4A
Thursday, October 5, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE
Professor should be disciplined
University of Kansas professor Hobart Jackson should not be welcomed back to his tenured job until he has been reprimanded for his conduct and psychologically examined.
Last November, Jackson was convicted of stalking his former therapist and sentenced to six months in jail. He avoided his jail term by agreeing not to contact the victim and serve in a community correction program. Unfortunately, Jackson self-admittedly violated his probation last March and once was again arrested. Last Wednesday, the Douglas County Circuit Court, citing Jackson's mental illness, ruled that he would not serve jail time and his probation would be terminated immediately.
It is shocking that Douglas County's judicial system allowed Jackson to be arrested, put on probation, and then violate his probation without any penalty.
Even more shocking is KU's willingness to rely on this judgment as a proper character assessment of
University should conduct independent psychological test on professor and place professor on probation.
Jackson.
Certainly Jackson, like everyone else, deserves a second chance. But given his history, this situation needs to be handled with extreme caution. Jackson himself admitted he is still at risk. If his illness has not been cured, students might be in danger.
In order to ensure student safety, Jackson should at least be subjected to an independent psychological evaluation of his mental health. Further, he only should be allowed to return on strict probation enforced by the University.
KU's officials, not the judiciary, are responsible for the welfare of students and conduct of faculty.It's a shame that in this case, KU "passed the buck" to the court system. Officials should correct their hands-off position before it is too late.
MARK POTTER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
University needs four-year plan
THE ISSUE: ON-TIME GRADUATION
Finally the University of Kansas has begun to consider a degree plan that would guarantee graduation in four years. KU definitely should adopt into policy this refreshing idea.
Graduating in four years almost has become a thing of the past. In fact, only 25 percent of KU students graduate on time. Students have begun to enter college expecting to take at least five years to graduate. That should not be the case. Everybody who wants to should be given the opportunity and guarantee that they will be able to graduate in four years, if they work hard and are on track.
KU is investigating the feasibility of a plan that is offered at the University of Colorado and Iowa State University. These universities sign an agreement with students promising that they will provide the necessary classes regardless of whether they are full, and in turn students
Students will graduate on time if KU would give them a push and provide essential classes and space in them
are required to take 15 to 18 credit hours a semester and to enroll in appropriate classes for their majors.
If such a plan is used at KU, it would save people a lot of time and money. If students are pursuing their academic degrees diligently by enrolling in the necessary amount of credit hours and the right classes, KU should take the responsibility to make sure students graduate in four years. This would not be a problem if the necessary classes and classroom space were made available.
KU should be a four-year university in reality as well as in name. The University needs to take the initiative to guarantee motivated students a timely graduation.
TARA FITZPATRICK FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
COLLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHLEY MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editora
STEPHANIE ULTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
News & Special Sections...Deedra Allison
Editorial...Heather Lawrens
Associate Editorial...Sarah Morrison
Associate Staff...Jake Witt
Associate Campus...Teresa Vezaczy
Associate Campus...Paul Todd
Associate Sports...Jeffrey Patterson
Associate Sports...Tom Erickson
Photo...Paul Kotz
Report Manager...Rebecca Muller
Online coordinator...Tina Fassett
Campus mgr ...Meredith Hennings
Regional mgr ...Trom杜莱
National mgr ..Heather Bames
Special Sectors mgr ..Heather Niehaus
Production mgrs ..Nancy Euston
Marketing director ..Krista Nye
Marketing director ..Konan Hauser
Public Relations director ..Both Older
Creative director ..Bringing Classified mgr ..Heather Valler
*kernship/oo-op mgr ..Kelly Connally
Shawn Trimble / KANSAN
Black soldiers fought for others'freedoms
What does it mean to be American?
Someone asked me that this summer, and I was speechless.
I couldn't say "apple pie" or "Old Glory," those are just tired clichés.
What really makes this country mine? I don't know.
I'm just now discovering that African-Americans even have a past in this country. So I don't feel any pride in victorious wars or presidents or even in the Constitution.
