Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsay Henry, Editor
Dave Morantz, Managing editor
Kristie Blasi, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor
Marc Harrell, Business manager
Colleen Eager, Retail sales manager
Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser
Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Tuesday, April 21, 1998
CONTRIBUTED ART/TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Editorials
Skateboarders, rollerbladers have right to ride on campus
The University should reconsider its ban on skateboarding and rollerblading.
Several years ago, the city passed an ordinance, with support from the University, to ban rollerblading and skateboarding 1,000 feet from Jayhawk Boulevard.
The penalty is a fine, usually about $50.
This is an asinine ordinance that should be reconsidered. Skateboarding and rollerblading are legitimate forms of transportation and should not be discouraged.
Sgt. Chris Keary, of the KU Public Safety Office, said the ordinance was passed due to two problems. Windows in Wesco Hall were broken by skateboarders losing control of their boards and, in one incident, a skateboarder lost control of a board and hit someone in the head.
Though these are severe problems,
A city ordinance prohibiting skating near Jayhawk Boulevard should be repealed
banning skateboards from campus is ridiculous. Students have been hit by cars on campus, yet cars have not been banned. Occasionally a cyclist runs into a car or a person, yet bicycles are not banned.
Skateboarders and rollerbladers often claim they are wrongly targeted as misfits and hoodlums and are subsequently treated unfairly. This ordinance seems to prove that point.
Some people use skateboards and rollerblades to get around. At a time when alternative modes of transportation are being promoted and parking on campus is extremely difficult, boards and rollerblades should be encouraged.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway and University administrators need to be fair and urge the city to revoke the ordinance and allow skateboarders and rollerbladers on campus.
It is important to note that KU police officers do their best to treat skateboarders and rollerbladers fairly. Keary said that most of the time, instead of citing these offenders and making them pay a fine, the officers give warnings.
Keary said most people are not aware of the ordinance, and so officers suggest to boarders and bladers that they go to legal places, such as the Lied Center parking lot or the Lawrence Skate Park.
Only repeat offenders or those causing damage are cited. Keary said.
It's nice to see some respect from the KU police, but the best show of respect would be for the University to have the ordinance repealed.
Spencer Duncan for the editorial board
Good Job! You get a Pat on the Back
The following people deserve thanks, praise and a good, firm Pat on the Back;
The Election Commission for holding candidate workshops, collecting candidate information and running the polls. The commission volunteers are Brad Finkeldei, Mary Myers, Jennifer Kinney, Mike Kaufman, Ryan Laughen and Susan Buehler. Audrey Nogle heads the commission, which spent 40 hours last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday running the election. The commission deserves thanks for a job well done.
Student voters at the University of Kansas for a larger turnout at the
To suggest a Pat on the Back, email opinion@kansan.com or write to 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall
Student Senate election polls. Voting dropped last year to 14 percent, but this year 18.4 percent voted. Voting in the past has ranged from 11 percent to 17 percent. Congratulations on exercising one of your most important rights.
got our computer systems running smoother, miraculously resurrected the production Ripper and each day puts smiles on the faces of Kansan staff members. We're glad your back Willie. Thanks for all of your help and your 32 years of dedication to the Kansan.
Willie Thomas is the production guru at The University Daily Kansan. He returned last week after spending several weeks at home after a stay in the hospital. After returning, Willie
The Watson Library staff for helping students find their way around the labyrinth that is Watson,helping them learn the system,do research and generally offer one of the most important services for KU students. Special thanks goes to the workers who have to reshelve the books each day. It must be an arduous and time-consuming task.
