Opinion
FG
Kansan
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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
Wednesday, September 9. 1998
Editorials
Senate must look to influential people to resist Wisconsin ruling
Student Senate's apprehension about a court ruling concerning the allocation of fees is valid, but its approach to the problem needs redirection.
in August, the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that the student government at Wisconsin University could no longer allocate students fees to organizations that some students did not want to support.
students do not apply Although the decision does not apply in Kansas, Senate fears that it may be only a matter of time before someone decides to challenge the University's fee allocation system.
This is a legitimate concern. Although the current fee-allocation system at the University has its problems, it is an effective method of distributing funds. That doesn't mean, however, that someone out there is not willing to challenge it in court. The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals decision gives them precedent.
Senate should ask the chancellor, the Regents and even the governor for support.
Senate does not want to see this happen, so it wants to discourage any challengers to the system and affirm Senate's faith in it.
Bouncing around the Senate's committees is a resolution opposing the court decision and offering support to the Associated Students of Madison, a group fighting the decision.
This is a good step. It gets Senate's official response on the record. But it
isn't enough.
Senate needs to urge Chancellor Robert Hemenway, Provost David Shulenburger, the Kansas Board of Regents, Kansas legislators and Gov. Bill Graves, to come out in opposition to the ruling.
Getting these officials on the record now would strengthen the effort to fight such decisions. It would put these officials on the record so that if a case like this went to a Kansas court, their stance already would be known, and they could not back pedal.
This can only strengthen Senate's stance and discourage others from taking the fee allocation system to court.
Urging these people to speak out is how Senate needs to expend its energy on this issue.
Spencer Duncan for the editorial board
Decision promotes individual rights
Students at the University of Kansas are given many opportunities to participate in their student government. There are positions on Student Senate as senators, committee members, coordinators, representatives and other ways as well for students to actively participate at the University.
It is a more than fair statement to say that students at KU have been given opportunities to become involved in student government. However, they still deserve more: to directly allocate funds to campus organizations.
Recently, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was inappropriate for student fees to be used toward organizations that some students disagree with. This ruling essentially stripped
Student should be able to directly decide what their student fees finance.
the student senate at the University of Wisconsin of its legislative authority, much as it would at this University.
Detractors of the ruling think that students have been given ample opportunity to participate in a system of government that has been affective for many years.
They ask why a minority of students should be able to bring about this change. They also contend that the work of hundreds of students who devote their time to making our
student government successful will be undermined.
With this in mind, how can this decision be a good one?
The court's decision promotes fundamental faith in the individual; that flawed creature that makes this campus what it is. Although the current system of financial appropriating recognizes the virtue of all, it often ignores the value of one. What about the individual? What about the value she or he possesses?
This ruling does not affect Kansas, and it is not likely that it will.
But if it did, students have the right to exercise choice in selecting the organizations that they want to support, and we should support their individual rights.
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
Bryan Volk ... Associate features
Roger Nomer ... Photo
Corie Waters ... Photo
Angie Kuhn ... Design, graphics
Melissa Ngo ... Wire
Sara Anderson ... Special sections
Leonard West for the editorial board
News editors
Stacia Williams ... Assistant retail
Brandi Byram ... Campus
Micah Kafitz ... Regional
Ryan Farmer ... National
Matt York ... Marketing
Stephanie Krause ... Production
Matt Thomas ... Production
Tracie Meisenheimer ... Creative
Tenley Lane ... Classified
Sara Cropper ... Zone
Nicole Farrell ... Zone
Jon Schlitt ... Zone
Shannon Curran ... Zone
Matt Lopez ... Zone
Advertising managers
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment." — Benjamin O. (1967)
now 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 Kansan newsroom, 113 Stuifter-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Ann Premer (premer@kansan.com) or Tim Harrington (tharrington@kansan.com) at 864-4810. If you have general questions or comments, email the staff staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
Grandfather's wisdom reveals life's treasures
don't like talking seriously because then there's only one thing to talk about—the justification you can give for your life." — Albert Camus.
Grandpa and I headed toward the tiny dying town of Quenemo on a clear summer morning.
As we hurried down I-70 in his car, he began to tell stories of his life. I can recite most of them from holidays past, but for some reason they struck me as especially poignant that day.
I realized those stories make up the justification he gives for his life.
John Wilson
@pinterest @kansan.com
"You know, my dad was a farmer and was doing pretty well until the depress-
son came," he said as smoke slithered from his wrinkled mouth out the passenger's window. "Those days almost tore the heart out of everybody, but we kept our work ethic and things eventually got better."
I smiled and nodded, feeling my everyday worries about whether I should get out of bed and walk to class or whether to buy the Radiohead or the Bob Dylan CD were incredibly transparent.
All of a sudden, I couldn't care less about applying to law school or buying a new car. I could only think of the few times I felt this way in my life. The last time I remember this feeling was when a friend committed suicide during high school.
"I saw some things at Iwo Jima that I will never speak of to another human being," he said of his experiences as a Marine in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. "Being there taught me to respect the Lord for getting me home alive, and respect all the men who have died for the idea of the United States of America."
Watershed events in life leave these true emotions. I had a moment of clarity, a moment deeply religious people call an epiphany. All the excess and waste of modern life washed away,
We all wrestle with finding and holding onto truth and happiness in this world. We wrestle with what path to choose in life to make us happy in the end.
"Your grandmother was the most stubborn woman I ever saw, but I sure loved her," he told me with a tear in his eye. "We didn't always agree, and we went through some hard times, but I always knew how much we loved each other. I can still smile about that today, even though she's gone."
and I could see into what really mattered.
