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Thursday, October 12, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Death of Kansas City Star expected but still a shock
Soon, the Kansas City area will see an old friend die.
Soon, the Kansas City area will see an old friend die. The death sentence came for this friend, the Kansas City Star, on Oct. 5, 1989. The Kansas City Star company, which publishes the Kansas City Times and the Kansas City Star, announced that because of the Star's rapidly declining circulation, it would be merged with the Times sometime in the first quarter of 1990.
Star and Times editor Joe McGuff wrote in a Sunday Star column, "Many improvements have been made in the afternoon paper," but "in the end it was to no avail."
Circulation dropped, and that was the bottom line. McGuff wrote, "In reality, we are not killing a newspaper. We are taking a news package that has been published in two parts and will begin publishing it in one."
So the Star has become a sad victim of bad arithmetic, too: 2 papers - 1 paper 2 papers in a package
The Kansas City Evening Star was born on Sept. 18, 1880. So the Star will be a little more than 110 years old when it merges with the Times.
A lot has changed since 1880 at the Star. The first issue cost two cents. Now, it takes a quarter and a dime to pick up the paper. The first issue was colorless, pictureless, dry. Now, it is full of color, photos and bright layouts.
But one thing about the Star has not changed, and that is the fact that it is an evening paper.
The evening Star has a personality distinct from the Times; it truly is a paper one can come home to after a long day's work. The new merged paper will be called the Star, even though the Star never was a morning paper. Perhaps that's because the Star's name is more steeped in history, nostalgia and respect; writers such as Ernest Hemingway have graced its pages in the past.
So although the name of the Star will live on in a new time slot, the Star as a historic afternoon paper is soon to be laid to rest. As McGuff wrote, "Sometime within the next few months, loyal readers who have been accustomed to getting an afternoon publication will no longer receive it. We share their sense of loss."
And so does everyone, because the effective death of the Star is like losing one's frail grandfather — we expected that the time would come soon, but it is a shock that it has finally arrived.
Just as much of the media finds that coverage of starvation in Ethiopia is no longer fashionable or that the public has become hardened to this reality, the devastation in the wake of one of North America's worst natural disasters also no longer fills headlines. This is a shame.
David Stewart for the editorial board
Hugo leaves the headlines; homeless stay for cleanup
Although Hurricane Hugo is gone, thousands of people are just beginning the cleanup efforts. More than 1,000 truckloads of rubble a day still are being removed from Charleston, S.C., and Army troops are arriving just now to aid in the effort. Unemployment in South Carolina has more than tripled. Army officials estimate that the cleanup could last six months.
The fact that the continuing tragedy is no longer deemed front-page news does not lessen the seriousness of the problem. It is a nationwide effort to aid those whose lives have been disrupted. Byers said the Douglas County Red Cross had a goal of $8,212 to raise for the relief effort. They have raised only about $2,000. She said they would not stop soliciting donations until the goal was met.
Jo Byers, Red Cross chapter manager for Douglas County, said 66,000 families in Puerto Rico and Charleston were still homeless. The storm is gone; the tragedy continues. Where is the media now?
Don't be fooled by the lack of publicity. Charleston and Puerto Rico have been devastated, and we have an obligation to help.
Stan Diel for the editorial board
Members of the editorial board are David Stewart, Stan Diel, Brett Brenner, Rlc Brack, Daniel Niemi, Craig Welch, Kathy Walsh, Deb Gruver, Thom Clark and Tifany Harness.
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
Daniel Niemi...News editor
Candy Niemann...Planning editor
Stan Dell...Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser...Campus editor
Elaine Sung...Sports editor
Laure Husar...Photo editor
Chrisheal Winner...Artist/Fashion
Tim Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop ...Business manager
Debra Martin ..Local advertising sales员
Jerre Medford ..National/regional sales员
Jill Lowe ..Marketing director
Tami Rank ..Production manager
Carrie Slaninka ..Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend ..Grandmother
Grace Hopper ..Creative director
Christal Dool ..Classified manager
Jeff Messey ..Teacheress managers
Jeanne Hines ..Sales and marketing adviser
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words and must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University of Kansas, please include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
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ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED. M.TWAIN,1897
KU needs to assess attitudes
Confronting prejudice requires change of individual behavior
I believe that most students, faculty and administrators at the University of Kansas truly respect the equality of all people regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender or sexual preference, and desire a campus free of prejudicial attitudes. Yet despite that fact, an undeniable presence of prejudice exists here at KU. This is exemplified by the low numbers of minority faculty, staff and students, the declining number of Black students, forms of unofficial segregation, and incidents of prejudicial remarks or acts. An observation of students at Wescoe beach quickly reveals that Blacks and whites on our campus often are unable to identify with those outside their own race. Despite our belief in equality, subtle, yet persistent, barriers come between us. The discrepancy between the beliefs and the reality in which we find ourselves arises from inaction.
