4 Monday, August 23,1993 --- OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN VIEWPOINT THE ISSUE The University has enacted a policy prohibiting romantic or sexual relationships between faculty and the students over whom the faculty member has direct power. THE BACKGROUND After a thorny year-long grievance hearing against law professor Emil Tonkovich for sexual harassment allegations, the University has taken a strong stand against faculty-student relationships. University administrators hope it will help prevent the possibility for harassment and manipulation. A task force formed by the administration last year proposed making an explicit policy on such relationships.In its recommendations, it proposed a policy with a strong warning, not an outright prohibition. THE OPINION Relationships policy OK but student input needed The University's consensual relationships policy, which took effect Friday, takes a stand that the University needs to make -- that romance between students and instructors is ripe for abuse, be it harassment or favoritism, and should not happen. However, the way the policy was crafted and implemented, with nominal student and faculty input, is unacceptable. It is the general assumption of the policy that it is a conflict of interest for faculty members to be grading, advising and evaluating those students with whom they are in romantic relationships. Furthermore, controlling the keys to reward and success in a class gives faculty members more power to manipulate a relationship, an environment that could easily lead to sexual harassment. This viewpoint is valid. That power structure exists regardless of a faculty member or student's age or "maturity." Unfortunately, ambiguities lurking in the written policy and the memorandum distributed throughout the University make parts of this policy confusing. For example: The policy is not a prohibition in its fullest sense. If a relationship does develop, it must be reported so alternate accommodations can be made for evaluation of the student's work. When a relationship develops, it is not automatically a violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct, which details faculty ethics. When a relationship is not reported and becomes disruptive of the learning environment, it may become a violation. One problem with the policy was that it came as such a surprise. During the summer, the administration took a recommendation that the policy be a strong warning and changed it to a prohibition. The administration asked for input from a few faculty members on University Governance. Those members' sole input was on the policy's wording. The University says it made its change based on recommendations for a stronger policy made by "many campus groups and individuals" when the original recommendation was open for public comment. "Many" probably refers to the 10-20 responses received by the task force, and may be fewer since not all those responses concerned the consensual relationships policy. Furthermore, this new policy has a greater impact on faculty and students than what was proposed by the task force last year. It needs to have a public airing specifically in University Governance. If an overwhelming and logical argument against the policy or for revising it emerges from the University community, the administration needs to be open to rethinking its policy. KC TRAUER, EDITOR Denying problems today won't help in the future One problem facing this country is that Americans want to deny their problems. Racism, teenage sex, the subjugation of women — many doubt that these are very real problems. A friend of mine calls it institutional denial, for short. And in keeping with the academic spirit of my audience — I'll call it denialism. Denialism works like this: Someone will unearth some statistics or develop a theory suggesting that what we thought was simple in fact isn't. But someone else — the denialist — will reply that the statistics are false. reminism provides a good example for denialism in action. In the 1960s and '70s, women became more and more vocal about their second-class citizenship. Few of them were able to get jobs without prejudice, and even those who did often got paid much less than their male counterparts. So women began to demand that they have the same opportunities as men. STAFF COLUMNIST For awhile things seemed to get better. (Not, of course, without occasional howls from men.) But recent statistics now say that even though a woman makes 70 cents to every dollar a man makes, that figure is better than it used to be. Also, some researchers are beginning to question the figure in the first place, arguing that it was arrived at through faulty (meaning politically motivated) research. Women are doing fine, the denialists seem to be saying. More insidious