Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Jodie Chester, Editor Marc Harrell, Business manager Gerry Doyle, Managing editor Jamie Holman, Retail sales manager Ryan Koener, Managing editor Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor Justin Knupp, Technology coordinator
Tuesday, September 15, 1998
Editorials
Advertisements mistakenly say homosexuality is a lifestyle choice
This has been a disheartening year for political and cultural conservatives. National conversation has been dominated by the president's personal and moral weaknesses. Republicans and Christian conservatives doubtlessly anticipated that "we, the people" would be shocked into a popular moral revolt at the president's behavior. It didn't happen.
It should come as no surprise, then, that conservatives have chosen an easier target for their rhetoric in this fall's elections.
in August, a group of ultraconservative political and social groups (the Family Research Council and The Christian Coalition among them) placed advertisements in major U.S. newspapers such as The New York
Christian organizations' claim of curing homosexuality sends the wrong message.
Times, The Washington Post and USA Today concerning homosexuality. Gays and lesbians could change, the ads said. No longer were homosexuals doomed to remain in that lifestyle. The controversy around making someone straight is absurd and should be refuted by the public.
sexuality and that any homosexual who dies unrepentant will feel the fires of hell.
exodus International, one of the many Christian groups that claims to help homosexuals change their orientation, believes that it is a sinful lifestyle choice. These Christian groups state that God condemns homo-
Their argument misses the mark in one crucial way. Why would any individual choose a life of possible rejection? Who would volunteer to be driven from their family by unsympathetic parents? Are people lining up in droves to lose their homes, jobs and children? Such an assertion is ridiculous and insulting.
The people who placed these ads may think that they are doing homosexuals a favor by offering them a way out of gay life. But they also are doing a favor for the worst sort of bigots and haters in our society. At its best, religion appeals to the better aspects of our nature. At its worst, it appeals to our fears, just as these ads do.
Jennifer Roush for the editorial board
Towers parking lots still inadequate
For the past few years, Jayhawker Towers has been closing its parking lots for renovation. Because of this, there has been a lack of parking for its residents.
During the 1996-97 school year the upper level of the lot west of the complex was closed. Many residents were forced to park farther up Daisy Hill. At the time, Templin Hall was being renovated, leaving an entire parking lot open for overflow. The following summer, the lot east of the complex was changed from a two-level to a one-level parking lot. In the fall of 1997, residents were faced with fewer parking spaces by the towers and the loss of the extra parking lot to Templin residents
This year, the parking lot west of
the towers is now in use, giving residents 59 more spaces for a total of 365 parking spaces. However, those who live in the apartments still are facing the same dilemma. After 10 p.m., the lots surrounding the buildings are full, leaving drivers with few options. Some park illegally on the ends of the rows, making the lots hazardous. Others seek a space at the back of the residence hall parking lots and must walk in poor lighting back to the complex, risking personal safety. Others park at the Burge Union and wake up at 6:45 a.m. to move their car before the parking department begins its fundraising activities.
After multiple renovations, students have trouble finding parking spaces at night.
10 pay $75 a year to park two blocks away from one's residence is ridiculous and potentially dangerous if it occurs after dark. Because of its location, it is difficult for the towers to expand its parking lot. However, those who design the lots should keep these issues in mind. A multilevel parking lot would be able to hold many more cars in the same amount of space. The parking department should make Jayhawker Towers residents a top priority in renovating and maintaining the parking lots.
Kathryn Jensen for the editorial board
Kansan staff
Ann Premer ... Editorial
Tim Harrington ... Associate Editorial
Aaron Marvin ... News
Gwen Olson ... News
Aaron Knopf ... Online
Matt Friedrichs ... Sports
Kevin Wilson ... Associate sports
Marc Sheforgen ... Campus
Laura Roddy ... Campus
Lindsey Henry ... Features
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Roger Nomer ... Photo
Corie Waters ... Photo
Angie Kuhn ... Design, graphics
Melissa Ngo ... Wire
Sara Anderson ... Special sections
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News editors
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Micah Kafitz ... Regional
Ryan Farmer ... National
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Matt Thomas ... Production
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Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“A good memory is needed once we have lied.” — Cornellie
Letterz: 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.
