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Kansan
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
Friday, February 19, 1999
Jamie Patterson / KANSAN
Editorial
Bulletin board policy limits use, silences student organizations
If students wish to post information on a bulletin board at the University, they must be careful in selecting which bulletin board. Options are limited, and if students choose the wrong board, they could receive either a call from Provost David Shulenburger or a $10 fine.
Since space for posting public information is limited, student organizations often are left without a place to advertise their activities. The provost should either rewrite the policy or develop new alternatives in regulating campus bulletin boards.
Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the provost, said that the bulletin board policy prohibited non-academic material from cluttering areas not designated for public posting. She said that an inundation of paper littered the campus and destroyed the windows, light poles and newspaper boxes on which material was posted. It also required the University to spend
Kiosks,space-sharing policy among changes for consideration,provost's office says.
According to the provost's policy, students and organizations are not allowed to tack their fliers unless the board is designated as a public bulletin board. The classroom bulletin boards, such as those in Wescoe Hall, are reserved strictly for use by faculty, staff and administrators. Such bulletin boards are for posting syllabi and other important class information.
Organizations that choose to illegally post advertisements and fliers are warned first by the office of the provost, then fined if repeated.
additional money paying Facilities Operations employees to clean the campus.
The University is a student-centered institution, and student organizations should be able to
Johnson said the office of the provost was considering several solutions to prevent advertisements from being posted in academic classrooms, while providing student organizations with ample venues for advertisement.
post information regarding their activities without fear of penalty.
Johnson said that short-term plans included the addition of more information boards and a clearer designation as to which bulletin boards serve which purpose, academic or public. She also said that she was open to suggestions from students and faculty.
Possible long-term plans include the addition and renovation of information kiosks on campus.
Although such plans are a start, the University should take action immediately. The office of the provost should either implement new bulletin boards in places of frequent student traffic or allow organizations to post events on existing bulletin boards.
Emily Hughey for the editorial board
Feedback
Diversity supporters lack strong argument
I presented in the Feb. 2 University Daily Kansan an argument attacking the proposed college diversity requirement. One can understand the diversity proposal in two ways; either in terms of some of the political agendas that lie behind it or as meaning literally what it says. I argued that if one took the diversity proposal as meaning literally what it says, then it would include more
Tuttle, who has had a long and distinguished career at the University of Kansas and strongly favors the diversity requirement, can find nothing wrong with my argument after a discussion of that very argument, there isn't anything wrong with it. And if there isn't anything wrong with it, then we have one good reason
courses than any sane person would want to include in a requirement. Hawaiian diversity, anyone?
— among the many good reasons for rejecting this absurd proposal
Professor Bill Tuttle publicly discussed my argument in the Feb. 9 Kansan. Professor Tuttle said my views are unwise. He said nothing whatsoever that even attempts to show that the particular argument I presented is unsound. I invite one and all to read his piece again if they doubt this.
I am delighted. It is certainly reasonable to suppose that if Professor
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Perspective
Diversity debate dead for Assembly member
Much has been said in recent days about the U.S. diversity requirement proposal, and there is, no doubt much more that can be said. These
doubt, indeed, now, issues are inherently emotional and, despite what some proponents have claimed, just as inherently controversial.
Aaron Profitt
Guest columnis
As one who has listened to — literally — hours of discussion in the College Assembly, one who has read much about this issue and one who cares deeply about the state of education in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, I have very strong feelings about this issue.
The requirement proposal is deeply, terribly flawed, and much of the rhetoric flowing from its backers is serving admirably well as "smoke and mirrors" to obscure the problems.
First, there is the controversy about whether this requirement is political. The two sides never will agree on this point, but a mandatory class dealing with balkanized sectors of a culture — opposed to various shades of one main culture — is by its very nature political. Indeed, if the requirement were not political, it would be a moot point.
For instance, it would be ludicrous to argue that the laboratory science requirement is political, as its content does not remotely touch upon politics. The diversity requirement proposal stipulates that approved courses should concern "issues of inequality, power and justice." If that isn't political, than nothing is. The issue then becomes: Should the University of Kansas force students to study classes emphasizing certain ideological perspectives?
1, for one, say no. Were this requirement to be approved, it would open a Pandora's box, for where could the College then stop? Why not mandate the study of other view-points deemed apropos by certain faculty members or students?
I am not at the University to be told how to view the culture around me; I am here to browse in the marketplace of ideas, taking those ideas I choose to take, not those that the University chooses for me.
I have not had difficulty in acquainting myself with those around me, regardless of their background. And I have had no difficulty in learning about their backgrounds, while sharing with them about mine. I don't believe I need the University to do that; in fact, I think that I have learned about their issues much more effectively while working and living with others, not while sitting in the cloistered classrooms of Mount Oread.
