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Monday, October 9, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Rule against flag burning would damage free speech
The Constitutional rights of Americans suffered a severe blow Thursday when the U.S. Senate passed by a vote of 91-9 a statutory ban on flag desecration. The bill, which will return to the House for consideration of the Senate changes, is expected to pass.
Three months ago, the uproar regarding the legality of flag desecration as a legitimate form of freedom of speech began. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the burning of the flag was a constitutionally protected form of freedom of speech.
The American people were outraged by this decision. Now, after the fire has burned down, people aren't as disturbed by the Court's decision. But politicians on Capitol Hill won't let go. In the name of patriotism they have successfully made an issue out of a non-issue.
Patriotism has been a prevalent theme of the 1980s. The 1988 presidential campaign only intensified the patriotic rhetoric by focusing on the "unpatriotic."
Today, to be labeled unpatriotic is similar to being labeled a communist during the McCarthy years.
Many careers of public people, albeit politicians or actors, were tarnished during the late 1940s and early 1950s because they were labeled as communists by a group who wanted to quiet them and their political beliefs. In the 1980s the word unpatriotic carries the same negative connotations.
Unfortunately, Congress has moved one step closer to passing a Constitutional amendment with the approval of this law. President Bush still favors amending the Constitution.
It's rather ironic that while our country's leaders are promoting democracy abroad, and the freedoms associated with it, they are taking some of our freedoms away.
We should not let our elected officials pass legislation that decreases our rights based on rhetoric, solely created as a political tool. It is our responsibility to write our congressmen and let them know how we feel.
Let's detach ourselves from our emotions regarding our flag and be logical. In a free democracy, people should exercise
If we allow our government to be run by emotions and not logic, our society will lose its solid foundation.
Kathy Walsh for the editorial board
Students need to discuss sexism, make guidelines
The University of Kansas is ready for a forum to discuss what sexism is and what it isn't.
The most recent local allegation of sexism is, of course, against the "11 Dates to Remember" poster, which features 11 women dressed in football gear to promote attendance at 1989 Kansas football games.
The February Daughters, who are alleging the sexism, protested at Saturday's game to express their offense at the poster.
The women who are in the poster say they aren't offended in the least.
The people who made the poster say they really didn't intend to offend anyone.
Obviously, there's a variety of opinions on this issue. The Editorial Board, which decides Kansan editorial policy, after an hour of arguing, came up with a 6-4 vote against the poster being sexist. There were eight men and two women at the meeting.
But whether the poster is sexist is hardly the point. The point is whether a University function should be advertised with a poster that could be considered sexist and that would provoke a protest. This point is compounded in this case by the fact that this is the 100th anniversary of the Kansas football program.
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, commented during a meeting with Kansan editors that the University had no sexism policy, basically for the reason alluded to above: The issue is too broad to define with an easy set of guidelines.
Although guidelines hardly would stop sexism, real or implied, what the student body needs to do is discuss the issue openly and decide what sorts of guidelines we can impose and what sorts we cannot.
David Stewart for the editorial board
Otherwise, posters like "11 Dates to Remember" will continue to be published, causing people to rush to the football stadium to protest the games rather than to support them.
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric张...Managing editor
Daniel Niemi...News editor
Carrie Niemi...Planning editor
Stan Diel...Editorial editor
Jennifer Corsez...Campus editor
Elinne Sung...Sports editor
Rena Huntner...News editor
Christine Winner...Arts/Features editor
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 Sianinka...Assistant production manager
Grant Townsend...Co-op manager
Eric Hughen...Creative director
Christel Doolf...Classified manager
Jeff Meesey...Teacheress manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Tax cut exists only to help wealthy
The popular press was quick to condemn the pompous attitude expressed by Leona Helmsley when she said, "Only the little people pay taxes." U.S. citizens chanced when she was convicted of tax evasion and relished the thought of the hotel entrepreneur (a.k.a. "Rhymes with rich"), spending time in prison. Yet when the U.S. House of Representatives expressed a similar attitude toward the United States' needy, there was no public outrage or demand for reprimand.
By approving a capital gains tax cut and voting to repeal catastrophic health insurance legislation, the House has sent a message to the people, saying that we are interested in interests desire priority over the nation's needy.
