Opinion
Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Published daily since 1912
Lindsey Henry, Editor
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Monday, Jan. 26, 1998
Tina Connolly / KANSAN
Editorial
Senate has lost a valuable asset because of infighting, entropy
Something is rotten in 410 Kansas Union.
Ward Cook, a three-year veteran of Student Senate, resigned on Thursday in the wake of Wednesday's six-hour whine-a-thon and political fracas.
Cook, who was once the most popularly elected senator, simply thinks that he can't make a difference anymore in senate because of pervasive infighting and politicking.
Cook was never a spotlight seeker. He worked on things like parking board and lighting board — not very exciting but which he found rewarding. He was a familiar sight at the Senate office, always willing to put together senator notebooks, answer the phone and generally do the grunt work. No one ever thanked him, and no one ever needed to. He did what he did because he thought he made a difference. And he did.
In a letter explaining his resignation to Student Body President Scott Sullivan, Cook made a telling analogy about people in a boat trying to get back on shore. A strong rain
Losing a hard worker like Ward Cook should make other senators wonder what's wrong
began to waterlog the boat, which began to sink. As the people on the boat continued to fight about how to get back to shore rather than bail out the boat, it sank.
Let there be no room for misinterpretation: Student Senate is the boat and the people on board are student senators.
We printed an excerpt from the Student Senate listserv to exhibit the infantile bickering about the senate web page. The bickering is constant, and you can hear it live if you go to senate. Resist the temptation.
Student senators should be able to work together better than this, where the point is to work out a compromise where everyone wins despite the campaign buttons that still linger on some senators' backpacks.
You often hear the term "agenda"
in reference to political persuasion.
But senators—please—forget your agenda and get out a to-do list. Stop doing things for yourself, your cause and your defunct coalition. Start doing things for the students for a change.
Cook, who always has stayed above political posturing, got sick of what senate has become and quit in protest. Cook blamed himself. Just as Cook's tendency to eschew politics is rare, so is hearing a student senator utter the phrase, 'I blame myself.'
If Cook's resignation doesn't serve as a wake-up call to senate, then nothing will. To those student senators — and not all of you are guilty — who have promulgated the foulness that prompted Ward Cook to quit, shame on you. Your behavior is disgraceful, puerile and petty.
Seeing Cook give up senate is like watching the pope denounce Catholicism. His seat should remain empty as a testament to the infighting and division that is dragging senate down.
Andy Obermueller for the editorial board
Letter
Cook: 'Senate might actually be doing more harm than good'
(From Wendy Cook's letter of resignation to Student Body President Scott Sullivan)
Throughout my tenure in Student Senate, I can honestly say that I have tried to strive for the good of all the students at this University, always keeping in mind what was the right decision to make for them. I can sincerely proclaim that never have any of my decisions been politically motivated. I have always seemed to look for the good
in every issue, and maybe this is one of my faults. No matter the final outcome,
I have always felt like progress had been made and that I had done the best I could for the student body, even if I did not agree with the outcome.
This year, I strongly feel that not only have I been incapable to do the right thing for the sudents, but so has Senate. It is hard for me to accept that Student Senate might actually be doing more harm than good. We have simply been spinning our wheels.
as Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator in hopes that someone may replace me that can begin to make a difference in [the face of] the continuing decline of the end-product that Student Senate delivers to students.
I hope that it would still be possible to remain as a representative of the student body to the appointed boards on which I serve.
With this, I regretfully resign my seat
Ward Cook Mission Hills senior
Kansan staff
Paul Eakins ... Editorial
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"Seduction is a sweet story, and if the listener wants to hear it, then it's no lie." —Garrison Kellor
**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 Stuaffer-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 staff foil (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
The college experience is different for everyone
Why are you in college? This is not a rhetorical question. Some people at the University never have thought about it. Some go to school because we
about it. Some or us go
have to. Our parents have
pressed us, or we have
been taught that college is
the next step after high
school. Maybe we have
heard somewhere that college is the ticket to making money, and we all want to make lots of money, right?
Every once in a while, this idea of the college experience pops up. What does this mean, and why does it matter?
Nick
Zaller
To some, the college experience entails getting a few grades, having some fun.
opinion@kansan.com
and getting the hell out of Dodge (no pun intended for Dodge City residents). Here is an example: In a class I had last semester, everyone would ask about their grades. At the beginning of the semester, the instructor said the grades would be based on participation, a paper, quizzes and a final. However, we only had two grades—the paper and the final. One of these grades, the paper, was not returned to us until the final day of class. Everyone in the class was freaked out. No one seemed to care that all semester our teacher had engaged us in intellectually stimulating debate. What people really cared about was the letter that was going to be printed on their transcript.
Enter the panacea to letter worshipers. On the last day of class, before he handed back our papers, the professor ripped a piece of paper into 35 pieces, wrote letters on them and put the pieces in a hat. He told us to draw a piece and whatever letter we drew was our final grade. The papers that we had laboriously agonized about and the final we had dreaded taking were both meaningless. Thus, everyone was happy and drew their fate without any hesitation. Obviously, some fared better than others. But think of it — a letter
grade, quite possibly the ever-elusive A, without any work and no payoffs.
It turned out that our professor was pulling our strings, and he managed to yank some students' strings so hard that they fell on their faces when they drew a D.
