Opinion
Kansan
Published daily since 1912
Julie Wood, Editor
Laura Roddy, Managing editor
Cory Graham, Managing editor
Tom Eblen, General manager, news advisor
Brandl Byram, Business manager
Shauntea Blue, Retail sales manager
Dan Simon, Sales and marketing adviser
Scott Valler, Technology coordinator
Wednesday, September 29, 1999
Seth Jones / KANSAN
Editorials
Kansan report card
PASS
Hawk Night — Friday night at Memorial Stadium, anti-alcohol forces provided a booze-free entertainment alternative.
Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, the football team drove us back to drinkin'.
Templin Revolution — Student housing malcontents take on the Lazer's advertisers to protest the format change. Look out Lazer!
Graduate school dean — Andrew Debicki,
dean of the graduate school, has decided
to return to teaching. By all accounts, Dr.
Debicki, you are a fantastic dean. Any
chance you'd take the top law school post?
■ KJHK — Throughout the Lazer hoopla, our campus station doesn't save out, plus it got a nod from Rolling Stone. Don't get too coyful. DJs. If the price right, you could become 90.7 C-O-K-E.
Alpha Phi Alpha — This fraternity gets our vote for registering voters in the Kansas Union.
FAIL
Unauthorized note takers — Web-based businesses post lecture notes on Internet, some without instructors' permission. Take it from us, if you skip Dennis Dailey's human sexuality class, you will miss plenty.
Handicap tag scammers — Unscrupulous students fake disabilities to get primo parking. At last check, insensitivity, stupidity and laziness don't qualify. Give back the tags.
**Fraternity tuck-ins** — Industrious frat boy offer to tuck in lonely residents to raise money for a Las Vegas trip. Favorite bedtime story: the tale of the brothers who fool their classmates into financing their Vegas vacation.
Civil lawsuit is smoke and mirrors
The federal government's civil lawsuit against the tobacco industry is a step in the right direction. However, the decision to drop criminal action against the industry for lying to Congress may perpetuate the real problem. Wealthy corporations must be held accountable for their actions. They cannot be allowed to subvert the law and then simply pay a fine.
What the tobacco industry has done is criminal. Filing a civil case against the tobacco industry is as legally ironic as sending Al Capone to jail for tax evasion. Since 1853, the tobacco industry has conspired to recruit child smokers and has lied consistently — under oath
— about the addictiveness and health risks of nicotine. The companies have put the health of their consumers below profitability.
Civil cases are less burdensome than
Big Tobacco executives should pay more than money
criminal ones, and a practical solution is to go after the industry for money. After all, you hit them hardest when you hit them in the pocket book, right?
Wrong. Tobacco company executives claim that the federal suit will bankrupt their industry, especially on the heels of another big lawsuit settled with the states for $246 billion. But consider the fact that the states settlement is to be paid in the next 25 years so as not to disrupt seriously their business. Even if the industry loses another $246 billion, you still will find all your favorite cigarette brands at a nearby supermarket. Tobacco is still a cash crop in America, and its producers will thrive.
But their prosperity should not entitle them to disregard the law. Executives from the big seven tobacco companies have shown contempt for our democratic processes. They have perjured themselves before Congress and are, therefore, criminals. When other corporate leaders see executives from Philip Morris Co. or RJ Reynolds serve a sentence in prison, they might become more responsible in dealing with our public institutions.
The money we can win from the civil suit would benefit society. It could be used to recoup the $20 million annual cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses. However, money should not be seen as a substitute for justice. The executives themselves should be punished for their crimes because it is in the interests of society and because it is just.
Kansan staff
Brett Watson for the editorial board
Chad Bettes ... Editorial
Seth Hoffman ... Associate editorial
Carl Kaminski ... News
Juan H. Heath ... Online
Chris Fickett ... Sports
Brad Hallier ... Associate sports
Nadia Mustafa ... Campus
Heather Woodward ... Campus
Steph Brewer ... Features
Dan Curry ... Associate features
Matt Daugherty ... Photo
Kristi Elliott ... Design, graphics
T.J. Johnson ... Wire
Melody Ard ... Special sections
News editors
Becky LaBranch . . . Special sections
Thad Crane . . . Campus
Will Baxter . . . Regional
Jon Schitt . . . National
Danny Pumpelly . . Online sales
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Matt Thomas . . Creative
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Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Half this game is ninety percent mental." —Yogi Berra
How to submit letters and guest columns
Letterers: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
Guest columns: Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photocopied for the column to run;
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansean newsroom, 111 Stuffer-Flint Hall. The Kansean reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Chad
If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff (opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4924.
