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Thursday, September 28, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Watkins helps fight AIDS sends labs student blood
AIDS is striking closer and closer to home. Just because we are in the Midwest, away from the big cities of the coasts, doesn't mean that we are safe. AIDS doesn't respect state lines.
Neither is AIDS a disease that only strikes certain segments of the population. Anyone who is sexually active or an intravenous drug user is at risk. Even if we are not at risk, we can experience the devastation of AIDS.
Watkins Memorial Health Center employees have cared for three KU students who died from AIDS, said Charles Yockey, Watkins' chief of staff. KU has joined the battle in the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
For the second year, blood samples from Watkins are being stripped of identification and sent to labs to be tested for AIDS. The study may provide a picture of the spread of AIDS on college campuses.
After five years, the American College Health Association, which is conducting the study in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, will attempt to show the scope of the AIDS virus among college students.
The rate last year was two students carrying the AIDS virus in every 1.000 students.
Yockey said that the University's involvement was important so that a trend could be observed.
"If the rate goes up to four per 1,000 next year and eight the next, then we've got to do something about it," Yockey said. "If the rate stays at two per 1,000, we must be doing something right."
With confidentiality protected from the start, KU students have nothing to fear from the University participating in the program.
Students should be thankful that something is being done to try to control and conquer AIDS and that the University has become involved.
At the current rate of infection, the odds are becoming greater that you know someone who will die from AIDS.
Brett Brenner for the editorial board
Legislature-supported plan to help 'at-risk' students
The state Legislative Educational Planning Committee's support of the Kansas Student Community Service Act will not only help college and university students gain experience and exposure in the "real" world but also may help some youngsters who are headed toward trouble.
The act, which was proposed by the Associated Students of Kansas, would allow students to work in the community for grants or salaries.
Fifty percent of the state financing for the program would have to be spent in educational programs for "at-risk" students.
It goes without saying that students will benefit from learning away from the often sheltered life of college or university campuses.
It also is apparent that some communities in the state could use any help available in aiding their at-risk students.
a survey conducted by a state task force through the Department of Education. In the state, 22 percent have been identified as at-risk students.
"At-risk" means that a student has at least one of the 12 characteristics that the state uses in determining which students have a high probability of either dropping out of school or failing a grade. Identifying the students at risk helps educators pinpoint those students who may need additional help to make it to high school graduation.
The characteristics range from a student lacking academic efficiency to living below the poverty level.
Almost a quarter, or 890,000, of the state's students fall into the at-risk category, according to the state survey.
The colleges and universities affected by the community service bill — most post-secondary schools in the state, including the University of Kansas - could discover soon that education doesn't necessarily have to be confined to college campuses.
Tiffany N. Harness for the editorial board
And at-risk students may learn a valuable lesson, too. They might just learn to stay in school.
News staff
David Stewart ... Editor
Ric Brack ... Managing editor
Daniel Nieman ... News editor
Candy Nieman ... Planning editor
Stan Diel ... Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser ... Campus editor
Elaine Sung ... Sports editor
Larry Hunt ... Photo editor
Christine Winner ... Art/Fairways editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, management
Business staff
Linda Prokop ... Business manager
Debra Martin ... Local advertising sales director
Jerro Medford ... National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe ... Marketing director
Tami Rank ... Production manager
Carrie Slainikin ... Assistant production manager
Nathan Townsend ... Co-op manager
Eric Hughes ... Creative director
Chrityt Dool ... Creativist manager
Jeff Meeesy ... Tearsheet manager
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Friend's death stirs emotions
Opening my Kansas Alumni magazine last week, I came across the name of an old friend. I was excited. What was he up to now? And then the last sentence. He is survived by . . . My heart stopped. Survived by?
I looked at the top of the page. It said, "In memory of." My friend Patrick was dead. He died in March of a cerebral hemorrhage.
I've always hated endings. I just don't like saying goodbye.
It's doubly hard when the endings are sudden, abrupt, unexpected, Pat, a KU graduate, was bright, personable, sharp and compassionate. And 29 when he died.
Unwittingly, I got out of saying goodbye through default.
The one time I wish that I could have said goodbye.
Ute 'tue' ihre I wish that I could have said goodbye. The people who are on the fringes of one's life who you meet in place and enough they remain in the inner circle of your life, they leave an indelible impression.
We worked together almost four years ago. I had been working in the State building in Topeka for about six months when he arrived. Not too long out of KU's School campus, we would work to forwok the state as a communications analyst.
