THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 5A
LETTERS
CONTINUED FROM 4A
use, you know, like the crossword puzzles
She will be missed and if someone is going to fill her shoes; I say good luck because that journalist will not be easy to follow up. Who else is going to try anal beads?
So thanks for the entertainment and advice Meghan, and your readership will only rise as you gain more experience in the field. Strictly journalistically speaking, of course.
Jayme A. Aschemeyer
Aurora, Colo., junior
Sunflower House misrepresented
I am writing in a response to the Dec. 9 article "There's no place like home."
I feel the article had some misinformation, which I would like to clarify.
First and foremost, the Sunflower House is not a "commune," but a cooperative.
Residents of the house are not cult members or hippies, but rather socially concerned students who are interested in equitable group living. We are our own landlords; when we make a decision as a house, it is on the basis of one member, one vote. We share in all the work equally. We even divide our bills equally.
What's more, living in the Sunflower House is a great way to learn new skills, meet new people and help cut back on the cost of living. We even help conserve resources through our house's environmental program.
In addition, the main focus of the Sunflower House is not to "keep cops out of the house." Our main objective is to provide another living option for students who are interested in cooperative principles.
I have lived in the Sunflower House for nearly three years now. The experiences I have had here are by far the most valuable of my college career. I only wish your article could have found a way to convey that.
Astrid McMullen-Baker Lawrence senior
Editorial on Senate's progress contained some inaccuracies
Dan Osman's editorial yesterday in the University Daily Kansan, entitled "At the halfway mark, Student Senate falls short on some goals," was a poorly researched, incomplete assessment to say the least. Numerous mistakes and inaccuracies showcase Osman's and the editorial board's lack of knowledge about Student Senate. Osman wrote
"this would help to explain the conspicuous lack of bills on this or any of KUnited's other proposals." Not all projects worked on by the student body executives or senators need or require Senate legislation.
lation. Osman wrote without any kind of easily available documentation, the average student cannot find out what Senate is doing to make their lives better." Beyond the fact that all Senate meetings are open to the public, the Senate office is open to all students in 410 Kansas Union, and there is a Senate Web site at wwwku.edu/~senate for any student to find updates. The average student does not seek out legislation passed by Senate. Instead, they elected us to produce results and represent them on issues, which we will continue to do.
Ng
Second, Osman and the editorial board should not base progress on an issue merely by its publicity in the Kansan. There are numerous projects and other accomplishments made this semester by a number of student senators that went unpublicized. Beyond managing a $14 million budget and representing students on more than 40 boards and committees, progress has been made on all four original campaign issues, among many other projects. Work done on representing students on the tuition increases and working on parking for students were left out of the editorial.
Third, Osman writes that John Mullens, assistant director of the KU Public Safety Office "disagrees" that Student Senate has helped to improve safety. That is incorrect. When asked about his comments in the editorial, Mullens said he explained the process of how emergency blue phones and lights were implemented and how work done one year was implemented the next. In fact, Mullens said student senators had worked hard this year in improving campus safety, work that will pay off next year.
It seems it has become the norm for any editorial about Student Senate to merely focus on the negatives, leave out the positives and not offer any solutions. This one was certainly no different. Instead of "thinking about what our legacy should be" over winter break as the editorial recommended, we prefer to continue working on projects and representing students for their benefit, not ours.
Jonathan Ng Student Body President
Loren Malone
Student Body Vice President
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