THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
anal
NSAN ht.
fect and show
is all con-
usuhin a
tests
onor-
a re-
ption
an-n t the 5 and free
Wis-
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
greek representation misleading, unfair
ALL GREEK TO ME
PAGE 5A
I hope that through this writing I won't discredit a past writer who, through his pledgeship at one fraternity, Sigma Nu, felt he was able to ascertain the activities of the entire fraternity community. I wish, however, to offer my own observations about the fraternity community, as someone who actually has close contact with all 19 of them, and works with them on a daily basis.
SCOTT SHORTEN opinion@kansan.com
Where should I start? Should I tell you about how fraternity men consistently earn grades higher than the average KU student? Perhaps I should tell you about how Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Chi all received awards this summer from their national organizations for being outstanding chapters?
How about the already $13,153 that has been collected for donation to the Red Cross for hurricane relief and 25 members of Delta Chi going down to New Orleans during Fall Break to help? And these projects are only from the eight chapters with whom I've spoken recently, and they are largely in addition to their normal philanthropy projects.
How about the measures we put in place to prevent chapters from getting out of control so they don't resemble Animal
No. Let's not talk about those things. They aren't nearly sensational enough. Let's talk about hazing, or rather, the misconceptions about its prevalence in fraternity life.
House and the programs designed to promote responsible alcohol use? I could go on.
Had the author I previously mentioned written what he did 25 years ago, I would have agreed with him to a large extent. But the suggestions that hazing is still a common practice at this University is categorically false; especially in the sense that his article implies. People hear the word "hazing" and instantly they imagine physical abuse to incoming freshmen. They imagine people being paddled. They imagine people being forced to drink or do demeaning activities.
Those activities are a relic of the past and are as dead as the chapters who practiced them.
What Sigma Nu got in trouble with, I suspect, had little to do with that type of physical hazing, but rather activities that many people may not even consider hazing at all, in the traditional sense. That's pure conjecture, though; and I'm not trying to downplay the harm that may be caused psychologically, only that hazing no longer strictly means physical abuse.
To suggest, however, that any type of activity falling under the category "hazing" is as pervasive as suggested is ridiculous. What makes it even more ridiculous is that the author is such an outsider to the whole system.
He pretends, it seems, to know something he does not.
I don't think he's alone in his misconceptions, though — everywhere in film and television we see fraternities portrayed in that fashion. Fraternities, being mostly secret societies, are misunderstood on many levels. This is just one of them.
Is every fraternity man the saint their creeds ask them to be? No, of course not. Do some guys party too hard? Probably, but not in any greater proportion than the general student population. Do fraternities facilitate the transition of new students into collegiate life, guiding and supporting them along the way, while also managing to have fun? Absolutely.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to shed the belief that today's fraternity is the same as it was 25 years ago. The fraternity of the
21st century is one that contributes back to its community, one that builds men up instead of tearing them down and one that fosters the ideal environment for developing upstanding citizens and leaders of tomorrow. It would be substantially off base to suggest anything to the contrary.
Thank you to all you members of fraternities who live by your creeds. Keep up the great work it doesn't go unnoticed by everyone.
I see this because I am involved; with it every day; and it breaks, my heart that more people can't see these organizations from the same perspective that I do.
♦ Shorten is a Stilwell senior in business administration and pre-medicine. He is president of the Interfraternity Council.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers will 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to emit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Man, when someone hands me a flier on campus, it's like saying, "Hey. Throw this away."
Bill Braskey fathered 3 of my 4 children.
It's kind of interesting that instead of getting their opinions from educated political analysis from places like CNN or a newspaper, people get their opinions from Kanye West.
A boat is a boat, but the mystery box could be anything! It could even be a boat!
So I'm locked out of my house, and none of them can let me into the house, so I thought I'd call you.
I'm ashamed to admit, but I jumped on the Bill Braskey bandwagon.
Didn't the chancellor hear? Randy Moss already found a cure for cancer.
Is it bad that I'm just counting the days until the guy I sleep with and his girlfriend break up?
Can we please stop talking about Sigma Nu and Hurricane Katrina and get back to important issues?
