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Opinion
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University Daily Kansan, October 8, 1982
Women wait for change
Discrimination, by race or by gender, has never been easy to deal with. Despite the best efforts of many people, the problems will not disappear overnight. We know this.
But there can be no validity in using this as an excuse for shunting or decreasing those efforts.
Racial and gender discrimination both continue to plague the University of Kansas, particularly in certain schools, departments and offices, a U.S. Labor Department study shows. Worse, any visible efforts toward change since that study have been laborious and sluggish.
Last night, about 85 people showed up for a meeting with the chancellor and other KU officials about discrimination in the hiring and promotion of unclassified women employees of the University—including faculty, administrators and staff. Those attending
charged that although there were women capable of filling leadership positions at KU, some offices never promoted these women to high positions.
University officials responded as expected, probably correctly, that KU has progressed in hiring women faculty and promoting them. One of the officials, Deanell Reese Tacha, vice chancellor for academic affairs, is herself evidence of some change for the better — she is among the most prominent women in education in the nation.
Many changes are needed.
Wire service stories conflict in reporting on Tylenol case
Reading newspapers is an adventure. You are never quite sure how many versions of the same story
Case in point — the coverage of the investigation of the Tylonel-cyanide poisoning. So far, enough theories, psychological profiles and interviews have been gathered on the papers to fill the Sunday New York Times.
And to make things even messier, there have been two different versions of the investigation running in the local papers, versions that leave some questions about how well and how consistent the wire services and newspapers cover such investigations.
I first noticed the different versions when I read a page one story in the Kansas City Times headlined, "Tylonom figure is profiled" and bylined "From Times News services. After writing this article, he was killed, done by Robert Fisker, director of the Cook County (IL.) Psychiatric Institute, the
TOM GRESS
story reported on a press conference given by Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner. About halfway down on page four, the page the story was jumped to, came this paragraph:
"Mr. Fahner discounted reports that more than one person was involved in the poisoning because some of the capsules were put together with great care and others were messy. He said investigators are convinced that one person acted alone, filling the capsules with poison at home and then 'saiting' store shelves with them."
This, at the time, was all I needed to know to satisfy my curiosity about the investigation.
Except that 15 minutes after reading that paragraph I picked up the Kansan, where a Tylonel story from United Press International was the lead story, headlined, "Investigators suspect conspiracy in Tylonel cyanide poisonings." The story's lead began:
"CHICAGO — State Attorney General Tyrone Fahner said yesterday that evidence indicated more than one killer might have spiked Extra-Strength TYlenol capsules with the deadly cyanide that has killed at random seven people in the area."
Now, my mind isn't the quickest in the world,
but it didn't take me long to decide that
something was wrong. The third paragraph of the ILP server confirmed my doubts;
"This suggests more than one person was involved," said Fahner . . ."
There. I had two stories, coming, as far as I could tell, from the same press conference, and getting different conclusions from the same man.
What happened? Did Fahner give more than one press conference? Did one of the reporters forget to go to Sunday's press conference and change the notes wrong from one of the other reporters.
To try to find out, I called UPF1's Chicago Bureau, where I talked with Marcy Kreiter, the reporter who wrote the story the Kansan published.
According to Kreiter, Fahnner gave two press conferences that day, one at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago, the second in Des Plaines, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Kreiter attended the first press conference, the one at the Hilton, where, "he said person or persons. I remembered that because he made a big deal of it."
The only problem with Kreiter's explanation was that if Fahnier said person or persons, why did she quote him as saying, "This suggests more than one person was involved?"
"He said this several times over the past four or five days. The quote that ended up in the book is, 'I was so scared.'"
This answered, though not sufficiently the quote problem, but didn't resolve the discrepancy.
I contacted the Associated Press bureau in Chicago, and learned how they gathered the news.
Tim Like, an AP reporter who talked with Falmer several times Sunday, said that the AP attended the later press conference in Des Plaines.
"I talked with Fahner several times that day and each time he said that they believed that it was a single person," Like said. "At the press conference, he said that they were going on the theory that a single person was operating on the computer." A sample syringe in capsules already on the store shelves.
