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Monday, October 26, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Book worms
The Educational Excellence Network recently sponsored a study, and the results were not surprising: The history textbooks used in our schools are boring.
The panel of experts who studied the elementary, junior high and high school history texts found that the pressure of interest groups to water down texts and "cheerlead" for minorities has led to dull, uninteresting texts that miss the flavor as well as the main stories of our rich history.
The pressure to censor books is, of course, not limited to the subject of history. Literature long has been the source of interest group pressure, with opponents fighting to ban books that contain any hint of a suggestive nature.
Educating students with lifeless history books that present only the bare facts and preventing them from reading classic literature deprive the students of a well-rounded education. Simple standardized history tests taken by students repeatedly prove their ignorance and lack of education; they do not know the basic foundations of our history.
The specialists lament that students are reading Judy Blume instead of Mark Twain.
Censorship does not protect our students; instead, it provides a forum for mediocrity.
Class rank
"America's Best Colleges."
That's the title of U.S. News and World Report's latest biennial survey of the "best" universities in the nation.
The report featured a list of the top 25 large colleges, ranked by 110 college presidents who responded to the survey. Presidents of 204 colleges, including KU, were asked to rank the top 10 schools in their category. KU neither responded nor made the list.
Of course, Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton topped the list. So what. If a student can afford $12,000 a year in tuition, then one of those schools may be the place for him. Otherwise, he may spend his money better elsewhere.
College presidents, while better qualified than many others, can still be subjective when responding to this kind of survey. Jim Scaly, assistant to Chancellor Gene A. Budig, summed up the underlying problem saying that the survey was based on perceptions rather than solid facts.
While U.S. News points out that the list is certainly not the final word on the best colleges, it glorifies the top ones with colorful pictorials and a showy 29-page spread of college reviews.
For a high school senior who is choosing the college he wants to attend, the reviews may blind him to the wealth of opportunities available. There are many other universities that may fit his particular interests or needs. The survey simply doesn't address this.
In the end, the student may not actually choose the best college for his specific interests,but a generally good college that others tout as best.
Toying with life
The police must protect innocent bystanders, themselves and their partners at all times. Decisions about life and death are often forced on officers who have no time to reconsider.
Recently, police have faced a very real threat from very unreal guns. As toy guns become more and more realistic in their imitation of the real thing, people are being fooled.
imitation of the real thing, people are being fooled And it is no gag.
Last week, a sobering toy-gun-related death occurred in Topeka. A man involved in a domestic dispute pointed a realistic toy gun at a police officer, who then shot the man.
A needless waste of a life. And all because of a piece of plastic. Policemen must operate on the assumption that a gun being brandished is a real threat. However, with fakes masquerading in authentic design, lives are threatened in the name of fun.
Why should society risk fear, injury and death? Would a rule forbidding toy guns from closely imitating real guns spoil a child's fun? More important, couldn't such a rule save his life? Toy guns could all be pink, or could carry some other obvious marking that could be seen from a distance.
Keeping children's toys safe depends on more than banning toxic paints, sharp edges and small removable parts. The very
Perhaps it is time for parents to go through toy boxes and remove this needless threat.
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
News staff
Jennifer Benjamin ... Editor
Jull Warren ... Managing editor
John Benner ... News editor
Beth Copeland ... Editorial editor
Sally Street ... Campus editor
Brian Kaberline ... Sports editor
Dan Ruettimann ... Photo editor
Bill Skeet ... Graphics editor
Tom Eben ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Bonnie J. Hardy...Business manager
Robert Hughes...Advertising manager
Kelly Scherer...Retail sales manager
Kurt Messermanith...Campus sales manager
Greg Knight...Production manager
David Derft...National sales manager
Angela Clark...Classified manager
Ron Weems...Director of marketing
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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"HIM? WHY, DONT YOU KNOW? THAT'S DOW JONES HIMSELF."
Drips
At 7.35 a.m., it became painfully obvious that repairs were to be made on the roof of my apartment at 1401 Massachusetts St., Apt. 4. Although water has gushed through the ceiling and into my apartment during every rainfall since May, it is not the lethargically slow response to my pleas to the property owner and to me, because we concerns me now. It is rather the utterly inconsiderate and negligent manner in which the repair process was initiated.
When an operation that could cause a disturbance to tenants is to be carried out on a rental property, the property manager should evaluate every possibility of minimizing the disturbance. In the case of my roof, the tenants in all four apartments should have been informed exactly what to expect and when to expect it. If exact times could not have been provided, then at least the day and earliest starting time could have been. In the ideal case, residents would have been asked which days and times would pose the least inconvenience.
