4A
Tuesday, October 24, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: PARKING
Lots should be open earlier
Frantically searching for a parking spot before a night class at the University of Kansas often results in frustration. Because several of the parking lots are restricted until 7:30 p.m., some students have to walk long distances in the dark to reach their cars after classes end at 9:30 or 10 p.m.
If the University wants to make a stronger commitment to campus safety, all parking lots should be open for public use at 5 p.m.
Once Jayhawk Boulevard opens, everyone should have the opportunity to park near his or her classroom in any University lot for safety reasons.
Many parking spaces remain empty in blue lots because of the evening permit restrictions.Those closer parking spaces should be available to students who will leave class
Students should not feel threatened when they walk to class at night. After 5 p.m., lots should open for safety reasons.
hours later, after darkness has fallen and the number of passers-by has decreased dramatically.
No one should have to feel scared walking to his or her car after a night class ends. The University is not fulfilling its responsibility of helping to ensure the well-being of all students and faculty by keeping some lots closed until 7:30 p.m.
AIMEE WITTMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Instead, the University should consider how to provide accessible parking and safety for both students and faculty. Opening all parking lots at 5 p.m. would be one of the ways that the University could give those students who are concerned about their safety a fighting chance.
OPINION BRIEF
Please recycle old directories
New phone books are being published and delivered, so the time has come to dispose of the old ones. Instead of being lazy and letting them clutter apartments and houses, take the initiative to recycle them.
To make it that much easier, here are some convenient places on campus to recycle old phone books:
The parking lot on the
west side of the Burge Union
Between Wescoe and Budig Halls
The north end of Carruth O'Leary Hall
The north end of Ellsworth Hall
South of Dyche Hall.
When that new phone book is delivered, gather the old ones that have accumulated, and please recycle them.
And while you're recycling your phone books, bring some newspapers to campus recycle them as well.
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Put aside the stereotypes; athletes are students, too
This is a column about college athletes. But lest you read on and be disappointed, let me set a few things straight right from the beginning. There will be no mention of beatings, assaults, sexual battery, muggings or armed robbery. I will not discuss an individual's drug use, consumption of alcohol, or sexual proclivities. As a matter of fact, I will not delve into the criminal or social histories of anyone whether they play football, golf, or women's tennis. I am truly sorry if this deviates too far from the norm, but I would like to talk about something different.
Humor me, please, as we talk about the athletes as people.
In return for all this hard work and dedication, Mellisa gets her tuition and books paid for by scholarship. It's a good deal but not a great one. Twenty three hours a week amounts to a part-time job, but it is a part-time job without pay. Furthermore, the NCAA prohibits anyone on full scholarship from working during the school year, so basically when you agree to play college sports, you
Let's begin with Melissa Liem. Mellisa is on the rowing team, now a varsity sport at the University of Kansas. Every week, she puts in 23 hours of practice - two hours every weekday morning starting at 6 a.m. and two hours every weekday night ending at 6 p.m. On Saturdays, they only put in three hours, but practice starts at 7 in the morning. I am not sure how they cope, but it is obvious their Friday nights aren't the beer bashing fun I remember as a freshman ... and a sophomore ... and adjunior.
STAFF COLUMNIST
agree to be poor.
I realize that this is far removed from the image of college athletics portrayed in the quality film "Blue Chips." But I was assured by virtually everyone in the Athletic Department that this was true. College athletes aren't the spoiled elite driving new
Corvettes, smoking big cigars and drinking imported beer. Basically, they are just like you and me. They work hard, they take care of tuition with their own labor, they struggle through their class load as best they can, and if they drink at all, they drink Schaffer's Light. The glamour of it all is a little overwhelming.
In addition to their already heavy workload, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the officially registered organization for student athletes, also involves individual athletes in community outreach. They provide speakers for junior highs, senior citizen homes, children in residential care and whoever else may want an athlete to address their group. Additionally, they put on Camp Jayhawk every year where nearly 300 underprivileged children are brought from Kansas City and Topeka and coached in various athletic events. More than 150 volunteers are needed to make this camp happen, and every year there is a waiting list
of athletes who want to help.
