Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsey Henry, Editor
Dave Morant, Managing editor
Kristie Blasi, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
Marc Harrell, Business manager
Colleen Eager, Retail sales manager
Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser
Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
4A
Wednesday, Feb. 4, 1998
W. David Keith / KANSAN
Editorials
Maupin area should be preserved for a sense of community, history
The historical beauty of a Lawrence mansion is being threatened. Southwind Capital Inc., a construction company, has applied for permission to demolish the three buildings north of the Maupin House, 1613 Tennessee St., which is registered as a historic site.
The company wants to build an apartment complex there, which would violate the regulations meant to protect the mansion and would destroy the historic character of the neighborhood.
The Lawrence Historic Resources Commission should prohibit the razing of this lot.
The proposed buildings would violate the Secretary of Interior's standards about building near historic sites, such as that "the new work shall be..compatible with the massing, size, scale and
The houses north of the Maupin mansion should not be razed,but preserved
architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment." Three buildings would be at the front of the property and, separated by a 56-unit parking lot, two joined buildings would be at the back, near Edge Hill Road. The latter two would be higher than the Maupin House, degrading the historical beauty of the house.
All three of the existing houses are still structurally sound and could be renovated. The building on Edge Hill Road was perhaps a servants' quarters. It is a standard that "the removal of his
toric material or alteration of the features and spaces that characterize the property shall be avoided." The homes on that land are perfectly in character with the houses that surround them. An apartment complex would not be.
The leveling of the area also could cause runoff and the proposed complex could increase traffic on an already crowded street. There is no need to add yet another complex that would destroy the old beauty of the neighborhood.
The Lawrence Historic Resources Commission should oppose this proposal and preserve the historic beauty of Lawrence.
Those who oppose the project can voice their opinions at the commission's meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 at City Hall.
Cara Skodack for the editorial board
Neglect ruins houses, neighborhoods
Looking out the window and seeing a dilapidated building or home does not sit well with most Lawrence residents. Not only are run-down homes an eyesore, but they devalue the property of the entire neighborhood. Property owners should be more responsible; it doesn't take much to provide a more aesthetically pleasing environment and foster a sense of community — to say nothing of protecting their investment.
Unfortunately, neglect of property is a problem that has become common in Lawrence. Some home owners let their property become so deteriorated that the city is forced to condemn the home and demolish it. This practice is called demolition by neglect.
Demolition by neglect often occurs when a house becomes abandoned or
Owners who don't keep their homes and buildings have no business holding property
unrentable and the owner refuses to maintain or renovate it. These houses eventually violate city housing codes and are thus subject to demolition. City manager Mike Wilden said that city inspectors determine if housing codes have been violated and if the house should be condemned. The violations are based on whether the house is structurally sound and if the house is safe.
If a house has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer a livable environment, then the inspectors recommend demolition. Wilddog said that property
is inspected after notice of violation or a complaint by a neighbor.
It's a sad fact that some people in Lawrence don't take care of the property they own. They buy property and let it rot away. This lends to the deterioration of entire neighborhoods as well as the communities within these neighborhoods. No one wants to move into a neighborhood that is permeated with deteriorating homes.
Property owners should be more responsible. If they have no intention of upkeeping the property they buy, then they should not buy property in the first place. And if property owners no longer can afford to maintain their property, they should sell to someone who can so that a sense of community and integrity of neighborhoods can be preserved.
Kansan staff
Nick Zaller for the editorial board
Paul Eakins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
Andy Obermueller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial
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Julle 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
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Mitch Lucas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Illustrations
Corrie Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wire
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Brett Clifton . Regional
Nicole Lauderdale . National
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Brian Allers . Production
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"Women's studies is a jumble of vulgarians, bunglers, whiners, French faddicts, appatchiks, doughfaced party-liners, pie-in-the-sky utiopans and bullying sanctimonious sermonizers." - Camille Paglia
**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.
How to submit letters and guest columns
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 Kansan newsroom, 111 Staufer-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 Obermueller (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.
