6. <gnb4>
Opinion
4A
Friday, October 22, 1999
Editorial
Rock Chalk Revue has lost its focus
High production costs could be put to better use
T the theme for the 51st Rock Chalk Revue is more than appropriate. "Out of Focus" clearly embraces what the annual variety show has become — a lavishly exquis
ite event disguised as a charity fund-raiser. No one would argue that participants have generous intentions. And the community involvement that the revue encourages is more than commendable. However, it is time to refocus.
The focus of the show should be raising money for charity, yet the participants spend thousands of dollars unnecessarily.
Each year, five living organizations, usually paired fraternities and sororites, are selected to take part in the spring revue, and ticket revenues are donated to United Way of Douglas County. Living organizations also raise additional money and donate community service hours in coordination with the revue.
The selection process, which starts Nov. 5 when groups submit their notebooks, is just the beginning of the expenses that groups involved will incur. High application and production costs limit fund-raising effectiveness and the true generosity that chari-
tv deserves.
In order to be considered for the show, groups submit a notebook that includes a plot summary, character sketches, costume designs, stage cues, musical lyrics and a musical tape. Although not required, groups usually submit a professionally recorded tape, costing at least $500. While about 12 groups apply each year, only five are accepted, wasting a minimum of $3,500 that could go directly to charity.
A 1997 Kansan article reported that groups were limited to $600 for tapes. A limiting provision doesn't appear in current regulations. The expense of applying for the revue alone discourages groups who are new to the revue or don't have a Rock Chalk budget from even attempting to get involved.
The root of the problem is that no spending limits exist for the show. In fact, the opposite is true. According to the bylaws of the Rock Chalk Revue Advisory Board, all groups submitting a notebook for consideration into the show must sign a contract promising to meet the financial obligations necessary for production. In a previous section, the bylaws set minimum group spending at $1,000.
A legitimate argument for maintaining the show's quality could be made for spending a couple of thousand dollars, but does spending stop at a couple thousand?
Angie Bezdek, revenue business manager, said a modest estimate for what each group spends once they're part of the show would be $5,000. Multiply $5,000 by 5 groups for a total of $25,000. To that total add $6,000, an estimated $500 per group multiplied by the 12 groups that apply. This brings the low-estimate total revenue expense to $31,000.
Last year the revue raised $40,000 for United Way. The goal for this year's show is $50,000. To exceed that goal, here's some simple advice. First, cut notebook submission costs to under $100 by requiring groups to audition live instead of making a professional recording. Next, limit groups to a $2,500 production budget. Finally, donate the saved $17,300 along with the $40,000 raised by the revenue for a total donation of $57,300.
With a little creativity, it's doubtful the revue's attendance would decrease or that anyone would notice if less money went toward sets, costumes and professional recordings. Limiting expenses also would encourage more to apply, such as scholarship and e halls that are rarely involved in. New groups in the revue would crowds and new donations.
As the revue enters the new millennium, it should steer away from the 2000 "Out of Focus" theme and refocus on what the event is about. If the revue continues to operate on limitless budgets, it should not be done under the cover of a charity fund-raiser.
The revue is a University of Kansas tradition, interwoven with tremendous student generosity and contributions to the community. The integrity of this tradition must and can be preserved by setting simple limits.
Katrina Hull for the editorial board
Opponents of test ban treaty worried about wrong terrorists
The slaughter of the nuclear test ban treaty in the Congress and the current attempts being made to roll back the anti-ballistic missile treaty have been surrounded in a discourse of fear, specifically a fear of rogue states and terrorists. There is reason for the world to be afraid of terrorists, and this true story of recent terrorists activities will show why.
About a year ago, some individuals blew up some property held by a terrorist group in a foreign country. Although it was never proven who planted the bombs, the terrorist group sought revenge by launching missiles at what it said was a chemical plant being used as a hideout for those who had planted the bombs. In reality, the chemical plant was a pharmaceuticals plant, and its destruction has limited severely the availability of basic medicines (such as penicillin) to the impoverished people living in the area.
