Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Ann Premer, Editor Jamie Holman, Business manager Gerry Doyle, Managing editor Sara Cropper, Retail sales manager Angie Kuhn, Managing advisor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Monday, January 25, 1999
Jamie Patterson / KANSAN
Editorials
Long lines at Carruth-O'Leary were unfair to refund recipients
The University of Kansas set up a well-organized and efficient process of handing out scholarship and financial aid refund checks in the Kansas Union this semester.
Unfortunately, the only day this procedure was used was Jan. 15, before many students had returned from winter break. The timing of this event forced those students still enjoying their final days of freedom to stand in long lines last week to pick up their money.
On Jan. 15, refund recipients were whisked through lines in a few minutes, thanks to a well-staffed, computerized setum at the Union.
Students who didn't pick up their
Kansas Union refund day would have been more efficient after classes had begun.
checks on Jan. 15 were forced to endure wakes of more than an hour last week in Carruth-O'Leary Hall. Only one staff member at Carruth-O'Leary was assigned to hand out checks.
Students who pick up scholarship and financial aid refund checks already tolerate a process to get them; they shouldn't be forced to wait an undue amount of time to pick up what already belongs to them. Many students simply turned around and left,
deciding to come back another time.
Although students said they didn't have the time to spare waiting in line, they did so because they needed the money to buy books and supplies.
This was a situation that easily could have been remedied. The University should have held the special refund day when all students were back on campus.
In the future, the University should schedule refund days only after classes already have started so all students have the same opportunity to pick up their checks without having to endure the hassle of a long wait.
Scholarships and financial aid recipients deserve as much.
Nathan Willis for the editorial board
Alcohol policy more than fair to RAs
A person in a leadership role has responsibilities that exceed those of his or her subordinates. This was made clear following the resignations of eight resident assistants. The Ras had admitted to drinking in Hashinger Hall.
This had happened after students had moved out for Thanksgiving break. The RAs were not fired but instead were asked to resign. Several of them protested, stating that a resident would receive only a warning and would not be asked to leave the residence hall following a rules violation.
There is some truth in this argument, but the fact is that an RA should be held to a higher standard than a student who is not a leader.
The RA job application lists several major responsibilities. The
The University should continue to hold its student leaders to high standards.
first is for RAs to act as role models by demonstrating good judgement, ethical behavior and respect for laws and policies.
Obviously, the RAs knew going into their jobs that they would be held to higher standards than the students they would assist.
were not fired. They only will have to tell prospective employers that they resigned from their positions at the University of Kansas.
If RAs drink in the residence halls, regardless of the situation, they are not following the stipulations to which they agreed. Just like employees who do not follow company policy, the RAs were asked to leave.
By drinking alcohol in the residence hall, the RAs demonstrated that they were not good role models for the students in their care. They did not exercise good judgement.
The University and the Department of Student Housing was right to step in and ask them to resign. Although residents in a similar predicament would not be expelled from the halls on the first offense, the policy is not unfair to RAs.
The RAs caught a break when they
An RA is the manager of his or her floor, and leading by example is usually the best way to lead. When people prove that they are incapable of leading by example, their leadership positions should be taken away.
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
Kansan staff
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 Ficketti . *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 Kafftz ... Regional
Jon Schlitt ... National
Tyler Cook ... Marketing
Shannon Curran .. PR/Intern manager
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Steven Prince .. Production
Chris Corley .. Creative
Jason Hannah .. Classified
Corinne Buffmire .. Zone
Shauntae Blue .. Zone
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Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one."
**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.
Beniamin Franklin
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.
How to submit letters and guest columns
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staufer-Filim 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.
Perspective
If you have general questions or comments,
e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com)
to 864-4924.
like any good college student, I spent last Monday morning and a good part of Monday afternoon in
Leader's inspiration will get us off couches ignite students' passion
bed. I had one last day of freedom before classes began and sleeping seemed like a good use of my time.
Sydney Wallace
opinion @ kansan.com
the television. It was then that I remembered that I had considered attending one of the many events in celebration of
Upon waking, I moved to my living room and turned on my good friend
Yet here I was at 2 p.m. lounging on my couch with a Coke and some Pringles.
As I became engrossed in a special on King, I found myself increasingly discouraged with myself and society.
Images of King flashed across my screen, and I saw in them a man of great passion. A man, who like so many others of his time, inspired thousands of people to fight for something they believed in.
