4
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, April 23, 1992
OPINION
Hate, racism are alive and strong in the U.S.
Hate, by all signs, seems to be on the rise. Despite the advances made in civil rights in the past 20 years, ignorance and fear still exist, and racism continues to be reflected in the words and actions of people all over the United States and abroad. The question of how such hate could continue to proliferate seems rhetorical. Hatred is just as bustling an emotion as ever. Even such a scourge as Nazism continues to remain, both in the United States and abroad. Unbelievably enough, Nazism has managed to attract new converts — or so it would seem — even after the Holocaust in which millions of Jewish people were killed. Recently, a new memorial in Halberstadt, Germany, dedicated to Holocaust victims was desecrated with Nazi swastikas. Regardless of whether the criminals were neo-Nazis, the symbols of that era live on. But hatred and racism are not limited to the neo-Nazis.
Kevin Bartels
Staff columnist
David Duke, a former neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan member and all-around swine, ran for governor of Louisiana and then for president on the Republican ticket. Even Patrick Buchanan, another Republican, falls among the group of those people who are consumed with irrational prejudices, as is proved by his remark about AIDS. "Retribution," Buchanan called it. "Hatred, and racism are not even
as far away as the dirty politics of the 1992 presidential race. Racism lives and thrives right here in Lawrence, Kan. Tuesday, April 21, marked another incident that, for some living here in Lawrence, exists as one of the latest examples of racism. On April 21, 1991, Gregg Sevier was shot six times by two Lawrence police officers and died instantly. Police had responded to a domestic-disturbance call at the Seviers' home, where 22-year-old Gregg Sevier had locked himself in his bedroom with a large kitchen knife. According to police reports, Sevier attacked the officers when they confronted Sevier in the hallway outside his bedroom. According to the Seviers' attorney, something was wrong in the way in which the police handled the situation. Could Gregg Sevier's death have been avoided? The Seviers' attorney thinks so.
Sadly, though, more deaths of American Indians in Lawrence have occurred and remain unexplained.
Three American Indians in Lawrence were found dead from April 1989 to March 1990. Because of the killing of Sevier and the mysterious deaths of the three others, the relationship between the leaders of the American-Indian community and the police in Lawrence have deteriorated. Small surprise, that.
Racism? Or more coincidence? Certainly, questions have been raised before and will be raised again as to whether racism motivated any of the killings. However, the proximity of these deaths to the KU community should illustrate to its members that racism has not died and is not a remote event happening to someone else — even if the motivation in the killing of Sevier or any of the other three cannot be determined as of yet. No one should doubt that hatred — hatred of the other, hatred of difference, exists in the minds of some members of this community. Consciousness of the damage that racism does to its victims and to the community at large needs to be more fully raised. Because unless the attitudes of hatemongers everywhere are changed, the hatred will continue to grow and spread.
The eradication of racism should begin here in Lawrence.
Kevin Bartels is a Louisville, Ky., graduate student in English.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
University takes away all fun
Enforcing the city alcohol policy during Commencement serves outside interests, not students
The decision by David Ambler and KU police to enforce the new city alcohol policy during graduation, this getting
The decision by David Amberle and Rep police to enforce the new city alcohol policy during graduation, thus getting rid of the traditional champagne on the Hill before walking down, is yet another in the long line of recent moves by the University's administration to cut down on the amount of fun a student can have here. The rationale for this is that in past years some people have been offended by the behavior of students in the ceremony. And the administration's solution is to ban alcohol from the event.
Again, as in past decisions regarding drinking on the Hill, the administration is serving the wrong people with its policies. There are very few, if any, students who take part in Commencement who are not of legal drinking age. They are adults, people who have
worked very hard for four, or five, or six years to be able to stand in that line, walk down the Hill and become an alumnus of the University of Kansas. They deserve a little celebration, and a little respect. They do not deserve to be treated like 12-year-old children caught sneaking one of dad's beers out of the fridge.
The University often is described as a community, as a small city, yet what community would allow itself to be governed in such an arbitrary manner? What small town in Kansas would allow someone in city hall to decide one day that the citizens could no longer drink in a public park because their behavior offended some people from another town?
This is the situation we find ourselves in today as students at KU. It is a ridiculous and demeaning one and should not be allowed to continue.
Mark Coatney for the editorial board
Campus must be open to all
The American Disabilities Act compels KU to make changes.
The University of Kansas and the new American Disabilities Act make a move in the right direction.
The act, which took effect Jan. 26, requires that KU add Braille to its room-identification signs. The University also plans to add Braille to the emergency phones on campus. This was needed, but there is more that needs to be done
It is good that KU acknowledged there was a problem and that it worked to correct it, but now it is up to KU to go a step beyond the act and make all of the campus accessible to all people who have disabilities.
Although there is not a large number of students with disabilities, that is no excuse for a building not to be completely accessible to all students. KU should be a university where everyone is equally able to get to the classroom and other places. It is inexcusable for any building to be inaccessible to a student or visitor.
Currently, about 110 buildings are being evaluated to determine their accessibility problems. This is a good first step, but action must be taken to correct any problems found.
One example of what needs to be addressed is the problem of entering a building. Most of the buildings on campus have heavy doors. This is good for reducing noise in classrooms and keeping out the wind, but they are not easy to open for a person in a wheelchair. Automatic doors are needed to alleviate this problem. It is ridiculous that a person has to struggle to even open a door.
When the campus was built, these were not problems that were thought of. The technology of automatic doors and Braille signs was not available, but now the technology is available, and it should be used.
KU is off to a good beginning, but much more needs to be done soon. Building accessibility is not a problem that will take care of itself. Students attend KU to earn an education. It is ridiculous that they could be hindered because the campus has not changed to keep up with student needs.
