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Monday, August 31, 1992
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OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
IN OUR OPINION
Water increase needed to modernize Lawrence
In an attempt to bring modernization to the Lawrence water and sewage systems, the Lawrence City Commission unanimously approved a series of increases in water and sewage treatment charges. The 8 percent increase, which is earmarked for improvements in these systems, will bring higher costs for Lawrence residents, including students.
As a result, many KU students and administrators are unhappy with the cost hike, claiming it will once again raise living costs for campus housing. In the belief that expenses are too high already, many are criticizing the decision of the commission.
It is time to wake up and realize this step is intended to improve the existing water and sewage treatment systems, not just a basic service cost increase. Many people complain about streets that flood during rainstorms or water that tastes like it came from a swimming pool instead of a tap.In order to fix these things changes are necessary, and these changes cost money.
The proposed increase of 8 percent may seem like a large amount to pay, but the additional two dollars added to the average water bill is a small price to pay if conditions do improve. People want things to get better, but nobody is willing to pay for the necessary changes. Lawrence desperately needs to improve its outdated systems, and in order to catch up with contemporary standards, a cost increase needs to be levied on those who will eventually benefit from the changes. The commission should be applauded rather than criticized for their decision.
DAVID FRANKEL FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KU offers more than classroom education
University students should not be so focused on landing a job after graduation that personal enrichment and the cultural riches of the college experience are neglected.
KU is an institution based on research and higher learning, but that fact only scratches the surface of its significance to any student who dares to show an interest. A student's education should be well rounded.
This campus is filled with museums, national landmarks and libraries full of interesting materials. There are plays and musicals performed by students and faculty that can provide participation as well as patronage. Students that lock themselves in for four years in order to receive a 4.0 grade point average miss out on what is happening around them.
Various organizations and clubs on campus provide an outlet for students to express their opinions, support beliefs or enjoy hobbies. Religious growth can be experienced through the many different churches and group meetings available.
Speakers from around the nation and abroad visit to share their many ideas and insights with people who will listen. KU also enrolls students from all over the world and much can be learned and taught by just taking the time to listen.
The student who figures that the only reason for being at KU is to get a job after graduation might be better off at one of the fine technical and vocational colleges that exist just for that purpose.
Though finding a job in their field of study is obviously important, students should find the time to learn and grow in other areas as well.
FRANK WILLIAMS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
University's bureaucracy symbolized by Add/Drop
Once again, the first week of classes shattered my enchanted summer slumber with all the force of a hurricane.
It would be much easier getting up in the morning if I had something more stimulating to look forward to than the relentless pursuit of closed-class openers and waiting for the bus. As the second week of classes begins, the prospect of standing in line for Add/Drop begins to taint me in my dreams.
The dream of those enigmatic, green cards vanishes into nothingness before the professor can craft his exquisite signature upon its surface. The hunt for more of them begins as I catch the scent of closed-class openers in the wind. Every semester, no matter when my enrollment time, someone is always one notch higher on the tote pole than I am.
STAFF COLUMNIST
Today, the bus was late and, subsequently,
I was late for my first class
The bus is a predominant metaphor here, symbolic of the state of transition, that many students, are imprisoned in at the start of every semester. The University, like the bus, is a vast, often slowly moving, vehicle of bureaucracy. It is easy to feel like a single drop of gas in the tank that fuels the spinning gears. It's easy to feel left behind to dissipate into the wind like so much exhaust fume.
I am sure most of the students here have asked themselves at one time or another just why exactly it is, with all the money we pay for tuition, that we have to sit in arena-like lecture halls filled to capacity with 100, or even 500
MATT PATTERSON
And, yes, somewhere within the murky domain of the mystical Add/Drop realm, there are people. Living, breathing people, like you and me, just doing their jobs, trying to make a live. People who sometimes understand what it is students go through at KU.
It helped me to realize that, behind the endless lines, beyond the electronic tone of "all of our operators are busy right now, but if you will please hold."
other students. All those students, eager for knowledge, thirsting for an intellectually stimulating environment . . . OK, I admit it, the average student is more likely anticipating a good hour's sleep rather than a stunning lecture.
right? Certainly not. Most classrooms are overcrowded. The classes I need or want to take are almost always full before I even get a chance to enroll. This semester I found myself begging professors, in my nicest tone, to slip one of those green cards my way.
