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Wednesday, October 18, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Removing pledge book song is worthy but 100 years late
After all, it took them only about a century to remove from their pledge book a song with racist lyrics.
Congratulations to the men of Alpha Tau Omega.
In those 100 years, it just must not have dawned on anyone that the use of the word "darkies" in the song could possibly be racist or even offensive to anyone.
And even though the song probably would not have been removed at all had it not been for the influence of outsiders, the fraternity did agree to take the song out without protest. But wait a minute
Second, it's even harder to believe that no one in the house, even in the last decade, insisted on the removal of the song. The song was part of ATO heritage. It was part of the pledge
But wait a minute.
First, it's hard to believe that the song wasn't widely read, which would imply that the pledge book wasn't widely read in all of those years.
The song was part of ATO heritage. It was part of the pledge book and therefore part of what the fraternity was built on.
This incident points out how important it is to understand the organizations to which we belong and to know their principles. And to at least read over their pledge books. Even if the men of ATO didn't know about the words in the song, it was their obligation to be aware that their pledge book contained such a blatant statement of racism.
It is scary to think about how many different organizations' pledge books might contain racist, sexist and other derogatory statements.
True congratulations should go out to the person or people who pointed out the racist lyrics. If it hadn't been for that individual or group of people, no one would have known what was in the book. Maybe not even the ATOs.
Unfortunately, the fraternity's action came about 100 pledge classes late.
Tiffany Harness for the editorial board
Pizza boycott in bad taste; local businesses get hurt
Marshmallow pizza.
That is what the nationwide Domino's Pizza boycott tastes like
It sounds appetizing at first, but inspection shows it to be in poor taste.
Although it is encouraging that pro-choice groups are finally making a public effort to answer the bellicose rantings typical of most anti-abortion groups, we wonder whether the pizza boycott is on the mark.
The boycott primarily affects only local businessmen, with little or no direct effect on its primary target: anti-abortion groups and their supporters.
Called for by the National Organization for Women and supported locally by the KU Democrats, the boycott was initiated in response to financial support given to anti-abortion groups by Domino's owner Tom Monaghan.
Unquestionably, a chain of pizza stores is a good rallying point, especially for college students. But who is feeling the impact of the boycott? Monaghan? No, probably not. The brunt of the financial burden is being borne by the pizza chefs, the delivery drivers and other employees of local Domino's outlets.
Recent events prove that the voices of the previously silent majority of people who believe in a woman's right to choose are being heard by elected officials.
Last week, the House voted to allow federal financing of abortions for women who became pregnant because of rape or incest. The vote ended eight years of a ban on federal financing in such cases.
Both sides in the abortion debate concede the House vote was a sign of the changing political landscape since the Supreme Court's July decision gives states the right to limit abortio-
Also last week, the governor of Florida failed in an effort to put restrictions on abortion in his state. The fact that Florida is not usually considered pro-choice adds to the impact of the event.
But the Domino's boycott detracts from recent victories. Like marshmallow pizza, it just isn't palatable.
Pro-choice advocates should spend more time and money educating rationally and less on expressing well intentioned wrath against those who probably don't deserve it.
Ric Brack for the editorial board
News staff
David Stewart ... Editor
Ric Brack ... Managing editor
Daniel Niemi ... News editor
Gilbert Glemmann ... Planning editor
Stan Dell ... Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser ... Campus editor
Elaine Sung ... Sports editor
Laura Husar ... Photo editor
Feature Winner ... ArtfulFeature.com
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop ... Business manager
Debra Martin .. Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford .. National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe .. Marketing director
Tami Rank .. Production manager
Carrie Slaninks .. Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend .. Co-op manager
Hugh Hepple .. Creative director
Christ Dool .. Classified manager
Jeff Messey .. Teamsheet manager
Jennine Hines .. Sales and marketing adviser
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What I Did Last Summer
MNNEILY Chicago Tribune
Contributions are forgotten in time
Like all vital young people, I have had the attitude for quite some time that the world is there for me, and any contribution I make will be forever held sacred and delicated.
It took a run-down, forgotten information booth to douse me with the cold, hard facts of reality.
Last year, for my Reporting II class, I was supposed to develop and write a feature story on my own. I utilized the sharp observation skills that I had gleaned from the class to delve into a subject that faced me daily — the information booth in front of Stauffer-Flint hall.
In a way, it reminded me of a tired old man, who you know has been around since the beginning of time and will probably continue to thrive long after you have died.
I always had wondered what the intended purpose of the booth was. Surely it couldn't be just for the display of political parties' and alternative rock groups' literature. A simple sheet of wood would have sufficed for that purpose.
I went to the Information Center and talked to the director. All she could tell me was that originally the booth was intended as an information booth, but it wasn't being used for that.
Then I started to worry. I was actually caring
Not a very optimistic. But I was persistent. The less I could find out about the booth, the more I wanted to know. Daily I would walk by the booth and imagine it 50 years in the future: still enduring as hundreds of students walked by. never actually seeing it.
I decided to try the archives in the Spencer Research Library. Finally, my persistence paid off. In a 1974 newsletter from the Division of Information, I discovered that the booth had been donated by the class of 1950, and construction on it began in January 1951. Its main purpose was to "provide a bright, friendly oasis on campus" where people could wait for the bus, a taxa from a phone that was connected directly to Hoch Auditorium, obtain directions or report incidents.
That little paragraph made me happy. I was glad to know the booth was once referred to as an oasis and didn't always have such a bleak existence
Merceda Ares Staff columnist
about the feelings of an inanimate object. I'd heard that reporters sometimes become obsessed with stories that they are working on, but I never thought my obsession would be a hunk of wood.
