4a Opinion Wednesday, November 15,2000 For comments, contact Ben Voosen Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com Editorial board: Selection process should be amended Electoral College has outlived purpose There is a place in our country for the Electoral College. It's called the Smithsonian, where the relics of American history are stashed. The prospect of Bush being a president who lost the popular vote spells doom for the next four years of federal government. Perhaps the Electoral College made things easier in a pre-telecommunication age. Our Founding Fathers didn't trust the mass electorate — old, white, land-owning men. So we have a system of presidential elections in the hands of a few. Today, women, minorities and the poor can vote, and we value democracy much more than the Founding Fathers did in the late 18th century. Any president who loses the popular vote but wins the presidency will divide the government and the country. Clinton didn't win a majority of the popular vote in 1992 or 1996 against two substantial candidates, and it generated resentment for his administration. The good that can come of this year's election is a move to change the Electoral College. If we don't eliminate it outright, we should substantially revise it. The best solution may be to adopt a constitutional amendment that apportion votes such as in Maine and Nebraska. Those states are not winner-take-all; they split the electoral votes between candidates, according to congressional districts. Electoral votes are determined by a state's number of senators and representatives in Congress, with each state having a number of electors roughly proportionate to its population. As a result, most states are effectively ignored by the candidates, as they are seen as irrelevant. The Electoral College's "democratic deficit" is compounded by a winner-take-all policy, in which the candidate with the mo* electoral votes wins, even if that number is smaller than a majority of the popular vote. Under the revised system, a candidates can lose the state overall, but they can still pick up a significant number of electoral votes based on the congressional districts where they have a majority. This system makes a single vote matter more and allows the electoral vote to mirror the popular vote. We don't want to abolish the system altogether,but we must improve it to avoid serious crises like the one we're in now. The United States should abandon the antiquated, undemocratic institution that is the Electoral College. The voting system in the United States should reflect the egalitarian principles upon which the nation was founded. Brett Watson for the editorial board Dissenting: Electoral College fulfills practical purposes Process helps maintain democratic government Common sense tells us that the winner of the popular vote should be president; after all, we are a democracy and in a democracy "the will of the people" should prevail. Abolishing the Electoral College also may have some beneficial consequences, such as encouraging voter participation in states like Kansas where one party is dominant, the winner is pre-ordained, and voting seems inconsequential. However, reaching an informed judgment about the Electoral College requires a deeper analysis than common sense and a broader consideration of the full range of consequences that can accompany institutional change. Here are some things that need to be considered. Most broadly, the concept of "the will of the people" — which the Electoral College is said to violate — is dubious. We think that the highest votegetter represents the "will of the people," but which candidate is the highest vote-getter often depends on the rules and proc- popular result of last week's election was: Gore 49 percent; Bush 48 percent; Buchanan 3 percent. If we used a "plurality voting rule," the winner would be Gore, because he had the most votes. But if we used a "majority-rule system," we would need a run-off election between Bush and Gore to see who would get a majority in a two-person race. If Buchanan supporters cast their votes for Bush in the run-off, Bush would win. In this contrived but plausible example, neither Gore nor Bush is the clear public choice, the unambiguous "will of the people." It all depends on electoral rules. From this perspective, the Electoral College is just another way of adding up votes. And it seems no more likely to misrepresent "the will of the people" than majority-rule or plurality-rule systems. Judgments about the Electoral College might then come down to its practical consequences. In this regard, the following might be said of the Electoral College: - It helps preserve the role of the states in our federal system and in our lives as citizens. When our country was formed, it was agreed that the states (rather than individual citizens) would choose the president. The United States is a nation of states, not an aggregation of individuals. It helps prevent the development of an imperial president. Winners of a direct popular vote for the presidency, unlike members of Congress, could more plausibly claim a national popular mandate for his or her agenda. This might tilt the balance of power between the legislative and executive branch toward the latter, even though democracies prefer legislative preeminence. It reduces the influence of uninformed, self- interested voters — an aim sought and an argument made by the founding fathers. ■ It encourages candidates to understand the diversity of needs and interests that exist across the states, rather than focus on "the median voter" in the United States as a whole. It helps legitimate electoral outcomes whenever very close popular votes are converted into more definitive winning margins in the Electoral College. It plays a significant role in maintaining the most enduring and stable democracy the world has ever known. Critics of the Electoral College must deal thoughtfully with the truth