OPINION
University Daily Kansan, April 19, 1985
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University DAILY Kansas, (USPK 65640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall, Lawen, Kansas 66045, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods. Second class postpaid mail at Lawen, Kansas 66044. Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $12 a week in Douglas, County and $18 for six months or $3 a year outside the county. Student postpaid mail must be sent to the address changes to the University DAILY Kansas, 118 StauFFER Flint Hall, Lawen, Kansas 66045.
MATT DEGALAN Editor
DIANE LUBER SUSAN WORTMAN
Managing Editor Editorial Editor
ROB KARWATH Campus Editor
LYNNE STARK Business Manager
SUSANNE SHAW General Manager and News Adviser
DUNCAN CALHOUN MARY BERNICA
Retail Sales National Sales
Manager Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
DAVID NIXON Campus Sales Manager
Save the center
It appears that William Bennett, the new Secretary of Education, is inflicting his controversial financial aid cuts on student and faculty programs alike. The University of Kansas Center for Soviet and East European Studies felt the blade last week.
The Department of Education failed to renew its annual grant of $150,000 to $175,000 to the center for the next three years
The center is one of 11 in the country designated by the federal government as a national resource center. The Department of Education's decision makes a mockery of this designation.
The center has developed a highly esteemed graduate program in Slavic studies — the only one in the Midwest — as well as an excellent writer-in-residence program and a strong Slavic resource library.
These programs will be lost or severely hindered without the federal grant.
Strangely enough, the Department of Education renewed KU's additional annual grant of almost $40,000 for the center's graduate study fellowships. The grant provides scholarships to graduate students to do research on the Soviet Union and East European nations.
It seems odd to give students money to study yet eliminate their means of studying at the same time.
Odder still, the U.S. government spends billions of dollars each year developing new ways to annihilate the Soviets but cannot spare $150,000 each year to try to learn about them.
Since the federal government won't support the center, the University of Kansas should. Granted, $150,000 is a much more significant fraction of KU's budget than that of the monolithic, deficit-ridden federal government. But KU must not let this superb program die.
If the University can provide even one year of emergency funding, the program will not stumble. And this will give department members time to present their case to the Department of Education and private sources.
The center is a valuable resource to the University and, indeed, to the nation. It should be saved, whatever the cost.
Crying wolf
There are countless victims in the Gary Dotson rape case.
There are countless victims in the Gary Dotson rape case. The woman, Cathleen Webb, who testified several years ago that she had been raped by Dotson, was the original victim.
Now, if the rape never took place, as Webb recently testified, Dotson, who is serving time in prison, is the victim.
But the largest group of victims are the women who will take the witness stand in the future, seeking prosecution when they have been raped.
Webb said she told the rape story out of fear that she might be pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend.
Rather than face the consequences of those actions, she decided that the rape story would be an easier way out, according to her second testimony.
So several years into Dotson's jail sentence, Webb has come forward to admit that the story she told on the witness stand the first time around was a lie, that the rape never happened.
In rehearing the case, the judge rejected Webb's latest story and sent Dotson back to jail.
The recanted testimony was not enough for the judge to reverse Dotson's conviction. Thus, in effect, Webb's first story seemed more believable than her second.
But whichever story is true, Webb has raised concerns that undoubtedly will be used against rape victims from now on.
Many rape victims do not prosecute their attackers because of the humiliation of the trial.
Women who are raped — dehumanized and dominated against their choice — often have their stories challenged, their characters questioned and their morals scrutinized.
Now victims face greater credibility problems. Defense attorneys in rape cases will use the Dotson case to their advantage. Women everywhere who testify against their rapists will be forced to convince the judge and the jury that their story is not only credible but that it is real and that it was not concocted for other reasons.
If Webb lied on the witness stand during the original trial, she has wronged Dotson in the largest way because he has spent five years in prison.
But whether she lied the first or the second time around, Webb has hurt hundreds of women who in the future will tell the truth to people who will now hesitate to believe.
The University Daily Kansan invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns should be typewritten and double-spaced and should not exceed 625 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. Columns can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject columns.
GUEST COLUMNS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Already proven
To the editor:
i simply can not believe such a prejudiced letter to the editorial, appearing April 16 in the University Journal, was submitted about women engineers.
