4
Friday, April 29, 1994
OPINION
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
河
VIEWPOINT
English should not be official language of U.S.
Si usted puede leer lo siguiente, tiene suerte.
In this part of the country it still makes little difference whether you can read the last sentence. However, it makes a world of difference if you cannot read the rest of this editorial.
Congressman John Doolittle, R-Calif., recently proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would make English the official language of the United States. This would mean that the government would never be under any obligation to publish government documents, street signs etc., in any language other than English. This might seem like a reasonable idea. But establishing English as the United States' official language contradicts the basic idea of a democracy.
Lincoln's words from the Gettysburg Address best sum up the spirit of democracy: a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Our government should remain accessible to everyone. To limit the people's access to it is a breach of our fundamental ideas as a nation. If English is established as the official language of the United States, then access would forever be limited to those who speak English.
In 1994, this is not such a harmful idea because most of the population in the United States speaks English. However, the number of people in our nation who do not speak English is steadily increasing. Those in the majority may be minorities in the next century.
There was a time when our nation was not accessible to some people because of their gender or the color of their skin. Are we coming to the day when the language someone speaks grants them their rights?
In order to uphold the basic democratic ideas of the United States, English should not be declared the official language of the United States. Government should remain accessible to everyone.
DAVID ZIMMERMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Confederate flag flies inappropriately in South
South Carolina should stop flying the Confederate flag above its state capitol in Columbia out of respect for its African-American citizens.
To many, the Confederate flag represents the supremacy of states' rights over the national government, yet to many others the flag represents slavery and racial hatred.
Proponents assert that the flag stands for a fight over political power on the part of the Southern states. But to many others, the flag represents a defeated nation that did not recognize African Americans as human beings of equal value to white citizens.
The Ku Klux Klan displays the Confederate flag at its rallies because the flag is recognized by so many as a symbol of racial hatred and not because it represents a gentleman's argument over the power of states to nullify national laws.
For this reason, it is inappropriate for a state government to fly a flag that symbolizes racial inequality. The South Carolina legislature should look for a symbol that serves as a point of unity for all South Carolinians.
This is not, however, to say that individual citizens do not have the right to express their freedom of speech and display the Confederate flag on their cars or on their property. Americans, as individuals, have the right to express their opinions, no matter how unpopular or controversial.
It is another issue, though, when the government displays such a lack of sensitivity toward the suffering endured by so many under the Confederate government.
HEATHER KIRKWOOD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
BEN GROVE. Editor
LISACOSMILLO, Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
JUSTIN GARBERG Business manager
BILL SKEET, Systems coordinator
JENNIFER BLOWEY Retail sales manager
Editors
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Editors
Asset Managing Editor...Dan England
Assistant to the editor, ..J.R. Clairborne
News...Kristi Fogler, Katie Greenwald
Todd Seffert
Editorial...Colin Hennard
Nathan Oison
Campus...Jess DeHaven
Sports...Daryse Dorsey
Photo...Doug Hesse
Features...Sara Bennett
Wire...Allison Lipper
Freelance...Christine Laue
Business Staff
Campus sales mgr...Jason Eberly
Regional sales mgr...Troy Tawerster
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Gretchen Koozerleimlich
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Creative director...John Carlton
Classified mgr...Kelly Connelys
Teahews mgr...Wing Chan
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Columnist learns about self, doesn't mention the Bobbitts
Looks like this is it. I hope you've enjoyed reading these things as much as I've enjoyed writing them. It's been a fun semester, but all good things must come to an end.
As I look back on the last four months, I think I'm entitled to feel proud of what I've done. I haven't once mentioned the Bobbitts, for example. I'm sure that most of the people who bothered to read my column know at least as much about the issues as I do, but I hope that on occasion I presented my case in new ways that caused some people to think, if not to agree.