Kansan staff
Paul Eakins and Ann Premer for the editorial board
Paul Eakins ... Editorial
Ann Premer ... Editorial
Andrea Albright ... News
Jodie Chester ... News
Julie King ... News
Charity Jeffries ... Online
Eric Weslander ... Sports
Harley Rattifl ... Associate sports
Ryan Koerner ... Campus
Mike Perryman ... Campus
Bryan Volk ... Features
Tim Harrington ... Associate features
Steve Puppe ... Photo
Angle Kuhn ... Design, graphics
Mitch Lucas ... Illustrations
Corrie Moore ... Wire
Gwen Oison ... Special sections
Lacheline Roades ... News clerk
News editors
Advertising managers
Advertising
Kristi Bislel . Assistant retail, PR
Leigh Bottiger . Campus
Brett Clifton . Regional
Nicole Lauderdale . National
Matt Fisher . Marketing
Chris Haghirian . Internet
Brian Allers . Production
Ashley Bonner . Production
Andee Tomlin . Promotions
Dan Kim . Creative
Rachel O'Neill . Classified
Tyler Cook . Zone
Steve Grant . Zone
Jamie Holman . Zone
Brian LeFevre . Zone
Matt York . Zone
"I don't think necessity is the mother of invention — invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble." — Aarath Christian, An Autobiography
How to submit letters and guest columns
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and home-town if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
Guest columns Should be double-
spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kanson newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Paul Eakins (eakins@kansan.com) or Ann Premer (apremer@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
Rare controversy makes journalistic ethics tough
For those of you outside the journalism realm on campus, this year's cases of professional misconduct must seem as sensible as a pair of acid-washed jeans. But, as a
zygote in the School of Journalism, I can cognitively understand the internal conflict of a college newspaper journalist.
First of all, The University Daily Kansan's reporters are reporting on the same silly subjects that all college reporters have reported on for the last 30 years. Underage drinking, date rape, and rebellion are not recent fads. To uncover a real political scandal in college is only a dream in the starry eyes of aspiring
Jenny Oakson
opinion@kansan.com
Woodwards and Bernsteins, I can imagine the nightmare of desperately trying to question a congressman or city official with a glaring Kansan press badge, emitting an odor of naivete. And all the screaming in the world couldn't get you a celebrity interview when you are a 20-year-old KU reporter as experienced as Donna Martin on Prom Night.
I have a problem with studying to be a professional, but only pretending to be a serious journalist. Let's face it, the biggest thing to hit the Kansan in a while was last year's student body campaign spending allegations. Our generation has no reason to hold a protest, but it has all the right outfits for one. We all want to find horrors in the system and be able to put our names on a petition for change. Every journalist's dream is to uncover something big nothing ever will be the same again. But our real destinies may have us writing obituaries for the Laurence Journal World. The war is over, the Greeks aren't that bad, and anything else that needs changing is on a flier for Delta Force.
What most students don't understand is that the crystal-clear directions of journalism have faded. The responsible journalism we are taught by the experts differs outrageously from
what makes money and gets the front page headline. Every story I write, like every decision in life, has a neon shortcut, with bright billboards begging me to enter. Not taking that path may be morally rewarding, but it is straining and exhausting. My professors tell me that it gets easier, and that if I can motivate myself to not imitate the successful news magazine pulp. I'm better than most.
Constantly we are urged to take the newsroom back, but I'm afraid to say I think the damage is beyond repair. There have been too many salesmen disguised as trustworthy souls that have sold us the news with a smile and a bias.
It just would be so beautiful if I could point my finger at some poor slob and name him the sole person responsible for the deterioration of journalistic integrity — but I am responsible. You are responsible.
We've all passed on the news for Craig Klorn. We've all bought a tabloid to see the 1,000-pound baby. There's not just one Atlas to carry the weight. We're all burdened, because the death of our standards now looms on the horizon.
Oh, the irony. The most misguided generation of the 20th century is America's only hope to clean up the mess. And we'll probably screw it up.
Fortunately, the two talented students to be expunged from the Kansan, though their credibility and reputations are left damaged, show hope for a revolution. That their behavior was not tolerated represents a giant security blanket covering those with good, ethical judgment. If only such security assured me that I am not earning a degree in an endangered field.
I suppose it's true that you can't be a journalist and a politician. The importance of the journalist's accepting mind is unmeasurable. I may not like you, I may even hate you, but if you're newsworthy, I'll write about you and love every minute of it. The charm and appeal of writing news can only be found by those who don't make it.
Oakson is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism.
