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Opinion
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Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Spencer Duncan, *Editor*
Lindsey Henry, *Managing editor*
Andrea Albright, *Managing editor*
Tom Eblen, *General manager*, news adviser
Sarah Scherkwinski, *Business manager*
Brian Pagel, *Retail sales manager*
Dan Simon, *Sales and marketing adviser*
Justin Knupp, *Technology coordinator*
Tuesday, September 9. 1997
Andrew Saeger / KANSAN
Examining
Allowing beer on the hill tastes great, is less filling
Football season is here, and the only thing better than watching the University of Kansas win a few games would be watching them while drinking an ice cold beer. We should be able to drink while watching the game from Campanile Hill.
Do not let the University administration fool you. This would not be illegal, as long as you are 21. Rather, they will not allow beer at football games because of liability issues. And David Ambler, vice chancellor for student life, did point out several problems with allowing beer on the hill.
First, allowing beer during football games would be imprudent because many students at the University are minors. They would create problems
Football fans should be able to drink beer while watching from the Campanile Hill.
by trying to illegally drink.
Ambler also said that the University had problems with irresponsible behavior when drinking was allowed at football games five or six years ago. Now we have police to patrol the parking lots before games to ensure that drinking does not occur. Of course, there are always those select individuals that do not get caught—such as alumni.
Finally, there is not a controlled environment at football games so
there would be problems with enforcing the drinking age. For example, Jaybowl in the Kansas Union can sell beer because it is a controlled environment.
There is a way, however, to sell beer at football games in a semicontrolled environment. In the April 17, 1997 edition of the "University Daily Kansan," football coach Terry Allen proposed fencing in Campanile Hill and allowing fans to drink before and after the game. No drinking would be allowed in Memorial Stadium, and drunken fans would not be allowed into the stadium.
Let's face it. Most of us like a nice cold beer while watching football games. It is part of the American tradition. So give us a beer and we'll go to the games.
Nicole Skalla for the editorial board
Add/drop adds frustration, anger
Students adding or dropping a class are assigned a time according to the last two digits of their KUID numbers.
Something is wrong when adding a class is more difficult than the actual course work. Add/drop has sent many students into fits and has caused stress and frustration throughout campus.
This system lends a little organization to chaos. The University needs a better solution. The system is unfair to students with higher KUID numbers because it pushes their add/drop times to the end of the week.
Other options would be to schedule students according to the number of hours they are taking or to schedule
Archaic enrollment system needs overhauled, but don't look for improvements soon.
by seniority. Only 10 minutes are allotted to each KUID number group. If a student misses his or her time, he or she has to go back that night to an open add/drop. With open add/drop, there has been an estimated 30- to 60-minute wait in line. While a student has spent most of their time waiting in line, others who were fortunate enough to have lower-end KUID numbers have filled up available classes.
We need to have our enrollment
center's computer system revamped. Chancellor Robert Hemenway said that it will be quite a while before the system is updated—probably long after any current students are still here. There are other technology priorities such as updating the student records system and the financial databases that ensure University employees get paid.
Universities that use updated systems have created environments in which students spend less time enrolling in classes and less time in never-ending lines without satisfactory results.
As long as the University remains with its archaic enrollment system, students will have to endure long lines, frustrated enrollment staff and a lot of headaches.
Cathy Pierce for the editorial board
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
Lachelle Rhodes ... News clerk
News editors
Advertising 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'Neill ... Classified
Jaime Mann ... Assistant classified
Marc Harrell ... Senior account executive
Scott Swedlund ... Senior account executive
Broadon your mind: Today's auoto
"You can't be a rebel if you grin."
Elvis Presley
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.
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.
Reflecting
Keys to life found in the career of copy editing
people who feel a need to always be right are usually called jerks.
The journalism term for this, however, is copy editor.
Copy editors pore over each clause: checking each word, every punctuation mark, rooting for error like a pig searches for truffles. They assume everything is a mistake and get a perverse thrill from finding and correcting mistakes, from cleaning and organizing someone's copy the way they straighten their closet.
Andy Obermueller
andyo@kansan.com
My own neckties, by the way, are alphabetized by color.
Through careful study of
Through careful study of the craft of editing, I've discovered that the rules of grammar, usage and style are not only rules for clean writing but also for good living.
The comma, for instance, is one of the first elements of punctuation that we learn, yet it's responsible for most grammatical errors. The lesson of the comma is simple: some things should be together and others do better when separated. If you confuse what belongs with something else, then the result is loss of meaning. If you don't think this is true, take a look at divorce rates.
Agreement between subject and verb also is another source of mistakes. A singular subject requires the singular form of the verb; a plural subject takes a different form. In life, if we would take time to make sure that our verbs, which is to say our actions, agree with their subject—us—then some of life's mistakes doubtlessly could be avoided.
Along those lines, one of the easier ways to avoid agreement errors is to use the plural subject when possible — it's often less confusing. People aren't wired to be alone, and life too is often easier if we utilize the plural. Good grammarians and wise men know there's safety in numbers.
editors. They cringe when they see errors with apostrophes. More often than not, possessives are used incorrectly. People tend to make this error as well: they confuse what belongs to whom, whether it's others, property or personal space. If we are overly possessive with any of those, we risk losing what is important. If we are too careless in latching on to what we value — failing to use an apostrophe when we should — then we also risk losing out. In grammar, copy editors simply ask what truly belongs to whom. In life, the rule is the same.