We became friends. He was the kind of guy who really cared about things and about people. He had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known.
And his laugh. So full of energy and joy. Infectious and endearing.
I remember once we were riding together in his car. It was a sparkling, clear day. I told him that if he had been a young man in the '70s, he probably would have been one of those nature people who lived in the mountains and ate weeds. He threw back his head and laughed. I can still see the warm sunlight on his face and in his eyes, sparkling and bright, reflecting the daylight. His laughter reflected every bit of goodness in the joy of the moment. But even when he laughed, I detected an inner sadness.
Just looking at him, you got the impression that this guy was going places. Sharp, witty, intelligent and sensitive. Everything was going for him.
Yet I sensed an inner insecurity, as if the knocks of life had deflated his confidence in himself. So I watched for opportunities to encourage him, to build him up just in little ways.
And one day, months after my efforts, he was dropping me off from an office party. He had been feeling really inadequate. And during conversation, I had reinforced that message with a reply, "I'm out of the car. He called my name, I turned around and
Cheryl Jackson
Guest columnist
looked at him questioningly.
Not long after that, I got a job at KU so that I wouldn't have to commute to Toppea. He lived in Lawrence, and though we only saw each other in passing after that, every now and then I would think of Pat. He was really a special person and I wondered if he really knew how special he was.
It wasn't because he had performed superhuman feats, a was star or a person who blazed across history with extraordinary conquests. It was because he was Pat. Nobody else could be Pat. Like the individually stamped designs each design is unique and special in itself, the distinct impression his life left can never be repeated.
"Thanks for coming, I'm glad you did," he said. A simple sentence. But in his eyes I saw volumes of unaid words. He was thanking me for encouraging him. For believing in him as a person.
It was one of the last times that we were together.
And to say that even though he's gone mute we amake of special people all around the fringes of life who need to mind that they are wonderful, invaluable. To them, a saint may be a person of more valuable than gold to their wounded spirits.
When I found out he had died, I knew that I had to say goodbye somehow.
There are enough things in this life to tear people down. I don't want to take for granted the opportunity to care, to help.
I'll always remember Pat's laughter. So full of the enjoyment of the richness, the goodness of life and of each moment. And through the pain of his untimely death, I see the importance of cutting through all the red tape of life and getting to the heart of the matter. Loving people. Seling the moment to appreciate the goodness of life, with all their faults but with an inestimable value that sometimes they can't see about themselves.
Goodbye Pat, I'm glad I knew you.
> Cheryl Jackson is a staff member in the department of theater and film.
Scrutiny of officials essential
It is our responsibility as U.S. citizens to keep our elected officials accountable for their actions. It's a difficult task considering the impossibility of watching their every move, but it is a necessity if we are going to demand high ethical standards of our public servants.
I find the many charges and convictions of unethical behavior in the federal government distressing. Men and women in whom we have placed our trust and the welfare of our country are displaying an enormous disregard for all our hypocrisy at its worst, for these public servants who are breaking the laws also are making them.
Ethical misconduct is not a partisan issue. Members of both parties are guilty of deceit.
This unacceptable behavior can be attributed to the fact that many public servants are becoming too comfortable in their elected positions; so comfortable they feel that they are outside the legal scope. Unfortunately, the crimes of some have demonstrated that they are, in fact, untouchable.
A prime example of this is former President Ronald Reagan. The majority of U.S. citizens disregarded his involvement in the Iran-contra scandal for reasons beyond my comprehension. As the scandal was uncovered, it was evident that he had no interest on air carplugs in so they would not see or hear any information that would possibly associate him with the unlawful mess.
The public's unwillingness to hold Reagan accountable is more of a disgrace to our nation than Reagan's actions. It is essential in a democracy that the people be heard. It's a disgrace when the people are so apathetic that they don't use their voice.
When a common citizen breaks the law we demand prosecution. The standard should be the same for elected officials.
The only reason — and it's a poor one — that I can see for the public's behavior is that we don't want to do anything that might make other countries think our government is unstable. But we must realize that other countries respect the United States if we don't respect ourselves enough to demand ethical behavior from public servants.
In 1974 our country suffered a serious blow to its esteem. We have recovered from Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon. You would think we would have learned the lesson that our federal officials can be accountable for their actions; we didn't. The public needs our apprehension of being critical of the officials it elects.
Ever since the investigation of former House Speaker
Kathy Walsh Editorial board
When a common citizen breaks the law, we demand prosecution. The standard should be the same for elected officials.
