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OPINION
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
EDITORIAL BOARD
Raise hell, Student Senate give students reason to care
Dear winners of Student Senate elections, Congratulations on your success. Without Student Senate, students would not have a voice of their own at the University of Kansas. Unfortunately, your newly won positions carry quite the burden. Not only must you be the student voice for the University, you must do it for a population of students who could care less about Student Senate.
Either students are apathetic because they
Either students are apathe don't feel Senate represents them, or Senate's representation of the student voice makes students apathetic.
But that's not important. What is important, and what the editorial board challenges you to do, is to change it. Pick causes that students want, and work to make real changes. More importantly, don't be afraid to raise hell if that's what it takes to show students you
care and make the administration listen.
There are plenty of causes you hear students complaining about without Senate rallying behind the causes. There are not enough basketball courts on campus. There weren't at Robinson and there aren't now at the new Student Recreation Fitness Center.
Where are the angry senators?
Senate may be getting more for the rec center in three years, but that's not good enough. A plan like that doesn't get students behind Senate, and it shows students that senators aren't willing to try hard to make changes.
Our campus can't accommodate students with disabilities everywhere. We're not even
up to the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. For instance, a disabled DJ can't work at KIHK's studio.
Where are the angry senators?
If that's not a cause that Student Senate can make an immediate and vocal challenge to the administration, I don't know what is.
Student Senate needs to combat students' apathy toward it by standing for issues that make a difference, instead of cop out coalition platforms.
Tuition's going up, deans are trying to raise it even more, the state's cutting funding and parking passes are getting more expen-
Where are the angry senators?
Passing initiatives and having discussions with administrators isn't enough. We need senators who aren't afraid to get loud and show the University that students don't want higher prices. Without that, we won't care what Senate does.
The student voice can't
always get what it wants and sometimes senators must make compromises. But if senators won't go down kicking and screaming, students won't care.
Picking issues like Chipotle in the Underground, recycling on campus and things that will pass anyway as campaign issues turns off students. The coalitions did have some good ideas, but as of now, they're just ideas.
If Student Senate can rally behind the concerns of students, and be strong enough and loud enough, students might just rally behind them.
John Jordan writing for the editorial board.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Article lacks journalistic integrity; shows one side to conflict
For the students who did not attend the speech by chief of staff for Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Yehiel Leiter on Tuesday night at the Robert J. Dole Institute for Politics, I'd like to address the one-sided coverage of the event in The University Daily Kansan. First of all, in describing the crowd in attendance, the writer left out those people who attended the event to hear an opinion contrary to the speaker's. While the Kansan pointed out that the crowd was quite friendly, applauding in sections, there was also a portion of that crowd who was respectful and tolerant, while critical of the speaker's views.
Those students in attendance who did not agree with Leiter's views took particular offense to Leiter's characterization of Palestinians and Arabs. He described a Palestinian society that glorified terrorism and a Palestinian government that encouraged violence and intolerance. He described the process of indoctrination of Palestinian youth that creates a culture ripe for terrorism. I have to wonder whether this message was also a form of indoctrination.
Attempting to sell this view of the Palestinians to the audience, his insistence that Arafat was a terrorist and a dictator, should be debated.
Moreover, his speech was never critical of Israeli policies that might also be a cause for this culture of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
To conclude, it is the responsibility of journalists to ensure that fair coverage is given to all events, but especially a contentious event such as this one. Thus, to protect the journalistic integrity of this paper, both sides need to be presented.
Lauren Prather Political science and French junior Lee's Summit, Mo.
Editorial board's endorsement for Student Senate unqualified
Why does The University Daily Kansan editorial board choose to endorse Student Senate coalitions? Even though the editorial board changes every semester, it attempts to judge the continuity and ability of coalitions that have existed for years. Mind you, the editorial staff holds no particular expertise in Student Senate or what makes a university work. But still the Kansan presumes to know what is best for all students.
For instance, the Kansan has endorsed Delta Force eight out of the past nine years. Delta Force has lost seven of the eight prior times it was endorsed. This clearly shows that those doing the endorsing are not those doing the voting. Make no mistake, the editorial board of the Kansan in no way reflects the will of the student body. Why does the Kansan even make the effort anymore?
