Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Jodie Chester, Editor Marc Harrell, Bustness 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
Tuesday, September 22,1998
Editorials
More KU students should use Park-and-Ride busing program
When a quality program such as Park and Ride is offered at the University of Kansas, more students should take advantage of its benefits. Only 199 of the 300 available passes have been sold. And because KU on Wheels sells the same amount of passes as there are parking spaces, students are guaranteed a place to park.
The advantages of Park and Ride are extensive. Students do not have to spend 30 minutes hunting for a parking spot. Instead, they park in Lot E of the Lied Center, and a bus picks them up. Nicole Skalla, transportation coordinator, said
More than 100 permits are left out of the 300 being made available.
that the buses circulate six to eight times per hour, getting students to class within 10 minutes, which is much quicker than for students who park at a campus lot and walk to class.
While the weather is warm and sunny, most students do not mind taking extra time to walk to class. However, soon it will be colder, icier and, therefore, more difficult
to walk to campus, Park and Ride eliminates some worries of slipping on ice on the way to class because the buses drop students off in front of their buildings, Skalla said.
Skalla said that the Park-and-Ride program targets commuters, out-of-state students and non-traditional students. However, off-campus traditional students should consider jumping on the Park-and-Ride bandwagon as well. With more than 100 passes left, students should make the change from parking passes to Park and Ride while the opportunity is available.
Emily Hughey for the editorial board
SLAB program deserves recognition
College-age voters traditionally turn out in the fewest numbers at the polls. A few campus organizations and community businesses are taking measures that hopefully will change that.
Young Democrats, Student Senate Legislative Awareness Board and three local businesses deserve a Paton-the-Back for their involvement in registering voters.
Bob Johnson. Get Out to Vote coordinator for Douglas County, said Young Democrats had registered about 60 voters every Saturday since the door-to-door campaign started nearly two months ago. The organization began registering students in campus housing.
Student Senate Legislative Awareness Board is working to not only register voters, but also to raise voter awareness. Korb Maxwell, legislative director, said the board would set up voter registration tables in front of Wescoe during the second or third week of October.
The Student Legislative Awareness Board plans to register voters at Wescoe Beach.
The board also is working to bring gubernatorial candidates Tom Sawyer and Governor Bill Graves as well as other candidates seeking election in November to speak at the University. Maxwell is in the process of publishing a non-partisan voter guide for students, including candidates' positions, as well as locations to vote on campus.
The National Voter Registration Act has made it easier to register voters. The county election officers used to be responsible for publicly printing the dates, times and locations where voters could register. Now, trained citizens can register voters.
Although these simplifications have made it easier for anyone wanting to get
involved, it also takes some of the responsibility from the election officers. Patty James, county clerk, said the county did not participate officially in voter registration drives. People needing to register must contact the County Clerk's office in person or by mail.
However, several Lawrence businesses have filled the void of countyinitiated drives. Love Garden Sound, Kinder Care and Cottonwood Inc. have made their businesses places to register voters on their own accord.
Getting college students to vote is extremely important to the welfare of the University. Lobbyists in the Kansas Legislature must be able to show that college students are voting. Otherwise, legislators may overlook our needs because of our lack of involvement.
Organizations and businesses raising political involvement among the least-voting demographic should be commended for their efforts.
Kansan staff
Erinn R. Barcomb for the editorial board
Ann Premer ... Editorial
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"The confidence which we have in ourselves gives birth to much of that which we desire."
have in others." — La Rochefoucauld
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.
**wuest columns:** Should be double-
spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
How to submit letters and guest columns
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Perspective
Starr's report not hot but can be entertaining
S o. I was cruising the Internet looking for porn the other night, when I came across a link that read "Hot News" (in shade of red, of course).
the appropriate slide 8.
Upon clicking the link, I was brought to the complete text of Kenneth Starr's report to Congress.
w
ple
Star
gress
Hot stuff
Anyway, I'm reading the "report" and taking notes, it occurs to me that my editor always asks for more columns about newsworthy political items.
However, I was not sure a detailed account of
I commend the use of trust, or the lack thereof, as a deterrent to any early climactic encounters, but I do believe they waited too long to finally consummate their relationship.
exactly how President Clinton put the moves on Monica Lewinsky would be considered a journalistic priority until I saw that the Kansas City Star, and many other major newspapers across the country, had published the findings.
Additionally, the story falls into the same plot traps as most romantic works do. Of course, I can see the need for some animosity between the two characters.
Overall, I'd rate Kenneth "Sticky Fingers" Starr's report as a mediocre rendition of an overdone love story, with no good focus and a hummer of an ending.
Although I understand the need to keep the story simple, one would expect the president character to have more resources available for his private meetings.
"Well," I thought to myself, "if this is political journalism, I can handle it."
