4A
Thursday, October 17, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Expressive crime mars Take Back the Night rally
When 200 people gathered near the South Park Gazebo Saturday night for the Womyn Take Back the Night march and rally, no one expected to have a crime perpetrated against them.
But while women marched through downtown Lawrence, shirts were stolen from the clothesline project.
Many people would look at this crime as theft, but it is much more than that, said Amy Turnbull, Lawrence senior and a member of the Women's Empowerment Action Coalition, which coordinates the march.
For the women whose shirts were stolen, this crime tells them they never will be safe, she said.
The project is a living memorial to women and children who either have survived or died from violence. To symbolize their struggle against violence, women and children decorate T-shirts that are hung on a clothesline and displayed during the march.
Laura Leonard, a co-coordinator of the clothesline project, said there had been 65 shirts on the clothesline before about nine were stolen Saturday night. Lawrence police said six shirts were stolen. The men who stole the shirts were described as white males between the ages of 16 and 25.
"It was such an act of maliciousness and hate," Leonard said. Stealing shirts from the clothesline project is like stealing squares from the AIDS quilt. Making these shirts is part of the healing process for these women and children, as well as their friends and relatives.
This disgraceful crime trivialized the shirts' symbolic importance and marred the event. The fact that a crime was committed against the people who work hard to make the march and rally possible reflects the elements in society that permit violence against women.
NICOLE KENNEDY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Excluding winter-break games from all-sport tickets unfair
Thanks to the Athletic Department, students now are paying the same amount of money for fewer basketball games.
Although they have been included in past years, the games played during the semester break no longer are included in the all-sport tickets. This exclusion wasn't mentioned in promotions for the tickets.
Instead, students wishing to see the late-December and early-January games will have to pay for a ticket to each game. Going to games not included in the ticket package costs $3 a game at the student rate. The cost of going to the seven games played during winter break increases the total cost of tickets by $21. The department could have reduced the ticket price by that amount so that students could go to every game for the same price as last year.
Alternatively, the department could offer free tickets to games played during the break for students who purchased a sports package, but pass them out at a separate time than the other tickets. That way, students who do not want the tickets would not pick them up, while students who do want them still would have access to them. But if games played during the semester break are excluded, it penalizes the students who are in town, or close to town, during the winter break.
One reason given for excluding the winter break games from the package was that when the residence halls close, many students go home, and their tickets can be sold to the public at a higher rate of $20, said Pat Warren, assistant to the athletic director.
The department has every right to ensure that a capacity crowd cheers on the Jayhawks during winter break, but a $21 increase for students to see the same number of games is unreasonable. Students are loyal supporters of the basketball team, and keeping ticket prices down would be a good way to repay that loyalty.
ANN MARCHAND FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
AMANDA TRAUGHBER
Editor
CRAIG LANG
Managing editor
MATT HOOD
Associate managing editor for design
KIMBERLY CRABTREE
CHARITY JEFFRIES.
News editors
DARCI L McLAIN
SARA ROSE
Public relations directors
Editors
Campus ... Susanna Lóöf
... Jason Strait
... Amy McVey
Editorial ... John Collar
Features ... Nicole Kennedy
Sports ... Adam Wynn
Sports ... Rilel Petitelle
Associate sports ... Carlyn Foster
Online editor ... David L. Teuka
Photo ... Rich Devkini
Graphics ... Noah Mauser
Special sections ... Andy Rehbach
Special sections ... Dobble Staine
KAREN GERCH
Business manager
HEALY SMART
Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr... Mark Ozdemr
Regional mgr... Denise Haupt
Assistant Retail mgr... Dana Contento
National mgr... Kate Nye
Administrative mgr... Heather Wheeler
Production mgr... Dan Kopeo
Lisa Quebberman
Marketing director ... Eric Johnson
Creative director ... Desmond
Taylor ... Holly Wachter
Mass Impact mgr... Dena Piestoles
Internet mgr... Steve Sanger
Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
U.S. needs moral anchor at dawn of 21st century
Indications are telling Americans that we are humming along smoothly toward the 21st century.
Unemployment is low, interest rates are under control. Wall Street is enjoying record highs and consumer confidence remains steady. As a country, we are progressing.
KU students should share in this buoyant optimism. According to political debate, college students are among the winners. U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich continues to remind us that higher education equals higher income.
However, beneath these rosy forecasts, a whimper is surfacing. Americans are ruminating nervously about whether to anchor the ship.
Sure, Americans are concerned with economic distribution, but they don't want to be confined to those terms. The average tuition increase at public universities for the 1996-97 academic year was 6 percent, which is higher than the inflation rate.
This situation should raise concerns. Higher education needs to be accessible to those who want it. When politicians crudely label my liberal arts education as a tool for economic gain, I sense emptiness inside me.
Perhaps they are suggesting that Gross National Product, Gross Domestic Product, trade deficits and other economic indicators are not the only ways to define progress.
What's wrong with trying to extend higher education to all on the grounds that it leads to a more meaningful life? Bottom-line reasoning should not dominate our public debate. This condition gives insight to a larger problem.
STAFF COLUMNIST
As Michael J.
Sandel points out
in the March 1996
issue of The
A t l a n t i c
Monthly, the civil
voice in America
is being muffled.
terms of legal rights, citizens' virtues are seen as secondary. Sardonic views toward politics or apathy toward issues reflects the empty framework that our political debate offers.
