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Thursday, January 21, 1999
Jamie Patterson / KANSAN
Editorials
Anti-discrimination policies need own place in Kansas' universities
As a Board of Regents university, the University of Kansas cannot stand idly by when the president of Emporia State University is violating the rights of the its students, faculty and staff.
This past summer Kay Schallenkamp, Emporia State president, removed "sexual orientation" from the classifications protected under the university anti-discrimination policy. This was done without informing or discussing the change with students, faculty or staff. The deans of the individual colleges also were not informed of this change.
Gayle Meierhoff, Schallenkamp's legal counsel at Emporia State, and Joseph Barran, the Regents' general counsel, claimed this brought the policy further into compliance with state
Removal of "sexual orientation" at Emporia State poses danger to students' rights.
law, which does not mandate the classification. According to this logic, because federal and state law does not allow discrimination based on, for example, race, universities should not include it in their non-discrimination policy.
Even more disturbing, though, is how "sexual orientation" was removed from Emporia State's antidiscrimination policy. President Schallenkamp failed to confer with or notify—the students, faculty or staff. They only were notified of the
action after some noticed the clause was missing and questioned it. President Schallenkamp's action was reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and is being criticized by her peers. As it stands, any student faculty or staff member, can be discriminated against based on sexual orientation.
As a student body, we should step forward in defense of the rights of Emporia State students and protect our own.
The long hours of paperwork done to get "sexual orientation" added to KU's anti-discrimination policy were spent by students. According to KU's regulations, the students and faculty have the right to be consulted before such a policy is changed on our campus.
Matthew Skinta for the editorial board
Fall break simmering on back burner
A consensus on adapting the University's class calendar to include a fall break and an extended winter break exists between students and faculty. But unfortunately, the political maneuvering of administrators may be in the way.
A fall break possibly would give students a two-day rest from classes in October while the extended winter break, or intersession, would allow students to take study abroad trips or short courses.
The University's Calendar Committee has been working since spring 1998 to develop a new calendar that meets the needs of students, faculty and administrators, but Provost David Shulenburger and Chancellor Robert Hemenway have not approved any of the proposals.
Instead, on their agendas is a massive lobbying effort to persuade Gov. Bill Graves and state legislatures to increase the salaries of university faculty by 7.6 percent during the next three years. Graves cut that increase to 3.5 percent, which means administrators will have to spend more time lobbying for the full increase to keep faculty from accepting higher-aid positions elsewhere.
School calendar should be settled by administrators regardless of political agenda.
Any change to the school calender also would have to be approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. KU administrators may be a little weary of asking
the state body to approve a fall break and intersession this year because of a perception that faculty would receive more pay with more days off. But in reality, any new calendar would include an equal number of class days under state law.
It seems as though university administrators quietly have frozen plans to implement a new calendar under political pressures from the state government.
Students and faculty desperately need a short break in the fall semester to combat mid-term stress and heavy workloads. Because many students also would benefit from the proposed interession period, the administration should put students' needs before the political bickering.
Jason Pearce for the editorial board
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"My attitude toward anybody's sexual persuasion is this: Without deviation from the no-morose is not possible." —Frank Zappa
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Moments before President Clinton strode into the House chamber Tuesday evening to
State of the Union talk stars same old Clinton
Perspective
deliver the State of the Union speech, the veteran talking head from ABC news offered his thoughts on what to expect.
hate to admit it, but Sam Donaldson finally said something that made sense.
"The President came here to talk to the television cameras," Donaldson said.
Way to go. Sam. You get a "Quote of the Day" sticker. If nothing else, this administration has been about nice hair, an unshakable smile and forced empathy.
Jeremy Doherty opinion@kansan.com
When Clinton had fin ished waxing optimistic on the country for 77 flowery
minutes, Leon Panetta, former White House Chief of Staff, popped in front of the cameras, praising his ex-boss for touching every button.
In other words, Tuesday's State of the Union, delivered in the midst of only the second presidential impeachment trial in the nation's history, was vintage Clinton.
Lofty, Teary-eyed. Flenty of talk about building bridges and grossing divisions.
One might go so far as to describe the entire presentation as robotic. In fact, I'll say that Clinton's address was so mechanical that C-3PO would have been envious.
Did we expect any more from Clinton? Hardly. On Monday, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart promised the press an evening to remember.
"At the end of the speech, people will look not at an administration that has entered the last two years of office and is slowing down, but an administration that is energized and is looking forward to moving into the 21st century with an ambitious and activist agenda," Lockhart said.
The Clinton that appeared Tuesday was the same Clinton we've seen for the past six years: Focus on the warm, fuzzy accomplishments
and play down anything that rains on the parade.
Not surprisingly, there was no mention of his dallying with a certain former White House intern. Also absent from the State of the Union address were any thoughts on the two impeachment counts against him or even an acknowledgment of his pending trial in the Senate.
Inflation is at a peacetime low not seen since the 1950s. More Americans are off welfare, and crime rates continue to drop. And Democrats and Republicans at least are talking about rescuing Social Security.
Instead, we saw Clinton plunge headfirst into his old standby: audience manipulation. Like something out of a Waltons episode, he hauled out national heroes from every conceivable wing; athletic (Sammy Sosa), patriotic (a decorated Air Force captain from last month's Operation Desert Fox) and historic (civil rights activist Rosa Parks).
