4 Monday, October 1, 1990/ University Daily Kansan Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Persian Gulf crisis United States is right to send troops to the gulf but the government should not mask its motives In light of the steadily increasing threat of military conflict in the Persian Gulf, we question the motives behind our troops' presence on foreign sand and the length of time they will be there. Watching children and adults aboard 185,000 military personnel already in the gulf forces us to re-examine our government's position in this tense stand-off. President Bush contends the U.S. presence in the gulf serves a two-fold purpose. Troops are enforcing the United Nations Security Council's economic embargo imposed on Iraq on Aug. 6. In addition, forces supposedly are acting as police to preserve international law. Apparently, the multi-national effort to uphold the embargo has shown signs of success. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein was beginning to feel the bite of the economic sanctions. Cheney said that if the sanctions continued to cripple Iraq, military retaliation could become a reality in the imminent future. But this will not serve as an excuse for the United States to launch a first strike. Saddam has threatened that should this occur, the United States would be sure to suffer greater losses than were incurred during the Vietnam War. We support a merely defensive multinational force acting to carry out the intentions of the United Nations. However, the United States does not claim only this mission. When our precious resources are at stake, it seems far too convenient for our government to boast of protecting international law. We certainly cannot lead by example. A choice few of our past foreign policy decisions have not exactly followed basic tenets of the laws we are vowing to uphold: Panama and Grenada, for example. Why did we not send our freedom fighters into El Salvador to help curb violence and ensure the democratic way? Last week we watched Bush support South African President F.W. de Klerk even after the horrors of inhumanity that have occurred in South Africa almost every day. We do not condemn Operation Desert Shield for protecting our interests, but for camouflaging the true intent of our presence in the gulf: the protection of our energy sources. By claiming to perservere in upholding international law, the government masks itself in hocrypsis. Above all, we hope that the conflict is soon resolved peacefully, so that we may welcome our loved ones home. Christine Reinolds and Buck Taylor for the editorial board Brave, loyal, kind . . . Heterosexuality not included in Boy Scout Law The Boy Sorces of America is based on heterosexual, family values. Homosexuals are not good role models for pre-adolescent and adolescent young people. That's how Lee Sneath, national spokesperson for Boy Scouts of America, explained the organization's refusal to allow Timothy Curran to become a Boy Scout adult leader in Los Angeles. Curran was expelled from a Berkeley, Calif. Boy Scout troop 10 years ago, months after being awarded an Eagle Scout badge, the highest honor awarded to a Boy Scout. Why? Curran's date for his high school senior prom was a male. When Scout leaders learned that, they told Curran his sexual orientation incompatible with the organization's values. Curran, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, is asking a California Superior Court in Los Angeles to force the Scouts to allow him to return to the organization. The ACLU argues that the Scouts must comply with the state's Civil Rights Act, which prohibits random discrimination. Boy Scouts of America counters that as a private, non-profit organization, it has the protection of the California Constitution to choose its members as it wishes. Philip Kissam, KU professor of law, said that in a similar case in 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Minnesota Jaycees group. In Roberts v. U. Jayces, the court ruled that the community organization admit women as full, voting members One key to that ruling, Kissam said, was the court's finding that the Jaycees admitted most anyone who expressed interest — except women. In addition, the group's activities affected the public, stripping the Jaycees of constitutional privacy rights. The ACLU appears prepared to offer similar arguments. The Boy Scouts also allow almost anyone interested in joining to do so. The ACLU's complaint in the case lists book publishing and retail outlets as two of the Scouts' profitable ventures. That negates the Scouts' belief that it is a non-profit organization, the ACLU contends. The ACLU complaint also lists several of the Scouts' public projects. If Curran should win, the Scouts and other organizations may have to prove in other courtrooms that they are private enough to follow archaic, ugly policies. enough to follow archaic, ugly policies. A Curran victory may serve as a major victory for gay rights activists, bringing further scrutiny to what many gays call the discrimination in our society — homophobia. Liz Tolbert, Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas member, said that she found the Boy Scouts homophobia ridiculous. Gays always involved in Scouts and always will be, she said. Heterosexuality is not included in Boy Scout Law, which does demand trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness and bravery. Boy Scouts of America simply encourages any silent gay members to remain silent. But didn't Curran, who revealed what he knew would be found reprehensible by many, show the bravery that is asked for in the Boy Scout Law? Rich Cornell for the editorial board Other Voices Limiting terms effective Lawmakers may have to be more accountable for their actions now that voters are taking a vested interest in the electoral process and its built-in favoritism toward incumbents. limiting congressional tenure but that members of Congress generally opposed term limits. Because lawmakers don't want to limit their terms and ultimately their options, voters in some states are trying to take the law into their own hands. limit on how long politicians can hold elective office. And the 12-year limit placed on Oklahoma politicians may be just the beginning. Oklahoma voters last month enacted he nation's first sweeping Recent polls indicated voters were more than two-to-one in favor of Term limitations would allow lawmakers to better serve their constituency because they would concentrate on representation and less on re-election. Demands beget discrimination the editorial board of the University Daily Kansas last week talked with Black organizations on the topic. They have three basic demands: that the head of minority affairs be elevated to the level of a dean, that the Western Civilization program add more minority scholarship and more scholarship money be made available to minorities. Demands, demands, demands. The equal and civiliz- right movements exist these days in the form of Concessions, although they are made in the spirit of cooperation and with concern for minority groups, are resulting in discrimination, which is precisely what the rights movements are trying to end. What comes of demands? Concessions. The government sets quotes, requiring that a certain number of minorities hold certain positions; newspaper editors change style so that races are referred to with capital letters, and universities give out money and benefits to lure minority students. For example, in the 1950s, the federal government and many private employers eliminated photographs and questions about race and ethnicity from their application and personnel forms. Steele and Will address specifically the "reregregation of campus life." Steele attacks a Pennsylvania State University program that pays Black students for improving their grades, such as $500 for improvement from a "C" to a "C." grades Will says are mediocre and would embarrass many Whites. By making unreasonable demands, minority groups are running the risk of promoting their own victimization. In the Sept. 24 issue of Newsweek, George Will addresses this problem, prompted by Shelby Steele's book *Content of our character.