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Monday, February 28, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Race-based scholarships improve ethnic diversity
The Department of Education announced last week that it would support schools in granting scholarships to applicants only because they are racial minorities. The decision is the right one.
The Bush administration tried to ban this kind of scholarship, alleging that merit should be the only standard. But colleges and universities have good reasons to choose race in some cases.
All students benefit from ethnically diversified campuses in at least two ways. First, in what is sometimes a difficult lesson, diversity teaches people tolerance, and graduates lacking this virtue are unlikely to become open-minded professionals. Besides, before being graduates, students have to learn how to be human beings, and tolerance is part of that.
Second, graduates fit more easily into any job when they have been prepared to live, work and cooperate with people different from themselves. The current trend in several job markets, perhaps in the majority of them, is to seek ethnic diversity.
Minorities should have more opportunities to demonstrate their talents in school. They have been condemned to an ignorance-and-poverty cycle that deprives them of good jobs because they do not hold college degrees, which they could not afford because their parents did not find good jobs.
The long exclusion of minorities from campuses, based on both financial reasons and simple prejudice, has to be remedied. The department's support for race-based scholarships attempts to break this circle of inequity just as Affirmative Action does. The scholarships are a counterbalance to an unjust social system, and as such, they should be welcomed.
GERALDO SAMOR FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Town's fight is futile; law is unconstitutional
The affluent, unyielding city of Ladue, a suburb of St. Louis, Mo., is wasting the Supreme Court's time by trying to protect a law that violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.
Margaret Gilleo already has won a decision by a federal court supporting her right to display a sign in her bedroom window expressing her views on the Persian Gulf War. But Ladue has continued its ludicrous push to the Supreme Court. The city is wasting time and money because of a sign that stated simply "For Peace in the Gulf."
What possessed Ladue to make a law limiting the kinds of signs that can be displayed on private property? Did the city council ever stop to think that it may be infringing upon the rights guaranteed to everyone in the First Amendment? Did it care?
Apparently the city did not care.
Ladue contends that the law is not restricting the content of speech but the medium in which it is presented. Ladue's desire, according to its lawyer, is to protect the city's "unique aesthetic character." If that is truly the case, the law should not allow real estate or no-trespassing signs either.
The Supreme Court has ruled in countless cases that free speech only can be restricted under circumstances presenting a clear and present danger to the security of the nation and its people. This time should not be any different.
Ladue should not have carried on this illogical battle to control the expression of its residents under the pretense of keeping the suburb beautiful. There is nothing beautiful about a city that makes laws violating the most precious of rights: the freedom of speech.
Permitting all speech on campus necessary for university freedom
DONELLA HEARNE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Brian Dirck, in a column in the Feb. 17 Kansan, argued that the Nation of Islam representative Khalid Abdul Mohammad did not have "a right to express his reprehensible views on American college campuses because Mohammad and others of his ilk demean the goals of reason and intellectual discourse to which our universities are dedicated." Dirck went on to assert that "speech restrictions [on campuses] are unavoidable. [The university] is not a landfill for unsubstantiated verbal garbage."
Dirck fails to recognize our schools for what they are. "Public" school is a euphemism for "state-owned" school. Dirck correctly notes that all state-owned universities have speech codes. Individual expression is inconsistent with the smooth operation of a large organization.
John Dewey, the educational theorist who arguably has had the greatest influence on our modern education system, put it thus: "The children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society that is coming, where everyone [will be] interdependent." This is
remarkably consistent with John Stuart Mill's fear, expressed in "On Liberty," that "A general State education is a mere contrivance for molding people to be exactly like one another." And since the university is owned by the powers that be and the powers that control the government's education monopoly, curtailing free speech is a relatively easy thing to do.
Despite Dirck's assertion that "The issue is not sensitivity, but intellectual legitimacy," his argument is not intellectually sound. Though Dirck says we should not argue "about whether or not it is possible to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate discourse," I insist that we
should. Any time someone asserts that the correctness of his argument is so manifestly obvious that it need not be questioned, I suggest rigorous scrutiny is eminently and immediately appropriate.
