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Friday, October 30, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
No friend to Buddy
Students who are floundering in their academic careers should take heart: if you go on to become famous, KU will be glad to claim you.
Don Johnson, the charismatic star of the television series "Miami Vice" and former marginal student at the University of Kansas, is the recipient of the inaugural Buddy Award given by the department of theatre and media arts.
"The fundamentals I learned here 20 years ago," Johnson said in accepting the award, "are the same ones I use every day when I go to work on 'Miami Vice.'"
Some things are different, though. Unlike his college days, the actor has learned the value of attendance, and he has stayed with his current series considerably longer than he stayed at KU.
Johnson, who came to the University in 1967 and left two semesters later, was never known as a good student; and he jokes about his poor attendance record. Certainly, bad students who don't go to class need more recognition.
But Johnson's fame is more directly attributable to his heart-throb image than to his acting skills. His admirers are primarily adolescent girls, not accomplished peers in his field. If fame alone is sufficient to merit acting awards, Ronald Reagan probably should be up for a few retroactive Emmys.
Surely KU has produced better, if not more famous, actors, than Don Johnson. While his selection as the first recipient of the Buddy Award is likely to generate publicity for both the award and the University's department of theatre and media arts, it also may diminish the significance of the award as professional recognition for serious actors.
Does the theatre department want to recognize classic theatre or crass television? The award committee should have pondered a little longer the immortal question: "To be or not to be . . ."
Cultural exchange
Enrollment at many other small Kansas colleges has declined but not at Pittsburg State University.
but not at Pittsburg.
Five hundred new students enrolled there over the past three
years. Pittsburgh's student population is 5,500.
The college owes its success to Donald Wilson, who became president of Pittsburg in 1983.
A man fluent in seven languages, Wilson has recruited many students from the Far East. As a result, the number of foreign students on campus has more than doubled.
Students and faculty alike praise the work of Wilson not only because of his dedication to Pittsburg State, but also for being instrumental in bringing the cultural flavor of many foreign students to the campus.
Minority and international student enrollment has decreased at KU recently, and the problem doesn't seem to be improving.
KU has a lesson to learn from this man.
International students and preadult to university students
give their language and culture to an otherwise isolated institution.
They are often the youngest in size, less么 much.
Donald Wilson has only improved Pittsburg State by aggres sive recruiting.
KU should try the same.
Crime of injustice
The arbitrary and unfair treatment of the victims of crimes has long been a problem within our country's justice system.
The recent sentencing of Bernhard Goetz, the subway vigilante, brings the problem into focus once again. Goetz was sentenced to a six-month jail term, fined $5,000, ordered to perform 280 hours of community service and must undergo a minimum amount of psychiatric treatment for illegal possession of a gun.
Gun possession was the only conviction in his 1984 trial for the shootings of four black 19-year-olds. Goetz, who is white, could have been sentenced up to seven years in prison for violating the weapons law.
Depite his light sentence, Goetz is appealing it, firmly believing that he was a victim. The sentence, however, is far from strict considering Goetz's history. For example, during the trial, he was caught trying to buy a gun in Florida. And he once set fire to a homeless woman's belongings because of a dispute over a book.
While Goetz got off lightly for turning his possible victimization into a crime, an innocent victim in Howard Beach. N.Y., was treated as a criminal. A young black man was attacked on the witness stand by the defense lawyer of the four white teenagers accused of assaulting him.
The Howard Beach victim coupled with the Bernhard Goetz incident is an example of our justice system's unfairness. Taking the law into one's own hands is not the answer to crime. Those who do should be punished. A victim should not be.
News staff
Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
Juli Warren ... Managing editor
John Benner ... News editor
Beth Copeland ... Editorial editor
Sally Streff ... Campus editor
Brian Kaberline ... Sports editor
Dan Ruettimann ... Photo editor
Bill Skewt ... Graphics editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Bonnie J. Hardy...Business manager
Robert Hughes...Advertising manager
Kelly Scherer...Retail sales manager
Kurt Messersmith...Campus sales manager
Greg Knipp...Production manager
David Derfert...National sales
Angela Clark...Classified manager
Ron Weems...Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Odd costumes spook celebrities
Halloween strikes tomorrow, and so will new and innovative costumes. The costume one chooses for the holiday is of the utmost importance. This decision may affect how one will be greeted at various Halloween bashes, and for many it will mean that you need to intake. Needless to say, don't reach for that Punky Brewster outfit without taking a look at some of the new costumes available in Lawrence.
There are costumes of political personalities, athletes, armed forces officials and Hollywood celebrities: all available to you, the buying public.
Just look at some of the fresh ideas from which you can obtain the hippest Halloween togs this year!
years.
First, with the rise of tensions in the Persian Gulf and U.S. involvement, the U.S. Navy has been able to obtain Iranian Naval uniforms after which many costumes have been fashioned. The pattern is simple; it's a swimsuit (bullet holes not included). Here's a costume that is versatile, easy to clean and Allah-approved.
Another costume, although it isn't technically based on an armed service branch, is selling well this year. Yes, it's the KU Parking Services uniform, complete with a nuclear-powered ballpoint pen and a pad of blank tickets. Feel the power of being in the uniform of KU's own version of the dreaded Gestapo. Have as much power to ruin someone's day as an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. Wear this costume and take control of the hearts, minds and wallets of the suck-summed vermin that refuse to have properly validated stickers on their cars.