I don't see anything worth dying for in this country. And since World War II, not too much has changed.
During that time, a lot of young African-American men found themselves asking what it meant to be American in the middle of a war. They were fighting in segregated units for rights they didn't have. They were asking why they were going to die for this country.
They were fighting a war in Europe for the freedom of others and a war with a segregated America for their own freedom.
And it was like they didn't have a country.
But there were heroes like the Black Panthers — the original Black Panthers.
The 761st tank battalion was the first all-Black tank unit in World War II. This unit spearheaded Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army. It fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Under continuous fire, the battalion pushed farther east than any American outfit in Europe.
Their motto: "Come Out Fighting." These were real heroes whom you don't hear about. But I don't know if you could call them "American"
The African-American soldiers freed a number of prisoners from concentration camps like Buchenwald.
As far as the Black Panthers of any generation are concerned, I see no difference.
He was explaining his disregard for a country that would not claim him.
STAFF
COLUMNIST
In a 1964 speech in Ghana, Malcolm X said, "I'm from America but I'm not an American. I didn't go there of my own free choice ... I come as one of the victims of America, one the victims of Americanism, one of the victims of democracy, one of the victims of a hypocritical system..."
Rufus Coleman is a Dallas sophomore in journalism.
heroes
Members of the 761st were called a lot of other names before they were called heroes in this country. The white units called them "Eleanor's (Roosevelt) niggers and Patton's pets."
weren't rewarded
In a lecture given last spring, Dr. Joyce Thomas — a Smithsonian African-American history fellow, quoted a letter from an unknown Black soldier saying, "I see plenty to fight for right here (in America), and nothing to fight for over there (in Europe)."
"They never recognized the Black soldier and what he accomplished," said Sergeant Johnie Stevens of the 761st Tank Battalion. "We'd complete a mission, and up would come the cameras, and they'd roll right past all those big tanks ... roll right past us to where the white infantry were gathered and start taking pictures and asking what were their names and where they were from."
And with all their accomplishments, they
And that's where the Black Panthers found themselves.
Leon Bass, a sergeant with the 183rd combat engineer unit, expressed the feeling he thought most African-American soldiers shared about the war.
"All I knew was that I was angry," he said. "Deep down, I was an angry young Black soldier. Angry at my country for using me. Putting me out there to fight and maybe even die to preserve the rights and privileges that they were telling me I wasn't good enough to enjoy back home."
He recalls, "Black soldiers of the Third Army, tall and strong, crying like babies, carrying the emaciated bodies of the liberated prisoners. For me, it was an awakening of life after a long darkness ... I was seeing Black soldiers for the first time in my life, crying like babies, carrying the dead and the starved and trying to help everybody. That's the way it was."
But the African-American soldiers did receive some recognition during the war. Ben Bender, who was a little boy when Buchenwald was freed, still has vivid memories of the day.
Thirty-three years after returning home, the 761st finally was recognized for its bravery by President Carter. And only 36 members of the battalion were alive.
But that isn't the way others remembered.
So no, they weren't "American" heroes.
And I still don't see too much worth dying for here.
Sidewalk chalking is free speech in action
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I would like to comment on Jenny Wiedeke's editorial in the Sept. 25 edition of The University Daily Kansan.
I agree with her statements about how disgraced it is to walk through a campus filled with graffiti. I cannot see why she attacked the sidewalk artists: those who contribute their personal time to convey a message about something important to them. Isn't that what college is all about — a forum to discover and express one's opinions?
And why condemn the best source of advertising on the University of Kansas campus?
The term graffiti refers to those things which deface some object(s). It is obvious that spray paint does such damage. Chalk drawings, on the other hand, are cleaned off with a little water.
Now, I'm not saying all chalk drawings should be considered proper.
One recent example of an unacceptable drawing, located in front of Hashinger Residence Hall, pictured a giant penis and a wide-
open mouth. It did not represent anything positive to the campus community, present anyone's opinion or advertise an upcoming event. It had no right to be drawn on the sidewalk.
