Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsay Henry, Editor Marc Harrell, Business manager Dave Morantz, Managing editor Colleen Eager, Retail sales manager Kristie Blasi, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Ebien, General manager, news advisor Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998
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SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Editorials
Allen Field House officials right to destroy fan's offensive poster
When the KU Athletic Department removed student Rick Thomas' sign from Allen Field House at a Jan. 24 men's basketball game, the department did the right thing.
The field house complied with the Athletic Department policy of censoring unsportsmanlike conduct. Thomas' sign, which said, "I'm blind, I deaf, I wanna be ref," went against both the KU Athletic Department standards and the University of Kansas misconduct code.
The University retains the right to determine what is a disruption at a University class or event, according to the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook. When we enroll, we agree to abide by these rules. The sign disrupted a University event and was unsportsmanlike. The usher said that she didn't
want to see a sign that was degrading to the officials end up on television. The usher was doing her job. The sign was harmful to the image of the University and the Athletic Department. Although the sign did pertain to sports, it demeaned the referee and could have caused mental harm to those who saw it.
The question posed by Ron Kuby, New York civil rights attorney and KU alumnus, is absurd. He asked, "Can we only carry smiling Jayhawks?" Of course not. But we should not cause mental harm to those with disabilities simply to make a point about the game. Although the mainstream student body likely would be unaffected by the sign, a minority of fans and viewers might. To use a sign depicting the disabled as an officer is no different than culturally bashing
Native Americans with sports team names such as the Redskins.
Also, the department says on the back of its tickets that the tickets are revokable license agreements. The management reserves the unrestricted right to revoke this license if a fan disrupts the game. Perhaps the usher who removed Thomas' sign should have made a greater effort to have Thomas voluntarily remove the sign from the field house. If students feel as if their First An-
If students feel as if their First Amendment rights have been violated, they can choose not to attend a University event.
As students, we have a responsibility to adhere to University standards. By removing the sign, the University simply was reprimanding a student's misconduct, and protecting its own integrity — as is its right.
Ameshia Tubbs for the editorial board
Fans' rights extend inside field house
Allen Field House officials were wrong in their decision to destroy a fan's sign because they thought it was offensive. A field house official destroyed the sign, which read, "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref."
The fan who created the sign did not check his rights at the field house door. He was exercising the same right of expression that countless other fans exercise at every game: the right to make a statement of opinion in public without having his statements approved by the thought police.
The Supreme Court has held that in cases where content-based restrictions are imposed on speech, the government must use the most exacting scrutiny in balancing the need for restriction against an individual's
First Amendment rights.
Speech can be restricted only if an individual uses fighting words as a direct personal insult or an invitation to exchange fisticuffs, or if the speech would lead to imminent lawless action.
The fan's sign clearly does not use fighting words, it was not a direct personal insult, and cannot, under the circumstances, even remotely be construed to be an invitation to exchange fisticuffs.
The only imminent lawless action was the sign's destruction by a field house usher.
The University community — from the stacks of Watson Library to the student section at the field house — should be made up of individuals who are as absolute in their belief in the First Amendment as the amendment's absolute wording. In our free exchange of ideas — be they during sporting events, student elections or in class discussion — we should not have to worry about having to shut up because someone may be offended.
expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
In Texas vs. Johnson, a flag-burning case, Justice John Brennen wrote, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the
The fan had the right to show his sign. The usher had the right to be offended. The fan's right, however, should have been the trump card in the trick.
Kansan staff
Paul Eakins ... Editorial
Andy Obermueeller ... Editorial
Andrea Albright ... News
Jodie Chester ... News
Julie King ... News
Charity Jeffries ... Online
Eric Weslander ... 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
Lachelie Roades ... Neues clerk
Andy Obermueller, dissenting
News editors
Kristi Bisel . . . Assistant retail, PR
Leigh Bottiger . . . Campus
Brett Clifton . . . Regional
Nicole Lauderdale . . National
Matt Fisher . . Marketing
Chris Haghrian . . . 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
Advertising managers
"The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal." —H.L. Mencken
How to submit letters and guest columns
LeoFerax: 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-
spaceed 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 Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuifter-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 Obermuerlu (andyo@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Memo to Generation X: prepare to be assimilated
Perspective
You may not be who you thought you were.
It may sound crazy, but imagine my surprise when I discovered I was not really part of Generation X
Anna Attkisson
opinion@kansan.com
I was raised thinking that I belong to a mass of young slackers who succumb to the media's attempts to pigeon-hole them as unfocused, unmotivated and uncontrollable. Now I find I was wrong all along. After having spent 20-some years learning to rebel against that stereotype, the trend-makers have re-categorized me as part of Generation Y
Why? Is the difference so
opinion@kansan.co
striking that I need to spend the next 20-something years of my life trying to figure out what stereotype to reject?
Beware, Generation X. In 10 years, Y will occupy 41.4 percent of the population, and outrank you for the biggest slice of the population pie in the United States.
It's ridiculous to think that a mathematical variable makes any difference.
The classification junkies and marketing types have the audacity to assume that because I was born in 1976 instead of 1975, I have a different perspective on the world than those born 12 months before me. Twelve months does not mean that I will be any more Internet-savvy or multicultural than my 22-year-old friends.
To think the whole variable scheme originated from the baby boomer generation as the name of a 1960s English paperback about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll in London. It sounds fishy to me. Then the notion was picked up by Billy Idol for the name of a band, until Douglas Couland g got abolid of the idea and wrote Generation X. The unassuming letter X has already morphed itself into a Y, what's next? V? K?