and importance of these and similar claims that will be made on both sides of the issue. Paul Schumaker, chairman of the political science department Confusion about slander plagues Free for All line Surprise, surprise. The Free for All is a subject of contention yet again. Since there's been some confusion about our policy against slander in the opinion line, I feel like I need to explain what the policy means. A reader, who hasn't left her name, called the Kansan several times to ask why we allow slanderous comments in the Free for All. A message printed in Friday's Free for All asked us exactly what our definition of sinner is. Anointmous reader, I hope you're reading this. The offending Free for All comment read something to the effect that if minority students want to be in classes with more people like themselves, they should attend a university with a larger minority population than we have at the University of Kansas. Although the comment offended this reader, and probably more who haven't said anything, you can't argue against the comment's Erin R. Barcomb readers' representative reader@karan.com/karan.com To be slander, it would have to defame someone. In other words, to leave a slanderous comment, a caller would have to name someone in particular and say something untrue that would cause reasonable people to think less of that person, such as "The Kansan readers' rep performs Satanic rituals on chickens on the loading dock behind Stauffer-Flint Hall." Simply having an opinion about what university students should merits on the basis of slander. attend isn't slanderous, even if it's offensive. Moreover, we don't know the speaker's intent. He or she could be a white supremacist with an agenda to eliminate minority students from the University. Or, he or she could have been offering a suggestion for people who feel excluded on our campus, where minority recruitment and retention remain concerns year after year. If the Kansan were to screen all comments that could offend someone, somewhere, there probably wouldn't be much to read in the Free for All except some insipid debate about whether broccoli resembles trees. Determining what is and isn't offensive puts a lot of power controlling free speech in the hands of a few of us. To me, that's offensive. The Free for All doesn't represent the opinions of us on staff. It's about the views of the other tens of thousands of students you sit next to in class, eat with at the union or ride with on the bus. Although the Kansan gives your classmates and roommates a platform to make offensive comments, the ideas are theirs, not ours. Although we can seek retribution if someone lowers our reputation or communicates something about us that is untrue, the First Amendment doesn't protect us from being offended. If it did, the marketplace of ideas would turn into a communist-era breadline, where we're handed uniform, pre-approved ideas. Being offended isn't the end of the world. It's how we know the First Amendment works. Media law and ethics can be confusing. The precise definitions of slander and libel aren't necessarily common knowledge. But offensiveness of the message isn't anywhere in their criteria. Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed. To read more, go to www.kansan.com. Bush is trying to cover up and deny a fair election. 国 Classes are so interesting when you're substance-enhanced. Barbie. an all-American girl is made in China, while ramen noodles are made in the U.S. --typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. If the University allowed alcohol in the football stadium, the attendance would be higher. Why is it if I use my KU card in the Coke machines, they require me to have at least $1 charged on it, but the pop costs 85 cents? typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. What's with all these squirrels having sex? 图 MTV's Jackass is phenomenal. I'm looking at this Capri Sun and I'm wondering: How do they get all this juice into a sealed bag? typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. Why do lyrics from '80s songs always sound like one long word? typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. There's this piece of carpet in my bathroom that looks like a cricket. Don't blame me. I voted for Pat Buchanan. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. I can't believe we elected George W. Bush. He's just going to get us in a war. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. I just sneezed, and my feet are all tingly. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. Bush should apologize in advance for ruining our country. Why Dennis Miller? typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. Any name of a firework can be a name for a drink. I'd vote for Nader if there were a re-election. Clinton cheated on his wife with a woman half her age. Man, he's a national hero. --typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. Congrats to the basketball team. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. I pity the fool. 园 雨 Just because you write for the opinion column doesn't mean you know everything, so don't act so pompous. Your editorial cartoon (yesterday was) ridiculous. It's just like liberals to blame Republicans when they can't figure out a simple ballot. It's ridiculous. typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. How? How can the people in the media be a disgrace to America? typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. The Beatles are the greatest. 图 Your mom needs new glasses Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions. How to submit letters and guest columns All letters and guest columns should be emailed to opinion@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 1.1.1 Stauffar-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut Guest columns: Should be double-spaced to length or reject all submissions. 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