4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
THURSDAY,OCT.4,2001
TALK TO US
Kursten Phelps editor 864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Leita Schultes Christina Neff managing editors 864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Erin Adamson Brendan Woodbury opinion editors 864-4810 or opinior@kansan.com
Jenny Moore business manager 864-4014 or addirector@kansan.com
Kate Mariani retail sales manager 864-4462 or retailsales@kansan.com
Tom Eblen general manager and news adviser 864-7667 or tebelis@kansan.com
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or mfisher@kansan.com
MATT GERTKEN/KANSAN
PERSPECTIVE
KU Info answers the bizarre to ordinary
At KU we have a service unique to us: an information clearinghouse that can answer any question you may have, and for free. When I began working at KU Info last January, I had no idea what was in store, especially not of the admiration and respect for me and my co-workers.
It is not the case for most jobs that folks respond "Oh, cool!" when you answer them as to where you work.
Commentary
We, the staff of KU Info, have an elusive respect granted to us. We are the mysterious ones on the other end of the phone. After discovering where I work, the question that immediately follows, every time, inquires as to all those questions asked.
Some are simple questions where the answer assists the caller: the location of a building, the course number for a class, the time of a Lied Center production or a departmental phone number.
Others are community related, such as directions to the DMV, hours of the Lawrence Farmers Market or a certain
Breeze
Luetke-
Stahlman
Columnist
opinionkansan.com
night's drink specials throughout town We also keep record of available babysitters and match them with parents needing child care, field crisis calls and forward them to Headquarters, and settle a lot of bets.
I think my favorite moments at KU Info come with providing a life-saving answer to that killer question that has stumped everyone in the room. How many other people get told several times a day how much they rock? Sports trivia, rules of a game, how long a certain drug stays in your system, what night the Friends premiere will air on, directions
to places in other cities, actors in movies, air time of TV shows, Lottery numbers, who sang what song, and other questions endlessly filter through the phone.
But the number of these calls has dwindled, I must admit, as something about late nights provokes them and like everyone else at KU, KU Info suffered budget cuts and had to cut hours.
Now open from 8 a.m. to midnight, hundreds of questions are still answered each day, and on some days we break a thousand.
But the 1:30 a.m. days are over, and older folks have noticed the dwindled hours since their freshman days. Of course, one could argue the true purpose of KU Info and how 12 hours of the day is still pretty good for any question, free of charge. And I have to admit, not too many of those late-night calls couldn't wait for morning.
But back to the celebration of how cool we are here to have such a service provided to students, by students, it is
As to the question that remains my personal favorite, it changes, but right now it's a call that came in last week from outside Tokyo, Japan.
amazing how many people take KU Info with them as they move on in life. Calls come in from around the country and world, as those hard to answer questions are solved by simply dialing 864-3506.
The caller was an American who was traveling and attempting to make instant coffee in his hotel. The instructions were in Japanese, and he couldn't read them, so, of course, he thought to solve the problem by calling KU Info. Talk about money to burn.
"How do you make instant coffee?" he asked, to which I replied, "Add hot water."
"Thanks!" he said, enthusiastically.
Like every question, I try not to judge the caller, but rather be glad I could help.
Luetke-Stahman is a senior in economics and political science from Olathe.
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.
freed from parental oppression, Clearly, the only way the balance of power can be accomplished is if residents can respect their RAs as well as be able to turn to them as a resource.
I just want to say that I was walking to class this morning and this gorgeous girl fell at my feet. And I was just thinking, "There really is a God." But she was OK.
Hi, I'm cooking ravioli.
Last night I saw a reron on the weather channel. What's up with that?
What happened to the days when KU actually got answers from KU Info?
Whoever the sex columnist is for the Kansan really makes me sick. Those columns are getting disgusting.
My roommate just entered and he started to cook ravioli.
You're killing me Kansas. Enough with the tube socks already. The 80s called and they want them back.
I just turned on ESPN and the national jumproping championships came on. Did anyone else know those existed?
Maybe if watched the food network while I'm eating, I'll think I'm eating good food.
I've beaten my roommate at ping pong 23 straight times.
I decided to kill a spider in my apartment, but he got away. And I think he got a good look at my face so tonight I'm sleeping with my roommate.
韶
I've got new socks on.
There's nothing like having a cat hurtling toward your head at 1 a.m.
For all you smokers out there, please don't breathe your smoke right into my face. I'd rather get a shot and the pills.
解
To the person who said if John Cusack was a woman there'd be one good woman in the world. If John Cusack was a woman, there'd be no good men left in the world.
We've been in school for a month now and I'm beginning to wonder if there are any good-looking women on this campus that don't smoke and don't have a boyfriend.
Does anyone else think we desperately need a Saved by the Bell reunion movie?
STRAIGHT SCOUTING
Dear editor.
I am writing in response to the article "Senate supports gay scouting rally," (Sept. 28).
I was deeply disturbed by the content of article. The Boy Scouts of America has a foundation of moral and ethical truth. The moral foundation would be tested and weakened if homosexuals were allowed to participate in boy scouting. As an assistant scoutmaster and an Eagle Scout, I believe that an avowed homosexual is not a role model for the values espoused in Scout Oath and Law.
In the closing line of the Scout Oath, it states, "On my honor I will do my best ... to keep myself . . . morally straight." The Scout Oath and Law are the guiding principles of Boy Scouts. I should note that scouting is a private association that has the right to set membership standards to protect the leadership of its organization.
As a student at the University of Kansas, I question why our Student Senate would promote such a controversial issue without obtaining a true understanding of the principles of scouting. We should understand that it could jeopardize the future of many young men if alternative lifestyles were permitted in such a traditionally conservative organization.
LETTERSTO THE EDITORS
Our nation was founded on the liberties that Americans share today. Should a private organization give up 100 years of freedom? Scouting produces the most focused, the most positive, and the most morally straight young men of this great nation. Should that treasure of America be tarnished?
Justin Bruster Haysville sophomore
RESIDENT ASSITANTS CARE
Resident assistants face the daunting task of maintaining a regulated environment where the actions of some residents tend to be quite uncontrollable. (Perhaps a direct effect after just being
Dear editor.
While I agree with Chamberlain's commentary on eliminating the dry campus policy, the leadership role that an RA must maintain would be slandered if the University allowed them to "party with their residents." The rules are slightly more tolerable at off-campus housing.
At Naismith Hall, where I am currently employed as an RA, we allow the residents the benefit of the doubt when they are behind closed doors. Privacy is entitled to each and every one of our residents. Despite this difference, our stance remains the same. When an RA's actions are compromised to please a resident and meet social standards, then the integrity of the position is being shot down as well.
I was also offended by the comment about "never being seen" down the hallway. I cannot speak on behalf of all RA's (many also agree), but I do know that I genuinely care about my residents and what happens to them. Thus, I am always there for them. It is inconceivable to imagine that getting drunk would come across as positively reinforcing the role model that I so try to be.
Party problems such as drinking should stay at the same standard as sexual states of affairs between residents and staff — it should not happen. I am not naive enough to say these situations do not occur because they will happen. That does not mean they should be accepted.
Jayme Aschemeyer
Aurora, Colo., sophomore
TURNING OVER DOCUMENTS
I would like to make a clarifying statement regarding the recent Kansan story regarding the FBI and KU student records (Oct.1).
Dear editor:
Throughout the coming weeks, months and years we expect to work with the FBI and other investigative agencies to assist them in obtaining information to which they are legally entitled.
It may have led some readers to think
Richard Morrell
University Registrar
PRAYER A PART OF MOURNING
that we would be less than cooperative in our efforts to assist in the fight against terrorism or that we were not implementing federal law as intended.
