T 1
Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsey 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
Thursday, March 19, 1998
W. David Keith / KANSAN
ditorials
Complaining campus should emulate actions of loyal fans in the future
After the Kansas men's basketball arm lost to Rhode Island on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament, 300 fans had the loyalty, purge and heart to go to Allen Field house and welcome the team back to
We all can learn a valuable lesson
om these fans' actions.
They set aside their disappointment, ent out into the cold night and aited several hours in the field house teachers for the team to return. Some ans even made signs and painted eir faces.
No matter that the team had just own expectations and lost a game it as supposed to win handily. When he dejected players arrived at the old house and walked onto the court.
Men's basketball fans who welcomed back team proved to be the real Jayhawk fans
the fans who were there cheered as though Kansas had just won the championship.
Now that's loyalty.
It also took a lot of courage for the fans to face their emotions the way they did—by looking the team members in the eye. While other fans cursed, sulked and consumed alcoholic beverages after the loss, these fans dealt with it in a healthy and productive way.
It was not easy to do, especially when the players stood in a line at center
court, fighting back tears.
Perhaps most importantly, these fans showed that they had heart. They put their own feelings aside and realized that their sense of loss was nothing compared to the players' and coaches'.
How difficult it would be to return home knowing that you have disappointed thousands of people. How encouraging it would be to know that some still cared about you and appreciated you.
In the future, the Kansas men's basketball team will lose again, and it will disappoint its fans again.
Eric Weslander, Kansan sports editor, for the editorial board
The next time it happens, let's try to emulate the 300 fans who had the loyalty, courage and heart to show up at the field house and console the people who needed the most support.
Bill would hurt education with censorship
True learning comes from experience, which Kansas schools provide both inside and out of the classroom. But the Kansas legislature wants to remove this learning tool from high school journalism students. A bill being considered in the Legislature could lead to the censorship of student newspapers and yearbooks, rigorously harming students' educations. If the Legislature cares about teens' educations, it should not pass this bill. The bill would change existing law to allow school boards and school administrators power to set guidelines that require review of material prepared for student publications, and to edit material to make it comply with English and vernalism standards. Proponents of the bill have said that they wanted to clarify how much control school boards and school administrators should have over the content of high school publications.
High school publications could be censored under a state bill
But the answer is simple — these people should not have control.
Most high school publications have teachers who advise them and offer guidance to student editors. However, the final decisions should be in the hands of the students.
No school administrator should have the final say about what goes into student publications. Interference by administrators only would diminish the educational value of these publications.
tions help students learn about the power and responsibilities of journalism. But students cannot do so when they have been granted neither one.
Aspiring journalists need these things in order to have a complete education. There is a limit to what can be taught in a traditional classroom — students must learn the real lessons of journalism through experience. Mistakes may be made, but that is part of learning. Our children are much better off making mistakes now, in high school, than as professionals in the future.
How can students learn about their First Amendment rights when an administrator is looking over their shoulders, telling them what they can and cannot publish? Student publica-
The Legislature should not pass this bill. It would limit students' educations and limit their futures. We should not let the Legislature pass this bill. Write your state legislators and demand that they vote down this bill. Kansas students need your help to ensure that they get the education they deserve.
Kansan staff
News editors
Paul Eakins for the editorial board
Paul Eakins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
Andy Obermueller . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
Andrea Albright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News
Jodie Chester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News
Julie King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . News
Charity Jeffries . . . . . . . . . . Online
Wericlander . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sports
Harley Ratliff . . . . . . . . . . Associate sports
Ryan Koerner . . . . . . . . . . Campus
Mike Perryman . . . . . . . . . . Campus
Bryan Volk . . . . . . . . . . Features
Tim Harrington . . . . . . . . . . Associate features
Steve Puppe . . . . . . . . . . . Photo
Angie Kuhn . . . . . . . . . . Design, graphics
Mitch Lucas . . . . . . . . . Illustrations
Corrie Moore . . . . . . . . . Wire
Gwen Olson . . . . . . . . Special sections
Lacheline Rhodades . . . . . . . News clerk
Advertising managers
Kriett Bisel . 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
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Matt York . Zone
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.
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan 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 Andy Obermeyer (andyo@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page stuff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
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.
How to submit letters and guest columns
Perspective
"Cleanliness is almost as bad as godliness." —Samuel Butler
Seasonal steps change direction of life's path
Sometimes it's the things we postpone that make us stop and think. I confess, it was November before the
I confess. It was November before the summer clothes at my house were put
summer clothes at my away. In December I moved to a new house. And now spring has nearly arrived and I'm wondering where I stored the summer clothes.
They're not in the attic.
That's full of depression glass, Fiesta dishes,
Grandma's cedar chest;
and the holiday decorations.
Lisa Stevens John
opinion © kansan.com
They're not in the shed,
the new home of my black
lab, Bear, and of Angel,
a scroungy little mutt from
the pound.
They're not in my closet, which I plan to clean during spring break.
As I ponder this question, Victoria's Secret beseliges my mailbox with catalogs, each one showing models wearing delicious summer tops and skirts. Somewhere I have clothes such as those — but I don't know where. Worse, I hardly can remember what summer clothes I do have. It's tempting to order a new top or skirt, but what if I already have something nearly identical lost in storage?
With the warmth, the snows will melt and daffodils will bloom. The wrens will arrive to scout for new homes, my youngest son and the neighborhood children will whoop and holler from the backyard playset, and I will struggle with the effervescent challenge of facing what lies hidden in the depths of the closets, of picking up pieces of yesterday and bringing them to light.
