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4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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OPINION
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2002
TALKTOUS
Jay Kral
editor
864-4854 or jkrall@kansan.com
Brooke Hesler and Kyle Ramsey
managing editors
864-4854 or bhsler@kansan.com and
kramsey@kansan.com
Laurel Burchfield
readers' representative
864-4810 or iburchfield@kansan.com
Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter
opinion editors
864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Amber Agee
business manager
864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Eric Kelting
retail sales manager
864-4358 or
advertising@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7867 or mglbsong@kansan.com
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or mfisher@kansan.com
Bigoted Topeka decision needs to be addressed
Official word from the capital: Discrimination is A-OK.
This isn't an exaggeration, a hyperbole or even poetic license granted to perturbed editorial writers.
After a heated debate that lasted well into the morning of Sept. 11, the Topeka City Council voted 5 to 4 to remove protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from the city's antidiscrimination clause.
The council also voted to remove protections for sexual identity and expression from a new hate-crimes bill.
Yes, it seems that Fred Phelps stopped picketing funerals long enough to convince a majority of the city's elected officials that hate is acceptable.
With the Phelps family representing the first 11 of 64 speakers last Tuesday and the council chamber's limited seating was composed almost exclusively of those opposing the bill, it's easy to see why the council might have concluded the city was against it.
Still, it's disconcerting to know that a group of people, reinterpreting biblical passages to fit their particular belief system, managed to overrule both the Supreme Court and the very essence of our Constitution through a simple city vote.
The Supreme Court, in Palmore v. Sidoti, opined that "private biases may be outside the reach of the law, but the law cannot, directly or indirectly, give them effect." Yet that is exactly what happened last week in Topeka.
If the proposal regarding renting to homosexuals was brand new, perhaps the injustice wouldn't have been so glaring. But this wasn't original, it was an amendment to an already existing city code.
right. The amendment in question wouldn't give homosexuals any special liberties. All supporters asked was that the city treat everyone equally. Now that they've been rebuked, fights will continue to rage on at both the city and state levels.
ment to an already existing day. The current law states that it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on the basis of skin color, gender, age or disability.
Betty Dunn, a African-American female city council member who is over the age of 50, is protected in three separate ways under the present code. Despite these shields, she, along with four other council members, decided homosexuals weren't privileged enough to be afforded that same right.
Students, especially those from Topeka should contact city council members John Alcala, Dunn, Vanessa Hill, Harold Lane and Lisa Stubbs at (785)368-3161.
Let them know that the students of the University of Kansas support the amendment of these two bills to include homosexuals.
Getting these bills passed should have been a very small step. But in the fight against ignorance last week, Topeka took a giant leap backward for all mankind.
Dan Osman for the editorial board
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Watkins Misdiagnosed Case of Endometriosis
I went so long without treatment that I was anemic by the time I got to the hospital.
Thanks to Watkins I had terrible pain for nothing. They need to wake up. Anyone who has these problems please get them checked out. You can finally live pain free.
I am writing to tell you about my experience with endometriosis. I began having awful pain Sept. 3. I have had painful periods all my life too. I went to Watkins Memorial Health Center and was told I was fine and given birth control pills, of all things, and nothing for my pain. Well, my husband was worried about me so I went to the emergency room after a week of pain. I ended up having to have emergency surgery to save my life. I also had some other complications.
Lori Bell
Lori Bell
Pittsburg sophomore
Rape Reporting Distasteful
I would like to comment on the terribly distasteful article that appeared on the Kansan's front page on Sept. 10.
Walking along Jayhawk Boulevard all that could be seen was a sea of headlines, "Student raped in Oliver Hall." Sitting in class all that could be heard was people whispering "Did you hear about the girl who was raped?" or "How silly of her, she should have locked the door."
I, along with many other students (all avid readers of the Kansan) are disgusted. I know for a fact that no one directly involved with this incident reported it to you. My best guess says that you heard of it over a radio scanner. I can also say, with confidence, that the last thing this woman wanted was for her story to be spread all over Lawrence and the surrounding area.
You, along with the other media sources covering the story, did her a terrible disservice.
I don't think I need to tell anyone that rape is a heinous and very personal
crime. It's no wonder this is the first reported rape since 2000.
Who in the world would want over 25,000 people reading about this type of crime happening to them? I know that I wouldn't.
I'm sure that all this woman wants is some closure on this huge ordeal that has disrupted her life. You are making that difficult for her to get.
Kristy Klein
Glen Ellyn, Ill., junior
In response to Tuesday's column about pet therapy I would just like to let students in the dorms or apartments that can't have pets know that the Lawrence Humane Society is always looking for volunteers to walk the dogs, pet the cats and socialize with all the animals.
Samantha Star Straf Lawrence resident
Petless Students Can Volunteer
The usual image of the crazed canine with foaming jaws can be very misleading. Rabies also comes in what is known as the "dumb form," where the animal appears to be sick, quiet, and likely to hide in a dark place. This is the form which is more likely to affect cats.