Your readership should know of our absolute and unequivocal commitment to assist the FBI or any other federal agency in their investigation of terrorists. In accordance with federal laws, the Office of the University Registrar can provide student records to the FBI or any other authorized agency to assist in their investigations of activity that threatens the health or safety of our people.
We have a long and productive history of working cooperatively and collegially with the FBI and other investigative agencies. For years, FBI officers have routinely visited our office to obtain information in compliance with the Family Educational Records Act, commonly referred to as the Buckley Amendment.
Dear editor.
Partly in response to Diane Godfrey's column on Friday and otherwise in general, I would like to point out a few things.
First, just as she seems disturbed or even offended by the frequent mention of God and religion regarding the recent tragedies, perhaps Christians and others who believe in God would be disturbed or even offended by their omission.
Many people, myself included, suffer from the loss of a loved one due to the terrorist attacks. Perhaps we should put matters such as the origins of "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency and the new-found prominence of the phrase "God
Let's honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and our very way of life by keeping things in perspective rather than focusing on our petty differences as usual.
Erin Downing Colby junior
WAR SHOULDN'T BE AN OPTION
All of these are good things, but personal preferences and beliefs dictate the choices made. Our right to make these choices is one of the reasons that people such as those who enforce the Taliban regime hate the U.S. so much.
Bless America" aside and focus on other things — such as mourning our losses, individually and as a nation, in whatever manner suits us best personally.
Dear editor.
Surely we have come further through all of this horror than to continue hagging over details such as religious differences, the importance of which pales in comparison to the magnitude of the tragedy and our greater unity as a country. While it is certainly important to "stick" to one's beliefs and not be swayed, right now I think it is far more important that each of us deal with our feelings as we see fit — be it with prayers for my dear friend on my part, or volunteering or enlisting in the armed services for others.
In response to Robert Chamberlain's column "Professors are wrong, war is an option," his support for military action makes him, like all others calling for war, a hypocrite.
Chamberlain has overlooked a major aspect of war that has a serious bearing on our current situation. You cannot have war without civilian casualties, as former president Bill Clinton admitted.
Chamberlain argues that it is a flawed
Throughout the history of war, civilians have been killed, either directly in combat or indirectly from destruction of vital infrastructure such as water treatment and health care facilities. There has never been a war that did not cause the deaths of civilians.
It is said that this war will be different, that this time we will take extra precaution and only target those directly responsible for the atrocities of Sept. 11, and that civilians will not be killed.
His argument is not supported by historical record. Regardless of our intentions, civilians will be killed by military operations in Afghanistan. This brings us to the hypocrisy involved in supporting such operations.
These are just two examples out of countless tragedies caused by "smart" weaponry. He goes on to say that "Area bombing cities in order to punish the local population has been rejected for decades." He must not have known that the vast majority of weapons dropped in Operation Desert Storm were so-called "dumb bombs" dropped from B-52s to destroy large target areas, which was in violation of the UN charter.
assumption to claim that bombing Afghanistan will result in the deaths of innocent people. This is just plain silly in light of the results that "surgical" bombing had in Iraq and Kosovo. What about the annihilation of the Ameriya bomb shelter in Iraq, leaving over 6,000 civilians dead? Or the Chinese Embassy in Kosovo, hit by a so-called "smart" bomb?
To be appalled by the death of 6,000 American civilians on one hand and ignore or marginalize Afghan civilians who would be killed in our attack is the pinnacle of hypocrisy.
Those who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon surely regarded the civilian death toll as "collateral damage." What differentiates us from them if we label the possible civilian toll of our intervention in Afghanistan the same?
If we are at all serious that the death of civilians—regardless of race, religion or nationality, is something to be abhorred, then war is the last thing we would consider. If we are serious, we must take any and all avenues other than war in our search for justice. Jingoism in not the answer.
Sean Whittier
Lawrence sophomore
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