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Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Lindsey Henry, Editor Andrea Albright, Managing editor Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
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Sarah Schwarenkirch, Business manager
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Friday, December 5, 1997
W. David Keith / KANSAN
Examining
Student Senate's deaf ears failed the student body
As one of the 1500 people who signed the petition to place a polling site on Daisy Hill, I was appalled at the actions of Student Senate Wednesday evening. Before the meeting even began, six individuals on the Student Senate Executive Committee refused to even place the bill for the polling site on the Student Senate agenda. When proponents of the legislation attempted to bring the bill off the floor during the Senate meeting, they were shot down twice before the bill was even allowed a hearing. And even then, very few Senators wanted to listen.
Yes, this bill will be heard in committees next semester. But if Student Senators are not willing to address the issue of a polling site now, will they address it next semester?
As for me, I was humiliated to think that I am involved in a student government that is unwilling to listen to the voice of one student, let alone 1500. After all, this same student government claims as its highest goal responsiveness to its constituencies. Yet the majority of the Nunemaker Senators, who represent the most Daisy Hill students, did not even want to consider having a discussion.
Nicole Skalla
Salina sophomore
As a Student Senator, I believe that it is our responsibility to address the concerns of the student body. When 1500 students sign their name on a petition in support of an issue, Student Senate needs to listen to the message they send.
During last night's meeting, this did not happen. I am appalled at the behavior of my fellow Senators. Proponents of the legislation attempted to bring it off the floor and were denied twice. It is one thing to disagree with a piece of legislation, but it is quite another to avoid discussion entirely. This is what happened last night. Important issues that affect our constitutencies ought to be discussed. Opponents of an issue could then publicize their rationale. This matter should not be taken lightly.
This issue will be brought back next semester during the Student Rights
and Finance Committee meetings. I encourage any student who feels strongly about this issue to voice their opinion during either of these two meetings, or stop by the Student Senate office.
Sarah Schreck
Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator
Lenexa sophomore
Residents of Daisy Hill have the right to be outraged, especially if you are one of the 1500 people who signed a petition to allow your voice to be heard at a Daisy Hill polling site. You should be infuriated at the actions taken this evening by your elected officials, specifically those actions taken by student body vice-president Mike Walden.
A precedent was set last year when Student Senate established guidelines for the elections commission to follow during the last Student Senate election. Now, Walden prevented the Daisy Hill polling site issue from being heard in Student Senate because he claimed that the elections commission has the only authority to establish the election rules, when clearly in the past Student Senate ruled it under their jurisdiction to do so. Walden has good reason to strong arm an effort to reach non-greek voters. This unfair advantage greeks hold is what keeps Walden and other self-promoting senators in office. After admitting to this entire University that he is opposed to the issue of a Daisy Hill polling site in yesterday's "Kansan," he did not the dignified and respectful thing of stepping down as chair of Student Senate when the issue of a polling site was raised.
Walden and the Greeks who supported him got their way. The momentum of support from Daisy Hill residents will have to wait until next semester. This is why it is so very important for Daisy Hill residents to talk to their senators. Tell them how much this means to the future of voting trends at this University. Tell them that we are fed up with the greek vote being the only vote that matters. Most importantly, tell them that we have a force of over 1500 people, and it's time that we be heard.
I commend the senators who are in support of the Daisy Hill polling site.
against the polling site merely because it allows the voices of people who do not necessarily support them to be heard. In particular, I am appalled at the actions of OUR student body president and vice-president who were elected to represent us ALL. They clearly have shown that they are going to pursue their own agendas. Lastly, I am also ashed of myself for supporting them and helping them get elected to office, thinking all too naively that they were going to do a good job at representing my concerns, as well as those of Daisy Hill residents.
Erika Nutt Wichita junior
I am disgusted with those who are
Animal rights debate is not a polar issue
When faced with a complex issue, people have an unfortunate tendency to take an absolute pro or con position rather than acknowledge any room for discussion. Clay McCuistion addresses two very different parts of the animal rights debate, medical testing on animals and frozen turkey bowling, and seems to feel that to support the one requires him to support the other. But this is not an issue of black and white morality, it is an issue of justifiability. The first case is a matter of animal suffering and death vs. saving human lives, whereas the second is animal suffering and death vs. wacky entertainment.