The Minority Affairs Committee and Celebrate Diversity invite you to take that initiative. Begin by evaluating yourself and examining your attitudes, language and
This week, the Minority Affairs Committee of Student Senate is inviting those who have not yet done so to sign the Celebrate Diversity Covenant Confronting Racism and Prejudice. Celebrate Diversity is a program that began last year to address prejudice and racism on our campus and in our community. The covenant is a statement of appreciation for the vast diversity among people with diverse cultural preferences, age and ability. By signing the covenant, one supports a belief in the beauty and value of that diversity.
Celebrate Diversity can and must be more than a declaration of belief, however. Only when definitive action is combined with that belief will progress occur. Taking action means combating the ignorance, misconceptions and lack of exposure to different cultures and peoples which foster prejudicial attitudes. Taking action means an initiative on the part of each individual to overcome his or her own ignorance.
Kirsten
Unger
Guest columnist
behavior for signs of conscious or unconscious prejudice. Assess your own ignorance and misconceptions about different people. Do so honestly. There is no need to become defensive, for no one can claim to be free of such ignorance.
Next, do not allow the display of prejudice in your presence. Prejudicial bias, remarks, labels and jokes must meet with protest and outrage. Catch yourself if you label or stereotype others and resist the labels and stereotypes that others place upon you.
Finally, commit to increasing your knowledge and exposure to other races, religions and nationalities. There are many culturally oriented organizations on campus which are open to any interested student. In addition, each semester there are numerous concerts, religious services, forums, films, musical groups, art displays, workshops and lectures which can serve to increase our appreciation of diversity among people. Take the initiative to attend at least three such events each semester. Invite friends and members of your living organization to attend with you.
The challenge to overcome prejudice at KU will be met only when each individual takes action to transform the belief in the value and beauty of diversity into a true celebration.
► Kirsten Unger is a Manhattan junior majoring in chemistry/pre-medicine. She is also a member of the Minority Affairs Committee of Student Senate.
Minor leagues have integrity
The first cold snap has put thoughts of minor league ball behind us here in Arkansas — like spring finery packed away in the bottom drawer. But I miss watching the Arkansas Travelers at Ray Winder Field in Little Rock even as college football rushes to fill the vacuum. The Travs had an exciting event, emerging as Texas League champs in a dramatic playoff with Wichita.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were minor league football, too? What if fans could go up to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock to watch the Little Rock and Wichita Elevenscrimmage for the league championship — complete with cheerleaders, autumn foliage, brisk fall air, marching bands and hot chocolate, if not something stronger? Watching the Dallas Cowboys is not a satisfactory game. Watching the Philadelphia Eagles is ally amateurish, isn't the same as a minor league one — good or bad. Minor league ball can be gosh-awful, but it is seldom indifferent.
Not even the least advantage of minor league football would be its impact on education. The country's institutions of higher learning would no longer feel called upon to appease the lower appetites every fall. College football would give way to honest professionalism and revert to the relatively innocent status of college baseball, a game still played by students rather than aspiring gladiators.
Think about it: No more recruiting scandals. No more annual exposes of the obvious. No more farcical rules handed down by collegiate associations with long names and the most solemn manner. The exploitation of young athletes would be open and above board, as in baseball, rather than being thinly disguised as an education enterprise. At long last the separation of church and state could be followed by that of football and education. Both might flourish. Commerce liberated from hypocrisy would no longer have to pose a sport.
There is a reason why minor league baseball, though technically professional, seems so much more amateurish than "amateur" football played on a colossal scale. College football is big business; minor league baseball isn't. Note that they don't make movies about college football anymore, while movies about minor league baseball have become a genre of their own. That's because one is art, the other industry.
So why not minor league football? This suggestion and fantasy is inspired by a stray comment from Archie Cooley, a.k.a. the gunslinger. He's the head coach, athletic director and Grand Pandanjum of the Autumn Rite at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He was explaining/defending the mismatch of his beheaded-up fan at a Nike game last weekend, said the Gunslinger, who is to be commended for his honesty. If not his sportsmanship:
"This was an opportunity we could not pass up. Eventually, we need to play most of the teams in the state because the money is there to be made. I was brought to stuff to make money, and if I don't, I won't be there! "
Paul Greenberg
And what the Gunslinger said about football goes for basketball on many a campus, too. The surest way to end the scandals that surround both college football and
Syndicated columnist
Think about it: No more recruiting scandals. No more annual exposes of the obvious.
basketball is to end college football and basketball, or at least the way they're now practiced and promoted. Let's drop the pretense that these colossal contests are friendly little intermural games; they have become what bread and circuses were to the Romans: entertainment for the masses and sustenance for the poor.
