4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER9, 2002
FACE-OFJ
Are local protests effective for national issues?
Face-Off is normally a weekly project of the Kansan editorial board.
This week, however, we're doing things a little differently. Instead of two editorial board members facing off, opinion page editors Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter are arguing different sides of the same issue.
As usual, we hope that this will help students to understand both sides of an argument and make better decisions about their own beliefs.
We can also be reached at 864-4924.
If you have any suggestions or comments about this week's face-off please feel free to contact us at opinion@kansan.com.
Protests make a point wherever they are held
Every Saturday nearly 300 Lawrence residents protest the use of force against Iraq on Massachusetts Street. They are making a statement against a national policy.
So why don't these interested residents travel to Washington where a protest might be more effective? Or why not save the time and hassle and simply write letters to their congressional representatives?
Maggie Beedles, Lawrence senior, just returned from a trip to Washington to protest the World Bank. Beedles also participates in the Saturday protests in Lawrence.
Beedles enjoyed going to Washington to spread her message but said protesting locally in Lawrence accomplishes two important goals. It allows Midwesterners to get involved and gains media attention.
Beedles said the Midwest was often overlooked and ignored.
"Politicians view the Midwest as flyover country that doesn't have an opinion," she said.
That means protests and rallies hold an even more important place in the Midwest. They show that this area cares about decisions made in Washington.
Beedles said protests can appear to be very fruitless. Oftentimes, however, they gain media attention like the protest that occurred Sept. 7, 2002. The following day an article appeared in *The Lawrence Journal-World* entitled "Area residents protest possible war on Iraq."
Not only did all the passerbys of the protest hear their message, the Journal World's readers read about it the following day. The protest might have encouraged concerned citizens to write letters to their representatives opposing or favoring the issue.
Another example of a local protest that made quite a statement took place on Sunday. Students from St. Lawrence Catholic Center stood on the corner of 23rd and Iowa streets holding pro-life signs.
Kara Kappelmann, Augusta sophomore, said she took part in the peaceful protest because she wanted to share the pro-life message in honor of Respect Life month.
"Protests should start locally. How else are we going to get the point across?" Kappelmann said.
Whether people agree or disagree with the pro-life protest, students standing on the sidewalk holding signs forced people to at least think about the topic.
Local protests are a small but important element in informing the public on national issues. Who can forget the powerful rallies held by the Students for a Democratic Society, which ultimately helped bring about the end of the Vietnam War?
Some may say local protests are a waste of time and energy, but they play an integral part in the process of informing and uniting citizens, especially in an area overlooked as often as the Midwest.
Monica White/Kansan
Local protests don't reach Washington
Every Saturday, a group of Lawrence residents and KU students meets in front of the Douglas County Courthouse to protest the proposed war with Iraq.
Because of their location, many people from Lawrence and Douglas County see them and hear their arguments. Unfortunately, their location keeps them far from the people who could actually stop a war with Iraq - the President and members of Congress.
We live in a republic, and we are expected to let our elected leaders know when we disagree with something they do. Protest can be a form of disagreement.
But there is no point to staging a protest if the people who can actually change things know nothing about it.
Only a few protests ever make it on the national news. Chances are that our leaders never know about protests that don't and thus never know about the participants' opinions. If they don't know our opinions how can they act on them?
This is not to say that all protests are
futile. There are many protests that have been effective, the key is to be in the right place in view of the right people.
A good example of this is the annual protests at the former School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. For the last 12 years thousands have gathered to protest the taxpayers' funding what they see as a terrorist training camp.
The SOA protesters are visible, not only to the military personnel who run the school, but also to their representatives and Bush. Because of this they have been able to get legislation introduced to close the school down and the school's name has been changed in an attempt to distance it from what the protesters have made into a hot-button issue.
Granted, not everyone can travel to Washington, D.C. to make their point. That's why congressional representatives and Bush encourage people to
Would they have accomplished so much if they had held the protests in Peoria, Ill.?
write to them. In some cases, this can actually make a stronger statement than a protest.
Sarah Roberts, press secretary for Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, said that although Roberts encouraged people to voice their opinions in whichever way they wished, some ways might be more effective than others.
"Obviously direct contact is a better way to communicate," she said.
Another benefit to directly contacting your representatives is that it's easy. All the information you need is online at www.senate.gov and www.house.gov The House of Representatives' Web site even has a special feature that allows you to send your letter directly from their Web site.
It is important to let America's leaders know how you feel, but it's also important to do so in a way that will actually get their attention and get you results.
Maggie Koerth
PERSPECTIVES
Logic, history send anti-marijuana arguments up in smoke
Marijuana is illegal in the United States. But someone who is stoned is no more a danger to themselves or others than someone under the influence of alcohol.
Marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It is in the same category as LSD and heroin. Substances classified as Schedule 1 have no known medicinal value and also have a high probability for addiction and abuse.
So what arguments can be made for marijuana's status as a Schedule 1 narcotic?
Much of what students learn through Drug Abuse Resistance Education and the War on Drugs illustrates two of the primary reasons why pot is illegal: marijuana is a gateway drug and sales of
marrijuana fund criminals and terrorists.
Looking at this argument from a well-informed, unbiased standpoint, it is evident these problems don't cause marijuana to be illegal; the problems arise because marijuana is illegal.
GUEST COMMENTARY
One need only open a history textbook and look at the age of prohibition to see how hypocritical arguments against the legalization of marijuana are.
During prohibition, the United States tried to ban alcohol, a product that was in high demand. The government instituted prohibition because it considered alcohol dangerous and thought it led to depravity.
But prohibition only compounded the problems. High demand for alcohol meant people were willing to buy and
Steve Ducey
opinion@hansan.com
sell it illegallv.
Soon after prohibition was put into effect, the government repealed it.
Further strain was placed on the United States because new government agencies had to be formed to fight boot-legging, and the police force was strengthened to fight rising crime. The economy lost money that was going into the hands of criminals.
Problems caused by the illegal use of marijuana are directly analogous to prohibition.
Why not legalize marijuana, destroy the problems and reap the benefits? The advantages are numerous.
First, crime would decrease because marijuana would no longer be sold in a criminal market.
Second, money that was going to criminals would instead go toward the beleaguered economy. Legal marijuana would make more money than the illegal sort because it could be used recreationally, pharmaceutically and industrially.
Third, the Drug Enforcement Agency, FBI and police officials could focus attention on more important areas, such as the war on terror and combating more dangerous drugs.
Fourth, the public would save the money being spent to imprison nonviolent marijuana offenders, about $4.8 billion dollars a year according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice.
Finally, marijuana would no longer be a gateway drug because it would be bought from legal vendors that are licensed and regulated. These vendors couldn't provide other drugs like cocaine and heroin. Such regulations would also decrease criminal involvement and help fight terrorists.
Once marijuana is legalized, the problems associated with it will be eradicated in the same fashion as the repealing of prohibition.
Ducey is an Overland Park sophomore in theatre and film.
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deserved a raise for years. Do not take advantage of employees just because they are students too.
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For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
This goes out to all the construction workers working on Ellsworth. Can you please get someone to come and clean your Johnnie's out? It's beginning to smell like a public restroom. I don't know whether to park my car or pop a squat.
KU may not yet be a top 25 public school, but according to Playboy we are a top 10 party school, coming in at number nine, baby Go Hawks. Ka-ching, ka-ching, kaching.
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Have you ever been making out with a girl, just to have the phone ring and her boyfriend is on the line? Yeah, be glad you didn't.
deserved a raise for years. Do not take advantage of employees just because they are students too.
Last week, the Free for All mailbox was completely full. I'm glad that the KU students are doing something productive.
Eric Borja, I just read your column, and you're my hero.
deserved a raise for years. Do not take advantage of employees just because they are students too.
To the people holding the fish hostage, if it's an albino beta named Avril Lavigne, we want her back. Patty Duke's gettin' lonely
Hi student housing administrators. Guess what? The campus will not stand for what you're doing. Resident Assistants have
sex keeps you from growing. Sucks to be you, Eric Chenowith. Hee hee.
Joan Jett rocks. Break the habit, down with Britney Spears
This is to the guy that rides his motorcycle really fast on campus. You're such a badass.
sex keeps you from growing. Sucks to be you, Eric Chenowith. Hee hee.
sex keeps you from growing. Sucks to be you, Eric Chenowith. Hee hee.
I just learned in my Western Civ. class that
This is for the moron who called in last week about the walls being built in front of the Visitor's Center. That's there because of private donations. So whoever that was, think before you open your big mouth.
sex keeps you from growing. Sucks to be you, Eric Chenowith. Hee hee.
Hey guy in my algebra class. Your teeth look like ass. With great glop that slurps, we all heard that burp. You're disgusting in every way. You should brush them every day.
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To the guy with the hottie girlfriend in the KU calendar. That's right, I said hottie. She is if she's in the calendar. But it made ya jealous though. Jealousy is an emotion you can't choose not to have, though you can choose to ignore it. Listen to it so you don't have pent up emotions, but try to think logically before you react.
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I met Jesus at a party last night, and he was a lot more rude than I thought he would be.
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Congratulations for getting into med school, Morgan.