4a Opinion Tuesday, October 10, 2000 For comments, contact Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com Perspective Third parties deserve more recognition The existence of a multiparty democracy only helps solidify U.S. politics. Many of us may not support Ralph Nader, Pat Buchanan or any of the micro-candidates such as John Hagelin, Harry Browne or Howard Phillips, but we need to support the opening of the system to all parties. In most of Europe and Latin America, we see so many political parties that we can barely distinguish their platforms. Here it's just the opposite. We see two main candidates with totally different and contrasting projects. We can't choose anyone with realistic chances of winning and who has some democratic and some republican values. It's either one or the other. It's either the donkey or the elephant. No other animals are allowed into this private zoo that's American politics. How about someone who supports abortion and the privatization of Social Security? Maybe a candidate who wants to bolster Medicare and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from abroad? The candidates running with a minor party ticket may have some of the weirdest ideas I have ever Cassio Furtado columnist gonion@kansan.com heard, but at the same time they make us think about issues that Al Gore and George W. Bush neglect. Some third-party candidates know that their ideas are not going to be accepted by the majority of the public because some ideas are radical. But at least they make us aware of many facets of the U.S. government we wouldn't otherwise be aware of. Last Monday, just one day before the Bush vs. Gore debate, both Nader and Buchanan were on CNN's Larry King Live. Nader then admitted what we already know: that he will lose. He said he was running to make a stand. He wants to extend the ideas of his Green Party to more voters, and unlike some analysts suppose, Nader is not stealing many votes from Gore. People who will vote for him wouldn't vote at all if he chose not to run. Buchanan is a totally different case. He didn't choose to run because he wants the American people to be aware of some issues or anything of that sort. Let's face it: The guy is running because he can't live without being in the spotlight. As you know, both Nader and Buchanan weren't able to join the debates because the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates set the standard of public interest for the candidates to be 15 percent. This commission is composed of members of both Democratic and Republican parties. Don't you think that's unfair that a commission chaired by the two parties decides if any third-party candidate will be allowed to participate? That needs to change. Earlier this week I signed a petition proposed by the Green Party so that it can be recognized statewide. I will sign any other party's, even if I do not agree with its ideas. That's not the point. The point is allowing all parties to be part of the process. Look back eight years and compare the structure third parties had with today's. We all benefit from being exposed to more ideas. This logic goes back to German philosopher Georg Hegel, who advocated that we all benefit from the confrontation of ideas, having a thesis and an antithesis, leading to a synthesis. The next president won't be from the Green Party, the Reform Party, the Natural Law Party, the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party or from any other third party. The next president will be Democrat or Republican. That's just logical and predictable. Third parties still have a long way to go before they can be real challengers to Democrats and Republicans. What's at stake today is not this year's election, but the future of the entire political system. Fartado is a Pelota, Brazil, senior in political science and journalism. Steve Sack / TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES By the Numbers Percentage of Americans who say they would vote for Donald Trump for president rather than Al Gore or George W. Bush Source: The Hotline (Washington)Western Wats Opinion Research Center (Provo, Utah) Source: Prof. Benjamin Forest, Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) 832°F Estimated temperature of Hell, according to two Spanish physicists' interpretation of the Bible Source: Department of Applied Physics, University of Santiago (Santiago, Spain) Perspective RU-486 helps control expanding population Holy contraceptives, Batgirl! The FDA's approved an abortion pill! What's next, a pill that kills fully grown What's next—a pill that kills fully grown people? Open trade in weapons of mass destruction? One might almost think the human race was inherently self-destructive ... but let's retread. We're talking controlled propagation of the species, not modern warfare. Yes, we numans have a problem — ourselves. We just seem to be too many. By way of experiment, I once stared out my airplane window for the entirety of a nighttime flight from Houston to Portland, Ore. I was waiting for a vista of blackness to open up beneath me, a scene where no human activity was visible. It never happened. Approximately 2,000 miles of the United States' more unpopulated terrain was pock-marked with clusters of artificial light, as big as Dallas and as small as a Rocky Mountain truck stop. It was beautiful and yet frightening. What other species can compare with the handprint humanity has left on this planet? Human civilization is the most visible faunal aspect of the earth's topography, and we ain't a very pretty one at that. Yet we go forth and multiply. Contraception is a wonderful thing. It means we can Ramona DeNies columnist opinion@kansan.com I felt rather choked up over the controversy this latest debacle in contraceptive history has stirred up. When language is used to inflame, the wider picture gets lost, and that is exactly what many fail to recognize in the abortion debate. Are we talking about quality or sheer quantity, and for whom do we presume to speak on "moral grounds"? Embryos? Women? Future generations? Our supposed constituencies? decide whether we can personally support an addition to the human population. Individually, we can slow the growth rate of the human population by controlling pregnancy. And need I reiterate just how vastly beneficial effective control of pregnancy has been for women in larger schemas? And speaking of moral grounds, a recent editorial in the Vatican newspaper, thought to reflect the beliefs of Pope John Paul II, refers to the pill as "the pill of Cain: the monster that cynically kills its brothers." "Oftentimes," according to Steve Sanborn, representative for the American Life League, "women will be expelling their own children in their own living room or their own bathroom and sitting there faced with that baby. I can't imagine what kind of 'convenience' that's going to be for them." Scott Weinberg, representative