OPINION
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EDITORIAL
www.kansan.com
Billings made local impact, deserves honor
After returning to Lawrence from summer break, you probably noticed and questioned the name change of 15th Street to Bob Billings Parkway. For most students, it's an empty street name and an inconvenient change in getting and giving directions, but the name change is actually a long-due thank-you to one of Lawrence's finest benefactors.
Bob Billings was somewhat of a hometown hero in Lawrence. During his lifetime, he contributed to many aspects of the growth and betterment of our town and its citizens. Billings grew up in Russell, across the street from former senator Bob Dole.
He chose the University of Kansas over a football scholarship to Oklahoma because of the Kansas basketball program and Wilt Chamberlain, with whom he was lifelong friends, said John McGrew, another lifelong friend of Billings. At the University, Bob majored in business while maintaining a tough basketball practice regimen.
After he graduated, he took over the office of aids and awards now the office of student financial aid — and raised money for students in need for the next 10 years.
In the words of McGrew, "He just adopted Lawrence." Billings and McGrew set out to find a piece of land large enough for Billings' vision, Alvamar. They were more successful than they ever dreamed. Billings started the 3000-acre
development, naming it after his father, Alva, and his mother, Margaretta.
Billings also served on the Kansas Public Service Board, the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association and the Penn House Board, a local charity that collects clothing and other items to give to the poor, according to the biography on the program of his memorial service.
For all of his work toward improving Lawrence, he was named the Citizen of the Years 2002.
He encouraged others to donate money for a new Lawrence Memorial Hospital Cardiac Center. Billings' friends and fans raised $250,000 for the new center, which opened this summer.
For all his efforts, the Lawrence Home Builders Association proposed naming the street after Billings as a tribute. The Lawrence City Commission approved the tribute unanimously, and Bob Billings Parkway was born.
McGrew called the decision to change a street name, especially a numbered street, "unprecedented," but he said it was an appropriate tribute to a deserving man. The street runs near Billings' developments and would probably not stretch so far west if not for him.
So, when you're giving directions around town, call Bob Billings Parkway what you will in order to find your way. But remember and have pride in the local hero it commemorates.
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playing flashlight tag with the other night: We're Tower C, not Tower D. But it was fun anyways!
Another word of wisdom from my roommate: taller people have belly buttons in higher places.
playing flashlight tag with the other night: We're Tower C, not Tower D. But it was fun anyways!
I just saw a "Real women ride Harleys" bumper sticker on the back of a Nissan X-tera. No. Bad yuppie. No, no treat for you. Bad.
r-Y: Bob Billings was a KU alum who played basketball and opened up Alvamar. So, next week, I propose we hold a lottery to name other streets after alleged KU alum or students who may have opened a lemonade stand on 13th Street or played racquetball. It's just an idea.
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Yeah, I just called to let everyone know that we're on disc three of season three of the "Saved by the Bell" mini-disc series. If anyone wants to join us and bring over some food, that'd be great. We haven't left the room in a week.
STINSON'S VIEW
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To the girl in Tower B who we were
Oh, Samuel Powers is so dreamy!
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Wanna impress females? All you have to do is spend a couple grand on a live engine, then rev it up anytime one walks by.
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Yeah for nice red-headed boys who open doors.
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Left neglects its liberal philosophy
Ask any staff member of the University Daily Kansan who knows me, and they will tell you that I am a conservative.
In fact, my guess is that a major reason the Kansan hired me is that a conservative viewpoint would help the opinion page reach the Kansan's mission statement. The statement calls for, in part, for the Kansan to "serve as a primary, credible news source for a diverse University community."
POLITICAL COMMENTARY
If the Kansan is respecting diversity, the rest of the University of Kansas and its students should respect it as well. It's just too bad it doesn't.
Only a fool would disagree with me if I said the University fosters a liberal climate. But for those fools who might disagree, here are some national figures from a recent survey issued by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture and the American Enterprise Institute:
More than 90 percent of professors who work in the arts and sciences departments at leading colleges and universities belong to either democrat, green or working class parties.
Among history professors at the University of Colorado at Boulder, only one out of 29 was a registered Republican — and among 19 political science professors only two Republicans could be found.
