4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TUESDAY,APRIL 2,2002
EDITORIAL
Chapter house residents should not get to vote for off-campus senators
When students living in fraternity or sorority houses go to vote in the Student Senate elections April 10 and 11, they won't be able to vote for off-campus candidates, and that's the way it should stay.
But this could change if voters approve a referendum allowing students living in greek housing to vote in the off-campus classification.
Students living in Greek housing already have a form of representation through the appointed Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council senators. Andy Knopp, an engineering senator who spearheaded the effort to have the question placed on the ballot, argues that Black Student Union and Queers and Allies, among other groups, also have representation, but members aren't prohibited from voting in the off-campus classification if they live off campus.
By the same token, greeks who live out of their houses aren't prohibited from voting in the off-campus classification either.
Knopp also pointed out that IFC and Panhellenic senators represent the governing bodies, much like Association of University Residence Halls senators represent AURH. But students who live in campus housing are also represented by residential senators.
It could be argued that students living in greek chapter houses share some of the same concerns, but the loud neighbor is usually a "brother" or "sister" next door. Their living arrangements are more similar to students in residence or scholarship halls.
sented by readers. Knopn is correct that fair, consistent guidelines should be set for the representation students living in greek housing. But instead of allowing students living in greek housing to vote for off-campus candidates, additional seats should be provided specifically for those students.
Living in a fraternity or sorority house on Tennessee Street is vastly different from living in a house on Tennessee Street. Traditional off-campus students often have to worry about landlords and loud neighbors downstairs They have special concerns about leases, tenants rights and housing ordinances.
Greeks deserve fair representation, but Student Senate should add additional seats instead of making the large off-campus classification even larger.
Brooke Hesler for the editorial board
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I think Meghan Bainum is a genius, 100 percent pure genius.
Dude, I didn't see that Maryland Terrapin turtle guy walking around on campus yesterday, but if I'd seen him I totally would have beat his ass.
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To the law student who wrote the article on self-determination, I would suggest that he speak to an undergraduate political science student and find out what that term actually means.
I'd just like to say I really love you to all those guys outside of Hash playing on their guitars and amps and stuff today. It's just beautiful.
I almost got hit by a water balloon in the parking lot at McColum. What's up with that?
I think it's funny that the coalition that was disqualified made the front page, and I still know nothing about the other two.
You have to pee a lot because you down a lot of beers. You don't usually down a lot of water because you just down a lot of beers, because that's what you do, because with water you don't down a lot of bottles of water. That's why you have to pee so much when you drink. It's not because of the alcohol. It's because you down a lot of beers.
I'd like to thank the business major who I met in Padre for telling me that I shouldn't worry, because he'd never remember my face; he'd just remember my butt — I can say butt on here, right? — for the rest of his life, because it made going to class a lot easier knowing that nobody would recognize me. Thanks, man.
园
We're out driving drunk, and I'd just like to say to all the sober people that on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, you need to be a little more cautious, because there are a lots of drunk drivers out there, and they're not very careful.
Don't ever buy Honey Buns from the vending machines downstairs at GSP. Trust me on this one.
TALKTOUS
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PERSPECTIVE
Without 'token' minorities, Nickelodeon leads the way in entertainment diversity
There's a quiet transformation going on in the entertainment industry.
It has nothing to do with the long overdue, "Gee, I guess African Americans can act too" realization by the Oscars. And it's not happening at a major network. It's happening at the channel I grew up with — Nickelodeon.
Somehow executives at Nickelodeon have figured out a way to feature diversity without being overbearing or preachy. And kids are receptive.
While the grownups argue on how to make primetime TV a more realistic portrayal of America, children are watching shows in which kids of all backgrounds undertake the business of childhood.
COMMENTARY
With shows like Dora, Taina and The Brothers Garcia, minority characters take the lead. According to the Nickelodeon Web site, the cartoon Dora the Explorer is aimed at preschoolers and Dora speaks English and Spanish as she takes her young audience on different adventures.
Taina features a New York City Latina teenager with dreams of stardom. And The Brothers Garcia uses Wonder Years-style narration (voiced by John Leguizamo) to tell the story of a Hispanic family of six in San Antonio, Texas.