Who are these two engineers anyway who would rather see their women "barefoot and pregnant"? Should I, too, take a stereotypical attitude and call these "men" sexually frustrated geeks — all engineers are geeks — who can't get a date? This barbaric viewpoint only confirms the continuing struggle that men have with their field. I had hoped views like these would have gone out with the chastity belt.
Perhaps these two feel threatened; women are doing just as well academically and professionally. And sometimes women have to work even harder than their male counterparts because they will be noticed, being one or two in a class of 40. It took me a few years in the School of Medicine at Stanford just because of people like these chauvinistic pigs. Fortunately my professors don't possess this backward attitude.
In my opinion, women have proven themselves "worthy" as engineers in spite of oppressive views by narrow-minded bigots.
Lucy Rempel Wichita senior
In memory of
To the editor:
10 the editor.
In memory of Bruce Stallard
There's feelings all around.
That I can't explain
Just to have you near
Your friendship again
I never knew how much I'd miss you.
I'd miss you
But there must be a way
To get through the rest
The times we shared together
Just weren't enough
To ease the pain
I feel now
I miss you so much
The laughter and the music
Will always be in me
I'll think about the
You were a natural They're so hard to find A natural So caring and kind You gave so much
so easily
Oh tell me why, tell me why
The good must always die.
Good intentions
We, the brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., Mu Chapter, wish to address the letter titled "Black is beautiful" which was published in the April 12 issue of the University Daily Kansas.
Tn the editor.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter was signed by 16 other people.
Lennie Shaffer Berkeley, Calif., senior
To our brothers of Phi Beta Sigma, Omega Pi Phil and Alpha Phi Fraternities Inc., we regret that a traditional event of this nature has been grossly misrepresented and the authors as to have caused such controversy among the black greek organizations on campus
The practice and concept behind an activity such as a "Dog Show" is not intended to degrade people. It serves the purpose for pledges to present the brothers of Mu Chapter with gifts and introduction of themselves to the audience.
The show commences with a formal greeting given by the pledges to the brothers of Mu Chapter followed by songs, song-stepping, poetry and improvisation. The latter, which constitutes about three and a half minutes of a 20 minute show, is the source of the controversy.
This type of performance is not new to the University nor is it unique to black greek performances. It should be understood that what an individual chooses to say is not a reflection, sentiment or opinion or Mu Chapter. It is his right of freedom of expression. Those who are offended need not attend, but we will continue to have Do Shows.
The article further purports that we "allowed and encouraged . . . our pledges to say some very vicious . . . things about past Black Panhellenic President Janine Kaye Woods." We challenge you to prove these accusations. If these things were true, would not be guilty of shamder?
By far the most disturbing aspect of your letter was the accusation made that we degrade women, black women in particular. A Kappa man shows appropriate deference to the feelings, sensitivities and social well-being of ladies. We are cognizant of the proper social graces and courtesies that should be demonstrated.
In your arguments, we find much hypocrisy — for you are the same who attend and applaud men performing in a degrading fashion on the floor during a performance. To say we degrade black women is to say we degrade ourselves. Do we not have mothers? Are they not black women? Attend the Kappa Alpha Psi 68th Annual Sweatheart Ball, which showcases black women as the true queens they are.
Unity is a two-way street. Of the organizations who co-authored the letter, some members completely disagreed with the letter *Wis* Was written with a positive intent or to damage the integrity of this chapter?
Mu Chapter receives wide respect on campus from students and the administration. We have instituted services for the students and the community, which include freshmen-minority orientation packets, public health service projects and the establishment of a nationally known student revolving loan.
Mu Chapter was awarded the Middle Western Province Chapter of the Year Award for 1984-85 for the services we provided in the past year We thrive on excellence in all fields We are the best we can be. Let there be no confusion that we are men of achievement, with conscience.
One final note: Do we not have a Black Pantherbellic Council for such matters? As you suggested, we have "seen the light." You chose the only course a breed of your kind could choose.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Mu Chapter
Missing the issue
To the editor :
I was irritated and dismayed by the behavior of the demonstrators at the speech by J. Peter Grace on Tuesday night at the Kansas Union. This contingent, local members of the Federal Employee's Union, generally sought to divert the question from the issue at hand, the
reality and genuine national danger of the federal deficit.
This was a real life example of the mobilization of pressure in the defense of special interest, which has thwarted any will that may exist in Washington, D.C., to effectively attack this problem.
The inaccuracies presented and the mindless references to Grace's personal pension were hypocritical, since federal employees enjoy retirement and fringe benefits that are far superior to most working U.S. citizens. This is despite the fact that the Federal Civil Service System protects low productivity and obviates effective personnel management.
