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Thursday, March 17, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
St. Patrick's Day ruined by parade cancellation
Organizers of the Boston St. Patrick's Day parade wrongly chose to cancel the 90-year-old parade because they would have been forced to allow a group to march.
The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council canceled the tradition because of a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that would have forced the group to allow the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston (GLIB) to march in the event. This decision has ruined the event for everyone and has given GLIB the media attention and exposure that the organizers claimed they did not want to give it.
The organizers, a private group, should have the right to choose participants based on the quality of their presentation and thematic considerations.
A federal judge recently ruled to that effect in a New York parade case, and the veterans group plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The veterans group, however, has affected a nationally recognized and televised parade that should have been organized by the city in the first place.
Boston will take over the parade next year, and GLIB will be allowed to participate, but the action taken by the veterans this year was childish and bigoted. They ruined the event for everyone because there is not enough time for some other group to organize the parade, and now the purpose of their refusal to present the parade has backfired. GLIB has gotten more exposure than it would have if it merely had been allowed to participate.
Anyone should be allowed to participate in the Boston St. Patrick's Day parade. The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council has done a great injustice by canceling such a wonderful tradition.
CHRISTOPHER LIVINGSTON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Anglican Church opens minds as well as doors
When the Anglican Church opened its doors to female priests, it made a statement to the world. That statement is that our society is indeed changing and that male-dominated traditions can be broken.
Women finally are being allowed to take another step in the direction of playing significant roles in all areas of society.
Vatican representative Joaquin Navarro argues that ordaining women is not an issue of equality. But sexbased exclusion from any positions in life undermines the movement toward equality for all people.
The Anglican Church had the insight to see that women have much to give to the community and the congregation. The church was wise enough to recognize the value of equality in society as well as in the clergy.
Tradition is an important aspect of our world, but tradition that interferes with the quality of life is outdated.
There is no fighting the rise of women as long as we continue to educate ourselves. As we learn, we find that many of the stringent traditions of the past have no place in our society. It is time those disciplines that remain closed to women follow the example of the Anglican Church.
The opening of the Anglican priesthood may very well be the beginning of a new era of enlightenment, one in which women will be appreciated by everyone.
Those who chose to leave the Anglican Church because of this issue may regret the day they gave up the opportunity to take part in a movement that may start the reformation of modern religious practices.
DONELLA HEARNE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
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Self-absorbed homophobes have obsession with sharing showers
Well, we're four years into the 1900s, and the radical right continues to valiantly resist the sociopolitical changes for which this decade will no doubt be remembered. I like to keep up with the conservative "Weltanschaung," or world-view, for kicks, and by far the funniest aspect of it has to be the homophobes and their obsession with showers.
It's natural in cases such as these to wonder if these folks don't perhaps spend too much time thinking about
The shower obsession comes into play in matters of men sharing living quarters, whether it be in Army barracks or Templin Hall. The typical argument claims that straight men should not be forced to integrate with gays because they would have to share shower facilities with them, which apparently would be a terrible, terrible thing. This peculiar hang-up figured prominently in the debate about gays in the military that raged about a year ago when staucan conservatives tried desperately to protect soldiers — the same soldiers who are called upon to endure automatic weapons fire in foreign lands — from the trauma of having gay men see their privates.
showers. Normally, people shower once or twice a day and forget about it the rest of the time. But a certain segment of the population apparently is concerned enough about showers to write letters to the editor about them or to testify about them in front of Congress. It's such a strange thing to be obsessed with, such as black cats or the number thirteen.
The irony is that gays and straighties shower together all the time right now, in college, health clubs and the Army, because it's impossible to determine the sexual orientation of the man standing at the next showerhead. I've assiduously avoided physical education classes during my college career, but I took plenty of them in high school, which meant lots of
time naked in the shower room with other guys. It's statistically inevitable that at least some of them were gay. There it is, I, a heterosexual male, showered in close proximity with homosexuals. And guess what — everyone else did, too.
In addition, it's reasonable to deduce that gay men were run through roughly the same high school PE curriculum as the rest of us. As a result, by the time they get to the Army or to college, the novelty of showering with other men will have worn off to the extent that, indeed, they will be able to control themselves in such situations. As a matter of fact, in all my years of keeping up with the news I don't recall ever seeing a story about shower-room rape between two men.
When I hear this argument, the first thing I always want to know is: Do these people really think they're that attractive? Do they really see themselves as the gay community's dream
Ah, but it's not really an issue of rape, or so the story goes. The thing that really bothers the homophobes is the thought of stepping into the shower and having a gay man be turned on.
date? This seems to me to be the pinnacle of self-absorption. One recalls John Doggett at the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, cocky and self-assured in his unfagging belief that Anita Hill *must* have fantasized about him because he was just so naturally irresistible.
When I think about it now, I remember that most of us in my high school gym class didn't sweat the showers. We went in, undressed, showered, dried off, maybe snapped a few towels and dressed, without stealing furtive glances at the genitalia of others. It was simply no big deal. There were a few, though, who always seemed a little frightened by the whole ritual. They were the ones who didn't like to go into the shower room until most of us were finished, and then were in and out quickly, running for their underwear like Linus for his security blanket. For them, it was a big deal. Were these the ones who grew up to make such a big deal about showering with gay men? It's a shame that there are still people who are that uncomfortable about their bodies.
Paul Henry is a Teacoma, Wash., graduate student in Journalism.