Perspective
To change the world is to conquer one's apathy
last week, I sat with my friend Andi out side of our workplace. She stared down at the scarred pavement, wrapped in melan obolly. "I can't change the world," she said.
cryly. I read cutting the word, and she
Her words cut me. In one fleeting second, I
wept a million tears for her, and yet my eyes
remained dry.
Andi is a very idealistic person. I often find myself overwhelmed by the conviction of her beliefs. She knows that she can fight any battle, surmount any obstacle, defeat any injustice. And she tells me, almost convinces me, that I can do the same.
Lyndia Taylor columnist opinion @ kanan.com
And last week, for one night, her boundless courage caved in. From depression, from exhaustion, from frustration, I don't know. But in that one
instant, she felt the bite of an apathy that she has
battled for a long, long time.
My friend Mary lives under unimaginable stress. She's a law student with lofty aspirations to change the laws concerning rape and domestic violence. Get her to talk, and she will argue her side passionately and convincingly. I look at her in awe and tell her that she will change the world someday. She just laughs sadly and tells me that she just wants to do something good.
The day Mary gives up, my soul will lose a whole lot of hope.
I am a writer. I'm not sure about the quality of my writing, but sometimes I wake in the middle of the night, microns away from the words to capture the way I see the world. I spend every moment of my life tipeoting around a final realization, some piece of knowledge that I can feel lurking nearby, but never can quite touch.
My highest ambition is to find just once in my life the words that encapsulate just a tiny bit of that intangible something that I see in the eyes of
In my own way, I want to change the world, too. My way may not be as active as Andi's. It may not be as dedicated as Mary's way. But I am trying to change the world just a little bit.
people around me. Just once, I want to somehow convey just a minuscule amount of wisdom. Just once. I want people to understand.
Each and every day, I find myself fighting against a boundless apathy that creeps ever closer each time I let my guard down. I'm afflicted with a burning, ulcerous apathy that I inherited from my family. I am haunted by a ghost of apathy that has been trailing me since high school. And I also have to contend with the apathy that is eating away at the soul of the world.
I don't have Andi's courage to face these and other demons in my life. But I am trying. Lately, I've actually been pretty successful. I don't know how long that will last.
I know it's not just me or Andi or Mary. All of us have the desire to imprint ourselves on this world in which we live. And we all have the power to change the world, if we only know where to look. But we only can accomplish whatever it is we want to accomplish if we first defeat this pervasive anathy.
Andi and I sit in her apartment. She looks down at the floor. "Why don't they care?" she asks me. "Why doesn't my generation realize the power they have and use it? How can I make them care?"
I thought about telling her that it isn't just her generation. I thought about telling her one of the few things that I know. It isn't just 18 to 27-year-olds. It isn't just 25 to 35-year-olds or some other arbitrary designation of age. This apathy is all-consuming. This apathy has been around for millennia. This apathy is human. I decided not to tell her. It wasn't the time to debate human nature. But I made a decision. From now on, I'm going to care.
Taylor is a Wichita junior in anthropology.
Dan 'Potatoe' Quayle and other GOP disasters
For the most part, 1999 was a bad year to be a Republican. The GOPers wound up disbelieving
"I am uniquely positioned and prepared to be president," said Dan Quayle, announcing his
emboweling themselves in an attempt to kick the First Formicator out of office. In the aftermath, opinion polls found that porn-peddlers Larry Flynt was liked better than the GOP leadership, Teflon Billy grinned, had a cigar and went house-hunting. This made many Republicans, strangely enough, take heart. After all, how could things possibly get any worse for the GOP?
taken to run in the race cation.
"I can assure you I am serious. I am committed."
"that answers that."
Quayle was indeed committed, or at least should be. Looking into his earnestly vapid eyes, you also could tell that he was, alarmingly enough, serious. Monday, however, Danny Boy bowed to reality and exited stage right. Republicans take heart.