Like why Jessica so deserves Jason more than Alex does on Laguna?
Tell the freshmen to start walking home before they get fat.
I thought I had mono for the last few weeks, but it turns out I was just really bored.
My anthropology professor just offered extra-credit points for participating in an anti-war demonstration on campus. Does throwing rocks at it count?
Was the commentator of the Chiefs game having an affair with Randy Moss?
Dear girl at the gym talking on a phone while using a stair-sweeper: No. (Pause) No. No. No. No.
Kappa Tappa Kega challenges Rhombus House to a drinking contest.
I am a division manager! I drive a Dodge Stratus!
✨
Free for All, you remind me of the girl I met last weekend. You never answer your phone.
True or False? I finally made it into the Free for All.
This is for all the vegetarians at KU. Everytime you eat a salad, I'm going to eat three animals.
To the guy on Monday night at the ree center;
Whoever told you your mustache was cool lied.
I'm pretty sure Jesus don't love the
Rhombus House either.
Whoever lost their pink girly cell-phone on the bus, I gave it to the bus driver, so check with them.
TAKING A STAND
How many comments do you get and how long does it take to listen to them?
(Editor's note: Depends how drunk you guys get.)
Whoever said they stole the Tennessee sign is a liar. I've got it in my living room right now!
Since when does McDonald's need a searchlight on their roof? Did they run out of fat people and so now they are looking for fat aliens?
Keep education for all
Education is a right every person should be able to access. The truth is, however, that an enormous part of the U.S. population is denied this right.
Immigrants without legal citizenship status in the country struggle to receive a higher education because the law requiring states to provide education stops at the high-school level.
In order to remedy this inequality between students, the Georgia Senate will vote on a law that would allow immigrant students who meet certain requirements to pay in-state tuition. Kansas has already adopted a similar law by passing the House Bill 2145.
What they have not figured out is that illegal immigrant pay taxes just like any other citizen. By living and working in the state of Kansas, residents pay sales tax and any worker's taxes. If people contribute to the
Yet, the people who refuse to support the in-state tuition bill are closing the door for these opportunities. Instead, they
Just like in Georgia, this bill has many opponents. These opponents do not understand the value of education, regardless of immigration status. People against the in-state tuition bill argue that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, therefore they should not be able to benefit from the state.
ALAIDE VILCHIS opinion@kansan.com
Kansas economy, they should be allowed to enjoy the essential right to education.
People who immigrate to the United States do so because they have few other options in their own country. They wish for better opportunities for their children.
This means that states will enjoy the wisdom they have planted in the students. After all, education is the basis of a good, stable democratic country.
But any of the states debating in-state tuition laws will benefit greatly from immigrants getting higher education even after they graduate from college.
One of the requirements for those who want to enjoy the instate tuition bill is to pledge to work for the state where they go to college after graduation.
prieter to have poorly educated people living in the United States because students, rather than leaving the country, will start working right after high school.
The reason why paying instate tuition is so important for illegal immigrants is that they can not submit a Free Application of Federal Student Aid as an out-of-state citizen could. These immigrants know that the opportunities they are given by going to college is priceless and they are truly going to school to learn.
Let them know your opinion about the issue. After all, this bill reflects on the University of Kansas, and the students affected will be the same students sitting next to you in class.
As students of higher education, we have to decide who the people we want taking classes next to us will be. Though the house bill already applies in Kansas, students represented by Chris Kobach are trying to appeal it. So, write your congressman or any representative in the Kansas government.
Vilchis is a Shawnee sophomore in journalism and international studies.
Sarah Connelly, business manager 864-4014 or adddirector@kansan.com
TALK TO US
Austin Caster. editor
Jonathan Kealing, managing editor
864-4854 or jealng@kansan.com
Aubin Taster, editor
864-4854 or acaster@kansan.com
John Morgan, sales director
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.
com
Matthew Sevsk, opinion editor
864-4924 or msevksh@kansan.com
SUBMISSIONS
Malcolm Gibson, general manager,
news adviser
884-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Austin Caster at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor at kansan.com.