At the University of Texas at Austin, of the 109 professors who identified a political affiliation, 94 were Democrats and 15 were Republicans.
Assuming that the University follows that trend — hardly an assumption that's off base — then the likelihood of many conservative professors here is pretty slim. Why does this matter?
STEVE VOCKRODT
svockrodt@kansan.com
Among my greatest disappointments with college is how little opposing viewpoints are tolerated. I thought the days of being ridiculed for having a minority viewpoint were going to be left behind in high school. Papers and discussions held in class that have politically conservative slants are met with either with derision or indifference most of the time.
servative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire."
After looking up the word "liberal" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, I was referred to the term "liberalism." Its definition, in part, stressed "intellectual liberty," which is synonymous with open-mindedness. But are liberals truly as open-minded as they pride themselves on being?
An incident at Duke University highlighted this contradiction. A campus organization of conservative students called the Duke administration out on the imbalance among faculty members who identified themselves politically. The Democrats among Duke's faculty outnumber Republicans 142 to 8. The chairman of Duke's philosophy department, Robert Brandon, responded to the student newspaper, The Chronicle, thusly: "We try to hire the best, smartest people available. If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally con-
That's not too unlike the climate surrounding classrooms here. With that sort of thinking, maybe we should stop evaluating people on who they actually are and instead opt for stereotypes. A job posting in Mr. Brandon's department might as well instruct the race-baiting, homosexual-hating, gun-wielding Southern rednecks not to bother applying.
True to Mr. Brandon's ideology, examples of conservative politicians are ridiculed in classes and conservative columnists in the Kansan are called "retards" in the Free For All.
Considering all this, I challenge the faculty and students to actually become open-minded. Embrace, instead of ridicule, your counterparts and what they're talking about. Debate your political, ideological and moral opposites rationally rather than with insults, half-cocked conclusions and silly stereotypes. Same goes to the conservatives, but at least conservatives don't constantly pretend to preach open-mindedness where no such open-mindedness exists. Either way, try to at least listen to the other side. Many times, one will find that both sides of the extremes are usually saying the same thing.
So the University is hardly unlike Duke and their philosophy chairman's comments (by the way, Mr. Brandon, it might help to update yourself on what Mill meant by conservative in his time much different than today).
Vockrodt is a Denver senior in journalism and political science.
Complaints about the calendar's "mysterious" selection process may be valid, but you made little effort to learn about the process from the organizations and women involved.
Dear Linda,
Your Aug. 31 critique of the KU Women of Distinction calendar failed for several reasons.
Dear Editors,
Comparing the selection processes for the Women of KU calendar and the Distinction calendar is weak. Praising the Women of KU process because it is"open to everyone" ignores the fact that women who do not meet its physical appearance standards are wasting their time.
Women of Distinction editorial undermines positive efforts
Dismissing the Distinction calendar as "a piece of paper" insults people who contributed their talents and time. The photography and typesetting make the project a beautiful showcase for the abilities of women - and men - who work hard at KU.
THU
if "the calendar is not impacting
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
anywhere near the students it should," then students should reexamine their priorities. The calendar needs time to build a following in an environment where Girls Gone Wild dominates.
Instead of criticizing this positive alternative, the Kansan should support it wholeheartedly.
H
Rey Pence
Lawrence
graduate student
I commend Nielsen for her point, and urge fellow student smokers and non-smokers alike to take a stand for our freedoms.
Furthermore, by pushing smokers out on the streets (particularly on Massachusetts Street on a Friday or Saturday night) this creates an unsafe atmosphere of uncontrolled, agitated smokers on public streets.
Dear Editors,
Columnisthitsmarkonsmokingban personalfreedoms
Jayme A. Aschemper
Aurora, Colo.
senior
For once, Arrah Nielsen has hit the nail right on the head. Smoking cigarettes is a choice, as is dining in an establishment that offers a smoking section.
By taking away this option from owners, the Lawrence City Commission is restricting freedoms.
commission is restricting freedoms.
I don't smoke. However, if I want to smoke, I should be able to make that decision myself.
The Kansen welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The Kansan 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 650 words. To submit a letter to the editor or a column, e-mail the document to opinion@kansan.com with your name, hometown, year in school or position and phone number.