Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Spencer Duncan, Editor
Lindsey Henry, Manager
Andrea Albright, Manager
Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
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4A
Friday, November 21, 1997
O'Connor / DAILY KENT STATER
Examining
Bill for Daisy Hill polling site needs to be passed, not delayed
The drive for a Daisy Hill polling site continues. The campaign for greater student representation at the ballot box ran up against problems last week, but has overcome them for the time being.
Proponents of the polling site have not had an easy time. After the concept was rejected last year, a petition drive was begun this semester to put the site into place. Petitions asking for the polling site were submitted to the Student Senate Elections Commission. To the consternation of the petition's organizers, however, 20 of the petition forms were thrown out last week. Without these forms there were only 904 valid signatures-96 less than required.
"It was a little bit surprising," admitted Seth Hoffman, scholarship halls representative, vice-president of Delta Force, and one of the petition's backers.
According to the Elections Commission, the forms were incorrectly prepared. The text of the proposed bill was required to be printed on the reverse side of the petition. As these 20 forms did not have this additional
Motives behind those that threw out signatures should be questioned.
printing, the names on them were discarded.
Organizers pointed out after the decision that the text of the bill had been posted on a separate sheet of paper next to the one-sided petitions. After some additional consideration, though, the Commission decided to stand by its original judgement.
"We want to make sure that people know what they're signing," said Bradley Finkeldei, chairman of the Elections Commission. "We don't want to set a precedent where people rationalize incorrect petitions after the fact."
Hoffman understands this, but wishes the group had been more sympathetic. "I don't want them to move away from the rules," he said, "but I hope they keep in sight that this is good for the students."
While the stated motive of the Commission — to adhere to the strict letter of the law — is understandable, there may be more to their action. After all, the Commission itself normally handles matters such as polling sites. According to Finkeldel, the group rejected a Daisy Hill polling site last year. Perhaps — just perhaps — the Commission attempted to protect its interests as an independent body by finding fault with the petitions.
This story has a happy ending, though. Correctly printed petitions were distributed throughout the campus last week and additional signatures were gathered. They will hopefully be validated this upcoming Monday, and then the fate of the bill will be decided by the Student Senate or a University-wide referendum.
What must be remembered is that increased student representation is important. The Daisy Hill polling site would be a positive addition to campus political life. As such, the issue is too important to be stopped by the hastiness of petition organizers or the extreme nitpicking of the Elections Commission. The bill should be passed, and not delayed further.
Clay McCuistion for the editorial board
Feedback
SUA needs to listen to student's advice
OK, I give up. During the last 21 1/2 years, I've told Student Union Activities employees on numerous occasions that their Lawrence-area ride board in the Union was screwed up. The center of the circle is supposed to be on Lawrence, but because the piece of plastic that the circle is on has dropped eight inches, the center is at the bottom edge of the map. Every time I tell someone, she or he said SUA would fix it. It's never happened. Oh well, at least now others can enjoy the sport of seeing how long SUA ignores much needed advice. One last time, fix your damn ride board!
Lawrence graduate student
for pressing ever onward in the face of a monstrous inconsistency. Schmitt articulates a two-pronged philosophy. First, species are animals, equal in status as co-tenants on the natural world. Second, evaluations based on usefulness are wrong and should be replaced with a blanket of inherent value. Unfortunately, the two prongs are mutually exclusive. You can have on prong or the other, but not both.
PAL arguments are mutually exclusive
Kudos to Michael Schmitt and PAL
Kansan staff
Lawrence law student
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Broaden your mind:
"Everybody knows that smoking will kill you. It's up to each individual to choose to die from smoking or not."
How to submit lotters and guest columns
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and home-town if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
—Jeanne Klein, associate professor of theater
Guest columns: Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stuaffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Bradley Brooks (brooks@kansan.com) or Jason Strait (strait@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Raving
Turkey squabble neglects concerns of true bowlers
Sometimes, a particular issue is so detestable that it strikes at the very heart of civility and trys the souls of righteous men. When faced with such an
issue, we can choose either to sit back in silence or step forward in resistance.
Jeff Mudrick
opinion@kansan.com
For the past two weeks, I have read one article after another, some for and some against a practice that I can only say reeks as being foul. Until now, I have remained quiet, but the time has come to emerge from the shadows and speak for what I believe
So go ahead. Call me a wacko, a nut case, whatever. But I can no longer stand idly by and let the game of bowling be degraded and destroyed by this cruel, insensitive practice.
Turkey bowling has got to stop and it has to stop now.
Ellsworth residents, I know you are just having a good time, but at what cost? Have you thought about the consequences of your good time?
Probably not.
And I don't blame you. Few people are aware of the horribly inhumane conditions endured by common bowlers in bowling alleys throughout the country.
These bowlers are packed, by the hundreds, into overcrowded, smoky rooms where they spend hours pacing back and forth on a hard wooden floor. They are fed large amounts of greasy food, which causes them to grow abnormally fast and large. And every year, millions die of heart attacks and others are crippled because of their incredible growth rate. In short, they are treated like a bunch of turkeys.
