Opinion
5 mmiv
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY Kansan
Published daily since 1912
4
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
Monday, September 29, 1997
Andrew Saezer / KANSAN
Examining
Saving one life is enough to justify bill
A bill to decrease the level of alcohol in the blood is being reviewed in Washington, D.C. The measure seeks to make the legal level of intoxication .08 blood alcohol content, a drop from the current .10. This bill would help decrease the number of drunk drivers and ultimately save lives.
Proponents of the bill, backed by a study from the Boston University School of Public Health, have said that 500 to 600 fatal accidents can be avoided nationwide with a new standard. While 17,126 persons were killed in alcohol-related incidents last year, a decrease of even one death is enough reason to support a more stringent drunken driving standard.
A proposal to lower the legal level of intoxication should be approved.
Opponents, comprised mainly of liquor-serving restaurants and producers of alcoholic beverages, claim that the bill unfairly targets "social drinkers" who, they say, are not the main cause of alcohol-related accidents. While some might not be significantly impaired by four drinks in an hour, most people are, according to the American Medical Association. The AMA supports a .05 standard, citing research showing deterioration of driving skills beginning at .05 blood alcohol content.
In any case, a push to crack down on drunken driving can hardly be faulted. Even if people who are social drinkers are most affected by the law, no harm will be done, and lives will be saved. To argue against safer drivers for the sake of profits is reprehensible.
Kansas has a .08 BAL drunken driving standard. This standard is also in place in 13 other states. While this number might seem to make the new law insignificant, 34 other states comply with the 10 standard.
It is projected that the new standard would save lives. In light of this, the .08 blood alcohol standard should be passed before drunken driving claims one more for the road.
Gerry Doyle for the editorial board
Greek members should be ashamed of recent Bacchanalia mishaps
Bacchanalia is a Greek word defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a drunken feast; an orgiastic revel." In other words, this is not your ordinary party.
But three sororites have gone too far in order to participate in Bacchanalia, an annual party thrown by Sigma Nu fraternity.
Members of Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities sent strippers and alcohol to the fraternity, apparently to prove how drunken and orgiastic they could be. But these members did not consider the consequences of their actions.
Aside from the fact that the strippers and alcohol were not approved by the chapter members,
Three sororities went too far last week when they sent strippers to Sigma Nu.
these actions reflect poorly on the sororites and their members.
The Greek system is laden with social events, most of which are properly approved and in good taste. But when a handful of sorority women decide to flout the procedures and make decisions for their chapters, the results can be disastrous.
The chapter presidents and social chairwomen of the three sororities involved should be ashamed of their actions. Furthermore, the KU
Panhellenic Association should ensure that these women are properly sanctioned.
Sorotities should be a positive experience for women. And social interaction is a part of that experience. But reducing a woman to nothing more than a body and a drunk is not positive for the chapters or the women on this campus.
Hopefully, the men of Sigma Nu recognize that there is more to a women than her bodily proportions or her alcohol tolerance. Unfortunately, the members of Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta and Kappa Alpha Theta have not helped them at all.
Ann Marchand for the editorial board
Kansan staff
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"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."
Broadon your mind: Today's quote
Socrates
How to submit letters and guest columns
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Raving
Insensitive acts guised as tradition should cease
The bacchanalia looms at the Sigma Nu fraternity. Lock up your heifers. Such is the clamor for women
Such is the clamor for an invitation to this exclusive keeger that the Sigma Nu brothers recently were treated to strippers apparently hired by three sororites. I doubt that the competition for tickets will be as fierce after everyone hears about the legendary origins of the bacchanalian tradition.
Robert MacRae
opinion@kansan.com
According to the ancient greeks, the god of wine often whipped his devotees (the bacchants) into a mad orgy. The bacchanalian revelers would go insane with bloodlust, tear open heifers, and eat the flesh raw.
This is not the first time the greek system has demonstrated a patent disregard for history
Those greeks knew how to get down and party!
Earlier this year, a band of fraternity brothers dressed as Vikings trooped across campus one afternoon. "The Kansas Alumni Magazine" published a photo of the "Vikings" with a blithe caption along the lines of "boys will be boys." No mention was made in the magazine about their subsequent gay bashing and sexist ranting that afternoon. Bigots will be bigots, more like it.
Another and more recent incident involved a ritual wherein, according to a neighboring professor, bare-chested fraternity brothers clad in grass skirts performed a ceremony in front of the Tri-Delt sorority. Last week, the savages apparently kidnapped and mock-raped a sorority member while grunting and chanting "oogabooga." All in good fun, I'm sure.
Not all revered traditions here at the University are as destructive, discriminatory, and abhorrent. Some I consider merely juvenile and annoying.
Take "Happy Loopy Day." Please. Each Thursday at midnight the scholarship halls erupt with shouts and clanging. "Happy Loopy Day!" they sing loudly to each other, with occasional taunts like "such-and-such Hall takes it up the ass." Juvenile? You bet your bipy. Annoying? Yes, especially for folks like myself living within earshot.
The common denominator to these incidents is that many persons, including myself, feel
I'm not suggesting that organized living groups inherently foster a hateful herd mentality, so put down that poison pen and let me further explain my case before you zing off that letter to the editor in defense of your precious greek system.
