Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Jodie Chester, *Editor* Marc Harrell, *Business manager*
Gerry Deyle, *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*
Monday, August 24,1998
Robert Novak / KANSAN
Editorials
Higher teacher salaries keep, draw, reward University's prized assets
The Kansas Board of Regents and leaders of the regents schools are discussing the faculty salaries. Regents universities, including Kansas University, pay their professors less than many peer schools. By allotting more money to faculty salaries, the University would be making a worthwhile investment in its pool of educators.
Peer schools are similar in size and mission. Our University' peers are the Universities of Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon. Only Oklahoma and Oregon universities pay their faculty less than the University of Kansas average salary of $55,818. Averages include the salaries of full-time professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors.
Higher salaries would mean that the
the Kansas Board of Regents should raise faculty salaries to match peer institutions.
faculty would be rewarded for their efforts and would provide a motivation to stay at the University, rather than pursuing high-paid jobs elsewhere.
Programs such as the W.T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence provide some encouragement for faculty to stay. The Fellowship awards $5,000 to 20 instructors each year for excellence in teaching.
But programs that provide monetary compensation for only a few teachers are not enough. Improving education in the state by raising faculty salaries would
keep more excellent educators in the state as well as draw them to the state. As a result, students who might have searched elsewhere for an education might see an incentive to stay in-state.
Convincing taxpayers that investing more money in faculty salaries will be a difficult job. States such as Missouri use revenue from gambling to finacie professors' salaries, which at the University of Missouri average $5,000 more than the University of Kansas. Kansans will have to make the sacrifice somewhere else to bring salaries up to par.
It may take a bite out of the taxpayers' pockets right now, raising salaries at the University and other Regents schools is a worthwhile investment. Monetary incentive is the best way to retain quality faculty.
Erinn Barcomb for the editorial board
Groups help to provide niche
These greek, academic, cultural political, recreational, religious, service and social groups are the heart and soul of our University.
The University Daily Kansan Editorial Board welcomes freshmen on behalf of the 381 different clubs and organizations registered at the University.
The groups are composed of our most active students, and would love nothing more than your participation.
At the Student Union Activities office on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union, there are yellow fliers listing the groups — everything from the Neuroscience Club to the Nike Swoosh Team.
There is something there for everyone. A student need only pick a horizon, and there will be an organization there to broaden it.
Students should get involved in the University by joining organizations.
These organizations allow students with similar and specific interests to meet. Students can learn about their heritage, become politically active and even come to decide on careers or majors.
But more important than providing advice about a profession or opportunities for artistic, intellectual or physical exercise, these organizations make great excuses to meet people.
they know nothing but which may appeal to them anyway.
The chance to form friendships with individuals who have different interests than your own may be a college campus' greatest asset.
Membership in these groups also provides a sense of community in a sometimes-daunting university environment of nearly 25,000 students.
Being able to walk down Jayhawk Boulevard, saying hello to friends and acquaintances that pass by, makes the University seem much smaller.
A student that joins a few of the organizations on the SUA list will know that feeling in no time. Student should look at the list, get involved and feel more a part of the University than a customer of it.
Tim Harrington 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 Sheforden ... 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
Laura Veazy ... News Clerk
News editors
Advertising managers
Stacia Williams ... Assistant retail
Brandi Byram ... Campus
Micah Kaffiz ... Regional
Ryan Farmer ... National
Matt York ... Marketing
Stephanie Krause ... Production
Matt Thomas ... Production
Traci Meisenheimer ... Creative
Tenley Lane ... Classified
Sara Cropper ... Zone
Nicole Farrell ... Zone
Jon Schlitt ... Zone
Shannon Curran ... Zone
Matt Lopez ... Zone
Brian Allers ... PR/Intern manager
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Modern warfare is an intricate business about which no one knows everything
and few know very much." — Frank Knox
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 Kansan newsroom, 113 Staffer-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 page stuff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4810.
Perspective
Peace, love preached but violence employed
A after the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya, and in Tanzania, in which hundreds of human beings were killed and thousands wounded, a group of people calling themselves "Muslims for the Liberation of Holy Places" claimed responsibility for the destruction.
Donato Fhunsu
opinion@kansan.com
As if that were not enough, less than two weeks after these twin bombings, the U.S. armed forces, wanting to be second to none, had their own version of twin bombings. They launched about 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles to targets in Afghanistan and 25 to a target in Sudan. The missiles cost $1 million apiece, which means at least $75
1
million was spent in less than an hour to break a few stones and kill a few human beings.
The whole situation seemed crazy to me. Why could all these human beings, who all look human to me, not get along? One answer came in the form of a fatwa, or religious edict. "We—with God's help — call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it."
Another answer came to me through this announcement by an American leader: "Our target was terror." Another American leader said that the U.S. strikes were part of an ongoing fight against terrorism and that Americans should not think it would be won easily. Fight. War.
Everywhere I looked, there was a war. War on terrorism, drugs, violence, poverty, AIDS. War against communism, socialism, capitalism, religious fundamentalism ... war, war and war. All these wars were between two main camps: Us vs. Them, and both Us and Them had God on their side. I even found this motto: "In God we trust." I wondered what was this inconsistent Divine Monster which was so divided against itself that it was fighting on opposing camps at
the same time. Or was it possible that, for selfish reasons, some people wanted to hate and destroy their fellow humans. They needed a face-saving excuse. God was the perfect excuse and so they pinned it on God?
