4A
Thursday, August 24,1995
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: EASTERN PARKWAY
City has other parkway options
As part of the circular loop that eventually will connect Lawrence roadways, the Lawrence City Commission is considering constructing a two-lane highway in East Lawrence.
Known as the Eastern Parkway, the proposed highway would link K10 and Noria Road to Sixth Street, therefore providing another route for downtownbound traffic.
Another configuration, however, also has been suggested. Instead of running the highway through neighborhood areas, the Eastern Parkway could be built farther east of downtown between Lawrence and Eudora. By constructing another bridge over the Kansas River, traffic still could reach the Massachusetts-Street area without disturbing the heart of East Lawrence.
Lawrence should build new two-lane highway over the Kansas River and avoid disturbing the East Lawrence area
In light of the controversy surrounding the construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway, the commission should consider carefully the impact a highway would have on the East Lawrence community before finalizing any decisions.
And for planners of the Eastern Parkway, preserving East Lawrence neighborhoods should be a priority.
AMY WITTMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Considering the effects a highway could have on East Lawrence neighborhoods, the latter proposal would be the best option. Maintaining and improving the quality of living east of Massachusetts Street should be intrinsic components of any construction plans.
THE ISSUE: GTA COMPLAINT
GTA filing could hurt students
Graduate teaching assistants have shown that they are eager to flex their union muscles by filing a complaint on Aug.14 that could block the road to future negotiations.
The complaint stated that the GTAs were discriminated against when they were excluded from a faculty pay increase to be given in January 1996. Mike Johnson, spokesman for the union and a GTA in English, thinks that the April vote to form a union led to the decision.
But the administrative decision to deny the GTAs a pay increase was made after the Kansas Legislature cut funds specifically marked for such a raise. This raise was denied to all state-employed GTAs, including those at Kansas State University and Wichita State University, neither of which has unions.
While a union is necessary for the protection
Complaint about pay, feelings of hostility interferes with what's important educating students
educating students
and benefit of GTAs, premature complaints only breed dissension between the two sides.
The recent complaint could prove harmful to undergraduate students if their GTAs are spending more time being concerned about union activities, than on their duties of instructing students.
By filing a complaint, the union has made future negotiations even more difficult. Cries of unfair treatment foster the fears of union opponents and supporters. Now, any move against GTA benefits might be called discriminatory.
Complaints from the GTAs should be carefully scrutinized by union members so that the road to fair representation remains clear.
CHARITY JEFFRIES FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
COLLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHELLE MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
STEPHANIE UTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Home & Special Sections . Deedra Allison
Editorial . Heather Lawrens
Associate Editorial . Sarah Morton
Campus . Warner Weber
Associate Campus . Teresa Veseys
Associate Campus . Paul Todd
Sports . Jenn Carlson
Associate Sports . Tenniel
Associate Sports . Paul Katz
Wilson . Robert Alter
Business Staff
Campus mgr ...Meredith Haining
Regional mgr ...Temula Dumac
National mgr ...Heather Barnes
Special Sections mgr ..Heather Nielsen
Production mgr ..Heather Nielsen
Kristy Nye
Marketing director ..Konan Hauer
Public Relations director ..Beth Chelli
Director of Public Relations
Classified mgr ..Heather Veller
no one. Making bigoted, one-sive jokes is one thing. Doing it at the expense of a person's life is quite another. There should be no place for insensitive public servants like the firefighter who might have saved Tyra Hunter's life but chose to stand around and make jokes about her instead.
No one should be denied adequate emergency services — not transgendered people, not bisexual, gay or lesbian people, not African-American or poor people
Transgendered biases can be cruel and deadly
of Brandon Teenan, a female-to-male transgendered person in Falls City, Neb., was another highly publicized case. After arresting Brandon on a misdemeanor charge, sheriff's deputies were seen around town joking about how the popular young man was "really a woman." Word got back to two of Brandon's buddies, who then raped and killed him. Other victims of transphobia suffer as the result of ineptitude and insensitivity on the part of local officials every day, with the media often choosing to gloss over the inherent bigotry that feeds into these occurrences.