Perspective
Applications accepted for humor-column intern
recently had a flash of inspiration.
recently had a tash of inspiration.
I'm prone to these fits of creativity, where I'll shout revelations like "Why has no one created a word to rhyme with orange?" and "If
we're just another brick in the wall, why are human carcasses not a building inspector-approved material?" Unfortunately the only thing these revelations usually reveal is the quick response time of the Douglas County Mental Health van.
Nick
Bartkoski
oplionko@kanaan.com
But this time I actually came up with a useful idea. I was watching news story after news story about Lewinsky-gate when it came to me ... why don't I have an intern?
Now I know what most of
you are thinking, so get your minds out of the gutter. Just because one of the requirements is the illegal demand that all my applicants must be buxom blond females, age 18 to 24, does not mean that I expect some illicit goings on with my new-found intern.
That aside, setting up an internship program for my column is a stroke of genius. Just think how great this would look while applying for a job. Everyone and their brother says they've had internships. How many people do you know that can say they've supervised their own inters? This could be the greatest shot in the arm for my resume since I finally decided to stop including my experience as a male stripper.
Truly, the one thing separating an intern for my column and an internship at a Topeka TV station is the whole sense of legitimacy. But that's OK. If nothing else, I can always lower myself to their standards.
So why would you want to intern for me? Odds are you probably wouldn't, because your near-hero worship of me might be shattered by seeing me in a day-to-day reference, especially if I ever ask you to help me shave my back.
But to the passive reader, I think an internship for this column would be an invaluable lesson in
the inner workings of writing a humor column.
This is useful information for a number of fields,
especially if somebody you hope to be a congressperson and write legislation.
An internship with me will also be a lot more hands-on than your average internship. At most big-time internships you'll spend most of your time getting coffee for your supervisor. I can promise you that at my internship you will never be sent to get coffee, especially now that I've made the sauce from caffee to cysteine meth.
Your duties would be very simple. First and foremost, you would be a research assistant. I should point out that "research" for me is calling KU Info to answer my asinine questions, such as "How long is the swimming part of the Ironman Triathelon?" or "How is a raven like a writing desk?" You will also be responsible for helping me find the correct spellings of the words in my column, even if I've blatantly made the word up, like 'gorange'.
You'll also have a chance to learn my five-step process of writing a humor column. Those steps are:
Step No. 1 — Drink a lot of Colt 45.
Step No. 3 — Repeat Step No. 1
Step No. 2 - Create a nutty premise like "What if my column had an internship program?"
Step No 5 — Repeat Steps No. 1 and No. 3 ... just to be sure.
Step No. 4 — Write the column for me, preferably without a lot of personal information about yourself.
Learn those important steps and you're on your way to being a highly-trained humorist, not to mention a life member of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Sorry, but the guy in the dorm room above me won't stop bragging about the time three stewardess "interns" dropped by his place for the night—so I'd have to tell him.
And if you want to show your appreciation to me in a manner similar to the way interns thank the chief executive, then who am I to say no? And it will be just between you, me and the man upstairs.
Nick Barkstik is a Baseer junior in journalism and Enlish.
Vanilla Ice: the rap icon more popular on the rocks
When the announcement was made that early '90s rap icon Vanilla ice was coming to perform in Lawrence, I heard the snickering and hung my head and closed my
When, I wonder, will Vanilla Ice realize that the joke is on him? These college students don't love him for the revolutionary Caucasian rapper that he is; they just want to poke fun at him — for $20 a pop. Doesn't Vanilla remember how these same people abandoned him eight years
the snickering and hung my eyes. Soon came the news that the show had been sold out, and Mr. Ice was so impressed that he added another show for the next night.
W.David Keith
conlion@kansan.com
ago, when he was just trying to "play that funky music?"
