4a
Opinion
Friday, November 3, 2000
Perspective
For comments, contact Ben Voosen Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Coverage leaves out third party
Madison Square Garden sold out Oct. 13.Eddie Vedder, Ali DiFranco,Ben Harper,Patti Smith and even Tim
-- harper, Patti Smith and even Tim Robbins -- who can apparently carry a tune -- played to a maximum-capacity, celebrity-studied crowd. The reason? It was a benefit for the Green Party. More than 15,000 people paid an entrance donation of $20 to hear Ralph Nader, that most unlikely of pop icons, stump for democracy of, for and by the people, not monied interests. Talk about rocking the vote.
Did you hear about this gala event? Neither did I, until a friend of mine told me of her frustrations in trying to find media coverage of the rally after attending it.
Apparently few of the major New York papers saw fit to devote much copy to the event. After much searching, she finally managed to find a blurb on Reuters, which would arguably cover your sweet 16 with the proper press releases.
Ramona DeNies columnist opinion@kansan.com
I hope you also heard of Nader's forced exit by three armed bodyguards from viewing the televised debates at Wake Forest University as a ticket-holding audience member. Or did you not hear that bit of trivia? Funny, given that such over-publicized trivia is Bush's micro-uni
of certain polysyllabic words makes for heated dinner conversation across America.
Which brings us to a particularly sad state of affairs in American political coverage. When, exactly, does it make sense to forswar on devoting press to the campaigns of third-party candidates? Certainly it didn't in '92, when Ross Perot wagged his fingers at Clinton and Bush on millions of American television screens and went on to win 19 percent of the popular vote.
Apparently such a major whiteout of news today must make sense to somebody somewhere. As Nader continues to grow in popularity, coverage of Green Party events continues to be minimal. Crucial news providers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and NBC have proven terribly negligent in covering even the highlights of Nader's campaign.
What motives could exist to compel America's cherished free press to whittle down their campaign coverage to promote an almost exclusively bipartisan campaign? Perhaps we see a glimmer of motive in the events of '92. A wild card such as Perot taking 19 percent of the vote sure makes a mockery of the American electoral system, right? After all, real politicians use bar graphs, not pie charts.
And oh, those elephant ears ... Perhaps these mainstream media players decided upon strategic simplification of the political process to appeal to a public baffled by policy. After all, airbrushing worked for your grandmother's senior portrait, didn't it? Or could such self-censorship of mainstream media possibly be due to pressure from powerful political and economic interest groups — groups invested in a future involving one or either of the major-party candidates?
A calculated result of the lack of coverage on Nader is, of course, the public's potential dismissal of the candidate as a valid option.
But the turnouts for Green Party super-rallies prove another reality — one in which Nader is very much a valid voting option, despite wilful ignorance by major news providers. Merely five days after addressing a capacity crowd at Madison Square Garden, Nader spoke again to an exuberant audience of more than 5,000 in Austin, Tex.
Similar rallies have taken place in Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Dallas and San Francisco, among other cities. The Madison Square Gardens rally — the largest turnout yet for any Election 2000 campaign event regardless of candidate — was organized just two weeks prior to the event.
such an immediate response — given the minimal press and choreographing — indicates the undeniable emergence of a voting bloc motivated beyond convenience and ease in accessing information. And that in itself is a most newsworthy trend in America today.
DeNiels is a Portland, Ore., senior in Latin American Studies and English.
Chan Lowe / TMS CAMPUS
Heard on the Hill
For whom will you vote in this year's presidential election?
"Bush because I'm a Republican. But I think they would both do a good job." Kirin Kelly Lansing senior
"I've decided to vote for the causes and not the people. I'll agree with Gore and Lieberman." Sarah Brenner Prairie Village sophomore
"I'd vote for Gore because I think he's looking out for the middle class, which is the majority
Americans."
Mario WickramarateLenexa sophmore
"I'm for Gore because of Bush's conservative appointments towards the Supreme Court more specifically his pro-life views." David Keller Topeka sophomore
Big money corrupts democracy absolutely
We are a democracy held hostage by big money. The average person, whether be a farmer from Kansas or a person living in inner city Detroit, has no chance whatsoever to compete with the boards, syndicates and multinational corporations that run our nation today. The millions of dollars buying the hours of advertising we see on our televisions and hear on our radios make an insurmountable obstacle. Scream as loud as you want, and will not be heard as loudly as the person
who can put a slick commercial in our faces during Friends or the World Series.