The Kansan, in a move that should be celebrated for its bravery, has once again chosen to endorse Delta Force. What criteria does the Kansan use? A track record of failure? Good at printing platforms but lousy at passing programs? A lack of experience and initiative? The Kansan is as qualified to endorse a coalition as it is to play Jayhawk basketball. It continues to endore losers even as the students keep picking winners
A university newspaper should exist to educate students about election issues. It should not patronize students by telling them how to vote.
Branden Bell Third year law student Broken Arrow, Okla.
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
▶ SUBMISSIONS
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LANG'S PERSPECTIVE
Doug Lang/KANSAN
TIERRA TALKS
Embrace natural beauty; don't conform to standard
"I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed — it was because of the way I looked." — Lena Horne
TIERRA SCOTT
(tscott@kansan.com)
Now with Horne's quote in mind, try this at home: Watch several MTV, VH1 or BET music videos and shows such as "America's Next Top Model" or "The Miss USA Pageant." Look for African American women in those programs. What do you see? What do you not see? There is a strong possibility that you will primarily see women who have light skin and other features that conform to European beauty standards.
In the African-American community, lighter skin has always been preferred over darker skin. That preference can be traced back to the antebellum United States. During slavery, there were two types of slaves: house slaves and field slaves. The lighter-skinned slaves made up the majority of the house slave population. Their duties involved housekeeping, cooking and taking care of the master's family. Often they were literally part of that family. They were the "illegitimate" offspring of white male slaveowners and black female slaves. Light skin represented power and influence, and that representation would continue into the 20th century.
The darker-skinned slaves, who worked in the fields, were treated more harshly than the house slaves and did not possess the power and influence of their house slave counterparts. The field slaves' duties were more tedious than the house slaves' duties. The field slaves were forced to work on the plantations for long hours underneath the scorching sun.
It was a situation that, in the years following the abolition of slavery, would result in what is known as "the color complex." The conflict, within the African-American community, is over skin color gradations. Current beauty standards in the United States have created a culture focused on
the unachievable. For American women in general, and African-American women in particular, that focus too often has resulted in self-hatred.
Looking at music videos and mainstream models, it is obvious what type of look is highly regarded. Typically,
women on television are extremely thin with light skin and long, flowing hair. People think that a size zero through four is skinny. Looking at popculture examples, however, any size bigger than a four or six is too big. In general, women want the Barbie-doll look. That is the unachievable culture.
Young women across the world see these thin images and go to extremes to mimic the women they idolize. Women begin to hate themselves and become anorexic or bulimic because they do not fit into the beauty standards. The more wealthy women go through numerous plastic surgeries and tummy tucks to get that ideal body. In general, women alter themselves in many ways to have the "in" look. Although they may gain beauty, they lose their identities.
The media are progressing. Blacks are slowly becoming more common in mainstream American media, and black features are becoming more popular. People are tanning for that perfect caramel complexion and getting collagen placed in their lips and hips.
While women may think they're enhancing their beauty, they'll soon look in the mirror, and they won't recognize themselves anymore, physically or mentally.
As for media standards now, Barbie is still in. In the meantime, women of all colors, shapes and sizes: Embrace your beauty. Do not let the media dictate to you what is and what is not beautiful. To all black women: Black is beautiful whether you are light as ivory or dark as ebony. Embrace your natural beauty even if it is not what you see on television.
♦ Scott is a Chicago junior in journalism.
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Last year I had a mohawk and no one from KUUnited talked to me. God, I wish I had that mohawk back
KUnited: by the greeks, of the Greeks, for the Greeks.
To the girl who was quoted in the Kansan for not caring about the parking permit price increase, can her daddy buy my parking permit next year, too?
Whenever lost five dollars in front of Bailey, thanks for the pack of cigs.
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Thank you for canceling the How to Manage Academic Stress today. Now I'm really freakin' stressed out. Man, somebody owes me a beer.
One, whoever fired Dean Johnson should be fired. Two, the only man suitable to take over his job at the University is Rueben Perez. Thank you.
I'm afraid to leave my room because I can see a KUinited guy just waiting there, stalking me.
The reason why all the Poindexters have hot girls is because they know how to treat them with respect.
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My roommate just told me he feels like a pregnant woman.
I just got pulled over by a cop on suspicion of drunk driving because I was swerving to avoid manhole covers on 9th and potholes on Iowa. Lawrence, you think you could take care of that?
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Don't these bus drivers have to take a driving test or something? If one more bus driver almost kills me, I'm just going to run into the damn bus.
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