Though no columnist would write it in the "Kansan," it is perfectly reasonably to eat meat, for example, yet feel that throwing the same dead animal down a hallway (and into the trash) is disgusting and disrespectful to life. Or to be a vegetarian, easy in modern society, and still support animal research as an extremely useful tool in science. Or to support animal research in medicine but not in eyeshadow. The beliefs that animal life has no value, or that its value equals human life, are the least reasonable and the most offensive.
Kevin A. T. Boyle Petaluma, Calif. junior
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Broaden your mind:
"I'm gonna get up in the morning, I believe I'll dust my broom."
—Elmore James, king of the slide guitar
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Raving
From sport zero to hero, tales of a maligned mascot
I was never good at sports. Since my infancy I could never understand the act of throwing an object or kicking small probes into nets. I was kicked off of my
was never good at sports.
president soccer team for not properly eating the orange slices at half-time. In second grade Little League baseball the only contact I ever made with the ball was when my face decided to try and hit a homer, instead of the bat. It never got better.
In middle school, the PE instructors would break into my gym locker and steal my smelly gray clothes and hide them from me.
W. David Keith
opinion@kansan.com
Then when I'd buy new gym clothes I'd try and play dodge ball but for some reason the athletic kids would always throw the balls at my face. I went through many pairs of glasses this way. Somedays I would run home, just a lost skinny boy in M.C. Hammer pants, wanting to find my place in this world. Little did I know that the sports world would soon be my oyster.
When my freshman year of high school arrived I had learned how to use my skinny body for other uses ... making fellow children giggle. I would dance a jig with my elongated legs, perform a medley with my magical mouth, and the chuckles would echo throughout the halls. One would even go as far as to say that I had become quite the big man on campus.
I decided to be like the other kids and show myself at something known as the "Friday Night Football Game." Bad idea. I had accidentally wandered into the zone of the stadium known as "Large, Mean Country Hick-land." Needless to say I was pummeled into a pile of shame and foolishness. I decided to hibernate from the social circuit for two years, restricting myself to my room and my marmalade jelly. I was a broken man. I couldn't even watch "Walker, Texas Ranger."
Like a blemish, the pain went away and the winds of change blew, right into my junior year of high school. The paper said that our football team was going to be pretty swell. So I got up the nerve and went back to that stadium to face my demons ... and that was the night I met the Captain. From behind an old oak tree stepped a rotund, jolly man in a black cape and a
scratched up football helmet. He was wearing our high schools' colors and I asked: "Who are you?" He just smiled, rubbed his belly and announced:
"Son, I am the Captain. I am the spirit of sports mascots throughout time. I want you to join me in. in cheering on your high school football team." And with that he handed me a ratty, striped Tiger suit and a rubber glove. At that moment I became Lt. Tigerstrike, my high school mascot.
People do not realize what responsibilities come with the power of being a mascot. Sure, there are the no-brainers like making "We are good! You are not!" signs for the crowd to hold. Following your team wherever they play and making so much crowd noise that your throat bleeds purple. If the team wins, you know you did your job.
Then there are the other aspects of being a mascot. Children kick you and poke you with sticks. Opposing teams spit on you and make fun of your mother and you start to wonder how they even know your mother. Teachers start to volunteer you for things like hiding in trashcans at pep rallies and signing autographs at senior citizen homes. Then the team starts losing. Your own crowd turns against you. Not even a pelvic thrust can make them laugh. You spill your guts on that field for hours, rolling in mud, doing the wave, perfecting the Macarena — and none of it works. A piece of your soul is gone forever.