But there were also areas in which I fell short of my goal. I was unsuccessful in getting Senator Dole to resign, and for that, I apologize. Most importantly, though, when one is forced to think in terms of column inches, one finds oneself having to compromise with the mother tongue, and it becomes possible to lose meaning in the self-editing process. No one is immune to mistakes, and there have been times when I have regretted word choice or sentence structure that clouded my meaning and made my arguments less valid. But the process of creative self-refinement lasts a lifetime, and so does the pursuit of
perfection. I value the experience I've gained by writing this column.
Here I am at the end of the semester, and there are still lots of issues upon which I haven't yet sounded off. I therefore present several minicolumns, as it were, to dispose of the loose scraps still floating around in my cerebral cortex.
Death penalty: against. Joan Finney lost whatever respect I might have felt for her when she chickened out on her principles.
- Whitewater: Not important enough for me to waste an opinion on.
- Consensual relationships policy: Actually, I think it's a good idea.
■ The information superhighway: I love the Internet. It's a boon to low-energy, indolent types such as myself.
E-mail has allowed me to keep up with old friends and relatives on a daily basis and get to know them better than ever before. Never before has it been possible to discard the miles that separate us so easily, and for that reason the Internet is a truly self-enriching medium that I hope to never be without. I just hope big business isn't allowed to put up toll booths on the superhighway, if I may be allowed to run an already overused metaphor into the ground.
■ Everyone is always really impressed when I tell them I'm from Seattle. Their eyes shine when I describe how I used to hang out with my friends on the Ave and how Nirrana used to play at our dorms. I even read in Newsweek that my undergraduate alma mater, the Evergreen State College in Olympia, has become an internationally famous grunge Mecca. Folks, Seattle is really not that great, trust me. It's just a city.
I read the story on Pop-Tart Boy in the *Kansan* several weeks ago in horror. I've seen the posters around campus, and anyone who knows anything at all about toaster pastries will immediately recognize that the boy in the picture is not holding a Kellogg's Pop-
Tart at all, but is in fact eating a Toastette! This has been completely silenced in the mainstream campus media, who I suspect are stooges for some shadowy breakfast-food concern with ties to the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and the Council on Foreign Relations. It is appalling that after all this time I am the only one working to correct this disinformation. Wake up, KU! There are people who do not want you to know these things!
During the semester I received two hate letters and one fan letter. Maybe this means I am eternally damned; I don't know. In any event; I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the letter writers for the time they took to express their opinions about my opinions. If anyone else wishes to send feedback, my e-mail address is [phenry@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu].
Let's see, what else? Oh yeah. I thought it might be nice to mention my parents at least once in my column. Hi, Mom & Dad. Thanks for everything.
Paul Henry is a Tacome, Wash., graduate student in Journalism.
A simple 'goodbye' goes a long way
Our usual way to say "so long" just won't do it.
I've agonized long and hard about what to say before my friends and I go our separate ways.
I have a long speech in my head that would tell them how much they have meant to me during my four years as a Jayhawk. But I know that when the time comes, the tears will wash the words away.
Who wants to hear a 20 minute solloout about friendship, anyway?
"Nice to meet you" sounds as if I were sending people off at a cocktail party with all my parents' friends.
I suppose I could just say "see ya" and forget about it. But as I drove away from them, my car loaded down with college junK, my true feelings about them would eat at me. At the very least, I'll need some way to express my feelings now so they don't turn to guilt and regret later on.
"It's been great knowing you" doesn't quite work either. It's sincere, but it only scratches the surface. I remember saying that phrase over and over when it was time to say "so long" to my bunkmates at summer camp.
"Farewell" is too dramatic, "take 'er
Goodbye could mean a lot of things. It can mean "maybe we'll meet again."
Many of my friends will be entering a new phase of their lives. Some of them already have. I don't hear from them much. They graduated last semester, and they still haven't reached a point in their lives where they feel completely comfortable and relaxed. There are apartments to move into, new bosses to impress and new places to explore.
easy" is too hokey, and "have a good life" is waw tootle.