Children relate to these shows because they're about other children. Although the shows make cultural references, any child can connect with these characters. These shows
Alexzia Plummer opinion@kansan.com
have mass appeal because the audience can see a piece of themselves in the show.
These shows and movies Nickelodeon produces avoid tokenism. It's not like the shows I watched growing up, where you had the minority sidekick to the white star, or some minority kid who stood in the background. These kids actually do stuff.
The cool thing about what Nickelodeon is doing is that it gets kids used to a multicultural world. Like the vegetables parents hide in their kids' meals, children are receiving beneficial messages without realizing it.
Other entertainment companies are getting into the act. According to Lorenza Munoz's April 1 Los Angeles Times article, last year's kid blockbuster Spy Kids (released by Miramax's Dimension Films) was directed by Robert Rodriquez and included several Latino actors. The movie made more than $150 million worldwide.
The movie didn't scream out, "Come watch
minorities!" but it proved that a movie could be a mainstream success with the talent of minorities.
The trend doesn't seem to be slowing down. Nickelodeon's latest feature film, Clockstoppers, features a multicultural cast in an actionfantasy film.
These companies aren't doing this just to look good. It makes good business sense. As America becomes more culturally diverse, the entertainment companies have to keep up with their audiences.
If children grow watching and identifying with a variety of people, they'll become adult consumers who will do the same. It won't feel strange to them to watch a movie or TV show with characters who are different from them.
and with all the minority talent going into these kids shows, there will be eventually be a larger pool of minority talent to make "mainstream" movies and TV shows geared toward adults.
Actors will be selected for films and awards because of their skill regardless of ethnicity. Movies will succeed based on the strength of their characters, not how mainstream (non-ethnic) they are.
It seems like children's programming has matured more than shows for grownups.
- Plummer is a Bellvue, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
PERSPECTIVE
In 20 years, our music and fashions could seem as ridiculous as those of the '80s
Upon opening last week's Jayplay, I was bombarded with nostalgic pictures from a time period when I was but a wee boy growing up in the decade of decadence. You guessed it—the '80s.
The pictures contrasted what pop stars, such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, look like now to their 1980s images. This led me to reminisce about the years before Madonna became British and when Michael Jackson still had a nose.
The ensuing article talked of the ways that the '80s were making a comeback in the world of music, fashion and movies.
Marc Ingber opinion@kansan.com
Don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with an '80s comeback. I'm a fan of *The Wedding Singer* and I'll even dream about rain every once in awhile just to appease Sting. If you really think about it, who doesn't love a good jean jacket?
jean jacket!
I found it most interesting that the article pointed out that everyone loved the '80s simply to make fun of them—as if they wouldn't do the same thing in 20 years when it came to pop culture of the '90s and today. The same people who joke about spandex and big hair now will laugh about capi pants and Abercrombie shirts in no more than 15 years.
more than 15 years. There is not a doubt in my mind that in 2018,
someone is going to throw a '90s party complete with 'N'SYNC albums and a screening of American Pie on DVD (the eight-tracks of the future.)
Women will break out their capris and say things like, "Oh my God! I can't believe I actually wore these things!" Guys will get a laugh out of listening to Ja Rule, and a good time will be had by all.
Of course, I have no reason to talk. I'm a sign of the times just as much as anyone else. I own DVDs. I think Weezer is cool. And, I even have a pair of cargo pants hanging in my closet. Only time will tell whether I will follow these trends in the future. But if I don't, I can always count on them being popular again once the retro cycle hits.
It will soon be time for all of us to break out the flannel and the Soundgarden CDs for an early '90s comeback.
This retro cycle of past generations' pop cultures coming back into style seems to be flowing in chronological order. A couple of years ago, some of the '60s hippie fashion came back. After that, things like That 70s Show started popping up, and now the decade of my birth is making a comeback.
The return to styles of past eras is satisfying in the same way it is satisfying to look at your high school yearbook. But, instead of saying, "Oh! I remember him," you get to say, "Oh, I remember lunch boxes!" Lord only knows why trends exist in this world. Why something so "bodacious" today, could be so not "tight" tomorrow.
I think the only reason that trends exist is so that we can all look back on things we used to own and make fun of them. Because, honestly, what fun would life be if we couldn't make fun of ourselves?
Ingber is a Golden Valley, Minn., sophomore in pre- journalism.