Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
4A
Spencer Duncan, Editor Sarah Scherwinski, Business manager Lindsey Henry, Managing editor Brian Pagel, Retail sales manager Andrea Albright, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Thursday, November 20, 1997
Signe / PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS
Examining
Cheap tickets for movies not found in Lawrence theaters
Movies often provide much-needed relaxation for overworked college students. The opportunity to slip away into a world of special effects, exotic places and brainless plot should always be available. Not having student ticket prices in Lawrence movie theaters pulls this opportunity further from students at the University of Kansas.
In many big cities, student ticket prices make movies more affordable for cash-strapped scholars. While some of these cities charge more for movies than Lawrence, many do not. In Kansas City, for instance, movies cost about the same as they do in Lawrence. But in Kansas City, student prices are between $3 and $4. Lawrence movie theaters have no such luxury, and tickets cost about $6.
Lawrence movie theaters should provide student discounts for such a large consumer group.
Additionally, every other group seems to get ticket discounts. Senior citizens get a discount. Children also get in cheaply, and some get in free. Students, on the other hand — a group that also has less money than the standard "adult" demographic — get nothing and are stuck paying full price.
There is now one movie theater in town that offers cheap movies for students. But this theater, Hillcrest 5, only shows movies that are not first-run. While seeing a film there might be more affordable, it isn't the same as seeing a
newly released blockbuster. Liberty Hall theater offers a two-for-one night, but only on Tuesdays — a night most of us need for studying.
Calls to Lawrence's theaters revealed no reason for not having student discounts. Hollywood Theaters, for instance, have simply had the policy since their inception.
For a town populated mostly by students, movie theaters seem to be paying little respect to their biggest customers. Perhaps more money is generated by not having a discount. After all, in a market where all prices are high, there is little option but to pay.
However, this policy of ignoring Lawrence's student population needs to change. Students need to get credit for keeping the films in Lawrence rolling.
Gerry Doyle for the editorial board
CLAS, SUA pulled off a great event
Ray Bradbury spoke at the Lied Center Friday night. He spoke on the same night as a Kansas men's basketball game and a Widespread Panic concert at Liberty Hall. Some were worried that Bradbury would not be able to compete with those events.
But he prevailed, drawing a full house at the Lied. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Student Union Activities, the organizers of the event, should be commended for bringing Bradbury to Lawrence and putting on a great show.
CLAS was responsible for getting Bradbury here and covering his $7000 honorarium. SUA took care of the promotion of the show and the renting of the Lied Center. Matt Twewito, SUA forums coordinator, estimated that SUA spent $3,000 to $4,000 for the event. Both organizations worked well together to pull off an entertaining and enlightening show.
Despite competition from a basketball game and music concert, Bradbury lecture goes well.
Lawrence and the University are often linked only with sporting events and live music. However, there is much more going on, especially at the University.
rightfully so. We are among the top teams in the country. But there are other events at the University. Students must be watchful so that they do not miss an opportunity to see something special.
Bradbury speaking was one such event. But there are many others such as theater productions and speakers on various topics.
With all the criticism that SUA takes, they should get some praise when they pull off a successful event. In conjunction with CLAS, SUA helped make a once in lifetime opportunity a reality.
KU basketball is a huge draw and
To find out about upcoming SUA events, call their office at 864-3477
Nick Zaller for the editorial board
Kansan staff
Bradley Brooks ... Editorial
Jason Strait ... Editorial
Jodie Chester ... News
Jen Smith ... News
Adam Darby ... News
Charity Jeffries ... Online
Kristie Blasi ... Sports
Tommy Gallagher ... Associate Sports
Dave Morantz ... Campus
Eric Weslander ... Campus
Ashleigh Roberts ... Features
Steve Puppe ... Photo
Bryan Volk ... Design, graphics
Mitch Lucas ... Illustrations
Mark McMaster ... Wire
Ann Marchand ... Special sections
Lachelle Rhoades ... News clerk
News editors
Advertising managers
Matt Fisher . . . Assistant retau
Michael Sofer . . . Campus
Colleen Eager . . . Regional
Anthony Migilazzo . . National
Jeff Auslander . Marketing
Chris Haghirian . Internet
Brian LeFevre . Production
Jen Wallace. . Production
Dustin Skidgel . Promotions
Tyler Cook . Creative
Annette Hoover . Public relations
Rachel O'Neill . Classified
Jaime Mann . Assistant classified
Marc Harrell . Senior account executive
Scott Swedund . Senior account executive
"The wrong way always seems the more reasonable."
