Wednesday, October 18, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 9
Perspective
Messages weren't part of Coming Out Day
As a gay man and a member of Queers and Allies, I feel compelled to address the obscenities displayed on campus. First and foremost, the obscenities were not from the official Queers and Allies organization. We do not condone or encourage such behavior. The obscenities that a very minute percent of our organization chose to write shocked and abhorred all of us. Their actions are being dealt with and punished within the organization.
Secondly, the official plan was to advertise the National Coming Out Day events that were taking place at the Kansas Union. Those sidewalk messages were done on Tuesday evening at 5:30 by a group chosen by Queers and Allies. Then, a few people not affiliated with the 5:30 group chalked campus around midnight. These people did not notify Queens and Allies of their plans. However, the organization is taking responsibility for these members. We also took on the responsibility to help clean the obscenities from campus.
Finally, civil rights and respect are very important to us. The progress has been slow but rewarding. We do not want to stunt the growth of progress nor do we want to offend anyone. Those that were offended have my sincere apology.
Joey Kerns Topeka sophomore
Columnist's perspective on Green Party flawed
It is clear from Andrew Marino's Perspective piece that he lacks even a vague sense of what the Green Party's agenda is, or for that matter, what is at stake in the coming election. Rather than "telling us all how to live," the Green Party is an expression of modern day populism. People are tired of being pushed around by a complex bureaucracy and the economic/political weight of the Fortune 500, always up against a mountain of paperwork and unable to match the funding of the big boys.
A major first step toward restoring a more equitable distribution of political power would be to ban soft money, large campaign contributions from corporations and trade unions marked as "party building" funds. By effectively making corporations and unions play by the same
rules as ordinary citizens, is it not a fair assumption that the people's interest would be addressed more fairly than it is now? While both the Republicans and Democrats talk about campaign finance reform, they continue to accept soft money contributions. To me, this says neither takes this issue very seriously, and by not taking this issue seriously, they do not take the citizens they "represent" very seriously, either.
Marino also misses the point about when he mentions how people benefit from the proliferation of corporate America. Do people benefit when they are downsized out of a job? Do people benefit when one company basically establishes a media trust i.e.
Time/Warner/AOL)? Even though the GNP and per capita income are at all-time highs, Americans now work on average 45 hours per week; this is over 150 more hours than the Japanese work annually. And finally, what about a single-payer system for health care? It's about time the United States caught up with the rest of the world on that one. I must ask again, are these really benefits? If your name is Bill Gates, I suppose they are.
Also, a note on Nader's crusade for safer automobiles. If Marino had ever bothered to read Unsafe at any Speed, he would know that GM knew the Corvair's suspension buckled on cornering several years before the car was produced, but did nothing. He would know that seat belts and safety glass were proven lifesavers as early as the 1920s, but that automakers refused to implement them because they interfered with styling. He would know that low emissions equipment has existed since the late 1940s and that smog has been linked (and continues to be linked in the year 2000) to chronic asthma and other health problems. Is avoiding death and dismemberment not in the interest of the consumer?
In closing, all I have to offer for prospective voters is this: Please know how all the candidates stack up against each other. Do not vote blindly.
immigration helps to serve the nation
I am the president of Alesec, an organization at the University of Kansas that not only sends KU students on international internships, but brings students from other countries to the Lawrence/Kansas City area to work at paid internships.
I would like to offer a couple words of agreement with Mark Goode's opinion piece about the anti-immigration advertisement in
the Kansan.
In the experiences the members of our organization have had dealing with major corporations, we have found that immigration actually helps to create more jobs in the United States. Like Goode pointed out, many technology companies need a lot of high-tech employees but can't find them in the U.S. So that leaves them with two options:
1. Keep the company in the United States and bring international talent to these positions that can't be filled by U.S. employees.
2. Move the company to areas where there is a lot of high tech talent such as India, which produces much of the world's leading high-tech talent, or to the potential high-growth market of China.
By importing international talent, more jobs are kept in the United States and these companies can continue to innovate and fuel the U.S. economy. Closing our borders would force a lot of companies out of the U.S., causing a lot of jobs to go with them.
Our country was made by immigration; nowadays immigration reinforces it.
Coverage should focus on real news
"news"paper) should be required to take a class that teaches them how to discern news from drive.