Another hot item this fall has been the "Borkenstein" costume, which comes complete with
oard, moustache and cracked skull. There is also a choice of robes. One has the quote, "Reagan lost my nomination back at the ranch; can I have him shot for that?" The other says "Constitution, schmoustification, who really reads those silly nymphs anyway?"
Next is the official Pat Robertson costume. Although some have found the costume to be somewhat offensive and complicated, I think it is worth noting because of its educational value as a statement describing the wonderful world of TV evangelists. The costume consists of a three-piece suit and sandwich signs worn over the shoulders that read, "God wants me to have the presidency, and if I don't have it by Christmas of next year, Oral Roberts will be called home, his wife will be sexually victimized by Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell will take over my ministry. And when a baby is born out of wedlock, he will be the ugliest personality since the rise of Fallwell and his self-righteous, overbearing and insultingly asinine Moral Majority."
As usual, those television evangelists have opted for a costume that shoves the word of God, as spoken to them, down the throats of the gullible people. This is called the form of opling for the more appropriate clown suits.
Halloween costume. This outfit includes a set of cleats, baseball socks, baseball pants, a football jersey and pads. On the back of the jersey, a slogan reads, "Halloween is just a hobby, but Bo wants your candy." Hey, Bo knows what's best for Bo.
A real favorite of mine is the new Bo Jackson
The William Casey costume has been a public favorite over the last few weeks. It is a hospital gown bearing the words, "Deceased, any questions?" The outfit costs $25 alone, or you may purchase it with a Bob Woodward costume for $25.
The always-popular Rambo duds are still on the market, however I must warn that parents have been experiencing difficulties with children wearing the costume. I witnessed one incident last Halloween that began when a mother told her son that it was time to go home and that Halloween was over. The boy screamed, "Nothing is over — nothing! I didn't start this holiday, but now I'm stuck in the house so I can't tell them what to do." And yet unless you been me, and you've been out there begging for sugar-sweetened morsels? Dammit, they drew first Nutrasweet!"
Finally, we have the Kansas-dairy farmer-turned-politician costume. It is a very cheap outfit, as all the wearer has to do is put on a suit and bore the public with self-serving political rhetoric and patronizing verbal garbage that nobody is interested in hearing. It is not the most popular costume, but it will get some laughs at a party.
Jon Gregor is a Leavenworth junior majoring in political science and broadcast journalism.
Befriending nature
Just to the east of Malott Hall stands a magnificent old elm tree. From its massive trunk rise four huge central limbs supporting a cascade of smaller branches falling toward the bark is dark and richly textured, setting off butter-colored leaves that glow with an inner light.
As I watched that tree the other morning, I saw something that gives me hope that we will yet be able to live with nature despite our constant urge to destroy it.
A young woman in Levis and a jean jacket walked toward the tree and stopped with her arm outstretched along the trunk. At first I saw a person running towards her balance. The movement was almost like a hug,
She walked away a few steps and lay down on her back, head propped on a backpack and knees drawn up, gazing through the branches. The sky was that incredible blue that appears after a cold front has cleared the haze and pollution from the air.
The wind was lively, forming the fallen leaves beneath the tree in ranks, then marching them
capriciously to and fro, tumbling them around the feet of the girl. It was chilly, even in the sun, and after a few minutes of quiet contemplation, she got up to leave. She went to the trunk again and gently patted it, like an old friend, then walked away.
The elm has very possibly been growing in that spot for more than a hundred years, enduring violent storms, bone-chilling winter freezes and droughts when the parched earth crackles but he can will say that it the elm has survived those years without the tender loving care of students in each generation who stopped to hug and touch it and understand its beauty.
Gary Schafer, Linwood junior
Adversaries
I have intended to write this letter for some time. In light of recent developments, I can no longer remain silent.
One of the earliest articles in the Kansan discussing the formation of a faculty union (April 21) demonstrated why the National Association does not belong on the KU campus.
The KNEA representative was quoted as saying the value of KNEA would be that it would force the administration and Board of Regents to act on its behalf, and this incessantly. In the very next sentence he or she claimed that KNEA did not intend to be in an adversarial position with those groups. However, common
sense will tell you that if you try to force something on someone else, you will almost surely become adversaries.
One reason education is suffering today is that NEA and the NASB (National Association of School Boards) have fought and squabbled for so long that the welfare of students has taken a back seat to scoring points at the collective bargaining table. If this is not true, it is at least the perception of many people outside the teaching profession. With that view of educators, it is no wonder they don't receive the respect of other professions.
Now we read KU-NEA has threatened a KU administrator with legal action for exercising her right of free speech. Later a spokesman said NEA was content with sending her a letter to clarify its position, but “he would not rule out filling a complaint . . . in the future.”
This kind of heavy-handed intimidation tactic is what I would expect from mobsters hiding their faces under white sheets, not a professional organization.
I hope the KU faculty has the good sense to see through the slick packaging NEA can put out. After the display of the disgraceful way NEA conducts its affairs, ask yourselves whether that is really the kind of representation you want or need.
Vote to keep the scoundrels out
Ronald R. Lofgren, Lawrence graduate student
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
New Marketing Director Ned "Crack'em Up" Katston was going to tell the story about the priest, the rabbi and the girdle salesman, but he has apparently choked in the clutch.
Ned soon will be moving back to shipping where, he should be happy to learn, his audience will be about two.