Broaden your mind:
George Moore
How to submit letters 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.
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 Staufe-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 (jstrait@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Raving
Words on the real world from a recent graduate
C college life is to professional life as tuxedos are to fishing.
Anyone who tries to make a correlation between the two is a few flounder short of a
Jeff Rubv
opinion@kansan.com
dozen. I think I was better prepared for life when I graduated from high school seven years ago. That's because I spent the next six years in la-la land — college
In July, I was enjoying my leisurely walk up Indiana Street past Yello Sub to my laid back classes. I waved hello to the familiar folks who passed me near the Kansas Union. It was all very peaceful and idyllic.
Now I'm on a claustrophobic Chicago bus stuffed
with hostile commuters. I've got a Bears umbrella poking me in the back. Someone's got his ear resting on my elbow. I can't even remember what Yello Sub smells like.
Instead of driving my Honda down to Mass Street, I am now being sped to Wells and North Streets by an evil Chi-town cabbie who boasts that he's the only one who will survive the approaching nuclear holocaust because he's got a scud missile in the trunk.
The real world, that's what happened. And it happened hard.
What happened to my life?
After finishing my KU career this summer, I almost immediately began a job as a dining editor at Chicago Magazine in August. My mind was still in Lawrence. My mouth was in an office in downtown Chicago, suddenly saying things like, "Could you please fax me that menu by Tuesday, Jean-Pierre?"
If you'd told me six months ago that I'd be asking a Jean-Pierre to fax me something — or that I'd even be associating with someone named Jean-Pierre — I'd have said you were cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Six months ago, I didn't know a fax machine from a jelly doughnut. But this working world makes us do bizarre things.
Before you dismiss me as just another alarmist yuppie jackass droning on about this working world, let me remind you: I'm one of you. I will always consider myself a student. I spent my first 20 years in schools that allowed me to cut corners and slide by. As a result, I've
learned something quite alarming.
I don't know any other way to live
I'm not too blind to see that I was spied by college. I lived off someone else's money in cushy apartments I knew were temporary. So I trashed them, then called my landlord a @#"% face for screwing me out of the full security deposit.
I call my landlord "sir" now.
I know not everyone has the same slack college lifestyle that I had, but surely I wasn't the only Jayhawk who habitually arranged his schedule so he could sleep until 11a.m. If I really dreaded that late-morning stroll up to campus, I'd just roll over and drool on the other side of the pillow until I felt like joining the world.
This is the root of my nine-to-five adjustment problem. I still think I'm in college. Some of the more forgiving college professors allowed themselves to be sweet-talked into pushing back deadlines to those that I found more suitable.
Such a strategy would not get me far in my company. The last guy who tried to sweet-talk my boss is now selling hot dogs on the street. In Greenland.
Now my alarm's set for 7:15 a.m. I don't even know if it has a snooze button. And if I miss my bus, I can kiss getting to work on time goodbye, unless I hail a cab. And I think you know my position on taxis.
Like the millenium.
I know, I know. You've heard this "Oh, boo hoo, the real world is so tough" crap over and over again. I heard it to death too. I always considered it some sort of nationwide propaganda campaign cooked up by university presidents to scare us into staying in their money-zapping schools for as many years as possible.
But it's all true.
So before you go whining to your roommate the next time your prof gives you brutal deadlines and more work than you can possibly handle — i.e., treating you as an adult — remember this column. And let it serve as a warning to you.
Or else, you'd better learn to drive a cab.