I know it is not much fun to see the people behind the myth. When I used to tend bar, Rex Walters would come in and order buffalo wings. For the next hour, I would have the great honor of watching him dribble sauce on his chin while he stared slack-jawed at our big-screen TV. Of course, his girlfriend was very attractive, and she would hang on his every monosyllabic grunt as if he were Moses just come down from the mountain. All I could think of was that one day this wing-eating, TV watching slob would be making millions in the NBA. The nights were unearbable long when Rex came in to eat.
But the fact is that athletes aren't just celebrities or dumb jocks or ESPN heroes. Some are smart like Jacque Vaughn who maintains a 3.68 cumulative GPA. Some write poetry like football standout Keith Rodgers. Many give their spare time to help our community. And all of them get up every day, go to "work," go to class and get by the best they can just like we all do.
Athletes aren't so different. If truth be told, I too have dribbled buffalo sauce on my chin. And my girlfriend is pretty. And she hangs on my every ... well, maybe not. But she is pretty, and she will youch for my dribbling.
Just remember that no one gets a free ride at this University, and athletes aren't supra- or sub-human. They are people, too. They just want to be loved. Is that so wrong?
Todd Hiatts is a Lyndon senior in social welfare.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Article was unfair to football player
We are writing this letter not only to express our concern over the article about a University of Kansas football player who was arrested on D.U.I charges but also regarding the biased nature of many articles printed involving certain organizations here at the University.
Concerning the arrest of Derek Fairchild on D.U.I. charges, we feel that it was unfair to print this on the front page without the knowledge of the accused. We realize that the paper has the right to print the facts, but this is a school paper that is supposed to be for the student. Derek was never reached on this matter, and we do recognize that the Kansan did make the attempt, but can you imagine how you
would feel if you walked into your morning class with your copy of the Kansan, sat down and realized your face and the biggest mistake of your life were on the front page? Neither one of us condones what Derek did by driving while intoxicated, but shouldn't he have been given the courtesy and foreknowledge that the story would be in print?
We feel that this is a primary example of the biased nature of your article. Why is it that just because Derek is a football player that his drunk driving made the front page? On many occasions students are mentioned in the "On the Record" section of the paper for the same thing for which Derek is accused. Why are their names and faces not splashed across the front page? As a matter of fact, their names are not mentioned at all. Why couldn't Derek have been one
of those nameless students?
Although the KU athletic programs receive their fair share of good press, it seems they are attacked more brutally than "average" KU students. Must we forget that these athletes are also students? Their being involved in athletics for the University is just one choice of extracurricular activities. One of our choices for extracurricular activities is being part of the Greek system. This too has been scrutinized when negative events occur. We understand your responsibility as reporters, but we ask of you to take heed of the good events which seem to go unnoticed by the Kansan. A majority of these organizations, especially within the Black Panhellenic, are community-service based. It is a shame that this great service goes unnoticed.
we think it's wrong to stigmatize a person for "human" mistakes. More importantly we are all students at the University and should be treated as such.
Regardless of one's group or club,
Christie McMahon
Englewood, Colo., senior
Stephanie Konecke
Chesterfield, Mo., senior
Harsh language has no place in Senate
I am a member of the Student Rights Committee of the Student Senate. In this committee, we work on issues that pertain to the rights of students. We should not foster any type of hate in this committee. Unfortunately, there is a problem. At the last committee meeting, Nunemaker senator Adam Mayer screamed out the word "bitch" to an
individual in the committee. This type of behavior sets Senate back in time. No one in the committee said anything to the committee chair, or to Mayer. I felt very offended that I am a member of a committee in which hostile and aggressive words can be used without question. What stops him from saying other derogatory comments in the next meetings? Senators must be responsible for their actions and be accountable for them. I feel that the only recourse in this situation would be for Mayer to apologize to the entire committee for breeding an atmosphere of hate and also resign his senatorship. This type of behavior should not be tolerated by anyone, especially members of the student rights committee.