We realize there is no simple answer to that problem.
Now, as I am back at school, I again find myself worrying about things that really have no bearing on my happiness. When I start worrying about whether Louise's Downtown or the Yacht Club will have more pretty girls or whether to skip my Thursday-afternoon Western Civilization class, I need to realize how unimportant those things are. It's so easy to jump back into lame worries and forget those defining moments that make life worth living.
defining moment
My grandpa left me with a picture of what really should be important in my world. I am left with a simple answer that can pull a man through the bad times, from the horrid realities of a world war to the demands of the working world. A simple answer that can give a man a little peace of mind; the people you love — your spouse, your family, your close friends — they are what's important. It's the holidays with them, it's leading a life that makes them proud of you. It's passing down your values to your grandson as an old man.
I have a deeper respect for my grandfather because of the life he built for himself, and the justification he gives for it.
He built a family and a circle of friends that loved him. He built a life he wanted to lead. He will lie on his deathbed knowing he lived a good life.
I hope to justify my idea of living a happy life to my grandson someday.
Wilson is a Lenexa senior majoring in journalism.
Dining services provide less for students' money
The cafeterias are starting to upset me. It's bad enough that they don't serve what's printed on the menu. (They promised stir-fried scallops, but they didn't
have it. a cruel, cruel joke on a seafood lover such as me.) But what really makes me mad is that I can't obtain meals for which I have paid.
Last year, I could use up extra meal credits by getting a few sack lunches at the end of the week. If I slept through breakfast a couple of times during the week and had Taco Bell for supper one night, I could always use up those skipped cafeteria meals by getting a few cans of Coke,
Carrie Johnson
opinion@kansan.com
some chips and a couple of sandwiches. Nothing wrong with that.
ever I wanted to.
Now they've changed the rules again. Now it's virtually impossible for us to use up extra meal credits. I can't get more than one sack lunch per meal, and if I do get a sack lunch, I cannot eat the next scheduled meal in the cafeteria. For example, if I get a sack of munchies with lunch, I can't eat supper that night.
Then they changed the rules on me. They set a limit of only two sack lunches per meal. I guess they got mad at me for carrying out six packs of Coke and lots of munchies. A minor inconvenience. I always could plan ahead and get some sack lunches earlier in the week. But still, the rule riled me. I already had paid for the meals, so why couldn't I claim them whenever I wanted to?
Not only that, but people cannot enter the dining center more than once a meal period. For example, if someone goes in at 10:30 a.m. to grab a banana before heading to class, he or she cannot go back after class for lunch at noon. What is the purpose of that rule? If someone wants to plunk down a meal credit for
Why is dining services doing this?
one lousy banana, why should they be stopped from eating a real lunch later?
Why is dining services important My conclusion: They are greedy conspirators. They don't want us to be able to get meals that we have rightly purchased.
access to what I had right at my pawn. Until they revert to the old rules and stop the scrooge tactics, I will just have to think twice before skipping out on the curried squash casserole in favor of Burger King. Whether I get the meal, I sure am paying for it.
my evidence; the menus that dining services distributes. Quoted from my Oliver Hall menu from the week of Aug. 24-30, 1998: "Board rates are based on the average number of meals served. The assumption that not every resident will eat every meal enables the use of a missed meal factor in computing meal charges."
Johnson is an Oklahoma City sophomore majoring in English.
creates a more
However, if dining services were running this
massage parlor (not a pretty mental image, is
it?) they would send me away with only one,
maybe two massages. They would refuse me
access to what I had rightfully paid.
rernaps dining services should re-evaluate their assumption that we don't mind if it screws us. If it is charging us for x number of meals per week, we should be able to claim x number of meals (sack or sit-down) without these ludicrous restrictions. Its assumption should not be taken as law.
If these practices were employed by any other business, there would be a few lawsuits filed. Say, for example, that I bought a card that entitled me to five massages per month. (It's my example I can decide what service I'm buying!) Let's also say that I was rather busy during most of the month and didn't get around to getting any massages those weeks. I would certainly want to use up all the back rubs that I have paid for, so I would go into the massage parlor during the last week to cash in all my credits at once. It sounds perfectly fair to me.
Feedback
President should be criticized for actions
We read the Sept. 2 editorial entitled "Critics of the President should look in the mirror" and found its arguments faulty.
First of all, Clinton's actions cannot be excused just because they were a part his private life. If Clinton had wanted a strictly private life, he shouldn't have run for public office.
Not all presidents have been corrupt. Presidents such as Adams, Washington and Lincoln were men of character who put the nation's interests before personal gain and indulgence.
President Clinton has purposefully lied to the nation and has cheated on his wife
Kathleen and Marianne Wasson
Lawrence freshmen
Lastly, if we are not allowed to make any judgments on Clinton, we should not make any judgments on Kenneth Star
Saferide provides service to studiers
I read a column in *The University Daily Kansan* on Sept.
3. It said that Saferide catered to drunks. I strongly oppose
this statement. I have used
Saferide three times this week.
Saferide three times this week.
I was stranded on campus after reading at the library because the bus was no longer running. Saferide employees really care about the welfare of KU students. I contacted Saferide and in about six minutes I was on my way home.
Safaride is a reliable service rendered to KU students for their own benefit. It actually depends on what the students use it for. I encourage the help that Safaride provides to students who use it for its right purpose.
Arwind Manohar
Eldoret, Kenya freshman