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OPINION
Tuesday. November 17, 1992
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
'Dialogues on Diversity aids cultural awareness
College provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about people and cultures different from their own. Students should make it a priority to learn as much as possible in order to broaden their world view.
The KU Coalition of the Lawrence Alliance is an action group dedicated to working toward a discrimination-free environment. The group believes that many forms of discrimination and prejudice stem from ignorance. To combat this, the coalition has organized a variety of casual forums to educate people about some of the groups that are commonly discriminated against.
These forums, entitled "Dialogues on Diversity," include topics on gender, religion, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Each of the topics in this brown-bag lunch series will provide an opportunity for faculty and student facilitators to involve people in dialogues aimed at breaking down common myths and answering questions.
This is an excellent way for all students to learn about different perspectives on life. The coalition is offering intelligent and worthwhile conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.
The dialogues will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today, tomorrow and Friday on the fifth floor of the Kansas Union.
or those who attended the coalition's multiculturalism forum on Sept. 22, the dialogues will serve as a logical extension. For those who did not, the dialogues will offer a wide range of information designed to examine common misconceptions and stereotypes about various groups.
Extend yourself. Take the opportunity to learn about pertinent topics in an informal format.
DEBBIE BRODSKY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Jordan will play a vital role in Middle East peace
By saying more than once in the past few days that the Iraqi people must push for a democratic and pluralistic society, King Hussein of Jordan has drawn the world's attention to the sufferings that the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein is continuing to inflict on that nation.
For having firmly broken ranks with those who still endorse the oppressive regime in Baghdad, Hussein deserves the good will of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the rest of the Arab countries which are also taking care to steer clear of Baghdad. Jordan must be helped in the cause of Arab unity and of the furtherance of the ongoing Middle East peace talks.
Jordan is playing a positive role in the Arab-Israeli dialogue and is setting the stage for a breakthrough. Reports indicate that Jordan has agreed on an agenda for its peace negotiations with Israel and that a peace treaty between them in being envisaged for the first time.
Hussein has gone over the heads of Baghdad's rulers to address the Iraqi people. It is in the interest of the GCC countries as well as other peace-loving Arab nations to offer the support that he and his own people need in order to distance themselves even further from the dictatorship in Baghdad.
Gulf News
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
KANSAN STAFF
ERIC NELSON
Editor
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**Letters** should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas must include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
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The Library Patron from HELL
You see I haven't even started yet and I hate computers so I refuse to use the online. Do you have a pencil and some paper I could borrow? By the way I don't have my I.D. with me, but you'll trust me won't you!
Chiefs fans keep team's traditions but flout American Indian culture
Imagine for a moment that you are not in the United States. You have been transported to a far away land—a savage country known as "Waspland." During your stay in lovely and entertaining Waspland, you go to a sporting event.
So you trundle yourself over to a stadium jam-packed with thousands of screening fans. The game is most intense: the Kensis City Whites are playing the Washington Honkies. Fans, enthusiled by the sight of carnage on the gridiron, are wildly cheering their favorite teams. But wait! You notice that some of the fans are attired strangely. Some of them are wearing button-down shirts, chinos and penny loafers. Many of them are also brandishing loaves of Wonder bread. You are baffled, for the dress of choice in Wasland has been tunics and running shoes. Looking down at your own clothes, you suddenly realize that these fans are mocking you. How dare they, you fume.
"All right, you insensitive group of
STAFF COLUMNIST
KEVIN BARTELS
bastards," you scream in an apoplexy of rage, "you can take that Wonder bread and stuff it!"
Fortunately, you are miraculously transported back to the good' U.S. of A. before the seething mob of button-down clad fans reaches you.
Yes, indeed, it is time for some serious re-evaluation of those insidious little things we call "traditions." While some fans of the Kansas City Chiefs may not feel that it is offensive to do "the chop" or wear war-paint
and headaddresses to express their support — or fanaticism — for their hometown team, the justifications they use are based solely on ignorance and insensitivity. You can be sure that none of the fans wearing the mock regalia are of American Indian descent. It is easy enough to dismiss the whole chop controversy as essentially trivial and meaningless if one remains ignorant of the cultural and spiritual value that American Indians place on items such as the headaddress.
