OPINION MONDAY, OCTOBER 25. 2004 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD Student ticket situation unfair for basketball fans www.kansan.com Just as we thought getting a seat in Allen Fieldhouse for basketball games couldn't be more competitive, only four thousand tickets are available to students. The first 3,800 tickets go to students in line, and the remaining tickets are given out by lottery. Instead of making a in-and-out trip to the ticket booth to exchange vouchers for tickets, students had to stand in line for hours only to wait for their set of the highly coveted 3,800 student tickets to be printed on the spot. The new system and the sight of the seemingly endless line that stretched down Naismith Drive has created a sense of panic. Students are being forced to choose between attending class with the chance of not receiving their pre-paid tickets, and getting a big "A" for absent on the attendance record and still have a chance of not receiving their tickets. With the amount of enthusiasm that surrounds the Kansas basketball tradition, the chances of students choosing class over tickets are not good. Shouldn't this send a red flag to the University? The fight to be in the front of the line when the ticket office opens will only get worse as the season progresses and the basketball team faces Big 12 Conference competition and big-name schools. Soon, students will have to camp out not only for seats, but also for tickets. Who would regulate another camping process, this time for tickets? Besides the stress of finding extra time to stand in line and possibly even camp out, it is also stressful to think that many students who have already paid for tickets and did not get any may have to pay again to buy a ticket from someone who decides not to attend a certain game. This is not fair. The new system that has been implemented is unnecessary. What was wrong with the old system? There rarely were lines to wait in, and students did not have to choose between class and their love and loyalty to Jayhawk basketball. The athletic department has crossed the line. Students need to be a much higher priority for basketball. After all, without students to carry on the spirited customs, Kansas basketball would not be the longstanding tradition that it is today. Free for All Call 864-0500 Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded. For more comments, go to www.kansan.com. hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint I really wish that creepy Burger King mascot would kill Mr. Wendy's. If you let A equal one, B equal two, et cetera for the whole alphabet and then you add the sum of the digits that form my name, you get a prime number, which means I'm in good company with such individuals as Sherlock Holmes, Jesus Christ, and Scooby-Doo. You try it! ResNet drives me to drink lots and lots of beer. hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint I'm gonna be Broadband Man for Halloween, man. hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint Yes, McCollum just had fire alarm number 16 all because somebody was upset about the Yankees losing. Thanks a lot, Yankees. The ghost of Babe Ruth set off those fire alarms in McCollum last night. Not sure why he's in Kansas, though. What is the difference between mostly sunny and partly cloudy? hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint --hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint Yes, it is about 12:45 and McCollum is at fire alarm number 17 now. Thanks a lot, Yankees again. I am sick and tired of hearing my roommate say, "Oh, what movie is that from?" Kris Kobach in '08 for president, this guy is awesome! It's kind of raining outside and I just saw someone writing on the sidewalk in front of Wescoe with chalk. Jennifer Weaver sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint Yeah, to the pink shorts guy; You haven't lost a real bet on the KU/K-State game until you've had to run naked down Jayhawk Boulevard. That's all I have to say. hard copy: Kansan newsroom 111 Staffer-Flint While I understand that we're all Red Sox fans and we're very,very,very excited that the Yankees lost four times in a row, I don't believe that the way we should express that extreme happiness is through fire alarms. TALK TO US Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 864-7967 or mqlibson@kanans.com Anna Clovis and Samia Khan opinion editors 884-4924 or opition.kansan.com 864-4810 or hjackson@kansan.com EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Donovan Atkinson and Andrew Vaupel managing editors 864-4810 or datakson@kansan.com and avapeulb@kansan.com Laura Rose Barr, Ty Beaver, Ryan Good, Anna Gregory, Jack Henry-Rhoads, Kelly Hollowell, Nate Karner, Jay Kimmel, Stephanie Lovett, Taylor Price, Neo Rasor, Ryan Scarrow, John Tran, Anne Weltmer and Michelle Wood Justin Roberts business manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com Stephanie Graham retail sales manager 864-4358 or advertising@ansan.com STINSON'S VIEW The Kansas reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 200 words and guest columns should not exceed 550 words. To submit a letter to the editor or a column, e-mail the document to opinion@kanson.com with your name, hometown, year in school or position and phone number. For any questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@kansan.com. General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kansan.com. The Kansan welcomes the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. Maximum Length: 650 word limit Include: Author's name Class, hometown (student) Position (faculty member) Also: The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack another columnist. GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES LETTER GUIDELINES **Maximum Length:** 200 word limit **Include:** Author's name and telephone number Class, hometown (student) Position (faculty member) E-mail: opinion@kansan.com SUBMIT TO Zach Stinson/KANSAN Homeless deserve our concern Many Americans, including myself, have the luxury of avoiding the homeless. Like others, I have crossed the street to keep from walking past people who appear to be homeless and might ask me for spare change. Another way to avoid the homeless issue is to ignore the truth about it. Americans can't afford this ignorance if they care about their future. GUEST COMMENTARY Concern for the future means concern for children, who account for increased numbers of the homeless. U.S. Census statistics for 2000 indicate that children account for 40 percent of the 31.1 million American poor. These children are usually in families headed