Throughout the 1988 presidential campaign, George Bush contended that lowering the tax rate on the selling of such capital as houses and boats would result in increased government revenue in the short run and a stronger economy in the long run. Michael Dukakis attempted to expose this fallacy during the campaign, but Bush cleverly avoided such criticism by promising no new taxes.
Because the capital gains tax cut benefits the nation's most wealthy, it was no surprise that President Bush introduced the legislation in the House Ways and Means Committee, especially after Mr. Obama's decision to serve the father of supply-side, or "voodoo", economic theory. Ronald Reagan.
However, that the Democratic leadership in the House lost control of its majority and failed to block the legislation was a surprise. Unless the Senate succeeds in rejecting the tax cut, it looks like we're in for what Mortimer Zuckerman, of U.S. News and World Report, dubbed, "Deja
Daniel
Grossman
Staff columnist
voodoo."
Bush's "help the rich first" economic philosophy represents, just as Reagan's supply-side philosophy represented, tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of the rest of America and our children, via the budget deficit. Further, if the capital gains tax cut contributes in the long run to the deficit, as the Joint Committee on Taxation has predicted, the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reducing mechanisms enacted in 1986 will begin to systematically cut funding for crucial social programs, most of which are geared to aid the nation's underprivileged.
Those elderly Americans who do not enjoy a fat private pension will also feel the wrath of the House of Representatives' assault on the poor.
By an overwhelming 360-66 margin, the House voted to repeal landmark legislation that was to provide catastrophic health care insurance for people on Medicare. When the original legislation was passed last year with ever President Reagan's support, citizens amplified, saving it长久 overdue.
However, when it was discovered that the program was to be financed by taxation of the entire elderly population, the American Association of Retired People and other interest groups that represent financially stable, elderly citizens
objected
These interest groups united to demand that the legislation be repealed, and they launched a well organized and well-financed campaign to make their opinions known to their representatives in Washington. Ironically, one of the major advocates for repealing the law is the son of Franklin D. Rosevelt, the man who initiated what we now know as Social Security. In effect, Rosevelt's son and his followers are fighting to dismantle the principles that FDR created. They claim that the imposition of a surtax on the elderly population, regardless of their potential need for the program, is inherently unfair.
However, these people fail to acknowledge that this travesty of public welfare is precisely the reason that they enjoy such prosperity in their retirement. Social Security is based on the belief that the welfare of the less fortunate is the burden of the fortune. To claim that this surtax is unfair is to discard this principle and the basis of all social programs, including Social Security.
The Bush administration and the House are neglecting their obligation to help the needy. Capital gains tax cuts and the abolition of catastrophic illness insurance are not solutions to our economic problems, and they do nothing but hurt the underprivileged. The Senate will decide on both of these measures this week. For the sake of a kinder, gentler nation, let's hope they don't follow the House' lead. The nation's poor would not be able to afford it.
Daniel Grosman is a Denver, Colo., senior majoring in political science.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Keep panties in drawers
I hesitated to write this letter. I feared I would fall to adequately express my disgust regarding the "panty raid" article that covered nearly one third of the front page of Thursday's Kansan. But I'll give it a shot.
It is ridiculous that this article ran on the front page. 'C'mon, surely there'SOMETHING newsworthy that would warrant that front-page space? Or was it a slow week for current events?
The article itself was almost laughable, but I think the infantile behavior that the Greek system tends to perpetuate is pretty sad. The panty raids were described as follows: "The women try to protect their drawers. They usually stand in front of the dresser screaming. They are probably, in an odd sort of way, flattered." Hmmm. Well, doesn't sound too bad for me, it just sounds juvenile. But in describing the pledges, one member says, "Most girls behave themselves better than boys do." Ah, key words there — boys and girls. At least he doesn't refer to them and men.
Toni Thennes
Dodge City Junior
Football poster not sexist
In response to the Oct. 3 article dealing with an alleged sexism rule violation, I would like to make a few comments. I think the 1989 KU football poster was a cute idea, and furthermore, I believe that the February Daughters are suggesting that every time an individual perceives an act to be sexist, he or she should demand retribution.