Cynthia Cohen, president of Marketplace 2000 said we feel warm and cozy in malls, and love hard work because working and learning and playing are the same thing.
Even the perpetrator of this whole lettering mess, Coupland, thinks this seemingly random assignment of variables has become absurd. I agree.
The baby boomers feel the need to demean younger generations, which they fear may threaten their spotlight, by calling us whiny slackers. But that doesn't mean we should further the insult by letting them delineate us with more letters. The marketers couldn't wait for us to grow up before characterizing us so they could sell us out. Other fringe generational caricatures of the past — '60s hippies, '70s punks, '80s yuppies — got their marketing blitz eventually. But X's and Y's are being overwhelmed early in the game.
According to a ridiculous study conducted by Fayneese Miller, associate professor of education and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, only those of us born on or after 1976 are united in support of affirmative action, but doubt the American Dream really exists. We are supposedly less racist than the general public, and we expect to die violently in the next 10 to 15 years.
In 1995 Couland told Details that X is over. He said, "I'd like to declare a moratorium on all the noise because the notion that there now exists a different generation — X, Y, K what ever — is no longer debatable. Kurt Cobain's in heaven, Slackers' is at Blockbuster and the media refers to anyone aged 13 to 39 as Xers."
Being a part of any generation should be about sharing a world view, not about what year you were born in or what letter of the alphabet supposedly is representative of your life.
I find the distillation of humanity to mere variables alarming.
Where do they get this stuff?
Anna Attkisson is a Lawrence junior in journalism.
Asking the vital questions about the Lewinsky fracas
This will be the last time I write anything about the alleged Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinski encounter. Enough other well-reasoned and insightful opinions about the whole sordid escapade have been printed here.
However, I am egotistical enough to think I might have something to contribute to the discussion. Often I've been asked to explain the Lewinsky allegations, so I'll devote this space to answering questions that have come up during the last few weeks.
Clay McCuistion opinion@kansan.com
Q: Did Bill Clinton have sex with Monica Lewinski?
A: It depends on to whom you listen. If you're a Democrat, then the president is the victim of evil right-wing conspiracies meant to politically
beneft the Republican party. However, if you're a Republican, then Clinton is a lying, cheating, philandering, immoral slob who will stop at nothing to satisfy his monstrous libido.
Q: What difference does it make if Clinton had sex with Lewinsky?
A: It's not the sex so much as the possibility that the president urged Lewinsky to lie about the affair. If so, he would be guilty of an obstruction of justice.
Q: So it's OK for the president to do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't lie about it?
A: No. For example, he couldn't use a racia slur. Then he'd have to resign.
Q: But having an affair is all right?
A: It offends fewer people.
Q: What is your opinion of the media's role in
the whole matter?
A: The media continued its role as an upright defender of truth and justice. It informed the American people about its leader and did so in a calm, responsible manner.
Q: What do you really think?
A: There might have been some overkill here and there. I thought that something was wrong when CNN began broadcasting panel discussions
about the media's role in covering the case. Obviously it's in the media's best interests to string out this messy story for as long as possible. After all, the economy is doing well, the budget is balanced, and the American people are happy and prosperous. If newspapers, magazines, and television can't make us feel rotten about something, they're not being effective.
Q: What do you think of White House press secretary Mike McCurry?
A: He dodges questions more easily than any human I have ever seen. Plus, he makes it seem as if he's really just trying to tell everyone the truth.
Q: What makes McQuay seem so honest?
A: The way he always looks slightly weary, his eyelids drooping a fraction of an inch. The way he speaks in calm, measured tones and never, ever, gets angry with anyone or anything. And finally, the way in which he looks as if he hates Sam Donaldson
Q: What phrase would you use to describe McCurrv's hair?
Q: What major television news anchor could this description also be applied to?
A: A large, wet, shedding gopher slapped across his forehead and stuck with supergue...
Q: Enough about the media. What's your take on Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr?
A: Again, this is a question with an answer that depends on your political beliefs. If you support the president, Starr is a self-promoting, biased, antiChrist. If you don't, Starr is a ramrod-straight defender of truth and justice.
Q: Why, if he's the Whitewater independent counsel, is Starr concerned with the president's sex life?
A: Duh
Q: If you could sum up the entire Clinton-Lewinsky fracas in a single word, what would that word be?
A: He's aggravated that he can't attract any women, while the president has interns throwing themselves at him.
McCulution is an Andover freshman in journalism.
He never heard Roni Ziegler dodge questions.
Legislation before Student Senate
Legislation pending Student Senate:
A Bill to Amend Student Senate Rules and Regulations
Bill calls for a Rules and Regulations change concerning the Student Health Advisory Board
Sponsor: Arthur Yudelson, Nontraditional Senator
A Bill to Fund the KU Public Relations Student Society of America
Business Senator
Bill calls for allocation of $750 for general funding and a special project
Sponsor: Student Rights Committee
A Resolution Opposing Current Drinking Age
Bill calls for the elimination of Holdover Senator seats.
A Bill to Amend Student Senate Rules and Regulations
Sponsor: Scott Merchant.
Sponsor: John Colbert, Engineering Senator
A Bill to Fund the KU Hillet Foundation's Holocaust Remembrance Day Speaker Sol Urbach
Bill calls for allocation of
$4000 honorarium for the speaker.
Sponsor: Finance Committee
In addition, the body will discuss the Board of Regents' policy on intellectual property during the Issues Agenda, and Larry Gibbs, LA&S senator, will speak during Open Forum regarding the Student Lecture Series.
Senate will begin at 6:30pm in the Big 12 Room. All legislation is posted in the Student Senate office, 410 Kansas Union.