Jim Wright began in 1988, the Congressional Ethics Committee has been busy. Aawareness of unethical behavior has become more common among members of congress. The only fault I have with this is that congressmen use unethical behavior as a personal political tool to advance their status and the status of their parties. This fact makes it that much more urgent that the public get involved on a non-partisan basis.
After the wrongdoings of Wright entered the public spotlight, wrongdoings by other congressman surfaced.
Majority Whip Tony Coelho, D-Calif., stepped down after it was charged that he was involved in an irregular junk bond deal.
Donald Lukens, R-Ohio, was convicted of "corrupting the morals" of a teen-age girl.
Robert Davis, R-Mich, was criticized for hiring his girlfriend for a $28,000-a-year job on the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries panel.
Barney Frank, D-Mass., is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee because of his involvement with a male prostitute.
People need to quit ignoring the unpleasantries surrounding our elected officials. We need to demand of them the same ethical standards that we set for ourselves. Because this is not a major election year and it doesn't affect the constituents much, it is essential that we take the initiative to hold them accountable for their actions.
▶ Kathy Wailsh is a Lee's Summit, Mo., senior majoring in journalism.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Muir got too personal
Ya gotta leve o' Jim Mui when he pulls out his verbal AK47 and lets it fly] Jim picks up his guest column Tuesday packing about six clips of ammo an' starts blastin' away, shoot' in'hither, thither an' every whichway. Doncha just use that First Amendment? Ourselves it is over some of our ordinary folks; he gets his stuff printed.
Since most of Jim's fifth clip was aimed at my backside, let me reach for my hard hittin'. 38 Special, git Jim's butt in my sings and let fly a few (verbal) slugs in return.
Jim seems to be complaining that Kansan editor David Stewart didn't speak to anyone else but me before writing his editorial on Sept. 20 about the constipation in the processing of grievances. But hell, Jim, it sez right there, "Brinkman, when called and told about what Clark had said, shot back with a flat, 'no comment.' "' Can't say that Stewart didn't try to talk with other people, but, well, sometimes felks jest ain't in a talkin' mood, Jim.
'Course ol' Jim is listed as a member of this here Grievance Task Force, and he takes it purty serious. So serious, in fact, that he just didn't manage to show up to the two (o) open meetings for the University community. Maybe Jim'll make it to the next one, maybe not.
Then Jim gits pussonal. He sez, "... Clark refused to participate in the grievance process this summer." Lemme tell you summit, Jim. I'll come along to KU when the Board of Regrets pays me. An' when they quits paying me on May 15, you won't see hide nor hair of me in these parts 'till the money down 'oign, round August, grievance hearings from which, no one give me no invitation to no grievance hearings for this summer. But I still wouldn't have showed.
Jim's parting shot says, "As for Clark's abuse of the grievance
..." Well, Jim, I jest gotta ask you. Where do you pick up your scuttlebutt from, Jim? Couldn't be from your friends on the Grievance Task Force, could it?
But you just gotta love that ol' First Amendment, right?
Rector Clark Assoc. prof., mechanical eng.
Not all women trap men
Merceda Ares' September 19 column comparing women to black widow spiders who attempt to trap men was in poor taste. Some of us feel a deeper sense of purpose. Believe it or not, I'm at college for an education — novel idea, huh?
If you are here to “shop” for men, more power to you. However, your assumption that the rest of us feel the same is dead wrong. I don’t appreciate being included in your little analogy. By statements such as, “in the beginning the woman must be subservient,” and “all men are looking for a second mother,” you belittle both sexes and perpetuate long-outdated stereotypes.
I prefer mature relationships to the childish game-playing you describe. You know, the kind where two people meet, become friends, and share their thoughts and feelings. You assume men are just unknowing victims of the much more devious woman. Give them credit for a little more intelligence than that. Don't think all women share your reactionary views. There's more to life than marriage, Merceda. I hope someday you discover that.
Ganay Johnson Kansas City, Kan., Junior
Senator's seat a waste?
Graduate Senator James Muir agrees with a fellow senator that the Kansan editorial page is a "colossal waste of paper and ink." Although it may be true, James, that you often disagree with the Kansan's editors, it is also true that without "paper and ink" you could not have expressed your opinion to the public. I also wonder, because your guest column appeared on the editorial page, that you should also be a "colossal waste?" Perchia James, before you start pointing fingers at others, you should sit back and look at your boycott. Maybe that is a colossal waste of a Student Senate seat.
Andy Finch Kansas City, Kan..Junior