This was my life for two years. But before I came to the University of Kansas, I turned my mascot costume in. The job had taken too big of a toll on me. Sleeping in my Tiger suit. Eating in my Tiger suit. Never kissing a girl in my Tiger suit. It was just too much. One must always respect those that are mascots, for they truly have nerves of steel. I pondered how I went from a sports zero to a sports hero — why had I forsaken myself for the very thing that I used to get my Young MC CDs stolen for? Because, kids, like the wise man Semacious once said: "In life there are only two paths, the path of the golden chalice of Hope and the path of the lobster in a wig. Choose your path wisely."
Wait up, Mr. Lobster. I'm on my way.
Keith is a Morse freshman in fine arts.
Hard to stomach Barbie, even with new changes
The sex icon of little girls everywhere as we know her may be headed to oblivion. With a little more persistence, women could possibly free them-
tence, women could pos selves of the inhuman and inaccurate ideal presented by Barbie.
Realism may be just around the corner.
Next year, as you may have heard, Barbie will get the third makeover of her life. Some dolls will get a new look. A wider waist, slimmer hips and smaller bust will replace some of the current Barbie world measurements of 38 · 18 · 34. I applaud Mattel's attempt, but it doesn't go far enough.
Anna
Attikisson
opinion@kansan.com
Not even the new closed mouth, softer, straighter hair and finer nose will be enough to bring the icon to her knees.
Mattel refuses to admit that the change was at all motivated by past criticism of Barbie's unnatural, anemic look. The company insists that children have shown a desire for diversity in Barbie world, which may be true, but I contend that it is not beyond our grasp to influence change.
Jean McKenzie, head of Mattel's Barbie division told the "Wall Street Journal" that, "In the 80s, Barbie's world was more blond targeted to glamour and beauty and activities that were right then. Now she'll have a contemporary look that's more natural and today. Kids tell us that everything we're doing to diversify away from pink and glamour and princess is right on."
It is right on, but just making a slight change misses the mark.
The huge toy company plans to retain the current, princess-look for some of the popular dolls. This is unacceptable.
Permanent changes in the doll could do wonders for a female sense of self-esteem world wide. Just picture the immense decrease in bulimia and anorexia. It could be beautiful, and we have to make it happen. Granted, not all of these problems are totally motivated by one small toy, but her influence during the last 40 years is undeniable. The average little girl has seven. I had more than 20.
Barbie may not have been originally designed to be close to human measurements or societal standards, but she has become a model for women that many have tried to pattern themselves after. Some even go so far as plastic surgery. This change opens the door to further alterations. Now that we have got our foot in the door it is time to wedge it open by sticking a large tushy in the way.
I almost pity Barbie, eternally damned to stand on her tip-toes with the emblem of female beauty sitting on her shoulders. No matter what she tries to do, whether it be doctor or business woman, she still comes off as a blond-haired, blue-eyed bimbo. We could give her a whole new outlook on life. Life as a Barbie or Barbie pal must be very hard. Some are short-lived.
I can still remember saying to my playmates how much I wanted that flat stomach, long legs, tiny waist and long stylish hair. I knew Barbie was just a toy, but that made it all the worse. I felt there must be something wrong with all women because Barbie was what was beautiful and I saw that most women didn't look right. It made me very sad to believe that I would never reach perfection.
As I aged I learned that Barbie was unrealistic, and that real women had their own beauty. It could not be contained in a plastic model with detachable legs and head. Yet, I still have the occasional desire to live up to my childhood ideal. I suck my stomach in and stick my chest out, but it is still all me. Some women are never able to break away from this stereotype, and no matter what Mattel does, some women never will, but just think of that one child we could save from the unattainable goal Barbie presents. We cannot stop insisting on further change.
The new changes Mattel has planned are a breakthrough. They must be praised, encouraged, badgered, and bugged until they submit to more changes. So handle the play
So here's the plar
Write to Mattel. Tell them to stop filling little girls heads with a sexy symbol of overly long legs and distinctly Aryan look. Give her a role or two on her stomach. Flatten her feet and see how well she fits into her thousands of high heels. For goodness sake, give the girl some panties.
Attkisson is a Lawrence junior in journalism.
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