In a country that defines justice in
If candidates representing us are too hesitant to bring the values we share to the debate, why should we care? Salient issues will be solved only in more crude terms.
That is not to say morality is absent from our laws. Increasingly, however, politicians are walking away from the larger debate about what is good for society. Instead, they are letting each individual define what is good for society, which leaves us estranged from each other and from our government.
Although they gave different proposals to secure liberty for Americans, both candidates agreed that Americans should be able to make decisions regarding their lives, which invites us to disconnect from the government. And there lies the problem.
Consequently, our politicians inspire nobody and frustrate almost everyone. In the presidential debate on Sunday night, former Sen. Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton vigorously presented themselves as the protectors of freedom. Doe trusts
The yearning to bring our private selves to the public debate is manifested through groups like the Christian Coalition, which seeks a monopoly on faith in politics. Recently, Call to Renewal, a Christian coalition, has entered the political debate.
the people, and Clinton wants to give tools to people.
As humans, we are social animals. Although we never will agree on everything, we need each other to reflect our values.
During the Democratic Convention, it was arguing not about whether welfare participants had a right to benefits but why it was wrong to treat society's defenseless in the manner proposed by the welfare reform bill. Call to Renewal is attempting to pursue ends it perceives as morally right.
America is anxious as the 21st century dawns. With increasing global competition, overwhelming waves of new technology and never-ending value relativity, it is obvious that our situation demands a soul craft to replace the economic ship.
From there, we can set sail.
Andrew Longstreet is a Liberty, Mo.
senior in French and political science.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Alpha Gamma Delta does not, never has supported intolerance
We are writing to you concerning Ashlee Roll's article on Monday, "Being gay and greek 'not OK.'" As members of Alpha Gamma Delta, we do not now, nor have we ever, supported discrimination of any kind. We are concerned that we were portrayed as being intolerant of different lifestyles.
We have never "kicked" anyone out because of grades; that is a fallacy that goes along with the ludicrous notion of "sorority blackballing." Our academic pol-
ey is the same as the University's. Members have the right to leave the chapter at any time.
We do not write this letter solely to exonerate ourselves but also to address the lack of research and biased reporting that is evident in this article. Roll did not attempt to contact any member of our chapter, nor did she research the past records of the sorority to ensure that Nicole Lightburn was ever a member of our sorority at the KU. According to our records, Lightburn was never a member of our sorority.
With the wealth of positive actions that the greek community continues to contribute to KU, it is unfortunate that articles such as these find their way onto the
pages of The University Daily Kansan. If your job is truly to educate and inform the student body, it is clear that you are doing an abysmal job.
Katie Glorvick
■ Rachel Glorick
Omaha, Neb., senior
Alpha Gamma Delta president
■ Erin Colwell
Leawood senior
vice president-scholarship
■ Amy Stetzler
Overland Park junior
vice president-membership
Editor's note: Nicole Lightburn was misidentified. She was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. The Kansan apologizes for the error.
Alcohol laws keep forgers employed, young drunk
Having recently turned 21, I realize perks come with age: freedom to walk into any bar, cheaper cover charges to get into bars and freedom to buy alcohol from any liquor store.
These statements ring golden with almost anyone during the three-month stretch before their 21st. However, to a good friend of mine, my birthday represents a loss in revenue rather than a coming of age
that gives someone the eligibility to walk Massachusetts Street with more options. My friend, who shall be called Jon, has been selling false IDs for nearly two years.
Jon is an artist who has found his niche between creativity and entrepreneurship. But Jon
also is a genius and only one of thousands who have found their calling on college campuses throughout the country.
Like generations past, the government once again seems to be working against itself rather than for the people. Prohibition was opposed by bootleggers, and eventually the battle proved pointless so the law was dropped in the shredder.
But these days the government is taking a firmer stand against the push to change selective prohibition, which has resulted in 18- to 20-year-olds paying Jon big bucks. Only this time, the battle has reached the multimedia, and our generation, which is mostly viewed as slackers, is winning by a slideide.
Some states have changed their drivers' license design for preventive reasons, only to be outwitted by Jon with a few strokes of the keyboard. Kansas made possession of a false ID a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, which has cost Jon little business.
Many states are considering using the scanning line on the back of drivers' licenses to generate the license holder's age and identification. Jon already is a step ahead of his opponent, who, by the way, keeps him working.
When you look at the whole picture, you can't help but grab your stomach and laugh. The generation classified as X, with its negative labels, has put its front-line computer hackers and software geniuses up against the rules and regulations of our country's brightest politicians.
The X kids are not only winning by a large margin, but they also are profiting. Jon is profiling so enormously that one might assume that he would vote against any change in the law. It's not a far-fetched idea that Jon is acting both as a political lobbyist and a catalyst. How ironic is that?
Generation X has an arsenal of new age software, a demand for production, and the philosophical phrase, "What the people want, the people will get," sitting at its side. These weapons have proved to be too much for our government to handle, hinting that this generation has more energy than its pot-smoking reputation has been credited with.
Our mighty government once again has spent tax money on a series of attacks against proponents of lowering the legal drinking age that are more of an election gimnick than a well-thought plan to help society in an economically, socially constructive way.
Cory Hedgepath is an Oatlie freshman in Journalism.
OUT FROM THE CRACKS
By Jeremy Patnoi