That's not to say a large lecture class can't be stimulating — the best class I have taken in my collegiate career was also the largest in KU history. Last fall's Sociology 104 was a class of more than 1,000 students taught by Dr. Daryl Evans. Hearing him expound on the local bureaucracy, a smile on his lips, was some what comforting, somewhat reassuring.
I also found myself camping out on the floors wonders after a half-hour or so if it is really worth it to literally bust my behind to sit through a class, uncertain as to whether or not I will actually be given the chance to add it.
The answer to this problem, and many others, lies at the bottom of a vast pyramid of red tape and discarded papers, slowly piling up atop someone's desk in a distant office marked on the door reading "Out To Launch."
Meanwhile, I'm running down the street chasing my bus, which just took off without me. As with the University, the bus often takes off without you. It's up to you to somehow get to where you want to go. It's up to you to get your life in gear. Until we find a cure for bureaucracy and make the system work for you. No one else can do it for you.
But does that make everything all
But occasionally someone will help, like the bus driver who saw me running down the street to catch up with her and pulled over to the side to let
Matt Patterson is a Shawnee sophomore majoring in English and sociology.
Perhaps I won't find myself caught between the merciless wheels of a raging bureaucracy gone wild after all. Then again, there's always next semester...
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Leadership skills of Bush questioned
It is by now clear that Bill Clinton will not just stroll into the White House, whatever the polls say. With the Republican counterattack focusing on the Democratic Congress, Clinton has a fight on his hands. To succeed, he must do two things: get the focus of debate onto the economy and impugn George Bush's character.
Clinton cannot win on the governability issue. Earlier in the campaign he talked about meeting with congressional leaders before the election to agree on a legislative program. Clinton's polls are now telling him to stay as far from Congress as possible.
As much as Clinton suffers from the Slick Willie tag, it is Bush whose character should be in doubt. This is most apparent in light of the crisis of America's underclass. It is fair to ask why Bush has not made the
slightest effort to inspire hope among the urban poor, why he ignored his housing secretary, Jack Kemp, and his market-oriented program for inner-city renewal, why he never visited a ghetto until the Los Angeles riots. The reason is simple.
Bush has no goals he wishes to accomplish as president. There are only problems to be solved, when they can no longer be avoided. That speaks poorly of his leadership — and his character.
The Globe and Mail, Toronto
STEPHEN MARTINO Greeks and independents need to stop their sneering
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Approximately 15% of KU students belong to a fraternity or sorority. As one of those students, I know that no where is it written that, "You shall sneer at those who choose not be greek."
KANSAN STAFF
Lisa Birnbach's College Book referred to the relationship between Greek and independent students at KU as tense. "They hate each other, they sneer at each other," she said.
I also know the greek system offers services to its members and others.
If this quote is an accurate reflection of student sentiment, then both
Yet, as a greek, I also realize that a perception has been created that portrays exclusiveness and, to some, discrimination. How many students have been turned off to the greek system simply because they felt a prerequisite to join was a Mission Hills address and a BMW in the garage? How many people have shed away from joining because they thought every minute was going to be spent at and working with the house? Fact in perception, fiction in reality.
However, the benefits of being greek extend far beyond raising money. Fraternities and sororites offer their members unique educational opportunities. They promote integrity in activities. And most importantly, the friendships and relations created continue long after attendance at KU ends.
Every year greek houses raise tens of thousands of dollars for local and national charities. This is excluding the annual Rock Chalk Revue.
Yet they still live in the minds of many students. Not every Greek comes from a family with a six figure income. Many drive old Chevys, put themselves through school, and spend a good part of their time trying to make good grades and enjoy college.
People have also found other beneficial campus groups. Many people find that their needs can be more adequately met in organizations like residence halls and scholarship halls. These organizations in many respects accomplish things Greek houses do without a formal commitment.
Too many people walk around with a chip on their shoulder, maybe sneering, at those who have chosen to be independent, or those who have chosen to be independent.
To its credit, the Greek system has made strides to by more inclusive of all people. The KU Panhellenic Association has instituted a program called quota plus. This is to ensure that women who wish to sign a sorority are given that opportunity. Additionally, houses are beginning to realize that upperclassmen can be effective contributors to the Greek system. Freshmen are the only new members who can make a difference
The perceptions and stereotypes that have contributed to years of misunderstanding have certainly divided a campus. Perhaps, by dispelling many of the notions that surround each other independents and Greeks will find more in common than different and stop the sneering.
Stephen Martino is an Olathe junior majoring in political science.
ERIC NELSON
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GREG FARMER
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TOM EBLEN
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501 Bluez
By Moses Smith