Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Jodie Chester, Editor Marc Harrell, Business manager Gerry Doyle, Managing editor Jamie Holman, Retail sales manager Ryan Koerner, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news adviser Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
4A
Monday, October 5, 1998
Editorials
Lack of campus lighting, especially in parking lots, facilitates crimes
The University of Kansas should continue to consider lighting a serious priority on campus despite recent improvements.
Already, the University has spent $2.5 million during the past 10 years to add lights and renovate existing ones on campus. Much of this money has come from a $2 student fee each semester that was started in fall 1992.
According to Greg Wade, landscape architect and member of the lighting board, each lighting structure costs between $3,500 to $4,000; $2.5 million will provide quite a bit of light.
The University campus, however, spans a significant amount of land, and the lighting problem is far from solved. Poor lighting in parking lots, for example, plays a significant part
The problem persists despite the University's dedication to solving the problem.
in the abundance of damage and theft done to cars on campus. Last week, the amount of damage to cars reported to the KU Public Safety Office was nearly $10,000 — enough money to buy two or three new light poles.
take before something is done to improve the security of residence hall parking lots?
Much of this damage occurred in residence hall parking lots, where lighting is inadequate. If these lots had better lighting, the perpetrators of these crimes may have been deterred. How much money in damage to cars and stolen property will it
Safety is another key issue. Although the number of violent crimes at the University is usually low, many students have reason to be fearful when walking on campus at night. Lighting near campus roads tends to be sufficient, but for the most part, areas between the roads remain in the dark.
The University deserves congratulations for recognizing the problem and dedicating up to $2.5 million to improve the lighting situation. At the same time, it is vital that we continue to lobby for needed improvements, additions and the University's continued support.
Chris Borniger for the editorial board
Alcohol survey will come up dry
Last week, the Alcohol Task Force surveyed students about how much they drink and where they drink, along with other alcohol-related questions.
The task force chose the right time to give the surveys out, but they are not asking the right questions.
One of the questions the survey asks is which area bars knowingly let underage students drink. This question is sure to get several different responses. Some underage students will think of the bars that let them drink, and intentionally not list them to protect those establishments from an investigation. Other, more vengeful underage students, will list the names of establishments that deny them entrance.
One question asked that students identify bars where underage people drink.
Most likely, the task force will end up with a list of every bar in Lawrence, regardless of which bars actually serve underage drinkers.
The task force also is likely to draw another astounding conclusion from the survey: bars are not the only places underage students drink. Area house parties have no authorities present, unless the Lawrence police show up, so most students really are not restricted from drinking. Even the residence halls on our "alcohol-
free" campus are commonly known to be far from dry.
The task force's survey will not be truly successful until it speaks the same language as those being surveyed. The survey's definition of binge drinking — five drinks for men and four for women in a night — is a normal night out on the town for many college students.
To the task force's credit, they did wait until the best time to perform their inquiry. Had they given the survey at the beginning of the year, the new students they questioned would not have had the exposure to college life that they now have.
Still, if the group expects to get more useful results from a survey, they must first give a more useful survey.
Kansan staff
Ronnie Wachter for the editorial board
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Perspective
Alternate tour guide dishes the dirt on KU
Campus tours are invading. High school students wearing name tags and clutching plastic KU bags containing numerous KU booklets follow back
ward-walking tour guides down Jayhawk Boulevard. They hear about historic buildings, campus legends, KU traditions and lots of other good stuff.
Carrie Johnson
opinion@kansan.com
I remember taking that little walk of discovery a couple of years ago. Looking back, I realize that some things worth knowing were left out of the commentary. I don't think I would qualify to give campus tours, but if I could take some high
schoolers for a little KU journey, I would offer them some of the practical knowledge they'd need to get acquainted with the Jayhawk way of life.
I'd start them out in the Kansas Union Bookstore. This pile of books is what you'll need for one lousy semester. Ignore the publisher's suggested retail value — the price you pay is on the sticker. Chances are, it's higher, even for a used book. Now, let's ring them all up for $434.27. Not to worry, my friends. At the end of the semester, you can trade them back in for $25, and, later that night, throw it all away on an after-finals party.
would be the nature of history museums. Despite the fact that these stuffed and mounted animals are crumbling apart in dilapidated display cases, we still can see real wildlife up close. If you look carefully, you actually can see that a rat has built a nest in the walrus' chest cavity.
For a fun little diversion, our next stop would be the Natural History Museum.
We would then take a trip across the street to Fraser Hall: symbol of KU and familiar part of the Lawrence horizon. Everyone into the elevator.
Back across the street to Strong Hall. By the time you've finished signing up for classes and your inevitable add/ dropping, you'll know this building like your own backyard. Be prepared to stand in line for an eternity. Bring a book and a chair and possibly some drinking water and field rations.
The University insisted that these old elevators be upgraded. Now, we still have crappy elevators, but at least they're the original! Such is the KU way: always preserving tradition, often at the cost of common sense.