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Perspective
Student fees decision will not threaten groups
A recent federal decision, Southworth v. Grebe, from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court, has certain Student Senators trembling from fear that they may no longer be afforded
Rodger Woods
opportunity to hand our money to campus organizations like candy on Halloween. The decision, contrary to the panicked squawking of Partha Mazumdar and David Perico in Tuesday's Kansan, will not divest Student Senate of control of student fees.
The case of Southworth w. Grebe is based on the objections of University of Wisconsin students to use of mandatory student fees to
support student organizations that engaged in political activities outside the University.
pinion@kansan.com
A cursory reading of the case shows that the ruling would not affect most student organizations on this campus. Furthermore, the organizations mentioned in the case were singled out because of what they did with the money, not their ideology.
The rationale behind the court's decision was based on a long standing corollary to the First Amendment that the individual has the right not only to speak, but also to remain silent. The court wisely ruled that forcing one student to pay for another to engage in political speech was a violation of this right.
erans Association.) He goes on to say that Senate has rules for organizations requesting financing. This is where the difference lies. Although I make no claim to be an expert on Senate funding rules, I do know that funding of political organizations is not allowed, nor are organizations that serve predominantly non-students. Moreover, I'm certain that Student Senators, in their wisdom, would never spend student funds on a primarily political organization.
This week's quiz will be in essay form: 1) Under the ruling in Southworth v. Grebe, should Student Senate finance the new organization "Students for Handguns," assuming they meet normal Senate rules for funding?
Give yourself partial credit if you said, "it depends on what they do with the money." More points for, "if the organization brings speakers to campus, provides a social organization for gun owners, and otherwise attempts to educate the student population about the joys of handgun ownership. Then it would be fine for Student Senate to fund such an organization." Maximum points if you added, "they should not be financed from student fees if they intend to use the money to lobby state legislators in favor of concealed-carry legislation, print literature for 'pro-gun' political candidates, or send part of the money to the NRA." The call to action made by the columnists on
Most students would agree that student organizations tied to political organizations should not receive Senate funding. In fact, Senate rules do not allow funds to be distributed to the likes of KU Libertarians, College Republicans or KU Young Democrats. Why? Because to do so would require one student to financially support the political aims of another with whom she or he may disagree.
The call to action made by the columnists on Tuesday is unwarranted and irrelevant.
The ruling doesn't create a threat to Student Senate's power to extort money from students that choose to attend the University of Kansas so they can later give the money to organizations of their choice. It merely means that Senators must now exercise some care to ensure that the money is used for the education of all students, not to promote the political agenda of a few.
That's what was going on at Wisconsin. The named organizations were using monies derived from student fees to publish materials supporting specific political candidates, to lobby state legislators, arrange political rallies at the state capitol and, in one case, to pay dues to a national political organization. In a few instances, only a small percentage of the organizational membership were actually students
Furthermore, much to the chagrin of a few senators (both student and state types) they cannot, by resolution or passing "pre-empive" laws, overrule the Constitution. As the court stated in their ruling, "The First Amendment trumps the democratic process and protects the individual's rights even when a majority of citizens wants to infringe upon them."
Partha Mazundar, in his column on Tuesday, claimed that The Associated Students of Madison and KU Student Senate give away money basically the same way; on a value-neutral principle. (He doesn't define this and apparently this statement wasn't meant to include last year's Senate debate on financing of the KU Vet-
Of course, all this could be avoided by reconsidering the way student organizations are given money. Perhaps it is time to consider a checkoff plan or some other means of distributing funds that would avoid the issues altogether. Although Southworth v. Grebe won't mandate a change in the way Student Senate must do business, hopefully it will change the way we think about funding.
Woods is a Hutchinson second-year law student.
Gone are days when dinos could be any color
It finally happened to me. I suppose I knew that it would. It didn't come on some day of personal significance, which was when I had expected it.