How many people do you know that would have drawn their college experience from a hat? Perhaps you don't have to look further than a mirror.
How do most of us view the college experience? Perhaps there is no experience. Perhaps many of us are here to complete the application process for our license to make money—our degree. This is an admirable goal in a capitalistic society, but aren't we missing something when we speed through a dark tunnel with nothing more than an illuminated dollar sign to lead us along?
Being a college student means different things. Is it all about going to class? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Is it all about socializing? Someone told me the other day that they were intoxicated nearly every minute of every day. Is that the real meaning of carpe diem?
As college students, we all have a tremendous opportunity to open our eyes to new things. Whether it is meeting someone with a different cultural background, playing a sport, participating in the theater, doing research or writing for the paper, we can broaden ourselves both intellectually and socially. And who knows, we may even learn something.
So what is the college experience? I don't know. It's different for each of us. I do know that it is more than classes and beer and that I want more out of it than letters and hangovers.
Albert Camus once said, "Do not wait for the last judgment, it takes place everyday." This is your chance to do whatever you want. Don't wait until the last judgment to reflect whether you should have taken better advantage of opportunities—by then it will be too late.
Zaller is a Tulsa, Okla., senior in Chinese and microbiology.
Feedback
Allen Field House's decision to shortchange children is reprehensible but correctable
What is wrong with our Athletic Department? They make millions of dollars a year, so why can't they keep up their end of the deal with these children?
I have been at the University of Kansas for three years now and have seen many things that have angered me. However, nothing angered me as much as reading about the Athletic Department shorting a group of fifth graders their pay for cleaning up Allen Field House.
Besides the issue of money, what kind of principles are you trying to teach these children?
Allen Field House is a big place, especially for 15 kids to try to clean up.
My four-year-old gets overwhelmed trying to clean up her toys at the end of the day and I never expect her to do as good of a job as an adult could do.
They should be paid the amount that was agreed upon in the first place. These are children, not trained adults.
I would urge all those who donate money to the Atheletic Department to take a second look at what kind of organization they are donating to. What kind of principles are you teaching your children?
Andrea Lewis Denver junior
State employee questions structure of raises, insurance rates and living adjustments
In my 11 years as a classified employee at the University, I have been given about a 2.5 percent pay increase each year, excluding raises due to job promotions, for a grand total of a 27.5 percent increase in 11 years.
In that same 11 years, my group health-insurance rates have gone up between 15 and 20 percent. Using the 15 percent conservative figure for the increase in insurance, my actual
It would appear that in 11 years of employment for the State of Kansas, it has cost me 27 percent of my salary to continue working here. Something is wrong with this picture.
increase for 11 years has dwindled to about 12.5 percent. I have received a total of 4 percent in cost-of-living raises in 11 years, which now adjusts my total raise to 50 percent in 11 years. The actual cost of living has increased at least 7 percent for each of these same 11 years, for a total cost of living adjustment of 77 percent.
New radio show brings leaders together to discuss campus issues, student concerns
Scott Getter classified employee
Bring the Noise is a new KJHK talk show dedicated to voices and action; basically highlight-ing those who *do* something about the problems they perceive. It will feature live guests weekly, callers, and music which is of a political, socially conscious, etc. theme.
Dissention and disagreement is expected, even encouraged, both from those who call in and those who would like to be on the show.
Members of the listening audience who disagree with a statement should call 864-4747, and either comment on the show itself, or leave their number with the show's producer, Rich Ridlen, and I will contact them about a future booking.
Future guests include members of the activist community (Action Alliance, Feminist Union, etc.), and two members of the National Guard who will discuss the life of a soldier/student, and the status of today's military.
Whitnev Black
Whitney Black Lawrence senior
Note: Bring the Noise can be heard Thursdays at 4 p.m. on KJHK, 90.7 FM. You can reach Black, the show's host, at elmo@almo.com.ukans.edu.
Online Opinion
The editorial page recommends the following web sites. You can send your comments about these sites or recommend others to opinion@kansan.com.
Yahoo lists nearly every conceivable political party web site. Find out what you really are.
www.yahoo.com/government/politics/parties
The State of Kansas web site contains daily updates about pending legislation and capitol news, including speeches made by Gov. Bill Graves.
www.ink.org
www.cato.org
The Cato Institute is a public policy institute based on individual liberty, limited government free markets and peace.
www.dsausa.org/dsa/index.html
Democratic Socialists of America can be found at
www.concordcoalition.org
Find out how much you owe on the national debt. The Concord Coalition site was started by Paul Tsongas, a former Democratic presidential candidate, and former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H.
See what's happening on both sides of the aisle. Visit The Republican Party at www.rnc.org. The Democratic Party can be found at
www.democrats.org.
The Environmentally conscious Green Party lists Green links at its clearinghouse web site. The official mission is to create and conserve a rich and diverse environment characterized by a sense of community.
www.greens.org
www.whitehouse.gov
Get inside the White House with intern-like access to read Mr. Clinton's speeches, press releases and schedule.
State and local governance issues are discussed in the virtual pages of Governing Magazine.
www.governing.com
With the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade, it's worthwhile to take a look at the actual opinion that has caused such a stir. Roe in a nutshell has edited selections from six justices.
http://members.aol.com/abtrb ng/roeins.htm
And as always, we recommend today's sponsor. Catch the Kansan online at www.kansan.com