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Friday, April 15, 1994
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Bringing baby to class is a distraction for all
Babies are cute. Babies are cuddly. But babies don't belong at school.
Graduate Teaching Assistant Mary Rose-Shaffer's commitment to motherhood is laudable, as is the commitment of other teachers and students who bring their babies to class. But classrooms are for lectures, not lullabies.
Working mothers are prevalent in the workplace. In 1992, 56.7 percent of mothers of children younger than 1 were on the job. But with well-chosen day care, most of those women managed to do their jobs without sacrificing their children's well-being and without bringing them to work.
The decision to use day care usually is based on necessity. Few women or men have jobs that allow them to bring their children along. No matter how quiet or well-behaved they are, children are children. Their presence in the office or the classroom is a distraction for the parent and everyone else.
Parents should have the freedom to bring their kids to class when other arrangements don't work out. But instances such as these should be the exception, not the rule. College classrooms are for the adults who pay to be there, and the flexibility of the University's policy should not be used to turn them into one giant day care center.
During classes, students should come first. Honoring that commitment does not mean that she can't be a good mother, but it does mean leaving the diaper bag and her baby at home.
SAMANTHA ADAMS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Fertility treatments not worthy of Medicaid
Federal matching Medicaid funds should not be used for fertility treatments, as is done in 11 states.
Millions of Americans go without adequate health care in our country, yet Medicaid recipients in Hawaii Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania receive various fertility treatments. The treatments include artificial insemination, fertility drugs and vasectomy reversals, depending on the state.
In the age of fiscal belt tightening, taxpayers must make difficult decisions about which medical treatments should be financed. Taxpayers should support the financing of treatments that improve the quality of life for those already living instead of those yet to be conceived.
Such treatments are not covered by many private insurers. Medicaid recipients in the 11 states are receiving coverage for treatments many other Americans who have private insurance do not enjoy.
Not only can the treatments be costly, but the babies who result present society with lifelong responsibilities. Often, babies conceived through the use of fertility drugs are multiple births or have low birth weights. This often results in costly medical problems for which Medicaid will have to pay. When the babies leave the hospital, their parents may be in need of more welfare payments, food stamps or other benefits.
Those couples for whom Medicaid is a temporary circumstance can wait to have children until they once again are able to take on the financial responsibilities of parenting. Those couples for whom Medicaid is a way of life should not expect society to pick up the tab for care that is neither preventative nor life-preserving.
HEATHER KIRKWOOD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
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BEN GROVE, Editor
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TOMEBLEN
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KURT COBAIN
If a 'Gen X' exists, Cobain no symbol
Kurt Cobain's suicide came up at a party I was at recently. A friend of mine remarked on the number of times he had seen the news media characterize Cobain and Nirvana as representatives of "Generation X" "Spokesman for Generation X" Cobain's not my spokesman, "norticed my twenty something friend.
Who started this Generation X business, anyway? I have seen more solemn pronouncements by learned commentators who think they've figured out my entire generation; yet I rarely recognize myself or anyone I know in their findings. Moreover, it seems like most of the people who are talking about, searching out and marketing to this Generation X are themselves over 30. And I think this is the heart of the matter.
It was the so-called "baby boomers" who perfected the idea of a common generational identity. These are the kids who came of age in the hallowed 1960s, when you couldn't trust the "establishment," and everyone under 30 was supposedly part of the "movement" to build a perfect world and end evil as we know it.
I've always doubted that the so-called generation gap really explained much about the 1960s. There seems to have been a lot of people over 30 doing the "peace,love,happiness" schtick back then; and there were also a lot of young people running around college campuses who saluted flags rather than burned them.
The "movement" doesn't seem so unambiguously admirable, anyway. In glorifying the heightened social consciousness of those young revolutionaries, we tend to overlook the fact that many were guilty of senseless violence, arrogant posturing and a sophomoric sense of morality. There wasn't anything terribly heroic about spitting upon and abusing Vietnam veterans when they returned home, and trashing the Pentagon probably wasn't such a great idea either.
COLUMNIST
The idea of a generation gap was invented by these protesters who liked to think that everyone their age agreed with what they were doing.
And I think it has since been kept alive by many of the people who grew up in that time who would like to think they had everything figured out. It excuses an entire generation from the mess that was Vietnam. It wasn't our war, they say. We knew it was wrong. We didn't lose it; we protested it.
Naturally enough, the boomers who believe in the validity of a generation gap for the 1960s are happy to encourage this search for the soul of Generation X. Most feel it is a dark and corrupted soul with no redeeming values or moral compass that will unwittingly reinforce the stereotype of the 1960s as a golden, magical time. Nirvana's songs of death, despair and ruin are Exhibit A, and some already are pointing to Cobain's suicide as evidence of how screwed up Generation X really is.
The truth is, however, that neither Cobain nor Nirvana symbolize much of anything. Cobain was an immensely talented young man who committed suicide because of trémendous personal problems, not because he reflected some grand generational angst. Personally, I don't feel especially anxious or depressed. And my moral compass feels pretty intact, because — not in spite — of the fact that I haven't burned any American flags.
That is the real irony of the Generation Xthing. Twentysomethings who profess bitter hatred for "boomers" are, in searching for their generational identity, merely aping a way of thinking that boomers themselves largely invented.
Brian Dirk is a Conway, Ark., graduate student in history.
