OPINION
The University Daily KANSAN
University Daily Kansan, March 2, 1984
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daykan Kuman (USPS 809-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Stauffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 60945, daily during the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer session, includes a class fee of $25 and a final period. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 60944. Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months and $35 for nine months. Student subscriptions are $3 a semester paid through the student activity fee. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to uspsd.kman.edu.
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DOUG CUNNINGHAM
DON KNOX SARA KEMPIN
Managing Editor Editorial Editor
JEFF TAYLOR ANDREW HARTLEY Campus Editor News Editor
DAVE WANAMAKER
Business Manager
PAUL JESS
CORR GORMAN JILL MTICHELLI
Retail Sales Manager National Sales Manager
General Manager and News Adviser
JANCE PHILIPS
Campus Sales Manager
DUNCAN CALHOUH
Classified Manager
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Hart a contender
Sen. Gary Hart's surprising victory in Tuesday's New Hampshire presidential primary did more than just establish him as a contender.
It also did more than turn the Democratic race for the nomination into a more exciting contest.
Hart's victory set up the possibility that the voters might have a clear-cut choice between him and President Reagan in the November general election.
Throughout his campaign, Hart, who was born in Ottawa, has been perceived as an intelligent candidate offering new solutions.
In fact, Hart's campaign literature liberally uses the word "new." The candidate's success in New Hampshire was largely a result of promising "new leadership," "new ideas" and the beginning of a "new generation."
His "new ideas" include opposition to an open-ended military aid program in El Salvador. He also favors a reduction in military spending, saying that "nuclear-
arms control must be our highest national priority."
His notions on minority rights go beyond the demands that women and blacks have unsuccessfully lobbied for during Reagan's first term.
On women's rights he has said,
"The question is not whether every woman should have equal rights, but rather why those rights remain in question."
Election observers think Hart is capable of staying aloft through coming primaries in Maine, Vermont and Wyoming.
However, his next big test will come on "Super Tuesday," March 13, when Southern Democrats go to primary polls in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Whether Hart can maintain his momentum and his challenge to Walter Mondale is a matter that will be decided in the next few weeks.
One thing is certain, Hart's fresh views and "new generation" politics are an undeniable spark of life to his party's race for the presidency.
The Supreme Court has given up the fight for equality on a technicality.
This week, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges are no longer required to follow federal antidiscrimination guidelines in all of their programs, only in those areas that specifically receive federal financing.
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination "in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Until now, institutions have been interpreted as being federally financed if its students receive federal financial aid
The ruling narrows the scope of the Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972, taking the bite from a law aimed at improving equality between men and women.
Now the court has decided that only those programs receiving
direct federal financing — such as financial aid and research grants will have to fall under federal regulation.
Although KU officials have said that the decision would not have much effect at the University, the decision could hurt women's athletic programs at some universities.
"If your athletic department has serious deficits, and there is less-than-enthusiastic commitment to equity in the first place, it may provide a convenient way to cut back on the number of sports or scholarships or coaches," said Ronald Calgaard, president of Trinity University in Texas.
Although universities will not embark on a rampant return to sex discrimination, the court's ruling provides the opportunity for the scales of equality to tip back to old standards.
Students lack individuality in interviews
She puts a smile over her nerves, he puts one over his pre-coffee grooming and over the weariness that he knows will come when the procession of handshakes and rehearsed answers is over.
They exchange automatic pleasanties, the kind that tumble in reflex from the tongue. Yes, it is. Please be February. Please to meet you, too.
rhen there is no stalling left for either of them, and the hopeful student and the interviewer walk into one of the designated rooms, the tiny, windless rooms all painted cream to make them seem what they are not, all with two green-and-chrome chairs on casters, all with one molded desk painted cream to match the walls.
The room, predictable in design, does not delight, but neither does it offend.
The student, well-versed in the
techniques of the job interview, will do about as well as the room at impressing.
Her failure to stand out won't be due a lack of advice. She has attended job seminars at school; read from the bountiful stream of articles in Glamour magazine, articles with such titles as "Which Look Got the Job?" and "The Interview War and How to Win it"; discussed drama with stress; worked with learned what to say and what not to want to prospective employers and their secretaries from paperbacks.
the seminars, articles and books promise her the necessary edge. They say they will help her and the
DEBORAH
BAER
Staff Columnist
multitude of other followers Be Noticed.
Most of their prescriptions are for her appearance, and she has taken them.
After some deliberation on color,
she dutifully purchased a suit. She
chose gray against the advice of her
brother, who bought a navy suit
because navy Puts The Interviewer
But more people she knew
and gray.