* A New Vision of America in Education, a graduate teacher at San Jose State University He is Black Despite that great step for the civil rights movement, however, today when we fill out job applications or admissions applications we are requested to record what our races are. Employers say this information is used to help them comply with affirmative action guidelines set by the government. Not only are the doors open again for discrimination against race, but also an employer now may choose an employee simply because of race. If an employee is hired to add "token" color, is this fair to him? Will says, "Discussion of race has become boringly choreographed. Black leaders demand racial entitlement for all." "Steele calls this the "harangu-flagellation" ritual that has left Blacks complaining indiscriminately about their victimization. Blacks and Whites are trapped into patterns of victimization and guilt. In the Penn State case, simply throwing money at the problem is actually promoting a sense of inferiority in the minority students. If KU specifies more money for "minorities," it is inviting the same problem. The truth is that life is difficult for a lot of people on campus, minorities and majorities alike. There is no boundary to fighting and barely surviving at the University; we all are doing both. Poverty exists throughout the world. The Black organizations would rather have fewer minority scholarships given but in larger sums. Wouldn't we all like to see that? And, for another example, the scholarship halls are discussing allotting spaces or renting out classrooms for the students. Why is there a need, when clearly the most qualified applicants should earn the spaces? There is nothing that fosters discrimination more than to dole out favors to certain groups. These favors serve only to acknowledge that certain groups might need favors because maybe we, and they, are afraid that they can't earn these honors on merits other than their minority status. Julie Mettenburg News Editor Nothing on this campus promotes discrimination as much as the "Celebrate Diversity" campaign. If we didn't celebrate diversity, if we let the boundaries between the races and groups fall down and let the groups blur, there would be little basis for discrimination. Miss USA 1994, Carole Gist, said it best. "Tm part African American, part Cherokee, part Cuscanian, part Filipino, part Polynesian. My hope for the future is that you can up to one can discriminate against anyone anymore." The Black groups at KU do have a point, however, when they say that they have a culture to preserve. Diversity must exist in the interests of this country, we all have heritages and cultures we must seek to preserve But these heritages aren't based on the races. Scientists seeking to define race as a further classification of the species couldn't because they found more similarities than differences between groups. Heritages are nationalities such as Germans or Native Americans or regionalities such as Texans or New Englanders. The Blacks in America do share a common heritage. But does it warrant the elevation of the term for their "race" — something not necessarily definable — to the status of race? It is not creating an even higher wall between ethnic groups? The most appropriate campaign at KU, if we truly want to eliminate discrimination, might be "Recognize Beyond race, what defines a minority? An article, written by Henry Lundsgaarde for the Houston Law Review tackles the question. Lundsgaarde says that using terms such as "minority group" does not need "to reflect facts or common sense to find acceptance by public authorities." "The term minority," he says, "has become a polysemic label that has no relation to group size. It apparently signifies membership in any racial, ethnic, sexual, age or economic" group that "for some reason, usually political, seeks to benefit from special social privileges." Following this definition, my father, a White, middle-class, middle-age, heterosexual male, contends that his demographic group is one of the most discriminated against. Discrimination will exist as long as we cultivate the boundaries that allow it to exist. Before any administrative changes are going to eliminate discrimination, we must make sure that rules and statutes that separate us into "minorities" and "majorities." When we have one student union that can adequately represent all the students, then the boundaries will be broken down. When there are no "minorities," we won't need a deam to represent them. We cannot legislate or enforce anti-discrimination, and all sides must stop trying to. Minorities must make demands that do indeed call for equality, not for special treatment. On the other side, the government and administrations must stop bowing to small factions of pressure. In other words, we all must cooperate and invest time together to find the best solutions. Then, when there is no "us" or "them," that's when there will be no discrimination. And that is my hope for the future. > Julie Mettenburg is an Ottawa senior majoring in journalism. KANSAN STAFF KJERSTIN GABRIELSON Managing editor DEREK SCHMIDT Editor TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser Editors News Julie Mettenburg Editorial Mary Neubauer Planning Pam Sollin Campus Holly Lawton Sports Brent Maycoy Photo Andrew Morrison Features Smith Mc MARGARET TOWNSEND Business manager JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser MINDY MORRIS Retail sales manage Campus sales mgr. --- Christ Dool Regional sales mgr. Jackie Schmalzmier National sales mgr. --- David Price Co-op sales mgr. --- Deborah Salzner Production mgr. --- Missy Miller Production assistant --- Julie Axiand Marketing director --- Audra Langford Creative director --- Gail Einbinder MINDY MORRIS By Tom Avery Letters should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words. They must include the writer's name, address, name and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas are not required to have this information. Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be authorized. The Koman reserves the right to reject or edit articles, grant comments and cessions. They can be seen in the videos below as an example of such actions. The authors are the opinion of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Koman. Editorials are the authors' own. Three Imaginary Girls WELL, DRINKS ARE IN THE KITCHEN. GET OUT THAT AMONGST EM! I AM BEGINNING TO THINK LATE NIGHT ESPN WASN'T SUCH A BAD IDEA. I CAN SEE THREE PLEAS OF YOMIT AND IT ISN'T EVEN NINE O'CLOCK. YET.