Gurphal Singh Hundal
Olathe junior
Death penalty puts the U.S. in the ranks of uncivilized
One of the few things that is generally agreed on in our society is that in the last 10 years, violent crime has increased. In response to this, many states that previously had stopped using capital punishment have reinstated it. While I certainly understand this action,
it is 100 percent wrong.
I do not believe in the death penalty for many reasons, but for the most part, my beliefs stem from the idea that taking another person's life is wrong. Some people find this hypocritical on my
part, but I see it the other way around.
Here is the argument of those who favor the death penalty: Those people who are killed under the auspices of the death penalty generally have committed cruel, horrible crimes. Of course, at this point, we assume that the system worked, and the defendant is in fact guilty. People who may have fallen through the cracks are not accounted for. So the murderer goes to the chair or is given a lethal injection, and most people think that justice has been served. I disagree with a good portion of society on this point.
For me, it goes more like this: Someone is convicted of a terrible crime. They are sentenced to death so that "justice is served." But the only thing that the sentence accomplishes is to seek revenge. I cannot buy the idea that anyone has the right to take another person's life, so it seems hypocritical that someone can say, "You took a life, and that was wrong. Therefore, we are going to kill you so you can know just how wrong we think it is."
Recent statistics on capital punishment dispelled all the popular myths we hear from politicians and interest groups. For example, many people think the death penalty saves money. Instead, because of the appeals process, the opposite is true. In fact, the death penalty costs taxpayers at the state level millions of dollars a year in some places; that does not include the money spent nationwide. Furthermore, violent crime statistics show that capital punishment does not deter murder, and many areas report lower murder rates per capita without capital punishment as a deterrent.
The United States is the only first-world nation to support capital punishment. And although many second- and third-world nations have mandated the death penalty, we generally see them as a lower class of society. We are hypocritical by advocating the same type of eye-for-an-eye justice.
After years without having the death penalty in Kansas, the legislature reinstated it last year. The first capital crime case in more than 20 years, in which a police officer was murdered, may go to trial in Topeka. It was a terrible crime, and the killer deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. However, killing him is not the answer.
It is time for our society to move beyond these beliefs. We are a world leader, and we should act like one. Just as murderers do not have the right to take a person's life, neither should the whole of society. When we realize that, we can join the ranks of civilized society.
Stacy Nagy is a Topeka sophomore in Russian.
KANSAN STAFF
By Shawn Trimble
COLLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHLEY MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
Hewa & Special Sections...Deeandra Allison
Editorial...Heather Lawrence
Associate Editorial...Sarah Morrison
Campus...Virginia Marghelm
Associate Campus...Teresa Vaseyz
Associate Campus...Pau Todd
Sports...Jenni Gatson
Associate Sports...Tommy Green
Photo...Paul Kozt
Wire...Robert Allen
On-line coordinator...Tina Passett
STEPHANIE UTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Meredith Hennung
Regional mgr ... Tom Dulac
National mgr ... Heather Barnes
Special Sectors mgr ... Heather Nihanee
Production mgrs ... Nancy Euston
Marketing director ... Krista Nye
Marketing director ... Katherine
Public Relations director ... Bess Calth
Creative director ... Brigit Blossom
Classified mgr ... Heather Valver
Internship/oop mgr ... Kelly Connolly
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
A SUPER-COOL STORY IDEA I HAD SOMETIME IN THE EARL
A GIANT NAKED BO
DEREK INVADES AMERKA WHERE SHE DANKS TO THE
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA BUT AT THE PARTY THE
X-MEN FIGHT DARTH VADER SO PRESIDENT REAGAN
GETS ON THE ENTERPRISE