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University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 19. 1992
OPINION
Humor originates in genes
A sense of humor is a strange thing.
One really has no control over it. You either have one or you don't. You either have a good one or a warped one. You cannot choose which one you get; it is hereditary. Does your dad laugh at maimed cats? Watch out, you may not be popular yourself.
Your sense of humor tends to strike when it is least expected or welcome. It is often in a quiet place like a church, museum or string quartet recital where everyone is supposed to be serious and awe-inspired. Out of the blue, some dumb thing, a sight, a sound or a memory hits you over the head and you do that snort-out-your-nose sound that comes only when you are trying not to laugh.
One holiday season when I was a teenager, I was sitting in church with my family listening to the organist play advent hymns. A little boy sat with his family in the row front of us. He was an odd looking child. He had a very round head, with that sort of Charlie Brown hair style some little boys in the Midwest still wore, round horn-rimmed glasses. But his most distinguishing feature was a very pronounced underbite. I do not mean a slight one that gives people dimples
Kate Kelley Staff columnist
and can be kind of cute. I mean the kind that makes someone look like a ventilroquist's dummy. It looked as though his chin and lower lip were placed on as an afterthought and not properly blended into the rest of the face. Now, I know this is not funny. I was brought up to be sensitive to people's differences and not to judge a book by its cover and all of that. But nonetheless, I found him funny. I was biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing, and almost had it under control. Then I made the fatal move of glancing at my sister. Wendy. She was sitting very primly, looking straight ahead, when我 took me to at her, and when I did, she coyly slid her chin forward, just a fraction of an inch, but more than enough to set me off. First was the old snort out the nose. Then both of our shoulders were shaking, tears were rolling down our faces — we were pathetic. My mother jabbed me with her elbow and gave one of her best we're in church or I'd just-smack you glares to quiet us. Then she looked forward and saw the child, and being our mother, the carrier of half the warped sense of humor gene that we possessed, she started laughing, too. The three of us were making the whole pew shake. My grandmother, who was on one of her rare visits south (from Minnesota, everything is south) to celebrate Christmas with us, glared at us, muttered, her finger, but to no avail. Her eyes were poor, and she did not see the child. Her anger only made the whole situation funnier. Afterwards, we could not ever explain why we were laughing. Everyone would have thought we were cruel. Even though I still know the poor child was not there for our amusement, I still laugh when I remember the whole episode.
So, whether you find humor in "Murphy Brown," "Get a Life" or "WWF Wrestling," remember it is not entirely your fault and try not to disturb too many people with your snorting.
Kate Kelley is a Fort Leavenworth junior majoring in English.
THE UNIVERSITYDAILY KANSAN
Sex poll results are troubling
Survey exposes ignorance illustrates need of more
Assuming the survey is a fairly representative sample of the student population, it seems that many men and women on this
communication between sexes
From the time mothers first dress their children differently, in pink and blue, we are divided into two distinct camps that often have very little to do with each other.
Boysplay with boys, girls with girls,and the two often grow up in ignorance of the other group.
A recent study of KU students would seem to indicate that much of this ignorance of the opposite sex persists in adulthood. The survey showed a marked lack of communication between the sexes. The questions of whether a woman means no when she says so and whether a man deserves sex if he buys a woman an expensive meal showed a strong difference of opinion between men and women.
campus know little more about each other than when they were playing freeze tag together.
The University is supposed to provide an environment of learning. It is the perfect ground to learn more about each other, and the continually high enrollment in Dennis Dailey's human sexuality class indicates that there is strong interest in doing so.
Unfortunately, Dailey's class currently is the only one of its kind offered here. There is both an interest and a need for greater education. It would be worthwhile for the University to provide a few more classes like Dailey's and perhaps a program during freshman orientation that focuses on improving communication between the sexes.
Often what is considered date rape or sexual harassment by one person is considered normal interplay between the sexes by another. Better education and communication between men and women only can reduce these misperceptions.
Mark Coatney for the Editorial Board
Campus requires defrosting
Proper steps should be taken to clear walkways and ramps throughout the winter season
Winter sporadically showed its true colors in the past few weeks. But it appears the University of Kansas has not recognized this.
Granted, the winter weather has been better than normal this year. But weather became typical of winter in terms of hazardous sidewalks on campus, proper measures were not taken to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff.
Last week, freezing rain covered many campus walkways, steps and ramps for people with disabilities with ice. In some places, the steps were cleared, but the ramps were not.
campus. But an attempt should be made.
Perhaps the steps were clear only because students continued to walk on them, causing the ice to melt or to break away from the cement. It is understandable that bad weather may prevent clearing every sidewalk on
It is dangerous to have students and faculty rushing off to class on ice sidewalks, steps and ramps. It is especially dangerous for people with disabilities to move around on an icy campus.
Some of the money students pay in campus fees should be allocated to remedy this problem. The money that already is allocated is obviously not being spent well this year. It is possible that the University is doing everything in its power to remedy this problem. If not, it should come up with an effective solution soon.