This will continue as long as the powers that see us as target markets rather than people can pull our government with so much more power than anyone else.
This will continue as long as Coke, Nike and the entertainment industry can ensure that fancy jackets and the sex-violence racket of Hollywood are listened to for far longer than any group of a million of us ever will be.
Erik Goodman
guest columnist
opinion@kansan.com
"Now for God's sake!" the boards, syndicates, multinational corporations and their apologists will say, "your'e infringing on our right to freedom of speech." But just whose rights would be infringed? Will Coke be oppressed? Will Nike be oppressed? Just who is Coke? Who is Nike? Can
I meet them? Can I shake their hands? No, I cannot. This is because they are not human beings. They are business arrangements.
No one is suggesting that the actual people who run these businesses not be allowed to vote, or even to submit moderate amounts of money to political campaigns. No one is trying to make them less than equal. Rather, the McCain-Feingold bill, which would ban the unlimited, unregulated donations to political parties known as soft money, would simply prevent them from being more equal than the rest of us.
Are you tired of feeling like everyone with any power is looking to pigeon hole you into a product market so that you can be bought and sold? Campaign finance reform can help.
One must understand that this inequality pervades every political arena. Are you a parent who feels powerless against the onslaught of human degradation and swill put upon us by the entertainment industry, an industry loathe to take responsibility and that only wants your dollars? Campaign finance reform can help.
Are you tired of watching as the Great Economic Engine of Progress sells the earth from under yourself and your grandchildren forever? Campaign finance reform can help.
I have come to believe that initiatives like the McCain-Feingold bill are all that matters in our democracy right now. They are a fundamental step in ensuring our government is truly for the people.
Remember, corporations exist only to make money. They are not your mother or grandfather or even benevolent dictators.
Goodman is a Dayton, Ohio, senior in political science.
Editorial
DA's decision magnifies victim's plight
Sexual assault victim's trauma was reinforced by decision not to file charges
The local District Attorney's office last week decided not to file charges of sexual assault against the two KU football players on the grounds of lack of sufficient evidence. Case closed.
However, it is unlikely that the closing of the case has provided closure for anyone, except perhaps for the accused and the KU Athletics Department.
Though not able to sustain the filing of official charges, certain facts in the case raise questions about the innocence of the two football players.
One puzzling aspect of the case is the fact that Coach Terry Allen punished his players, however lenient the punishment may have been. Allen must have thought his players were indeed guilty of something if he felt they deserved some sort of punishment.
Since the allegations were of sexual assault, one could reach the conclusion that the action worthy of punishment was indeed sexual assault.
According to the DA's office, the time lapse between the alleged crime and when it was reported to the police are the main reasons for the lack of sufficient evidence. It is true that in cases of sexual assault, the victim has the greatest chance for justice if he or she reports to the police immediately. But if victims of sexual assault know beforehand that they are more likely to face character assassination than their aggressors are to face punishment, more cases will go unreported, and more aggressors will escape punishment.
This case has set another such precedent.
Though the decision is final, the district attorney should have pushed for a different outcome. Not only has one woman been disregarded after putting herself on the line for justice, two "alleged" sexual predators have gone free.
Cynthia Malakasis for the editorial board
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.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
Has anyone noticed that the campus Republicans' beliefs are actually Libertarian?
Bush should come to KU and enroll in Math 002.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
What do you consider a dangerous situation? The truth is: Women can be assaulted anywhere. Women will always be in a dangerous situation.
After all this warm weather, I bet all those whiny brats in the Towers are glad they didn't turn the heat on.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
Free for All isn't for anything profound. That's what the letters to the editor are for.
No one is really free until nerd persecution is abolished.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
It's really pathetic when the football team has a game on Saturday and there isn't one mention of it on the front page of the sports section.
KU should have a floating bar on Potter Lake.
图
After what Roy did for Kansas this summer, he deserves more than a poster series in the paper.
Some critics say Bush isn't equipped to be president. I'd take him any day over the career politician/liar Gore is.
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
Has anyone thought about the reason the football players got off was because they were innocent?
it's amazing that as I walk home in the pouring rain that people are inconsiderate enough to splash me as they drive by.
People should give the UDK more credit, it's a really good newspaper.
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Censorship is for bad parents.
Roy! Roy! Roy! Roy!
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