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Friday, August 31, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sexual orientation Administration should take stance against ROTC
Race, religion, sex, disability, national origin, political affiliation, age, ancestry and sexual orientation. None can restrict a KU student from participating in a University-sponsored program.
That's what the University of Kansas' antidiscrimination policy states.
But so far, Chancellor Gene A. Budig has refused to enforce the policy as it applies to the ROTC programs here.
The University Council met yesterday in special session. The topic: Budig's failure to restrict the ROTC programs from campus for their refusal to grant memberships and scholarships to persons who say they are homosexual
During the meeting, Del Shankel, acting executive vice chancellor, said when responding to a hypothetical question that the University would be morally wrong to accept a large donation to KU's scholarship fund if the donor were allowed to discriminate when deciding who received the scholarship money.
But just last week Shankel defended the administration's position about the Department of Defense's policy excluding homosexuals. He said that the ROTC program represented one of higher education's most attractive scholarship programs despite its blatant discriminatory practices, KU, he said, might lose the program if officials pressed too hard for change.
Shankel's statements represent the misguided and contradictory approach the administration is taking on this issue.
May 3, the Council passed a resolution that would prohibit ROTC from holding commissioning ceremonies on KU property or involving KU personnel in them. The rationale was that ROTC's policy contradicts the University's anti-discrimination policy. As of yet, Chancellor Gene A. Budig has not signed the resolution and has announced no plans to do so.
Shankel said University officials, rather than excluding ROTC from campus, would be more effective by joining other universities that are lobbying the Pentagon for a new Department of Defense policy. He fears that in the face of expected defense budget cuts, the University could lose its ROTC program as retaliation for a strong stand against the military policy.
There are three large loopholes in the administration's logic. One, KU isn't the only university challenging the Department's policy. In fact, several large institutions, including the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota, are attempting the same thing. It is not likely that retribution would single out KU.
Two, the talk of retribution for the Council's actions is just that, talk. Shankel himself admitted yesterday that no one from the Pentagon had indicated that KU would suffer for the actions of the Council.
Three, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney already has said he would not talk to university officials about the subject.
The Kansan does not expect the Pentagon policymakers to tremble upon hearing that we don't agree with them. What we do expect is Budig to uphold University policy.
We support the University Council's new resolution asking Budig to reconsider his decision. We encourage Budig to fight discrimination with the hope that more universities will follow. And we encourage Pentagon officials to change their policy to remove a flaw from an otherwise respectable program.
Stephen Kline for the editorial board
Change must start somewhere; why not KU?
Members of the editorial board are Sarah Bly, Rich Cornell, Kirsten Gabrielsen, Sally Gibbs, David Harger, Tiffany Harness, Jil Hartlinger, Stephen Kline, Julie Mettenburton, Mary Neubauer, Christine Renoldus, Derek Schmidt, Carol Shinny, Chris
Jayhawks need students' support
Now, what the team could use are the kind of fans it takes to win. No one
I's that time of year again, Campus is alive with the sounds of the season. Pages of textbooks rustling in the library. The whistle the marching band practicing for the game Saturday. The muffled excitement surrounding the Kansas Football team.
Excitement. Football. Kansas.
You've got to be kidding, right?
Wrong
In the few short years Coach Glen Mason has been here the team has made a decided turn for the better. Just about every other thing about the football team is new — the helmets, the turf, some players. They have all come from a certain sort of attitude — the kind of attitude it takes to become winners.
It seems that Coach Mason is poised to become the newest Memorial Stadium, ready to lead Kansas into the promised land of respectability, victory. A place void of KU football jokes.
Staff columni si
Brett
Brenner
knows this better than Kip Hilt Assistant Director of Marketing and Promotions. He is partially responsible for filling the stands for each home game.
"We have the greatest students in the world," Helt says. "There is no better basketball crowd in the country and like this to carry over to football."
What will it take for you loyal basketball fans to become loyal basketball AND football fans? A few wins?
Helt says that he and others at the athletic department are hoping for as many as 45,000 fans at tommorow's game. Helt's eyes, the more the merrier
Probably. A winning bandwagon is
always easier to jump onto.
But winning football games is something the athletic department can't be sure of.
"We have stayed away from pro-
ises. We can't guarantee wins." Helt
says. "But we can tell you that the
Jayhawks will never be outworked or
outstufted. They'll be out there playin-
g their hearts out."
They will need to, Kansas has a difficult schedule that includes a trip to the Orange Bowl. It may only be a regular season matchup with top ranked Miami, but don't be too surprised if they make a special holiday version sometime in the not to distant future.
So, make your plans accordingly.
If you can't catch them in Miami, you might try to make it to Memorial Stadium this Saturday.
The Hawks believe in themselves it's about time we did too.
Brett Brenner is a Wichita senior majoring in political science and journalism.
Kansan needs to be sensitive to all
last week the Kansan stated its new policy to reject Black students with a lower case "b" rather than with an upper case "B", which was the paper's policy during the 1989-90 school year. It was stated in the Kansan that this was done because the purpose of the paper should be to destroy artificial differences among people, not create them
The argument used to defend this decision was that the use of the lower case "b" when referring to Black students is a recognized journalistic practice.
When referring to a culture or race of people, it is correct to use a proper noun. It is insensitive to refer to the Black race with anything but a capitation. When referring to a culture with an adjective rather than a noun. This is insulting.
Student leaders from Student Senate recognized this as a potentially bad situation for the student body. We served in a mediator capacitie to resolve these unacceptable options to resolve the situation in an acceptable way to the Black
The protest against the Kansan's policy is a perfect example of the unnecessary problems people create when they fail to listen to the wishes and needs of another group of people. The Kansan made what it thought was a good change. A change that the Kansan felt would promote equality on campus, and at the same time be irritating. What did the Kansan did not realize was that it would insult Black students with that decision.
community on campus. We did not pressure the Kansas to make any one decision, nor did we instigate the change in the Kansas's policy.