Any honest person who has worked for the government knows it. Individually, most federal employees are certainly honest and hard-working, but collectively, the waste and total lack of cost efficiency in government cannot exist without their apathy and acquiescence.
I hope fellow students will look critically at the arguments presented at the lecture and at the implications of the federal deficit for their education, school and school. I hope they will become active in fighting this problem.
Chris M. Dugger
Lawrence graduate student
To the editor:
Mind-boggling
As a student of the University of Kansas, I find Brad Kieffer and Paul Barter's comments in the April 16 letter to the editor mind-boggling and offensive and, as a male engineering student, I find them erroneous and detrimental.
If meant to be taken tongue in cheek, the tone was lost and the letter failed. Taken at face value, their remarks display attitudes that not only oppose decades of progress in women's rights but that also hinder the future of the engineering profession.
In the classroom, women prove themselves worthy of being in the School of Engineering or they do not are standardards are the same for all students.
Women also prove themselves in industry, or they do not remain there either. In engineering, perhaps more than any other profession, women have had to overcome the chauvinism displayed by Kieffer and Barter.
Though I wouldn't care to speculate in a public forum on the reason for their misogynistic remarks, perhaps they mistake the aggressiveness necessary to overcome such attitudes as being "self-centered."
Male engineers must realize that groups such as the Society of Women Engineers benefit our occupation through enhanced professionalism and a broadened input of human perspectives, something technologists are finally becoming aware of.
Before Kieffer and Barter take it upon themselves to "enlighten the campus" about "groups that accomplish nothing." I suggest they assess their own contributions to their campus and vocation.
Karl Burke Hays junior
I would like to respond to a letter to the editor and a column appearing in the April 16 issue of the University Daily Kansan.
2 with 1 stone
To the editor:
The first was written by Missy Offill, who is tired of GLOSK "shoving" gay rights in her face. If Offill would take the two minutes required to open her mind and listen
to the folks at GLSOK, she might learn that the purpose of that organization is to make itself obsolete. Its members hope that a day will come when a secure, nonjudgmental heterosexual community no longer requires them to provide counseling services and speakers
But Offill obviously has bubblegum for brains. Maybe she'll relax and quit screaming at people now that the security has been announced in print.
The column by Karen Mueller, in contrast, deserves a careful response I sincerely appreciate her well-intentioned effort to address the issue at hand. Mueller's point is that Jesus Christ would "tolerate" homosexuals, so the rest of the population would tolerate them. Mueller argues that Christians should "step off their pedestals," she speaks "from high up one."
I am thoroughly and contentedly lesbian, Mueller, and I am neither a greater nor lesser person than you. Like you, I struggle to balance too much work and too little money. If by some strange circumstance I could meet Jesus today, I don't think we would discuss my lesbianism, and I'm sure he wouldn't categorize me with the adulterers, embezzlers or tax collectors. I would hope that we would share a cup of coffee and talk about music, literature or teaching strategies.
So, to all you people who use words such as "tolerance" or "compassion" when speaking about those poor, unfortunate queers, I say that I would rather be misunderstood or ignored than patronized. And to Muster specimen cats, I think we both occupy this planet as equals, and sometimes especially in spring, we both walk around in the same rain.
Sara Morgan
English department lecturer
Sorry engineers
To the editor:
To the women of the University of Kansas, especially those in the School of Engineering, and all other members of the University offended by this behavior, we apologize. We were as surprised as you to find the letter in the paper.
When the Kansan called to verify the letter, we were under the impression that we would get a second call informing us that it was going to be published. We would have been purely sarcastic and not to print it. As it turned out, the letter was printed and harm was done.
We received many phone calls,
most of which were from angry
people. To those people, and any
others offended, we are sorry.
The really sad part of our experience is the fact that some people were congratulating us for the letter. We are not proud of it and truly hope that people really do not agree with the letter. Unfortunately some do.
We don't think that people should abuse the right to speak their minds. We write our letter to make a non-publicized point to the Kansan about the letters to the editor, the point that more discretion should be used in the letters printed. Unfortunately this letter was published.
We again apologize and stress the fact that we are in favor of women in engineering, and we really admire them for being there. As a matter of fact, we think they make class a hell of a lot more pleasant.
Paul Barter
shawnee sophomore
Brad Kleier
Hays sophomore