4
University Daily Kansan/Wednesday, October 9, 1991
OPINION
Causing a ruckus
Police search parties for underage drinkers
Beer is one of those "experiences" that, despite the law, is thrust upon almost everyone entering college. Yet, many students at the University of Kansas live in residential areas and, inevitably, conflicts arise between the students who, anxious to absorb the total college scene, hold large parties and their neighbors, who don't.
Not only that, but many underage students do not seem to realize that every time they drink or even hold a beer, they are in violation of the law. It doesn't matter whether they are in a bar, in someone's house, or face down in the gutter; drinking any alcohol under the age of 21
is illegal. Possession of alcohol by minors is illegal. Open-containers of alcohol in public places is also, you guessed it, illegal. Got all that?
These little legal tidbits are handy to remember if you are planning on attending a party in the Oread area. The police have been patrolling this area pretty frequently on the weekends, based on complaints from residents who, for some odd reason, dislike large groups of drunken college students partying and generally whooping it up.
It is to be hoped that more students will become aware of these restrictions and fewer, consequently, will be creating a
ruckus and therefore getting cited by the police. For this is the uglier side of breaking the law and whooping it up anyway, folks: you may be the recipient of a citation that carries a possible $500 fine and a maximum of 180 days in jail.
So, the moral of the story is that if you break the law, you had better be prepared to suffer the consequences. More to the point, do yourselves a favor and avoid large parties in the Oread neighborhood.
Kevin Bartels for the editorial board
Editorials reflect the opinion of the UniversityDailyKansan editorial board. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the board.
Opinions expressed in guest and staff columns and cartoons
are soley those of the author or artist. Views expressed in guest and staff columns are not necessarily shared by the Kansan.
Senate's criticism of art financing overlooks good
The National Endowment for the Arts has become a popular target for right-wing members of Congress over the last two years. What began as a dispute over funding for controversial art exhibits has become a concerted, coordinated effort on the part of farright interest groups to severely restrict or even abolish the NEA. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., has traditionally led the attack against what he calls the liberal, homosexual art community. He has called for an end to funding of art "that would turn the stomach of any normal person."
Last week Helms gains a new supporter in Ben. Nancy Kassbaum, who proposed an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have cut more than $17 million in NEA funding. The Senate defeated the measure, but passed a more general statement written by Helms that places restrictions on NEA funding.
The uproar that led the Senate to approve NEA restrictions for the second straight year began in 1989 when the endowment awarded grants for an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorne photographs, some of which contained homosexual themes, and to a museum in North Carolina that supported an exhibition that included a photograph of a crucifix suspended in urine.
Chris
Moeser
Guest
columnist
Despite the freedoms of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution, it is obvious that some groups have legitimate objections to the use of public money to fund these types of exhibits. Although it should be clear that any attempt to restrict artistic expression should clearly be seen as a violation of constitutional rights, perhaps the NEA did use questionable judgment when it funded these exhibitions.
Yet does this justify a wholesale cut, or even restrictions on the NEA?
Since 1963 the number of professional arts organizations has grown by almost 700 percent. The number of professional orchestras has increased from 58 to 145; professional opera companies from 31 to 109; professional dance companies from 35 to 250; and professional theater companies from 40 to 500.
Consider what the endowment has accomplished in its 26 year history.
As the number of artistic groups has grown, so has the audience. In 1965 one million tickets were sold for dance performances, chiefly in New York City. Today there are about 16 million ticket buyers for dance performances, and 90 percent of those are outside of New York. The audience for orchestra has risen from 10 to 23 million.
Membership in the leading chamber music association grew from 20 ensembles in 1979 to 578 in 1989. Average annual attendance at museums of arts骨丢 from 200 million to 500 million. Today, more people attend concerts, museums and theater each year than attend athletic events.
All of these achievements, and yet as a nation the United States spends less money each year on the arts than does the city of Vienna, Austria.
Cuts in NEA funding would especially hurt arts in non-metropolitan areas such as Kansas. Each year at KU the Spencer Museum of Art, the Concert Series and individual professors all receive sizable NEA grants.
And although the Senate, in the midst of a recession, could approve the largest single pay increase in history for itself, senators like Helms and Kassebaum can not seem to understand the importance of funding for the arts
The successes of the NEA greatly outweigh the recent controversies raised in Congress by Helms and others. The unrelenting criticism of the endowment is both political demagogue and just plain dishonesty. Helms and other right wingers have deliberately chosen extreme examples of funding problems to discredit the endowment largely for their political gain. It comes as no surprise that the attacks on the NEA have come as the traditional focus of criticism for the far-right, global communism, fades into an oblivion.
The accomplishments of the NEA have culturally enriched American society for decades to come. The National Endowment for the Arts is an asset that should be protected from the forces of political extremism. Any attempt to reduce funding or restrict the NEA should be bitterly opposed by all people who truly care about the arts in this nation.
Given the success of the NEA over the last 26 years, perhaps the Senate should consider restrictions, or better yet, a muzzle, for Jesse Helms.
Chris Moeser is a Lawrence senior major ing in political science and journalism.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Miles Davis will transcend fads
I'm glad I don't rely on the Kanan for my information of world events. The passing of the great musical artist Miles Davis on Saturday, Sept. 28, unwent illnounced in your paper. Miles Davis' importance as a musician and composer in history is every
bit as important as the passing of other such greats as Beethoven, Duke Ellington, Debussy and Charlie Parker. Miles was at the forefront of his art, setting the precedent many others would try to copy. His music was always expanding and changing. His ears always were open for something new. One only needs to buy his albums to hear what I speak of. I hope the music does not lose all of such glaring error of ignorance. In 200 years, after the aftere of Vanilla Ice and Quiet Riot types fades, we'll still hear about the great African-American musician, Mile Dewey Davis, 1926-1991.