On Aug. 7, a routine car accident in Washington, D.C., turned into a demonstration of intolerance and disrespect for human life. Tyra Hunter was a passenger in a car when it was broadsided by another car at a fourway stop. When fire department personnel arrived at the scene, Tyra and the driver had been pulled from the car and were lying on the ground. As a crowd gathered, a male firefighter began treating Tyra for her injuries. That is, until he cut open her pants leg and noticed she had male genitalia. Tyra was a male-to-female transsexual.
At that point, according to eye-witnesses, the firefighter stood up and backed away from Tyra, who was semi-conscious and gasping for breath. One witness quoted him as saying, "this ain't no bitch," as he began joking with the other fire department personnel at the scene. Another witness at the scene heard one of the firefighters say, "Look, it's a cock and balls." While the firefighters stood around making jokes about her, Tyra's treatment was discontinued temporarily.
Crisla Hampton is a Lawrence graduate student in higher education.
People at the scene, frustrated with the firefighters' behavior, began shouting for them to help
Tyra. Finally, some other firefighters went to work at treating her injuries. She later was transported to D.C. General Hospital , where she was pronounced dead. According to the Washing- Poet
STAFF COLUMNIST
accident victim was 24-year-old Tyrone Michael Hunter. Tyra's family, friends and coworkers said that she had lived full-time as a woman since she was 14.
A task force called Together In Tyra's Memory was formed to demand an independent investigation, suspension of the personnel involved and diversity and sensitivity training for firefighters. The D.C. Fire Department has announced that it is continuing its investigation and says it plans to have some sort of sensitivity training for staff but refuses further comment.
Unfortunately, the sort of treatment Tyra received isn't an isolated incident. The 1993 murder
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some submissions.
We encourage all readers to respond to news articles which appear in the Kansan, as well as columns and editorials. Your response is the best guide we have for determining how we are doing and making the Kansan as reader-friendly as possible.
Quitters can't be winners. This old fashioned saying sums up Shannon Faulkner's short-lived career at the Citadel. After over two years of battling the court system to earn the right to attend the all-male institution, The Citadel, Faulkner promptly quit after being at the institution for
Faulkner's escapade hurts women's future at The Citadel
less than a week
STAFF COLUMNIST
By quitting, Faulkner has given the administrators of The Citadel the per
participating in one day's exercises and spending a few days in the infirmary. Her courtroom escapade became a futile and meaningless attempt to break the good-boy system.
The Citadel was at fault for closing its doors to a female student. This the courts determined. But Faulkner was just as much at fault for making all parties involved go through a complete circus for no good reason. When Faulkner first took The Citadel on, females everywhere were thrilled.
fect excuse not to allow any other females into their precious institution. She may have closed the door that she worked so hard to open. The question is: What prompted Faulkner to quit? If a girl can endure the drama of two years in court while female-bashing executives try to keep her out of their school, then surely she could endure at least a month — or at least more than a week.
When Faulkner won, it was like a chink in the armor of chauvinist men everywhere. By quitting, Faulkner diminished all her triumphs and put women at the same, if not a lower level, than they were before she started her fight.
Socially, she must have had a tough time being thrown into the position of the class geek. Faulkner must have endured a lot from her peers her first and only week of school. She must have endured a lot during her court battle, and she will have to endure even more now that she has quit. If she would have stayed, she might have started to blend in and, who knows, some of her peers might even have accepted her.
Women now must put up with those smirking males with unbruised egos saying, "I told you a woman couldn't cut it in a man's school."
But she quit. Now she and the world will always be forced to ask, what if? Shannon never will know if she really beat the system or what it is like to achieve her dream.
Faulkner picked her fight, but somewhere along the way forgot what her legal battle and dream was — to be the first female to attend The Citadel. We need another female to come along with the goal to graduate from The Citadel.
She quit in the face of adversity and let everyone who supported her cause down. When you fight for something, you need to know what you're fighting to achieve.
Mars
Jenny Wiedeke is a Evergreen, Cole, sophomore majoring in business communication.
Bu Mike Boast
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