Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Spencer Duncan, Editor Lindsey Henry, Managing editor Andrea Albright, Managing editor Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser
Sarah Scherwinki, Business manager Brian Pagen, Retail sales manager Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Justn Knupp, Technology coordinator
Thursday, September 25, 1997
DAILY KENT STATER
Feedback
Editorial missed point of minority greek groups
This letter is in response to the Monday, Sept. 22 editorial by Tina Terry entitled "Greek systems need more integration." Hopefully, this will shed light on the facts surrounding "minority greeks."
First, we would like to correct Terry by pointing out that the first "minority greek" chapter at the University was not Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in 1917 as stated, but in fact was Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1915.
Second, we would like to acknowledge that yes, part of the reason that some minority organizations were started on predominantly white campuses was because minorities were not allowed to participate in the white fraternities and sororities. But their primary goal was and, still is, to unify and strengthen minority students, regardless of what year it may be. In addition to this fact, the author also overlooked that five of the nine historically black fraternities and sororites were started at an all black institution, Howard University.
If anything, the continued existence of these organizations should be seen in a positive light. Simply because we as minorities are legally allowed to join white fraternities and sororites today does not justify dropping nearly a century's worth of work, honor and tradition.
Conway Ekpo Lawrence junior
Adrian Franks St. Louis, Mo., junior
This is in response to Monday editorial about integrating the greek
system. While I don't question the motives of Ms. Terry, I feel her conclusion is off base.
The increase of minority fraternities and sororites is a tribute the campus' growing diversity. While she correctly pointed out the racial attitudes of the early 1900s as a factor in the fostering of our organizations, an even more important factor that still drives our groups today is to provide a "home base" for students of color. For the community at large, our groups perform a wide variety of service programs geared directly toward the black community. For the good things that integration has done, one of its worst side effects is usually the elimination of the minority culture. (For example, the virtually extinct black press.)
In conclusion, I think what the greek systems need is not further integration, but a better understanding and respect of our cultural differences.
Sean Fradieu
Kansas City, Kans., junior and president of Alpha Phi Alpha
Employees treated fairly in Coca-Cola deal
In response to Spencer Duncan's column in the Sept. 17 issue of the "Kansan" and the news story in the Sept. 16 issue, I offer the following response:
100f the 12 Union employees affected by the exclusive agreement with Coca Cola are employed. One person retired and one has been offered a job but has not yet responded to the offer. To my knowledge, no person involved is making less money per week than he/she made as an employee of KU Concessions.
During the process of reviewing an exclusive beverage agreement, Union director Jim Long communicated with the affected employees on five occasions between April and August. There were four meeting (two of these meetings included handing out written materials) and one separate written communication advising the employees of the status of the process and possible effect to them. A reception was held in these employees' honor on Sept. 2.
Each affected employee was offered an opportunity to meet individually with the KU department of human resources and personnel officers of the Kansas Union, Coca-Cola and Treat-America to discuss employment. Most of these meetings occurred in the work place during work hours and emphasized a commitment to helping these individuals find employment.
■ All of the affected employees were advised of job separation benefits that would be offered in the event that they were not able to find employment that was comparable to their current job.
No employee lost any accrued vacation leave or retirement benefits. Each was paid for any remaining vacation leave. Union employees participate in a retirement annuity plan separate from KU's retirement plan. Current accumulations in those annuities are retained by the individual.
The University of Kansas and the Kansas Union acted in good faith with the affected employees. Employees were informed early in the process of the likelihood of changes in their employment, offered assistance in finding other jobs and, if those efforts were unsuccessful, offered a separation package.
Director, University Relations
Kansan staff
Tom Nutton
News editors
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
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
Broadon your mind: Today's quote
"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."
How to submit letters and guest columns
—Georgia O'Keeffe
Letterers: 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 columnus Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
All letter 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 864-4810. If you have generic questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Raving
Legislation will give too much power to President
The president may become the most powerful businessman in the world if you don't stop him. He is pushing for a peaceful piece of legislation, one that
very powerful piece of leg affects the safety of your
holds the safety of your food, the inspection of foreign goods and the availability of jobs both at home and across the globe. This piece of legislation is called Fast Track.
Matt Bachand
"Fast track grants the executive branch the right to negotiate agreements which then must be approved or disapproved by Congress on an up-or-down vote, without amendments," according to LEGIS-SLATE, the
"Washington Post's" online Legislative watchdog. "No amendments" means that President Clinton's treaties are untouchable. Your congressman and senators are powerless to amend these treaties. Do you want a president with this much trade power? Do you want members of Congress who are forced to choose something that's eighty parts evil just because the twenty parts good are good enough for his or her reelection? This could result in a congressperson's voting for a treaty horrible for everyone except those in his or her district.
"Fast Tracks's not going to be born out of Immaculate Conception," said Jay Ziegler, representative for the United States Trade Representative. That's true, for there's nothing immaculate about this baby. No legislation is perfect. But, can you imagine the kind of loopholes Shell Oil or Phillips 66 might worm through? I won't even mention the fact that Nike is in Indonesia, too (what's our contract for? $3.5 million?) Any ideas on what these jobs pay?
