4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY,APRIL29,2002
864-0500 free for
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about
to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
Hey Lee, where can I buy one of your shirts?
Come on people, if they put $10 million in front of your face you know you'll leave, too. Stop everyone whining about this. See you, Drew.
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Does anybody else see the extreme irony of the front page of Wednesday's paper where outstanding women are recognized and other women are merely being objectified by the men in our society.
I just wanted to tell my good friend Sneha happy birthday on Thursday, because Thursday's her birthday, and you spell her name S-N-E-H-A, so happy birthday. Sneha. We love you.
Come on ladies, who wants to see a shoot for Playgirl on the cover of the Kansan?
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I have paint a lot on my jeans a lot when I go into the Spencer Art Museum, and I also have a green backpack, but I don't like the guy behind the counter. So I don't know if this is a sick joke, but if I'm in there don't think I want to go out with you, man. I have a boyfriend.
increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
After reading the Free for All for April 24 it's become quite clear to me that most of the students here at KU don't give a damn about any of the athletes. All they give a damn about is being able to brag about whether or not they can claim that their team is the national champion.
To all the students that called in with negative comments about Drew leaving in the Free for All, how many of you would seriously turn down $3 million a year? Yeah, I didn't think so.
I work at Lewis front desk, and the girl who lost her keys with the Power Puff Girls key chain just came by and picked up her lost keys. Have no fear. Everything in the world is right again.
Hello, welcome to the Abercrombie & Fitch hardware store.
Here we have a complete kit to make you a tool, complete with hair gel, visor — turned around backwards, of course — a shirt with a racist epithet, that the pre-ripped shorts, sandals and a Northface backpack, but if you order now we'll get you the water bottle that's meant for hikers that's never been used by you for any practical purpose. Thank you very much. Only $19.95. Your parents can afford it.
I just want to thank the guy for making the Rumpistislskin comment, because I got in trouble for laughing out loud in class because of that.
--increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
Andy Knop, your Greek referendum bill failed. Get over it. Mention it.
Everybody goes to college just so they can make a lot of money in life. More power to Drew for doing it in less time than the rest of us.
Why are we all here at the University of Kansas? Well, we're hoping to get an education and get a good job, and, if we're really lucky, it'll be something you enjoy. Now if someone offered me a whole lot of money to do something I really enjoy I would be crazy, but I don't have to go to school to do it, I don't have to finish, I'd be crazy not to. You would do it. Of course you would. Don't lie. Okay now, if Mr. Gooden has the same opportunity then good for him, and quit saying you wouldn't do the same.
increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
I just got harassed by the lunch lady because I took two cookies out of the lunch room.
I just found out that my roommate was attacked by the lunch lady for taking two cookies and a banana out of the lunch room. She's emotionally scarred, I hope you know. I hope you're happy.
increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
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This message is for Annie, the girl I met at the party Saturday night. Next time you see me walking around on campus, and I stop and talk to you and walk you to your class, you should give me your number, because, I don't know, you're pretty cool.
My car is a bodacious babe. Original interior, manual transmission. It's a classic. Can I marry my car? Thanks, dad, for the car. I love it.
I'm going to go out and get drunk tonight in celebration of the fact that today is the last day the hippies are running my school.
--increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
Hey Free for All, I just wanted the Kansan to know that I loved today's front page, outstanding women recognized right next to Playboy potential. Love it.
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The girl that lived on Daisy Hill last year, will you go out with me?
increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
I'm from New York, also known as Baldwin City, Kan.
To the face in the crowd, I don't know how you change people's lives selling toothbrushes and soap and toothpaste on the Internet.
To the face in the crowd, isn't El Dorado, Kansas a lot like New York city?
increases.
But there's a new cause for students to rally behind, and though it's not quite so high profile or glamorous, it's happening right under our noses.
TALK TO US
Jay Krall
Kyle Ramsey
managing editors
864-4594 or jkrall@kanan.com and
kramsey@kanan.com
Leita Walker
editor
854-4854 or lwakar@kansan.com
Clay McCusition
readers' representative
864-4810 or conccuition@anan.com
Amber Agee
Kursten Phels
Brooks Hesler
opinion editors
864-4810 or kphilep@kasan.com and
bhalesi@kasan.com
Amber Agee
business manager
864-401 of adrictee@aansan.com
Kate Mariani
retail sales manager
864-442-6
retailalexo@kaenan.com
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and news
adviser
864-7667 or mgcolm@kanaan.com
Matt Fisher
Malcolm Gibson
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or mfther@danesan.com
864-7867 or mgibson@kansan.com
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
By the Numbers
57. 20
Percentage of U.S. college students in 1981 and 2001, respectively, who identified their political leanings as "middle of the road"
21. 30
Percentage of students in those years who identified themselves as "liberal" or "far left" politically
Source: Higher-Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles
left"politcallv
Number of times "evil" has been cited in George W. Bush's State of the Union addresses.
3 Number of George H.W. Bush's five adult grandchildren who have been arrested
Source: Harper's Magazine
Number of times Bill Clinton used the word "evil" in State of the Union addresses.