Mass media misses Cobain's message
Friday night, ABC News reported the death of a "frustrated rock star." This "star" had lyrics filled with "despair and violent images." Near the end of the broadcast, a reporter, somewhere in his late 30s or early 40s, stated that "probably no one over the age of 30 has probably ever heard of Kurt Cobain. A near perfect presentation of inept network news.
Anyone who picks up a copy of almost any magazine, whether it's "People" or "Rolling Stone," has heard of Cobain. He was plastered up like the poster child of grunge. Cobain, however, was not exactly media game.
There was something, though, about the suicide of Cobain that seemed unjustified: the electrician calling the radio station then the police; the instant, almost cued-up, 6-hour-or-so MTV 'tribute,' followed by Lip Service from San Diego or some other crap; the media rush of Courtney Love and her band, Hole, preceding his death; the suicide note, for which "A Current Affair" is probably dishing out $2 million as we speak.
Cobain's death should not be trivialized. His contributions to the music world have yet to be determined—though already they are felt far and wide. I am not going to judge Cobain or tell you the reasons behind his death. This was not, however, some "frustrated rock star." It was simply a frustrated person, a frustrated person probably in terrible physical pain. Regardless of what you think of his music, he was a human being. He spoke about the things we toss and turn thinking about: love and life gone wrong, exultation, depression and pain.
As far as this "despair and violent images" babble goes, his music was what a lot of frustrated people felt. The video clips on the network news predictably showed him flailing on stage. They reported on the controversy surrounding his band Nirvana and the hub of commercial suburbia, Wal-Mart. But they failed to report he had a daughter and a wife, whom he loved very much. They failed to report on his stomach illness, which
GUEST COLUMNIST
Mainstream America, with its monotonous, bland, Michael Bolton world, should be frightened by Cobain's death. Here was an artist who grew up in the rapidly disintegrating society in which we live. Like many people now, he grew up nuclear — homeless, jobless, essentially answerless — yet he was asking the questions. He was screaming the questions.
was so chronic and painful that he thought about suicide many times before. Most importantly, they failed to turn the camera to the audience. They forgot that "In Utero" was bought by millions of people. :)
Maybe ABC and other media corporations will prick up their ears to our generation. Here, I don't mean GenX. I'm younger than that, and so were many fans of Nirvana. Our generation — the regeneration, as like to refer to it — is completely fed up with the system, the normal. We, I think, realize that there is no normal. We are all individuals.
I think that this story has not received enough attention. Not just Cobain's suicide, but the general disdain with the current systems. Nowhere is this more apparent than the music industry. "Alternative" music is no longer a tributary; it is a flood. Cobain was another musician, crunching dams into pieces.
One final note. Keep in mind that he committed suicide. He didn't die on the toilet like Elvis. He didn't go in a ball of flame "the day the music died." He didn't overdose. He wasn't drunk. He didn't die thinking he could fly. He died knowing that he couldn't.
David Day is a Wichita sophomore in our
nallam.
Reader wants more from editorial page columnist
Today I opened the Kansan, anxiously awaiting an interesting commentary by an editorial writer. I was dismayed, however, to find another sappy, pointless article by Dan England. In my opinion, the editorial pages should be used to explore issues, not to explore England's high school years of "shattered confidence" that had to be "picked back together."
I was patient when I first read an article by England addressing the fact that he had never — in his life, supposedly — told his parents that he loved them. England preached that students should recognize parental support and show appreciation. Coming from a normal family, I realized this long ago. No, I don't kiss my parents before going to bed each night, but I — as well as most
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
healthy, normal students — can at least choke out an "I love you" on holidays.
After spring break, I came back to the University only to find an article about how England found "religion" on a Colorado mountainside — probably on a ski lift. Though I'm sure this was a profound experience, I would guess that most KU students could better relate to getting drunk and sunburnt. If this experience of England's was so religious, he should have kept it to himself. Maybe England should reconsider his journalism career and consider majoring in theology.
Next, I was thrilled to read an article by England written from the point of view of a dog. Cute? Yes. Good journalism? Probably not. Though learning about Ouyouze's literary preferences may stimulate England intellectually, I doubt that it should have been a KU editorial
topic.
Finally, today I was amazed to find a reflection on England's unhappy adolescence. I'm sure that many students lived through aimless teen years. I, too, was affected by my high school teachers. However, it is through being out in the world during the college years, and beyond, that a student learns the most valuable life skills. I also would imagine that practical experience and on-the-job training is what will or will not make England a successful journalist. It is rare that an employer would look at a resume and hire based on the fact that a student had professor Joe Schmoe for Reporting 101. Professors are valuable, yes, but they are not a determining factor in whether a student is successful in a career.
I'm sure there are plenty of KU Journalism School students who have good editorial ideas. Find
them, Mr. England, and get help now. Read the Kansas City Star on USA Today — there are many people who make a column worth reading and not simply a puff piece that is a reflection of life as England knows it.
Give Alisha Arora or Dave Barry more space in the paper, or give Matt Hood more room for political cartoons. Most importantly, find a columnist who has something worthwhile to say. Students read editorials to provoke interest in issues or to have a good laugh about everyday occurrences that show humor in human nature. If I feel the need to examine the life of a dog, I have one at home that I'll follow around. And if I want to be preached to, believe me, I will not turn to Day England for guidance and inspiration.
Leslie Selmon
Leslie Selmor
Overland Park sophomore