I had determined the purpose of the booth, but the original plan had not been carried out. After all, there the booth sat, serving as a billboard for diverse groups. There was no sign of people manning the booth, calling taxis or reporting incidents.
So I dug out names of students who had been in the class of 1851 and proceeded to call them — something that I look back on now and wonder what I must have sounded like.
"Excuse me, sir." I probably said with some peple. "But I'm calling about an information booth that sat outside the School of Journalism." Silencio on the other end.
Doggedly, I must have continued on. "And I was just wondering if you ever remember any students working in the booth or it being used as an information center?"
More silence. Then, a hesitant voice, "I don't recall anybody ever really done that," the voice said. "But that could be due to my old age or inattention."
"Or it could be due to the fact that it's 40 years later, and I can even remember what my intended major was let alone whether or not a computer had been used," he probably longed to scream in my ear.
But he didn't, so I was encouraged to continue calling others.
Unfortunately, no one remembered the booth ever being used.
I went back to the Information Center, thinking that perhaps the director would have records of
whether or not someone had worked in the booth.
Not only did the director declare that she did not think any students had ever manned the booth, but she also said it was a bad design for the information booth because the wooden slanting hung too far over for a person to see that there was someone inside.
Obviously, she was hoping to strike a final note. But I was never one to take hints, so instead, I asked her if she knew of anyone else I could talk to.
She must have decided that to get rid of me once and for all, she would have to come up with some purpose for the information box. She reed off the paper and I heard about the booth since I began my inquiry.
"It itdoesn't serve as a bus stop, and it doesn't serve as an information booth, but that doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose," she said. "It's hard to tell you how the lock, so vandals can't tear down the posters."
And with that she ended our conversation, much to my dissatisfaction.
I'm sure the class of 1850 would have been pleased to hear that the greatest value of the $3,500 booth, which they chose over clocks for the University, an ink fountain, a room for the Union and a swimming pool, was in the fact that they had arightened enough to put locks on the display cases.
It was bad enough that they had to undergo fire from their peers for the booth, let alone sustain criticism 40 years later.
Warren Saas, the 1960 editor of the University Daily Kansan was ruthless in his critique of their gift.
How prophetic.
Saa writes in a sarcastic editorial, "Each year a similar gift is selected, and in most cases soon forgotten. Perhaps in time, the booth will prove its value to the University, but that value will never warrant such an elaborate booth."
How prophecy Then again, it has been 38 years since the booth was built, and look what the topic of this column was
> Mercedes Area is a senior majoring in English and journalism.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Galileo threatens Earth
Although I had some reservations about the on-campus Galileo protests, I still feel compelled to question the reasoning of Edward Downum's letter. I certainly agree that nuclear waste and nuclear weapons pose grave threats to our planet. However, why these facts mean that the Galileo protests should not have occurred escapes me. It seems somewhat illogical to protest only some life to life on Earth and not others. Of course, Mr. Downum believes Galileo entails "no unreasonable risks." I assume that he is basing this opinion on the assurances NASA
gave as to the safety of the project. I can only suggest that Mr. Downtown speak with the families of the seven astronauts killed on the space shuttle Challenger before deciding how ironclad the guarantees of NASA truly are.
Even assuming that NASA is correct in its assessment of the chances of an explosion during the launch (I believe, they gave a figure of approximately 1000 to 1), why is it that they have the right to gamble with other people's lives in this fashion? It strikes me as incredibly arrogant to unilaterally subject the world to risks like this. The spirit of free inquiry trumpeted by Mr. Downum (and all right-minded people) is not free of responsibility and does not allow for the collection of data regardless of consequences. For my part, I can only conclude that true small-mindedness is exhibited by those who believe that because something technologically advanced, it is
good.
Michael Campbell Chicso, III., graduate student
Drug problems trivialized
In Ford Hoffman's article in the Kansan (Oct. 16), I read the most idiotic argument for a drug polutored America. In his article, Mr. Hoffman claimed that drug use contributed to intellectual thought by freeing the mind and thereby enabled some of the greatest innovators throughout history. Because of this, he concludes the war on drugs is an attempt at mind control by the Bush administration.
Mr. Hoffman, your advocacy of drug use trivializes the countless lives that have been lost by our law enforcement officials in the fight to stem the flow of drugs into our country. It trivializes the victims of drugs, including those who have
lost personal possessions or have been murdered by a drug-crazed addict trying to satisfy his habit. What of the thousands of babies who are stillborn or crippled because their mother used drugs? What of the spread of the terrible disease AIDS among intravenous drug users who share needles? Last but not least, what of the wrecked lives of drug addicts? The casual user of drugs contributes to this carriage.
Mr. Hoffman, if you think you presented an intellectual argument, you did not. If you think you came across as an intellectual, you did not. You and people like you (the demand side) make the drug war impossible to win. Every time you shoot-up or take a snort so you can feel good about yourself, think about the trail of victims you help to create.
W. R. Lucas
Lawrence graduate student
CAMP UHNEELY
OK. JUST IMAGINE. WE GET A MINUTE. TO MEET MICHAEL LET ME LANDON. THE BRUSH MY SWEETEST, HAIR. MOST SENSITIVE MAN ON TV. NEXT TO PAT BOONE!
BY SCOTT PATTY
OKAY, BABES LET'S GEE, HE SEEBS MAKE IT SNAPPY. ALOT TALLER THE GAMES ON. ON TELEVISION. AND I GOTTA TELEVISION. CHICK WATIN' IN THE TUB.