4A
Monday, September 23, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Rock Chalk should widen volunteer opportunities
On Sept. 7, living groups participating in Rock Chalk Revue began donating their time to community service agencies in Douglas County. While Rock Chalk should be congratulated for its leadership role in community service, it should provide an incentive for participants to donate community service hours during the entire year.
Typically, the number of volunteers for community service agencies varies significantly according to the season, with significant summer shortages, said Amy Griggs, coordinator of the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, 211 E. Eighth St. Volunteer agencies undoubtedly would benefit from greater consistency in the number of volunteers, Griggs said
sad. In the Rock Chalk program, living groups are paired with each other in the spring of each year following the Rock Chalk Revue performance, which was held during the first week in March last year. After the groups have been matched, volunteer hours are not counted toward group totals until the fall semester, this year beginning on Sept.7. Therefore, the peak volunteer time occurs from September to March.
Rock Chalk coordinators should expand their community service program to allow members of living groups to donate hours during late spring and summer, both in Lawrence and elsewhere. Groups now are required to donate their services to nonprofit agencies in Douglas County, said Andrew Schauder, community service coordinator for Rock Chalk. If the program were expanded, the students who participate in Rock Chalk and leave Lawrence could alleviate shortages elsewhere.
Last year, Rock Chalk supported about 35 volunteer agencies with 30,429 hours in community service. With a few changes in the program's design, they could provide an incentive for many more.
LEWIS GALLOWAY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Campus bus system needs contingency plan for crises
Last week, Jenna Hilton was in front of Snow Hall, waiting for her bus to take her home. She waited. And waited. And waited. But the bus didn't come, which caused Hilton, Wichita senior, to show up late for work. The bus for the 22nd Street and Kasold Drive route was having technical difficulties.
But that's not what disturbed Hilton. The problem was that although people were waiting for that bus, empty buses continually left campus to go to the residence halls.
Hilton called the Lawrence Bus Company when her bus was missing. She was told that there was a problem and that they were working on it. But this was the second time this had happened to Hilton, and she wants it to stop.
"I don't understand why they couldn't have just given us one of the empty buses," Hilton said. Her disappointment with the transportation system is understandable, but there is hope for improvement.
Buses break down. No one can control the frequency of breakdowns. But when this happens, a contingency plan that would reroute buses can and should go into effect.
that would reroute buses to the Lawrence Bus Co., said that at least four spare buses always were ready for emergencies and that the company tried to maintain an efficient schedule.
Hilton, however, experienced a longer, costly wait.
"The most amount of time that would transpire would be 15 minutes," Ogle said. The Lawrence Bus Co. tries to avoid any lengthy interruptions in service, he said.
Hilton, however, experienced a longer, costy waist. Students don't buy a bus pass with the expectation that it will be good when the buses are in working order. They purchase the passes as a plan for consistent, dependable transportation.
Before winter weather takes out any more buses, precautions should be taken to ensure that students can get to and from campus consistently on time.
ANN MARCHAND FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
AMANDA TRAUGHBER
Editor
CRAIG LANG
Managing editor
MATT HOOD
Associate managing editor for design
KIMBERLY CABRTEE
CHARITY JEFFRIES
News editors
DARCI L McLAIN
SARA ROSE
Public relations directors
KAREN GERSCH
Business manager
HEALY SMART
Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUFF
Technology coordinator
Editors
Campus ... Suzanna Lóóf
J Stewart Strait
... Amy McVey
Editorial ... John Collar
Features ... Nicole Kennedy
Sports ... Bill Petulla
computer sports ... Carlyn Foster
On-line editor ... David L. Teaska
Photo ... Rich Devkni
Graphics ... Noah Musser
Special sections ... Andy Rohlbach
Special sections ... Andy Rohlbach
Debbie Staline
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Mark Oskmek
Regional mgr ... Dennis Haupt
Assistant Retail mgr ... Dana Centeno
National office mgr ... Dan Kochel
Individual missions mgr ... Heather Valer
Production mgr ... Dan Kopec
Managing director ... Lisa Quebbanman
Managing director ... Deamond Lavelle
Creative director ... Deamond Lavelle
Classified mgr ... Shelly Wachter
Shawn Trimble/KANSAN
Racism is not linked only to dominant ethnic group
it has been two weeks since my school threw me out into the carnivorous world of professional social work. Two weeks of back-breaking labor as I lift the phone receiver time and time again. Two weeks of suffering under the intense heat of fluorescent lights for six or seven hours a day. And two weeks of learning exactly how much small-town academia is shielded from the reality of downtown Kansas City, Kan.
For instance, among the many professors and teaching assistants whose services I have purchased during the past several years, two of them have told me that minorities can't be racist. Racism, they said, is inherently linked with oppression, and because the oppressed can't be the oppressor, then obviously racism is the white male's fault.
I can see this may be true in structural or institutional racism. Europeans took this country in a blaze of gunfire and smallpox and laid the foundation for the country we have today. Two hundred years later, they still control the government, the money lenders, the media and most important, nearly every exclusive golf course in the continental United States.
When the programs or policies of these organizations either purposely or accidentally exclude minorities, then the insidious and subtle entity called structural racism is revealed. This type of racism is open only to those of the dominant culture.
