4a
Opinion
Wednesday, October 25, 2000
for comments, contact Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Editorial board: Float had no right in parade
Parade organizers had right to exclude float
Stephenson Scholarship Hall's contribution to this year's fleet of homecoming floats was admittedly created to "challenge people's notions of obscenity." It unfortunately had the desired effect.
A car with a giant penis on the rear in no way reflects the tradition of homecoming but did appear obscene to many. The whole idea behind the floats is to bring the alumni home and celebrate the University with creativity. Unless the float had somehow passed homecoming guidelines (1. Fit "Passport to the world" theme, and 2. Make a positive impact on the University), the lewd content should not have been allowed in the parade.
If the Float of Doom has any positive impact, what could it be? The float was created to be perceived as obscene. Some may say that what is offensive to one person is not necessarily offensive to another. But the key argument is what is offensive to Student Union Activities, which organized the parade.
The commitment to freedom of imagination and expression is deeply embedded in our national psyche, but stressed by the First Amendment and supported by a long line of Supreme Court decisions. It is perhaps the most fundamental right in a democratic society.
But freedom of speech does have limits. No one has the right to give away military secrets or to threaten the life of the president or to shout over a bullhorn in the middle of the night. We're not free to lie under oath or to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. The misuse of free speech to "create a clear and present danger," as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, may be punished by the government.
The Supreme Court formulated guidelines for determining obscene material in Miller v. California. The Court created the "local community standards" test to determine obscenity based on whether the work in question was patently offensive and had no redeeming social, scientific or literary value. Moreover, the Supreme Court has also ruled that parade organizers are free to exclude groups they don't want from a parade.
Although the notion of obscenity that is currently held by the collective public is tenuous, the homecoming parade is an immature place to test the boundaries of obescence. Clearly, there are a variety of ways to test the limits of obscenity in
The Float of Doom directly contradicted the purposes of the homecoming parade that SUA set out. SUA was well
Float of Doom Committee: Obscenity is a subjective standard
Float of Doom entry was unjustly removed
The issue of the third annual Stephenson Hall Float of Doom divides neatly into two separate questions: First, did Jennifer Wamelink, assistant director of stu
Illustration by Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
dent housing.
client housing,
overstep her
position in
urging parade organizers to ban the float, and second, should the float have been admitted to the parade?
After submitting our application for the parade, we were told that SUA would inspect our float at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the day before the parade. At approximately 3:30 p.m., a message was left on our answering machine notifying us that Wamelink told SUA that Stephenson Hall was not to have a float in the parade.
We called SUA and asked if we could enter as "members of the Lawrence community" (an option on the
original application) but were denied, with the only explanation being that to do that, we would've had to register the Friday before. That option exhausted, we called Wamelink, who, after lengthy discussion, said that she had been acting as our "adviser" and had only "advised" us not to make the float, on the grounds that not all of Stephenson had agreed to it.
This apparently new requirement for entrance into the parade (it hadn't been on any of the application materials) was enforced only on us, and more importantly, constituted a de facto ban, because by the time she'd admitted that she was powerless to stop our float. SUA had crossed us off its list and was busy doing the other inspections. The result is that Wamelink kept our float from entering the parade despite the fact that she had no formal or traditional tie to SUA or to the parade.
The second question is really the discussion we wanted to provoke by making the float: Should SUA allow floats that are in poor taste into the homecoming parade?
The whole thing was a test of our concept of obscenity. We have the right to make a float like that; just ask the KU Public Safety Office. They told us that they couldn't arrest us for a float such as the one we had planned.
That said, it was and is SUA's parade, and it can keep us out if it wants to. However, SUA has been willing, in the past, to challenge boundaries. In the past year, it has sponsored showings of Orgazmo, Conspirators of Passion, and General Chaos Uncensored, all of which are arguably more risqué than our float.
The point is that obscenity is completely subjective; even the Supreme Court ultimately says that it only knows it when it sees it. There is no reason for anyone to be offended by our float or by any other expression.
The only solution to the issue is for everyone to step back and think critically about everything he or she is presented with.
Tim Lang for the editorial board
John Breeding for the Float of Doom Committee
Hard lesson on accuracy teaches Kansan reporters
Let's give it up for Stephenson Scholarship Hall. They pulled one over on us last week.
