4A
Friday, August 23, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Fake ID possessors don't deserve felony
We're taught that the punishment for breaking a law should be set according to the seriousness of the crime. The Kansas Legislature has abandoned this principle in its decision to punish possessors of false ID's as felons.
As of July 1, Kansas law began treating the use or possession of a canceled, revoked, suspended, fictitious or fraudulently altered driver's license as a felony. The offense previously was treated as a misdemeanor, and the change is an attempt to strengthen Kansas' deterrents to underage drinking.
in their capricious decision, Kansas legislators have not considered the motives of most who use false ID's. Many wish only to socialize with their peers in a casual atmosphere. While their behavior is undeniable criminal and deserving of punishment, it does not warrant a permanent stamp as a felon. The new guidelines also punish individuals who loan ID's using the same laws that apply to those who attempt to use them. While their role, too, is unlawful, it is far from
THE ISSUE:
False ID penalties
The Kansas Legislature should reconsider its decision to make carrying or loaning a fake identification a felony.
felonious.
Jerry Donaldson of the Kansas Attorney General's Office notes that Kansas sentencing guidelines draw distinctions in the severity of felonies, which include murder, rape, burglary and now, possession of a falsified Kansas driver's license. Felonies in general, however, are inherently more serious because they remain on records permanently. The consequences include significantly fewer career options and the label of a serious criminal.
The Kansas Legislature should reconsider its decision to treat underage drinkers as hardened criminals. Strict punishment may be in order for those who use false ID's, but offenders do not deserve to be marked for a lifetime.
LEWIS GALLOWAY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Class advising can save students tuition money
The introduction of linear tuition this semester has made it necessary for students to trim the fat from their schedules. No longer can students lump classes that aren't degree requirements into a set tuition fee.
Because each class has a price tag, students on a budget must take precautions to arrange their schedules with classes they need.
This should be an incentive for students to drop the do-it-yourself approach to choosing classes and seek an academic adviser.
The cost of discovering one three-credit class has failed to meet a requirement will now cost an instate student $189 and an out-of-state student $795.
Although speaking to any adviser is better than leaving your schedule up to chance, finding the correct adviser, who is knowledgeable about the specific degree being pursued, is crucial.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Services, Room 109 Strong Hall, will screen students to determine needs and then refer the student to a suitable advising service.
THE ISSUE: Academic Advising
Students should actively seek advising to save money and time.
Sandy Williams, acting assistant dean of Student Services for the School of Business, believes the need to seek an adviser goes beyond picking the right classes.
It also is a way to gain access to the most accurate information about programs of interest,to get referrals for other services and to develop a relationship with a faculty member who can help students work toward career goals.
Confusion about class schedules is worth a trip to an adviser's office. The consequences could be costly.
ERIN KRIST FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
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Business Staff
WASHINGTON — It was the most notable presidential birthday since Marilyn Monroe cooed a seductive "Happy birth-day, Mr. Pres-i-dent" to John F. Kennedy in 1962 in Madison Square Garden.
Increasingly, I hear boomers say age is only a state of mind, that, "If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." In this election year, we'll see how much it matters.
This, then, could be the greatest choice between generational images Americans have seen since 1960, when some voters had a hard time believing Richard Nixon was only four years older than Jack Kennedy. He sounded and seemed much older.
Up the street from where that happy event took place, President Clinton celebrated his birthday on Sunday in Radio City Music Hall. The president turned 50 the next day, and he was taking a generation with him.
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Fathered by a returning war veteran immediately after World War II, Bill Clinton is on the leading edge of the baby boom. Crossing the half-century mark is a big deal for any generation.
Just yesterday, you were qualifying for your first scout merit badge. Suddenly, you're eligible to join the American Association of Retired Persons. The passing of the 50-year milestone is particularly big for us boomers because of the great conceit with which we deluded ourselves in the 1960s, the turbulent decade in which the boomers first came into college age and adulthood. It was the conceit of believing on a deep, visceral level that we would never grow old. Now, we must face a different truth. At 40, we could fudge about whether 40 was really old. At 50, the fudge is running out. Suddenly, the generation known for the phrase, "Don't trust anyone over 30" is saying, Yes, there is life after 50, if you do it right.
Clinton's 50th birthday brings new boomer age
Watch for Clinton and his fellow Democrats to try to fill that gap at next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Don't expect them to replay Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow much (The Clinton-Gore team just about wore out that fine song's welcome four years ago through overplaying), but do expect the song's sentiments to be rested loudly, clearly and repeatedly.
Clarence Page is a syndicated columnist for The Chicago Tribune.
Putting aside the incongruities of using glowing terms to describe Russell during the Great Depression, Dole spent a lot of time describing the past and little time painting a picture of the future. Where, one wonders, does he expect to go with this grumpy, old man act? What, one wonders, does he have to say to the MTV and Internet generation about the next century?
But he sounded old-fashioned. I don't remember much from his nomination acceptance speech other than the refrain "I remember," as he recalled an American that was a better place, a place of "tranquility, faith and confidence in action."
