4A Monday, October 14, 1996 OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN VIEWPOINT Youth legislated against unless they register, vote For all their political activism, few students vote. Since 1971, when the 26th Amendment was adopted and granted 18-year-olds the right to vote, voting among young adults, ages 18 to 29, has declined steadily. Youth voting was at its highest — 48 percent during the height of the Vietnam War in 1972 and has declined to 39 percent in 1992. The forecast for 1996 doesn't look much better. According to a Kansas City Star article this summer, only 16 percent to 22 percent of eligible young adults are expected to go to the polls this year. The Student Legislative Awareness Board has worked to provide Voter Awareness week, an event running now through next Monday to give students the opportunity to register to vote and learn more about the candidates running for office. It will provide voter registration tables at the Kansas Union and at Wescoe Beach. A person must register before the Oct. 21 deadline to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 5 election. Voting not only is a civic duty; it also is a privilege that many Americans are taking for granted. Too often, politicians legislate against the will of politically apathetic groups, such as students and the poor. If every student on this campus, or even in this state, voted would Congress vote to slash student loans? It's unlikely. And this year, Kansas finds itself in a virtually unprecedented position of electing nearly every position except governor. Besides the president, Kansans also will vote on two new U.S. senators, at least three new representatives, every state senator, and every state representative, not to mention several local officials. There is a possibility of a new governing body in the state, save Gov. Bill Graves. Therefore, each and every student should take the first step in the political process this week: Register to vote. ANN MARCHAND FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD National Park near Flint Hills created for future Kansans The tallgrass prairie of Kansas is a remnant of the landscape that challenged and awed early settlers as they began their trek across the American West. A new national park, Kansas' first, has been created to preserve a portion of these grasslands that once stretched from Oklahoma to Ohio. The park is west of Emporia in the Flint Hills, a rolling terrain with majestic vistas that defy any visitor to label Kansas flat. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve comprises 11,000 acres of land that are part of the Spring Hill/Z-Bar Ranch. A historic limestone ranch house, built in 1881, also will be managed by the National Park Service and open for tours. Included in the parks bill passed by Congress is a provision to designate Nicodemus, a former African-American settlement near the tallgrass prairie, as a national historic site. The Flint Hills and tallgrass prairie change so dramatically with the seasons that they warrant several visits a year. In early spring, spectacular ribbons of fire sweep across the grasslands, returning nourishment to the soil and clearing the way for another year's growth. In fall, the tallgrass turns brilliant shades of yellow, orange and rust. It is every bit as breathtaking as the autumn leaves on the trees of Lawrence. Students should take advantage of this nearby national park. It is only 80 miles from Lawrence.The historical and natural attractions of Chase and Graham counties are reasons for a fall road trip. BRENT SUTTER 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 Suannna Lóif Jason Strait Amy McVoy Editorial John Collar Features Nicole Kennedy Sports Adam Wint Associate sports Petula Petilla Online editor David L. Teakua Photo Rich Devinold Graphics Nosh Museer Andy Rothschild Special sections Amy McVoy Wire Debbie Staline KAREN GERSCH 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 Odkmek Regional mgr ... Denni Haupt Assistant Retail mgr ... Dana Contento National mgr ... Katie Nye Special Suction mgr ... Neale Shanker Production mgr ... Dan Kapo Lisa Quebbeman Marketing director .. Eric Johnson Creative director .. Desmond Lavelle Head of Sourcing .. Meshun Shah Mass Impact mgr .. Dena Pioslette Internet mgr .. Steve Sanger There is one in every male living unit on campus, whether it is a fraternity, residence hall, apartment building or scholarship hall. I'm not sure if the female living units have them or not. My example lives in Amini Hall. Let's call him Charlie. Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE Nowadays, love is a game played for empty results Charlie is a well-meaning fellow, easy to get along with, bright, friendly and helpful. And he prides himself on his advice to freshmen, especially hapless, lovelorn freshmen. His advice isn't uncommon; you would hear the same at any other university. The worldly wisdom of the sage of romance. The reason I am picking on Charlie this week is because he exemplifies a recent trend among college- and high-school-aged people. I call it romantic strategy. Romantic strategy is forming a game plan to either start a relationship, end a relationship or make a relationship more fulfilling. Remember that this is a men's hall, and fulfilling is the most complimentary euphemism I could come up with. Basically, romantic strategy turns love into a game. One of the more popular romantic strategies among men is avoiding being tied down. This strategy assumes quantity means more than quality, and therefore, you should date as many women as you can. But you have to fool each one into thinking you want the relationship to last. So, if you want to really be happy, just balance each woman's emotional needs with your need for distance, and carefully tiptoe that line. This strategy surfaces when the guy pays hundreds of dollars to keep his woman (quite a respectful term, don't you think?) from leaving him. At the same time, the guy has to make sure the whole world knows STAFF COLUMNIST that he is not dating this woman, or else the other women would be inaccessible to him. He wants to have his cake and eat it, too. In the end, if either or both of the women leave him, he waits a couple of weeks to pay off his credit card bills and start again. He was starting to get tired of her anyway. Essentially, he hasn't lost anything. What does the woman in the relationship get out of this game? Two dozen flowers, a box of candy and maybe a nice necklace in exchange for her human dignity and emotional well-being. That is hardly an even trade, no matter where the necklace was bought. Unfortunately, what people (mostly