4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TALKTO US
MONDAY.OCT.15,2001
editor
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Leita Schultes
Christina Neff
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Erin Adamson
Brendan Woodbury
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Tom Eblen
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LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
CUTS HURT FORMER SWIMMER
Dear editor.
As a former KU swimmer, I am thoroughly disgusted by the recent cuts in men's athletics programs at the University, especially the decision to destroy men's swimming and diving. I am so shocked that I am almost speechless.
PERSPECTIVE
In the past, I have contributed relatively small amounts to various KU programs because of my circumstances as a graduate student. However, I have recently received my Ph.D., and am doing much better financially. My future earning potential and associated opportunities for charitable giving look quite promising. However, I am not going to donate a single dollar to the University, the Athletic Department or any other KU programs — ever.
I wish you luck with your future endeavors, but you will have to do so without my help.
The decision to cut the men's swimming and diving program has turned my fond memories of Lawrence, the University and the Jayhawks into feelings of disgust, sorrow and abandonment.
John Easton
Former swimmer
Class of 1991
COLUMBUS NOT ABOUT PRIDE
Dear editor.
In a proclamation that designated Oct. 8 a federal holiday, the President George Bush announced that "Columbus Day should be one of deep pride for all Americans ... We honor the man from Genoa and the vision that carried him throughout his 10 week voyage."
In other words, the exaggerated adventurer must be favored over the Indigenous/First Nations/Native People who were enslaved and terminated in his name. "It is our good fortune to be an immigrant nation — to be the keepers of traditions and gifts that have come to us from great nations," Bush said.
From an uncensored point of view, so-called "Columbus Day" celebrates unconscious racism, massacres, dislocations and land grabs — "gifts" taken from great nations. Ungracious visitors who arrived in the U.S. "first on three small ships, then on many more," as Bush said, now demand that everyone eagleize terrorism and other forms of cannibalism that consume others' lives for resource-coaching profit.
hoarding proft. The invasion inaugurated by Cristóbal Colón, called Christopher Columbus in English, haunts our collective psyche. The holiday, like "Indian" mascots and most university and school curricula, authorizes presidents and professors, senators and students, to ignore the Native/Indigenous/First Nations. It sanctions bad-mannered celebrations of colonial civilization and ill-natured national fetishizations of false discoveries.
End the hate. Give back the land. Join the 509 year (and counting) effort that opposes terrorism.
David Anthony Tyseme Clark Lawrence doctoral student in American studies
A dose of skepticism needed in media coverage of conflict
The Onion got it right.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the satirical Web site nailed the news from the headline on down.
"Holy F***ing S**t" ran across the top of the page — you can fill in the blanks. It summed up the way Americans were feeling a lot better than the major networks' headlines that aimed for the astute alliteration of "America" and "Attack." (No pun inten
But their coverage got even better. One of the Onion's top stories was "U.S. vows to defeat whoever it is we're at war with." Are we going after Osama bin Laden, the article queried. Saddam Hussein? Just any old Muslim country? The story "quoted" President Bush:
"The United States is preparing to strike, directly and defensively, against you, whoever you are, just as soon as we have a rough idea of your identity and a reasonably decent estimate as to where your base is located."
Another story was given the headline, "Not knowing what else to do, woman bakes American flag cake."
Wouldn't you know it, the story had a dateline from Topeka. And the last quote in the story? "It's beautiful. The cake is beautiful."
I'm not trying to make light of the tragic events that have forever changed our country — anything but.
Instead, I'm suggesting that theo-
Commentary
Leita Schultes
Managing editor
editori.kanan.com
The Onion didn't deck out its homepage in red, white and blue; it still uses John Deere green.
nion.com — a Web site we should turn to for light humor and a reprieve from reality — succeeded where the reputable news sources of this nation have failed.
It didn't start using connotative, patriotic words and phrases like "unite" or "Day of Infamy." Or "war" — there's a good one. Where do newspapers get off putting the word war in a banner headline? The U.S. hasn't declared war since 1941 — it takes an act of Congress to do that. Bush has permission to drop a bunch of bombs.
And finally, the Onion's news anchors — if it had news anchors — sure as heck wouldn't be pinning little ribbons to their jacket lapels to prove their "American-ness" as have the many reporters we've all seen on TV during the past month.
What the *Onion* did in its reporting of the "news" was remain objective and
skeptical. It didn't rally behind every word spoken by a government that may or may not be doing the right thing.
The Onion's coverage of the attacks is something both journalists and media consumers can learn from.
Censorship is one thing — it happened in Vietnam and Desert Storm, and there's no doubt the government is going to keep some secrets from the press during the next few months.
And frankly, if it keeps democracy alive in the United States and me safe in airports, a little censorship is probably OK
But what's not OK is when journalists reporting the news slam it in a way that shows a united, patriotic America where everyone hangs a flag outside their front door and everyone wants Osama bin Laden in a million pieces across the sands of Afghanistan.
Journalists are supposed to stand away from the news in order to maintain some semblance of objectivity. They are supposed to be journalists first and Americans second—that's how we avoid self censorship.
And it's too bad we have to learn such lessons from a Web site that — by definition — is a joke.
Schultes is a junior in journalism and religious studies from Rolfe, Iowa.
PERSPECTIVE
Abuse also damages queer relationships
The problem of domestic violence first became nationally acknowledged as an epidemic in the late 1970s. Soon after, advocacy groups began to form to help battered women, and to educate the public. Girls started learning that it was not OK for their future boyfriends and husbands to hit them. As a culture, we finally adopted the attitude that it is not OK for a man to beat his wife.