for the American Life League, states, "We have the FDA involved in abortion providing. We have the Supreme Court effectively legalizing infanticide. I mean, for crying out loud, what is going on in America?" Such statements attempt to make the personal decision of child-bearing and rearing a public obligation upon insemination. In the United States, such public control over the functions of a woman's body can be seen as the antithesis of democracy. If the ability to control that most fundamental feature of a woman's body — her reproductive ability — is removed, women will be left with very little personal autonomy. In late 1988, Rousseau Uclaf, the pharmaceutical company responsible for RU-486, withdrew the drug from the French market where it made its debut because of death threats several members of its personnel had received. The French government soon after mandated the rerelease of the drug, calling RU-486 "the moral property of women, not just the property of the drug company." Perhaps we should remember that contraception in its many manifestations is as old a practice as cultural landscaping, with snakeskin condoms, pessaries of acacia and honey or the all-too-recent wooden diaphragms of Victorian society — later banned as implements of torture. Aren't we lucky that contraception has achieved unprecedented levels of efficacy, safety and comfort at the point when we need it the most? ___ Morality sure is a sticky issue. All I know for sure is that from Houston to the shining sea of Portland, Ore., humanity has scarred the earth. Does anyone actually want to test the premise of dynamic equilibrium on a human scale? DeNiels is a Portland, Ore., senior in Latin American Studies. Editorial Holiday offensive, inaccurate Columbus Day shouldn't be celebrated in a society of diverse perspectives. We should stop recognizing Columbus Day as a national holiday. Not only is the holiday historically inaccurate, but it also offends a large number of indigenous people. Columbus hit the Bahamas on Oct. 12, 1492, and swore to his dying day that he'd reached the East Indies. The Columbian Order began to officially celebrate his blunder in 1792 and, 100 years later, President Harrison made the first Monday in October a federal holiday. The Columbian Order celebrated Columbus as the discoverer of America even though it was Amerigo Vespucci who really opened both continents up to Europe. Celebrating Columbus for discovering the New World is like celebrating the Apollo 13 mission for discovering the moon — both just got close. After Columbus and Vespucci landed. Europeans and the natives clashed. That's why not everyone is elated by Columbus Day. For some, the day symbolizes a great sense of pride, especially among the Italian-American population, but for others it symbolizes being conquered by foreign invaders. Since 1991, Berkeley, Calif., has celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day to raise awareness of the different cultural perspectives on this issue. Others propose a simple Discoverers Day, such as the one held in Hawaii, where Hawaiians recognize the triumph of Europeans entering this hemisphere. But even a Discoverers Day is a bad idea. When our country says, "Today we celebrate the discovery of America," we don't mean the native people crossing the Bering Straight. Rather we refer to the point when Europeans came, thus suggesting the place was undiscovered and somehow unused until they got here. The landing of Europeans in America is not a cause for great celebration, not for an enlightened society like ours. It is just something that happened, with good and bad effects. It is worth our sober consideration but not worth closing down the banks. Brett Watson 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 good to see that KU students had high hopes for KU beating K-State in Saturday's football game. That's school spirit. - I bet Laidlaw and the Lawrence Bus Company get tired of cleaning up the vomitoriums after greek events. - Do students who live on campus have to turn into icicles before the heat is turned on? - The KU Band needs to move over to the student section. We can barely hear them from where they are. 图 How is it possible to make 50-yard field goals, yet miss so many extra points? The KU flag was flying upside down in the stadium on Saturday, and the K- State fans noticed this. It was really embarrassing. 图 - KU Info should get more lines because they're always busy and their stupid Jaytalk line comes on. There are too many mistakes and not enough discipline on the football team, Terry. It's time to go. - When are they having tryouts for a KU football kicker? - Saferide took way too long to pick me up. They never came and didn't answer their phone. Now, I'm going to have to drive drunk and hope I don't hurt anyone. 图 Why is there a large photo of a K-State football player on our paper? Isn't this the Kansan? I bet the president of Jayhawker Towers Association has heat at his house. - Why does it seem that the most efficient department on campus is the Parking Department? How to submit letters and guest columns Letters: Should be double-spaced type 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. Guest columns: Should be double- spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. All letters and guest columns should be e-mailed to opinion@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4924. News editors Editor... Nathan Willis Managing editors... Chris Borniger, Kristi Elliott Readers' rep ... Erin Barcomb Opinion... Ben Embry, Emily Hughey Sports... Molinda Weaves Associate sports... Jason Walker Campus... Jessie Meyer, Middle Miller The University Daily Kansan readersrep@kansan.com or 864-4610 opinion@kansan.com or 864-4924 sport@kansan.com or 864-4638 urter@kansan.com or 864-4610 Features ... Clay McCulstion Jayplay ... BriAnne Hess Online ... Chris Hopkins Photo ... Nick Krug ' Design, graphics Amy Train Wire Lori O'Toole Special sections .. Clare McLellan General manager and news adviser... Tom Eblen features@kansan.com or or648294 jayplay@kansan.com or or648130 webbler@kansan.com or or648150 6648291 664812 664810 664810 telebler@kansan.com or or647667 Business ... Brad Bolyard Retail sales ... Becky LaBranch Marketing ... Trent Guyer Campus ... Monica Hahn Regional ... Brooke Johnson National ... Katy Hyman Online sales ... Lindsey Gross Online creative ... Patrick Rupe Advertising managers odddirector@kansan.com or 864-4924 retailsales@kansan.com or 864-4462 864-4358 864-4358 864-4358 864-4358 onlinreads@kansan.com or 864-4358 864-4358 --- managers Creative ... Erin Endres Production ... Jenny Weaver Classifieds ... Sarah Lando Zone ... Cecily Curran Zone ... Anika Entwistle Zone ... Chris Davenport Zone ... Jenny Moore Sales and marketing Matt Fisher 864-4358 864-4475 class(fedds@kansan.com or 864-4358 864-4358 864-4358 864-4358 mfisher@kansan.com or 864-7666