4a
Opinion
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
For comments, contact Ben Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Editorial board: Student Housing should reconsider policy
Rule violates rights of housing residents
The University of Kansas Department of Student Housing started enforcing a new policy this spring that encroaches upon the First Amendment.
The new policy prohibits the use of alcoholic beverage containers inside any university housing facility, even if for decorative purposes only. Resident assistants who catch their residents with any type of container - empty or otherwise - in their rooms must discard it immediately.
The rule has been altered from previous years. The University of Kansas has a dry campus, so students who reside in student housing have been forbidden to consume alcohol on campus for years. Not allowing residents to have empty alcohol bottles in their rooms prevents misconceptions about whether the alcohol was drained from the empty bottles on University property.
It is understandable that the department is looking out for the RAs by trying to avoid possible confusion and trying to control the drinking habits of the inhabitants, but it is a violation of the students' First Amendment rights to place a constraint on the way they can decorate their own rooms.
Liquor bottles are common in rooms in the residence halls, and students should be allowed to display anything they feel is appropriate in their rooms as long as it does not offend any of the other occupants. It is a matter of expression, and as students learn every day in the liberal arts environment at the University, there is no better time than now, during college, to learn how to express themselves in any way they choose.
Students pay the University so they can live on-campus. They should be able to have any sort of decor they choose for their rooms as long as they don't damage the facilities.
Dissenting: Empty-container policy supports campus rules
The housing policy was once that students, if caught drinking in their rooms by an RA, would be forced to dispose of the alcohol and the students would face the consequences stated in the
Container ban serves student body
Since the University of Kansas wants to preserve the ideal of a dry campus, the policy restricting empty alcohol containers is a sensible extension in meeting its goals.
According to campus policy and federal law, alcohol possession and consumption by minors are illegal
Some students are concerned that their freedom of expression is being stifed. However, expression through empty containers is inextricably linked with prohibited behavior.
The new policy will only help the enforcement of a dry campus by restricting the use of actual alcohol containers.
this decision is founded on the Department of Student Housing's right to assume that residents are drinking from such containers.
Although this assump-
Katie Hackett for the editorial board
Although this assumption is generally well-founded, exceptions should be made for those who genuinely use wine bottles to express their creativity. The department has recognized this, as students can apply for special permits for such collections.
For instance, having a bottle of Chianti decorated with different colored dripped wax is an expression of your creativity. A pyramid of empty vodka handles only expresses a desire to get drunk.
Yes, students have the freedom to decorate. But on a practical level, are alcohol containers a positive expression of who we really are?
As students learn to express themselves in the University environment, it is wise to discourage students from portraying themselves negatively through empty liquor bottles. They are linked with drunkenness, which obviously is self-destructive.
Under the former policy, if an RA walked past an open residence hall room and noticed empty beer bottles "decorating" the floor from the previous night's "art project," the RA would technically have no power to enforce the policy.
People desire to portray their best qualities and interests to others. Such containers in no way resemble good character or legal behavior.
The new alcohol policy grants housing staff the power to discipline such obvious infractions.
Even if students' empty containers were consumed off-campus, they still represent illegal consumption for the majority of housing residents.
It isn't that much of a sacrifice to dispose Captain Morgan and Jose Cuervo bottles into a trash bin rather than immortalize them in a window sill.
Either the University should abolish the dry campus policy, or student housing residents should comply and respect with the new policy.
There is no denying the link between empty containers and alcohol consumption.
RAs have no alternative but to infer that empty-bottle-toting residents are guilty of consuming on campus grounds and to punish accordingly.
Tim Lang, dissenting
Readers deserve balance between good and bad
If no news is good news, than all news must be bad news, right? Not necessarily, but some readers think the Kansan must see it that way. I've heard some of you say that we put too much of a focus on negative news and bury more positive stories within the paper.
Take Monday's front page, for example. Two of the top stories dealt with sexual misconduct, one at one of the University's residence halls and another among student
athletes. Inside were more positive stories about a weekend community-service project and supporters of the Green Party.
Planning of the paper isn't arbitrary. We meet every afternoon the day before we publish to analyze what we have and where it should go in the paper.