So, what it seems to be, is that Fahner is telling the AP one thing and UPI another. Or that one of the reporters is misquoting Fahner. Or, as the rest of us know, Nobody knows. Maybe that should be the story.
The best way to sum up the coverage of the Tylonel coverage is in the Way Litke put it:
"What you end up doing in a story like this is recapping what you know and trying to go from there. Sometimes you just end up rewriting and trying to add a little more creativity."
Burger War ignores starvation
"If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be a reason."
— from the Dealer and
There's a war going on in America. folks
There's a war going on here today.
It is just as dumb a war as all of history's other battles have been, but in a different way. Yes, this skirmish has a style of its own.
If I remember correctly, the Civil War was fought with muskets and swords and cannons; its opposing forces were represented by two generalis. The War of 1892 involves spatulas and grease and dead cow meat; its opposing forces are represented by a king and a clown.
This battle can be viewed in glorious color on television during the family hour, or it can be heard in stereophonic sound on the radio.
Call it the Burger War, my fellow Americans. The easiest way to explain it is to say that Burger King is having an unusual Big Mac attack. Yes, the Home of the Whopper is challenging the credibility and edibility of McDonald's famous sandwich.
This would not have presented a problem, but Ronald McDonald and his corporation didn't like the challenge. In fact they didn't like it so much that they, as well as Wendy's, went to federal court in hopes of stopping Burger King's "false and misleading commercials" from swaying the beliefs of more than 40 billion patrons of the Golden Arches.
The Home of the Whopper claims that people like the taste of its hamburgers more than McDonald's "fried" burgers or Wendy's Old Fashioned hamburgers.
And Burger King apparently is prepared to meet the challenge.
McDonald's lawsuit states, "the representation that Burger King's hamburger sandwiches are bred while McDonald's are fried... are not." In addition, McDonald's burgers are often steamed and then reheated
or warmed in microwave ovens before sales to consumers.
"Burger King has failed to disclose this material fact. Moreover, McDonald's hamburgers are not tried as Burger King's commissary representations are intended to allow."
Hun? Is this for real? People are starving in the world, and two high corporations in the world.
These days, almost everything is being compared to everything else. Included in the long war list are automobiles, beer, cigarettes, copying machines, deodorants, home video games, laundry detergents and — of course — soft drinks.
Well, it's the Pepa Generation, so take the Peell Challenge and let your taste decide. But,
HAL KLOPPER
once again, things go better with Coke,
because it's the real thing, so have a Coke and a
Naturally, if those are bad, there's always me and my R.C.
Coke and Pepsi spent $123 million on advertising last year. That money figures out to somewhere near $5,125 for every student at the University of Kansas. With that much cash, we all could buy 3,146 Big Macs and Whoppers every year.
Especially in such tough economic times, this would definitely be a wise investment.
Apparently, McDonald's, the largest hamburger chain in the United States, is worried
that people will think their products are "fried" instead of "crilled" (as they insist).
McDonald's sign boasts of having more than 40 billion served. But isn't it odd how there are only about four billion people in the whole world? My guess would be that some customers have visited the Golden Arches more than once and will probably visit there again.
Nevertheless, this is America, and some of us have a war to fight. While patrons will undoubtedly continue to flock to fast-food restaurants, some people in the world will continue to starve. And all in the name of big business.
Let's take a bunch of Whoppers and Big Macs to India and have malnutrition children settle this ridiculous dispute. They won't care either way, because they're hungry.
McDonald's and Wendy's will probably strike back at Burger King with larger, multimillion-dollar advertising blitzes. The restaurantate to an intense level of fast-food burger battle.
But, as with any war, nobody actually wins or loses. And does the expensive advertising really help business that much? Pepsi claims that its product tastes better, but people still drink Coke. The Whopper makes its claim to fame, but the Big Mac still makes big bucks.
Maybe the only people interested in this war are the representatives of McDonald's, Burgers King and Wendy's, all thinking is to save their lives by saying that "mucked better than we did"; it proves nothing.
And is the common man even concerned with the Burger War?
"I really don't care that much about it," says one KU veterinarian.
Maybe the only way to end this battle is to merge all fast-food corporations into one, creating a monopoly on the hamburger.
Call it the Big Wendy McWhopper
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