However, such was not the case as workers began this morning; No prior notification was given; the property manager was defensive and rude when appraised of the situation; and the resulting plaster dust that has settled over every square inch of the apartment endangered the health of my pet, contaminated food and soiled clothing. The mess will require several days to clean up. This is not simply a matter of an inconvenience, but rather indicative of the property manager's indifference to the needs of tenants.
I do not possess the means nor the time needed to take legal action. In any event, current laws favor the landlord to the extent that win or lose, the tenant stands to gain nothing. My hope is that this appeal will in some way prove itself to be a legitimate concern, concern for tenants' well-being will figure more prominently into decisions made by landlords and property managers.
Eric Tishkoff, Cleveland Heights. Ohio, senior
Ignorance
I feel fortunate that I can see people like Jello Biafra speak here at KU. It is unfortunate, however that only a limited number of people
can see a speaker at one time. When people can't be present, they must rely on the school newspaper to accurately describe the events that took place. Unfortunately, Mark Tillford wrote nothing more than the headline of his article "Punk rocker lashes out at Reagan, censors."
Perhaps it would have been too bold for Tilford to talk about the numerous foreign artists, journalists and musicians who the PMRC so unlawfully keeps out of this country, or the fact that our government had planned on sending up 49 pounds of plutonium on the shuttle flight following the latest disaster — something very few people heard about.
Mark Tilford, and many other journalists, fail to see the powers of connotation when they write their headlines. Part of the problem Jello Biafra was talking about was the lack of initiative on the part of the people who know. The biggest problem, however, is the ignorance on the part of journalists, which is just what the PMR wants, and that is just what the Kansan is helping to provide.
Oh, by the way. I have a worn out flat top, dark blue shirt, and shiny high-top tennis shoes.
Guy Stephens, Leawood senior
Bad insurance
I am writing to express my disatisfaction with the new health insurance plan. It would appear that since the new plan being offered is unacceptable to the final users, State of Kansas employees, the contract could and should be put out for rebinding and advertised in various trade publications that are circulated among the insurance companies.
I, for one, would gladly pay a part of the premium for insurance with acceptable coverage. However, to be told that I have no choice other than accepting an insurance package, which is unacceptable to almost all state employees, if I desire to have a group health insurance package, really gravels and irritates certain parts of my anatomy.
The group health insurance plan was stated as one of the benefits that would be supplied to us at no charge as civil service employees in lieu of a higher salary when we were hired.
We, as state employees, have been asked continuously to tighten our belts because times are hard and we all, except for the legislators, have to economize. We state employees have to economize. We state employees have around our scrawny little necks, and now the chair is not nor want to push the chair out from under us.
The State of Kansas must run like an efficient household. There is only so much money coming in, and before it is spent frivolously, you must first be certain that all of the commitments and
obligations previously assumed are taken care of. Then and only then, if there is money left over after taking care of those commitments and obligations, should you do things such as take a trip, build a new highway, put an addition on a building, build a new building or open another governor's office in Wichita.
We as civil service employees do not work for the legislators or the governor. We, as do the legislators and the governor, work for all the citizens of the State of Kansas. At the current rate the governor and the state legislators are going, I would hope none of them are re-elected. And we, as voters, can and should fire any or all elected officials at the next election if they do not handle the trust we have placed in them accordingly, 1, for one, am going to watch each and every elected official "like a hawk" and vote accordingly.
Glenn Hodge, Lawrence resident and classified civil service employee at the University of Kansas.
Student support
Brian Kramer's article is right on the mark. The attempt of student leaders to evict Kevin Prichard from Student Senate is a breach of every principle on which a student government should act. It has generated a desire to represent the students not only in the basketball court, but in the Senate as well.
More students voted for Kevin than for any other candidate in the last election. Yet Senate leaders say that an attendance policy will prevent Kevin from serving the student body. If the Senate does oust Kevin, it is in effect saying that only a select group of students can represent Kansas. Because that design includes athletes. If Senate leaders are correct, perhaps any student with another time commitment should be prohibited from Senate. Debaters? Band members?
Kevin's overwhelming student support alone mandates an exception to the attendance policy, but so does his willingness to sacrifice his spare time to serve the students. Kevin may not be able to spend as much time on Senate as others, but the time he does spend is of greater quality, because it is he who most represents us. Kevin should be rewarded for serving the students on two levels and Brian should be applauded for bringing such a disservice to light.
Stacie Kennon, Overland Park senior Tedra Wilensky, Overland Park senior
katz
k.l. thorman
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed