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Tuesday, October 17, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: HISTORIC BUILDINGS
Parking location is poor choice
The plan to tear down the Continuing Education buildings and construct a new parking lot in their place offers the University an ugly solution from a variety of more appealing answers. The plan harms the beauty of campus and contradicts the aim of the Master Plan established to guide the University's development.
The proposed solution includes the destruction of the old Pi Beta Phi house, which was built in 1915. This historic building should be preserved. It has been a part of KU history and should not be forgotten.
Many students say parking on campus presents a difficult problem. The lack of space can be solved in a less harmful manner by adding a parking garage to the lots at the Robinson Center, the Burge Union, Memorial Stadium or the lot at 15th Street and Naismith Drive. An even more attractive and practical alternative is the acquisition of land between the Adams Alumni Center and the Ecumenical Christian
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The University should consider other options to solve parking woes that do not include razing historic buildings
Ministries building on Jayhawk Boulevard. A parking garage would better serve the community at this location than the green water storage tanks that occupy the land. The University has given land to Lawrence to build a new fire station at 21st and Iowa streets. Why can't the city return the favor?
Many opportunities exist for increasing the number of parking spaces. Some cost more than others,but their price includes the preservation of our campus.
While the thought of a parking garage brings to mind images of another ugly Wescoe, it may be the only option that adequately will serve the University's needs in the least offensive manner. By adding on to one or more of the lots, the parking department can serve the needs of students and faculty and preserve the Hill.
KELLY DIETRICH FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE: CAMPUS SMOKING
Stairwells should be smoke-free
The steps to education have become clouded around Wescoe Hall. The covered stairwells on the east and west sides of Wescoe should be designated as non-smoking areas.
Anyone who has had a class in Wescoe has had to endure walking through a wall of smoke and a cemetery of discarded cigarettes.
Many have tried the hold-your-breath-andscurry-past approach only to find that the morning shower an hour before now hardly seems worth the effort.
Although the stairwells are not indoors, they shouldn't be considered outdoors. Both areas are surrounded by cement that provides a cozy haven for smokers in the brutal Kansas winter and a
Wescoe staircases are packed with smoke and cigarette butts which are unpleasant to smell and an eyesore.
dreaded threshold that must be crossed daily by non-smokers.
Whether smokers or not, all should be offended by the lack of regard for our campus. Every area of Wescoe Beach looks like people in a parade threw cigarette butts. By moving the ashtrays out of the staircases and into the open areas, smoke inhalation by non-smokers would be reduced, and cigarette disposal would be easier.
The University should remove the ashtrays and ban smoking on the staircases to let every student breathe more easily.
CHARITY JEFFRIES FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
COLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHLEY MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
News & Special Sections - Deaillen Allison
Editorial - Heather Lawrens
Associate Editorial - Sarah Morrison
Associate Staff - Neil Fennell
Associate Campus - Tereen Veazey
Associate Campus - Paul Todd
Sports - Joe Hooker
Associate Sports - Tom Erickson
Photo - Paul Katz
Wire - Keith Baird
Director - Tim Ferriss
STEPHANIE UTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Editora
Matt Hood / KANSAN
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Meredith Hanning
Regional mgr ... Tom Duloe
National mgr ... Heather Barnes
Senior production mgrs ... Nancy Buston
narrating director ... Kristy Nike
Public Relations director ... Beth Cahill
Creative director ... Briggs Bloomquist
Internship/o-op mgr ... Karly Connely
We each must start paying more attention to our own actions or nothing is going to change. When we begin to hold ourselves accountable for our actions, we take the first step towards changing a trend in society that has made excuses as American as apple pie.
Passing the buck becomes the newest national pastime
I work in an undergraduate office here on campus. We always can tell when some of the larger classes (especially introductory courses) have tests by the telephone calls we get. It is amazing (and so coincidental) how many students happen to come down with the flu those days and can't take the test. In the case of one midterm, at least six students called our office in the four-hour span that I worked. Worse than that, several of the students did not know their GTA's name.
At my summer job, I saw the same irresponsibility in my coworkers, and I didn't buy it then, either. A man I worked with was consistently late, but he never got in trouble because he always had an excuse. Usually, it was that he got caught in traffic. I always wanted to ask him why he didn't leave home 10 minutes earlier, but I never had the nerve. Now, I wish I had.
I used to think that this was a little amusing, but now I find it frustrating. I can't help wondering how students pass their classes without showing up for tests, but somehow many students do. And besides, they are sick. Right? Well, I don't buy it.
Increasingly, people may act irresponsibly without fear of
Passing the buck is an easy thing to do. We're all guilty, but it has become an accepted behavior in society. However, that does not make it right.
STAFF COLUMNIST
repercussions.
Excuses are thrown around with an extraordinary frequency that I find surprising. When excuses don't work, people often try to pass the buck or the blame. Consequently, we have to own up to our mistakes less and less.
This attitude isn't just found in college, either. It has permeated all lavers of society.
Examples are easy to find. Just look at the woman who was awarded $3 million from McDonald's because she spilled hot coffee in her lap. How about the trials that let murderers off the hook when they prove *any* kind of mental instability? Personal responsibility is no longer necessary; it is an option.