It didn't come on my birthday or on the day of my high school reunion.
Instead, it showed up on someone else's birthday, as I drove by the elementary school my friend attended — even though the elementary school I attended and the high school we went to together had failed to move me just minutes before. Maybe that makes perfect sense after all. On your birthday, you're ready for it. You expect it and you're on guard. And, as much as
Meredith Toenjes
ninion@kansan.com
That feeling simply because I hated my childhood. I've never wished that I was a kid or a teenager again, because what that means to me is a total lack of control in my own life. I liked being a juvenile committed to a mental ward — no one believed anything you said. You have no civil rights whatsoever, and the only exit is that magical age at which the law says you're an adult. For me, that was 17. I've never looked back.
you may talk about it at those times, it doesn't show up. The fact is, the first time at least, it's got to sneak up on you. It's got to be a surprise. You can't be prepared for the first time you get that feeling of "longing for the good-old days."
So I guess that what I was longing for was hope, innocence and unbridled enthusiasm. When I was 10, I could've been anything — a doctor, a lawyer, a nuclear physicist, an astronaut, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. representative to the United Nations, a starship captain, a dragon rider, a Jedi knight, an Olympic athlete, the first woman in the NFL, the six-million-dollar man, the bionic woman, Wonder Woman or even Superman. Anything I could imagine, I could be.
When you're a kid, your dreams don't have to be realistic. Your visions of the world can be yours alone. I recently saw some pictures colored by a group of kids. It was a coloring book page of a dinosaur, and at the bottom of each page was a space for the name and age of the child coloring it. There was a definite pattern to the pictures. The youngest children used any color they wanted and made little attempt to color in the lines. The younger, school-age kids made an attempt to differentiate the dino from
the blades of grass, but all were done in wild colors. By the time kids hit double-digits, the grass was green, the dino was some appropriate color for a lizard and the lines were very carefully followed and nary a wax mark strayed outside.
toward you, your favorite Today, I know that I'll never become a Naval aviator or an NFL quarterback. I'm pretty sure I'll never be in a math or science field, and there is no doubt in my mind that I'll never be a Jedi Knight. I'll never live happily ever after with my first love. And although we both know we're happier as friends than we ever would've been as lovers, I can't help but wonder occasionally how it would've felt to be 16 and wildly, mutually in love forever like Romeo and Juliet.
So I suppose that the longing I felt was not for any actual events in my life, but for the days when there was nothing wrong with a canary yellow, magenta, indigo, lime-green dinosaur standing in chocolate-brown, flesh, sky-blue grass with an indistinct division of where one started and the other ended. Sometimes I think that anyone who tells a kid that dinosaurs aren't supposed to be that color should be arrested for grand theft of innocence. The day that they color the grass and the dinosaur separately is the day that girls realize they'll never be Superman and boys figure out they'll never be mothers.
By the time all the colors are correct and every thing's in the lines, the kids with C's in junior high math know they'll never be nuclear physicists, and the kid who puked when the cat got an abscess knows he or she will never be a doctor. And by the time you can't be bothered to take time to color the picture, you know that you'll never "fall in love and live happily ever after." The older you get, the narrower your list of options becomes.
The first time you fall in love is incredible, a gift of the greatest pleasure. I envy more than I can express the person who feels that joy without ever feeling the pain of losing that love. And although I still believe in love, what it means now is work and mortgages and emotional baggage and "GWF seeks GWF for friendship/LTR. No drugs, no smokers" rather than the "my heart will go on" feeling.
Yes, I know that realistically, dinosaurs are not indigo and that all in all I rather like my life. Also, having my first love as a good friend for the last 15 years is for the best and that — unlike my childhood and adolescence — I wouldn't trade most of what's happened in my life since I turned 17 for anything. But, but maybe, just maybe, it's a good thing after all to remember what it felt like when 64 crayons just weren't enough.
Toenjies is a Kansas City, Kan., senior majoring in history and psychology.
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