4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WEDNESDAY,MARCH 27,2002
EDITORIAL
Politics have no place on car license plates
The car bumper has long been a vehicle for self-expression, what with bumper stickers and decals proclaiming your political affiliations, choice of college, and even honor student status.
Now, however, expression once reserved for bumper stickers threatens to move over a little to the license plate itself.
The Kansas House of Representatives is now debating the approval of a specialty license plate bearing the symbol and motto of "Choose Life," but they should not approve it. In fact, they should stop producing new specialty tags altogether.
Approving the "Choose Life" license plate would encourage the production of more overtly political statements or personal opinions on specialty license plates, which is unnecessary and illogical.
The issue is not the "Choose Life" message itself, but the concept of having political agendas and personal opinions on state-issued license plates at all.
License plates are issued by the state for identification, not for expression.
Although 18 specialty license plates have already been issued, most of these depict the six state universities or military branches—non-partisan groups funded in part by the government.
However, the proposed "Choose Life" license plate provides a one-sided and seemingly state-sanctioned message. It appears to address the issue of abortion by using the slogan "Choose Life," a phrase commonly associated with the anti-abortion movement, as well as by requiring that all the donated funds go only toward crisis pregnancy and adoption centers that don't recommend or endorse abortion.
If the "Choose Life" license plate is approved, then there should be an equal representation of the opposing view — a license plate advocating the pro-choice movement. And, if 500 people order a license plate like that, no one can stop others from organizing and ordering other specialty license plates.
As they are now, the guidelines for requesting a specialty plate are too open. Essentially, if 500 people order it, almost anything can be put on a license plate. If the state approves the "Choose Life" license plate, then they have no choice but to approve other specialty license plates, which could advocate such ideas as the legalization of marijuana or prayer in public schools, or endorse a hate group or political party.
Therefore, the state should change the legislation and stop producing new specialty license plates altogether. People have many opportunities to express their political views and personal opinions. A mass-produced, state-issued licer.se plate should not be one of them.
Lauren Stewart for the editorial board.
864-0500 free for
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--sales and marketing adviser
864-7606 or mfisher@kansan.com
Just because you don't go to South Padre on spring break does not mean that you cannot have fun.
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We just want to say thanks to Hinrich for playing the way he did after he hurt his ankle. You really are an inspiration to us all.
sales and marketing adviser
864-7606 or mfisher@kansan.com
We're in South Padre right now, and we're all so completely sun baked and wasted that instead of coming to the beach we we're going to sit in our room playing cards on the bed andiggling like dumb idiots.
I just had lunch at Perkins, and there is nothing better than feeling smarter because the people across the way are having really stupid philosophical conversations.
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I'm in Arkansas, and you won't believe it, but it is cold. I'm spooning to keep warm.
For some reason last night, in my own little world, it seemed like a great idea to throw my best friend's purse off a third-story balcony. I guess that's really a bad idea.
When you're sitting in Florida in a bar full of Illinois people, winning is a great, great feeling.
We're driving down the turnpike, and according to the map we’re going about four inches every hour, and I think when I get back I'm probably going to see some KU people. I know I’m going to see some KU people.
Those inches are going fast, too. We're already two inches into Kansas.
TALK TO US
Leita Walker
editor
864-4854 or walker@kansan.com
Jay Kraill
Kyle Ramsey
managing editors
864-4854 or kraill@kansan.com and
kramsey@kansan.com
Clay McCuistion
readers' representative
864-4910 or concuitation@kansan.com
Kursten Phelps
Brooke Hesler
opinion editors
864-4310 or kphleps@kansan.com and
bheater@kansan.com
Kate Mariani
retail sales manager
864-4462 or
retailales@kansan.com
Amber Agee business manager 884-4014 or addrressuer@kanan.com
Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser
Matt Fisher
884-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
PERSPECTIVE
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
Mixing sports and news necessary to please basketball-crazed students
Basketball dominated Monday's University Daily Kansan. Stories and photos about the men's basketball team
Basketball dominated Monday's University Daily Kansan. Stories and photos about the men's basketball team appeared in both the news and sports sections. Roy's boys appeared on five pages of a 12-page paper.
READERS' REPRESENTATIVE
It was unusual for us. The Kansan often treats sports and news as separate worlds. People who want to know what's happening around campus will read the news section, the thinking goes. If they want to know about the basketball team, they know where to find articles about it — in the sports section.
Jay Krall, managing editor for news, said the Kansan was restrained in its treatment of the men's basketball team this semester.
Clay McCuistion emccuistion@kansan.com
There are two schools of thought at the Kansan about running sports stories on the front page. One believes that sports shouldn't cross over to news. The mere presence of a sports section seems vaguely annoying.
"We almost never put it on the front during the regular season," he said.
The other school of thought believes sports plays an important part in student life, and that sports stories are often some of the best-written pieces in the paper.
It's a disagreement that comes to the heart of an old newspaper debate. Should newspapers print what readers want, or should they try to elevate the level of public discourse by setting an agenda of their own?