I only wish there had been some pictures to go with the text. What about some personal commentary from Clinton? You know, chatting about his encounters the next day by the water cooler:
Bonus points for the kink factor, though. Not only was the cigar scene intriguing, but the use of telephones as an aphrodisiac really excited me.
"Sure, I didn't think a whole lot was going to happen. We didn't know each other that well and had only talked briefly over a slice of pizza, but I gave her some line about 'acknowledging that there was a chemistry between us,' and she went for it."
Of course, he was supposed to be creating a case for impeachment. You know, providing the public with a document worthy of political discussion and journalistic coverage.
"So, we're kissing, right? Okay, I'm cool with it, and then — get this — she asks me to 'stimulate (her) manually in the genital area.' Whoa! Such naughty talk from such a nice girl."
I guess the standards for congressional reports have lowered during the years. All I really know is that I need to get an agent, because for $4 million, I can write smut much better than Starr.
If I'm reading trashy erotica, I want sex, and I want it early. None of this dilly-dally with oral pleasure and manual stimulation without orgasm. I found it highly unbelievable that there could be nine rendezvous before any stains were made.
It just seems to me that Starr could have found a more tasteful way of informing Congress that Clinton fooled around.
Or:
Should one seek good erotic literature (wink, wink). I would not recommend the Starr Report. Rather. I see the independent counsel's text to be more along the lines of
Sure, there's plenty of kissing, breast fondling and oral sex to keep the average reader's interest, but let's be honest, the setting is a little lax. Who wants to read about repeated rendezvous in somebody's office? Airplanes, faraway islands, lonely highway roads — these are the standard settings to which today's erotica must adhere.
a poorly developed romance novel.
Miller is a Hutchinson senior majoring in English.
My dad was robbed not long ago.
He was filling up the car at a gas station near our house in Okla-
hane City. Our little dog Teffey was watch-
noma City. Our little dog from the back seat. A man came up from behind, grabbed Dad, demanded his wallet and threatened to cut him with a knife.
It wasn't a bad part of town. It was a major intersection near decent neighborhoods. It wasn't late at night. It was an otherwise cheerful Saturday morning.
Carrie Johnson opinion@kansas.com
My dad wasn't driving a sports car or wearing a
It surprises me and scares me that it happened. I'm used to hearing about robberies here in Lawrence. But back home, even though Oklahoma City is a bigger city, it seemed safe — at least the parts that I went to seemed safe.
Rolex. He's just the normal dad-type with an old gray Crown-Vic and probably was wearing jeans and a casual shirt.
Maybe it just felt safer because it's home. Or maybe I just pay more attention to the news in Lawrence. Or maybe I just can't believe that my dad is another person who reported a robbery on the police blotter.
Whatever the crime statistics are, it scares me that criminals have the audacity to hold up someone on a sunny Saturday morning. It scares me that no one was around to see it happen until the crook already was running off. Most of all, it scares me that my dad could have gotten hurt.
I could use this space to rant about tougher sentencing, about making prisons more like prison and less like a stay at the Hilton, about the evils of drug use and about how addiction can turn you into a deprived criminal, or even about why everyone should make their parents learn
to use a handgun.
I could rant about all those things, but instead I ask you to think for a moment about the important stuff — family, friends and appreciating their presence. All that mushy stuff we normally say with preprinted greeting cards during holidays. But I'm through just signing my name at the bottom of someone else's words.
From now on, I'm going to make an effort to say "I love you" at the end of my phone calls to Mom or Dad or my brother. It's not enough to just tell myself that they already know. I'm going to tell them again.
With all the distractions in our lives today, I think we could all use a little reality check, and we'll probably all get a big one as a surprise sooner or later. I just had mine.
I'm going to tell my friends that I'm glad to have them as such. I'm going to tell my friends back home that I miss them. I'm going to keep in contact with them and not wait until our class reunion to see them again.
Let's hope those terrible things don't happen, but do yourself a favor and think for a minute — are you sure you've told everyone you care about everything you want them to hear?
I don't know about you, but the next time I'm home, I'm going to spend that extra minute hugging my dad.
You don't know when yours will come or who will be affected. We can only hope that it's not too serious of a scare and that no one love gets hurt.
Your best friend could die in a car crash. Your mom could develop cancer. Or maybe while crossing the street you could come close to getting hit by a speeding truck. Life is a fragile piece of glass on a precarious shelf edge. One slam of a door, and it's gone.
Johnson is an Oklahoma City sophomore majoring in English.
Feedback
Protesters deserve credit for response
I'd like to applaud the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform for provoking a whirwind of discussion on campus already. Sunday evening was the first
time that I've ever seen a group of seven guys sitting in Mrs. E's actively discussing social policy, ethics, and morality. Whether or not you agree with the position of the demonstrators, the parallels that the group has drawn demand discussion.
I would implore students not to resort to violence or hate-speech this week but to express your opinions by engaging in discourse with your peers.
Scott Raymond Kansas City, Mo., sophomore