Up next, there's Wescoe Hall. No, that's not fog. That's a cloud of cigarette smoke that constantly hovers around the building. If you're hungry, there's a food court downstairs, but don't be surprised if you pay $5 for a small lunch. The place smells like the bottom of a garbage can. Bon appetite!
Oward to Watson Library, a second home to the studious Jayhawk. Get used to spending some time here when you're researching term papers. Just remember to use the buddy system when using the stacks in the evening. We have a few masturbator who have made their home there. Oh, it's nothing to worry about. The masturbatorus pernicticus is a friendly, nocturnal creature who only wants to flash young women as part of its self-mating ritual.
Now to the sparkling and almost new Budig Hall: big auditoriums; cool, hightech display systems; bring your binoculars if you want to see your professor.
Finally, we visit Snow Hall. You'll probably have a math class or two here.
Thanks for touring with me. I hope to see all of you here next year! Perhaps we'll meet on opposite sides of the abortion protest, or maybe I'll see you passed out, drunk on the residence hall bathroom floor. In any case, thanks for visiting the University!
Johnson is an Oklahoma City sophomore majoring in English.
Spoiled players abusing athletics program chances
Frankly, I am sick to death of spoiled brat bad-boy professional athletes and their inexcusable behavior. Skill and knowledge recording some ball/muck/whatever does
It's time someone stood up and took the moral high ground. It seems patently wrong to me that Jacque Vaughn and June Henley should end up in basically the same position.
Meredith
Toenjes
opining.kansan.com
not, in my mind, give someone license to behave like an overgrown 6-year-old with an unlimited allowance.
The change should begin at the college level. Universities have always required certain standards of behavior from students, so it's only logical that the student-athletes be held to minimum standards of behavior as well.
While at the University,
Jacque Vaughn was not only an excellent basketball player, but also, and more important, an excellent example of a student and a man. I wish him much luck in his career. He earned it.
June Henley, on the other hand, behaved like an irresponsible brat, not to mention that he's no kind of man I'd care to know. Yet he also was drafted to a pro team. He may have been a great football player at the University, but driving under the influence of alcohol is nothing to be rewarded.
Someone who receives a Pell grant can have it taken away if they are found to use illegal drugs, and the full Pell doesn't even pay for half of 12 credit hours of out-of-state tuition.
Yet some of these athletes with full-ride scholarships get arrested for drugs, violence, drunk driving, underage drinking and just about anything else you can imagine, and they lose nothing. To get a free tutor for one subject, I or any other non-athlete student must prove financial need, disability, first-generation college status and academic need. You have to apply long before the actual class begins, and then you're still not guaranteed a tutor.
The athletes get free tutors for every subject, a computer lab with copious amounts of help
If they graduate, then they can make payments with no interest, just a fee that covers the handling of the account. If they don't graduate, then it should be like an unsubsidized loan, one that accrues interest immediately. This way, the child doesn't lose out, and the athlete is again encouraged to graduate. Every semester, the student-athletes should be sent a statement showing how much has been spent on their education so they will be reminded of the financial cost of messing up.
I propose making the athletes accountable for their behavior. I say that if they don't graduate from some university within eight years of first enrolling, they be required to pay back every dime spent on their education, including housing and tutors, as if it were a loan.
For those who become millionaire pro-ball players, the cost of their college years may be pocket change, but few make it to the pros, and fewer still make millions. So maybe these guys will pick up on the fact that their odds are better if they finish college. Then maybe we can make sure our athletics program is a point of pride rather than a circus of shame.
However, in the case of injury, the school should continue to give them a tuition scholarship and loans or grants for costs such as housing and books for the remainder of their four-year period. As long as they graduate within eight years, they don't have to pay any of the tuition back.
Teenjies is a Kansas City, Kan., senior majoring in history and psychology.
In the case of child support, the NCAA now allows student-athletes to work, (which I disagree with) so the athletes can earn the money they need. Instead, the NCAA should make them focus on their studies and either the school or the NCAA should pay child support for the duration of the athletes' college careers.
Feedback
If they get into trouble with the law, they are to be given one chance and one chance only. If there is a second incident, they should be cut from the team and all the money that has been paid for their education up to that point should become a student loan.
staff and study halls if their grades slip. And yet, I'd be willing to bet some of them still don't graduate.
Kansan Write-A-Thon coverage was lacking
As members of Environs who participated in the Concerned, Aware, and Active Students (CAAS) Write-A-Thon last Tuesday, we were disappointed in the Kansan's coverage of the event. The article failed to report several key details — the organizations participating; CAAS's purpose; and the issues students wrote about.
Also, the estimate of 25 participants was incorrect. Had the reporter stayed for the entire event, the number would have been twice that.
CAAS is a part of the Center for Community Outreach, and its purpose is to educate students about social issues and encourage citizen involvement. The Write-A-Thon activity broadened individuals' understanding of issues, such as human rights, public transportation, children's welfare
and animal rights. The event provided an opportunity for learning outside of the classroom, and students were encouraged to become active participants social debate. At a time when students aren't exercising their voting rights, events like this one inspire more active participation.
.
Mark Bradshaw
Walnut junior
Holly Krebbes
Oskaloa jasoni