Manager gives friendship advice on fried chicken
It's a sad, obvious statement, but true nonetheless. We tend to accept our current cir-
W e never know what we have until we lose it.
nonetheless. We tend to acc cumstances—our lives, positions, and the people around us—as the basic level on which we function. We want to move up not considering that where we are might be pretty darn good.
Clay McCuistion opinion@kansan.com
This was demonstrated recently in my life. One of my very best friends moved away from my hometown. I know that doesn't sound horribly tragic. "Stay in touch," you might tell me, "Go visit him at whatever college he's attending." But this friend isn't my age. He's not.
Eventually, I came upon a fast food restaurant. I won't call it by name, since I dislike the idea of using this space for advertising. Let's just say this establishment specialized in selling fried chicken and had a Southern colonel as its logo. I didn't know much about the place and seldom ate there.
The manager was tall, severely balding, paunchy, wore heavy glasses and sported an enormous walrus moustache. He said his name was Jon. The interview was brief and to the point: they needed a cook and they would take anyone. I was hired. I began working that week.
After filling out an application, I was told to come back the next day to meet with the manager. The implication was clear. I was going to be hired!
The summer after my junior year of high school, I received a parental ultimatum: "Find work or else." I began searching. Most places wouldn't talk to me, and some wouldn't even give me applications. I didn't have any experience and was looking to start somewhere—anywhere.
I worked for Jon the next year and two months.
During the school year, I only worked on week-
if my age. He's not even in school. He was my boss.
ends, sometimes just on Sunday. I made it clear I wouldn't give up any of the activities of my senior year for work. Jon didn't expect me to. He wouldn't hear of me leaving, either. However much I could work, whenever I could find the time, was enough for him.
The stories I could tell about Jou suffice to say he was unique. A man with a big family, booming voice, and a past as exaggerated and boisterous as he was. The type of guy that could first be in an awful mood, then serve customers with the utmost politeness and finish off the workday by singing any Elton John, Led Zeppelin or Garth Brooks song you asked him to.
He always had his business, of course. The restaurant hadn't been well-managed in the past, and he shouldered the burden of making it efficient and profitable. It wasn't an easy task, but he always made me feel as if I was appreciated, no matter what the circumstances of the restaurant were at the time.
Jon moved on, though. Another opportunity at another restaurant came up, and he took it. It would have been foolish for him not to have taken it. He was ready for a new challenge in his life.
Still, I'm a little sad about it. I didn't see him often after my move to college, even though I returned to talk every two or three months. I promised to keep in close touch each time I saw him. I didn't.
During Christmas break, he offered to let me work a few days. I turned him down. I rejected the chance to cook chicken partly because my time was limited but mostly because I was lazy. I assumed that I would return this summer to work at the restaurant.
My assumption was wrong
The man who was my first boss and taught me about perseverance, humor, and the ability to have a good time no matter what, has left. And I will always regret I didn't work for him that final time.
McCuistion is an El Dorado freshman in pre- journalism.
Feedback Titanic, Star Wars are not comparable
In reference to Aaron Marvin's column about *Titanic* vs. *Star Wars*, I would like to point out the fact that you cannot compare the two. The only similarities between them is that they are both good movies and parts of American cinematographic history. *Star Wars* is a fast-paced, science fiction movie that took three movies to develop characters. Characters who, I might add, are not very deep but good for the movie. *Titanic* is a deep, emotionally-moving movie that has complex characterizations
Scott Gayley
Prairie Village Sophomore
and less of a setting to work in.
One movie is aimed at masculine characteristics with its gun play, fights and explosions. Titanic is meant for people's emotional and feminine aspects. Looking at both movies through the same lens, which in the case of the column is the masculine one, Star Wars is superior, and Titanic seems to fizzle. But if analyzed separately, the superior one is obvious. The one that is superior is.. a matter of personal choice. They shouldn't be compared.
Correction
Due to a columnist's error, a column about an abortion bill in the Kansas Legislature in yesterday's University Daily Kansan gave the wrong phone number for Gov. Bill Graves' office.
The correct number at which input about the bill can be given is 1-860-748-4408.