I think that the best thing for me to say is "goodbye."
The same thing may happen to me
And, of course, new friends to hang out with.
and my friends. We may have less and less time to call each other. Pretty soon we could become a burden to each other, a link to a past that would only bring pain and a longing for home.
Then again, goodbye could mean "I know that we'll see each other again." I don't want to get my hopes up. It's easier to assume that we will get caught up in our lives and bury the good times in the back of our brains. But some friendships do remain intact. My dad has kept up with one of his college buddies. They have watched their families grow up together and become close friends.
The way to stay close is to keep in touch. And I'll try, even if I have to mark my daily planner to remember to call. But my effort will quickly fade if it's not reciprocated.
Goodbye can be scary. It could mean "I'll miss you, but the time has come to go our separate ways. In the nights that I spend alone, I'll remember the good times we had together. I wish there was some way we could all stay together forever. But the jobs are spread throughout the country, and I've got to do what's best for my future.
"Maybe somebody we'll meet again.
But until that time comes, goodbye."
It's ironic. "What's best for us"
always seems to rip apart friends.
It happened to me in high school. And,
most likely, it will happen to me again.
No one wants to say goodbye. There's a certain reluctance attached to it. Saying it usually means you have accepted that you never again may see some of your best friends. Saying it means you are ready to face the unforgiving world alone.
I always have heard "this isn't goodbye," as if the phrase is some evil sentence that wrecks the emotional bonds that have held the wonderful friendships together.
But when the time comes for me to say so long, I know that I'll say a phrase that won't destroy what I feel toward my friends. I know that the phrase will prepare me for what I hope will be just a temporary parting. You can sit with them in my bed but
I'll say it with tears in my eyes but with a light heart.
Goodbye.
Dan England is a Lenexa senior in Journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Arlizza Trading Co. buys without discrimination
This letter is regarding the somewhat misleading article written by Jenny Brannan in the April 6 issue of the Kansan's *K-nou* section.
Ms. Braman asserts in the article that she explored the "recycled clothes market" in Lawrence, which must consist solely of Arizona Trading Co., since our store appears to be the only one researched. It is true that Arizona Trading Co. is the only store in Lawrence where customers can buy, sell and trade clothing, so I can only assume that the remarks made in the article pertain to our
store exclusivelv.
Among other unsavory remarks, Ms. Brannan quoted an Arizona Trading Co. customer as saying, "There is a reverse snobbery at those places... if you dress funky, they'll buy more of your clothes than if you come in looking prepy." As co-owner of Arizona Trading Co., I can appreciate the fact that Ms. Brannan wished to emphasize the service that we do—I've always attributed part of the popularity of our store to our policy of paying cash outright for quality used clothing. Since we opened in Lawrence in 1991, I'm sure we have funded many a night out on the town.
Mostly,however,Ibelieve our success derives from the fact that we are extremely selective in what we buy. Our buyers are trained ad nauseum to be objective and show good judgment in what is taken into the store. What we buy has never been a reflection of the person selling the clothing or the buyer's personal taste. I have always emphasized the importance of this, possibly to the extreme, to which any Arizona Trading Co. buoy can woefully attest.
Discrimination is a fairly serious accusation, and I feel Ms. Brannan did Arizona Trading Co. a disservice by not allowing us to respond to the quote she included in the article. I am now giving myself free rein to do
so. Here I go. If anything, we try to buy more conservative clothing than slightly funkier items. Basic, casual clothing has always been the staple of our business, and the fact that all sorts of people shop in our stores, from junior high folk to professionals to Grandma, is evidence that we do not cater to any one sort of clientele. If we bought clothing judging only by what the person selling it looked like, we would go quickly and deservedly out of business, and I would find myself a KU student once again.
Jennifer McKnight Co-owner/Manager Arizona Trading Co.