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Tuesday, October 24, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Subtle statements belittle alcohol-awareness efforts
Two millimeters. That's all the warning you get.
For those who are still straining to read the writing at the top of this page, it is the temporary warning that will appear on alcohol containers beginning in November under a new federal law.
The law states that the warning should say: "（1）According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. （2）Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery and may cause health problems."
The law also says that the temporary warning labels should be no smaller than two millimeters, or the same size as a saccharin warning. Of course, "no smaller than two millimeters" will mean "no bigger than two millimeters" to alcohol bottlers.
most people probably have trouble reading the actual-size text shown next to this article. And most people are probably sober right now.
Imagine how difficult it would be to read that while drunk. Granted, the warning and its size are temporary. Consumer groups already are pushing for a bigger label, which makes sense. If the point is to increase our awareness that alcohol can cause serious health problems, then the warning should be a serious size.
Last week was alcohol awareness week across the nation. This week, the same event is at the University of Kansas (ours was postponed because of the World Series, which was postponed itself). If it truly is time to get serious about alcohol awareness, then the week is a necessary event that should be bold enough to conflict with World Series drinking plans.
In other words, only a big message, both in physical size and timely placement, is going to communicate how large the problem is.
David Stewart for the editorial board
Tenure system needs way to evaluate teaching skills
The tenure revocation hearing of Dorothy Willner, professor of anthropology, has focused attention and debate on the difficult question of tenure: who gets it, who keeps it and who has the power to take it away.
Tenure is so woven into the fabric of the University system that any assault is seen as an attempt to rip the system apart. Advocates of the tenure system often are so strident in their defense that a clear look at its problems is impossible. Furthermore, the complexity of the issue daunts any attempt at reformation
Nonetheless, it is time to ask whether the existing tenure system best serves the needs of the University.
Once a professor gains tenure, only the most serious charges of nonfeasance make that professor's removal possible. Consequently, revocation of tenure is essentially a death penalty for a professor's academic career. Few professors are threatened with such action.
Unfortunately, tenured professors are never in danger if the quality of their classroom performance declines. No effective review procedure exists to ensure that a professor maintains a satisfactory level of teaching. Students suffer when a professor no longer can teach.
On the other hand, tenure is designed to attract and retain qualified faculty. Tenure then insulates them from the dangers of University politics and the whims of individual administrators.
The problem lies in striking a balance between two competing interests. Professors naturally are reluctant to be subject to a regular review of their teaching, especially after receiving tenure.
The needs of the students, however, must be paramount. The tenure system needs a way to evaluate professors' classroom performance and fire those whose teaching skills are no longer satisfactory.
At the same time, revocation of tenure must not be arbitrary or capricious.
Social Niemi for the editorial board
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
Daniel Niemi...News editor
Candy Nieman...Planning editor
Stan Blantz...Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser...Campus editor
Elaine Sung...Sports editor
Laura Hsu...Poster editor
Christine Winner...Art/Features editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop...Business manager
Cebra Martin...Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford...National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe...Marketing director
Tami Rank...Production manager
Carrie Slaninka...Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend...Coach
Cecil Hughes...Creative director
Christal Dool...Classified manager
Jeff Meesey...Teacheress manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Have fun safely in Aggieville
Every Kansan's favorite fall weekend is nearly upon us. No, it isn't Labor Day, Thanksgiving or even Midnight Madness. It is the battle for the Governor's Cup. Yes, on Saturday you Jayhawks-will join our Wildcats in the brouhaha (brew, ha ha?) we know as the K-State vs. KU football game.
The longstanding KU-State rivalry has many fine traditions. Back in 1938, ornery KU students tore down goalposts in Manhattan after a Jayhawk victory. In 1946, K-Staters, after receiving an OK by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, showered the KU campus with the Jayhawk" pamphlets. Talk about trashing a campus.
in recent years, events surrounding the gridiron clash of our powerhouses have not been so good-natured and harmless. I'm, of course, referring to past Aggieville riots.
In case you've recently moved to Kansas or just haven't kept up with the riot scene, I'll fill you in on the history of this mayhem.
On Oct. 13, 1984, K-State beat KU 24-7. After the game, moons forced an Aggieville to celebrate the Wildcat victory. Early Sunday morning, as many as 8,000 celebrants became unruly and started taking over the stadium. Two people were arrested and six police officers were treated in local hospitals for injuries.
The next such game in Manhattan was played on Oct. 18, 1986. Once again, K-State won and Aggileville was the scene of a near-riot. This time 18 were arrested. Although the attackers carried, furred, mobsters rolled a Volkswagen and set it on fire.
