September 12, 1984
OPINION
Page 4
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily KANSAN
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 602440) is published at the University of Kansas. 188 Staffer Fint Hall, Lawen, Kansan 60403, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and final periods. Second class postpaid mail at Lawen, Kansan 60404 Subscriptions by mail at lawen.kansan.edu. $2 a year in Douglas County and $10 for the county for the student address to the county Student Postmaster. Postmaster send address changes to the University Daily Kansan. 188 Staffer Fint Hall, Lawen, Kansan 60403
DON KNOX
Editor
PAUL SEVART VINCE HESS Managing Editor Editorial Editor
DOUG CUNNINGHAM Campus Editor
DAVE WANAMAKEB
Business Manager
LYNNE STARK MARY BERNICA Retail Sales National Sales Manager Manager
SUSANNE SHAW General Manager and News Adviser
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
JILL GOLDBLATT Campus Sales Manager
Campus lights
Findings of a study to be presented soon to the University of Kansas should shed some light on the state's and the University's commitment to safety.
University's commitment. The study, being conducted by Ron Helms, professor and director of architecture, will evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the current lighting system at KU. A similar study Helms did on the University of Colorado's lighting system 10 years ago led to widespread improvements in the lighting of that campus.
The aim is to try to make the KU campus a safer place for students at night.
So far, the figures haven't been compiled to show that the KU campus suffers from a general problem of poor lighting, but KU police, administrators and students seem to agree that, at least in some areas, additional lights are needed.
Not surprisingly, money will be an important factor. Safety is not cheap. If improvements are to be made in the lighting system, they will have to paid for, and the money will have to come from somewhere.
The most likely source would be the Kansas Legislature, and an encouraging sign is that the University recently received $25,000 from the state to use on lighting.
A more comprehensive effort to update campus lighting, however, might require considerably more than that. If ever an occasion called for the cooperation of students, faculty and staff, this is it, because lighting affects all of those groups.
Officials of the University administration and student government should get together, as soon as Helms' report is out, to assess the need and look for ways to fulfill it.
Church and state
After President Reagan said last month in Dallas that "politics and morality are inseparable," he and Democratic candidate Walter Mondale spent the next several days trading shots on what is at best an unproductive issue
The candidates, however, soon figured out that they had little to gain and much to lose on the issue. Reagan made the initial remark where he thought it would be well received, before 17,000 fundamentalist religious leaders and convention delegates.
Reagan said later that he had been talking only about "people who would deny such things as chaplains in the military." Mondale later conceded to a Southern audience that yes, religion had a place in politics. Within days, the two were agreeing that the constitutional "wall" separating church and state was not to be crossed. What could have been a time-consuming campaign issue, with which neither candidates nor voters could gain much, was defused.
In an election year of soaring deficits, MX missiles and questionable financial-disclosure forms, the candidates should not be wasting precious campaign time on issues such as the separation of church and state, on which they obviously agree in principle.
obviously agree in principle.
The proposal that Mondale made Monday to slow down military spending and raise taxes by $85 billion in his first year of office should give both sides a chance to get off the issue of religion and the state, and on to something from which the voters can learn.
Michael Jackson needs privacy, too
Suppose I were a homosexual
Suppose I slept in my deep freeze
every night. Suppose I collected
whips, chains and studded leather
underwear. You'd be horrified if you
came across those secrets (Relax,
Ma. I'm not, I don't and I don't). But
you probably wouldn't tear my
drawers and closets apart to uncover
these secrets.
I'm a 5-foot 6-140 pound, 23-year old journalism major. My biggest turnouts are taking out the trash and washing two loads of laundry weekly.
Boring, buh? Right. I'm an every day taxpayer. For those reasons, you probably don't give a darn what goes on in my bedroom. That's the way it should be if my doings don't affect the quality of your life
All of this matters because it brings us to the idiotic press conference last week at which Michael Jackson was forced to deny both that he was a homosexual and that he had used female hormones to preserve his high voice. Not only was this press conference a complete waste of time, but it highlighted the sickness and emptiness of our society's soul.
Michael Jackson must be as nice a guy as Brooke Shields shes he is. He denied the charges (one of which came from a report in the New York Times, of all places) calmly yet sharply in a written statement. If bombarded by questions from re porters about my miscreantity, my reports have been, "None of your damn business." And it IS none of the public's business, just like my imaginary collection of torture tools.
My torture tools wouldn't directly affect the quality of your life unless I used them against you or your loved ones.
So Michael Jackson may have had a few hormone treatments. So he may be homosexual, bisexual, trisexual or quadrasexual, or maybe one-third woman, one-third man, one-third woman, one-third living fish in treatment of the stage his waste-basket probably fills as quickly as mine
So lots of women have plucked eyebrows and lifted faces. So lots of men have nose jobs and muscles hyped by steroids. So lots of men and women are homosexual. You probably know people in each category, whether or not you realize what they have done or what they are.