This random act of violence — committed without any solid evidence or investigation — is not an isolated incident for this particular terrorist group. In fact, it has a long history of murdering civilian populations, supporting ruthless dictatorships and providing training and support for other terrorist organizations.
In the 1960s and '70s, this group was bombing peasant villages and farms in Southeast Asia, launching commando raids into a small island nation and forcefully overthrowing a popularly elected government in South America to make room for a ruthless dictator. It was also providing arms to an imperialist government when it was well known that those arms would be used to take over a neighboring state.
In the 1980s, this group killed thousands of civilians during a raid on Panama and was terrorizing Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala with para-military forces and death squads. By the 1990s, other than the above-mentioned incident, this group was bombing the coun
Aaron
Major
columist
opinion@kansan.com
tries in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe.
Sounds pretty horrific, doesn't it? Well here's the kicker: Presently, the head of this terrorist group is Bill Clinton, although other notables such as George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter.
Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson have led it as well. It goes under the name United States Armed Forces but also includes such branch-organizations as the CIA and the NSA, as well as a network of profiteering corporate arms manufacturers. The worst part is that you and I finance it.
Indeed, people do need to be afraid of groups using deadly weapons on other countries, but just look around and ask yourself who people really should be afraid of. The killers of the test ban treaty and those who
want to roll back the anti-ballistic missile treaty have been doing a lot of work trying to bring those Cold War fears back into the American people. Everyone's out to kill us, they say, so let's spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a missile defense system (in the '80s, this was called the Star Wars system) and preserve our right to detonate nuclear devices.
But look at the historical record. Who's doing the killing? Who does the world have to worry about? Who is always using the threat of force to get its way? Who has a military budget larger than the budgets of several Western industrialized countries combined?
You and I should be afraid. We should be afraid for Southeast Asian peasants being killed by old landmines and unexploded cluster bombs left over from the attacks on Vietnam and Cambodia. We should be afraid for the East Timorese, being massacred with American-made weapons, and for the rest of the world as we begin to lay the groundwork for a new arms race.
We pay for these atrocities, and without our support they just may end. You have a say in how things are run, and it's time that we use our say to end this jingoistic propaganda, force our leaders to show some compassion for the victims of our political-economic interests, and maybe take a little bit of the fear out of the world.
Major is a Deerfield, N.H., senior in sociology and American studies.
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” —Sir Winston Churchill
Feedback
Regarding the Lazer format change, it is so much more than just a format change that we're fighting for. The city of Lawrence is nationally known for its live/local music scene. Lawrence has helped numerous bands rise to national stardom including the likes of 311, Pearl Jam, and, oh, so many more.
Lazer affects all of Lawrence
We, meaning those fighting to get back the "old" Lazer, are concerned that this format change will have significant and everlasting effects on the city of Lawrence. The music shops downtown will suffer because no one is hearing the latest local and modern rock music. The live music clubs such as the Granada and the Bottleneck will feel the effects also. Bands came to Lawrence because they had trust that the Lazer would advertise their shows and, eventually, play their songs.
Adam Naill
El Dorado senior
So, in conclusion, yes, I am angry that I don't have a favorite radio station anymore. But, I am more concerned about the future of Lawrence's tradition as a music-loving, liberal city.
Jeff Lewis Jewell freshman
To be honest, until I read Barlow's column, I hadn't really thought about religion for a long time. I can't say that it will become prominent in my everyday thoughts, but it does make you think about what comes after this life, if anything. I thought the column was great.
I read Jennifer Barlow's column on spiritual knowledge, and it is a relief to finally find that someone has shared the same experiences as I have. A small town can be so sheltered. Although I would have welcomed a town of 5,000, my town had just under 500, with most being too old to remember what they think about religion.
Barlow makes public think
Including me, there were only 10 students in my graduating class. The smaller the town, the worse things are. The way the people of the town expect you to believe as they do, or they treat you as an outsider. I didn't move to my town until I was a junior, so I guess the outsider thing should have been expected.
