Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Spencer Duncan, Editor
Lindsay Henry, Managing editor
Andrea Albright, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor
Sarah Scherwinski, Business manager
Brian Pagel, Retail sales manager
Dan Sikon, Sales and marketing adviser
Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
4A
Monday, September 15, 1997
Andrew Saeger / KANSAN
Examining
Officials quick to trigger gang talk
There is not a gang problem in Lawrence.
Despite the hype given to the issue by the Lawrence Police Department and the "Lawrence Journal-World," no throng of red- or blue-clad, gun-toting gangbangers has arisen to assault the populace of Lawrence.
A headline on the front page of the Tuesday, Sept. 9 "Journal-World" read: "Fight breaks relative calm in Lawrence." While the headline itself did little to add to the near-hysteria surrounding the issue of gangs in Lawrence, the logo underneath it did. A stylized graffiti logo proclaimed that a "gang watch" was in effect in Lawrence, and gave a number to call to report gang activity.
This number should get little use.
Unlike Compton, East St. Louis, Chicago or the Bronx, there is little urban angst in Lawrence. The undercurrents of society-fighting, outside-the-law living simply do not exist on
the scale needed to cause a true gang problem. As such, there is little chance Lawrence will be the site of a new "Colors," where police drive cars riddled with bullet holes and bandannas are a stake of common dress.
The recent acts of violence - a stabbing on the west side and a shooting at the intersection of 19th and Nalsmith Streets - are hardly indicative of a wave of "zang violence."
The stabbing occurred in a nice part of town, near the Lawrence Country Club. If this fight had taken place in a high school parking lot, would it have been characterized as gang violence? Probably not.
The shooting seemed more an act of random violence, and yet police characterized it as gang-related.
Besides the fact that weapons were involved, neither incident seems to fit into the category of gang. There are no defined groups - that the police have identified, anyway - there are no
gang signs, no territories, no shootouts with police. Nothing. And yet the misconception of a gang problem persists in Lawrence.
People should avoid characterizing these incidents as gang-related where, in many other contexts, would be called senseless violence or some guy in a car didn't like the way someone looked at him so he shot that person.
The Lawrence community has gotten solidly behind this myth, holding numerous gang summits, town hall meetings and community action groups. If this attitude persists, there will soon be not a gang problem, but a problem with high school kids trying to act like they're in gangs.
Individuals from urban centers where there is a gang problem laugh at the notion that Lawrence is crawling with gangsters. The worse Lawrence has to fear is increased paranoia from a community not used to understanding the problems of a big city.
Gerry Doyle for the editorial board
Tenants are being cheated.
Landlords putting the fix on tenants
Many people who received their deposit checks are disgruntled with the amount they received and especially with the landlords who took it.
Landlords seem to have abilities that college students do not process — the ability to charge large amounts of money for minute tasks and objects.
When was the last time you saw a light bulb cost $10? Never.
Remember when you moved in. Was everything cleaned and fixed the way it should be? Probably not. Yet, we do not charge them for their lack of responsibility.
You were there during the walkthrough, and yet they failed to write down specifics that you were later charged for. The point of a walk through
is to allow tenants to see for themselves that which they are being charged.
First Management was questioned about these subjects, but it did not feel comfortable talking about the issue. You deserve answers.
One Lawrence landlord, who insisted on anonymity, did respond. He felt that charges were penalties. Penalties for taking up time. He said, "It is really a hectic time with so many people moving out at once. The tedious tasks become an inordinant amount of work."
Basically, you are paying for their time. Why can't they pay for the time you waste waiting for maintenance requests to be completed? After all, let's make it fair.
deposit is to be as specific as you can when you fill out the walk-through form the first time. Write down the little cracks you find in the wall because you won't want to be charged for them later. Remember, landlords cannot charge you for damage you have already proven you didn't create.
It is understandable that checkouts are a burden on landlords. Some have over 200 units to do in one day. That is their choice. They decide to do it all at once. Do not allow them to use this as an excuse to rush your walk-through. Make them show you what is wrong and why.
By demanding more attention from them you will understand, at least a little more, where your money went.
The best way to safeguard your
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
Lachelie Rhoades ... News clerk
Eryl Cochran for the editorial board
News editors
Advertising managers
overseeing managers
Matt Fisher . Assistant retail
Michael Soifer . 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'Nellii . Classified
Jaime Mann . Assistant classified
Mare Harrell . Senior account executive
Scott Swedlund . Senior account executive
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable."
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.
-Henry Mencken
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 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.
Lacking self confidence and a clue about women
I understand very little about women. This is at least partially because any women that get within a hundred feet of me either flee or pass out
Raving
I do understand that women are supposed to go for a guy with a sense of humor. I gleaned this tidbit when I was in grade school. I figured it out because whoever's turn it was to criticize Nick for the day seemed to do well with the ladies. The guy wasn't exactly Jerry Seinfeld, but "Nick's fat" was hilarious at 12 years of age.
Nick Bartkoski
I also understand that women are attracted to the "bad boy." I guess they just don't appreciate the choleste make when I eat fatty foods.
I appreciate the cholesterol danger-dance I make when I eat fatty foods.
Other than that, I'm clueless. I can learn very little about women since I can only observe from a safe distance.
Despite this general stupidity, I actually made a clumsy attempt to ask someone out recently. I wish I knew if I failed.
Uncertainty would be a good thing, except that you have to consider that my sex drive runs about like presidential campaigns. I made the realization that I only fall for someone about once every four years. I'm sure real men fall in "love" in four minutes, but I've never masqueraded as a real man.