Second, there is the notion that we as students are incapable of learning about others without being taught about them in the classroom.
If what the proponents of the requirement say — that our society is diverse in the extreme — is true, then it's certain that we will all learn about this culture through experience. And experience, clicked though it be, is the best teacher.
Third, this requirement would further burden students who are already far too heavily laden with mandatory classes. Although supporters of the proposal are quick to state — and correctly — that the requirement would not have to add any hours for B.A. and B.G.S. students, they ignore the fact that the requirement would further restrict students' class choice.
Fourth, the proposers of this requirement have been amazingly nonspecific about the details from the beginning. Since the first College Assembly meeting of this academic year, members of the Assembly have been asking for a list of classes currently taught that would fulfill the requirement. Only at the last meeting — more than a semester later — did the requirement's proponents come through with the list — and even then, the list was only classes that might fulfill the requirement.
That will especially make a difference for students like me, who are pursuing two degrees. If the College truly wants to help students then they will find ways to reduce the number of requirement for degrees, not increase it.
More than that, the list, compiled by the dean's office, mysteriously contained history classes that were not turned in by the history chair. More smoke and mirrors.
Proponents have even resorted to mudslinging to defend a weak proposal. This was demonstrated most clearly at the last Assembly meeting, when Professor Doug Denney, chairman of the Committee on Undergraduate Studies and Advising, which drafted the proposal, labeled classics Professor Betty Banks as "mean spirited" for daring to oppose the requirement. As the only students to speak to the issue, I, too, felt the emanating from the requirement's supporters.
No amount of name-calling from the supporters eradicates its problems. No amount of rhetoric changes the fact that this requirement is a sinking ship. No amount of good intention overcomes the errors in this idea.
I have by no means given an exhaustive listing of all the problems with this proposal. I've said nothing about the way different departments will be affected financially, nor have I discussed the internal strife among members of undergraduate studies committee and the ad hoc committee.
And no amount of future work would be able to correct the tragic mistake it would be to approve this policy.
Profitt is an Overland Park sophomore in English and political science and a member of the College Assembly.
Relationship applications solution for lonely lovers
Josh
Meyer
opinion @ kansan.com
I am accepting applications for a lover. I realize this is a strange tactic, but most of my meaningful relationships have sprung from bizarre acts of desperation.
In high school, my weekends were bare until I became the first student to place a personal ad in the school paper. When I needed a date to prom, I addressed an all-school assembly with my phone number draped across my chest. It may seem like shameless self-exploitation, but it saved me from encountering one iota of face-to-face rejection.
Imagine being able to walk up to your ideal companion and casually ask, "Are you accepting applications?" List your special talents, answer a few essay questions, attach recommendations from previous employers, and you're well on your way to success.
more bureaucratic, the perils of collegiate courtship will vanish. No more awkward gestures, drunken fondles, enigmatic email or other ritualistic stuff.
Before I continue with the details of the application process, here's a short biography of myself, graciously contributed by my mother. I edited out the extended sections where she raves about my cute little tushie.
Maybe you'll be called back for an interview; maybe not. Either way, it's no big deal. There are many openings available.
When dating becomes
After all, everyone loves a surprise! Yippee!
If you've made it this far, you must be serious about applying. Good for you.
She writes, "Josh was a big surprise" — so there you have it! I bet legions of loyal readers can feel their juices start to flow. After all, everyone loves a surprise! Yippee! We made it this far, you must be
Now let's get down to business. A lover is not a joking matter. Should you choose to
accept this position, a slew of contractual obliquities await.
8: A sweaty, ravished Don Knotts;
first on this list of obligations is: "Always be powerful." Actually, this is the only thing on the list. If you are truly powerful, you will prompt tell me where to stick my so-called obligations. Come forth a demanding vixen, and I will spit shine your stiletto heels. I assure you that I am sick and tired of "being the man."
Because these essay questions I've prepared for you are deceptively simple, please pay them great heed.
Out of the following choices, who is your ideal mate, and why?
A: Chancellor Robert Hemenway
D: Hanson.
How can we be lovers if we can't be friends? How can we start over when the fighting never ends? Baby, how can we make love if we can't make amends? Tell me how we can be lovers if we can't be, can't be friends?
Tell me about the rabbits.
There is no need to include a photograph in your application. A crude sketch will suffice. Be sure to draw your moles — all of them. Moles are the world's most under- rated turn-on.
Completed applications are due one week from today.
Applying for lovers would change the world of intimate relations as we know it. Tacky "How to Get Some" pamphlets would begin teaching the same skills as elite business schools.
Even the dating jargon would change. Marriages would become mergers, breakups will be layoffs, sex would be a business, lunch and getting downsized would carry kinky implications. You're only young once, so how about joining me in a deliciously strategic alliance?
Meyer is an Overland Park junior in theatre and creative writing.