What we don't learn is that domestic violence also happens in same-sex relationships, and that it is just as harmful. Because we are never taught about domestic violence in relation to gay and lesbians, we don't recognize signs of abuse in our relationships. We are not even told they can be abusive, and therefore have very little support and resources to turn to if we are in an abusive relationship.
Unfortunately, domestic violence is not only viewed as just a woman's issue, but is seen overwhelmingly as a straight woman's issue. This problem stems from a patriarchal society's blatant disregard and recognition of gay and lesbian relationships. We are taught that gay and lesbian relationships are shameful and unnatural, or at the very least, not "normal."
This message comes at us in extreme ways, such as Fred Phelps rallies, to more common displays of abhorrence toward queer people such as saying, "why do they have to act so gay?" But queer people feel society's heterosexism in more subtle ways also, such as
Lea
Carland
Guest columnist
opinionkanan.com
Commentary
seldom seeing queers portrayed in mainstream media (unless they are committing suicide or homicide).
With a society so full of hatred toward healthy gay and lesbian relationships, how would we even begin the discussion of abusive ones? The fact is, even though the battered women's movement has been the result of numerous studies on domestic violence since the 1970s, the issue of same-sex relationship abuse is just starting to be examined. What we know from recent studies is that domestic violence does happen at about the same rate in queer relationships as in straight relationships. Many of the dynamics—such as the use of control, isolation, and the cycle of violence, are the same as in straight relationships.
However, some dynamics are unique to relationships between queer people. One such issue is the fear of being "outed." Queer people in abusive relationships not only have to come out as a survivor of domestic violence, but also as queer. Abusive partners may threaten to "out" their partner to family
There are many misconceptions about abuse between queer people. The biggest one being that it is really just "mutual fighting." It isn't. One partner has all the power and control over the other person. Another misconception is that the bigger, or "butcher" partner is the abusive one. This is also false. Even if one person is physically bigger, they can still be the victim of abuse. Just because one partner can fight back does not mean that partner will. And self defense does not equal "mutual abuse."
or work, which can be very terrifying and at times dangerous.
We have only just begun to look at the issue of domestic violence between queer people. In order for us to live in a nonviolence society, we all need to be taught about domestic violence in relation to straight and queer people. This must begin by accepting and valuing the relationships between queer people. We all deserve to live free of violence.
Domestic violence is not only a woman's issue, and same-sex domestic violence is not solely a gay and lesbian issue. We all need to begin to see and talk about domestic violence against anyone for what it is—an issue of human rights.
Carland is outreach coordinator for Womens Transitional Care Services.
FREE for ALL 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I would just like to report that' saw someone from the parking department giving out tickets. The guy looked straight at me and burned real loud. Not cool, buddy.
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Why is it when a girl says she is shopping with her girlfriend, nobody raises an eyebrow. But when I say I'm going shopping with a boyfriend for a funny pack, everyone thinks I'm gay.
I think in order to get back at bin Laden and his people, we have to make all girls run around naked because the Muslims don't like to see their girls naked.
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I was wondering if anyone has seen Dick Cheeven?
Edit this
Not all people at KU Info are stupid because the guy who told me what glitter is made out of was the coolest. Now the world makes sense again.
I just wanted to tell everyone who works at Jefferson Commons that I have a dog in my apartment.
B
Robert Chamberlain's article should be entitled "Robert Chamberlain ignores half the problem." His comment of inaccurate numbers of one in four women being raped is extremely juvenile. I'm more than half of all rapes go unreported, so the number is much higher.
Southern Florida seems to harbor a lot of terrorists. Could we bomb them now?
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Check this out. Going to a bachelor party the other weekend, my friend totally gave the stripper a lap dance and didn't even get 20 bucks.
Now, if Limbaugh could just lose his voice.
I want to say thank you to all the AURH and ASHC people who came and handed out cookies on Wescos Beach. You guys rock.
My roommates and I are having a meeting tonight to discuss each other's annoyances. Let the blood bath begin.
So, uh, the bus leaves me today and got another quay, so how does that work?
Last week, my roommate fought with me that New England was a state. She fought with me until she called KU Info and found out she was wrong. What do you think about that?
To the person who said people against fighting Afghanistan should shut their mouths: In this country we have freedom of speech, which means I can say what I want and so can you. We don't have to agree but we can respect each other's opinions. That's what makes this country so great.
It's 3 a.m. and my biological clock just stopped clicking. What's up with that David Hasselhoff?
Doesn't anyone realize that KU Info is free and provides better service than 90 percent of other organizations on campus?
I just called to say that I'm studying for my POLS 150 class right now. The class is very interesting but my teacher just makes it boring. I'm never going to lecture ever again, ever, ever.
Why is it that the Coyote spent so much money for Acme supplies when he should have just bought food instead of trying to chase off the Road Runner. I don't get that. What's on going with that?
We're trying to saw the top of a two liter Dr.
Pepper open with a knife, a wrench and
scissors. They don't work; we're thirsty.
I just fell riding my bike and got a cut on my knee. The wound is beginning to smell a little like almonds.
Has anybody seen my baseball?
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I just wanted to let everybody know it's 1:30 a.m. and I'm in Oliver Hall and I'm watching two people make out in Naismith. It's freakin' awesome!
Lysol is the ultimate weapon in the battle with the spiders.
Care Bears live in the clouds, and when we went on a plane my mommy said I could see the Care Bears. And I looked for the Care Bears, but I didn't see the Care Bears and I cried.
To the girl in my Friday Western Civilization discussion who knows a lot about Nazis and Heinrich Himmler, if I knew your name, I'd tell you I love you.
Mark's phrase of the day: horny spider sex