Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY Kansan
Published daily since 1912
4A
Spencer Duncan, Editor
Lindsey Henry, Managing editor
Andrea Albright, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
Sarah Scherwinkis, Business manager Brian Pagel, Retail sales manager Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, October 1, 1997
Kevin T. Frost / KANSAN
Feedback
MacRae hypocritical in criticism of greek system
Being a member of a fraternity at the University of Kansas, I've read a lot of anti-greek propaganda in the "Kansan," but nothing has forced me to write a letter to the editor until now.
Robert MacRae, I believe that you are a hypocrite in the strongest sense of the word. If you stress tolerance, why can't you be more tolerant of the greek system? If you are preaching sensitivity, then be more sensitive to us.
The only diversity you want is the kind that is pleasing to your own personal tastes, like the cross-dressing mixer that you mentioned. Why can't you get beyond the stereotypes? Don't you realize that your greek bashing comes from the same seed as other prejudices? That seed is intolerance and insensitivity to the lifestyle of another person or culture. You have made me a target of "kneejerk stereotyping" by lumping me with all the negative things that have allegedly happened (I still question the validity of your sources) in the Greek system.
So before you get on your liberal soap box again and start condemning every Greek, scholarship hall resident and football fan for being different just remember that without all of us, your precious "diversity" is lost. "Physician, heal thy self."
Chris Corloy
Wichita junior
I am writing in response to the article written by Robert MacRae entitled "Insensitive acts guised as tradition should cease." MacRae begins by condemning the actions of three sororities, which through the use of strippers and alcohol attempted to bide for an invitation to Sigma Nu's annual Bacchanalia party. I agree that these actions could be seen by some as offensive, and therefore should probably not have taken place. Although I doubt that any member of the fraternity were offended.
I disagree with his assumption that the majority of greek functions are discriminatory. This is simply
not true. Just because MacRae isn't invited to a party does not mean that he is being discriminated against. The University of Kansas has a strong Greek tradition that has allowed countless numbers of young men and women, including myself, to grow socially and academically.
MacRae refers to fraternity men dressed in grass skirts as they serenade a sorority as savages. This statement further illustrates the bitterness of an individual who fails to understand the significance of such actions. Although it may seem ridiculous to him, traditions such as these are what enable the greek system to thrive at Kansas. Fraternities and sororites are not, and should not be a group of students living together solely for academic purposes. That is why the University has scholarship halls. And it is the social aspect that separates the Greek system fro other University organizations.
Finally I would like to address MacRae's opinion that football simply is organized violence. Organized competitive athletics facilitate teamwork over individualism, and teach athletes how to wing with honor, and lose with grace. College athletes spend countless hours preparing for athletic events to represent our University. And although there are those individuals who participate in college athletics who are violent, it is a rare case when these emotions erupt into fights on the field, or influence the outcome of the game. This country as well as this University has a strong tradition of college athletics, and it is my opinion that suggesting that football resembles gang warfare is a ridiculous oversimplification.
While MacRae does make a few valid points, he comes off sounding like a bitter individual who failed to join an organization at Kansas and therefore condemns them. The Greek system and college athletics are two of the most integral aspects of college life, and I hope this remains the case long after I graduate.
Obermueller comments 'racist at best'
Let me start by saying that Student Senate is a fine organization of students dedicated to improving the University of Kansas. They have done a great job and will continue to do so without the unsolicited advice of Andy Obermueller.
I was offended, to say the least, by Obermueler's column on Senate's funding of student organizations. His implication that "The Godfather" is the only interesting facet of Italian culture is racist at best. Racism has no place in journalism. Andy, if you see a journalist any time soon, please pass this on.
Bobby Hutchinson Englewood, Colo., senior
Obermueller's criticism of Proponents of Animal Liberation reflects the uneducated position we have all come to know as readers of his columns. PAL campaigns against product testing on animals. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. citizens are opposed to such tests. Not to mention the just under 10 percent of the populace that is vegetarian. (Typically higher on college campuses.) When considering the number of people whose interests PAL represents, that organization is underfunded.
I also am offended by Obermuelter's use of phrases: PAL"claims it has 40 members," and "granola types." If Obermuelter's columns offend anyone else, contact the "Kansan" and let them know how you feel.
John Fowler Parsons freshman
Kansan staff
News editors
Bradley Brooks . Editorial
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Other major universities that compete with KU have reasonable health care plans. If KU wants to remain competitive with these other schools they need to be reasonable as well."
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.
—Rlchard Buck, chair of the GTA negotiation committee.
Guest columnists 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 Staufer-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 844-4810. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 844-4810.
Raving
Polling sites should not be added to Daisy Hill
Delta Force is at it again. The activist group's new poster, available at local residence hall bulletin boards, advocates new polling sites be
Andy Obermueller
andyo@kansan.com
established near residence halls on Daisy Hill. Their justification is that because so many students live in residence halls, a door-step voting booth is warranted.
On the surface, this may seem like a good idea. But critically analyzing this idea calls its merit into question.
Voting is not a right, it is a privilege. The Constitution does not set
forth any requirements for voting, it only mandates that the representatives be chosen by the voters of the several states. On campus, all students are eligible to vote, and during elections there are polling sites conveniently located where students tend to go, near the buildings where classes are held.
In the process of writing the Constitution, Ben Franklin commented that the delegates must all hang together, or they would all hang separately. That was the potential cost of establishing the new nation. Earlier, in the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to build a nation where officials would be elected. And the names of the people who gave, as Lincoln said, their last full measure of devotion are inscribed on monuments in our capital, in memorials across several states and in the annals of our nation's history. That ultimate sacrifice ensured such notions as free elections and peaceful transition of power.
