4
Friday, February 25,1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Multicultural events give students valuable insight
Multicultural. Politically correct. You don't have to be either to appreciate ethnic diversity. Cultural events on campus offer something for everyone, and everyone should take advantage of these unique learning opportunities.
There are numerous reasons for exploring new cultures. The first is education. From life in a South African township to the status of minorities in the media, Black history events this month showed the many sides of African-American culture.Many events took place on campus, making them convenient and accessible to everyone.
There is also the future. Minority populations are growing and producing more leaders than past generations. People who familiarize themselves with new cultures now will be better prepared for the diverse corporate board room of tomorrow.
Most of all, there's respect. Experiencing different lifestyles and traditions help us see others as people not as stereotypes. By broadening our cultural awareness, we gain new respect for other people. Many of those people have the same problems, the same needs and the same hopes as us.
The first step is to attend. Black History Month is almost over, but other events are scheduled for months to come. Women's History Month will be celebrated in March. The Brazilian Carnival will be March 5. Russia Week festivities will commence April 4-8.
Before semester's end, make a point of attending one of these worthwhile events. They are designed to treat everybody to a different slice of life — make sure you get your piece.
SAMANTHA ADAMS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Government has no right to enter home schools
Once again, Big Brother thinks he knows best. The latest controversy deals with an amendment presented by Democratic Rep. George Miller of California, a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee. Beginning July 1, 1998, local school districts would be required to vouch that all full-time teachers in schools under their jurisdiction are certified to teach the academic subjects to which they are assigned.
The controversy surrounds private and home schools that receive no public funds. Officials from these schools are concerned that the amendment would require them to use certified teachers. This would hurt private schools and would all but kill home schools.
The issue is not whether home and public schools are good or bad. This issue is whether or not the government can dictate policy to groups that receive absolutely no public funds. Clearly, the government cannot.
Many non-government affiliated groups, such as private schools and businesses, are the most successful in our country. When will legislators on Capitol Hill stop trying to meddle in the affairs of successful groups?
Fortunately, because of an overwhelming uprising among private schools and home teachers, Republican Rep. Dick Armey of Texas is expected to propose an amendment specifying that public and home schools would not be affected by Miller's amendment.
It is our duty, as concerned citizens, to help restrain our monolithic government from spreading its shadow over even more of our society.
RICHARD BOYD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
BEN GROVE, Editor
BEN GROVE, Editor
LISA COSMILLO, Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
focused on his skiing. The drug "experimentation" eventually subsided, and he went on to make U.S. Olympic history.
For those less fortunate, however, the ability to see options in regard to drug use decreases. What is recreation for some may become a means of escape for others. By ignoring this distinction, drug officials have termed all drug use as criminal. In doing so, they have turned their backs on the causes of drug abuse — pain and the inability to cope.
Perhaps the most disturbing information the Michigan study found was an increase in the use of inhalants. Glues, solvents and aerosols are rarely singled out as targets in "the war on drugs." But desperate people will abuse many things — food, sex, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine — that are not necessarily illicit. Our concern should focus less on the substance and more on the abuse.
translates into full prisons and a sense of solving the drug problem. In reality, however, this is treating the symptoms of crime rather than the causes.
So why does the United States refuse to make this distinction? Well, pain and suffering are hard to define, let alone legislate. However, drug arrests lead to convictions. Conviction ratios justify increased crime-fighting budgets. In the end, this
Drug officials are remiss in explaining the sudden increase in juvenile drug use found by the Michigan study. They blame it on relaxed anti-drug messages. It's more likely, however, that teenagers have seen through the propaganda. Drug use becomes destigmatized as they see more of their friends use drugs without turning into drug abusers. They begin to mock anti-drug messages as lies, and drug use increases.
Now is not the time for anti-drug campaigns based on fear and veiled with half-truths. Teenagers are smarter than that. Much like Moe, they know, too. Given an honest account of the effects of drug use and drug abuse, most will choose to refrain. Otherwise, our message just files in the face of logic. Not the winning kind of flying that Moe does down mountain slopes, but the kind toward which teenagers turn out of spite.
BILL SKEET, Systems coordinator
Greg Thonen is a Kansas City senior in journalism and sociology.
JUSTIN GARBERG Business manager
JENNIFER BLOWEY Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Edition
Government anti-drug rhetoric unfairly condemns casual users
Editors
Aest Managing Editor...Dan England
Assistant to the editor...J.R. Clairborne
News...Kristi Foglar, Katie Greenwald
Todd Saferf
Editorial...Corman Nieman
Nathan Olsen
Campus...Jose DeHaven
Sports...David Dorsey
Photo...Doug Hesse
Features...Sara Bennett
Wire...Allison Lipper
Freelance...Christine Laue
Tommy Moe can fly on a pair of skis. This is evident by his winning the Olympic gold medal in the men's downhill skiing competition last week. But Moe's victory tossed a wrench into the logic of the U.S. drug-fighting machine, a machine that looks for scapegoats more than it does for a cure for drug abuse. Moe knows. It seems that he used to do some flying off the slope, as well.
This news comes on the heels of a teenage drug use study released earlier this month by the University of Michigan. The study found a 3 to 4 percent rise in drug use during the last two years among teenagers.
The most surprising result of this study, however, was the response it generated from drug officials. When asked by reporters why former drug users were not used as lecterns in governmental anti-drug campaigns, officials balked at the notion.
Wristbands are a solution for minors
Business Staff
"We shy away from those programs," said Tia Clark, research analyst with the U.S. Office for Substance Abuse Prevention. "We don't want to give the message that you can use drugs and recover and everything will be fine."
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 Chicago are not permitted to write in these formats.