The main reason that this attitude has become so prevalent in society is that we can get away with it. People in charge aren't as willing to exercise their power and reprimand those who behave irresponsibly.
I also have learned how to phrase my excuses to show that it is not my fault — it is someone (or something) else's. But I try not to tap that knowledge often.
Stacy Nagy is a Topeka sophomore in Russian.
It isn't difficult to tell when we can and cannot get away with irresponsible behavior (like missing a test or coming late to work). I know exactly which classes I can and cannot miss and have known since the first week of the semester.
my boss didn't do anything to stop my co-worker from coming in late and the behavior just got worse. This set an example for others I worked with. We quickly learned that we could get away with it, and so we did.
In the case of my summer job,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dole uses divisive issue to acquire votes
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole gave a speech in which he accused elite bilingual education professors at American universities of teaching bilingual education as a way of dividing ethnic groups and undermining American values.Bob Dole personifies the word elite. He is a millionaire who hobbens with corporate presidents. His lifestyle does not resemble the lives of even 1 percent of his constituents. Yet, he accuses others of being elite. Bob Dole lacks any grip on reality and uses finger pointing on divisive issues such as the English-only issue to win votes. Don't give him yours.
Shawn Kelly Lawrence graduate student
Education shouldn't be taken for granted
I am a nontraditional student who has put a lot on the line to be able to return to college full time. My financial aid isn't enough to cover school expenses and pay my
I was disturbed to read an opinion by a University student regarding the policing of financial aid recipients. He said that it should be the student's decision whether to attend classes because college students are free from the rules previously imposed by Mom and Dad. I was further annoyed when the Office of Student Financial Aid felt the need to respond, explaining in detail the procedure about which the student was misinformed and trying to save face in the eyes of the student body.
bills. Therefore, I must work in addition to attending classes — sacrificing almost all time to go out and actually have a life. My schedule is hectic. No matter how much I desperately want to finish my degree, I will lose my financial aid if I do not make the grades that enable me to keep it. With an engineering curriculum, it is very difficult to keep it all in balance. Yet, I keep trying and attending all of my classes.
Obtaining an education is a privilege. If the decision not to attend class is such an empowering one for some financial aid recipients who are now free from the wrath of Mom and Dad, they should pack up their pacifiers and go home. Someone else could use the opportunity that they take for granted.
Julie Finnerty
Eudora sophomore
Julie Finnerty
HUBIE
By Grea Hardin
Cartoon's perceived message regrettable
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Last Tuesday, the University Daily Kansan printed an editorial cartoon that was intended to point out past and present legal troubles of KU football players. The cartoonist's intention was to criticize football players who have been charged
KANSAN
EDITOR
with serious crimes. However, the reaction from many at the University of Kansas has had little to do with football players and much to do with racism.
The cartoon pictured a KU football player wearing the number 32 — OJ. Simpson's number. The menacing-looking football player
stood drooling over a bruised and battered woman. Next to the football player was a list entitled, "KU's football hall of shame," which detailed the legal charges accrued by KU football players during the past 10 years.
Although the cartoonist wanted to send a message about only these football players, the message perceived by some was quite different. I have talked with many students during the past week and now realize how hurt and disappointed some are as a result of the cartoon. To them, the cartoon unfairly perpetuated negative stereotypes about African Americans and violence.
For this, I am sorry. I saw the cartoon before it was printed, but I saw a shadow-looking football player and a pointed statement about the KU football team — not the racial undertones perceived by some. My lack of football knowledge precluded me from knowing that the number 32 was Simpson's.
I never would run a cartoon that I thought would offend any ethnic group. I know that the cartoonist did not intend to make any statement about race or African Americans. But good intentions mean little if the public perception is quite different. The Kansan strives to be sensitive to all viewpoints, but we sometimes do not perceive how a story or cartoon could be interpreted by others. I simply did not forsee the possible implications of the cartoon.
It is unfortunate that one misuse can undo the Kansan's past efforts to promote diversity and tolerance at KU. The editorial page this semester has featured a diverse editorial staff voicing a wide range of viewpoints and will continue to do so in the future.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and I now understand the concerns voiced by students about the cartoon.
We cannot undo the hurt that some people felt as a result of the cartoon. But we can be more sensitive in the future.
Cartoonist responds
Colleen McCain is a Salina senior in journalism.
I am disappointed and concerned by the breadth and depth of the controversy my editorial cartoon of Tuesday, Oct. 10 has indirectly generated.
Some have stated that the character I drew is racist because it represents an African-American football player. I didn't intend it to represent any ethnic nationality. If anyone knows what race this football player is, it would be me. This cartoon was about the football team, not African Americans.
Was this cartoon any sort of racial commentary? It wasn't in my eyes. Matters of race were as far from my mind when I drew this as possible. The cartoon was not about African Americans and whites. It was about a troubling trend found in college and professional athletics where athletes are charged with violent crimes. For those who read the cartoon and interpreted it as a racist attack on African Americans instead of as a commentary on violence in athletics, you have my most sincere, albeit bewildered, apology. I have personally devoted many, many hours to numerous volunteer causes supporting minority rights for not only women, Native Americans, Latinos, gays and lesbians, but also Blacks. I personally find racism of any kind aborrent, and am deeply hurt that anyone would take my cartoon as a racial slur.
— Shawn Trimble