For now, I'll wait to finish the search: The turtlenecks still can fight the Mount Oread breeze, which always seems to be 10 degrees colder than any other place in Lawrence. And the sweaters, jeans and boots will do for a while longer. But some-day soon, spring's warmth will arrive. There will be a scramble to locate and dewrinkle the contents of bags and boxes of summer clothes — wherever they may be.
All of us have our challenges in life. Often, they come in a series of steps. Sometimes it isn't until moving far ahead that we are able to look back and see where the journey was leading, or why.
My decision a year ago to return to college didn't make sense to many people in my hometown in central Kansas. I'd lived there for 20 years, had my children there, found a job I loved. "Why pull up stakes now?" my friends wondered.
But there was an inevitable something tugging at me, something saying it was time to move on. As I packed the boxes in my house last summer, going from room to room, preparing for the move, the memories almost pulled me back. I could stay there forever and survive. Why not be happy with just surviving?
Perhaps because there's more to life than that.
It's an ongoing journey. One of mystery,
one of faith. It's the art of learning to put
one foot in front of another, day after day,
week after week, month after month, knowing that somehow, something better is here,
and something better lies ahead.
It's so easy to get caught in the momentum of nothingness, of needing nothing more than the next meal, the next party. It takes an extra effort to realize there's more to life than that. We learn to walk when we're young, and we have the opportunity to take extra optional steps, the steps that count, as time goes by.
Yet each step is a risk. We see our tomorrowns in a vaguely uncomfortable haze. There is no clear-cut path, no map. And to every new step, to every hello, to every new season that circumscribes our lives, there is the inevitable goodbye.
Perhaps that's why I postpone the sorting of next season's garments. Because it means not so much a few hours of organizing, hanging summer clothes and folding winter sweaters, but because it reminds me all too clearly that no matter how promising the future is, it is hard to let go of the past.
John is a Tonganoxie graduate student in journalism.
Feedback
Kansan news not enough for students
For some students The University Daily Kansan is their only source of news and information. Many students live pay check to pay check and can't afford a subscription to a real publication or don't have time to be at home and watch the evening news. These days it is just as easy to dial up an internet site to obtain the desired information. But some of us have grown up reading the printed word. Therefore, the practical source of news and what's happening is the campus newspaper. So why must you publish such nonsense as "Dog Killer' grieves the loss of man's best friend". Does anyone really care about the relationship that freshman David Keith had with his pets? The Kansan has a history of publishing articles that no one cares about.
John Banning Austin, Tex., graduate student
The audience the paper is aimed at is of course college students and those in the community. But must you include such front page articles as "Lawrence police say area parties not boisterous"? Has it come to the point where there is a lack of news to report on? Please look outside the University of Kansas community.
Nationally and regionally there is news people are interested in. Report on stories with content. Now that the basketball season is over, half of the entire paper is open to report on stories. If the Kansan is an award-winning paper, then prove it.
Sports column right: Jayhawks choked
I guess the support KU students show for their team is a good thing, but the Jayhawks did choke in the Big Dance. Coming from Ann Arbor, I thought I knew
For some of the respondents to Harley Ratliff's column to say that the University is the best team in the '90s is ludicrous. When did the University win the NCAA championship last? 1988. 10 years ago. In college basketball, that is all that matters.
Yeah, we should support the Jayhawks when they win and lose, but they choked in the tournament and let the University down. I agree with Ratliff's column and stance. I even like the hat.
Nate Wilke
Ann Arbor, Mich., graduate
studenti
how often a basketball team could choke (fab five ring any bells)?, but I guess the University of Kansas fears March more than the Wolverines.
Women's basketball coverage lacking
After all, that is your goal as a journalist. If the men were still in the tournament, there would be more life-size photos of the men and undoubtedly on the front page everyday this week.
The controversial articles surrounding the men's loss to Rhode Island have been written in attempt to get people to read the paper.
However, the women are in the Sweet 16 and you really can't tell by reading the paper.
Your coverage of women's basketball this week reenforces how far behind most people are when it comes to women's athletics. I'm thankful for faithful fans of both teams who support the teams whether they win or lose.
Joy Hayes Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Allen Fieldhouse
By the way, our women's basketball team is the only Big XII basketball team in the Sweet 16 — men's or women's.
Message in Rock Chalk letter obvious
I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was necessary to point something out that has been recurring.
Matt Bachand Yorktown, Va., senior
Man who damaged KU door apologizes
Robert Fort, in his letter to the The University Daily Kansan on March 18, 1998, says that I use convoluted language in my arguments against Rock Chalk Revue.
Fort says "Perhaps the Derby freshman who came out during Saturday's performance and asked the protesters 'Aren't you being a little ungrateful?' said it best." Well, Robert, what makes you think that the protesters need United Way aid? If all of the protesters were caucasian, that would not have been said. I thought we all realized that the Derby freshman was being racist, but I guess not. No, Robert, there's nothing convoluted about your language. We hear you loud and clear.
Editor's Note: The following is a court-ordered apology which the Douglas County District Court asked The University Daily Kansan to print.
Fort definitely cannot be accused of the same.
Dear University of Kansas;
My name is Michael-John Souders, and in the case of one broken door at Lippencott Hall. I would like to address and come to terms with this incident. In all sincerity, I would like to apologize for what has happened, and say that I will take responsibility for this incident.
Thank you sincerely for your time.
Michael-John Souders
.
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