Apparently, some Chiefs fans did not know or care about the disservice that they were doing by flouting certain ethnic symbols. Worse yet, some fans felt secure enough in their ignorance to mock protesters from the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media last Sunday during last Sunday's Chiefs-Redskins game. The problem with the wearing of headaddresses, the chop and the taunting was not merely a matter of whether one symbol should replace another, but that the culture of Auer-
ican Indians was being negated by the fans who demonstrated their "support" for their team. Despite the fact that it is 1992 and not 1892, racism and ignorance are alive and well in mainstream culture. The comical, stupid, "Tonto" image of the American Indian should be a thing of the past.
After all, what we are talking about here is a football game. Surely fans can find some way to show their support for their teams other than by wearing war-paint. When one is confronted by a sweaty, half-naked white male wearing war-paint and feathers stuck on his head, the phrases "Get a life" and "Get away from me" spring immediately to mind.
Perhaps little banners or pompoms could be distributed to fans instead. Better yet, the next time fans want to demonstrate their support for the Chiefs or the Redskins, they should limit their support to verbal encouragement.
Kevin Bartels is a Louisville, Ky., graduate student malarising in English.
Come in, Mr. Bush. Won't you have a seat? How are the wife and kids? Good.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Bush deserved to get the boot
Hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but, you see, there has been some concern about your performance. We have reports of unethical behavior, and some rather unappealing attacks on competing employees. You've got to understand, , there's only so much we can overlook.
We realize that you have done some marvelous things here, as did your supervisor before you. The Soviet campaign was beautiful, and we all sleep better because of the groundwork you laid. And we feel pretty good about the Middle East.
spelling errors.
But you see, the bosses feel that you've been ignoring some of the most basic problems of this company. Internal communication is in the toilet. The accounting department is a wreck. Too many memos are coming from your middle managers with
The bottom line is the bosses took a vote. And, unfortunately for you, it wasn't even close. You remember how much confidence we had in you than in that fellow from Massachusetts? Well, the tables turned. We've found someone we think can get our internal affairs in order. He seems to be popular with management, and he is stressing the need to help ourselves before we can help everyone else.
We were a little worried about his integrity for a while, but the bosses showed up at the board meeting in record numbers, and the consensus was that, for now anyway, he's the one. We just couldn't pass up the chance to hire a new generation. He's more in touch with the average U.S. citizen. He knew about those grocery scanners way before you did.
You had more than a fair chance. You've been with the company for a long time and in management for 12 years. This guy might make some mistakes, but no one in that position has been error-free. Your only claim to the job was that we knew already
what kind of boo-boo you made, so maybe you were a safer choice. But the bosses showed a little spine and decided to take a calculated gamble.
If you're still interested in the position, I suggest you pay close attention in the next four years or so. Watch for improvement in the basic structure of the company. See if he does add that new day-care center. See if we manage to hire a great deal of new employees. See if the insurance premiums stabilize or go down.
We think they will. But just in case, you have four years to convince us we should bring you back in.
Lawrence graduate student
International edit was wrong
I am writing in response to Al-Bayan's editorial that stated Israel does not want peace. Today, for the first time since 1948, there is an opportunity for real peace in the Middle East. Statements such as Al-
Bayan's "Arabs want peace more than Israel" are counterproductive to this effort, and are factually incorrect.
Let's look at the facts. First, during the current Middle East Peace Talks, Israel is willing to talk about and is willing to compromise land for peace. The Golan Heights, the region that was rightfully taken by Israel during the Six Day War, is on the table for discussion. Second, Israel is now sitting down with countries that have still not accepted its right to exist. Third, in the case of Jordan, Jordan had sided with Iraq during the Gulf War and now, the most promising hopes for a peace treaty are with Jordan.
Al Bayan's article emphasizes, "This is what the Arabs demand, whether the president in the Oval Office is George Bush or Bill Clinton." It's important to understand that peace is not a matter of demanding, but one of compromising. Now that we know the next president, we hope for continued negotiations and look for compromise, not demands.
Michael Morgan Chicago senior
Grace
By David Rosenfield