are concerns by denialists about incest and date rape. Denialists heap blame on psychologists for implanting incest in the minds of women who weren't incess victims. Such a tactic even has a pop psychology-sounding name: "false memory syndrome." Denialists also attack date rape by saying that, because our views on sex have changed so much, "no" doesn't always mean "no." The overall consequence is fear: Victims of incest and rape are scared to go public because of the backlash. For every assertion that something is wrong, it seems, there is almost always a counterassertion that things are, in fact, perfectly OK. perfect or not. But denialism isn't confined to women. Denialism allows us to block out those things that are painful. If we don't distribute condoms in school, we don't have to think about the possibility of teenagers being sexually active. If we blame last year's Los Angeles riots on a few thugs, we don't have to think about any underlying causes for the riots. If we don't ask military recruits their sexual orientation, we don't have to think that homosexuals might actually be in the military. Denialism allows us to take actual cases of unreliable or incomplete memory and apply them to incest in general because incest is such a difficult subject to deal with. Denialism lets us conveniently put the blinders on. the pervasiveness of denialism has two roots. I think. First, we desire simple answers for everything and simultaneously shy away from complex answers. Pinning the Los Angeles riots on thugs means that we can dismiss the issue instead of wondering about other, deeper causes (the continued existence of racism, for example). example. Second, we want to believe in the greatness of the United States at all costs. Citizens of this country don't want to think that in becoming the greatest superpower on earth it enslaved blacks, displaced Native Americans and oppressed women. There are men in white hats and men in black hats — never men in gray hats. Unfortunately, in this increasingly complex world most people wear gray. I'm not saying the United States is a horrible, evil country. But I do think we shy away from the complexities of the issues that affect us. We need to hear the voices that don't have money, and therefore have no power. We need to listen to what they say and not simply attack them because their words may be difficult to hear. In the end, only when we listen do we understand, and only when we understand do we truly become great. Nathan Olson is a Chicago graduate student majoring in English. INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE United Nations and NATO helped in Bosnian division Bosnia's president Aliza Ijtebegovic's acceptance of the plan to divide Bosnia-Herzegovina comes as a result of strong international pressure. matic. The project to divide Bosnia was well engineered with the participation of the United Nations and NATO and was implemented in two phases, one military and one diplowhat has happened in Bosnia is a crime in which several parties were involved through silence, ignorance or maneuvers. With their barbaric nature and military machines, the Serbs implemented the military phase of the plan when they committed all kinds of crimes against the Bosnian villages and cities and the Muslim people there. And the entire international community participated in the implementation of the diplomatic phase when it silently watched the crimes of the Serbs, including occupation of big areas of Bosnian land. NATO played its full role in this respect when it issued its vague warning to the Serbs, thus giving their forces time to achieve more gains at the expense of Bosnia and its people. AL-ITTIHAD, MANAMA ABU DHABI Violence can result from group-frenzy mentality STAFF COLUMNIST Over the summer I went to see "What's Love Got To Do With It," the autobiographical film of Tina Turner's life. It was very cold in the theater, on a Saturday morning. Some kids sneaked in after another movie was over; the girls sat on the left, the boys on the right, behind me. Sociologists were quick to point out that group mentalities fuel gangs and gang violence. In Germany this summer, conservative nationalists harassed and murdered non-Germans. The nationalists fear for their economy, their jobs, their sense of identity and culture, the very things gangs seem to give to, or reinforce for, their members. This, in turn, creates similar fears and reactions in those not in the group. I pondered the movie audience and group/gang mentalities. It is a factor of life, existing in the ancient Greek Dionysian rituals of frenzy, the Nazi and Brownshirt movements, even in the cliques and kinships we live by today. But at what point does the bond begin to become bloodshed, the sense of belonging give in to a sense of fear of those