It's primary time, folks. Most if not all of you are of age to age, many for the first
Loader columnist opinion@kansan.com
time. So, in the interest of the public, here's the first part of Mike's guide to the candidates.
Unlike Vice President Al Gore, he possesses the ability to talk to actual living humans. He has dodged neatly the Clinton trap by being a real hellraiser in his youth, then settling down, marrying and getting religion.
We've got a pretty mixed bag this year. Leading the pack is George W. Bush, governor and chief cowoke of Texas. George the Younger is a charismatic soul. He has the rather neighborly feel of his father, minus the faint, rose-colored haze that always seemed to be orbiting President Bush's head. You come away with the feeling that GW is a man of destiny with the common touch.
Of course, it remains to be seen how long Shrub Bush's respectability will last in the laser-scoped sights of the media rifle. His little verbal dance
The younger Bush also has failed to say or do anything blatantly braindead, has been relatively popular running Texas (which is a slightly more lovable institution than Dad's old assignment, the CIA), and has a very photogenic family.
That covers about half of the GOP candidates. In the next installment, we will cover Pat Buchanan and why he is fluffier than Hitler.
John McCain spent several extra years in a prison camp rather than go home without some of his comrades. If you want a candidate who will do what he believes to be the right thing, McCain is a good bet. But he's got no gimmick, really. It is a sad but true fact that McCain likely will go down to defeat because no one thinks he can win.
Liddy Dole is a fairly attractive candidate. And she's, like, a woman. Considering that a crucial segment of the Democratic vote is also female, that could be important. I personally like what I have seen of her: "In my church, I learned to serve rather than stand in judgment," she said in a stump speech, which makes her at least smarter than half of Congress.
She has had some experience in office, having served as Secretary of Transportation and of Labor in addition to her Red Cross gig. But what are her issues? She's been painting herself as a Reaganite, but what does that mean? That she has a gentle smile and cotton for brains? That she wishes to build space laser satellites and an enormous national debt? Speak up, Liz, we can't hear you in the back.
John McCain is another interesting candidate. He is someone who has been through the crucible and, miraculously, has emerged relatively untarnished. The man is an interesting novel — a congressman who actually votes for what he believes in, regardless of how his party feels. Examine his record on campaign reform and cigarette manufacturers if you doubt me. He is, in my opinion, the most ethical and moral man in the race.
around the cocaine issue was, in the eyes of many Republicans, alarmingly Clintonesque. And being the front runner means that the rest of the pack all have their eyes bent on removing you from that lofty position.
Loader is a Henderson, Nev., junior in journalism.
But Dubya Bush doesn't seem to like issues that much. He instead favors the "Well, I'd have to think about that" response. Hint — presidential candidates are supposed to have opinions on the issues of the day. Bush seems to think that being photogenic is enough to get him elected. The sad thing is that he might be right.
Feedback
Bike rider's plea
This is for the guy who nearly killed me last Wednesday. You were stopped at the stop sign by the booth behind the Union, waiting to turn left and head north, down Mississippi Street. I was coming down the hill, with the right-of-way. You pulled out in front of me, and I had to brake hard to keep from getting hit.
But I'll give you that one.
Maybe you didn't see me. I was only on a bicycle. In 35 years of cycling, I've learned not to rely on my legal right to be treated as a vehicle when I'm on a bike.
But I won't give you the next one, the one you did 10 seconds later. You pulled over to the right and slowed, as if you were going to park on the right. For a second, I considered passing you on your left. After all, you were out of the travel lane, right next to the curb. But I decided against it because you already had shown you were an unsafe driver. It's a good thing I didn't, because without signaling, you made a sudden left turn and pulled into one of the slant parking spaces on the uphill side of Mississippi.
I'm pretty sure you saw me. I
could see your face in your rearview mirror. But maybe you didn't. If you didn't see me, you should be more careful. If you did, you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
We're all in a hurry, and parking spaces are scarce, but be a little careful, would you? Think how late you'd have been if you had hit me. It could have ruined your whole day, not to mention mine. Please, keep your eyes open, use your turn signals and share the road.
Jim O'Malley Lawrence graduate student