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Tuesday, April 13, 1993
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
McIntosh and Romero best choice for Senate
The students of the University of Kansas have an excellent opportunity to affect their campus with the elections of Student Senate leaders. The choice is clear and without parallel. Students should elect Jason McIntosh student body president and Marisol Romero student body vice president.
Together, they have created a coalition based on experience and feasible issues. Only A.C.T.I.O.N..!!'s issues pass the muster of any true test.
McIntosh and Romero have set out an ambitious, yet feasible, plan to make real change for students. They have presented the idea of a tuition payment plan. This would allow students to pay their tuition in 10 payments throughout the school year. They have proposed the idea of a University-wide debit card which would allow students to make purchases in all University unions, dining facilities, copying centers and bookstores. Both of these plans have been applauded by members of the University administration.
Mcintosn and Romero's platform also addresses the need of student lobbying teams for the Kansas Legislature. They support enrollment by academic hours instead of by class status. No longer will students with fewer hours enroll before students with more.
Yet, the stance which offers the greatest contrast between the coalitions is A.C.T.I.O.N.!!'s position on minority recruitment, retention and multiculturalism. Other coalitions have advocated advancing the Office of Minority Affairs to executive vice chancellor status, an idea that is as unrealistic as it is impossible to achieve.
Instead of feeding mindless rhetoric, A.C.T.I.O.N.!! proposes restructuring the office to more effectively recruit and retain students. A.C.T.I.O.N.!!'s views will move the issue from bickering over positions and status to addressing real problems.
FOCUS has made cooperation its cornerstone issue. However, serious questions must be asked over whether they would be willing to concede the administration too much ground in various student concerns.
UNGANISHA has led the way claiming the student apathy vote. However, the proposal to cut bus service to GSP-Corbin and Daisy Hill lacks any true direction. Furthermore, by cutting bus service UNGANISHA would be inviting decreased safety for students forced to walk home late at night, which is not necessarily in the students' best interests.
The UNITE coalition offers nothing new to Student Senate. They have brought attention to several campus concerns: child care, Saferide and tuition deposit. However, all of these issues already have solutions in the works. For example, Senate last week passed a new childcare fee, so it is not an issue of if but when.
Ed Austin of FOCUS and John Shoemaker and Tim Dawson of UNITE have been on Senate for a year.
Yet, one has to be troubled by Shoemaker's two unexcused absences to University Council and two absences to Legal Services Advisory Board, of which he is chairperson. In three years on Senate, McIntosh never has missed a meeting.
In John Shoemaker's own words, students should look for experience and accomplishment. Students need to look no farther than McIntosh and Romero. McIntosh has three years of Student Senate experience; Romero has one. McIntosh has served on University Council for three years and SenEx for one, including his service as vice-chairperson. Romero has been involved in addressing a number of minority issues on campus and is the only student on the search committee for the director of Affirmative Action.
Rarely are students given such knowledgeable, experienced and dedicated candidates as A.C.T.I.O.N.!!'s presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Students should be proud to cast their vote for Jason McIntosh and Marisol Romero.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
GREG FARMER
General manager, news adviser BILL SKEET. Technology coordinator
STEVE PERRY
STEVE PERRY
Business manager
MELISSA TERLJP
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
News management ... Justin Knupp
News ... Monique Guilaina
David Mitchell ... Stephen Maxwell
Editorial ... KT- trainer
Sports ... David Mitchell
Photo ... Mark Rowlands
Features ... Lynne McAdoo
Graphics ... Dan Schauer
Campus sales mgr.. Brad Bradon
Regional sales mgr.. Wade Baxter
National sales mgr.. Jennifer Perrier
Anthony Messan
Production mgrs .. Aksley Langford
Mark Crewsman
Mark c
Business Staff
**Letters** should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the letter signature, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University
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Endorsements
The University Daily Kansan interviewed all candidates who attended one of four meetings. The endorsements reflect the Kansan's opinion of who would serve Student Senate best. Endorsements were not offered to all available Senate seats.
for Student
The Kansan did not make any endorsements for the journalism senator seats because one of the candidates is a Kansan staff member.
Sean M. Tevis/KANSAN
Mystery Strip
DOUG MCCOID Smokers feel heat as bans make habit a source of evil
They were.
A barrage of answers flew in my face. "That it is a carcinogen equal to radon." "That second-hand smoke is the most deadly thing since Godzilla in Tokyo." "It kills, man it kills"
Passing by Kinko's Copies the other day on my way to check out the newest grocery store in town. I sped three workers huddled out on the cold back steps of the business. I stopped for a chat. "You guys smoking?" I asked.
"No," I said. "I read about a Kansas senator who, when told of the possible ban on smoking, said that it was just inevitable and that he would just go outside and smoke."
"Do you know what I read about smoking today?" I asked lightly.
"We don't have any," she replied.
"That wouldn't be politically correct."
I walked to the register and placed my two items on the counter. There was a friend working nearby and I put the question to him. "Don't you guys have any cigarettes?"
There were some Chinese visitors touring the Kansas Statehouse in January who happened to comment that it was nice of people in the United States to be so lament as to let high-class prostitutes solicit business on the steps of the Capitol. They were speaking of the women in high heels and skirts smoking cigarettes just outside the building. When they were informed that the women were actually representatives of Kansas districts, an embarrassing silence fell and the tour shuffled inside.
As I wandered down to Wild Oats I wondered if the Chinese would approve of pimps hanging out on the Statehouse steps as well. I walked into the store and picked out some garlic and parsley and then set off to find the smokes. I stalked around the store for a quarter of an hour before I asked a worker, "Where are the cigarettes?"
"No," he countered. "We have to be environmentally sound."
I must have grimaced as I was paying, because I heard a mumbled "but I guess we could sell cigarettes though," as I picked up my purchases and left.
If a supermarket chooses to not sell cigarettes, that is its choice. The question is, is this society going to label smokers as evil until packs of smokes can be bought only alongside pornography at the dirty corner mart?
Politically correct? Environmentally sound? Or just trendy and exclusive? An ex-girlfriend of mine referred to smokers/non-smokers as air or atmosphere. Smoking always has been a communal practice. As any other bad habit, it is fun to share with others. Native Americans used to smoke a peace pipe to commemorate friendships, and cigars always have been the traditional gift from a new father.
Yes, it's bad for me. Yes, it's bad for you. So is that burger you ate at today in the Kansas Union. It all comes down to whom you would rather hang out with. Or not. Or whether you're meat inspection, or prostitutes. With smoke in hand, it is an easy choice.
Doug McCoid is a Mt. Pleasant, Iowa,
senior majoring in English.
by David Rosenfield