I had never heard of the word "agostic" before, but it's meaning is as though it was scripted for me. I really want to believe in God, and it's not that I don't. It's just that there is no proof of God's existence. At the same time, I shouldn't really say that trying to find a religion consumes my every moment. I think that it should just come with time.
Opinion editor shows bias
My concern, however, is not as much with the profile itself as with the author of the piece. Chad Bettes has written numerous opinion pieces for the Kansan that expose him as being decidedly conservative in both religious and political matters. Unfortunately, I think this bias came through in his profile of Holloway. Noticeably, only one quote offering criticism of Holloway was included.
I wanted to express my concern with your choice to run a profile of Linda Holloway, chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Education.
I respect Bettes' right to articulate his viewpoints in the Kansan. However, perhaps in the future, in the interest of good, unbiased journalism, Bettes should be confined to the opinion page since he is clearly not objective in news reporting on matters he feels strongly about.
Julie Merz
St. Louis, Mo., junior
Take care of your body art
Regarding Amber Steuer's October 14 article on body art, while going to a skilled artist who uses universal safety precautions is important, so is proper carefare. As I understand it, many
body art related infections are not caused by the artist or the environment in which the work is done. Instead, the infection often happens because the person getting the work done is not treating the body art properly as it heals. So it should be kept in mind that the important parts of getting body art do not end once a person walks out the artist's door.
A good source of information about body art is the rec.arts.bodyart newsgroup FAQ, which can be found at http://rabbithole.org/faqpage.html.
Jeff Mowen Programmer/analyst
Blame people, not religion
As an international student, I have not found a big interest in an American paper especially if we consider the language difficulty. Anyhow, I took the initiative to read the KU paper. I found it very interesting, and it carries a lot of valuable subjects, so it has become my daily bread.
Recently, when I was enjoying my morning coffee and going through the pages of the Kansan, one of the articles in the opinion page stopped me and made me think deeply and inspired me to write this feedback. It was the one written by Jennifer Barlow, "True spiritual knowledge doesn't always come easy."
I think Jennifer in her article started a very serious imagination question by being spiritually unsatisfied with the religion she was born with, Christianity. She said the KU atmosphere makes her think of considering different beliefs.
I think she is not questioning Christianity as a religion, but as a practice. First of all we should check if today's Christians are practicing or applying real Christianity to their daily life.
Also, I would like to commend the author for her brave argument. I am sure she will bring a lot of different opinions by *Kansan* readers. This is really what we need as the *Kansan* readers: Is one who starts a strong argument disregarding if it is right or wrong, which will lead to good solutions through the input of the ones they care.
Mowafiq Al-Anazi Saudi Arabia freshmab
As a student coming from a Muslim community, I believe in God and maintain a strong relationship with God by practicing what is obviously right and avoiding what is wrong. The Muslim prophet Mohammed said, "Religion is the practice of dealing with others," which means in order to reach a spiritual knowledge, we need to manage our behaviors to reflect the religion instruction.
One of the misconceptions about religions occurs by tying our wrong acts to the religion or by misinterpreting the religion instructions. One example is associating terrorism with Islam, which doesn't represent the true value of Islam and Muslims. The same thing is the case for Christianity when Christians are associated with the hate crimes wave in the U.S with religious groups who have nothing to do with true Christianity.
As a conclusion, I think we need to blame ourselves and not to blame the religion, because if we watch our behaviors and try to act according to the right understanding of the religion, that will help us to achieve the spiritual satisfaction.
War on guns won't work
Erin Simpson's column repeats the fallacies of much liberal rhetoric on this issue. Who is going to do anything about the millions of illegal weapons out there? We hardly have a gestapo to round them up. I'm sure that you would see gun violence continue right on. It is only necessary to see how our national policy on drugs has worked. Drugs are everywhere, and the war on drugs is a joke.
There are brilliant legal scholars who believe that the Framers meant for citizens to have guns.
John Garson
San Diego, Calif., graduate student