Mark Rasmussen Lawrence senior
KU Bookstores channel profits back to students
As student members of the Memorial Corporation Board of Directors (a non-profit corporation that oversees the departments of the Kansas and Burge Unions), we would like to respond to recent concerns regarding the KU Bookstores and the Kansas and Burge Unions. In particular, it appears that the columns of Sept. 12 and Oct. 4 have misrepresented the goals and purposes of the KU Bookstore. The Kansas and Burge Unions do not try to rip off the students or "monopolize business". Quite the contrary, it exists to serve the students, and it uses all of its resources to achieve this goal. With this in mind, we would like to provide information that has previously been neglected.
To begin with, we want to respond to allegations made in both columns that the KU Bookstore overcharges students to increase profits. The goal of the KU Bookstore is to sell academically related merchandise at the lowest possible price. If any profits are incurred, they are returned to the KU student body in the form of programs and services. Consider Student Union Activities, which is the main student programming organization on campus. SUA offers more than 450 programs a year for the University and community, which this year have included the "Summer on the Hill" series, free Hawk Week events, the Second City Comedy Troupe and a variety of movies throughout the week. These programs would not have been possible without the financial support of the Kansas and Burge Unions. Indeed, the Union operations combine profits to fund the total Union operation, which includes SUA.
The KU Bookstore also uses a significant portion of its profits to fund the student rebate program. Through the rebate program, the KU Bookstores give students the opportunity to lower their cost of books and supplies by returning their receipts at the end of the semester and having a percentage of their purchases returned. This rebate is currently 9 percent, rather than 6 percent as stated by the columnist. Indeed, more than $90,000 is returned to KU students with this program each year. In fact, more than $2,100,000 has been returned to students since the rebate program's inception in 1946. Finally, the remaining profit goes into the maintenance of the Kansas Union, a building which is considered by many to be the "living room" of the University of Kansas.
In addition, the Sept. 12 column made comments regarding the University's licensing program, which is administered by the KU Bookstore. Not only do the KU Bookstore profits go to students, but the income received from the licensing program goes to the students as well. The column asks, "Where is this money?" To answer, the income from the licensing program goes into three scholarship funds for
Dean Newton
Guest columnist
the students: 40 percent to the general scholarship fund of the Kansas University Endowment Association, 35 percent to the Williams Educational Fund and 25 percent to the Kansas and Burge Union scholarship fund. Indeed, approximately $600,000 of royalty income has been collected since 1982 for student scholarships. So the answer to the question of the Sept. 12 column, quite simply, is that the money is in the pocketss of KU students.
Finally, both columns suggest that the KU Bookstore monopolizes business through exclusive access to enrollment information and special advertising privileges. First, contrary to the Sept. 12 column, both the KU Bookstore and the Jayhawk Bookstore receive the same enrollment information. This is an extremely important fact. Equal access to enrollment information has not crated a monopoly, but has produced a more competitive environment at KU. Because of this competition, both bookstores have been forced to be more efficient, productive and cost-effective. Inevitable, this competition has benefited the students. Ironically, with regard to advertising, the KU Bookstore actually has fewer avenues in which to advertise due restrictions placed on it by the Board of Regents. Whereas other bookstores can advertise any products sold on a regular basis on cable and broadcast television, on any radio station (for example, KCFX, KY or KLZR) and in any newspaper (for example the Lawrence Daily Journal World), the Union bookstores are restricted in their use of these advertising media.
The KU Bookstore has a long tradition of serving the University and the KU student body. We must emphasize that the KU Bookstore is a not-for-profit operation. All of its profits go back to the students through Student Union Activities, the student rebate program and the maintenance of the Kansas Unions. Similarly, all funds generated from the licensing program go the KU students through scholarships. Contrary to what was portrayed in both columns, it is not some administrative money machine which uses "University connections" to "leave its rival far behind." Rather, the KU Bookstore exists to serve the students, and it uses its profits and funds to benefit the students.
Dean Newton is the SUA president and a member of the Memorial Corporation Board of Directors. Anita Bajaj is the president of the Memorial Corporation Board of Directors*
KANSANSTAFF
HOLLY LAWTON
Editor
JENNIFERREYNOLDS Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
Editors
News ... Erik Schutz
Editorial ... Karen Park
Planning ... Sarah Davis
Campus ... Eric Gorsak
Sports ... Mike Andrews
Photo ... Brian Scheoni
Features .. Tiffany Harness
Graphics .. Melissa Unterberg
KATIE STADER Business manager
BUSINESS STAFF
Campus sales mgr. Bryan Bryant
Regional sales mgr. Jeanclaxton
National sales mgr. David Mcwlaine
Co-op sales mgr. Laie Kearler
Production mgrs. Jay Steiner,
Wendy Stertz
Marketing director.
Creative director. David Habiger
Classified mgr. Jennifer Jacquinot
RICHHARSHBARGER Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
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Loco Locals
THIS IS KISS "HOOKLE BERRY"
FRYNNY YOUR K-BLAST TRAFFIC
PATROLLER LOCKS LIKE A
YOUNG LADY (SHAVING)
TRUBLE BERRY A DARK KINK
DOUBLE FINDING A PARKING
YOU... IN THE MARCOON SATURN...
GO TO THE ARROW BILD...
NOW ALL THE WAY TO THE END.
KEEP GOING... TRUST
byTom Michaud