Virgin Islands senior, who was the recipient of the Big 12 Council's Nelson Mandela Award.
The second thank you is for Art Yudel-
Students, organizations compile top honors from regional, national groups
son, Lawrence senior, who was nominated for a pat on the back by Mary Ann Baker, ex-officio member of the University Senate committee on libraries. Yudelson also serves on this committee.
Karen Isley, Sylvanie, Ohio, senior, for being named to the USA Today All College Academic Team. Isley's honorable mention marks the first time since 1989 that a KU student has appeared on the list
"Yudelson should be commended for his work as an advocate for student library use," Baker said.
And finally, to Aaron Quisenberry and the organizers of Blueprints Leadership Conference which was held on Feb. 27. The conference, which is designed for upcoming campus leaders, had a record attendance.
A second nomination recognizes
To nominate someone for a pat on the back, contact the editorial staff at 864-4924 or opinion@kanans.com.
Ryan Koerner for the editorial board
Ryan Koerner ... Editorial
Jeremy Doherty ... Associate editorial
Aaron Marvin ... News
Laura Roddy ... News
Mellissa Ngo ... News
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Marc Sheforgen ... Associate sports
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Sarah Hale ... Campus
T.R. Miller ... Features
Steph Brewer ... Associate features
Augustus Anthony Piazza ... Photo
Chris Dye ... Design, graphics
Carl Kaminski ... Wire
Carolyn Molett ... Special sections
Laura Veazey ... News clerk
Kansan staff
News editors
Matt Lopez ... Special sections
Jennifer Patch ... Campus
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Shannon Curran .. PR/ Intern manager
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"The bravest thing men do is love women." —Mort Sahl
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.
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 Jerome Doherty at 864-4924.
If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4924
W when AIDS began sweeping gay men away by the thousands, lesbians and gays cried foul at the Reagan administration's refusal to acknowledge or research a disease that hit
Blood donation not only opportunity for service
Perspective
our community hard and, at first appearance, almost solely.
Don Rowland
Guest columnist
We screamed "homophobia" as the cause. I agreed. At the same time, many in our community ask that more funding be given to the Lesbian-Bisexual-Gay-Transgender (LBGT) community because AIDS hits our community harder than most. Some believe we
don't get funds because we are queer. It
part. I would agree with them.
What I disagree with is that agencies that collect blood are homophobic or that they 'restrict' people from being good citizens because of sexual orientation.
Opportunities for LBGTs to give to their communities abound. Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can find outlets from which they can be caring and generous citizens.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the blood supply, we as members of the gay men's community must accept the fact that we are not welcome. It is not because we are not valuable to our communities but because the restriction saves lives.
Tests for AIDS are very accurate but not infallible. Although national numbers show that gay men are the only group to decrease HIV infection rates, male-to-male sex in Kansas is responsible for 80 percent of HIV infections, and heterosexual transmission is at 11 percent.
That is significant and worth using as a restrictive measure. I hate it that it is.
Also significant at the University of Kansas is that the infection rates for the population under the age of 30, including gay men, are higher than the average.
Perhaps these numbers don't seem significant to the average undergraduate. They do to me. As a 36-year-old gay man, I have seen many friends die. I have stood beside 18 caskets and looked into the faces of friends whom I love. That is one friend lost for each year of this horrible epidemic.
1 remember the gay bars and ghettoes 10 years ago. They were filled with frail and battered bodies of men barely living, wait-
I was a corpsman in the Navy at that time, and I saw many people of all lifestyles, ages and races dying of AIDS. Many of them contracted the disease from transfusions.
Today, most U.S. citizens under 30 have not seen such suffering and devastation. AIDS to many of them is a manageable, nonlife-threatening disease to ignore. They are misinformed.
The rise of unprotected sex among gay men emphasizes that type of misconception. Of the people I know who have had sex, I do not know one gay man, not one person of any sexual orientation, who has never had unprotected sex. I am sure there are some, but I just don't know them.
Statistics show these numbers are rising for all groups. That is frightening.
With these facts in perspective, consider another point. The LBGT community has asked for significant recognition as a group hit hard by AIDS. Research indicates that lesbians suffer higher rates of breast cancer. We have also called for funding to research this frightening fact. It does not make us homophobic to recognize the risks our people face. It does not mean that recognizing these risks makes heterosexuals and the "establishment" homophobic.
If HIV tests are not 100 percent accurate, if gay men still have high infection rates, if young men — both straight and gay — are showing that they do not understand the actual risks of unprotected sex, if being a sexually active gay man is not the only restricting question when giving blood, and if countless lives are saved because of current restrictions, is it truly homophobic to restrict gay men from giving blood if they have had sex with another man since 1977? I say no. I want to say yes, but I cannot.
If my finding a different way of contributing to my community is saving lives, then I will refrain from giving blood until the epidemic has ended. If anyone were denied blood based on sexual activities or orientation, I would fight the injustice with every ounce of my energy.
Rowland works with the Student Development Center as the Lesbian-Bisexual-Gay-Transgender liaison to the University of Kansas.
If I talk about diversity, it's because it is an area that has a special place in my life at this time. In the year and a half that I've been back to school on the Hill, I
Diversity unteachable in one semester's time
that I've been back to see have learned more about diversity than I have during my entire life.
At the very beginning, I thought, "What's the big deal?" Now I know that it is a big deal. There are some people around here that think it is such a big deal that there should be a course taught about it. We live in a world of information and misinformation, and a world that puts a lot of stock in the value of learning and education. There are a zillion things to learn in a zillion situations.
Simmie
Berroya
oinion @ kansan com
My question to you today is: Can they all be learned in a classroom? Or better, should they all be learned in the classroom?
In my estimation, most subjects that are taught in classrooms are usually dissected, analyzed by their parts and put back together again to demonstrate that they can be reproduced. Can love be put in a test tube? Should enjoying a sunset be dissected?
Learning diversity has a certain aesthetic quality that cannot be produced or reproduced in the classroom setting. Some would say that diversity just needs to be presented in a classroom to force the student to deal with the issues. Why try to cook up something instant when the recipe requires a slow cook method?
Also to force people to take a class on this topic is the same as saying, "We don't trust you to get this on your own, so we will make sure you get this." All that will be accomplished is that students will take the
At the heart of college education is not all the details of information that we learn from day to day, but the processes we acquire in the assimilation of information. We learn how to think. We learn how to solve problems. And, we learn how to get along with people.
Do we learn these things in one semester?
No, it takes the whole time we are here plus the rest of our lives. So it is with diversity.
The process is like the steady unfolding of a beautiful rose. Do we stand in front of a rosebud and watch it bloom? The process takes too long. But one day we walk by, and wow, it's there in all of its splendor.
Learning to love and accept people for who they are, not their color, sex, or religion, is a beautiful process that takes time. Love and acceptance, something we all crave, are products of the heart, not something we learn with our minds. Learning how to love and accept people is not something to be taught in a classroom, but it is something to be discovered within ourselves.
So, how do we learn diversity? I believe it is like coming into a dark room after being in blinding sunlight; you can't see anything at first. Then, as your eyes adjust, you start seeing things you didn't see before. The important idea is that learning diversity is a process that takes time. Like anything you learn during a period of time, it stays with you. It becomes a part of who you are.
information and put it on the back burner, and then, when life brings along some situations that require diversity thinking, they will remember what they learned in class. Or, will they? I present to you that they will not. They will remember what their parents taught them, and they will remember what they learned on their own.
serroya is an Olathe senior in communication studies.