Although it was great to watch,it depressed me. I realized that passion for a cause is somewhat more difficult to find today.
Certainly there are great people accomplishing amazing things every day, but as a whole, we have lost our passion for the fight. I don't mean that greatness no longer exists, because it does.
At first, my instinct was to blame the loss of passion on the lack of leadership. It seems as if we have no one dedicated or even trustworthy enough in which we can put our faith. There is no one who is able to inspire us to do great things.
There are many people fighting the good fight for things they truly believe in each and every day. But the support of the people and the enthusiasm to change things does not exist as strongly as it once did.
That is just an excuse.
Rather than just let that inspiration fade away, I have tried to express some of my own passion.
Great people exist as much now as ever before. They just lack the following of people committed to making a difference.
It is our duty as thinking, feeling individuals to fight for what we believe in. More important, it is our duty to believe in something beyond ourselves.
Without people willing to fight for him, a great leader is nothing more than one person working alone. And although one person can make a difference, he will be much more successful with others behind him.
It was on my couch late that Monday afternoon, that all these thoughts came to me. I found myself inspired by Dr. King and his lifelong commitment to a cause.
We do not exist in a vacuum, and we must quit behaving as if we do.
Most likely my passion today will not stop pollution, nor will it end world hunger. But maybe I will find myself watching television a little less, and doing things that I care about a little bit more.
A great leader needs support. A leader needs people willing to join him in his cause.
We need to be willing to commit ourselves to what we believe in, and fight for things that matter to us. And when a great leader comes along, we must support that leader with all the passion within ourselves.
My words will not change the world, nor will they alone turn me into a great leader. But maybe they will inspire a little bit of passion in someone else.
Today I will let my passion guide me and with a little luck it will guide me toward tomorrow.
At least for now I will try to do things that will matter to me and to those around me.
Even if I do not change the world today, I will know that I am letting passion lead me, and that it will take me far beyond my couch.
Wallace is an Overland Park sophomore in pre-journalism.
Frequent flyer wonders about seat cushion safety
fly about once a month between Kansas City and Minneapolis.
1 For those of you who have never flown.
easy and predictable.
The only water we fly over is the Minnesota River. Should be painless, right? Wrong.
For those of you who imagine getting on a plane, taking off, getting served peanuts, landing
Jamie Patterson opinion @ kansan.com
Considering how many Minnesotaots have found a home at the University of Kansas, some of you may have experienced this flight with me.
Then I looked around to locate the nearest emergency exits, keeping in mind the nearest one may have been behind me.
I was the one who followed along with the flight attendants as they pulled out the little card that shows all the exits.
I was also the one who didn't stop waving to my family through that tiny window until we reached Iowa.
And finally, I admit, I was the one who insisted on bringing a parachute.
flying isn't easy for me. I hate flying over water. I always get seated next to a sick kid, and I prefer solid ground.
Aside from all of this, there is a lot I don't understand.
Why don't the airlines provide parachutes?
The only safety the airlines offer is a floating seat cushion.
In an actual emergency over water, how am I going to get to the water? Am I going to need to jump out of the plane? Aha. Seems to me that a parachute would be a vital piece of equipment.
Is a seat cushion that floats really going to
What is the purpose of this seat/floatation device?
save me in a crash over Iowa? As smoke fills the cabin and the large man next to me is screaming, "We're going down! We're going down!" am I going to think of my seat as life saving?
First class on a DC-9 on a 45 minute flight.
The advertising for this could be, "For only an extra bundle of bucks, you can have a curtain separating you from everyone else."
The final mystery to me are the phones in the seats.
Are they there so you can call your mother and remind her you need a ride home?
Are the phones there so you can conduct business 20,000 feet in the air?
Next month, I'm going to London.
I personally think they are there for the individuals who just really feel like paying a huge amount of money to call someone and say, "Hey. I'm on a plane right now. Look out your window and wave."
As some of you geography buffs may know, between the continental United States and Great Britain lies an astronomical amount of water.
If I don't make it back, I want you to know that in my last moments I whipped out my parachute, slapped the large screaming man next to me, grabbed my floatable seat cushion and ran to first class. There I threw open the curtain and grabbed one of the phones. Then I called everyone I knew to tell them to watch the five o'clock news for the sole survivor of the crash.
Isurvived?
Of course I survived!
I always know my nearest emergency exit, and I had my parachute, remember?
Patterson is a Minneapolis junior in English.