It appears that we have another cycle of a rabies epidemic looming on the horizon. I would like to plead with pet owners to have your animals vaccinated as soon as possible.
Also, one does not have to be bitten. The virus can enter the body through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth. Being drooled on can be as devastating as a bite.
Be Aware of Rabies Danger
I beg you all, please vaccinate your animals, large and small, the life you save may be your own.
Carmela M. Sibley Lawrence Resident
PERSPECTIVES
U.S. needs KU-like solidarity
COMMENTARY
Wasn't it nice last weekend to see some solidarity on campus? With the huge distribution of KU First shirts and the coordinated effort to get nearly all the students to wear their shirts at the football game. KU students offered a rare glimpse of the efficacy of unity in large numbers. For once, a sea of red or purple at a football game did not drown KU fans out.
steve Vockrodt
opinton@kansan.com
Can someone appoint the person in charge of the KU First program to take charge of the nation?
charge of the war. The trouble of the day lies in the total lack of solidarity the United States shows. This became a striking and depressing quality of this nation ever since the Vietnam War.
Why did the United States lose its guts, its sense of cohesion, its ability to unite like the name of our country suggests?
This notion has become apparent recently with the discussion of an invasion of Iraq. In the days of World War II, there seemed little concern for the urgency and immediacy of the problem and the need to remove impostors such as Adolph Hitler from power.
History in our nation commemorates the brave individuals who fought for a world without oppression and tyranny on days like D-Day. Little question surrounds the motives of the leaders of our nation as they decided to attempt to oust Hitler.
Since then, however, history still has not
forgiven many of those involved in Vietnam, and even today, with the impending crisis in the Middle East, the nation shows no unison. Instead, many citizens respond with emotional arguments, decrying military action as the second wrong in the flawed equation to make a right.
While former leaders of the United States during times of war, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, are still remembered fondly for their bravery in their quest to diminish threats to worldwide oppression, today George W. Bush is demeaned for his plans to accomplish the same.
to accomplish the same The media consistently promotes fond images of the leaders of our past while quickly rehashing the same irrelevant material from Bush's past, such as his days as a drug-experimenting college student and his inferior public speaking skills.
and his inferior passerspitting
It is time for the nation to rally around Bush and our other leaders. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein clearly presents a threat of tyranny and danger if allowed to
continue his regime of oppression in the Middle East.
Hussein's goal to procure weapons of mass destruction is simultaneously obvious and horrific. He did not hesitate to use chemical weapons already to annihilate thousands of Kurds in Northern Iraq. He saw a minority ethnicity in his boundaries, determined he did not want them there, and he exterminated them without prejudice by extreme and cruel means.
That sort of behavior as a national leader bears striking and shocking resemblance to the domestic policy of another European leader sixty years ago. The United States, once embroiled in World War II, barely questioned whether it should remove Hitler from power, why should today's situation be any different?
Solidarity can and will make an impact whether it be a KU football game or a national front against a foreign symbol of world danger. Hussein represents that symbol, and the United States must act as the force to stabilize that danger. In order to effectively show the United States will not tolerate oppression and the usage of weapons of mass destruction, the citizens must put aside the divisions and the bickering that has been for too long a trademark in United States citizenry and rally against its adversary in the Middle East.
Vockrodt is a Denver junior in journalism and political science.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
Here's a little comment about the girls gone wild commercial. I lived with two stars of it this summer.
This is for the guy who called in about Guns N Roses's masked guitarist. Um, if you weren't a moron, you'd know that that was Buckethead from Primus, and that he always wears the mask and the bucket. So maybe you should listen to some good music and stop worship- ping Slash, because Buckethead is much tighter.
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Mandy German, I think you're my soulmate. Will you marry me?
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Shhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell, but I took three KU First t-shirts today.
Hehehehehe
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I'm upset that this year's conservative student senate wants to fund the blood drive. The same discrimination from the past is still there. Some social groups can still not give blood. Student fee dollars should not go to this. It's a horrible waste.
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To the guy who caught me having sex in the Watson Library stacks, next time just leave me alone, brother. Don't hate.
To: yellow moped chickie. My Harley chick bike gang challenges your wimpy chick moped gang to a rumble.
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Mmmm, Tom, you small so nice, and you are so adorable. You know who you are. Grrraaaar, Torr, grrraaaar.
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The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by readers.
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They say we should only invade Iraq if Saddam Hussein has nuclear weapons. Well, I think mustard gas, nerve gas, and uh, oh yeah, the bx gas are good reason enough.
Johnny College wants to know where the Flintstones' whistle went to.
Attention all greeks. Stereotypes stem from attitudes and actions, not terminology. If you call it a tea party, it's still a drunk fest of people trying to get laid.
Submitting letters and guest columns
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The Kansan will attempt to run as many submissions as possible that conform to the guidlines below.
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