4A
Wednesday, September 20, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: PARKING PERMITS
Street parking should be free
The proximity of the Oread neighborhood to the University of Kansas makes the area an ideal place for many students to live.
But to the dismay of some residents, many nonresidents also find it an ideal place to park.
To help combat weekday parking congestion, the Oread Neighborhood Association has been considering a parking permit ordinance. For $15 a year, residents would receive a parking permit that would allow them to park on the street in front of their houses or apartments.
This proposal should not be implemented. The streets are public, and they should be open to the public for traveling and parking.
Many Oread neighborhood residences already have private parking in alleys or driveways. Between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, residents simply can secure a parking place before the streets fill, or they can use their private parking
Oread neighborhood residents have alley parking and shouldn't be concerned about street parking.
spaces.
One of the many attractive aspects of the area is the accessibility to the KU campus and downtown. Residents benefit daily from this accessibility.
If permit-avoiding students want to rise at dawn in the hopes of finding an empty space on Ohio Street, that should be their prerogative, as well.
The previous Lawrence City Commission distributed a survey to 300 area property owners to determine support for the ordinance. Only 30 percent responded.
Unless property owners show increased interest in the parking permit ordinance, Oread neighborhood residents should not have to pay to park on their own streets, and nonresidents should not be driven away from the neighborhood.
AIMEE WITTMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ISSUE: ATTENDANCE AT GAMES
Students should support teams
The women's volleyball team recently won the
The womtleyball team recently won the University of Kansas Invitational. The football team defeated Texas Christian University in front of a national television audience. With all the winning going on, the lack of attendance at these events is embarrassing. Students should do more to support University teams.
The bleachers at Allen Field House were only spattered on one side with volleyball fans. And free admission to a football game covered by ESPN drew a crowd of only 34,000.
Jayhawk pride seems to come and go with basketball season. KU students seem unaware that there are other teams that play and play well at all times of the year. The success of these teams partially depends on the support that they receive from the student body. Imagine if the
Winning athletic teams need to see fan support in the stands in order to help them play their best for the University.
men's basketball team was expected to make it to the Final Four on a couple of lone claps echoing off the field house walls.
The athletic department makes games easily accessible to students. The time, location and price of an event all are considered with student fans in mind. Attendance is important to the department and the coaches. But it is especially important to the athletes. They only can be their best when they know that their peers do care if they win or lose. Improved attendance at all KU athletic events would send a message to student athletes that their hard work and dedication is appreciated.
CHARITY JEFFRIES 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
Shawn Trimble / KANSAN
Editors
Howe & Special Sections ... Deedra Allison
Editorial ... Heather Lawrens
Associate Editorial ... Sarah Morrison
Campus ... Virginia Mergheim
Associate Campus ... Toras Vezayz
Associate Campus ... Paul Todd
Sports ... Jenni Carlson
Sports Sports ... Tom Ridickson
Photo ... Paul Kotz
Wire ... Robert Allen
On-line coordinator ... Tina Fessett
STEPHANIE UTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Meredith Hening
Regional mgr ... Tom Dulac
National mgr ... Heather Barne
Special Sections mgr ... Heather Nibanea
Production mgr ... Nancy Euston
Krista NyE
Marketing director ... Konan Hauser
Public Relations director ... Both Caitlin
Counselor ... Kerry Connell
Classified mgr ... Heather Valker
Internship/co-op mgr ... Kelly Connell
fully funded at its current level of $583 million. The maximum Pell Grant awards are increased to $2,440 per student, the highest level in the history of the program. The TRIO program, which benefits minority and disadvantaged students, is fully funded at its current level of $463 million. The historically black colleges program is fully funded at the current level of $29.6 million." These are the facts. If you have any questions concerning the future of financial aid, please feel free to contact the House Republican Conference in Washington D.C. d.c. (202) 225-5107.
In addition to my disappointment in the Student Legislative Awareness Board, I also am extremely disappointed in the irresponsible and misinformed comment by student body president Kim Cocks that appeared in the Sept. 11 Lawrence Journal-World. In the article "KU students to march to Meyers' office," Cocks suggested that Meyers was insensitive to the needs of college students. The truth is that Meyers has a proven history of supporting higher education. Her past voting record, along with the fact that she was an original member of the Johnson County Community College Foundation, is proof enough that higher education is very important to Meyers. To say otherwise is irresponsible.
Student financial aid is not under attack by Congress
Brad Burke is a Topeka Junior in political science.
In the Tuesday, Sept. 12 University Daily Kansan, the Student Legislative Awareness Board (SLAB) coordinator, Jason Schreiner, made several alarming claims about the future of student financial aid. Schreiner listed several cuts in, and eliminations of, student grants and loans. He also alluded to the opinion that the Republican House of Representatives, including Rep. Jan Meyers, R-Kan., does not care about the needs of students and is not concerned about the future of the country. This is all very upsetting to me because it simply is not true. I was concerned enough about these remarks that I contacted the House of Representatives Conference in Washington, D.C., to see exactly what was going on.