Regardless (which means without regards), 2001 is coming faster and faster. But now I've learned from the mistakes of my past. By 2001 I'll be a hermit in the popular areas of Montana where they caught the Unabomber.
If I decided to leave society, that would imply I've finally accepted my hopelessness. I'm of course too stupid to do that.
But I do feel that advance preparation is in order. To do that, I'm going to hold the first annual "Why the Ladies Hate Nick" competition.
To enter, all you need to do is tell me why the ICAN (International Conspiracy Against Nick) forbids people from speaking to me. E-mail me at nartkoski@kansan.com with your best reasons why women want nothing to do with me.
I should mention that I don't want to hear the words "you don't have self confidence." Everyone and their brother says I don't have self confidence. I know that I don't have self confidence. I realized I had no self confidence when I was trying to visualize asking out a girl. My best imagined line was "we have a lot in common except you're attractive and I'm crazed." I also weighed about 800 pounds in this visualization, but that was probably a light estimate.
There is one judge in this competition. Unfortunately Judge Judy told me that she has "better things to deal with than help some crackpot." So to win the first annual "Why the Ladies Hate Nick" competition, you have to produce a reason I understand and believe.
But the grand prize is quite impressive. If your idea is the best, you walk away with some crap out of my junk drawer, including the entire month of September from a Dave Barry desk calendar. You'll also receive a lovely picture of myself to replace the simple effigy you currently have on your dart board.
Also — and I'm sure the ladies will appreciate this — you will never hear from me again. No annoying e-mails, phone calls, etc., from the man who just beat out the Maytag repairman as the "loneliest guy on Earth."
So get your entries in ... please. Us lonely guys get really excited when we check out e-mail
Bartkoski is a Basehor junior in English and journalism.
College experience more than just classes
Going to college just to get a degree is like taking a bath without soap to get clean. It may be more economical than buying a new bar of Ivory, but you're wasting your time getting all wet.
A true education requires lathering up with art, literature, fine films and good music. That's what college should be about — producing educated people.
If all you want is a job, McDonald's is hiring. You could have been a manager by now.
The University may have flaws, but you (or your parents or the government) are paying the way, and you may as well take
Anna
Attkisson
opinion@kansan.com
advantage of the situation. Everybody hates to let a good opportunity go to waste, and college is probably the most expensive opportunity you will ever have the chance to experience.
Your professors should be here to help. It is their responsibility to provide the opportunity for a full education by integrating love and passion into their work. Our responsibility is to seek out the intellectual stimulation that campus can provide.
I am sick of the slacker image being pushed onto our generation. Just because the baby boomers don't know how to cope with getting old and losing touch, they have taught us to believe that we are mindless, apathetic copycats who couldn't have an original idea if the
I am guilty of slacking off on occasion. I think school is very hard at times. I work two jobs and take a full load, but there has to be more than studying and working.
fate of the galaxy rested on it. It is hard to compete with a stereotype that so many of us have tried to emulate. We have a responsibility to ourselves to prove that we can become educated citizens.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said,
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture,
and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words."
Besides the English majors and the art students, students of every major should take time for poetry. Chemists get to watch the molecular dance of life. Teachers and education majors see the miracle of learning, daily. Medical students study the godlike creature that is humanity. Geologists, archeologists and historians can read and write ancient and poetic histories of the world. Mathematicians can prove the simplistic beauty of a precise solution. Astronomers track the cosmic ballet. A physics major and friend once told me that even physics is the poetry of motion.
Who knows? Being an educated person might even help your life love. Have you ever heard of a book called the Kama Sutra?
All the passions of the world and secrets of the universe are waiting to be uncovered — not just in the 10 minutes between our classes but within the classes themselves.
Walk through the art museum or library and check out a book for fun. Sit in on a poetry reading. Or better vet, write some yourself.
A haiku is only three lines long. Listen to some good jazz, or go to Liberty Hall for a good flick. These simple guides may help lead the way to a well-rounded education. They are accessible, fun and at times, free.
Attkisson is a Lawrence junior in journalism.
Feedback
Bulgren column 'ill-conceived'
I am shocked and outraged by Christopher Bulgren's ridiculous and immature assertion that Timothy McVeigh was "forced" by the ATF's "lawlessness in Waco" to bomb the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing over 500 innocent people. This is the most callous and ill-conceived characterization of Timothy McVeigh's actions I can possibly imagine.
Nothing justifies Timothy McVeigh's actions. I do not purport to be an expert on Waco or any other event that the lunatic fringe has twisted to justify their apocalyptic violence. How can
Bulgren possibly compare the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children who had no advance warning, no opportunity to state their position on Waco that might have rendered them unworthy of McVeigh'srage, and no chance at negotiation to the deaths at Waco. The people at Waco were in the compound by choice. They had been negotiating with the government for weeks. They had numerous opportunities to flee if they so desired. Certainly, I am not trying to say that gave the U.S. government the right to do what they did.
Again, I am not an expert on Waco. I simply believe there is no comparison and it is grossly irresponsible of Bulgren to imply that such a comparison exists. I am not surprised, however. The "Kansan" has significantly deteriorated in quality this semester. I doubt that this semester's staff will come close to seeing any of the awards enjoyed by past "Kansan" staff members who were able to voice their opinion and provoke spirited debate without resorting to tabloidism that now runs rampant.
Shannon I. Tauscher Lawrence Law student
1.