Working families. Think about that for a second. Those of you who oppose organized labor and think that unions are bad, look at what happens to places where unions are illegal. Working families can't work when their jobs go to a country with a government strapped for cash and willing to accept the evils of big money. Middle management is no sacred cow anymore, either. If the workers go to foreign countries, their bosses have to speak their language. And the last thing mainstream America wants to be is bilingual.
"Sweeney and others at the AFL-CIO news conference voiced concern that with Fast Track authority, standards on environmental protection, safety protection and respect for human rights might erode," said Deborah Zabarenko, a writer for the Reuters News Service.
The average person does not have the vote influencing power of the big money that can donate thousands of dollars to candidates, and they certainly can't buy lunch with the president. The individual farmer has to be able to tell his representative what is going to happen to his livelihood, and with Fast Track, that communication isn't going to make a difference. "Our elected representatives have a right and a responsibility to consider trade deals negotiated by the president and if necessary, fix them," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a press conference covered by Reuters News Service on
Tuesday, Sept. 16. "With Fast-Track, Congress can't do that." Does this imbalance of power seem odd to you yet?
I thought erosion could only happen to something that was once there. Am I suggesting these companies aren't operating as advertised? Sure, they have nice commercials, but Hitler had good press too. They just called it propaganda back then.
"With this action President Clinton has joined Newt Gingrich by brushing aside the well being of working families and caving in to corporate special interests," said Teamsters President Ron Carey in a statement from the same Reuters story.
Free trade is not fair trade. Free trade is the freedom to exploit, to kill and to work people to death in other countries without worrying about anything but the bottom line.
Think of it like this: The individual stockholder checks with his broker to see how he or she is doing, comfortably insulated from the horrors of exploitation by business and the mass media they sponsor. This stock holder doesn't realize that the worker who drills the oil he or she is buying spills some into the drinking water of the Ogoni people in Nigeria. That stockholder is looking through the green-colored glasses of greed, and all he or she takes in is a dividend and good commercials. Fast Track will do nothing but streamline this deception.
Call your congressperson and your senators and tell them to vote against Fast Track.
Bachand is a Yorktown, Va., senior in English and East Asian studies.
Music industry exploits musicians, fans alike
It's been a great year for the band Reel Big Fish. They permeate modern rock radio, and they were featured on the Van's Warped Tour this summer. The band's hit song "Sellout" pokes fun at the notion of selling out. Frankly, I don't get it. Abandoning ideals for
money isn't very amusing. Musicians all around the world need to get serious and realize when the industry is not treating them fairly. A year from now Reel Big Fish might think twice about how they have signed their lives away to a record label that couldn't care less about their futures.
Christopher Bulgren
oionlion@tansan.com
Abandoning ideals for monev isn't very amusing.
It seems to me that Reel Big Fish knows they are
uoing a scuzzy thing and joke about selling out in order to justify it. The song lyrics proclaim it's all right to sell out because the band members worked in the fast food industry. Well, it's not my fault these guys dropped out of school. This is no excuse. What will happen when their fifteen minutes of fame is up? It's time to start making more french fries.
The song says, "The record company's gonna give me lots of money, and everything's gonna be all right." Let's analyze that situation a bit, shall we? The industry standard for major label record deals runs about seven years for seven records. "Wow," you say "that's a long time. These labels are taking care of these guys and making them rich and famous."
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Within the major label industry bands make approximately seven to 10 percent on the sales of records after percentages and royalties. A band makes good money only if it sells millions of records. Such groups are few and far between. The label does pay for musicians to drive around the country and beat up their bodies promoting the record, though.
Once the deal is over, the band's musical career may be over. Other labels as well as fans aren't interested in a band that has been dropped. Furthermore, a label can drop a band's contract at any time. So, when this ska-rap explosion dies, bands like Reel Big Fish and Sugar Ray will be back to
Musicians, it's time to quit floundering around. Whether it's a record deal or just getting paid for a performance, demand more money and respect. This is the only way things will get better.
Listeners, here's my advice. Don't let the industry tell you what to listen to. If you hear something on the radio you like, that's fine. But just remember, it's a by-product of a label convincing radio to play its music. Find local music you like. Support the people who do it for the love of music. Find an independent label that puts out the music you like. If you let the industry dictate what you like, you're the sell out.
However, there are ways to exist in the industry without ditching your beliefs. Musicians need to hold out, not sell out, and look for deals that are right for them. Maybe bands could find a nice independent label to make and distribute their music. But if musicians want to work in the major label industry, they must start turning down silly deals that enslave them.
This highlights the cyclical nature of the industry. As the years roll by, major labels look for the next money-making trend. Whether it's grunge, punk or a technical revolution that lets machines play music for us, America devours trends and begs for more. Once a trend has lost its sparkle, bands are dropped. A few years ago the nation rallied around the Spin Doctors. When was the last time fans thought about them?
The Spin Doctors were the biggest thing on the planet. Their next record didn't sell well. So The Spin Doctors' contract was not renewed. Imagine how much money this band made for the label. How can musicians continually embrace an industry that has no interest in taking care of them in the long term?
washing dishes and flipping burgers for a living.
So, when Reel Big Fish asks you to "Sell out with me," don't do it. Everyone bitches at bands for selling out, but we're all at fault. We fuel an industry that abuses musicians and treats listeners like mindless record-buying automatons. Let's start thinking for ourselves.
Bulgren is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism. He is a member of a local band, "The Bubble Boys."
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