But you probably won't see Wilbur Nether, that is unless you go to the fourth floor of Stephenson, where he lives. Good luck finding a fourth floor.
Wilbur Nether was a source in Thursday's story about scholarship hall rate increases.
From what I've heard, he subscribes but
doesn't pay for subscriptions to magazines and CD clubs, which the rest of Stephenson's residents enjoys.
If you haven't figured it out, this guy doesn't exist — except in the folklore of the scholarship halls and, unfortunately, in Thursday's Kansan.
How exactly did all of this happen? For starters, the student who was interviewed lied about his name. We don't routinely run extensive background checks on sources, unless they're running for a public office, such as Student
Senate, or if it's a story with potential controversy. Who would expect a student to give a false name, especially for a story about the cost of student housing?
Erin R.
Barcomb
readers'
representative
readerimp@kansas.com
Although I don't think it's necessary to run every source's name through public records, searching for criminal charges, legal name changes and the like, maybe we are a little too trusting sometimes.
And maybe we don't question enough. We double check names in the student directory,
but not all students are listed there. For those who aren't, we usually assume the reporter got it right.
But sometimes that doesn't happen. Take a look in the student phone book. You won't find a listing for Wilbur Nether. We certainly didn't.
Although we couldn't find any compelling evidence that he exists, we made assumptions and trusted other people. Trust isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be when the issue of students trusting what they read in the Kansan is at stake.
The time constraints of putting out a daily paper have an effect, too. Working on deadline doesn't always allow us the time we would like to have to quadruple check names and sources. Sometimes you have to go with your gut instinct. As anyone who has relied solely on "gut instinct" instead of studying for a final exam knows, gut instinct doesn't always work.
If there's one good thing to come out of this, it's that we've busted Wilbur Nether's cover. He won't find his way into the paper anymore as a source.
On one hand, the whole idea of a nonexistent housemate who can "pay" for your Sports Illustrated subscription and, if you're clever enough, make his way into a newspaper is pretty funny. At the same time, those of us who work at the newspaper take our jobs very seriously. Having mistakes like this isn't at all funny to us.
Sorry to spoil the fun, Stephenson. Please give Wilbur my apologies. But thanks for teaching us a lesson about accuracy we won't soon forget.
That goes for any other "source" who wants to pass himself or herself off as someone else. We'll be on the lookout from now on.
Barcomb is a Wichita senior in journalism.
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.
Cell phones interrupting class:
funny. Cell phones interrupt
Tim Reynolds concert: not funny.
图
Nader had the nerve to skip out on the nationally televised third-party debates.
Don't drink orange juice after you brush your teeth.
Drugs are an escape from reality for a weak mind.
---
-
Those who complain most about cigarettes are the ones who have little experience personally with addiction.
Pat Buchanan is the only candid date who addresses real issues.
with, "Dude, I got so drunk."
Classified employees are the heart of this University.
Why do our housing handbooks not tell us to not put foil in the microwave?
with, "Dude, I got so drunk."
图
Thanks to Free for All, hatred has a new place to expose itself.
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Penises aren't obscene.
How come the winning float didn't get on the cover of the Kansan?
--with, "Dude, I got so drunk."
Why is my belly button lint
always blue? I never wear blue!
If you smoke, drink or chew tobacco, you aren't drug-free.
with, "Dude, I got so drunk."
The world would be a much better place if Blockbuster delivered.
Whether it's cigarettes or marijuana, people are choosing their poison.
I would like for once to hear a frat boy not start a conversation
Young and Republican are contradictory to one another.
The University should implement a mandatory drug screening before freshmen are admitted.
图
Tearing down the goal post is always fun.
At the National Merit Scholars luncheon on Saturday, how many minority students attended? And KU claims they are pushing for boosting minority enrollment.
图
It's really fun to stand in the McCollum parking lot at night because someone keeps pulling the fire alarm.
--typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer *must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.*
Rap is to music as Etch-A Sketch is to art.
Al Gore wouldn't be as good a president as George W. Bush
typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer *must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.*
Girls should not wear suede maroon-colored skirts.
图
Wescoe Terrace should serve corn dogs on Wednesday.
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