who do not belong* I think about these as, I walk around campus. One night last week, as I was walking, I heard distant voices, a lot of them. I followed the sound, which was coming from under the seats at Memorial Stadium. At my distance they sounded harsh, guttural, menacing. I could not tell for sure, but I thought they were traveling toward me. I told myself that it was probably just a group of my fellow students, excited about being back together at school. That's what I told myself, as I turned and briskly walked away. Patrick Dilley is a Lawrence graduate student majoring in higher education. KANSAN STAFF KC TRAUER Editor JOE HARDER, CHRISTINE LAUE Managing editors TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser Later that week the media were all over a story of four male gang members in Texas who raped and murdered two girls who happened to stumble upon the guys after an initiation rite. The men are accused of standing on the girls' throats, to ensure their silence. These four men seemed to relish the attention; one of them even declared they were famous. During one scene, Ike assaulted Tina, taking off his boot to pummel her. The girls started shouting at the screen for Tinto to fight back. The guys screamed for Ike to "hit that bitch with the boot." It was as if the young men and women were screaming at each other. Editors J. R. Claiborne Assistant to the editor Stacy Frydman News Terriyah McComma Ben Grove Campus Kristi Fugler Sports Kip Chin, Ramesh Kumar Photo Kip Chin, Ramesh Kumar Boris Berkow Era Wolfe Graphics John Feldt Vickie Volde Copy Chiefs I felt awash with conflicting responses. How could these men possibly want someone beaten with a boot? How could anyone, after seeing the terrible behavior Ike directed at Tina, think she should be beaten further? What could make them so cavalier about pain and injury, so hateful and compassionless? And the more the men yelled, the more I wanted to turn around and confront them, to shake them out of their anger, to show them they were advocating base brutality. Ultimately I responded emotionally to their actions: I wanted to strike them, so they would understand just what it was they wanted done to others. But the fight on screen ended, and so did the yelling, if not the emotion. Associate editorial Colleen McCain Associate campus Dan England Associate campus/planning Jess Delnavell Associate sports Todd Seltner Allison Lippert Tracy Ritchie Corey Shoup Reporters Scott Anderson Sara Bennett Mark Button Traint Carl Matt Doyle Anna Beilert Gerry Fey Christopher Fultmans Dennis Maureen Kestah Holdel Brian James David Stewart Shane Schwartz David Stewart Kathleen Stoele Carlos Tolada Copy Editors** Elizabeth Beaty **Cribb Alex Kevin Butter **Lisa Coomillo Jess Delkaven **Dan England Jack Fischer **Kevin Grace Matt Lemmon **Michael Klimanon Will Lewis **Stephen Martino Sarah Nagl **Munsee Nakasu Sarah Schultz **Todell Belfert Photographers Valerie Bontrager Dan Carver Julia Clarke John Gumble Doug Hesse Paul Kelz Mallissa Lacey Tom Lehninger Jill McMahan Susan MSpadden Designers Stacy Friedman John Paul Fogel Will Lewis Dave Campbell James Frederick Micah Laker Dan Schauer Editorial Board Tracy Bedell, David Burgett, Christina Coinish, Carson Eldon, Tom Gretlinger, Mammy Lacy Moore, Nassau M. O'Connor Kirk Reiter Smith, Mike Silverson, Mike Silverman, Mark Slamien, Michelle Smith, Elia Therney, David Wanek Columnaista AnneBailie, Patrick Dilhue, Scott Giaglase, Lance Hambly, Tita Heyka, Val Huber, Tiffany Hurt, Jim Kimmel, Ryan McLean, Nathan Cloe, Chris Ronan AMY CASEY Business manager AMY STUMBO Retail sales manager JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser BILL THOMAS Production Business Staff Campus sales manager Ed Schapel Regional sales manager Jennifer Perrier National sales manager Jennifer Evans Co-op sales manager Blythe Focht Production manager Jennifer Blowey Marketing director Katie Bugueza Creative director Brian Fusco Classified manager Janice Davis Special sections manager Judith Staats Teamsheets manager Jacqueline Pang Graphics assistant Tricia Bumpur Creative assistant (photographer) Andrew Arnone Joseph Ebert John Carlton Justin Garbarg Josh Hahn Justin Kring Retail Account Executives Mindy Blum ... Chris Bulgeen Chris Butler ... Jenni Goerken Laura Guth ... Allison Kaplan Amy Knottel ... Jason Kort Trimartanda Kunto ... Mark Mastro Chris Morrissey ... Frank Muller Paula Ostrowski ... Heather Richelto Jenny Schwab ... Andrew Shriver David Smith ... Stacey Stricklin Matt Spett ... AmyTinsley Keri Kimmal...Beth Pols Shannon Reilly...Troy Tarwater Jeanne Toohey Regional Account Executive Alex Kolb Frederick Jewsomw Larry Kleisman Brian Platt Interns Kelly Caffrey Jennifer Carr Shelley Falevitt Bradley Felburg Jill Hogan Lynn Hul Paulus Prabono