Misuse of possessives also causes grief for copy
The principals of style and usage are also a good guide for living. Editors William Strunk and E.B. White, in their classic book "Elements of Style," lay down some basic style rules. If these rules are read not as a guide for writing, but for life, their wisdom is profound. Strunk and White's advice — place yourself in the background, write in a way that comes naturally, prefer the standard to the offbeat — are tenets of good living we all have heard before.
The most compelling piece of advice Strunk and White offer is simple: be clear. Copy editors learn to cut to the chase, to separate the chaff from the grain. In life, things always go more smoothly if we plainly say what we mean. If we hide our feelings and intentions in more words than necessary, people can miss our meaning. Often, when we do this, we inadvertently change the meaning. "I love you," for example, is often fearfully expressed as "I like spending time with you," or "I really care about you." Volumes are lost in the translation.
I never expected to find life's truths in grammar. But like car keys, truth is often found in the places we would last think of looking for it.
Strunk and White also advocate revising and rewriting, which combines "live and learn" with "don't give up the ship." When it looks bad for a sentence, salvation can be a few words away. In life, this is often the case. How many times could the addition of a few words have saved the day? Many of life's problems can be solved with a heartfelt "I'm sorry," "Please forgive me," or "I was wrong."
Obermuller is a Liberal, Kan., senior in journalism. He was kidding about his ties.
Mourning for Mother Teresa
Even though my birthday is on Sept. 10, I begin my celebration on Sept. 1. And I celebrate not by partying, but by meditating. I meditate on my past, present and future. What kind of impact, if any, has my humble life made on human consciousness so far? How will the living remember me after my death?
In the middle of this contemplation, news came
In the middle of this exercise that Princess Diana was suddenly dead at age 36. Then, on the eve of Princess Diana's funeral, an unofficial princess quietly passed away at age 87: Mother Teresa. Because many eloquent people have eulogized Princess Diana, it is useless for me to add my voice. I will, instead, through my birthday meditation, eulogize Mother Teresa.
Donato Fhunsu
dfhunsu@ukans.edu
I look at Mother Teresa in two ways: the way people saw her and the way she saw
herself. The world saw Mother Teresa as a world leader, the head of a religious order that became active in 170 countries. She was known for her work in the slums of Calcutta and the other abodes of the wretched of the earth: Ethiopia, Chemobyl, Armenia, South Africa, Beirut, Eastern Europe, New York.
And the world, through its most powerful institutions and personalities, recognized her work. In 1979, she was the Nobel Peace Prize laureate; in 1985, President Ronald Reagan recognized her; in 1994, President Bill Clinton paid her tribute; and, in June of 1997, the U.S. Congress awarded her the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award granted by that institution.
But all this public attention was a sacrifice for Mother Teresa, according to Eileen Egan, her biographer. An incarnation of humility, the saint saw herself as "a poor ungifted person who only saw God in every person." She single-mindedly obeyed the injunction she said she received from her master, Jesus, 50 years ago: "To serve Him among the poorest of the poor." In so doing, she came to realize that indeed, "the poorest of the poor are our brothers and sisters."
Mother Teresa practiced the paradoxical principle of leadership Jesus taught 2000 years ago: "Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant ... just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26-28).
Just like Jesus, Mother Teresa, was not above criticism. She had strong views on the hot social issues of our days and in her effort to help the needy, she accepted help from controversial people. Her love for human beings, however, was so far-reaching that it transcended the petty differences that often divide the human family. In a world torn by religious sectarianism and social classes, Mother Teresa transcended the divisions and became a liberated spirit.
Like Jesus, Mother Teresa "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38), and by being a servant to the poorest she became great and powerful. This I found somewhat ironic for, when I look around for leaders with power, I usually see people who demand, in no uncertain terms, to be served by those they seek to lead. The leadership method Mother Teresa followed was the way of love and service. About this way, the writer Emmett Fox said, "If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world." Jesus loved deeply and became one of the most powerful figures of human history. And when Mother Teresa addressed the United Nations, she was introduced as "the most powerful woman in the world."
As my birthday ushers me into another year, Mother Teresa's life will guide mine, for, as Longfellow put it:
Mother Teresa was a true modern-day disciple of Christ, an active member of what writer Alice Bailey calls "The New Group of World Servers" and writer Marilyn Ferguson terms "The Aquarian Conspiracy," a "conspiracy to transform the world through the power of love and service."z
Lives of great [people] all remind us
And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.
Fhunsu is a Lawrence graduate student in French.
Feedback
Real debate lies in plastic bottles
The real issue about Coca-Cola isn't whether or not Coke gives the University money for recycling. The issue is that there shouldn't be plastic bottles on this campus in the first place. Coke bottles, which are made of PET plastic, are difficult to recycle and cause damage to the environment, unlike their counterpart aluminum cans.
"Environmental Action" magazine has warned that many of the chemicals used in the production and processing of plastics are highly toxic, resulting in
hazardous wastes, toxic air emissions and discharges of toxic effluents into waterways. In EPA rankings of the chemicals whose production often generates toxic waste, five of the top six are commonly used by the plastics industry. Plastic is also derived from petroleum, which is a limited and everdwindling natural resource.
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Plastic's negative effects continue after the production stage. Unfortunately, it doesn't degrade and is relatively difficult to recycle. According to Diane MacEachern in "Save Our Planet," 20 billion plastic bottles were manufactured in 1986 alone, and plastic occupied
a full third of space in American landfills.
Aluminum cans, on the other hand, suffer none of these problems. They are easily recycled. Each recycled can saves the equivalent of half a can of gasoline.
The issue that should be at the heart of the Coke debate is not that of free choice; it is the consequences that the University's Coke contract has on the environment. We need to fight to replace plastic bottles with cans.
Sarah Yannacone Sterling freshman