It may seem strange to see a student body president support a decision of the Kansan, but I believe the newspaper made the right decision in reversing its policy and using an uppercase "B" and "W" when referring to Black and White students. In doing this, the Kansan has stood behind its original intent of promoting equality without offending a particular cultural group on campus.
It is important to realize that the Kansan made this decision based on the response from an important segment of its readership. Most newspapers respond to their readers based on subscription sales. But due to the limited availability, it must rely on public debate or demonstration to respond to its readers.
Hopefully the University community, students, faculty and administration will learn a valuable lesson from this situation. We all need to interact with people of different races, cultures, religions, beliefs and values. Listen and learn from each other.
Mike Schreiner is a Wakeeney senior majoring in business.
KANSAN STAFF
MARGARET TOWNSEND Business manager
Editors
News  Julie Mettenburg
Editorial  Mary Neubauer
Planning  Pam Solliner
Campus  Holly Lawton
Sports  Brent Maycock
Photo  Andrew Morrison
Features  Stacy Smith
DEREK SCHMIDT
Editor
KJERSTIN GABRIELSON
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
MINDY MORRIS
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Campus sales mgr    Christ Dool
Regional sales mgr. Jackie Schmatzmedal
National sales mgr. David Price
Debbie Debtaw Production mgr. Missy Miller
Production assistant. Jake Auland
Manager directing. Aaron Lamford
Gear maintainer. Gail Beal
EANNE HINES
Business staff
The Kansas reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansas newroom, 111 SauerFlint Hall, Letters, columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kansas. Editorials are the opinion of the Kansas editorial board
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the student's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas are required to use standard fonts.
Beginning Tuesday, the Kansas will refer to Black people and White people with underclass letters
Kansan editor's choice not black and white
The editor disagreed. He chose to capitalize Black and leave white lowercase that inconsistency disguised as readers and many staff members.
In fall 1989, the Kansan editor decided for the first time in the paper's century-long history to capitalize Black in an effort to demonstrate sensitivity to race relations on campus. The capital letter, he reasoned, denoted a culture not a skin color.
The decision was controversial. Many people argued that the capital letter, which is not a widely accepted reference among print media, drew unnecessary attention to race. Anomalies that make readers hit and ponder a person's race are counterproductive to eliminating racial differences, they said.
This semester, I decided that fairness required either capitalizing or lowercasing both. Lowercase made sense. The Associated Press stylebook, which is the standard guide for most newspapers, supported lowercase. All other newspapers that I know of use lowercase. And, grammatically, white and black are adjectives, not names of cultures.
Derek Schmidt
Some people were offended. On Wednesday, about 35 angry protesters marched into the newsroom, demanded an uppercase 'B' and went outside to burn copies of the Kansan.
My initial reaction was not to yield to the mob demanding that I change an editorial decision. I worried about maintaining the original tone and exhilarated by the thought of controversy. I considered toasting
marshmallows over the daily bonfires of newspapers they said they would ignite.
After the protest, I sought advice from more than two dozen people not involved with the issue. I talked with academic and professional journalists. I talked with students, faculty and people in the administration. I talked with student leaders and other students. I talked with Black people and White people.
I disagree that capital letters somehow convey a cultural identity and help improve race relations. But reasonable people can disagree and still reach reasonable compromises.
For thousands of new students and faculty, the first impression of minority affairs at KU was jeering activists burning newspapers. Students were the serious issue of tolerance and diversity this community faces.
Many people, including some of my most trusted advisers, said I had made my decision and should have done it. That was an overruling consideration.
But behind their tactics was a deep belief that the Kansan had slidten them. Many Black people said they were not "the case" 'B', but these people were.
Almost all of the people I consulted were incredulous at what they perceived as an overreaction to a seemingly trivial issue
Derek Schmidt is an Independence senior majoring in history.
This high-profile squabble threatened to divert attention from substantive issues affecting the University, such as recruitment and retention of minority students so that they can be let the Kansan be part of that
I pondered a speech delivered Wednesday by Robert Shelton, University of Kansas ombudsman. He warned that the continual attention to minority issues during the past several years had made the campus susceptible to a backlash against further progress. The community's attention should not be sandered on marginal jobs.
Deal with Saddam now
On Sunday, George Bushush a 96 on the golf course. We should attack Iraq based on that alone. Saddam Hussein has an American peace, he's causing our president to
keep shanking in the sand trap. Never mind the hostages; the winds of war and a few domestic concerns, Bush deserves a peaceful round of golf without annoying reporters with questions and clicking cameras.
In all seriousness, I propose a new Constitutional Amendment: No playing golf when dictators dangle hostage children before our eyes. Especially dictators who have gassed their own country's children. Especially ones who are anxious to acquire nuclear weapons.
Why did we tolerate Saddam, as Hitler was tolerated for so long before he really got going? Why did we bend backwards for Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war anyway? Khomeini was a monster and no one could have foreseen Iran's staying under a dictator, but listened to Israel that there was another megalomaniac threat next door.
So Iraq's army is battle-hardened and ready for action, but Iraq is broke despite the millions Kuwait provided interest-free. Saddam
needed some cash.
Is the greatest defender nation gown to be blackmailed by the Butcher of Baddagd? Will we negotiate with terribly insoluble opponents, the outcome will be worse. The sacrifice of the hostages, as horrifying as that sounds, will save lives. A nuclear bomb, this time around, will let us make Kuwait our first-fifty state.
Three Imaginary Girls
George Gurley Lawrence senior
By Tom Avery