The Big Eight Conference revamped football schedules so that the 1987 game also was played in the Little Apple. This game ended in a tie. To protect the area and the disturbances, city leaders had Aggieville fenced off. Rooftops were patrolled and only people older than 18 were allowed into the area. Students affectionately referred to this setup as "Aggigetraz." Even though there was much pre-game hype, student initiative and the tight
Todd Johnson
Guest columnist
security of Aggietraz kept the situation under control.
This year, Aggieville merchants, the city of Manhattan, university officials and student leaders have devised a plan to keep the party safe after the football games. No parking will be allowed on the Morrow Street on game day.
► Aggieville will be closed to traffic at 4 p.m.
► toffops of Aggieville businesses will be patrolled by moped
Entrances to Aggieville will be staffed by law enforcement officials.
Also, Manhattan Mayor Kent Glasscock has sent letters to local school districts and to Fort Riley asking that high school students and underage personnel stay out of Agggieville on game day. Presidents from various K-State student organizations will be asking fellow students to abstain from destructive behavior after the game.
The intent of these provisions is to encourage all of us to have a good time, but to ensure that we'll all be safe while doing so. With the improvement shown in 1987, the number of law enforcement officials on hand will be cut in half. Hopefully, the environment won't be as restrictive this year as it was in 1987.
I encourage you to make the trip to Wildcat Land on the 28th. A good time will definitely be had by all. What else would you expect from the students of our fine universities? I just ask that we follow the lead of '87 and keep the party safe.
Todd Johnson is chairman of Student Senate at Kansas State University.
Statistics ignore heart of city
Word is that my town has received the ultimate accolade from the "Places Rated Almanac." Listed dead last — a solid 333rd — as a desirable place to live in the United States is Pine Bluff, Ark. That's why it's important for the unsuspecting reader to understand that this annual publication is to U.S. urbanology what Charles Ponzi was to U.S. investment: fraudulent.
This guidebook, published by Prentice Hall, purports to rate the "liability" of U.S. cities. It does so strictly by the statistics and avoids being confused by the facts. For example, Pine Bluff loses points for not having an interstate highway — even though it has the equivalent of one that's not officially part of the interstate system. Nor does Pine Bluff get credit for having a major airport, even though people here may be nearer one — 43 miles up the road in Little Rock — than are many folks on Long Island, to which the book gave a high rating.
The numerologists who devise the surveys don't risk losing their objectivity by visiting the places they rate, lest reality mar their objectivity. The entire enterprise is a confirmation of Mark Twain's observation that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. And the almanac doesn't even handle those very well, according to a devastating review of its 1985 edition in "American Demographics."
I'm hoping that this time Pine Bluff takes its low rating not only with a carload of salt but with good humor. We need to hold a Last City Festival. The Pine Bluff Symphony — now in it's third year — could provide the music, and booths could be set up the international Friendship Garden at the Civic Center designed by Edward Durrell Stone. Folks could to renew acquaintances. Most of us in a town this size should have a large bank account and touch one of these people we're not fond of. If you come from a town the size of Pine Bluff, you know what I mean.
The reaction to the book from Mayor Carolyn Robinson was understandable but a little overdone: "It's a pornographic, sleazy municipal killer." Pornographic? It would be a serious mistake to take this book so seriously. Let's hope that this year we don't invite whoever is responsible for these phony figures to come visit Pine Bluff. Last time we rated low, some civic booster enticed the expert down here and, after we played "Old South" to beat the band, he wound up saying he would like to live here—and trying to shift the blame for his figures to the media, known in these parts as Them Llyn' Newspapers. Statisticians who produce findings such as these really ought to adopt a Hippocratic path of their own that begins: First do no harm . . .
A city's rating in this rigged game is supposed to be based on nine factors, each of which is given a numerical value: cost of living, climate, transportation, the arts, recreation, health and environment, education, crime and jobs. That the most important things about a city cannot be given a numerical value is one of those details Prentice Hall may not mention when it's due to unveil this duel last month.
The usefulness of this scale of "values" may be demonstrated by asking the reader to apply it to the following city: Our sample town would be situated on hilly terrain; enjoy a pleasant climate; have no port of its
Paul Greenberg
Svndicated columnist
own, (unlike Pine Bluff); and no interstate highway, airport or Amtrak service; its development, except for a central core, would be unplanned and unregulated; it would have no public housing, health service, mass transit or public school system; it would not boast any significant restraints on the inroads of pollution; as a center of trade and finance, it would have numerous public monuments but no industry. On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you give it?
It wouldn't rate much by Prentice Hall's computerized criteria. But it would do well by other and higher standards, for the city so described is Athens in its golden age — the Athens of Pericles, Socrates, Plato and Thucydides. Surely it would merit a 10 in any survey of Western civilization.