Amy Francis for the editorial board
The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y. on simplifying air fares:
The lack of consistency in pricing has been a big problem under deregulation.
Let's have a round of applause for American Airlines, the industry's pricing leader that publicly admitted what business travelers have realized for years — that in the era of deregulation, the industry's pricing structure had become idiotically complicated and difficult to understand. It decided to streamline the system—and most importantly, to reduce regular coach fares.
The patchwork fare structure was annoying to all, but particularly to those travelers who couldn't jump through all the hoops needed to qualify for lower fares. Many were so alienated that they cut back or stopped flying. This, combined with the recession, caused the airlines to lose $6 billion over the last two years.
American has done away with 86 percent of its 500,000 fares, a simplification that will save it $25 million in labor cost alone. While the average 38-percent reduction in regular coach fares could cost it as much as $100 million over the next three months, increased ridership would be the fare reductions are expected to generate as much as $350 million in higher profits annually.
At last, corporate air travelers will not have
National perspectives
to worry about being ripped off.
The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette on President Bush and abortion:
Abortion, the most emotional issue of the 1992 election campaign, has no neutral zone. If it did, most office-seekers in America would scramble to occupy it.
In March, President Bush seemed to moderate his anti-choice position. Administration representatives said the president would soften a rule affecting 4,000 federally financed family-planning clinics. The prohibition against mentioning abortion to patients henceforth would affect only nurses and counselors, not doctors.
A few days later, both pro-choice and antiabortion physicians and lawyers told a congressional panel the administration's maneuver was meaningless. Exemption by occupation merely invites legal challenges by anti-abortion groups, they said. Representatives for the American Medical Association and other professional groups that favor a woman's right to choose say doctors aren't helpeddall. Anti-abortion forces agreed. Both sides at the Capitol Hill hearing seem dis
Bush seemed to shift toward a more enlightened policy. He drew mild applause. But the cheering was premature.
tressed and confused by the rule change.
If Bush's action meant nothing, then what was it? An election-year gimmick, tawdry and cheap.
*The Daily Oklaoman, Oklahoma City, on voterturnout:*
It is a sad state of affairs when Americans are more interested in voting on an Elvis Presley postage stamp than on the country's president.
The Postal Service is having trouble meeting demand for postcard ballots on which Elvis portrait should appear on a new stamp. The dead singer obviously is generating more excitement than live presidential candidates.
Apathy, especially among Democrats, could hurt front-runner Bill Clinton.
Turnout of eligible voters has been abysmal last this year.
Maybe his running mate could help. All he has to do is find Elvis still alive and well.
If Clinton is the nominee, he will have to inspire a larger showing of traditional Democratic support if he expects to do well in his region.
The Sun Herald, Gulfport, Miss., on candidates and issues:
Abortion, taxes, right-to-work laws, the
Wearing blinders that permit one to focus on a single issue can result in some unpleasant surprises after the election. The candidate who shares a voter's view on one issue could turn out to be a dul in all other vital areas.
Most political action committees illustrate single-issue politics in its largest and most highly-organized form. They provide the mother's milk of politics in bulk, and they distribute it only after careful review of the candidates' positions. That is why those committees are distorting the election process and our representative system of government.
death penalty and the environment are just a few issues that divide U.S. opinion and win some voters' allegiance. Presidential and congressional candidates win and lose votes because of those issues.
As voters, it is our responsibility to study candidates' positions on as many issues as possible, to evaluate the candidates' character and leadership ability.
News & Record, Greensboro, N.C., on testing drugs;
Vice President Dan Quayle announced that the Food and Drug Administration will reduce the amount of time to get approval of drugs to help people with critical illnesses such as AIDS.
A year ago, a federal advisory panel told Congress in the strongest possible terms that the FDA had to be strengthened — with money, staff and facilities — and pulled out of the Public Health Service and given higher status within the government.
KANSANSTAFF
Yet FDA problems continue to be legion. The few laboratories it runs are outdated and poorly maintained; it has too few staff to do its own testing and must rely on data forwarded to it by the same drug companies it monitors.
To speed up the drug approval process under such conditions is risky at best. What would better serve seriously ill patients — or any consumers of U.S. food and drugs — is a significant overhaul of the agency with an eye toward thoroughness and safety.
If truth be told, this is a bad year for the FDA. It is being pushed from all sides. Both patients and industry are pressing it to approve drugs for sale more quickly than it has in the past. On the other hand, it faces constant criticism for failing to inspect medical and manufacturing facilities and for allowing faulty devices and dangerous drugs to reach the market.
TIFFANY HARNESS Editor
VANESSA FUHRMANS Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager,newsadviser
Editors
News ... Mike Andrews
Editorial ... Beth Rnapalch
Planning ... Lara Gold
Campus ... Eric Goraki/Rochelle Olson
Sports ... Eric Nelson
Photo ... Julie Jacobson
Features ... Debbie Myers
Graphics ... Aimee Braindan/Jeff Meesey
JENNIFER CLAXTON Business manager
JAYSTEINER Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
But the move is a frightening one when you assess the capability of the FDA to do its job even without the faster process.
ADVERTISING
Campus sales mgrs  Bill Leibengood
Regional sales mgrs  Rich Harsbarger
National sales mgrs  Scott Hanna
Go-op sales mgrs  Ale Johnson
Production mgrs  Kim Wallace
Marketing director  Lisa Keeler
Marketing director  Kim Wallace
Creative director  Bryant
Classified mgr  Kip Chin
At first glance, that is good news for HIV-infected people, among others.
letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas must include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansas reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansas newroom, 111 Sauffer Fint Hall.
byTom Michaud
Loco Locals
MCHADD ©1992