4A
Monday, September 12, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Bus system has out-polluted its welcome here
CHRIS STONG
KU on Wheels is a waste of students' money and harmful to the campus environment.
Anvone like the Replacements?
Anyone like the Replacements?
"On the bus, that's where we ride,
hurry, hurry, here comes my ... stop."
It's not really where we ride. Enrollment for Fall 1993 was 28,862 and 27,131 for Spring 1994. And KU on Wheels sold a total of 6,161 bus passes that fall and 7,470 passes that spring.
Want to guess how much it costs to run the whole system? Remember,
it's a government operation costing $1,046,844.35. That's a lot of money,
especially since you didn't ask to spend it.
I am not sure whether there was ever any more than tacit approval for the bus system. Though the bus system was a student idea, the system came about through the Student Senate. Nobody votes in those elections,
and no one knows that as well as I. We live in a democracy, with the decisions made by voters and those elected by them. But that same process can be reversed. The bus system has outlived the problems it tried to solve.
The KU police reports that at any one time there are between 5,000 and 10,000 bikes on campus. So at any given second, there are at least as many, if not more, bike riders on campus as people who buy bus passes for the entire semester.
The bus system must have had grandiose goals at one time: Reduce gasoline consumption, reduce parking by increasing mass transit, provide transportation in bad weather and decrease pollution. It still hasn't worked out like they planned.
If you are one of those bike riders or a pedestrian, you might agree that the bus system is a failure. Test the emissions by riding a bike uphill behind one of the behemoths blocking the road. Hang out on campus and listen to the squealing brakes and, dare I say, the "low" hum of the finely-tuned engines. If you are a pedestrian, you can conduct a similar test by crossing the street, even at a crosswalk: You will hear both sounds in succession. Well maybe not the squealing.
Amy Trainer, president of Environs, a campus environmental group, has similar complaints. The group believes the Lawrence Bus Co. could use its money to at least purchase less polluting engines and better exhaust systems to reduce noise and air pollution. I say eliminate pollution altogether on campus. Start by eliminating buses and then eliminate parking.
Environs also supports restricting all traffic from campus to promote safety for cyclists and pedestrians: A nice beginning for my somewhat more radical solution. The only campus that I know no traffic is allowed is the Arizona University. I lived in Tucson for six months. I registered my bike with the university's Department of Alternative Modes, a whole department devoted to getting people to walk, ride, skate or blade to class. I heard birds on campus when I rode there. They have one more thing we don't: grass right where the street could have been.
I would be the first person to volunteer to swing a 14 pound sledge hammer to break up Jayhawk Boulevard, if someone promises to plant grass. And yes, that will force the next chancellor to walk from her house to Strong Hall.
I know that the bus system employs many people, but more important is the system itself. Our administration would rather have people sitting on their backsides than being active. Students should make an effort sometime while they are here, and getting up the hill independently is a good place to start.
Another is changing the bus system.
Chris Stong is a Lawrence senior in philosophy.
VIEWPOINT
Population solutions found in knowledge of all cultures
The recent summit on the world's population missed the point.
The answer is not limiting the number of children women can bear or increasing the availability of contraceptive i v g
children and family and learns to accept them, we will be better equipped to manage population.
WORLD POPULATION Efforts to curb the earth's population must include attempts to understand cultures where control is needed most.
t i v e
devices or abortion facilities. None of these "solutions" will have any effect on the basis for population rates: culture.
Until the world learns to examine, accept and work within the various cultures of the world, it cannot even begin to understand what drives people to have as many or as few children as they do.
Many have decided the ultimate question and only point of the summit is the liberation of women and a push for their right to control their bodies.
But what we really are seeing is a power struggle in which the most influential nations are trying to force their views and societal conditions on cultures they do not understand.
After the world recognizes the factors that influence choices about
Managing population does not mean controlling birth rates, but learning to live together in a way that allows us to
make the most of our resources.
By concentrating on whether Iraqi women should have access to condoms or whether we need to build abortion clinics in Somalia, we defeat the purpose of an effort to understand the reasons for and consequences of our growing world population.
Arguments over religious teachings or women's rights are better left to the religious and political sects.
Delegates at this meeting of leaders, need to be concentrating on how to gain a better knowledge base of those areas where overpopulation truly endangers the welfare of the people as a whole.
After all, knowledge not politics or money is the true solution to creating a better and more harmonious world for us all.
DONELLA HEARNE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO Editor
JEN CARR Business manager
CHRISTOPH FUHRMANS Managing editor
CAMERON DEATH Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
News...Sara Bennett
Editorial...Donella Hearne
Campus...Mark Martin
Sports...Brian James
Photo...Daron Bennett
Mellasa Lacey
Features...Traci Carl
Planning Editor...Susan White
Design...Noah Musser
Assistant to the editor...Robbie Johnson
Editors
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Todd Winters
Regional mgr ... Luda Guth
National mgr ... Mark Masto
Coop mgr ... Emily Gibson
Special Sections mgr ... Jen Pierne
Production mgr ... Holly Boren
... Regan Overy
Marketing director ... Alan Stiglio
Creative director ... John Carton
Classified mgr ... Heather Niahou
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must address writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Oklahoma have special rights to use the letters.
