Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
4A
Spencer Duncan, Editor
Lindsey Henry, Managing editor
Andrea Albright, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
Sarah Scherwinski, Business manager
Brian Pagel, Retail sales manager
Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser
Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, November 12, 1997
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Examining
Proposal to end glossy inserts noble except Senate has the wrong target
The Student Senate will vote on a resolution tonight that asks the "Kansan" to print all of its advertising inserts on recyclable paper. Unfortunately, the "Kansan" doesn't print most of the inserts it distributes.
Many inserts are printed on glossy paper that is not recyclable. Although nobody likes to see this sort of waste, a resolution directed at the "Kansan" is an ineffective means of addressing this problem.
It should be understood that the "Kansan" does not decide what type of paper is used for inserts. The company that pays to distribute its advertising in the "Kansan" makes this decision. Most businesses that insert
advertisements are large, national companies that target audiences throughout the country. They use slick, glossy paper because they have found that the high-quality paper generates higher response.
A resolution directed at the "Kansan" is not going to change the marketing strategies of national companies. In the past, the "Kansan" has offered a discount to advertisers who chose to print their inserts on recyclable paper. That incentive simply hasn't worked.
The "Kansan" relies on advertising for 95 percent of its revenue. Less advertising means fewer pages in the newspaper. A smaller paper diminishes the space where students can propose their ideas and argue their perspectives. In short, less advertising in the paper would mean less voice for students.
Nobody can deny that the glossy advertising inserts in the "Kansan," which inevitably end up strewn across campus, are an eyesore. However, the problem is beyond the "Kansan's" control. If senators are concerned about the environment they should write the companies who have chosen glossy paper as their means of advertising.
Until a change is made at that level, students can at least pick up the inserts that they've dropped on the ground and throw them away.
Liz Musser for the editorial board
Feedback
Boy Scouts and diversity garner reader response
Gerry Doyle's commentary regarding the California Supreme Court decision regarding Eagle Scout awards for two young men who refused to accept the "duty to God" part of the Boy Scout oath is understandable.
He also is dead wrong. The Constitution to which Mr. Doyle refers limits what government can do (read the language of the First Amendment carefully); it does not limit what private individuals, or in case private organizations, can do. The California Supreme Court forgot that the Constitution allows individuals and private organizations to believe what they choose even when it does not conform to PC expectations. It is important to remember that the First Amendment was designed to protect unpopular points of view; those who conform need no protection. If the Boy Scouts, as a
private organization, choose to require a statement of faith, they have every constitutional right to do so. They are not a government organization (the other instances you mention are all government functions), and receive no government funding. Any individual has the right to join or not join as their conscience dictates. If the two young men feel so strongly that they will not accept a "duty to God," they are under no obligation to join, or continue with, the Boy Scouts. As a matter of constitutional law, the court was wrong in 1991; it is equally wrong now.
■ Andy Obermueller's recent criticism is well taken, with valid points. The responses also raise valid points. However, Bradley Brooks' response makes me wonder how much time he has actually spent in a college classroom. Just when has a classroom on this, or most any, campus (especially in a PC-driven subject like "multiculturalism" or "diversity," whatever you conceive that to be) been a "... place where we aren't afraid to voice questions of one another, where we're not afraid to share opinions with the fear they'll be labeled as racist — a place in which genuine curiosity is not punished for being politically incorrect?"
If only it were so. Don't kid yourself. American education doesn't work that way, and I've seen it from both sides of the desk. In fact, a class on "diversity" would be anything but accepting and tolerant of other points of view. College classrooms are among the most intellectually restrictive places around. While there may be value in promoting "diversity," (whatever that is), this class would not value diversity of opinions. It would instead condemn opinions that do not conform to the accepted notion of what is "acceptance" of "diversity." The class, should it be adopted, may be a lot of things. It may or may not be a good idea. It would not, however, be a "safewaven" for a genuine exchange of ideas.
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 Westlander ... 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
Lawrence law student
James Watts
News editors
Advertising managers
Matt Fisher ... Assistant retail
Michael Soifer ... Campus
Colleen Eager ... Regional
Anthony Migliazzo ... 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 Swedlund ... Senior account executive
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"There's not much to say folks. It was a sorry exhibition. If we don't improve on this game, it will be a long season in the Field House."
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.
How to submit letters and guest columns
—Roy Williams, after Monday night's 98-79 defeat of Pella Windows.
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 Stuuffer-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 comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Viewpoints
Senate awareness week besmirched by apathy
Andy Obermueeller
andyo@kansan.com
In a recent column about the brewing senate electoral contest, I wrote, "The
Well, I was right. Again.
And ladies and gentlepersons, I give you Student Senator Matt Bacchand
big senate electors
folks vying for office
should be evaluated by
how they do their job as
the coalitions form."
In addition to such mollycoddling chaff as bike lanes and—gasp—turkey bowling, Bachand has been proselytizing about student apathy. To vent his rants, he garnered an appointment from
Student Executive Committee chair Kelly Huffman to serve as chairman of the Student Senate Communications Board. As chairman, Bachand's job is to organize Student Senate Awareness Week.
Well, he didn't just fail, he has abysmally bungled the whole affair. A whopping two people showed up at the town hall meeting in Ellsworth Hall on Monday.
When senators arrived at the town hall meeting, there were no chairs set up for the meeting, nor were residence hall staff or representatives of hall government present.
The failure of the event shouldn't have surprised many senators, some of whom weren't themselves aware of the week, labeled "Unawareness Week" by a clever "Kansan" headline.
To begin with, Bachand scheduled the first town hall meeting on the same night as a basketball game. Brilliant. That should have been the first thing he checked.