Last Sunday, editors decided to run the sexual misconduct stories prominently because they were useful to students. By explaining that a suspect
Erin R.
Barcomb
readers'
representative
nurderer@kasan.com
expanding the experience, students could know they don't need to fear this person being in their residence, said Kristi Elliott, managing editor. The story's safety tips also told students how to avoid a similar situation.
By publicizing potential sources of harm to students, such as sexual assault in residence halls and among student athletes, the Kansan aims to minimize harm, said Chris Borniger, managing editor.
"That's one of the instances where we act as a check on the University," Borniger said.
Some forms of media have attempted to downplay "bad news" in response to readers' and viewers' concerns. One Texas television station, Austin's ABC affiliate. KVUE-TV, experimented with reporting crimes only if the incident met certain criteria, including posing a present threat to public safety. The viewers' response resulted in higher ratings.
When Bob Woodward, one of the reporters who uncovered Wategate, attended my reporting class last year, a student asked his opinion of burying negative news. He said that journalists had a responsibility to present reality as closely as possible. When we ignore negative events and people, we're getting further and further away from reality, he said.
By running prominent articles about campus crime and allegedly discriminatory practices in Lawrence (the story about Jack Flanigans), I hope the Kansan has educated you about a reality you may not otherwise have noticed.
Police found a suspect in the sexual battery case at Hashinger Hall. The owner of Jack Flannigans changed his dress code policy to be less discriminatory against African-Americans. I'd like to think the Kansan played a role in both of these issues.
But we're listening, too. You said you wanted to read more about positive issues, such as community service and issues of faith. As well as negative stories, the front page also has featured stories about students living in a faith-centered community and a group dedicated to making international students feel at home.
In the end, it comes down to balance. To provide an accurate account, we must address negative issues, but we should make an effort to include the good as well.
Hiding bad news doesn't make it go away, and ignoring good news doesn't gain readership. Doing either just takes us further away from reality.
Barcomb is a Wichita senior in journalism.
Letter to the editor Masculinity needs to be de-emphasized
This is in relation to Andrew Marino's column, "Masculinity not a disease to be cured," (Friday) and Monday's letter the editor.
For those men out there who seem to think that masculinity and hypermasculinity are things to be cherished, let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time you were
physically, emotionally or verbally abused by a woman? Have you been sexually harrassed, sexually abused, sexually assaulted or raped by a woman? Were you or your father the victims of domestic violence at the hands of your mother? Has a woman ever robbed, assaulted or committed a violent crime against you? I'm not saying that women are never the perpetrators of these crimes, but statistically men are the majority of the abusers, the beaters, the sexual
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Free 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.
.
Am I the only one out there who thinks the Kansan is better than sex? Then again, I haven't been on a date in twelve years, and I go to Mr. Gatti's on a weekly basis.
All the rules now at Flanigans will just make people stop going. It's not high school.
While channel surfing, I saw something on blind-date marriages. That is the most ridiculous thing I've seen on TV. I can't even imagine the stupid topics they'll have for tomorrow.
deviants and the criminals.
--typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
Jack Flanigans sucks. If you're cool, you go to the Hawk.
Is the owner of Jack Flanigans trying to turn it into a church?
Why do we drive in parkways and park in driveways?
typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
You say that risk-taking, bravery, physical power and leadership are all results of masculinity, but there millions of women who also exhibit theses traits. When our society finally de-emphasizes masculinity, there will be a decline in most of the traits above, which isn't feminizing men, but humanizing them.
I don't think that KU Fit should have priority over the entire school at the gym.
FY1: If you're gay, come out of the closet. Your friends will support you. We love you.
Jennifer Vogrin Kansas City, Kan., senior
--typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
There's an Eminem tribute going on across the street.
To the person who said China took Tibet over fair and square, maybe you should do better research and think about things before you make stupid comments.
typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
The comment about freshmen women was made over two weeks ago. Get over it.
After all the stuff the Kansan wrote about the Lazer changing format, why hasn't there been one story about 96.5?
There are 17,851 trees on the KU campus.
typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
I wish KU Info would be nicer about answering questions instead of being so rude.
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All letters and guest columns should be emailed to opinion@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansen newsroom, 11.1 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansen reserves the right to edit, cut
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