But this is no reason to condemn all other chalk drawings. Except for a few instances, every drawing on KU's campus is a perfect example of one's freedom of speech, an issue mostly fought by newspapers such as the Kansan.
It's scary that the typical victim of oppression through censorship would oppress someone else. Hypocritical, don't you think? Maybe Wiedeke should read the "classroom chalkboards" that she walks all over and learn something about every American's right to free speech.
Aaron D. Marvin Atchison freshman
Kansan owes apology to dean's office staff
You published an article in the Sept. 19 issue of the Kansan about offices on campus being open or closed during the noon hour. In that article you stated that it was not possible to contact the School
of Engineering by phone at that time on Monday. We do not know who or which office was contacted but it could not have been the Dean's Office. People were on duty during the lunch hour that day.
The dean's office has been open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week for at least the last 10 years. We do not close for the noon hour. I know because that has been the policy during the time I have been dean. We always have someone at the reception desk to greet visitors and to answer the phone. The staff in the dean's office work very hard to accommodate the students and other visitors for the entire day.
Your article was upsetting to the staff in the dean's office because of their efforts to stagger lunch hours and to provide good service to the students. I challenge your reporter to check me out and call 864-3881. I can guarantee that number will be answered at any time between 8-5 Monday through Friday.
I also suggest you owe an apology to a dedicated, hard-working School of Engineering dean's office staff.
Carl E. Locke, Jr.
dean of engineering
Government handouts can undermine independence
Everybody wants a piece of my paycheck.
Some things I don't mind so much. The landlord wants a portion, but I want to live under his roof. The electric company
STAFF COLUMNIST
demands its share, but I have gotten away from the whole candle thing. Sundry other places whittle away at the net total because I have used their services.
It is a simple process. I want something, so I give them my money. It is my choice. It works in the other way.
too. I perform certain services, and people give me their money.
I hate it when these people start demanding a chunk of my change. A lot of people are demanding, too. Sick people, old people, poor people all think they have a right to my hard-earned dough because their lives took a wrong turn. They send their powerful lobbies and bleeding-heart stories to Congress, and whole months of paychecks are signed away to this or that program.
But some people bypass the whole system that humanity was built on.
If I were paying only for roads, defense, a few regulatory systems, and the machinery of everyday government, I wouldn't have to work from January to May just to cover my income tax.
And who can argue with these charity cases? If you think welfare might just be a waste of money 90 percent of the time, then you are racist. If you think old people should save for their own retirement or raise kids responsible enough to take care of them, then you are ageist. If you think maybe artists are supposed to starve so that they can create something they believe in, then you are uncultured. If you believe that life isn't fair and it isn't government's job to change it, then you are selfish and mean-spirited.
I was disgusted by KU students latest demands for my money. They marched to Rep. Jan Meyers' office demanding money for education as if it were a God-given right. What has happened to American pride, individualism, self sufficiency?
Heaven forbid they might look at the larger picture — that some government leaders, no matter how misguided their efforts, are trying to lessen the bureaucracy's incredible debt. Everybody on government handouts is going to have to take a hit because they are all, of course, causes too good to lose completely.
It is possible to go to school on a Kmart paycheck. I know. I have qualified for public assistance, and I have sacrificed and passed it up without a dollar from my family either. What I have accomplished is mine. I take college seriously because it is my money, and when I am done it will be my success.
Scholarships are out there that have nothing to do with federal funding for those willing to earn them. McDonald's, Kmart and Dairy Queen are all waiting to give a little money for a lot of work, to provide an incentive to earn that college education and not drink beer all day.
If fewer people make it through college, that would mean the degrees the rest of us earn would be worth a little more. A college degree isn't even necessary for success, just drive, intelligence and hard work. Ask Bill Gates, the richest man in America and one without a college degree.
If a bum asks you for money, you can decide to give or not based on your own need and how well you think the money will be used. If you refuse, the bum either finds another way to fend for himself, or he dies. That's life.
If he gets somebody else to knock you down and take the money out of your pockets, that's robbery.
Jake Arnold is a Lawrence senior in journalism.