The first flaw in Dirck's argument is that no person can make the distinction Dirck thinks obvious (remember when it was not "legitimate discourse" to say the sun did not orbit the earth?). Second, the best thing we can do to defeat the ugliness expressed by people such as Khalid Abdul Mohammad is to allow them to be heard. The majority of us can decide for ourselves what we want to hear and what to avoid. We can certainly do it better than any university speech code.
I am not suggesting that anything goes. I only advocate forms of expression that do not entail the use of force or the destruction of property.
I suggest we worry more about teaching critical thinking than what rabble-rousers such as Mohammad say. Hitler's infamous achievements did not come about because he was allowed to present his doctrine of using force. What precipitated Germany's aggressive World War II doctrine was the collapse of its education system prior to Hitler's emergence. Individualism and critical thinking were replaced with collectivism that destroyed Germany's ability to critically consider Hitler's program and understand where his policies would lead. Restrictions on speech in our nation may give rise to a collectivism and anti-individualism similar to what swept Germany.
If our universities are really about higher education, they could tolerate freedom of speech. If state schools feel they need to control the expressions on campuses, then Mill was right. State-owned organization's such as this University are more interested in instilling conformity than inspiring critical thinking and rigorous inquiry. Dirck's argument, the often-used claim that ugly comments are not legitimate discourse, give the opponents of free speech a reasonable-sounding cover to hide behind.
Allen Tiffany is a Lawrence graduate student in English.
IF RUSSIA WANTED TO BUY INTELLIGENCE...
WAS THIS REALLY THE PLACE TO SHOP?
News like this doesn't need tabloids
1994 has been quite an eventful year already, and with everything that's happened so far it may be hard to keep up. So I've put together some of the major happenings of the past month, complete with the "inside scoop" that you get from such respected programs as "A Current Affair."
In the widely publicized Lorena Bobbitt trial, the Ecuadoran-born manicurist emotionally states, for the record, that she "has no idea what the heck those little white spots on people's fingernails are."
To benefit two worthy charities, '70s geek figures Donny Osmond and Danny Bonnaducci agree to enter a boxing ring and exchange obscenities for two hours without even swinging within six feet of each other. Bonnaducci wins a split decision, after which Osmond claims he "was robbed." The follow-up card, pitting Greg Brady against Ernie from "My Three Sons," is only moderately successful.
In response to the senseless Long
Island Rail Road Massacre, Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders calls for "safer guns and safer bullets." Weeks later, Elder's plan shows visible results as a Chinese student from the "Committee for Pulling Dramatic Stunts to Get on TV" attacks Britain's Prince Charles with a handgun produced by Nerf Toys, Inc.
In 1988, Michael Jackson turned down a merchandising promotion peddled to him by a practicing dentist. Strangely, charges surface this year that the dentist's son was molested by Jackson at his personal estate, although the man can produce no evidence. A class-action lawsuit is filed against Jackson who, claiming his innocence, settles out of court for a sum of $11 million. At a press conference later, reporters express their consternation over Jackson's ability to perform such intricate turns, twists and gyrations on stage while apparently lacking a backbone.
To "get a jump" on freshmen planning to enter KU next year, the math department prints up several grade cards with failing grades for Math 002 and mails them to area high school seniors. (Just kidding, I think.)
ly influenced by "Jurassic Park," sign longtime veterans Dave "Hendu" Henderson, Steve "Bye-Bye" Balboni and Gary "God, I Need a Cool Nickname" Gaetti to one-year contracts. General Manager Herk Robinson refuses to comment on speculation that all three signees are collecting Social Security.
In a stroke of advertising genius that only could be described as *cost-*
ing $900,000 each half-minute," Lays Chips employs former Vice President Dan Quayle for a Super Bowl spot. Quayle's brilliant performance entails pulling "a potatoe chipe" out of the bag and eating it, which is arguably more than he accomplished in his four years at the helm of the Senate.