41
Number who have only been ticketed for sexual misconduct
Source: Harper's Magazine
From Harper's Magazine monthly idex
Want to rally? Get behind Hannah's House
PERSPECTIVE
During the past few weeks, stories about students protesting the world around them have graced the front of this paper. The Middle East. Coffee at Starbucks. Tuition increases.
It's called Hannah's House.
COMMENTARY
It's a group home for pregnant teenagers — a safe place for girls whose families have failed them or who have tangled with the law. But unless Lawrence and the campus community perk up, its doors will close Tuesday, May 7, and the two girls who live there will pack their bags and leave.
You can help by showing your support and attending a meeting at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the house,2216 Alabama St. For more information call Hannah's House at 841-4675.
But closing the home would be a loss to the
It takes $150,000 annually to keep the home running, regardless of the number of residents, who are in state custody and placed in the home by foster care agencies.
O
Leita Walker
lwalker@kansan.com
Financial hardships and low resident numbers forced the board of Hannah's House to decide to close the home Wednesday, said Kim Marshall, interim director of the house and a Lawrence junior
Because of its more specific role, Hannah's House workers ensure its residents go to all their doctor appointments. They teach the girls how to shop on a budget, and they provide diapers and used clothes.
state and the women who live there. Although other group homes exist in Kansas and private foster families are a second option, Hannah's House is one of only a few homes that specifically aims to help expectant mothers, Marshall said.
pasts, and after leaving the home, they are welcome to come back for visits.
the girls are assigned to peaceful but pretty bedrooms, and volunteers at the house throw showers for the residents and try to give the girls new gifts for their babies.
While the girls are at the home they have time to stop running and slow down, Marshall said. They focus on their lives and come to terms with motherhood. They work through events in their
"We've had a lot of residents tell us this is the safest they've ever felt in their lives." Marshall said.
It's a sucessful program, she added. "Everyone who works here firmly believes in what we are doing."
An article about the plight of Hannah's House ran in the Lawrence Journal-World last week, and Marshall said that since then there had been an outpouring of community support.
But it's not yet enough.
"We now have reason to be optimistic that things will work out, although the end is not clear," she said.
If you are a woman or if you have ever loved a woman, if you have a sister or if you think you might someday have a daughter, go to the meeting tomorrow.
Protesting for peace or Fair Trade coffee are noble goals — but arguably unreachable for a handful of students in the middle of Kansas.
For Hannah's House — and the girls who live there—a handful of students could make all the difference in the world.
Walker is a Rolfe, Iowa, junior in journalism and religious studies and editor of the Kansan.
I've been at KU for two years, and the campus is still beautiful and I appreciate the academics. But what happened to all those faces of minorities from the viewbook?
The actual atmosphere of the campus doesn't reflect the multicultural harmony of the recruitment tools. According to Terry Rockebuck's April 17th Laurence Journal-World article, only 9.4 percent of KU students are minorities, making KU 10th in the Big 12 in minority numbers.
I thought I would get over it, but I just can't. I knew the facts, but I just fell in the love with the pictures — the pictures of a beautiful campus, a strong academic tradition and a diverse student body.
PERSPECTIVE
Campus diversity requires student input
Although the numbers are dismal, what's worse is the University's stated commitment to diversity. Sometimes the word is thrown around more than a Frisbee. And I fell for it. I was the kid who during my college search, counted the non-white faces in the viewbooks. I wanted to go to a university where I could get a good education and not feel like an outsider.
COMMENTARY
Alexzia Plummer opinion@kansan.com
I understand that the viewbook is a piece of advertising trying to sell an image. But what is the University doing to make the image a reality?
Several days ago, I attended the student open forum for the Commission on the Status of Minorities. I was shocked to find out that the commission had been meeting for months on
ways to improve minority recruitment and retention and according to an April 17 Kansan article, had already sent recommendations to the provost. Why had they waited until now to get student opinion?
I appreciate their efforts and even former Student Body President Justin Mills' involvement, but I wonder how much more effective the commission could be with more minority student interaction. One open forum a year won't be enough.
Numbers can't tell why a minority student leaves KU after one semester of culture shock or why another stayed. Numbers can't tell the individual campus experiences that either accommodate or alienate minority students. How can the University improve minority student recruitment and retention without continually seeking the input of its minority students?
it would also help if the University were consistent in its pursuit of diversity. The University will eliminate one position in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. That's one less person to reach out to minority students and one less person to coordinate programs. That's one less person to link minority students to already existing programs like the Multicultural Business Scholars programs. How could this cut possibly benefit diversity?
I hope the University will take the commission's suggestions. According to the Journal-World article, the commission requested money to strengthen HawkLink, a program for new students that offers orientation, advising and tutoring services. I hope the commission will act on student suggestions like more minority scholarships and improving programs in the Multicultural Resource Center. The commission could even enact programs that have worked at other Big 12 schools.
I wish the campus really did look like the viewbook, with minority students on almost every page. That's what I expected but didn't get. I know it's improbable that the University could act on all the suggestions at this moment. But it would be encouraging to see some student suggestions put to immediate use and backing up the University's commitment to diversity.
Plummer is a Bellevue, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
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