Problem of TV nudity: on too late
As a parent as well as a human being, I am deeply concerned about all this violence and sex and nudity on television. Especially the nudity. Why can't they put it on earlier? A lot of us parents are asleep by 9:30 p.m. Why can't they show nudity when WE'RE watching? They could feature it in programs that children never watch, such as network news. (Good evening, I'm Dan Rather." And I'm Connie Chung." "And I'm Bambi.)
COLUMNIST
No, seriously, I am deeply concerned about TV sex and violence, and so is the U.S. Senate. Leading the way by courageously holding press conferences is Sen. Paul Simon, who has a special stake in this issue because he receives TV signals directly via his ears, which are like satellite dishes, but bigger. (And before I get an angry letter, let me state that I, personally, find this attractive.)
As a result of this concern on the part of Simon and myself, I decided to attend this year's National Association of Television Program Executives, or NATPE, convention in Miami Beach. This is a large annual gathering of TV executives, who are woed intensively by people trying to sell TV programs. The convention is held in a huge hall filled with flashy display booths featuring lavis buffets, costumed characters, models wearing outfits that would look skimpy even on much smaller models and Personal Appearances by famous stars such as — while I was there — Wink Martindale, Ivana Trump, Captain Planet, Burt Reynolds and Mr. Food.
The purpose of the glitz is to lure TV executives into the booths. They are then taken into elaborately furnished back-room deal-making areas, where they talk business while sipping complimentary beverages containing a chemical that temporarily renders them so stupid that they will willingly purchase programs such as "The Best of Love Connection," which consists of rurrens of astoundingly shallow people recounting their dates with other astoundingly shallow people.
I'm kidding about the stupidity, of course. The TV programming executives are SMART to purchase this type of show. They are making truckloads of money because we watch these shows. WE'RE the idiots. Not that you'll hear THAT from Simon. He's not about to say: "If you don't like what's on, TURN OFF THE TV, YOU MORONS, and let the Senate deal with REAL issues, such as whether federal health care should cover ear reductions."
No, he's not going to tell us that, and we're not going to stop watching these shows, which is why the TV
executives are not going to stop buying them. The NATPE convention was full of purposeful, suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying people frowning and talking about shows such as "Biker Mice From Mars." This is an actual show. I hung around in the "Biker Mice" booth and eaves-dropped as two intense TV executives discussed it while standing right next to two people costumed as enormous mice wearing Hells-Angels-style outfits.
transparent plastic that you put on your TV screen. Then, under the direction of your host, Jack Barry, you used special crayons to draw lines on the plastic. (Or, if you were my sister and I, and you didn't have a Magic Window, you drew right on the TV screen and interacted with your parents later.)
"Biker Mice From Mars" is, needless to say, a children's show. Here are some of the other ones listed in the NATEP program directory (I am not making these up): "Clowns of Justice," "Chicken Minute," "The Yum Yums," "The Moo Family," "Goomer's," "Noozles," "Smoggies," "Bumpety Boo," "Scuddlemutt," "Dinky Dog," "Wowser," "Mirthworms on Stage," "Basil Hears a Noise," "The Great Bong," "The Miraculous Mellops," "P.J. Funny-bunny" and "Let's Make War."
The highlight of the convention for me was when Mike Donovan, a college professor who also works for NATP (at least until this column appears), showed me a tape of one of the greatest TV shows of all time: "Winky Dink." This was the first 'interactive' TV show. You, the viewer, sent 50 cents to Box 5, New York 19, New York, and you got back a Magic Window, which was a piece of
Also you need to know that there is a nature show called "Wombats: Bulldozers of the Bush."
As part of a nostalgia display, NATPE had a TV set up on the convention floor, playing old Winky Dink shows. Mike put a piece of plastic on the screen and gave me a marker. I drew the lines where Jack Barry told me to, producing a vaguely round object.
"OK, kids," said Jack Barry. "Let's say the magic word! One, two, three."
After the lines were drawn, you and Jack Barry said the Magic Word "WINKO!" and the lines became part of, say, a bridge, which Winky Dink would use to get across a river.
"WINKO!" yelled Mike and I, causing startled TV executives to whirl around and stare at us. Inside the circle I had drawn, goldfish appeared. It was a fish bowl! You don't get quality entertainment like that anymore. Which is probably just as well, because — Sen. Simon, take note — the fish were naked.
("What always bothered me, was that even if you didn't draw the lines, Winky Dink still got across the river," Mike said.)
Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald.
Writer should consider both sides of the case
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Amanda Traughner in her editorial, "Foreigners in Singapore are subject to its laws," conveniently omits that Michael Fay claims his confession was coerced. Unfortunately, through this omission, Traughner paints a black-and-white picture of
Fay's guilt and hastily accepts that he's should be violently punished.
How truthful is a confession that was obtained by torture or sleep and food deprivation? One needs to look no further than Brown vs. Mississippi or the Guildford Four trials to see that some "confessions" are not worth the paper on which they are written. Although I don't believe in clementry for foreign criminals who
Before Traugher states, "Fay's actions were clearly wrong," maybe she should weigh all the facts of the case. If Fay is telling the truth and
are found guilty after a fair trial. I don't see justice in convicting an 18-year-old who may be innocent. Rather than looking at the facts, Traughther blindly accepts the word of the Singapore police, who are notorious for human rights abuse.
his confession was coerced, how well will Traugher sleep at night? How does Traughber know that Fay's confession was not coerced? The bottom line is that Traughber's black-and-white depiction of Fay's guilt is a hasty judgment that does not take the time to look at both sides of the story.
Michael R. Gould Topeka senior