For me to claim that moving a campus polling site for student elections shames our nation's war heroes would be editorial grandstanding. But voting should never be easy. There should always be a cost, a small sacrifice — like walking to campus — to acknowledge the privilege of voting. And Daisy Hill residents need only walk less than two blocks to the Burge Union to cast their ballot.
Groups like Delta Force reach out to students who may have gotten lost in a shuffle that's bound to happen in a large University. They work to build a place where getting lost in the shuffle is less likely. That's certainly noble and the group admittedly may have some good ideas. But they do not deserve special treatment for their members, nor does any individual constituency. The residence halls have their own senator in addition to the underclassmen representation.
That's the heart of the issue. The buzz about committee stacking has been flying around our ears like a pesky mosquito, and the notion of an unseen force that compels Greeks to vote a coalition ticket and perpetuate some sort of establishment is not only untrue, but a poor conspiracy theory advanced by people who don't win elections because of bad ideas, not poor voter turnout.
No group is inherently more important than another, whether judged on the basis of where they live, how much money they have, or to what political party they belong. Sure, polling places naturally are set up in central locations. But if 2,620 students live on Daisy Hill — about 10 percent of the studentry—a polling site located there would not be a central polling place for 90 percent of the student body. It would be a specialized place for some students. If polling places are going to be moved on basis of
Another element of the issue that shouldn't go unquestioned is cost. The cost of establishing three new polling sites is about $860. The Delta Force poster says that 15 percent of students voted last year. There is no reason to expect that mere proximity of polling locations would lead to a greater interest in student politics. Even if another polling site does mean more voters, it does not necessarily mean more educated or concerned voters.
population density, there must be equity and there should be a polling site on Tennessee Street and Gower Place, centrally located to other student housing.
Using the 15 percent figure, about 400 students can be expected to vote, and casting each vote would cost Student Senate about $2.15. There are five existing polling sites on campus, which process about 4,000 voters. If each of the five existing polling sites costs roughly $300, that means the average cost of a vote at those locations is $0.38. Simply by putting its money where its mouth is, Student Senate would be implying that Daisy Hill voters are 5.7 times more important.
It's instructive to mention that the Constitution does say that no citizen's rights and privileges are any more important than anyone else's. All people are guaranteed equal protection under the law, regardless of whether they live on Daisy Hill or West Campus Road.
Everyone goes to campus, so everyone should vote there. If residence hall students aren't willing to walk to campus to vote, then they forfeit the privilege. Voters must be willing to meet democracy halfway, not expect it to be waiting outside the front door.
Obermueller is an Liberal, Kan., senior in journalism.
University's future plan helping the wrong people
In the midst of all this discussion about really important things, the administration has gone off and unveiled a wide reaching new plan for campus. This will guide the course of University improvements for the next 20 years, but it's hard for students to get excited about something that won't reach full implementation until we're, like, old and stuff.
If you've paid any attention to the buzz on campus, then you know that everyone is talking about one thing and one thing only ... the season premiere of "Melrose Place."
Nick Bartkoski opinion@kansan.com
It's good to see the University planning to improve. After all, what inspires alumni contributions more than a clean modern campus. It's really too bad we students have to inconsiderately use it. Alumni money could probably buy on of those escape pods from "Air Force One" for the jet if students would just stop birsemirching the campus.
But the improvements look like they'll really benefit the students. For example, Chancellor Robert Hemenway has promised to create an environment that shows respect for learning. I give Hemenway credit for that goal, but the word "create" bothers me.
I guess that means we don't have respect for learning now, but that doesn't make sense. As Thomas Paine said, "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly." Using that paradigm, it's obvious that learning at the University has incredible esteem.
The plan also looks like it will help alleviate parking problems. As everyone knows, there is a demand for about, oh, 15,000 parking spaces a day. Sadly, there are a grand total of three parking spaces available, and two of them are reserved for alumni. The
So they cut a deal in which the department of Education is deported to Joseph R. Pearson. When this happens, these departments will enjoy the rich booty of Bailey Hall office space, leaving their brethren to suffocate within the slanting halls of Wescoe.
When the original plan was rejected, some rogue departments got together and decided that the best plan for themselves was to leave Wescoe and head for the bright light of freedom.
But the most important change on campus, at least for those of us without real majors, is the upcoming renovation of Wesco Hall. The renovations were planned by a task force that spent upward of 10 minutes studying what was wrong with Wesco and made their suggestion: Cut the University's losses and burn the sucker to the ground.
University sees what a great problem this is, and has addressed it in the new plan. By constructing a new parking garage, some day there will be 1,002 spaces for alumni.
The administration was reluctant to accept that plan, mostly because it was very likely that people would still be lost somewhere in the Wescoe catacombs when the fire started.
But it's not all bad for those departments that are stuck in Wescoe. They've been promised they will be able to renovate, even up to the point of knocking down walls to improve the ergonomic use of space. I figure even destroying part of Wescoe should help boost morale within departments.
There's even more good news for the Wescoe prisoners. Rumors are circulating that the offices will be renumbered. Furthermore, the rumor is that the Institute for the Criminally Insane, which numbered the rooms the first time around, will not be involved. This time the numbers will be assigned by contractors from the Home for the Severely Disturbed.
Bartkoski is a Bosehor junior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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