Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
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
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Wednesday, September 30, 1998
SUMMER 2017 BRIANDO SENTINE
Editorials
University should meet the needs of popular human sexuality course
Only one thing could keep almost 500 students glued to their seats on beautiful fall afternoons: sex.
One of the most popular classes at the University of Kansas is Social Welfare 303: Human Sexuality in Everyday Life. For the last 12 years, Professor Dennis Dailey has been giving his love lectures to capacity crowds. Although it cannot be confirmed, rumor has it that his class fills up faster than any other on campus.
Evidently, Professor Dailey is doing something right. However, there is a problem. There is only one section of the class, and it is only offered in the fall semester. Popular demand would seem to dictate that more sections be offered or that the
Dennis Daily may not be able to teach all sections, but more of them should be available.
class be offered again in the spring.
Students should not expect Professor Dailey to teach all of these sections. Other faculty members in his department have said he is an extremely gifted instructor whose main job is to train people in the art of being social workers.
He works closely with graduate students in both fall and spring semesters. Spring is most important to him and those students, because he is helping many of them finish academic careers and start their professional lives.
Course offerings and the people who will teach them are largely decided by the University and the particular department or school. Given this situation, more sections of this class should be offered. Not every student would be able to take Professor Dailey's section, but at least there would be an increased opportunity to take the course itself.
Also, the University should consider arranging for students who take this course in the spring through Ecumenical Christian Ministries (taught by Professor Dailey) to receive the same University credit as those who take it in the fall.
Jennifer Roush for the editorial board
Students should support KU football
Many think the University of Kansas has some of the best sports fans in the nation. Although this may be true when it comes to men's basketball, it is not exactly true in football.
During the first two home football games this season, student attendance has been down from previous years. That is discouraging.
One key ingredient necessary for the football team to improve is a strong fan base, and that starts with students. Students must make a conscious effort to get to games and support the football team.
Football teams feed off fan support. A loud crowd can disrupt the visiting team and hurt its play, and a roaring crowd gives confidence to the home
There are four home football games left for students to show their team spirit.
team. But this season Kansas has lacked that advantage, and weak student turnout is the reason. Students can change this.
A stadium filled with non-student fans cannot match the energy and noise level a large group of students can generate. There are not better fans than students, which is one reason college athletics are as exciting as they are. Players appreciate their peers cheering them on.
games. it can affect how a team plavs.
Men's basketball coach Roy Williams has long said there have been times when loud crowds cheering in Allen Field House have helped propel Kansas to victory. The football team, however, cannot say the same.
When students do not show at
The best programs in the nation get that reputation not just for winning, but because they have strong, exciting student support.
The Kansas football team is not one of the best in the nation, but it is working to earn that title. However, it cannot get there without a great fan base, and that must be provided by students. It has done wonders for the basketball team.
There are four home games left including one this Saturday. Tickets are just $10 a game for students.
Kansan staff
Spencer Duncan for the editorial board
Ann Premer ... Editorial
Tim Harrington ... Associate Editorial
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“Politeness goes far, yet costs nothing.” — Samuel Smiles
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 letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansen newsroom, 111 Stuaffer-Flint Hall. The Kansen reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Ann Premer (premer@kansen.com) or Tim Harrington (tharrington@kansen.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, email the page staff (opinion@kansen.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
Andrew Marino
opinion @ tansan.com
STARS plan a solution that lacks a problem
Tom Sawyer is an honorable man. The minority leader in the Kansas House of Representatives has left his fairly safe position to run for governor. As late as June, the Democrats
"Adequate campaign funds would be difficult to raise," said one Democratic state representative.
"Impassible," said another. Organized labor even flung its support to the Republican Graves. But Sawyer, dutiful and selfless, stated that if no other Democrat rose to the challenge, then he would make the ultimate sacrifice and run a kamikaze campaign
$2600-a-year scholarship that could be used at any Kansas university, community college, vocational school or other independent colleges in Kansas. Right now it's just a proposal and I guarantee it stays that way after Sawyer takes his inevitable thrashing at the hands of Graves in November. The proposal is Sawyer's best attempt to set himself apart from the Governor with whom he worked closely in forging a Democratic/moderate Republican coalition in Kansas government.
against Graves. According to a Kansas City Star poll, even Democrats are largely satisfied that Kansas "is on the right track and provides effective and efficient government."
The worst part of it is that if there were a good year for a Democrat to run for governor, this might be it. After a nasty GOP primary in which Graves brilliantly oversold the Evil Conservative Threat of David Miller to get his moderate base to the polls, the Miller camp is still a bit peeved. A split GOP seems required for Democratic victory in the state.
—the proliferation of educational fraud. With Sawyer's proposal in place, respectable high school standards would evaporate. Teachers would feel intense pressure from students and parents to give average or below-average work at least a "B." The premise of the plan is that there are many students who deserve to attend college but can't. But since 1946, the number of full-time students on campuses nationally has risen from 2.4 million to about 9 million with several million more attending part-time. And with cash-strapped institutions desperate for money (a.k.a. students), it's always getting easier.