Long before Vanilla Ice there were young, hip '80s pop stars like Prince. It seems like the world deserted the man who gave us When Doves Cry with the drop of a Raspberry Beret. Maybe we don't want Prince in our lives anymore because we one weird-looking, weird skin-colored, weird-dressed, high-voiced pop star is enough. But we abandoned Michael Jackson, too, didn't we?
Don't worry, Vanilla. I remember. It's just a rising trend in America that once-treasured stars of stage and screen are forgotten for the next thing.
It happens to the best of them. M.C. Hammer found himself on top of the world doing his typewriter dance in his parachute pants, and the next minute he was bankrupt and suffering from an identity crisis. We all bought Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em and made it the highest-selling rap album. U Can't Touch This became a worldwide saying from the deserts of Ethiopia to Kalamazo, Mich. We could only pray that someday we would be in his posse. Then came Too Legit 2 Quit and most of America loved loving him.
Was it because he dropped the M.C. off his name? It couldn't be. Hammer was much easier to say. Was it because of his Hammerman cartoon and cereal? The cartoon was beautifully animated and Hammer had talking shoes. And the cereal was a tasty mix of crunchy nougat, corn syrup and marshmallows shaped like Hammer's head. So what was it that led to everyone turning their backs on Hammer? It was Vanilla Ice.
He was Robbie Van Winkle — a white kid from the 'hood trying to make it on the streets of Compton. But when he donned a shiny red, white and blue suit and cut his hair, he transformed into... Vanilla Ice. His V.I.P. Posse helped us through some tough times. Vanilla's song Ice Ice Baby symbolized all that was right in America. When he said "Killing your brain like a polioous mushroom," we all felt his pain. Then the truth came out. Ice wasn't from the streets at all. He was a rich kid from the Midwest who was transformed by his record company. He wasn't hard-core at all. So he was dropped by the public like a bad habit. He stopped rapping and started rajet skis because of us.
Stop and think. How many of these stars have you loved and left? How many more have you tossed away that I haven't mentioned? Where are these sad souls today? What trash can is Pee Wherian scroungling through? What gutter is Jordan Knight of the New Kids on the Block lying in? Is Axl Rose in a pawnshop trying to trade in his do-far for a镍奖?
What stars will you abandon next? Will it be Puff Daddy? When he becomes last week's rap star, will you let his CD collect dust on the bottom of your stack? Will you deny you ever liked him? When you stand in that crowd before Vanilla Ice and you cheer for him, just think of how you would feel if you were just a sideshow freak that the world let down. How would you feel if when you sang "Turn out the lights and Tll glow," it just didn't mean anything anymore?
W. David Keith is a Stanley freshman in illustration.
Legislation before Student Senate
A Bill to Amend Student Senate Rules and Regulations
Calls for any representative who misses more than two University Committee or Board meetings in one semester to be immediately suspended from that group.
Sponsor: Partha Mazundar, SenEx
A Bill to Fund the KU Chapter of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association Calls for allocation of $135 to group. Sponsor: Brian Goodman, Law Senator
A Bill to Co-Sponsor and Fund the Spring 1998 American Red Cross Blood Drive Calls for allocation of $670.20 to help fund blood drive.
Sponsor: Julie Numrich, Panhellenic Senator
Calls for allocation of $200 to group.
Sponsor: Sarah Schreck, LA&S Senator
A Bill to Fund the Spiritual Human Yoaa
A Bill to Fund Jayhawk Communications Summary: This bill calls for allocation of $185 to group.
Sponsor: Sarah Schreck, LA&S Senator
A Bill to Fund the Malysian Student Association Calls for allocation of $2,130 to sponsor Malaysian Night '98.
Snonsor: Michael Young, Nunemaker Senator
A Bill to Fund the Asian American Student Union Festival and High School Leadership Conference
Calls for allocation of $5,333.30 to sponsor a High School Leadership Conference and an Asian American Festival.
Sponsor: Michael Young, Nunemaker Senator