She took equal care choosing a blouse. It is dressy and has just enough color to make her seem more feminine, by extension. Hard-working.
The maroon and navy silk bow at her neck will say to the prospective employer: Conservative But Not Boring.
Black pumps, earrings the right size (small ones would make her seem meek and little-girlish, big ones would give an image too bold) and a white sweater personality Unwilling To Take Direction), complete the ensemble.
Thus uniformed, she faces the interviewer across the desk. She notices his maroon and navy tie and asks for the value of Eye Contact, and looks up
The interview begins officially
He asks and she answers, carefully balancing expressions of confidence with humility, wanting to appear Capable But Not Overbearing. She remembers she should not be passive, and she asks and he answers.
As she leaves, she sees the next candidate waiting. He, too, is well-educated in interviewing lore, and has arrived the prescribed five minutes early. He wears a gray suit, white shirt and maroon and may tie her.
Like her, he does not allow the interview to be a one-sided affair. He asks a few questions. Like her, he balances confidence with humility. Like her, he does little to impress himself on the interviewer.
It is because he is too much like her, too much like most of the rest of the gray- and navy-suited students
All those hints that the magazines and paperbacks have promised would make them stand out have lost their effectiveness in over-exposure. The experts have become like the street dancer in the Dr Pepper commercial, who asks us to simultaneously be unique and Be A Pepper with the rest of the Pepper Crowd.
who, polished in the art of interviewing, have hidden the individuality that makes them memorable
Those experts have effectively helped to train job-seekers to look professional, to sound confident and enthusiastic, and to maintain pose. What they haven't given them is a skillset that gives their talents most important to their jobs.
The interviewer is left knowing little about the applicants beyond their skills at seeming to be skilled, motivated, intelligent and dedicated.
As he leaves the cream room with the green-and-chrome chairs, he wonders which gray-suited smile and handshake he will hire.
Alcohol education begins at home
My opposition to this bill to raise the drinking age to 19 is strong for several reasons.
Now the Kansas Legislature wants to raise the drinking age of 3.2 percent beer to 19 years of age. Will next year see the age limit up to 20
By the age of 18 most people are graduating from high school. Most have a driver's license and possibly their own car. The reason that they these luxuries is that they are termed adults in society.
The public has been led to believe
When you get that first job, there is a voice inside you that says, "I did it! Now I'm an adult, and I should be able to choose to do what adults do."
When we reach the age of 18, our government gives us the right to vote, and the chance to serve in the armed forces of the nation.
We must register for the selective service and could get drafted in time of war. Adults must assume these added responsibilities.
Unless you are 21, you can't drink liquor, wine or regular beer. Now Kansas doesn't want people drinking until the age of 19.
that the traffic accidents among those 16 to 26 that involve drunk drivers are no higher in a state where the drinking age is 21 in one where the drinking age is 21.
It doesn't matter if the state law sets the legal age limit at 18 or 21.
The fact that this age category goes down to 16 years of age proves that no matter what the legal restrictions are, people will still drink if they want to.
If the government raised the legal age to 30, those under 30 would find a way to get liquor.
It is a big deal to drink when you're under age. All your friends think it is "cool." My life was a little different.
My father didn't mind whether I drank, but he did not want me going
out drinking. At the age of 15 I started drinking with my parents.
By the time I could legally go out and drink, I had understood that there was nothing that made it "cool" to drink. My father had put me through an education process that involved responsible drinking. I didn't have to go out in the parking lot at school and drink in secrety
In states like Missouri and Illinois where the drinking age is 21 for all alcohol, the people who want to drink will find a way.
They go out to the woods with a case of beer bought by a friend. They go to a friend's house when the parents are away and get smashed. The result is they will end up driving home drunk.
Is this what our society wants?
More drunk drivers on the road?
More people hiding the face that they are in, not is not in raising the drinking age.
The solution primarily lies in teaching responsible drinking while we are still at home. At home the learning process is reinforced because it helps us with our parents. We only listen to teachers, but we live with our parents.
A secondary solution would be to increase mass transit systems. When people get out of bars or clubs they would not have to drive home drunk
If they wish they can take the bus. The system has been used for years in Europe and it is very successful. Buses run for about an hour after the pubs, gashaus, or bars close. This allows plenty of time to get home.
Now the federal government wants to raise the drinking age to 21 in all states over a six-year period. If states do not comply they will lose funding, according to the bill that has been brought before the House.