No construction worker would have to call a press conference to explain why he did or didn't get a vasectomy. So why does Michael Jackson have to explain why he did or didn't have his
eye brows plucked? It's none of our business.
Michael Jackson is probably an everyday, heterosexual male — a nice guy, it seems — whose manner happens to be somewhat effeminate. He is not gay, and me is that he can afford to hire someone to take out the trash for him.
Is the responsibility to explain every move, every word and every prescription the price a celebrity
BRUCE F
HONOMICHL
Staff Columnist
must pay? Celebrites take out the trash and go to the bathroom as often as you and I, yet they quirk, the smile, the sigh, the smile, the sigh, the smile
We drift from one boyfriend or girlfriend to another, almost never coming close enough to know that person's quirks. We often choose classes without knowing the credentials of the instructors or the demands of the class. We take the words of our parents often as gospel, whether right or wrong or simply out of date.
Yet the private life of a person such as Michael Jackson, who has a direct lasting effect on the lives of a few of us, is toddler for phoons.
Sin, silliness, stupidity, clumsiness and variaity are part of human nature.
Don't tell me that some of you haven't made some offhand crack about bombing the Soviets. Don't tell me that some of you haven't stuck your fingers in your ears and made silly faces in public. President Putin's administration spent weeks trying to explain its way out of both incidents.
A pox on your house if you laugh without sinning.
God created us to be sinful.
I wouldn't want MY son to take hormones to remain a soprano. And I was raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin. But I'm not going to throw stones at Michael Jackson's house, whether or not he takes hormonal pills. It's HIS house. HIS wastebasket and its HIS sexual preference. Period. And none of them have anything to do with MY life or yours.
I don't have time, anyway. There is this sale on leather underwear.
Tie in Senate trouble
WASHINGTON — Democrats lost control of the Senate in the 1980 landslide that swept Ronald Reagan into the White House. They are looking with hope at the November elections.
The Republicans, who now outnumber Democrats 55-45, might lose their majority, but the election also produces a historical rarity — a tie.
The last time Democrats and Republicans were of equal numbers in the Senate was in 1881, and the tie resulted in trouble for all involved
Before the deadlock was resolved, what should have been an easy 11-day Senate session stretched into 11 weeks.
A recent publication of the historical office of the secretary of the Senate recalled the events surrounding the deadlock.
Although the Senate's party balance has been nearly even on several
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ront pinpoints the availability of desserts at residence halls as a
To the editor:
Article adds to student worry over weight
To the value
Christy Fisher's Sept. 4 article ("Study says freshman weight gain most dramatic") concerning freshman weight gain provided a great deal of information that may provoke anxiety about weight gain within a highly vulnerable population.
It appears inherent within the article that all weight gain is negative. Certainly weight gain is to be expected during late adolescent and early adult development. It is also important that weight gain results from an increase in fatty tissue The bathroom scales are a crude and inappropriate
measure of fitness.
it would seem that Ann Kohl, Wakkins Hospital dietitian, views residence halls as a major contributor to undesirable weight gain. She notes that "the majority of people who see me for weight direction live in the dormitories." I suspect that the Wakkins Hospital staff treats a large number of residence hall students because of proximity, rather than because residence hall students have a disproportionate high amount of eating-related concerns
Avon lady finds surprise in quiet home
At one time or another, most of us have heard the doorbell ring and a female voice say: "Avon calling."
remark too. But I doubt whether we've heard it quite the way a young man named Eddie O'Brien recently did.
ROBERT
SHEPHARD
United Press International
Let me son at the beguin.
O'Brien, I8, has a kid sister, Lisa,
and Lisia had a part-time job
selling Avon cosmetics.
one day. Lisa's supervisor phoned to ask about Lisa's sales. Lisa hadn't been selling much, so the supervisor said she would come over with some sales instructional books. They made an appointment to meet the next morning at the O'Brien home, which is on the far North Side of Chicago.
Let me start at the beginning
Lisa had a baby-sitting job that afternoon, so she finally hopped on her bike and left for it.
Eddie was home at the time, but he didn't know anything about Lisa's appointment with the Avon supervisor.
A little while after Lisa left, the Avon lady showed up. She rang the doorbell, but nobody answered.
the Avon lady let herself into the house.
That's because Eddie had gone into the washroom to take a shower.
This was a mistake because the O'Briens have a dog. Although it is small dog, a terrier, it has a fierce nature and sharp teeth.
So, as the Avon lady walked through the house, looking for Lisa.
the dog darted out from under a table or somewhere, leaped into the air, and nipped the Avon lady on her bottom.
Seeing that the door was unlocked.
MIKE ROYKO
Syndicated Columnist
Naturally, this made her scream. It also caused her to try to escape from the dot.
Seeing a door slightly open, she ran to it, rushed into the room, and closed the door behind her.