It's one thing to play the optimist. It's quite another to ignore the stench that this president has left in the Oval Office. The handful of GOP representatives who played hooky from the occasion almost can be excused for wanting some fresh air.
Tuesday's speech contained a bevy of accomplishments that speak well of Clinton's tenure.
None of it matters now. Clinton's legacy has been determined by his bad judgment and a political climate fed by the divisions he claims to fight against.
Oddly enough, the most engaging moment of the evening came during the Republican Party's response, when Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington regaled viewers with a wild-eyed tale about abuses of the Internal Revenue Service. It was a story of mistaken identity, presumed death and government conspiracies that probably frightened anyone who already wasn't doubled over in gales of laughter.
Too bad our officials can't exhibit such imagination more often. This endless drama of the Clintonites is becoming too much.
Doherty is an Olathe senior in journalism.
Schottenheimer's farewell worsens fans nightmares
I awoke last Monday from a horrible dream. I was locked inside Oak Park Mall at night being hunted by a rabid Ronald McDonald, and my only ally was Pat Morita of Karate Kid.
I was cornered in the back aisle of Waldenbooks when I opened my eyes and realized I was in my own bed in my own room, and I wept tears of joy. Then I looked at my television and saw the stern face of then Kansas City Chiefs' coach, master and personal mentor, Martin Schottenheimer Jr., or Marty, as he has come to be known by his legions of adoring fans. I thought, "How splendid to wake up to a post-season press conference
W. David Keith opinion @ kansan.com
where Marty can tell all Kansas City about his upcoming strategy and plans for the '99 Chiefs."
But instead I heard the voice of a saddened Marty, saying the words that I have feared were coming for some time. Marty resigned as coach of the Chiefs, and that is when my horrible dream became a nightmare.
I have never played organized football. My skininess and large nostrils played a big part in that. The closest I've gotten to the gridiron is the newly formed two-man football league that was started for skinny weaklings and chunky men.
I have never taken orders from a coach or read a play book, but I do know one thing: I never learned more about football or life than when I became a Chiefs fan and a Marty Schotenheimer follower.
His instruction quotes will live forever in my mind: "You've got to think about what you're doing." "Call your man from Trane. He's in the Yellow Pages under air conditioning" and "What you did was you took the bull by the horns and said, 'Iain gonna be denied.' How could Chiefs fans in their right minds call for such an eloquent and sassy coach's head? I don't care if you are from Belton. Mo. Marty is a simple man. All he wants is to create poetic love on the gridiron. Marty could
be anyone's father. He has thick reading glasses and khaki pants that he must wear 24 hours a day by orders of Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt. Think of the toll that must put on a 55-year-old.
That's not to mention all the Back to the Future jokes he'd have to put up with day after day. I suppose that is what made Marty step down. Every day he had to iron his khaki pants, put a whistle around his neck and deal with disgruntled athletes who shouted things at him such as, "Run for it, Marty," and "Marty, it's me, Doc." How can I blame the man for stepping down? Nevertheless, Marty will be replaced by a much less passionate coach and the Chiefs will plunge into the dark oblivion that is life without Schottenheimer.
I know what you are thinking. You are wondering how one NFL coach could affect a fine, upstanding young gentleman in such a dramatic way. Well, when you let Marty into your heart, he'll never truly leave. It was the same way with Milli Vanilli. Someday they will make a movie of this tragic time in all our lives, and it will star Christopher Walken as Marty and Dom DeLuise as me, and those of you who are blind to Marty's plight will then see the light.
I'd like to close with one of Marty Schottenheimer's greatest post-game speeches. It applies to pigskin, and it applies to life on this crazy planet we call Earth. Marty once said, "Those two little letters, W-E, we. Those two little letters, U-S, us. They're powerful. Powerful."
How true. Someday, Marty, we'll meet each other. It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but somewhere through the thick fog of the netherworld, you'll be walking in your khaki pants and straw hat, and I'll look into your eyes, and I hope that I see the glem. For in life, there is only one place for 55-year-old retired football coaches, and that place is that hunk of meat and red gooey stuff doctors call the heart. Farewell, Marty, and keep grin'd.
Keith is an Overland Park sophomore in film and illustration.
Feedback
Closing bars early only alternative
Mr. Burger's title was more than slightly misleading. While he did an excellent job of rehashing arguments that had been shown to be significantly lacking in the quality of sense, he failed to highlight any other possibilities for the Oread neighborhood.
Burger states, "People who live near the Hawk and the Wheel knew about the bars when they chose to live there." However, he failed to note that it was only during the last 50 years that these establishments
became bars and that during the last 12 of those years, tensions have been steadily rising between residents and owners, culminating last year in the death of an underage drinker—as a direct result of the bars' failure to observe city, state and federal statutes. Moreover, he suggests that it is unfair to punish such actions by financial rebuke, a belief that the judicial system would find laughable at best.
While it is certainly true that an early closing time would not alleviate all problems encountered, such as house parties, it would as a matter of fact, not
supposition, limit the number of early morning wake-up calls from drunken patrons and take away a piece of the anything-goes this-is-the-ghetto atmosphere that currently exists in Oread. Cures are never instant; they only come one step at time.
Lastly, it should be noted that the police have themselves stated they are undermanned and incapable of properly enforcing the laws Burger alludes to, and so the best solution seems to be one that requires no police intervention.
Samuel W. Raisback
Peculiar, Mo., senior