guys) tend to forget is that there is another person involved in this relationship. Not a football, not a petri dish full of bacteria. A person. And you don't build strategies to "get" a person the way you would "get" a field goal. The word "love" has been contorted and divided during recent years, so I should clarify what I mean. Love is not butterflies in the springtime and moonlit walks by the river, though those can be nice. Nor is love some shallow, physical attraction that comes and goes with your hormones. That kind of stuff is for junior-high kids. Love in the sense that I use the word involves mutual respect, sacrifice and investment. Love means you invest something of yourself in another person, something that you can't give to a dozen other people at the same time. "Whoa, wait a minute! We're talking about dating here, not love, for crying out loud! You sound like my parents!" I already have resigned myself to the label of old-fashioned. But can we say things have improved since we took the idea of love out of dating — with teen pregnancy and date rape statistics as high as they are? Now that we have made love irrelevant to dating, we leave only two points for a relationship to focus on money and sex. And a lot of people think they can trade one for the other in a relationship to get what they want. That is why romantic strategy is so popular — it provides a logical framework for that trade. We used to separate ourselves from the animals in how we treat each other. Most people would look at an animal (say, for example, a cow) and ask, "What can I get out of this thing?" Then they would take it. When we look at a person, we used to say, "What can I contribute to this person's happiness?" Nowadays, we ask, "What can I get out of this person?" What, then, makes us any better than the Nazis who saw in the Jews only an immense source of free labor? Unfortunately, I suffer from a narrow perspective — I'm a male. Therefore, I don't know how women feel about this subject. But I'm open to comments from both sides, and I would love to hear your favorite (or least favorite) romantic strategies. Feel free to send me an email at arohrb@kansan.com Andy Rohrback is an Andover sophomore in Journalism. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pro-Choice Coalition is not pro-abortion Stacy Nagy's Oct. 4 column is reflective of many people's views on abortion. Abortion is a frustrating issue and those who do not see the dilemma in black-and-white terms often feel excluded from the dialogue. I commend Nagy for expressing these realities. As a coordinator for the KU Pro-Choice Coalition, I would like to clarify our group's position. Nagy's editorial necessarily generalized some of the abortion rights movement's The KU Pro-Choice Coalition mission statement includes a stipulation that we do not oppose alternatives to abortion. Our student group is committed to preserving the element of choice such that no woman feels pressure from outside forces when confronted with an unplanned pregnancy. There are members of our group who have personal opposition to abortion, but feel strongly that the government should not interfere with a beliefs, and I would like to extend a more detailed look at what "prochoice" means to members of the KU student group. decision regarding reproductive choice. Nagy's editorial claimed that the abortion rights movement does not listen to the real issues. I would assert that the KU Pro-Choice Coalition takes issues very seriously. Through our various campus and community actions, we have expressed a concern for women, their families and their reproductive freedoms. These are not issues we will ever ignore. Sarah Deer coordinator, KU Pro-Choice Coalition Harassment should not go unpunished in our schools The issue of sexual harassment in grade and high schools has gotten a lot of press lately. This attention is the result of a somewhat silly decision to discipline a young boy for kissing his classmate, even though she had asked him to. Unfortunately, this incident has been given press that perhaps should have been directed at more important cases. One such case is the appeal of STAFF COLUMNIST Texas mother Debra Rowlinsky. The appeal deals with the role that schools should play in the prevention of harassment. The situation unfolds something like this: Rowinsky's eighth-grade daughters allegedly were being harassed on a school bus. The harassment did not merely come in the form of a kiss that they had asked for; the harassment allegedly extended to taunting, groping and grabbing. Because the abuse was not a one-time event, but instead occurred during a ninemonth period, Rowinsky sued local school officials for falling to protect her daughters. In what I consider to be a major setback in the fight for equality in education, her appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. Unfortunately, there are now no more outlets for these girls, and there is no longer anyone to protect them. The last resort is not a resort at all because with this decision, schools no longer are responsible for stopping continued, reprehensible behavior. The decision does not include just the school bus. It extends to the school in general. It is the responsibility of schools to educate our students. While that may sound like an easy enough task, it is more difficult than just placing them in a classroom and teaching. Teachers work with children from different backgrounds, at different levels of understanding. They try to teach children as a large group, while everyone in that group is learning differently. Any teacher will tell you that it is important that the school environment is conducive to learning, but this can't happen if sexual harassment is allowed to continue. With all the places in this world that are not safe for children, our schools should not be one of them. This case is just one circumstance in which it is not safe for everyone to learn. We need to teach children while they are still young that harassment is wrong in any situation. The Associated Press contributed to this column. Stacy Nagy is a Toopeka Junior in Russian and women's studies. How to submit letters Letten: Should be double-spaced, typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address, telephone number, class and home-town if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions. All letters should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staufer-Flint Hall, or by e-mail to opinion@kansan.com/The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For more information, call John Collar or Nicole Kennedy, editorial page editors, at 864-4810. HUBIE By Greg Hardin ---