If a lack of finances is a part of the problem, maybe Student Senate can allocate some money for ice removal. Students, faculty and staff are here at the University for a purpose. That purpose cannot be served if we all can't get around.
Tiffany Lasha Hurt for the editorial board
Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the University Daily Kansan editorial board. Opinions expressed in letters, cartoons and guest and staff columns are solely those of the author or artist. Views expressed in columns and cartoons are not necessarily shared by the Kansan.
Members of the editorial board are Alexander Bloemhof, Jim Brown, J.R. Clairborne, Mark Coatney, Amy Francis, Tiffany Harness, Tiffany Lasha Hurt, Kate Kelley, Julie Eileen Lit, Stephen Martino, David Mitchell, Chris Moeser, Beth Randolph, Martin Scherstuhl, Jill Wasson, Frank Williams and Sarah Zercher.
Black History Month overlooks real problems
February always has been an extremely positive month for African Americans in the United States. The commemoration provides everyone an opportunity to analyze and gain knowledge about the contributions Africans have made to the progress of human civilizations. Although the observation of historical events and people is significant, I would like to see more attention given to the problems that are strangling our people.
The events that took place last year are an indication of the perilous position that the African community worldwide finds itself in as we head toward the 21st century. Last year's events were similar to a tornado warning. One event that immediately comes to mind is the gulf war. Gen. Colin Powell led U.S. soldiers against Iraq. President Bush labeled the war a fight to uphold a new world order. Kuwait once belonged to Iraq, long before it was made a country by Britain. What should be disturbing
David
Goodman
Guest
columnist
to Africans is that Powell acted as a stogie for imperialist aggression. Powell's role of leading troops to annihilate people of color should have been condemned by every country seeking peace. Not only innocent Arabs, but Sudanese refugees, too, were killed by Powelled forces. He was glorified for his actions and highly commended by the president. All African Americans should be concerned by Bush's show of support to Powell for killing people of color.
coming to the shores of Florida is another act of overt racism against Africans. In 1989, when the walls of Eastern Communism came tumbling down, the United States cut its purse strings loose for economic aid and also opened its doors for Eastern Europeans. Conversely, when the Haitians left their country for economic and political reasons after the overthrow of their governments, the United States reacted by overturning their rafts and sending them back to Haiti. Our government also eliminated any chance of economic recovery after the coup. The U.S. government offered the rhetorical explanation that the Haitians wanted to come here to make money. No Duh!! What would you do if you were a citizen of Haiti and the big bully took away all your nickels?
The government's policy against Haitians
The events that took place in the United States were even more devastating. To some African-Americans, California must have seemed like Birmingham, Ala., in 1963. An
African-American man was beaten senseless on a suburban street of Los Angeles by the police. Many people in the Black community will tell you that the behavior and treatment of Rodney King and other African Americans by Los Angeles police is the norm, not the exception. Just a few months later, a young African-American woman was shot in cold blood by an Asian woman after arguing about a bottle of orange juice. A white female judge gave the Asian woman five years probation even after the entire scene was viewed on video camera. These kinds of events send out dire stress signals that our lives may not be worth a bottle of juice.
Before Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall retired, George Bush vehemently stated that he was against affirmative action and quotas. However, when one examines the judicial career of Clarence Thomas, it is evident that there may have been candidate more
qualified than Thomas. Bush's appointment is clearly a signal that he can change the rules when he sees fit. His hiring of Clarence Thomas is an indicator that Bush will hire African Americans who play by his rules. Of course, one of his rules is outward opposition to affirmative action and progressive Civil Rights laws. Thomas' beliefs and philosophies parallel Bush's.
The events of last year should send a tornado warning to all African Americans. It is a tornado that has the oppressive and reactionary wind of David Duke, Patrick Buchanan, Dubuque, Iowa, and the KU Student Senate. It appears that once again the African community is in peril. Americans must gauge the heavy winds and prepare for cover. It's not like we haven't seen these winds before.
David Goodman is a Los Angeles senior maoring in English.
KANSANSTAFF
TIFFANYHARNESS
Editor
VANESSA FUHRMANS Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
Editors
News  Mike Andrews
Editorial  Beth Randolph
Planning  Lara Gold
Campus  Eric Gorski/Rochele Oleson
Sports  Eric Nelson
Photo  Julie Jacobson
Features  Debbie Meyers
Graphics  Almee Brainard/J Jeff Messieu
JENNIFER CLAXTON Business manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
Businesses
Campus sales mgr ... Bill Leibengood
Regional sales mgr ... Rich Harbarger
National sales mgr ... Stetha Mann
Co-op sales mgr ... Anne Johnson
Production mgrs ... Kim Wallace
Marketing director ... Lisa Keeler
Marketing manager ... Kim Claxon
Creative director ... Learning
Classified mgr ... Kiip Chin
JAY STEINER Retail sales manager
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Stick
by David Rosenfield