Finally, in a strange twist on the traditional Groundhog day festivities, Pennsylvania's "Punxsutawney Phil" rises from his snug bed, rubs his weary eyes, pokes out of his cozy little hole and is immediately beaten up by Tonya Harding's bodyguards.
I think it can be ascertained from these stories alone that 1994 will be quite a year for Unique News Developments. By "unique" I mean stories that, if you hear one more word about you, are going to hurl several blunt objects at the television set. Aim for Geraldo's nose.
Scott Agin is a Topeka sophomore in jour nallam.
KANSAN STAFF
The Kansas City Royals, apparent-
BEN GROVE, Editor
LISA COSMILLO, Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
BILL SKETT Systems coordinator
BILL SKEET, Systems coordinator
JUSTIN GARBERG Business manager
JENNIFER BLOWEY Retail sales manager
Editors
Asst Managing Editor...Dan England
Assistant to the editor...J.R. Clairborne
News...Kristi Fogler, Katie Greenwald
Todd Sellert
Editorial...Colleen McCain
Nathan Glon
Campus Neal Dollom
Sports...David Dorsey
Photo...Douse Hesse
Features...Sara Bennett
Wire...Allison Lipper
Freelance...Christina Laue
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin are required.
business staff
Campus sales mgr ... Jason Eberly
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Special Sessions mgr ... Shelley Kotter
Production mgr ... Luke Guth
Gretchen Koerthleinbrig
Marketing director ... Shannon Kelly
Creative director ... John Canton
Classified mgr ... Kelly Connelys
Tearehats mgr ... Wing Chan
Guest columns should be typed, double-space and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall.
Government should work to approve drug RU-486
If it's OK for a woman to go to England to take the French abortion pill, what's stopping the United States from letting it in?
More than anything, it appears to be politics — and the typically American L-fears: litigation and liability. Developed in France, the drug was approved for use there six years ago and is licensed in Britain and Sweden with strict rules not to administer it to non-residents — until now.
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
On Feb. 16, British authorities decided to allow a clinic to offer RU-486 to women from other countries. This is an indication that the United States is slow on the uptake with a drug that could transform the way women get abortions and could eventually make the procedure quicker, cheaper and less painful.
For now, though, an American woman who wants to use RU-486 — which basically induces a miscarrage — must pay $500 in England and pay for her round-trip ticket there. She also has to stay at least a week to ensure the drug has done its work. All this can add up, clearly making it unaffordable and impractical for most American women who have little extra time or money.
The government should work harder to bring RU-486 into this country.
Although the pill route sounds unpleasant, it is less so than surgery. And ultimately, it should be up to a woman to decide which procedure she wants. She cannot make such a decision if with only one alternative.
Once the Food and Drug Administration has thoroughly investigated it and found it safe, the French abortion pill should be allowed into the United States. With Bill Clinton in the White House and a Health and
The Daily Gazette Schenectady, N.Y.
Human Services secretary committed to abortion rights, the move to import the pill soon should speed up considerably.
Hiring Limbaugh is like sucking bitter lemons
*If you can't please 'em, offend 'em.
That's what Florida's State Citrus Commission must have figured by hiring -wing whiner Rush Limbaugh to promote orange juice.
Limbaugh's tattness apparently isn't going down well with some consumers. The Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is threatening to boycott the homegrown product as long as he promotes it. The National Organization of Women is mulling a national protest.
The group that fired representative Anita Bryant for moonlighting as a gay-rights basher has hired Mr. Insensitivity himself.
Maybe his legions of "dittioheads" can make up for juice revenues lost from these "insignificant protesters," as he calls them. The protesters will not look so insignificant if they are joined by "environmental wackos," "feminazis," liberals, animal lovers, Clinton Democrats and others Limbaugh revels in insulting.
The State Citrus Commission's claim that it never expected such a fuss is incredible. This group has experience with fusses. Not only did it fire Bryant in 1980, but it canned actor Burt Reynolds last year for his sour divorce from Loni Anderson.
For the sake of Florida citrus growers, it should be ditto soon for Limbaugh.
The Hartford Courant Hartford, Conn.
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