Ruby is a 1997 KU journalism graduate. He is remembered as a Seinfeld watching, cheap beer guzzling and house party throwin' kind of guy. Giddy-up!
Proponents of Animal Liberation state their case
young researcher at USC once conducted psychological research on mice. He enjoyed the work until one day something forced him to change his perspective. Following the labs preferred method for killing, he placed about fifteen mice in a plastic bag and stuck them in a freezer to die. More than three hours later he returned to find that the mice had chewed through the plastic and were huddled together trying to keep warm.
Michael Schmitt
coinieri@kansan.com
In their futile attempt to stay alive, the mice took turns being on the outside of the huddle — alternatively keeping others
warm, then being kept warm by the others. In the lab, the mice had no value after the experiments were completed. However, by struggling to avoid death, the mice demonstrated that their lives continued to be valuable to them. The researcher who observed this began to see the mice as more than research subjects and subsequently stopped experimenting on animals.
The above story illustrates the importance of Proponents of Animal Liberation, one of the University's most active student organizations. Like the researchers mentioned above, humans are too quick to value an animal's life based solely on how useful the animal might be to us. We rarely stop to consider that an animal's life might have some value in and of itself.
PAL exists to challenge the view that animals are our resources, here for us — to be eaten, experimented on, or exploited for sport or money. PAL encourages people to recognize animals' inherent value and to make changes in their lives that minimize their own use of other animals — by becoming a vegetarian and buying cruelty-free products. PAL emphasizes how personal actions are also political statements that can alter the course of society for the good of all animals.
Unfortunately, many people misunderstand PAL, its motivations, and its intentions. Whether the result of passive ignorance or malicious intent, these mischaracterizations allow people to avoid important questions surrounding our relationship with other animals.
PAL has been accused of wasting time working to help animals instead of working to help members of our own species. However, PAL's philosophy, which implies that all humans (being animals) have inherent value, connects us with movements for civil rights, women's rights, workers rights, children's rights, queer rights, rights for people with disabilities, etc. PAL encourages people to
Philosopher Tom Regan writes that "all great movements go through three stages: ridicule, discussion, adoption." These three stages occur on a personal level, too. PAL encounters people who laugh at us, but we also meet some who thoughtfully consider their relationship to other animals. More importantly, we also see people on campus who come to agree that animals matter and make changes in their lives.
Like many people concerned about oppressed groups, we believe that people with the power to speak out have an obligation to stick up for the powerless and oppressed. Animals cannot verbally object to their treatment, but they do resist their exploitation in other ways. Consider the mice at USC, cooperatively struggling to sustain themselves when the researchers wished them dead. To give that struggle a voice, PAL challenges a society that devalues and destroys animals to become more compassionate.
appreciate other beings — human and nonhuman alike — as inherently valuable, and not simply as valuable as they might be useful.
By encouraging people to consider how their actions affect animals, we remind them to consider how their behavior affects people as well. Simple everyday behaviors, like eating a meal or buying a particular brand of soda, can affect others for better or worse.
When people accept this and make changes in their habits that help animals, it is much easier for them to make changes that help workers, help minorities, support local businesses, help feed the hungry, etc. PAL emphasizes a point made by many progressive organizations: our individual behaviors are also political acts that can either effect social change or maintain the status quo.
If exploiting animals is wrong, then we have an obligation to stand up against their exploitation while simultaneously working to end human inequity. This is the challenge that PAL members accept.
To say that PAL wastes time by helping animals while many humans are in need is anthropocentric, or human-centered. Commenting on this selfish tendency, psychologist Roos Vonk states, "The powerful majority is always going to insist that the problems of their group should be dealt with first. If this position had been accepted in the course of history, we would still not have given rights to women, Blacks, children, homosexuals and so on."
If you are interested in learning how you can live in ways that help rather than hurt animals, please contact PAL:
www.ukans.edu/~pal, pal@ukans.edu, Box 41 Kansas Union, or 838-4469.
Schmitt is a Harrisonburg, Va., graduate student in social psychology.
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