SLAB claims that Perkins Loans will be eliminated. According to the conference, "Congress' balanced budget proposal accepts the recommendation of President Clinton's 1995 Budget and did not add any new funds into the $6 billion Perkins Loan account."
Another claim from SLAB is that the in-school interest subsidy will be eliminated. Congress' balanced budget proposal does not eliminate the in-school interest subsidy for students. It should be noted that Congress' balanced budget proposal preserves the post-six-month grace period. The only proposed change would ask graduates to pay the interest that accumulates during that period. The interest would be repaid during the span of the loan and only after the grace period expired. The conference reports that this adjustment would not make a single loan applicant ineligible for a loan. The House Economic and Educational
GUEST COLUMNIST
Christian Coalition favors education
SLAB has sounded an alarm that student financial aid, in general, is under attack. That is not true. The conference reports, "Congress balanced budget proposal does not cut a single student loan. In fact, under the Republican plan to balance the budget and save student loans, more loans will be available next year than ever in the history of the program." According to the committee, the number of loans should increase from 6.6 million in 1995 to 7.1 million in 1996.
Additionally, student aid is not cut. The committee reports, "The College Work Study program is
Opportunities Committee reports that the change will cost those college graduates with student loans at most an average of $0 per month and will save the taxpayers, both college graduates and nongraduates alike, $3.5 billion.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
This letter in response to the editorial by Tara Fitzpatrick, "Group's plan misdirects nation", in the Sept. 14 issue. The article claims, "(Christian) Coalition members advocate closing the Department of Education and cutting loans for students. They also oppose public schools." Alarmed by this news, I called the Christian Coalition to see if these accusations are true. I spoke with Monica Hildebrand, Deputy Communications Director for the Coalition, and got the story straight.
The Coalition does not oppose cutting loans to students. They do advocate transferring loan funds from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Lawrence graduate student
Finally, the Coalition does not oppose public schools. The Coalition does support allowing parents to decide which schools their children will attend, whether public or private.
Fitzpatrick warns of the dangers of letting the Christian Coalition influence American politics. Hasn't she ever stopped to wonder who makes up the Christian Coalition? It is Americans. The Constitution still guarantees them the right to representative government and God forbid that our great government would ever operate without accountability to its constituents, liberal or conservative.
Edward Harvey
The Coalition does not propose shutting down the Department of Education. The Coalition does propose streamlining it by bypassing the bureaucracy and giving money directly to schools. Nobody is more interested in the welfare of children than their parents. It is only fair and logical to let parents and local school boards decide how to spend their money.
Evaluating other beliefs can help students solidify personal views
Last Wednesday, approximately 75 people gathered on Wescoe Beach to march in opposition to student financial aid cuts. It was well-publicized, and many people were gathered ahead of time as one of the leaders of the march
.STAFF
COLUMNIST
began to speak.
After he finished, everyone cheered, and the march began.
Earlier in the week, a man was standing in the same area voicing his opinions on moral decay in America. Instead of cheering, however, the crowd responded by making fun of him still ignoring it.
num and telling him to shut up.
Both speakers were voicing opinions in a public place, hoping to motivate people to take action. However, the crowds' reactions were different for one simple reason. The crowd agreed with the march's leader but disagreed with the man speaking about moral decay.
The crowd's reaction to the moral decay speech was troubling. Although I don't agree with the man's convictions, he has a right to preach whatever doctrine he chooses. Therefore, I was not going to ask him to be quiet.
Freedom of speech sets our nation apart from others. The right to voice opinions is a primary principle upon which our country was founded, and the Constitution makes no distinction between popular and unpopular ideas. New ideas should stimulate debate on different subjects. A diversity of ideas and willingness to share and discuss opinions could make our campus rich.
Whether or not we agree with an idea, we should be open to listening to it. Furthermore, we should feel comfortable enough to debate our views with others who may challenge them. Those who voice opinions help others form and strengthen their own.
Many groups on campus openly voice opinions, thoughts or beliefs for the student body to accept or reject. These include organizations from both ends of the political spectrum, as well as those who ignore the spectrum all together. I always have assumed that these groups did the same thing for students as Limbaugh did for me — challenge viewpoints so we can learn from each other.
We should look at differing opinions more positively. Next time I listen to a speaker whose views contradict my own, I will thank him or her for making me take a second look at myself and for practicing his or her right to free speech. We all should take the time to do it.
The reaction to the speaker on Wescoe Beach last week illustrated how wrong I was. Instead of trying to learn more about their own views through the evaluation of his, students in the crowd were trying to shut him up. When that didn't work, they made fun of him.
Rush Limbaugh uses free speech in this way. I agree with almost nothing he says. To openly disagree with him, however, I must know exactly why and be able to defend the reasons. He makes me take a closer look at my beliefs.
Stacy Nagy is a Topska sophomore in Ruslan.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin