Tuesday, September 26, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A • Page 5
Opinion
For comments, contact Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Letters to the editor Grades should be based on objectivity
I was very disturbed by the report in the Sept. 19th Kansan about the professor who measures student performance by meditating, Professor Nunley should be applauded for going outside the realm of traditional teaching and trying something new, but his approach is missing a basic teaching component: an objective measure of student learning.
Class discussions and online chat rooms can be quite effective, but one still needs an objective measure of whether students are learning anything — for the professor, and perhaps more importantly, for the students. Unfortunately, most courses only measure student learning two or three times during an entire semester (with a couple of tests and a final exam). In this class, students don't know how they are doing until the end of the semester, unless they are failing!
I imagine that students who failed this course could easily appeal their grade. There are apparently no permanent records of student performance to tell you exactly why a person failed — or passed.
I wonder if Professor Nunley would board an airplane in which the pilot had this kind of training, or get under the knife of a surgeon whose ability was judged through meditation rather than objective criteria?
Jay Buzhardt Lawrence graduate student
Columnist's argument illogical, ridiculous
Cassio Futado's column in the September 21 Kansan was the most irresponsible and ridiculous piece of journalism I have read to date. It was nothing more than a collection of generalities and slanted insults. If Cassio Furtado really wants people to take him seriously, he should back up his assertions with some form of logical argument, rather than hurling insults like when he refers to Bush as someone who "reminds me of the Cretaceous period."
I'm tired of reading these trashy, juvenile pieces in the Kansan. It takes away the paper's credibility, (if it had any left) and it makes a mockery of good journalism. When I read your editorial page, it reminds me of the little hate notes girls used to leave one another in 8th grade. If your writers can't create a work with petty insults, they need to find another profession.
need to find another problem.
Stop trying to subvert the rest of us with your control over the printed word.
Derek Teeter
Oakley sophomore
Columnist needs to focus on issues
I am writing in response to Cassio Furtado's column, "Bush unfit candidate for President," in Thursday's paper. I agree with his point on Bush making us "feel good," and being truthful about his past with drugs, but why tell us to not follow party lines when voting? I think that it is a very important aspect in the election this year.
There will be Supreme Court justices appointed, and new legislation in dealing with major issues during the next presidential term. People should definitely take into consideration their party affiliation, or what good are the political parties in elections?
I understand his attack on Bush's spelling of "subliminal," but Bush did attend Harvard and Yale and has realistic goals for our country. Bush's $198 billion prescription drug plan will quickly provide money to the states for the aging poor's drug coverage, while Gore's $775 billion plan, will take years to go into effect, and cost the United States a fortune.
Let's focus on the issues, rather than the fact of being glad to be "rid of George W. Bush news coverage," and saying that he will "embarass us." The Democratic party has done enough embarrasing for a few years.
Molly Mueller Overland Park junior
Argument was not well-constructed
I am writing to express my disappointment in the arguments made by Karla J. Pierce of the Kansas Department of Revenue in favor of police asking for ID from those who appear young.
First, she uses money as a rationale. She says that underage drinking "costs the state of Kansas an estimated $388 million" per year. Monetary concerns should never be used to justify the infringement of civil rights. Improper diet costs the state millions in medical expenses. I don't think anyone would argue in favor of harassing the overweight.
Second, she says that harrassing those who appear to be young is better than the alternative of checking everyone's ID. She asks "would you want to live in that kind of police state?" The answer is no, but is that the only alternative? How about the alternative of infringing on nobody's civil rights?
Finally, her comments about the age restrictions on kindergarten, running for president and collecting social security are completely off point. Nobody is talking about doing away with the age restriction on alcohol. At least not yet. The argument is about violating citizens' rights in order to enforce it.
I would hope that by the time someone has risen to the upper levels of state government they would have learned to construct a logical argument, I guess that is asking too much.
Rob Grondahl graduate student in mathematics
Boy Scouts ruling promotes hate
Yet again, I'm surprised at John McCool's amazingly misinformed view regarding the Supreme Court decision and the Boy Scouts. He seems to have perused the 3-page majority opinion in a 5-4 vote, ignoring the 40-page dissent.
He also seems to be glossing over the fact that an organization serving millions of children stood in the highest Court and defined itself as a hate group. Now Mr. McCool, I'm going to explain very simply and slowly why a gay person might be offended by this ruling. I'll even type it slowly so that you can keep
up.
You are blonde. It's clear in the Kansas photo. Now let us pretend that every 2nd grade teacher in America begins teaching children that it's wrong to be blonde. Sure, it's debated whether or not it's a choice of yours, but you could dye it all sorts of colors. Whether or not you're still blonde underneath isn't so important, just so long as you're not flaunting it in public.
Would you want to fiscally support these lessons through your taxes or donations to charitable institutions? I hope this analogy is simple and clear enough to help you understand how ignorant and superficial your opinions are. Maybe next time you disagree with the queer community, you can track a member down and ask them why it bothers them. In the meantime, your right to "disagree" that the sky is blue doesn't mean you're not an idiot to argue the point.
Matthew Skinta Andover senior
University fails to monitor recruitment
According to your September 14 article, Provost Shulenburger is looking for clues about how to increase minority faculty recruitment. I suggest that he begin by asking why KU has ceased to monitor the recruitment and promotion of faculty.
In 1995, KU was found to be out of compliance with the legal requirements of the US Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs. The OFCCP is the agency that mandates the existence of KU's Equal Opportunity Office. In their review, OFCCP found that the proportion of minorities and women in the applicant pool was higher than the proportion hired by KU. In other words, there was a serious problem with "underutilization" of women and minority applicants for faculty positions in many departments across campus.
Chancellor Hemenway then signed a conciliation agreement in which KU proposed a series of solutions to remedy the problem. But rather than solving the problem as they had promised, KU simply stopped reporting to the OFCCP. The legally mandated annual reports have not been filed since 1995! Their solution, apparently, was to cover up by no longer reporting the proportions of minorities and women in the applicant and hiring pools, making it impossible to determine if they were still out of compliance. When the Kansas University Sexism and Racism Victims Coalition learned of this situation, we requested that they provide us with the required data for 1996-2000, only to find out that not only has KUs Equal Opportunity Office not been reporting the data to OFCCP, it has not even been compiling the data. Rather than following their conciliation agreement, they stopped monitoring employment practices on campus.
KU administrators also apparently believed that if they quashed all complaints of discrimination that they could prevent OCCCP from discovering their continued lack of compliance.
This is the basis for the group complaint filed with the OFCCP by the KUSRVC (the complaint can be
downloaded from www.seekpeace.com/KUSRVC). KU is now facing the very real possibility that it will face sanctions for its actions, including the possibility that it will lose all federal funding This is a very serious matter, especially considering that Chancellor Hemenway has made the increase in federal funding the cornerstone of his proposed $2 billion restoration of KU's national ranking.
The truth is that Provost Shulenburger does not know how many minorities and women apply to be faculty at KU because the data are not being compiled. Therefore, he does not know whether the low proportion of minorities being hired into faculty positions is due to a low proportion of minorities in the applicant pool or to discrimination in the hiring process on campus.
Equally egregious is the fact that the Provost does not know how many minority faculty are applying for and being granted tenure and promotion to full professor. According to his office, these data are not compiled and the promotion review process is not monitored in any way. But without these data, it is impossible to determine whether or not there is a "glass ceiling" for minorities. The existence of such a glass ceiling could be a major reason why so many minority faculty leave KU each year; $29\%$ of the professors who left last year were minorities, while minorities only make up about $11\%$ of the faculty. According to the OFCCP, not monitoring the promotion process is another serious violation of federal regulations.
KU isn't simply in a recruiting slump, it's in violation of its own policies and federal and state law. Provost Shulenburger is right in being concerned, because for the past five years, his administration has blatantly violated requirements to monitor the entire employment process, including applications, hires, and promotions, and as a result, he now faces the potential of sanctions that could endanger KU's federal funding.
Cynthia Annett Kansas University Sexism and Racism Victims Coalition
Band should be center stage at football games
A number of us who sit on the west side of the stadium are wondering why that God-awful rock music is played prior to each kickoff, drowning out our own band which is playing at the same time. We also are wondering why our outstanding band has been relegated to the horseshoe (for the second season in a row). Over on the west side, we can barely hear them on a still day and can't hear them at all when the wind is blowing into the stadium from the south.
We earnestly suggest knocking off the rock music altogether and relocating the band, which is a much greater asset to the University than this year's mediocre football team, on the east side where it can be heard.
If it is impossible, for some obtuse reason, to ditch the horrible music, how about turning the volume control down by at least two-thirds. Dog owners in Tonganoxie will appreciate it as much as those of us who sit on the west side. We are not hard of hearing.
Ben Marshall 1963 graduate
Campus police should show more respect
Do KU police officers have any respect for people, especially students? Are they even trained to respond to something other than reports on stolen goods, break-ins, alarms going off in buildings, driving or parking violations? I have serious doubts. Why, you might ask.
On Saturday, September 23, after the football game, I had a guest of the University, and we both had nothing to do with the football game, in my vehicle. We were trying to get to the place the university had provided for him, an apartment at the Sunflower Apartments. We came upon an officer who was directing traffic south from Sunnyside Street onto Naismith Drive. I attempted to address the officer with a question, and was cut off immediately, and addressed as follows: "Hey buddy! You have to turn! Go ahead and turn now!"
I had no chance to say anything to the officer, who had no clue whether I was trying to get his attention because of an emergency, or if I had other intentions. When I didn't move immediately, he put his right hand on his firearm and repeated his command to make the turn south on Naismith. I'm not sure who or what gives a KU police officer the right to use his weapon for intimidation purposes, unless the officer is threatened. I'm also not sure who allows an officer of the law, who is supposed to "protect and serve," to ignore what a citizen is trying to tell or ask him.
This officer had no knowledge of what was going on, and, luckily, nobody's life was in danger. But, as a citizen I have to ask, what if? What if a person would have had an accident? What if a person being being robbed, killed or raped? Is this the attitude and respect we, as students, receive from the KU police department? Is this representative of the KU police officers' attitude towards students, towards emergencies, which are so much easier to deal with after they are over? If it is, maybe it is time for the administration to step in.
When addressing an officer, one usually is not asking if the officer wants to go and have beer, it usually deals with emergencies or questions. But I guess the KU police department doesn't operate by the high standards set forth by the governor of Kansas. Or, maybe, the serving and protecting are only directed towards themselves, with no regard for students.
Last but not least, I expect more respect from a person who doesn't know me, and who I'm encountering on the street while he's performing his duty. Being addressed as "buddy" is, to say the least, unacceptable. But again, we're coming down on the issue of treating students, aren't we. Personally, I would like for the police department to apologize, and the administration to investigate the police department's attitude and resulting behavior toward students and other groups on campus. But as it always goes, the administration won't care, and the police department is safe, so it doesn't have to change a thing.
Helmut Tweer
Leverkusen, Germany graduate student
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