Campus sales mgr ... Ean Eberty
Regional Sales mgr ... Troy Torwerve
National & Coops sales mgr ... Robin King
Special Classes mgr ... Shelly McConnell
Production mgrs ... Laura Guth
Gretchen Kottenleinch
Marketing director ... Shannon Reilly
Creative director ... John Carton
Classified mgr ... Kelly Connally
Tearshags mgr ... Wing Chan
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
America's bad-boy Olympiad spent many years sking the wild side of the mountain as a teenager. He has admitted to "experimenting" with drugs during this time but insists that he was not a drug abuser.
Just the other day, a friend of mine posed a question to me. "Why don't you write about something positive instead of being negative all the time?" And the answer is... I don't know. But something has compelled me to convey the negative thoughts and feelings I have bottled up inside. In my short-lived career as an opinion columnist, I already have managed to bash the NCAA, CBS, the KU police and my sociology professor.
Someone should introduce the people managing this agency to Moe. He not only revels in his past "experimentation," but he wins gold medals for his country. Not bad for a former drug "experimenter." Clearly, the substance abuse prevention office has trouble discerning between drug use and drug abuse.
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.
Drug officials try to lump the Moes of the world with drug abusers. But as Moe has shown, an individual can do drugs and later become successful. He was lucky enough to have a father who cared for, guided and kept him
Today, in the never-ending quest to right the world through my eyes, I have yet another gripe. This one involves the decision by the owners of drinking establishments in Lawrence to allow only people of 21 years of age or older to enter. In a community supporting a 25,000+ student population, many of whom are younger than 21, this decision is ludicrous.
By doing so, they'll create better ties with the underage students of the University — and give me one less thing to complain about.
Before anyone jumps down my throat, I know that bar owners can't allow just anyone under 21 to pass freely into their establishments and drink alcohol. Otherwise, the owners
Scott Tittrington is a Poway, Calif., sophomore in journalism and exercise science.
COLUMNIST
What I'm suggesting is that the Lawrence bar operators institute the same system I've come across at fraternity parties here at the University; wristbands. In this system, those who are 21 or older have a wristband placed on them when they enter the party. Bartenders are allowed to serve alcohol only to those who are wearing a wristband.
Some area bars already have a system such as this in the works. The Bot
would be jumped by Lawrence police, forced to close down and likely would lose their license to sell alcohol.
tleneck often has "18-and-Over" nights, and at times, so does Benchwarmers Sports Bar & Grill. However, most of the other establishments cater only to the 21-and-over clientele.
These bars have two arguments for their decision not to allow younger patrons in. The first is that the wristbands cost money, money that would be taken away from their profits. The second is that they can't keep those with wristbands from buying alcohol and giving it to friends who aren't of legal age.
There are simple solutions to both of these problems. First, the extra revenue created by the cover charge paid by 18-20-year-old patrons should more than cover the cost of wrist-bands. Second, by limiting each person to one drink purchase at a time, wristband wearers would not have the opportunity to buy four drinks and give three to friends who aren't 21.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not
I can't begin to count the number of times I've been out with a group of friends and hurt their chances of having a good time because I can't get into a local hangout. The people who own the drinking establishments of Lawrence have a great opportunity to change my frustrations by simply implementing the wristband system.
some 20-year-old looking to get into bars and sneak enough drinks to get blasted. I don't even drink. I'd just like to go hang out with my friends who are of legal age, have the opportunity to meet people in a relaxed setting and all in all, just have a good time. And I'm sure there are many other underage students who share my feelings.
Not simply ethnic slurs, racism is rooted in ideas
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I want to respond to Dan England's Feb. 18 column, "A hidden racism exists on campus." England states, "Because I didn't see blatant, open racism, I thought that it didn't exist on campus. Countless others probably think the same thing. And that frightens me."
What frightens me, as an African American, is that England had to hear people referred to as "niggers" or "chinks" before he realized that racism still exists.
Everything changes and evolves. This is true of racism. The blatant racism of the 1960s has evolved into the internal hidden racism of the 1990s. Many white Americans are unaware of this change. But those of us who live under the burden of
racism are well aware of this change. Yet so often today, when African Americans, Hispanics, or Asians complain about racism, we are dismissed as paranoid whiners by white Americans.
Racism consists of much more than just a few ethnic slurs. It is based on ideas that usually are not expressed publicly in this era of political correctness. This is why the racism of today is more difficult to identify than that of the 1960s. But make no mistake: Racism still exists.
Kenton Clark Atchison senior
Race-based scholarships are unfair, discriminatory
First, let me point out — I'm not prejudiced. I attended an inner-city
The bottom line is, it is simply unfair for an individual to receive a scholarship based on race, religion or sex. Yes, it is true that the majority of recipients of financial aid are white, however, this financial aid is available to all of society — not just whites. Perhaps white students are the majority of recipients because the white population exceeds the minority population by a wide margin.
high school, and I have acquired close friends from various ethnic backgrounds. However, after reading numerous articles relating to the African-American community this month, I finally drew the line when I read Tuesday's article on race-based scholarships. I have been extremely opposed to this issue for years, and I would like to express my concerns.
My point is, no matter what the
scholarship is — African-American, Asian, etc. — it seems to be available only to students of those and only those particular ethnic backgrounds. What if a Caucasian scholarship fund was started that offered aid only to white students? I don't think that would please minorities.
I'm all for increasing the number of minorities on campus. However, they are capable of getting financial aid from the same sources as white students. In addition, they have the opportunity to receive more money simply because of their race or gender.
I realize that an education is extremely expensive, I just feel that if the tables were turned and a Caucasian scholarship fund was initiated, there would be a serious upheaval in this country.
Felicia Jubratic Kansas City, Kan., junior