Next, Bachand decided that it was too cold to staff informational tables in front of Wescoe Hall, so he canceled them. I noticed that Bachand, who ran with the Delta Force coalition last year, had no trouble trumping around in the near-Arctic temperatures during last year's Senate campaign.
Advertising for the event was about as successful as the nonexistent tables. Bachand posted a message on the student senate listserv which promised the campus would be blanketed with posters during the weekend. Nary a poster was to be found, only a tiny advertisement in the "Kansan," which was poorly written and printed in tiny text. There was a discrepancy in the times it listed for one of the three town hall meetings.
Student Senate Bill 1998-047 allocated $111 of student money for advertising and duplicating for the week. If Bachand wasn't going to use the duplicating money to make posters, he should have used the money to buy one large ad that could have been better
"We decided involving the exec staff wasn't necessary, as plenty of senators will be able to answer the questions we feel will be asked. ... (At) this time we didn't think that exec staff were necessary, so we decided that we'd let 'regular senators' handle it." Bachand wrote. He said that the uninvited senators could just sit in the Union during their office hours.
designed to catch students attention.
Bachand, he who preaches activism and involvement, decided to exclude the student body president, the vice president, the treasurers, the legislative director, and even the senate secretary. In a e-mail posting on Friday, Student Body Vice President Mike Walden asked Bachand what was going on. Bachand replied that executive staff, including the student body president — would not be participating.
"The whole awareness week has been very underpublicized not only to the University public but also to the student senate. The whole purpose of a November week was to have Senate be more publicized, and I don't think that happened." she said.
Julie Numrich, a student senator who attended the town hall meeting, said she was frustrated with the week's organization.
If senate doesn't know what it is doing, why should anyone expect students to know?
But wait, there's more.
Bachand expressed interest in the Communications Board during the summer, and he was approved as a board member at the first senate meeting Sept. 17. Huffman said that the board began meeting the week after the appointments.
I'm no history major, but my guess is that Hannibal could have gotten his army and his elephants up the Rhone and across the Alps in less time, and he didn't let a little cold weather stop him.
Bachard dismissed his failure in his e-mail posting by saying that the awareness week would improve in the spring. "We're flying by the seat of our pants, gang," he wrote.
Maybe the week was intentionally mishandled for political motives. That would be deplorable but at least understandable. But he who preaches against student apathy shouldn't himself be guilty of the same. That's both incomprehensible and deplorable.
If a student senator is too busy to handle the job, then he or she should give up the seat, or give up another activity that takes time away from senatorial duties. It's better to do a few things really well rather than get your name on every committee roster, give your work a lick and a promise and hope it will be better next time around.
Obermueller is an Liberal, Kan., senior in journalism.
Student pulse given spark via Delta Force forum
Two years ago I found the waking bliss that had been my high school years coming to an end, and subsequently began a half-hearted search for the perfect
Jean, a senior in high school, is in the same position to look for his ideal school, and if he's following my lead he's blowing it off at this very moment.
I thought about my half-assessed college search and remembered the endless stream of brochures that I received and thought about how many of them described an "electric" atmosphere at the particular university.
Seth Hoffman
opinion@kansan.com
I wonder now how a similar statement on a KU recruitment brochure would read or more importantly how would I answer if my little brother asked? I would easily say that during men s basketball games everyone is charged up for a common purpose —beating the pulp out of 10 unsuspecting Australians or Pella All Stars, but not as a general campus atmosphere.
I would tell Sean that those outside the KU community argue that students are apathetic to issues that truly concern them. I don't subscribe to this however. I think that until now, there hasn't been a forum for students to learn about what issues really do affect them and students haven't had a forum to voice their concerns.
organization space and support, bike lanes,a fall break, Robinson improvements and linear tuition review.
That time is over. I believe that the Delta Force, a student group conceived simply to defend the rights of students, is that forum. In the last couple of months several Delta Force members and I have been speaking to various student groups partly with the intent to introduce and explain Delta Force, but more importantly to get feedback and suggestions about what issues concern students most.
From these suggestions the Delta Force has compiled a long list of issues we're working on. Some of these include the introduction of a Daisy Hill polling site, improved student
A new concern for us is the issue of campus safety. There have been five reported rapes at the University this year along with numerous tire slashings, muggings and countless thefts. To battle this the Delta Force is researching the possibility of a student security escort program. If you have comments about these or have other ideas please email us at dforce@ukans.edu or email me directly at shoffma@ukans.edu.
Admittedly some of these issues aren't moving as quickly as we'd like, and the reason is simple: it's a matter of numbers. I'll give a frequently used example. Next week when the Daisy Hill polling site initiative is introduced in the Student Senate, there will be two or three senators including myself presenting it. One of these senators, AURH senator RJ Woodring, lives on Daisy Hill. While Woodring will no doubt be effective, imagine how much more effective a couple of thousand Daisy Hill residents showing up at the meeting would be. A Daisy Hill senator can have a large voice, but the voices of a couple thousand Daisy Hill residents cannot be ignored.
I know that if you've made it this far you're probably just looking at this column like it is an extended recruiting pitch for the Delta Force. In a way it is, but it's more than that. I'm calling you to action. As college students we're at a unique time in our lives where we really can affect change. Most progressive movements come from college campuses for a reason, they contain large concentrations of smart, motivated people.
We've been given an incredible opportunity and it's time to give something back.
As for my brother, I think I'll tell him that no, there is no electricity in the atmosphere here at the University, but there is a spark. I know that with a little hard work, this spark can become much more. I hope that if he does decide to come here, he'll get be a part of it.
Hoffman is a Lenexa sophomore in journalism and Delta Force vice president.