by single parents, mostly mothers, who often are domestic violence victims. (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2004) Families are the fastest-growing part of America's homeless population. When politicians and voters talk about protecting family values do they have homeless families in mind? Since Sept. 11, more Americans express respect for military veterans. Some may not know veterans make up a significant portion of the homeless: 33 percent of the male homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2004. How real is our patriotism when so many of those who served lack basic human needs? Fewer still want to believe that many homeless people work. The "just RAY PENCE opinion@kansan.com world" theory is often used to explain homelessness and other misfortunes. Its proponents see a world where people get what they deserve: prosperity is a result of hard work and failure is due to laziness. The theory obviously doesn't apply to children, but many people insist homeless adults cause their own problems through sloth. The facts tell a different story. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 44 percent of homeless people worked for pay in the past month, with 20 percent of that number in jobs with a duration of at least three months. Attributing mental illness to the majority of homeless people is another factual error. At most, seven percent of mentally ill homeless people have a condition that could be handled best by institutionalization. America has a long, mostly successful, tradition of rehabilitating people with disabilities so they can work and live independently in communities. History shows that such programs are cost-effective investments, and that institutions do far more harm than good. Releasing people from mental hospitals during the 1950s and 1960s did not cause the rise in homelessness starting in the 1980s; declining incomes and housing shortages did, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 2004. Homelessness is more of a social problem than a personal one. Some won't agree, clinging to the American celebration of individualism. Reforms can alleviate and minimize these problems. President Bush wants to go further and eliminate homelessness during this decade β€” perhaps a surprising goal for a conservative president, but a worthy one. Pursuing Bush's goal requires taxpayer money. We can be negative and call this "throwing money at problems," or we can be positive and invest in people who will themselves become taxpayers. In addition to this investment, America needs what Martin Luther King, Jr. called a "revolution of values." Stigmatizing the homeless and wishing them away is easier, but less selfishness and more interdependence in America will lead to fewer homeless. Pence is a Casper, Wyo., graduate student in American studies. Subsidizing perpetuates problem I was going to drop the homeless issue, but Ron Knox's article "Chess 24/7" (Lawrence Journal-World, Oct. 11) is an opportunity too good to pass up. So I'm back for a second round. Seldom does an article reinforce the points of one of my columns so well. FRESH ARRAH Ron Knox's article discussed the plight of two homeless men, both convicted felons with substance abuse problems. One of the men admitted he'd had a job and a place to live with a relative but chose the street because a job and a housed existence "felt like I was still in prison." So it's not as if he has "no place else to go." Nor is it accurate to say that the homeless are just like everybody else, unless everybody else is a skid row wino. ARRAH NIELSEN opinion@kansan.com It's telling that able-bodied English speaking Americans claim that housing and jobs can't be found while illegal non-English speaking Mexicans manage to find both and send money back to their families in Mexico. I'm sure many of the homeless didn't exactly have a Leave it to Beaver-type childhood. But society can't suspend the rules that everyone else lives by for every person who had an unhappy childhood. Encouraging patterns of responsible behavior can go farther to help the needy than the most generous set of welfare benefits. I've seen numerous panhandlers bearing signs claiming that they are disabled However well-intentioned homeless advocates may be, their outreach activities are ineffective. The Alternative Spring Break office hosts a trip to Washington, D.C., through the National Coalition for the Homeless where students live on the street for two days and pretend to be homeless. This activity accomplishes nothing of value and is probably more meaningful to participants than to the homeless. The homeless need practical help, not some kid from Leawood pretending to be a hobo. MOND veterans. Disabled veterans are eligible for guaranteed housing loans, education grants, free healthcare and a pension. There is no reason for veterans to be homeless unless they do not apply for benefits or get kicked out of veterans hospitals. But whose fault is that? MR Genuinely responsible people who become homeless due to circumstances beyond their control (medical expenses, job loss, etc.) don't stay homeless that long and their problems aren't as SOOI CONTINUE Eaki waited another was in fundrawhen'tw as co "We pretty said He ing Assoc ing do econo Th Wa Unive out a MRC negoti ture ! the n The worki Gould architec center design on Under the K serious or difficult to solve as the chronically irresponsible homeless. δΈ€ Expanding benefits to the homeless and demanding nothing in return is counterproductive because it encourages homelessness. That's why "progressive" communities such as Boulder, Colo., San Francisco and Austin, Texas with overly generous benefits have burgeoning homeless populations. Subsidize anything and you can expect more of it. That includes homelessness Step 13, a homeless shelter in Denver founded by a former homeless alcoholic, Bob Cote, boasts a rehabilitation rate of 35 percent β€” higher than any government-run shelter. Residents of Step 13 may stay as long as they need to but are required to work or attend school, submit to random drug tests and pay rent. Says Cote, "Without individual responsibility, human dignity and well-being can't be restored." If moral indignation and no-strings-attached charity were solutions to homelessness, the problem would have been solved long ago. Indiscriminate giving encourages those preferring freeloading to work, not to develop the skills that will get them off the street. We can't force people to behave responsibly, but we don't have to subsidize their self-destructive behavior. Nielsen is an Andover senior in anthropology and history. ---