To Sawyer's credit, he seems to be giving the run an honest effort. The labor rank-and-file has returned to tradition and reversed their leaders by backing the Democratic nominee. Sawyer then got in on the turn-back-the-clock maneuvering and started acting like a Democrat by touting a middle class government entitlement to buy, er, win suburban votes. It is called the STARS program and it is contained in his proposal, a "Vision for Kansas."
The plan would mean free college for every graduating high schooler with a "B" average and has created a merry little band of followers here on campus. The Student Tuition Assistance Recognition Scholarship would hand qualifying students a
In fact, it may be getting too easy. One in four freshman will never see their sophomore year and half won't graduate. A student would also have to maintain a "B" average to keep the "scholarship", producing the same grade inflation here as in high school. That would mean that a KU degree would be roughly on par with the one you got in high school. A good chunk of college graduates already are forced to take jobs not traditionally thought to be worthy of their college education. Sawyer's STARS would provide no practical advancement for young people. It would only raise the bar to where one would have to attend graduate school to get ahead. Real, serious standards improve education. In the end, STARS is just another government solution without a problem, leaving Sawyer's free handout tasting like stale Halloween candy people will pass by on their way to vote for Graves in November.
It's also a bad idea. STARS is difficult to oppose on the surface, but it would exacerbate what is perhaps already the largest problem with schools
Marino is a Prairie Village sophomore majoring in political science.
Ordinary possessions beautiful to beholder
would like to relate a personal story.
I would like to relate a personal story. It involves a deeply moving experience that occurred to me during the summer. Feel free to ween openly.
As has happened to many others, a young group of Lawrence's finest future felons visited my car in the early hours of the morning.
Notification of the crime came to me by telephone. An officer on the end of the line sounded about as happy to be working at four in the morning as I was at being up. Her message was simple and direct.
H.G.
Miller
opinion @kansan.com
"We're out in the parking lot, get your butt up and join us," she said.
Apparently, the perpetra-
Apparently, the pet percussion were going car to car in my apartment parking lot and looking for valuables. My car seemed to offer what they wanted: an open window. Ahem.
My assistance to these crooks aside, I do not think one can describe how it feels to have your car ransacked by strangers. It leaves an acidic taste in your mouth and an empty hole in your stomach. You become wary and nervous. You feel violated and angry. You ... what do you mean they didn't take anything?
Wait a minute! They must have been in a hurry. How could they possibly pass up a chance at the valuable merchandise in my car?
Sure, I can see how they overlooked the stuffed beaver my sister gave me for Christmas a couple years ago. It may be bleached pink now, giving it the air of being invaluable, but it's still a beanie baby. Royalty collects those things.
Yes, the parking permit dangling from the rearview mirror may be a bit dated, but it is still a cool souvenir of your conquest. Besides, the thing is virtually untraceable, since about a thousand people who don't even drive cars own one.
Who could pass up my original, factory-issued tape deck? It's got fast forward, eject and everything else. And let me tell you, it sounds pretty good though those factory speakers. The crackling, hissing sound is what *analoa* is all about. man.
Among the goodies passed up in my glove compartment was a deck of playing cards and a perfectly good Swisher Sweets cigar. Don't kids smoke and gamble anymore?
The police told me that the thieves were probably just looking for money. Apparently, my collection of pennies, paper clips and lint didn't interest them.
By the way, those are genuine-imitation-rayon seat covers with the "Starscapes" design on them.
More than anything, I would like to express my disappointment in the musical taste of my burglarls. Who wouldn't want a vintage copy of Warrant's grand opus. "Cherry Pie?"
A perfectly good road atlas and several back issues of the Kansan were left to bleach in the sun in my back seat. With them lies the roll of toilet paper my mom makes me keep in the car, along with a roadside repair kit containing grandpa's old tools. A little rusty, but a broken ratchet is still a ratchet. I bet McGvey would have taken it.
All three of my Billy Joel cassettes ('I'm not ashamed') were just tossed onto the floor as if the man's life work meant nothing. Although it's true that most of my tapes are just poor, pirate copies of real CDs, that doesn't mean they should suffer the indigence of being passed over by some young punks just out for some quick cash.
A person's automobile stands as a monument to who they are. Everything from personalized floor mats to punk-rock bumper stickers says something about who drives that vehicle. Even a collection of straw wrappers from McDonald's, Burger King and Arby's should be valued as a sim of where the driver has been.
Jokes aside, seeing the contents of my car strewn across the floorboards not only made me thankful I avoided any real automotive damage, but it also made me aware of what I possessed and why it was valuable to me.
Miller is a Hutchinson senior majoring in English.
Brant Henderson / KANSAN
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