Because of the noise of the shower and his own singing, and because the washroom door had been almost closed, Eddie had been unaware of
major contributor to weight gain and suggests that an "out of sight, out of mind" approach would eliminate temptation. The steady flow of pizza delivery vehicles and the constant line at Joe's Bakery suggest that increased accessibility may not be the biggest factor in students' dietary tabits.
It turned out to be the downstairs bathroom. And in it, behind sliding shower doors, was young Edie.
the presence of the Avon lady and her encounter with his dog.
All he knew was that the washroom door had suddenly opened and closed and through the glass he could see the silhouette of another human
And that's understandable. When you think about it, there are few moments when we are as totally vulnerable and defenseless as when we are standing bare-bottomed naked in the shower. Maybe Anthony had seen the movie "Beyoncé" planted the seeds of fear deep in our subconscious.
It scared the hell out of him.
I also question the Kansan's decision to publish an information-based article next to a cartoon depicting a KU freshman surrounded by junk food and envisioning herself as Miss Piggy. The article correctly notes the stress of freshman adjustment to student life.
Eddie opened the shower door an inch or two and peeled out.
There, in his bathroom, stood a total stranger. True, the stranger was a woman. But who says women
can't be hornicidal maniacs or fiends?
So Eddie screamed, "Who are you?"
'in the country, is sad.'
You think you think upon bearing those words under those circumstances?' Right. You would think that you were dealing with a complete loony. Which is exactly what Eddie thought.
"I'm the Avon lady," she said.
"Avon lady?" Eddie screamed.
"Avon lady? What are you doing in my bathroom?"
"I was just bitten by your dog." "My dog bit you?"
"Yes. I'm hiding from your dog."
"I don't understand any of this."
Eddie said.
"Do something about your dog "
"But I don't have any clothes in here."
The woman explained and the thumping of Eddie's heart subsided enough for him to say, "What do you want me to do?"
Since then, Lisa has given up her Avon job. And the Avon lady had a lawyer send the O'Brien family a letter, asking them to pay for the medical treatment.
"Well, I don't know about that," Maria said, "but I'll tell you one thing. She didn't do much good for Eddie's nerves."
"The letter said that our dog caused her great bodily injury," said Eddie's mother, Maria.
That problem was solved when she handed him a towel.
handed him a call." Eddie said. "Turn around." Eddie said.
Torn through.
In a few minutes, Eddie had corralled the raging little beast in the kitchen, and the Avon lady was on her way to seek medical treatment for her wounded bottom.
Unfortunately, the article and illustration may serve as added stressors to a student population already highly concerned with personal appearance.
But then, the University of Kansas has no intercollegiate soccer, any way.
Rick Barrett Lawrence graduate student
Future camps land-use plans indicate extension of these lots eastward into the Campanile hill just to the south of Memorial Stadium. The impression given by the picture to the contrary, this is not a spot for soccer, or any other recreational activity for that matter
Doug McKay Professor of physics and astronomy
Irony in photo
To the editor:
This picture, of Bryan Tulp jugging his soccer ball, was taken right beside a new football patrons parking lot that was built this summer on open campus recreation area. The players in this park and the others that now stretch from 11th Street over to Potter Lake.
The irony, literally hidden, in your front page picture in the Sept. 6 Karsan is too choice to let pass unnoticed.
occasions, only at the beginning of the 47th Congress in 1881 did both parties have equal numbers — 37 senators each plus two independents
A special session of the Senate was convened on March 4 of that year to deal with Cabinet and agency nominations. A designation in President James Garrifold.
Democrats, who had lost their absolute majority in the 1882 election, thought that they had the votes of both independents, but one of them, Sen William Mabone of Virginia, sided with the Republicans on the crucial vote for committee assignments.
That put the party split at 38:38 and meant that Vice President Chester Arthur, a Republican, would cast the tie-breaking vote for his party.
Mahone's vote did not come cheaply, however Among the Republican's concessions was to make Mahone, though only a freshman senator, chairman of the Agriculture Committee.
The Republicans prepared to elect new Senate officers to replace the Democratic holdovers. But with several GOP senators absent, the Democrats were able to stay the proceedings. The Senate then tried each time the Republicans tried to muster the 39 vote quorum needed to conduct business.
the democraters hoped that these could strike a bargain that would keep their Senate officers in place and ensure the federal committee chairmanships.
After a while, a split developed between President Garfield and Sen. Roscoe Conkling, R.N.Y.
Congkick blocking Garrison's choices for New York customs collector, and the president retaliated May 4 by withdrawing the nominations of five other New Yorkers backed by Congkis.
Coming and the other New York senator, Thomas Platt, then resigned; they thought that the state legislature would quickly re-elect them and send a message to the White House. As it turned out, the two men failed to be re-elected.
Meanwhile, the resignations gave the Democrats a two vote majority in the Senate, but they agreed not to reopen the issue of committee control. The Republicans in turn agreed to keep the Democratic officers of the Senate, and the session finally adjourned May 20.