Yet Ellsworth residents hurl their frozen poultry down a greased corridor without
the slightest regard for the plight of the common bowler.
But enough of that.
Sure, we can take comfort in the current prosperity of bowling — the customized balls, the embroidered team jerseys and the large nachos, with extra cheese for 25 cents
Yes, I know it may sound unlikely, and maybe even a little crazy, but we cannot afford to lie to ourselves any longer. Our sport is being challenged by a dangerous enemy, and if this enemy is not restrained, it could wipe us out.
but these are very recent developments,and could all disappear with the simple toss of a turkey.
So it seems we must make a choice. Common bowling or turkey bowling? The answer is simple.
For while it is important to acknowledge the suffering of bowlers everywhere, it is even more important to remember that there would be no bowlers if there were no bowling.
And so we come to the greatest tragedy of turkey bowling-its threat to the very existence of common bowling.
Ellsworth residents can speak of tradition all they want, but three years of turkey bowling can hardly touch the long, proud history of common bowling.
It is a known fact that common bowling originated a long time ago, and while I don't know how long is a long time, I do know one guy who has been bowling since the late 60s. Now that's tradition.
Ellsworth residents, your sport is cruel and objectifies bowlers everywhere. It is also infringing on a great sport that boasts a much richer tradition than turkey bowling.
So give it up Ellsworth. Put down the turkeys, grab some nachos and a cold one, and lets go bowling ... the old fashioned way.
Mudrick is a Topeka junior in biology.
Banning Indian mascots would be the brave move
The words used to come so easily for Kathy Kerner. These days, they don't come at all. Words such as Braves or Indians dr, most of all, Redskins.
"I went to college in Washington, and I was a fan of that team," says Kerner, a social worker in the York County, Va., schools system. "I can't even say the name anymore it hits me that hard. Disconnecting myself from that Washington team was not an easy process. It was a matter of slow awareness."
Kerner, who describes herself as "about as white as they come," has written a book "They Taught You Wrong" on the hot-button topic of Native American mascots for sports teams.
On Wednesday she will participate in a discussion on that subject at Hampton University — featuring a five-person panel of local professors, authors and activists.
The discussion was arranged by Paulette Molin, director of Hampton's American Indian Educational Opportunities Program and a member of the Chippewa tribe, after she saw the documentary "In Whose Honor?" this summer on PBS.
The film, which serves as the starting point for the discussion, depicts the battle against the merchandising of American Indian symbols and the fervor of fans who cling to their familiar team mascots.
"People aren't willing to relinquish their mythology about American Indian people." Molin said. "I see it as part of pervasive pattern of stereotyping. This is not isolated to one or two teams, and they have presented a cookie-cutter image of American Indian people."
These mascots represent some of the most popular teams in major-league sports, such as football's Washington Redskins and baseball's Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves. Countless colleges and high schools across the country such as the William and Mary Tribe also use the images.
As much as the nicknames themselves, opponents object to the connected imagery. In the team logos, the Native Americans are invariably depicted either as grim savages or grinning caricatures such as the Cleveland Indians' "Chief Wahoo." Many of the culture's spiritual symbols — such as feathered headdresses and tribal chants — are simulated by fans dressing up as Redskins or doing the Atlanta Braves' trademark tomahawk chop.
"The word mascot is appropriate, because it really serves as a mask," she said. "And those masks disguise the real people behind them a real culture with real stories. By using this image as a mascot, it views American Indians as a role or an occupation as if anyone can put on a turkey feather bonnet and become an American Indian."
Wednesday's discussion will avoid a proand-con debate and, instead, will present various perspectives on the sociological issues raised by the subject — including how the appropriation of the Native American mascots is part of a broader sense of cultural racism.
During the last quarter-century, as Native American groups have protested the mascots, schools such as Stanford and St. John's have changed their nicknames. Others have kept the nickname but attempted to make the mascot's appearance less objectionable. But Molin says the continuing popularity of these mascots perpetuates an outdated image of Native Americans.
"It seems innocent, of course, but it goes beyond just the nickname of a team," Kerner said. "You have to see that, for this culture, the invading society did everything it could to wipe these people out. They didn't succeed, but psychologically, we appropriated their identity and took control of it.
"It's not the same as Notre Dame being the Fighting Irish — it's a different position that this group is in relative to the society they're living under. By making Indians a mascot, you turn them into a fictional character or, like the Pirates, a character with some romantic past that no longer exists."
Kerner recognizes the reluctance of teams and their fans to give up generations of tradition. But she hopes that discussions such as this one will help them understand the reason for the opposition.
"Even if some people don't fully understand it," she said, "I think you ought to respect that there are people who find it hurtful. I'd like to think people could say, 'I may not understand your objections, but I respect you and so I'll take your word for it.' If a culture is being hurt by the nicknames we use for our sports teams, it's just not worth it."
Mike Holtzclaw for Newport News Daily Press.