Once the drinking age is up to 21,
will the next step be to raise the voting age? Just how far will the politicians go?
After all, it is our country. If they want us to defend our country at the age of 18, they should also allow us the other privileges such as drinking and voting that go along with the responsibility of being an adult.
David Danner is a junior from Burtonwood, England.
A need to mend fences
The Lawrence City Commission has finally approved the St. Lawrence Catholic Center's plans to build a church and expand its student center.
A great deal of controversy has arisen over the center's proposal. Most of the conflict has involved residents of the Crescent-Engel neighborhood, where the church is to be built.
Months of planning, negotiation, trips back to the drawing board and compromise were necessary before the center got approval to go ahead.
The people in the area had some legitimate concerns about the effect the proposed buildings would have on their neighborhood.
But the City Commission, after careful consideration, decided that the center had addressed most of the neighborhood's concerns and added eight construction restrictions to take care of remaining concerns.
Once the church is built, the Crescent-Engel residents and the Catholics are going to be neighbors for a long time.
During the controversy, many negative feelings developed between the two groups and some fence-ending seems in order.
Perhaps with efforts from both sides, the fence will be mended by the time the church is built.
LETTERS POLICY
The University Daily Kanran welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 300 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kanran also invites individual students to speak guest lectures. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kanessa office, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall. The Kanassa reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sculpture interesting
To the editor:
Barbara M. Paris is entitled to dislike "Salina Piece," and to express this opinion publicly in harsh language.
However, she goes far beyond the bounds of propriety in advocating that it be vandalized ("I can't wait to see ... a wrecked train car (hangout) on the graceful steel arms.")
She has no more right to do that than one has a right to urge that another object, say a building or monument, be made public.
Curator, Museum of Natural History
I happen to think that the sculpture is interesting and powerful and I like it.
Robert S. Hoffman
The battle is childish
To the editor:
This is in response to everyone who has written in regard to the great 'Michigan-Kansas' Which Really Cannot Be The Greatest Reality.
Or better yet, why not condemn the entire film and television industry for all the snide comments about living in Kansas that are made in so many films and television shows. When you watch "The Wizard of Oz," probably the best known image of Kansas, do you automatically condemn everyone associated with this classic just because it doesn't give a "rosy" picture of Kansas?
Come on people, don't you have a sense of humor at all? There are good and bad aspects to
every place — why is it necessary to exploit a person's opinion about what they consider a bad aspect of Kansas, even if he is a governor?
Diane L. Yetter
Lenexa junior
Comment not amusing
To the editor:
getting homosexuals recognized as a minority group at the University of Kansas.
No doubt some voters were amused by the Rev Jesse Jackson's reference to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown."
Though at first Jackson denied it, he later admitted making the remarks, but added that he did not mean to be insulting I, for one, was not amused.
This self-proclaimed leader of the "Rainbow Coalition," who insists quite properly in equal treatment of all Americans, should practice what he preaches.
As a political leader and a man of the cloth, Jackson is probably aware that minorities may be sensitive to insulting statements even if no insult is intended.
In any case, the Rev. Jackson should accept his latest mistake in judgment as conclusive proof that he is not qualified to lead this country.
David Jampolsky
The fact that he made the remarks raises questions about his sincerity. His week-long denial heightens apprehensions about his integrity.
David Jampolsky Lawrence law student
Minority issue absurd
Herein lies the absurdity of the whole homosexual-minority rights issue: there is no way that a homosexual can prove that he/she is heterosexual from any other heterosexual person. Period
First of all, just how does GLSOK intend to prove that its followers are indeed members of this "minority"? Is Ruth Lichtwasser going to be interviewed in the style" in front of the Minority Affairs Committee?
To the editor:
It's about time someone responded to all the Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas blather about
If not, just how does she intend to prove that she is entitled to the minority benefits that she so wanted?
Sure, homosexuals may act differently from normal people, but how does that entitle them to enjoy the same privileges extended to blacks, Hispanics, Indians, etc.?
If we accept GLOSK's arguments, we would invite any and every bizarre group on campus to organize into a minority party because they resent elimination" against their "alternative lifestyle."
Are we so spineless that we can't stand up to the strongarming of Lichtward and her gang? Are we so dull-witted that we accept GLSOK's empty reasoning as truth?
When will we see that the real issue is not whether homosexual persecution is a learned or inherited behavior, but whether our legal system allows us to enforce the laws presently outlawing sodomy.
I say, let's send Lichtwardt and her group back in the closet, . . . and please, somebody shut the door behind them.
Joe Vusich Lawrence resident