The Gunslinger may have his faults, but an absence of canard is not one of them. How many other head coaches would have summed up the replacement of the sport by business so clearly? UAPB is no exception to the pattern of education's dominance by athletics; Coach Cooley is just more direct about it. It would be hard to match his comment as a judgment on U.S. education or the lack thereof.
But imagine if minor league football were as widespread as minor league baseball. The Gumeler wouldn't have to worry about academic requirements, remedial courses or even recruit running backs in the criminal courts of Texas, where he appeared not long ago on behalf of a defendant or two. There would no longer be any need to pretend that football was an educational exercise. A fresh air of honesty would sweep through college campuses, and sweep out hokum it. Professional athletics would take the place of professional amateur athletics. The Cowboys and the Rams, the Celtics and the Pistons could stop using universities as farm clubs. Young men could sign on to play football without fear of English 101.
So bring on minor league football. And basketball. The country already has them; they're just called something else, namely college sports. Universities could lease their stadiums for a fair consideration. College football and basketball are already business ventures; why not recognize as much? Management is in demand, a union instead of having to settle for student status. At last the business of college sports could be held to business standards.
Content and education would profit by this clear, clean separation. Sure, there would be some bush leagues. But what's really bush is the pretense that college football has much connection with education.
**» Paul Greenberg is a columnist for the Pine Bluff (Art.) Gazette.**
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Space shuttle not a threat
This week, several environmental groups are presenting "Plutonium is Forever Week" to protest the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. They claim that the shuttle likely will explode and that the plutonium, which will be used to carry Project Gallileo into orbit, will give lung cancer to Americans. If NASA officials thought the plutonium would be a threat to the environment, then why would they plan the launch in the first place?
According to NASA officials, in an article from The Associated Press, "The highest probability of a launch-area release of plutonium because of a shuttle accident is less than 1 in 2,500, and such a release would have no adverse effect on the population."
Sources at Rockwell International, a defense contractor in Cypress, Calif., reiterated NASA's faith in the mission by saying, "The amount of plutonium being carried in Atlantis is too small to have a major effect on the atmosphere."
David Shuster
Overland Park junior
Since the Challenger disaster, the shuttle program has gone through many changes and improvements. Therefore, an explosion of Atlantis is almost an impossible event. Thus, we have nothing to worry about for this safe mission, but we must ensure mental groups should concentrate their efforts on a real cause, like recycling or acid rain.
Greek complaint whiny
Several letters to the editor in response to Friday's article "Panty and composite thefts remain tradition for greeks" have shown up in the Kansan expressing a distaste for the editors' decision to run the story. In Sally Gibb's letter ("Greek coverage blamed," on Tuesday) she states, "I am confident that I speak for all greets at KU when I say that we have not been fairly written about in the paper." One of the complaints that Gibbs and several others have about the Kansan is that in reporting stories such as the panty raid article, the Kansan and its staff are simply perpetuating bad stereotypes about Greeks. Well, Ms. Gibbs, I think you need to first take a look at your attitude before you start blaming others for the responsibility of stereotyping greeks.
I find it a very immature tactic to accuse others of being lax in their reporting because you do not like to hear what they have to say. And good grief, to complain that the Kansan has not reported “the fact that just two years ago McColum Hall residents thrived on setting off fireworks in the stairwells of the building.” Boy, can you believe the nerve of that, that, that newspaper telling about the panty raid but purposely concealing the fireworks scandal!
Let's face it. The most stereotypical and derogatory remarks in Rich Cornell's article came from Brad Campschreeder. No matter what context they taken in, Kampschreeder did in fact make those remarks, and he, as a representative of the greek system, is more responsible for perpetuating the immature behavioral stereotype of a "fat boy" than the reporter who reported his even states in texts that "I do not deny the fact that pany raids and insults' swape' occur". So what is her problem with a newspaper reporting the facts? Her entire article is one whiny complaint about the greek system getting a bad rap. Personally, I try to avoid the typical Greek stereotypes, but I find it difficult when I hear or read the 'Why don't you only report the good things about us' complaint. I sure hope Gibis is incorrect when she says she speaks for all Greeks at KU.
Tim Phillips
Topeka senior
Other voices
Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.
on the coup attempt in Panama:
It's too bad, but Gen. Manuel Noriega has survived another attempted coup.
About all the United States can do is continue to apply economic pressure, denounce Noriega and cheer Panamanian rebels on from the sidelines.
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