STAFF COLUMNIST
But individual racism doesn't depend on skin color or the particulars of power relationships. It exists between individuals and is the result of someone overgeneralizing past experience to stereotype or lay blame on all members of a particular culture.
Last week, I met two individuals who illustrated this perfectly. The first was an African-American male who, in the midst of a drunken stupor, decided to crawl after me as I walked to lunch. Obviously not seeing the gold ring on my left hand which signifies governmental permission to marry, he yelled out to me again and again, "Hey, white-boy faggot!"
"White people took my kids; they taking my money, and they stack me in an institution," she said. "I don't like no white people, and I don't like you."
His hostility was understandable.
There I was in $100 shoes and a silk tie while he was begging for change in hopes of buying a new bottle. But the way his anger manifested itself was racist, homophobic and ignorant.
Later that afternoon, I met with an African-American female who did not want to talk to me and glared at me until my head hurt. Finally, I asked her what was wrong.
Again, racism. While both of these individuals may have good reason to hate their oppressors and to despise a world in which they were born at a distinct disadvantage from their white counterparts, prejudging or hating people based on their skin color is just as wrong as when done by a minority as it is when perpetrated by a member of the dominant culture. If Professor Bleeding-Heart wants to create a new name for it, no one is stopping him. But racism is racism.
Victory against racism will never be achieved if we continue to fight it as individual cultural groups. It will never be won through lawsuits or legislation. It will only come through friendship, mutual understanding and people standing together and educating their neighbors.
Sweet sentiment from academia? Maybe. I want to believe in the propensity of people to change and grow. I do. But somewhere deep inside is the growing belief that the only way some people — whether they be black, white, or plaid — can change is through decomposition. And maybe it will be better for all of us when they do.
Todd Hiltz is a Lyndon senior in social welfare.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Marriage act column had inaccurate fact
Marriage act exudes hatred despite what supporters say," by Shannon Tauscher, exudes a lack of credibility that is not startling for your paper.
the full faith and credit clause ..."
The full faith and credit clause is not an amendment to our Constitution, however, but is found in Article IV, Section I of its original text.
Among the logical and factual inconsistencies that riddle her column, Ms. Tauscher asserts that the "Fourth Amendment of the Constitution ... [is] known as
Although this distinction seems trivial, it is important to scholars and citizens alike. Its importance need not be discussed fully here except to point out that failure to recognize the difference between an amendment and an original document
bespeaks of ignorance.
An author dedicated to challenging the ignorance that anchors bigotry would do well to avoid appearing ignorant herself.
Trace Schmeltz Leawood law student
In a recent Kansan, a letter to the editor caught my attention. The letter, headlined, "Student disappointed by Kansan's news coverage," bashed the Kansan for catering to the "campus drones" with lightweight stories on subjects such as shaving myths, comic strips and popular drinking establishments, while saving the important news for the briefs inside the paper.
Feature items can be worthy of front-page coverage, too
STAFF COLUMNIST
because of that article, any guy looking for a prospective date with smooth legs will know to steer clear of Heather Hirsute (not her real name), who openly admitted she does not shave. If this article saves just one guy from unknowingly stroking a hairy leg, it has served its purpose. Of course, the rest of the article was irrelevant, and 30 inches of space could have been saved by just printing in big block letters across the front page, "Warning: Heather Hirsute does not shave her legs!"
The letter was well-written, and the author made a valid point, but I disagree with her. While a story on comic strips may not warrant frontpage space (Page 1) should be reserved for actual comic strips only), feature stories can be just as important, if not more important, than the so-called real issues international news
1 guess the question is this: Exactly what qualifies as news?
Stanley Walker, formerly of the world-renowned City Editor, once said. "Women, wampum and wrongdoing are always news."
To give another example, the author of the letter sarcastically questioned whether a front-page article on shaving myths was more important than the United States attacking Iraq or the approach of a damaging hurricane. For her, may not, but for most guys, that article could be life-saving.
By that standard, the Kansan is right on target in its coverage. Dating and relationships obviously fit under the women category, beer often leads to wrongdoing and while I have no idea what wampum is, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it had something to do with hairy legs.
HUBIE
Jeff Mudnick is a Topoka sophomore in psychology.
of international news.
ror example, consider the following statistic. Last year, almost 25 percent of all freshmen at the University of Kansas did not return for a second year. This is obviously a concern. While some have proposed addressing the problem through smaller classes or better advising, the Kansan is the only one addressing the problem at its true source.
These students pay several thousand dollars to attend the University, but some fail to attain good beer and willate days and are left sober and unfulfilled. No wonder they leave.
By printing articles about the best bars to hit and dating and relationships, the Kansan gives these students the information they need and improves their chances of returning next year. Don't be surprised if the returnee rate improves because of these articles. Surely the chancellor or some other high-ranking official will try to take credit, but you'll know where the credit actually lies.
It is a known fact that a certain percentage of students — coincidentally, about 25 percent of freshmen — came to the University for two reasons: to drink beer and to get laid. Some of these students come to us lacking essential resources for college success, such as a fake ID, social skills or personal hygiene skills.
By Greg Hardin