This was an interesting possibility because the God some of us know is a God of Love, not a big Divine Puppet manipulated to fit people's petty agendas of hate. As I struggled with these issues, I checked two books: The Holy Bible and the Holy Koran. These books constituted the Word of God to the People of the Book, the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims — a great portion of humanity. Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad were the messengers who brought the light of the wisdom of God to all these people. All of them, as brothers and sisters, essentially received this same simple but powerful message: "God is love. Therefore, love God with all your life, and love your neighbor as yourself." If it's that simple, why have we complicated the situation?
As I thought about it, I realized that in the School of Life, human beings in general have never really lived up to the teachings given to them. Spiritual impressions, whether originally conveyed by Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Christ or Muhammad have not yet been expressed as it was hoped. The teachings of these great luminaries have been distorted, misinterpreted and misapplied. Even though the luminaries lived and taught us love, understanding, and forgiveness, for generations, we have been living and teaching our children hate, prejudices and revenge. Hate and revenge characterize much of our individual, public and international relationships, and generation after generation, we perpetuate the cycle of hate and violence. We hate ourselves and our neighbors; our neighbors hate themselves and us, and we all blackmail God to take our side. We should decide to break the cycle of hate and violence now and free all the children of the world from our folly. Tomorrow's generations have the right to be free from the fear of hate.
Phunsu is a Lawrence graduate student majoring in journalism.
Government points to injustice, reacts unjustly
They bombed us, so we bombed them. The cheers of good riddance surge through the minds of all Americans with decent hearts, a just God and an understanding of real retribution.
Our attack on the terrorist organizations of the world through symbolic bombing reminds me of a scene in the movie Untouchables. It goes something like this: If he hits you with his fist, you hit him with a baseball bat, if he pulls a knife, you pull a gun. If they put one of yours in a hospital, you put one of theirs in a morgue.
Yeah, good, old fashioned revenge. It is a world of kill or be killed. The righteous
Tom Winter
opinion@kansan.com
get salvation and the murdererse get the guillotine. Is that really the way it is? Or are we really the savage beasts that we always claim the other guys are?
The Russians were in the 80s when the fundamentalist Arabs are in the 90s. Our mortal foes. I'll tell you what. Let me give you a domestic analogy about cultural and racial conflict.
There have been a lot of shootings in your neighborhood. It is a gang war that has been going on for more than a year. The police have tried to figure out what the motive for the killings has been, but they have only come up with one word: revenge.
One day, a cop gets shot. He dies in the field. The police department fumes. They want blood, quick,ick blood. It is a black neighborhood. It is "them" again. "The savages!" the police chief screams in a briefing room before the big "raid."
The police have a suspect. He is little more than a kid, 17 years old. He has seen his best friend and his older brother die in this gang war that has been going on since before he could remember. The thought of his rival gang
stirs deep emotions of hatred, loss and fear. What's worse is that the police always are getting involved in his affair. They usually seem to him to side with his enemies. Plus, they have a superiority complex. He knows that the recent cop shooting has got them in an uproar. They want blood.
They want bloom one morning, half-asleep when he jolts up in bed because of the sound of what seems to be an elephant tearing a hole in his wall. Twelve cops, fully armed and armored rush into his room and as he shakes in confusion suspense they put 12 decisive holes in his chest. He twitches once or twice and dies. The police chief stands on the steps of the house and proclaims that justice was served. Was it? Or did they just kill an innocent man? No one would ever know. He, the savage, the gangster, the alleged murderer, is dead, and people who side with the police force say that the world is better without the kid anyway.
He never had due process. He never got to tell his side of the story. He never even had the luxury of actually getting convicted of a crime. He was just "the enemy" and most people never even questioned the powers that be to ask them whether they had the right to take his life. Did they?
Many of you may have realized that this turn of events is both immoral and illegal. How then, if we don't tolerate this sort of action on a national scale can we tolerate it on an international scale? Human rights means all humans, not just the ones you think are like you.
we had more than enough of taking the government's word for the morality and inherent rightness in their actions. From now on, they need to prove to me that what they are actually doing is right. Otherwise, I will never believe them and never champion them as the keepers of moral sanction.
Never take the news at face value, ever.
Winter is a Blue Springs, Mo., senior majoring in journalism.
Feedback
President deserves place on pedestal
Chad Bettes did an excellent job of reporting the various reactions of students regarding the "Clinton Flasco," in a University Daily Kansan article last Thursday. Allan Cigler, professor of political science, said that this is a wakeup call because we've tried to put the office on a pedestal." First of all, we haven't "tried" to put the office on a pedestal. The Office of the Presidency has been on a pedestal from day one. It was created to be so. It is the highest office in the land. Sadly, there have been men who have occupied this great Office whose conduct has not mirrored what this nation stands.
America has always been a Christian nation. It still is. I don't care what the ACLU
To those who say: as long as Clinton does his job, we should not care about about his private life — I don't buy that and neither should you. Some voted for Clinton strictly for his political ability to get the job done, but I suspect that most of us voted for him because we thought he truly cared about the nation and because he said he had "strong family values." We thought that his family values were similar to ours.
thinks of that. I believe that when a person runs for the office of the Presidency, he is saying that he will mirror the values of the people. The majority of American families base their family value system on the Judeo-Christian faith. It seems to me some of us have been convinced that it's not important to adhere to any value system or have just forgot that we once had a value system. It is time for Americans to wake up and take stock of what family values they believe in.
Simmie Berroya Overland Park junior