I read through the University policy concerning sexism (Timetable, p. 135), and I fail to see how this poster violated the sexism code. I find it to be quite embarrassing that the Athletic Department is having to defend itself on this issue; moreover, for the February Daughters to insist on an apology from the department is absolutely ludicrous. What nerve they have!
I am not questioning the right of this feminist organization to protest. I just think they are amplifying this particular situation in hopes of bringing attention to their cause. Please do not misconstruse this message to be anti-feminist. I simply want to convey the message that truly exist problems exist at this University which demand immediate attention. Therefore, to the February Daughters: please allow reason to triumph over passion, and do not create conflict where it does not exist.
John Kinnamon
Overland Park sophomore
Panty raids overplayed
I regret contributing information to the article by Rich Cornell about greek pranks. It seems he only found it suitable to amplify and exploit the most negative aspects of the interview. He completely omitted the more harmless pranks that are played the vast majority of the time. Every time I mentioned water fights, he diverted his questions to "panny raids." The truth is, I haven't seen such an activity in more than three years. Yet somehow his article oculating that topic made it to the front page of the paper as if it were headline news. Aren't there important subjects and current affairs that could be placed there? The activities mentioned in the article do indeed have the sexist connotations that Rich was apparently trying to stil. That is why they are such a rare occurrence. If Rich had asked how frequently something like this happens, he would have known not to make it the main interest of his
article. What this type of article does is spread anti-greek sentiment. It seems, with respect to greeks, the media often has a way of magnifying and distorting the bad, while brushing the good under the rug.
I commend the Kansan for their article on the SAE's program with the mentally handicapped. But I am angered that these articles are too few, compared with the great number of positive things Greek houses are doing. My fraternity, Delta Upsilon, notified the Kansan a week in advance of our football tournament which raised $10,000 for underprivileged children. No article. We again need to be presenting Karl Meninger, founder of our philanthropy, at a reception. No show. I think the Greek community would like the media to take a closer look at the positive aspects of Greek life.
Brad Kampschroeder Naperville, Ill., senior
Poster, raids exploit sex
The football poster is sexiest? I thought it was supposed to be. Sex sells. That kind of crap is prevalent for a reason. What I want to know is why there aren't more bfeafcats敢? Many women will buy sex just like many men. I want equality. Both sexes are exploited. Fair is fair. Black is white. Night is daunt. Aren't there any women in advertising? Is it still dominated by those hypocritical, ying, yawning, charismatic, mud-wallowing, primitive artiodacty? Are women still paid two-thirds of what man are for the same job?
Panty raids? And on the front page, no less. There have been a number of lame articles. I have certainly been pondering what a panty raid is since I came to a higher institution of learning. Aren't freshmen properly prepared for college? When I was young (in first grade) I got to see women actually wearing their panties. Obviously education is going
downhill. What are kids doing in school these days? Why don't fraternities do what I do and buy their own panties? The article could've at least covered the important points. How do some of the panties get damaged, and is this really just a plot by lingerie retailers? Think professionally. Think hard. Think hard.
Terence Meehan Boring, Ore., graduate student
In regard to the entertainment gala of Oct. 14, "Mid Night Court," I think that the Athletic Department should enter a plea of insanity. The first practice of the year has captured the hearts of all KU basketball fans until now.
Admission fees unfair
Three dollars is not going to make me go so much more into debt than I already am, but the concept of paying to see a scrimmage animals and miffs me. Oh boy, I get to see Shooting Star, the national recording artists. But wait, there's more. Also appearing — the Nace Brothers! Maybe some exterminators will show up and give a clinic on freeing the house of grub worms!
If the Athletic Department wants to make money, they should stick to selling "sexist" posters. Why start charging now? Larry Bud Melman came, and what was the charge then? Danny Manning sang, and how much did he charge?
If Shooting Star needs another local gig after the "Day in the Park" two weeks ago, they have my permission to play in my guises I will have to wait until springtime for a first practice.
The Athletic Department has done a great wrong to KU basketball fans. They have ruined a promotion tradition and turned me against the first practice. It looks like I was turned into an commercial inter
Den Simon
Lawrence Junior