Supporting this theme, it was significant to me that the same delightfully sprightly boomers dominated the stage at Clinton's birthday bash. There was Jon Bon Jovi, Smokey Robinson, Carly Simon, Kenny Rogers and Murphy Brown's favorite. Aretha Franklin.
a clever video on MTV a few years ago, instantly making him a role model for late-bloomer boomers. So Clinton could afford to have a good time at his birthday party. Age 50 is a time when most people begin to feel the bitter reality of life's limitations. Clinton is lucky enough to
More significantly, there was Tony Bennett, a star of the 1940s and '50s who launched a second career with
be turning 50 at a time when 50 has never been younger. He gets the wisdom that comes with experience and still has enough youthfulness to enjoy it.
Boomers, the generation that questioned everything, have raised the question: What is "old"? The question is of particular significance this year, as one of history's youngest presidents is challenged by one of history's oldest presidential candidates.
Four years ago, we boomers were shocked when one of our own was elected president. What a relief it was to know that he was only the third youngest, behind Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, to be inaugurated into the job. Now, we can appreciate his gravitas, that he has learned better than to parade his thighs in public in running shorts. We can appreciate the way age, though it brings wrinkles and bald spots, also brings wisdom, patience.
Republican challenger Bob Dole's age is the factor everyone is reluctant to talk about in polite company, yet everybody thinks about. Dole, 73, received a big boost in the polls after he showed at the Republican National Convention that he does
have energy, a compelling personal story and something in his head that vaguely resembles a vision for America.
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
Lawrence residents should use turn signals
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
This is for those Lawrence drivers who fail to use their turn signals. You're breaking the law! I refer you to the Kansas Uniform Act Regulating Traffic; Rules of the Road, page 433, section 8-1548: "Turning movements and required signals. (a) No person shall turn a vehicle or move
Lawrence drivers regularly violate this regulation. Lawrence and KU police, KU facilities employees, Lawrence cab drivers, residents and students violate the law.
Failure to signal before turning is discourteous, disconcerting and dangerous. This, of course, applies to people on bikes, mopeds and motorcycles as well.
right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety, nor without giving an appropriate signal in the manner hereafter provided. (b) A signal of intention to turn or move right or left when required shall be given continuously during not less than the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning."
Bob Lewis, Lawrence resident
1 estimate at least 50 percent of
College a time to evaluate and accept beliefs
Dear first-year students . . snooze.
No, this won't be another sedate orientation but some practical advice from someone who was a college freshman when you were in the eighth grade. As a graduate student, I'm entitled to pontificate about "how to make the most of your college experience." So here it goes.
As you explore your University community, you'll see all kinds of people, from guys who could have been in Nirvana's *Smells Like Teen*
The key to coping with the diversity at the University of Kansas is to be
STAFF
COLUMNIST
guys who went to the Kiss full make-up reunion concert. You'll also see sorority girls from Johnson County and who could be nicknamed Teva Vonbirkenstock.
tolerant — a sort of laissez faire, live-and-leet live ethic. To most KU students, tolerance isn't so much of a well-thought out philosophy as it is an attitude.
It's impossible to be consistently tolerant unless you want to tolerate everything — including Nazis, racists and people who picket funerals of AIDS victims. Most people feel compelled to express moral outrage at such activities, and rightly so. Yet, the definition of moral outrage is intolerance, the only thing a tolerant person can't practice.
Don't question another person's beliefs — that would be offensive. Don't criticize another person's lifestyle — that would be judgmental. Don't describe anything as wrong — that would be intolerant. You can hold passionate convictions, but please keep them to yourself.
Therefore, it's impossible to be tolerant and be intolerant of injustice at the same time. This contradiction consumes the tolerance philosophy like a snake ingesting its tail.
Tolerance sounds good on the surface. If we could all tolerate one another, we would live in peace in a little utopia on the hill — a noble goal with a flawed approach.
As a new student, don't tolerate anything. Evaluate everything. Then, after some careful moral reasoning, decide if something should be tolerated.
Tolerance attempts to create harmony in our world of differences, but only creates a dull monotone of voices in numbed agreement about a nonconfrontational approach to life.
Many people preaching tolerance appear diverse and sophisticated but are more like the Borg from Star Trek, assimilating new students into a culture of mindless conformity.
Only by acknowledging a moral reality higher than our shifting attitudes, what the Bible describes as truth, or the Greeks cosmos, will our community become truly tolerant.
While tolerance encourages some good values, respect and compassion, it asks its practitioners to subscribe to an unrealistic view of the world — moral relativism — in which truth, or right and wrong, is defined by personal opinion.
Genuine tolerance is an overflow of a conviction grounded in that higher reality that all people possess equal worth and should be treated with dignity, regardless of whether you agree with their lifestyle or beliefs. Of course, you can disagree with a person but still treat them with tolerance.
The overflow of academic tolerance, on the other hand, is indiffer
John Hart is a Shawnee graduate student in journalism.
OUT FROM THE CRACKS
By Jeremy Patnoi