This isn't a fair test of the statistical method, of course. Its plug-in measurements are not meant to judge civilization, or anything else real. How do you assign a numerical value to a city's spirit, its manners, its historical roots, its friendiness, its human scale, its pride or loyalty or diversity, its talent for creating art or building homes of true beauty? The application of Pine Bluff or any other city would be real without taking such values into account.
Berlin in 1936, a model city, would have topped out on this numerical scale. By 1946, it was a collection of rubble. And all because one or two intangible values, such as freedom and decency, were missing. How would Prentice Hall have rated Jerusalem when a dancing David brought the Ark of the Covenant to his capital? Would he have seemed a primitive piece, or is it Prentice not so fictionalized as a primitive? And what about not nifty places like Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and Frank Capra's Bedford Falls in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." How would they do on the Prentice Hall scale? The only thing it seems unable to count is what counts most.
I've made these points before. They recur every time this outfit makes its accusations/ratings, which are false in the deepest sense. For as a friend noted some years back, surveys like this seem based on the unworthy assumption that people should consider only themselves when deciding where to live, and that the world can and should be analyzed according to what amenities it offers. What a poor and fruitless existence that would be, for the quality of life is not determined by what our community offers us but by what we give our community.
The mayor of Yuba City, Calif., our perennial rival for 333rd place, had some good advice about how to react to Prentice Hall's announcement when it's made official: "Take advantage of the publicity. Go for it."
- Paul Greenberg is the editorial page editor for the Pine Stuff (Art.) Commercial.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Both sides have faults
If you can bear one more letter concerning the abortion issue, I want to present a point of view that is important to me in man. Neither side is truly right.
Some pro-life advocates psychologically and physically attack their opponents. However, pro-life advocates do have a point; if fetuses are potential people, they should be given a chance to live.
On the other hand, the prochoice advocates seem to be encouraging abortions for anyone who does not want a baby to be carried to term. Some pro-choice advocates may seem insensitive to the needs of each woman to have a right to control her own reproductive life.
Perhaps some pro-life advocates are forcing their beliefs, religious or otherwise, onto their opponents; perhaps pro-choice advocates are encouraging the destruction of fetuses. Therefore, neither side can truly say they are the "right" side. Neither side will convert the other. We are all members of the human race. No human is completely "right." The abortion decision is now in the hands of the states and the people — people who want only good to come of the decisions they have made for themselves.
Sheryl Pearson
Lawrence sophomore
Protesters like pizza, too "Marshmallow pizza?"
Where is the logic behind Ric Brack's Oct. 18 editorial bashing the boycott of Domino's Pizza? First he states that it is "nation-ion." Then he says the boycott primal acts only local businessmen."
The boycott, supported by the KU Democrats, is based on the same logic as boycotts of companies doing business in South Africa. This is to say: If a corporation is doing something contrary to your political and social views, then by boycoting it, you are ensuring that your money is not being used to support something you do not approve of. This logic holds for numerous topics such as apartheid in South Africa, abortion rights and the environment.
If anything, the boycott is supporting local businesses. Other pizza restaurants, such as locally owned Pizza Shuttle and Rudy's Pizza, will receive the free from the restaurant's. The KU Democrats are not promoting a boycott of all pizza. We enjoy it, also.
Kelly Martens
vice president, KU Democrat Series will help recovery
By bringing back "Bay'sball," Fay Vincent, commissioner of major-league baseball, brings back more than the World Series. He helps bring back the Bay area. The decision helps put the Bay area back together after it was so rudely shaken apart.
Before the disastrous quake, the baseball community jealously looked at San Francisco and Oakland for monopolizing the nation's pastime. The series intensified the rivalry between the Bay cities, giving their residents something to be proud of. Millions of people, fans or not, had something in common: "Bay'sball." Now these same people have another thing in common: the quake.
Vincent's decision will have a positive, uplifting effect on the Bay area. The World Series was a distraction from everyday life before the quake. Vincent's decision symbolizes to the Bay area and the city in general that initially goes on after a tragedy. Vincent made the right call.
Jim Obermaier
Lawrence senior
Get the facts straight
I am writing to correct the following inaccuracies concerning me and testimony about me that appeared in the University Daily Kansan last week:
(1) The page three story which "ranWednesday, Oct. 18, headlined "Adviser says tenure case is one" too many," states: "Wilmer, who gained tenure in 1970, joined the University in 1966 as an associate professor of anthropology." In fact, I gained tenure in 1967 and was promoted to full professor in 1970.
(2) The page three story which ran Thursday, Oct. 19, headlined "Ex-chairman testifies in Willner" case," states; "During afternoon testimony, Squier told the committee that in a Nov. 27, 1987, letter, Wilmer had said that she 'was suffering from that sickness' in fact, Professor Squier neither made such a statement nor is it true.
Dorothy Willner
professor of anthropology
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