Now, I'm no journalism major,
but I am a veteran of the United States Military. This may make me biased, but I'm pretty sure that the deaths of 17 United States sailors is a bit more important than a rumor about a frat house ghost. On Thursday there was a tiny story (with no photo) about the attack on the USS Cole on page five, but the story about a ghost in a frat house was on page one with a huge headline and a big color photo of two frat guys, neither of whom, by the way, were ghosts.
If the purpose of the School of Journalism is to prepare students to be journalists, why aren't we teaching them to print news on the first few pages of the newspaper and save the goofy ghost rumors and other crappy stories for the back page? I think journalism students (or at least the ones who lay out the
1. nope I haven't confused anyone, so let me explain it in the simplest terms: Terrorist attack on US battleship = Front Page News
Bob Dorsey
Lansing sophomore
Frat house ghost = Back Page
Turd.
Religion neutrality unfortunate for society
On Oct. 16 David Grumman wrote: "My first concern with [school vouchers] is that it interfes with the separation of church and state. From the state's perspective, this means some public money would fund religious schools, not a role government should play."
The idea of separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. Furthermore, the idea that the government should not pay money to religious schools simply because they are religious is without precedent. The truth is that state money is already being given to many religious organizations. State scholarships pay for students to attend private religious schools. Government programs like Medicare and Medicaid pay for care at both religious and secular hospitals. Please tell why state money can pay for college education and not primary and secondary education.
I suspect the reason that you really do not want state money to go to these schools is that you do not want to have the state directly or indirectly teach children about our spirituality. The truth is that public schools tacitly, if not overtly, teach that religion is irrelevant. Religion is not an issue on which someone can be truly neutral. You can actively promote it or you can subvert it by saying it is not important enough to be discussed. Either way you have taken a side. Thus, the state is already teaching our children about religion, by saying it is irrelevant.
The attempts our society has made to be neutral about religious values in the public sphere has, in fact, neutralized religion. Without religion we have no place to look to find value outside of ourselves. Any other place we look for value will be devoid of any true meaning. Just as a counterfeiter knows that the money he makes is really worthless, so the meaning we create for ourselves apart from a transcendent God will also be meaningful.
Eric Conyers Kansas City, Kan., senior
Clinton Parkway & Kasold 832-9600 Great food, Daily drink specials!
BARGAIN MATINEES INDICATED BY ()
BARDUM SEATING * ALL DIGITAL
| Sat/Sun | Daily |
| :--- | :--- |
| 1 Lost Souls™ | (1.45) 3:35, 7:10:10 |
| 2 Get Carter™ | (1.35) 4:55, 7:15:90 |
| 3 Bring it On™ | (1.50) 4:20, 7:15:94 |
| 4 Meet the Parents™ | (1.45) 4:50, 7:10:100 |
| 5 Dr. & The Women™ | (1.30) 4:20, 7:10:105 |
| 6 Remember the Titans™ | (1.05) 4:15, 7:05:94 |
| 7 The Contortier™ | (1.00) 4:00, 7:05:90 |
| 8 Meet The Parents™ | (1.15) 4:05, 7:05:90 |
| 9 The Exorcist™ | (1.10) 4:10, 7:10:105 |
| 10 Digionon: The Movie™ | (2.00) 4:25 | --- | --- |
| also... What Lies Beneath™ | --- | --- | --- |
| 11 Almost Famous™ | (1.40) 4:40, 7:30:101 |
| 12 The Ladies Man™ | (1.55) 5:00, 7:45, 8:55 | --- | --- |
Sat & Sun Daily
1 The Original Kings of Comedy (1:55) 4:40 7:00, 9:35
2 Nurse Betty * (1:45) 4:30 7:00, 9:30
3 Urban Legends: Final Cuts * (1:55) 4:35 7:10, 9:40
4 Duets * (1:45) 4:30 7:05, 9:30
5 The Watcher * (1:50) 4:45 7:10, 9:40
6 Space Cowboys **(a:50)** 1:50 4:80 — —
★ NO V.I. *PASSES* *SUPERSAVERS*
SHOW! MES FOR TODAY ONLY
Date: October 27 & 28
Appearing at: Coyote's
Call the Chippendale info line toll free at 1-888-799-CHIP for ticket information or to purchase with a credit card. Experience the magic of the original Chippendales. You can order tickets anytime by logging on to the web site at www.chippendales.com Credit card orders are nonrefundable. VIP $25, General Admission $20
Time: 7:00 pm.
SUA Presents the guest guitarist from the Dave Matthews Band
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