Thankfully, Monday's Kansan — despite its sports-centered nature — leaves that debate in the dust.
For at certain times sports transcend the milieu of arenas and sweat socks. At these times, sports move into the lives of a multitude of people, many of whom don't ordinarily care about free throws or three-pointers.
It's a time like that now. It's a time when nearly every student is concerned or affected by a
sports team.
Sarah Warren, Kansan sports editor, said it was a no-brainer.
"That should be the first thing people see, because you know that's what they're going to be talking about," she said. "If the student paper doesn't have it on the front, they don't know their audience."
The Kansan will feature many more front page stories about basketball in the next few days.
It faces challenges, however. Most in the newsroom agree that the Jayhawks' fate in the NCAA tournament is the story of the moment.
But there are different ways to cover that story. If sports coverage makes the front of the paper, it must be clear to readers why it's important. Why, at times like these, the Kansan can offer coverage that's unique.
"We obviously don't want to be the same as every other paper," said Levi Chronister, associate sports editor. "We're writing to students, not the general populace."
McCuistion is an El Dorado senior in journalism and English.
BIG BUSINESS VS. STUDENTS
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR
Do you really think corporations make money by fleecing their customers? Let's get serious. If they did that, they would be out of business. I am not saying all are good, but they have their place.
Dear editor,
Each store or corporation must look at what all customers want, and then choose the action that fits the majority. In business, this does not always mean the most people, but the heavy users.
This is in response to David Grummon's article about corporations ("Big corporations don't care about you," March 7).
Anyone familiar with the 20/80 rule (the top 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of the revenue) knows businesses must serve the heavy users no matter what the consequences are the to others.
Without these customers every business and corporation would go broke. You might not like it, but that's the way all businesses work, even the local ones. Then there would be no jobs and no taxes for the city or state. We would all lose.
You might not believe it, but corporations are made up of people. I dare you to go into a "chain" store (when it's not busy) and introduce yourself to the employees and manager(s). They will remember you the next time you come in (assuming it's recently thereafter).
After a while, you can get a "local" feel at a chain store. In a few days, you will be shooting the
Russell Warren Lawrence senior
breeze with some of the employees!
That's what you want isn't it, to be respected as a person? They will also be more eager to help you if you have a problem. Trust me, I know this from experience.
FIELDHOUSE SEATING
After 12 long days spent camping out at Allen Fieldhouse and an awesome game you would think that any diehard KU fan would be grinning from ear to ear after the win against Kansas State on Senior night.
But guess what? Not me. I left the fieldhouse at a loss and generally in a bad mood.Not because of the KU team (which is awesome) and not because it was the last home game of the season.
I left in a bad mood because of the lack of enthusiasm coming from the football recruits who were comfortably sitting in the second row of the student section.
I am not trying to disrespect the football program in any way. I am happy that coach Mark Mangino is here and hope he can make our team successful. I also realize that there is a need for recruitment. But at the same time, I was furious when I saw the whole row sitting down and at one point opening their KU football folders and proceeding to read while the game was going on.
The football recruits, in this case, were juniors in high school and would not even be attending
the University of Kansas for a few years. They were given the opportunity to see the No.1 college basketball team in the nation play in a packed fieldhouse.
Granted, basketball is not their game of choice, but they could have at least acted like they were enjoying it instead of simply acting bored out of their minds while the rest of the student section cheered wildly around them.
This is not the first time this has happened, and I know it will not be the last. I would suggest for the future, if the recruits come to basketball games they should be seated farther up so they can do just that — sit comfortably and let the true fans, the fans that eat, sleep and sacrifice their time at the field-house camping out to support the Jayhawks, have the seats that they deserve!
Alison Vavra Newton junior
TUITION HIKES
classes? Every class that has no educational value we cut. I looked at a class schedule and I see we could cut dance class, any fencing class, bowling class and golfing class.
Dear editor.
How about we just start cutting
You can't keep the same level of learning when you don't have the money. So I ask you, students, what you want to lose.
You know, I'm getting really tired of all the students complaining about the tuition increases. Almost every time I pick up the paper I read about some student protest against the increase. With a 15+ million dollar funding deficit what do the students expect?
We could have bigger classes and fewer hospital and library hours. How about less professors and less computers and others technologies?
We can cut the Student Senate offices since they are inept at doing a good job of representing the student body anyway and we wouldn't have to put up with elections every year.
The point I'm trying to make is that if the students want the best education they are going to have to pay for it. The average in-state KU student pays between $1,000 to $2,000 less a year then their peer schools, and I think it's time to catch up.
If you want to talk about being looked over, talk to a state worker some time. We haven't had a cost-of-living increase consistent with inflation in the 12 years I've been an employee. The governor suspended the pay scale for state employees.
In other words, the one payment increase we did get he took away. Now we have to have the Legislature vote us a raise and with the deficit what do you think the likelihood of that happening is?
When the state runs out of money, it raises taxes or cuts funding. We don't like either but there isn't much we can do about either. It's about time the students get a taste of the real world. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
Robin Helbert Lawrence resident