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The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
AS THE BASEBALL STRIKE DRAGS ON, MILLIONS OF SPORTS FANS SINK FURTHER INTO DEPRESSION:
Sean Finn / KANSAN
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Rape illustration wrong
The Matt Hood cartoon accompanying a *Kansan*'s cover story on rape prevention depicts a phallic male symbol bolting from the sky, a la the traditional Western male God fantasy, over a diminutive female symbol cowering in its shadow. This cliched fantasy pervades Western culture, structuring most images of sports and politics (although Hillary Clinton has clearly threatened this paradigm, just listen to Limbaugh), as well as rape and religion and need not be reiterated by a university newspaper whose job should be to challenge such dangerously comfortable versions of reality, particularly in connection with a discussion of ways women should empower themselves against rape. (Never suggest that men like your cartoonist should do anything to change the social paradigms that tacitly support male brutality.)
As any good tabloid editor can attest, the real power lies in the image, and the real message of this ugly image is: Ladies, the "safety tips" of crime prevention specialists and women's advocates - make eye contact, walk with confidence, choose to be a fighter - offer but a futile defense against the overwhelming nature of male power, and following these steps may make people mistake you for that huxy in the White House. No, your only hope is a super phallus bolting from the sky to save you.
Lori Askeland
Lawrence Graduate Student
ence Graduate Student
This article, with its irresponsible title and its callous contents, reeks of victim blaming. The condescending tone describes many preventative steps towards hindering rapes. What happens if a victim follows all of these steps but still gets raped? What about date or acquaintance rape?
Women are not accountable for the actions of a rapist. When are we going to start reading articles aimed towards men, stating how they can change their behavior? Or aimed towards rapists, stating how they can
Article offends student
How about the timing? Given the recent rape conviction of Jeffrey Shanks, the insensitivity of this article amazes me. Obviously, not all rapes can be prevented, and to insinuate that they can be, is to add guilt to the victim's feelings. Because I'm sure she's not feeling guilty, or ashamed, or humiliated, or dirty enough.
"Thinking Ahead Could Prevent A Rape," (Manny Lopez, *Kansas* p. 1, 9/8/84) could be the most offensive article I've ever read in the *Kansas*.
The article assumes that most rapes are preventable, and that with a little planning or convenient scheduling, a victim should be able to keep this violent crime from happening to her. Gee, I keep forgetting that it's the women's responsibility to prevent rape.
Suzanne Steel Lawrence senior
stop raping? When are we going to stop reading articles placing the responsibility of rape prevention on women?
David Shulenburger Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Zachary Starbird's editorial (7 September 1994) in which he condemns as "outmoded" the "concept that University graduates ought to have a well-rounded education," is a very naive piece. I hope that Mr. Starbird will discover that the most important knowledge that can be acquired at this university will be those skills that can be applied to all professions and vocations. Without the ability to analyze, to examine thoughtfully, to communicate and to make ethical choices, a person is not prepared to take advantage of future opportunities. He is, instead, equipped to step into a prepared slot and to perform tasks as assigned. In an increasingly complex and fast-changing world, the narrow and "vocationally oriented" training advocated by Mr. Starbird is outdated quickly. A true education prepares an individual for a full and thoughtful life, not for a specific job or profession. If such an education is outmoded, the future is dim indeed.
Education not outmoded
Recalling the death of peer brings tears
It was a Tuesday. I was in the eighth grade and sitting in English class. Our spelling lesson was due.
fracticating the art of procrastination at an early age, my pages were blank. Sophia was in the same predicament. Our only hope was that the teacher wouldn't make us turn them in, only exchange the books so they would be graded by a classmate — in this case each other. As luck would have it the old bag didn't feel like collecting them. I smiled.
KATHY KIPP
Feeling pretty smug, I turned back toward the teacher. At that moment the kid in front of me turned around. His name was Matt Brile. Everyone thought he was a dork.
"Kathy, will you exchange books with me, please. No one will exchange with me."
I should have seen something in the look he gave me, but I didn't. He turned around and started to cry.
What was I supposed to do? I had certain loyalties. "Sorry, but no. I am grading Sophia's."
It was a Monday. It was my senior year, and I was sitting in Calculus class. My homework was done. I turned to see if Jeremy had done his.
"Yeah, I did it. Did you hear yet?"
"Hear what?"
"Well, I guess you didn't. Do you remember Matt Brile? He went to South. The one you made cry. Well, him and his father were headed to Nebraska and he fell asleep at the wheel. They crashed into an embankment. They've both dead."
I saw Matt, that look he gave me. I turned around and I started to cry.
I was searching for claims over $50,000. The Total Experience (Payment) for one claim was one dollar. Astonished I looked to see what the summary said.
Matthew Brile, age: 17, sex: male,
vehicle: truck, source: ran off roadway
(driver), description: FATAL
ACCIDENT-one vehicle.
It was a Thursday. It was this past summer and I was sitting in my cubicle at the office. The Penksen Truck Leasing Co. claims were due.
If I would have done my homework,
if I would have told him why I couldn't
exchange, would I have cried?
I started to cry.
One dollar. That's all.
Sometimes I wonder why I cried. I never really knew Matt. The only thing that ever tied us together was that day when he walked away humiliated and I walked away guilty.
I don't know. That's what scares me.
Kathy Kipp is a Woodridge, Ill., sophomore in English.
Mixed Media
By Jack Ohman