4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 2002
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Leita Walker editor
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Kursten Phelps Brooke Hesler opinion editors
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EDITORIAL
Students make the most noise deserve the best fieldhouse seats
Better student seating at Kansas home games would boost spirit.
Watching the Kansas Jayhawks play in Allen Fieldhouse is an opportunity to enjoy college greatness in action.
Whether you listen to Max Falkenstein on the radio, watch the exciting games on ESPN or experience them first hand, Kansas basketball elevates the spirits of its fans. Students camp out three days in advance for optimum seating, yet for the past 17 years, we still have been placed behind the baskets and in the corners of the fieldhouse.
Without the students, Kansas basketball as we know it would not exist.
More court seating around the perimeter, especially in the middle, would boost school spirit.
That is why the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation needs to listen to student who plead for a more encompassing student-seating plan in Allen Fieldhouse.
At Duke home games, the court is surrounded by fanatical fans. It's tough to see the Kansas fans on TV. Besides, student sections are louder than alumni sections.
The overall atmosphere of the games would be heightened if the Athletics Department would stop procrastinating and seriously consider the student body proposals.
Off-campus student senator Matt Dwyer said that the department had been impressed with some of the proposals that found a compromise with the Athletics Department on seating arrangements.
That might only mean that students would be granted the first eight rows up from the floor. It might even mean a modest increase in student ticket prices, but most students would probably pay a few dollars more for each game if it meant they could snag better seat.
menus. The high-paying donors should definitely be considered and accommodated, but the time has come for a repositioning of seat allotment.
Unfortunately, no compromises are being made. There is too much money and tradition blocking an incredible opportunity, for the sake of keeping a cheaper seating system.
If you look at a Brazilian soccer game, the spirit is amazing, and most seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis, around the whole stadium. Kansas has one of the greatest arenas for fans, but it could be better.
The Athletics Department should look at how fired up the students got last night against our rival, Missouri, and consider a proposal to allow students the chance to cheer on the Jayhawks with even more spirit, which will only come with a better view.
Tim Lang for the editorial board.
PERSPECTIVE
5
Scholarship competitions have benefits beyond money
Spring 2002. For many, it is just another in a seemingly endless stream of college semesters.
For some, it is the last chapter of an undergraduate journey that feels like it began a long time ago. And for a few, it is a time to begin competing for postgraduate scholarships.
Although these competitions may seem daunting, they can be among the most rewarding experiences of your college career. But why should you compete?
First, these competitions force you to assess your career goals. Having a dream is one thing, but being able to clearly articulate that dream to a total stranger is quite another.
The latter task requires research, revision and refinement with the help of faculty mentors. Even if you don't win the scholarship, you still will have gained a degree of self-awareness that otherwise might have been put off indefinitely.
Second, the assistance you receive from the faculty helps you build relationships with experts in your field who you may never have sought out before.
This is also the case with the interviews that the honors department coordinates. Third, the other applicants you meet are wonderful people who you
COMMENTARY
might not have otherwise met.
Robert Chamberlain opinion@kansan.com
These people are witty, fun, smart folks who are likely to challenge you in a manner that forces you to become more effective at defending your interpretations of the world.
Fourth, of course, is the possibility that you might win.
Grades are important, but there is no reason to believe that you have to be an academic cyborg to be a qualified candidate. I won a Truman Scholarship with a 3.6 grade point average and became a Rhodes Scholarship finalist with a 3.7. There are many people at KU who have better GPA's than I do.
So what is holding you back from applying? I can think of three hurdles that potential applicants might believe are insurmountable: grades, involvement and myths.
Involvement is important, but you
don't need to be involved in every club on campus.
Leadership and innovative policymaking say a lot more about you than meaningless bullet points. During the interview process, a charismatic, dynamic candidate who can convey enthusiasm about every item on his or her résumé is much more likely to succeed in the long run.
Put aside your inhibitions. Consider applying for a post-graduate scholarship. No matter what the outcome, I'm sure you will find the process rewarding and worth the effort.
Finally, there may be the belief that a Rhodes Scholar or a Truman Scholar is some otherworldly being unlike the mere mortals who inhabit the world below. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The people who win these scholarships have the same checked pasts, the same foibles and weaknesses, and the same peccadilloes that everyone else does. Just being yourself is the surest path to success in these competitions.
Chamberlin is a Topeka senior in political science.
KING HOLIDAY
The editors of the Kansan contradict themselves. They stress the protection of all faiths while censoring one faith. I am a supporter of protecting the rights of all faiths, but not at the expense of destroying the rights of one faith.
Dear editor.
This editorial ("Monday events should educate, not preach," Jan. 18) would have you believe that the only important thing in King's life was racial segregation. On the contrary, if Martin Luther King Jr. were here today to defend himself, he would most definitely tell you that his life revolved around service to God. He was a pastor, founder of Southern Christian Leadership Conference and graduated with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary with a doctorate in systematic theology.
We can not properly honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this holiday without educating the city about his beliefs and what led him to protest segregation — the Christian foundations behind his beliefs, and the founding fathers of America's belief that all men are created equal.
Robert Nevergall
Olathe freshman
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SPIKED BASKETBALL
I am a student at Iowa State University writing to complain about the events that unfolded Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum while our two basketball teams butted heads. I'm writing to complain about the unsportsmanlike acts of the No. 2-ranked Kansas basketball team members, particularly Drew Gooden, who, as
Dear editor.
This was not the only act of taunting that Gooden displayed. During one dunk in the game, he decided to taunt the crowd and the players. These two acts of unsportsmanlike conduct may be small and menial to some, but when you are the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, there should be a little more respect shown to the team you are playing.
We're struggling with our team, but I think we deserve respect for making it a close game and for showing that we came to play. Next time you feel like rubbing your little victory in, do it against Duke, or some other team that you will most likely face in the Final Four.
Chris Haar
the last second elapsed of a very long and hard fought game, slammed the ball on the court to go flying into the stands.
Iowa State University senior
ABORTION DEBATE
Dear editor.
There is a problem in the abortion debate; nothing seems to be changing. There are several stumbling blocks, but the issue at hand is that people are terribly inconsistent, and their well-intended falsities are portrayed by the media as the general consensus.
The recent display of pro-life opinion by Bradley E. Freedman ("With progress, the U.S. can end abortion as we now know it," Jan. 25) falls well short of the mark. Thanks for speaking up and being pro-life, but if you're not going to do it right, then you will hurt the cause. As profilers, we have to practice what we preach, and the lines that cross the abortion issue have to connect every facet of our lifestyles. Abortion has rooted itself into the political, commercial, religious and especially the sexual elements of our society.
The increased use of contraception, an imperfect practice of preventing pregnancies, has produced an immeasurable number of unwanted children, the victims of our legalized abortions. It is backwards to assert that the "morning-after pill," which also functions as an abortifacient, could actually be a blessing to the abortion debate. The last thing we need is to continue the trend of conceiving unwanted children through the irresponsible dependence upon contraception.
I use "unwanted" with great caution, because it is not entirely true. A conceived child is always wanted. There were hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers marching in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday, and many of them are, or know of people, seeking adoptions. Mother Teresa used to plead with doctors in India to see children to term, rather than abort them. When they asked her who would step up to care for these "unwanted" babies, she volunteered herself. This is the depth of love at the core of the pro-life movement.
The media has a journalistic responsibility to accurately portray the ideals of the pro-life movement. Being prolife is a way of life that naturally leads one to an anti-abortion stance. Those who fight with guns, bombs, fists, spiteful words, or those who believe in euthanasia, contraception and the death penalty, can be very anti-abortion, but they are not pro-life, and they will not represent me, KU Students for Life or the national pro-life movement seeking to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Justen Phelps
Wichita senior
President KU Students for Life
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What is wrong with you? Do not print the solutions to the crossword puzzle on the same day you print the puzzle.
I love baseball players, but why do they all have to be so cocky?
This is to the girl that spilled coffee on me on the bus yesterday. You're cute. Come see me again.
me football players don't like to stand up and cheer at the games because they're just jealous because they never win.
Us two hot girls are having a Super Bowl party, and we would like to serve Gooden Plenty, Jeff Anheuser-Bosche, Kirk Hinrich, and Chris Sizzerbe.
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OK, we have just called like nine times in a row with different comments, so can you please put one of them in instead of silly ones like the one that was in today that was meow, meow, meow? Thank you.
Hi, my roommate and I want to go try on the *Man Showto* be the girls on trampolines. Do any of you guys have a trampoline we can practice on?
Who paid for that big advertisement for the poster sale on the editorial page?
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Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo, spinn' on inchs Sizzerbe, laid back.
Today is my mom's 50th birthday. Happy birthday Mom. I love you.
So me new sex columnist, so far I haven't heard him talk about sex. Is this guy a sex columnist?
My roommate is a Duke fan. Help me.
You know you are having a good day when both Wayne Simien and Chris Zerbe walk by you on campus within 10 minutes of each other. Now I just have to find Jeff Boschee.
If you're reading this right now, and your name is Carrie, you should break up with your boyfriend, and conversely if you're reading this right now and you have a girlfriend named Carrie, you should break up with her.
Hey Greg, we should play pong tonight.
Give me a call. Bye.
Hating Duke is my anti-drug.
Yeah, um, I thought sex columns were about sex, hence the word sex.
I think sex columnists should stop worrying about their body so much, and maybe focus on the fact that their column is completely and utterly boring.
I'm a KU student. I love KU basketball, but I love Snider Snyder.
We've been on TV three games in a row and this time we're the group that's really far towards the back in the camping line, so if there are any groups who would like two pretty girls to sit in the front row with we'd be happy to do it with you. Bye
To all the big Duke fans on campus, all I have to say is I don't want to see you at my championship party after we whoop their butt in the national championship game.
Hi, I'm watching South Pacific and I just don't get it.
Yes, I just thought that I would let everyone know that GSP is no longer safe, because we just figured out how to break into our own dorm room.
I just bought Rock' em Sock' em Robots.
That is the greatest toy ever invented.
Our forecast calls for flurries of passion followed by extended periods of gettin' it on.
All hail fun shot night in room 424.
Sam, I miss you so much, I almost wish we were back in physics together.
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I get the impression that my roommate no longer trusts me.
All right, so my roommate bought this Madonna calendar, and he put it up in our living room, and damn she's hot.
Um, all right, so my fish, he has this crush on Nicole Kidman, so I cut out a picture of her that appeared in the Kansas City Star on Tuesday of her in her stunning Golden Globes dress and taped it up next to his tank so he can gaze on it lovingly. He's so happy. I love my fish.