The University seemingly has bought into the notion that hatred based on difference is justifiable under the guise of tradition. Consider the supposed enmity between the universities of Kansas and Missouri that manifests in sporting events called "Border Wars." Before this latest match-up two weeks ago, a sports columnist in the "Kansan" attempted to verbalize his deep-seated hatred for Missouri, but largely failed. His column more or less amounted to "I hate 'em! Man, I hate 'em bad!"
threatened by or have come under attack from this mindless discrimination. We are each targets for knee-jerk stereotyping, whether it is because of our class, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
As for myself, I just hate football. In essence you've got two groups of people distinguishable only by their clothing who communicate via secret signals and coded language. When a violent confrontation occurs in a stadium, we call it football. When teenagers supposedly engage in identical behavior on the streets of this fair town, it becomes gangster warfare. The undertone seems to be, "I don't mind those young men bloodying each other, as long as they are contained at a safe distance for my entertainment."
Lest you think I'm only a snivelling whiner with a liberal arts degree wreaking politically-correct havoc, there is one KU tradition that I am glad to hear is being revived. It was the Puff-Pant Prom, which was sponsored by the Friends of Women Studies at the Riverfront Mall promade on Saturday. In the 1920s and 30s this dance originally was an all-female cross-dressing formal affair. Today's updated version welcomed both men and women for a Roaring 20s gender-bending evening of jazz music and dancing.
Unlike many KU traditions that are exclusionary, the Puff-Pant Prom celebrated diversity instead of condemning differences. I hope all traditions are examined and challenged so that those without any true value or historical relevance will stop causing harm to us all.
MacRae is a Lawrence graduate student in urban planning.
Let Elvis and the Beatles be what they are dead
If music is a sign of the times, what decade is this?
Elvis released new music. The Beatles were at the top of the charts. Kiss and Santana played live in concert.I'm dazed and confused by the music industry today.
The problem is not that these bands are bad. They are great, but they are out of place. There is new music worth listening to today, but you have to search for it. Record companies know that publicizing the tried and true sounds of the Beatles or Elvis Presley will make money.
Anna Attkisson
Yet, publicizing someone like Ben Harper is not such
opinion@kansan.com
In death, many stars have reached new heights in their popularity. Record companies fight to cash in on the picture. In their competition for money, Capitol Records and RCA Corp. even argue about whose idea it was to start the re-release trend. RCA claims it was working on the "Elvis Presley Platinum: A Life in Music" before Capitol began releasing the Beatles "Anthology" albums. RCA also admitted to its plan to over-publicize "the King" with his "new" album.
a safe bet. Consequently, you may never hear of such a person. It is up to us to show the record companies we are not afraid of supporting a previously undiscovered musician. Take a chance on an unknown artist and not just on recycled sounds from the 1960s.
I hate to say it as much as the next guy, but Elvis is dead. If he didn't die on that toilet then he has surely died of a heart attack in some truck stop by now. Can't we let him die in peace. All this points to the falsified stereotype of
"We believe there will be more publicity on Elvis Presley during this period than there has been since his death," said Michael Omansky, RCA's vice president for strategic marketing.
young people today. A decision not to produce musical leaders of our own simply provides ammunition to critics of our generation. According to critics, the young generation is so uninspired and apathetic that it relies on past generations for guidance.
Publicity and promotion for the dead, or aging artists leaves little room for new icons of the rock world. It is time for another musical revolution full of new leaders, fresh sounds and groovy music. No longer should groups that are doing well be piggy-backed with a "golden-oldie" to go on a successful tour. Groups like Rusted Root, Kula Shaker and Widespread Panic are talented, young and full of keen, new sounds. They deserve a shot at the big time.
The times are a-changin' from old-time rock and roll to two-turntables and a microphone with a talented young man at the controls. We only have to give him room to maneuver. George Gershwin said, "True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans. My time is today."
Even Elton John has fallen into the trap. Admittedly it was a shame that Princess Diana died. It was a shock, and it all happened so fast. But, I believe it would have done her memory more justice to write a song specifically for her instead of revamping a song that was meant for a long-dead sex goddess.
We are still going to buy the single, or see the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, and Steve Miller Band in concert. We may even pick up a Wallflowers compact disc just to see if Jakob Dylan sounds like his father. Despite the fact that these may or may not be great bands, full of life changing lyrics and ground breaking sounds, it is self-defeating to say that these qualities are not possible in today's music world. The finest music in the world has yet to be written.
Last time I checked it was 1997. I sure wish it sounded like it.
Attkisson is a Manhattan junior in journalism.
Feedback
Focus on charity event missos point
I am writing in response to the article "Fight interrupts intramural game." I don't understand why you always have to focus on the negative aspects of the greek community. Instead of praising the teams that participated in Delta Upson's philanthropy, you have to turn it into a scandal.
In this article, it praised my
Fraternities and sororites sponsor a philanthropy to raise money for their charitable cause. Personally, I participate in other houses' tournaments, not for the glory of a victory, but for the benefit of their cause. Focusing on a fight was the wrong angle for the story. The fight was a minor event and blown wav out of proportion.
house for its victory, but I'm irate with the focus. I know our team and others practiced many hours for this tournament and I feel as if you discredit all of our time and effort for the appearance of a striking headline. In the future, I hope you consider giving the Greek community a chance and not just look for ways to criticize our efforts.
Stacy Abernethy Leawood sophomore