LETTER-GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 200 word limit
Include: Author's name and telephone number; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published)
GUEST COLUMN
GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 650 word limit
Include: Author's name; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published)
Elius Ford, Vanting Wang, Julia Melia Coeloh, Dani Hovet, Annie Watem, Jeline Pailian, Nathan McGinnia, Joah Goatting, Sara Garlick, Chris Edgerton, Rw Wittiginger, David Archer
Also: The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack another columnist.
EDITORIAL BOARD
SUBMIT TO
Kansas newton
111 Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 60048
(785) 844-8410 opition@kansas.com
WHEN IT RAINES IT POURS
Wealth of knowledge
As the recovery continues from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, great attention has been given to the slow and ineffective relief efforts that contributed to the loss of hundreds of lives.
The government's shuffling feet had little to do with race, and everything to do with the income level of the afflicted. Nearly all of the dead are poor African-Americans, without the financial means to afford a hotel, or even a ticket out of town, resigned to stick out a category-five hurricane in a city laving 10 feet below sea level.
After the initial destruction, the real tragedy began, as state and federal emergency relief was inexcuably slow to act, resulting in many more deaths. Many critics have blamed this lack of concentrated and prompt relief on the race of the victims.
Picking on the poor is a popular pastime in our country. While oppression of the lower classes has occurred since man began walking upright, the bullying has become particularly nasty during the last 25 years, when "Reaganomics," a bastardized version of supply-side economics, was unveiled to the masses.
Tax cuts for the wealthy and trimming of "government spending" (read: social programs for the poor) was promised to lead to unprecedented economic growth for all citizens, rich and poor.
CHRIS RAINE
opinion@kansan.com
The wealth gained by the superrich would "trickle down" to the middle and lower classes in the way of better jobs and lower consumer prices.
In reality, "Reaganomics" did little trickling, and by 1988 it resulted in a deep recession that prompted then candidate George H.W. Bush to decry the duplicitous economic policy as "voodoo economics."
What this thinly veiled attack on the poor did accomplish was mass cutting of social programs for the needy, a crushing federal debt that we're still saddled with
today, and the largest gap between the rich and the poor that civilization had ever witnessed.
This income gap remains, and it's only grown larger during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
So when faced with these sobering statistics, what was President Bush's response? Tax cuts for the wealthy. Based on Congress.
INFO TIDBITS
+ 1973 the top 20 percent of households accounted for 44 percent of total U.S. income
By 2002, this percentage had increased to 50 percent, with real wages for the middle and lower classes stagnant or dropping
- And in 2004 alone, the Census Bureau reported another 1.1 million people had dropped below the poverty level
♦ 37 million people now live in poverty, and nearly one in five children will grow up poverty-stricken in the richest country in the history of civilization
According to recycled 1980's talking points, this money will trickle down to the hungry mass-
sional Budget Office figures, more than 66 percent of the $600 billion in tax cuts went to families making more than $200,000 a year, with half of this money going to families making more than one million dollars a year.
es. As the rich gorge, the poor continue to wait for their promised windfall, which history shows will most likely never come.
The result of this full assault on the "working classes" is particularly poignant to the people of New Orleans, who know all-to-well the harsh realities of poverty.
Only Detroit has more poverty stricken residents, with nearly one-fourth of its families and 40 percent of its children living below the poverty level.
Most of these people's lives are daily tragedies; Hurricane Katrina only added to the grief and brought the fickle attention of America to bear on the hardships suffered by the poor in New Orleans.
Now we need to shift that attention to the troubles faced nationwide by the working poor, and engage in real solutions to the very real problem of poverty nationwide.
Responsible tax policy combined with necessary, efficient programs to help the needy, and a sensible and compassionate attitude toward the needy are what's needed to combat the growing poverty problem.
Tax cuts aimed at the richest among us only exacerbate these struggles, and the zeal to help out those who need it least will only be abated for a short time: before the Katrina catastrophe, the Senate was set to vote that week on a repeal of the estate tax, which would benefit all of 2 percent of the richest families in the country, none of whom will be going to sleep hungry tonight.
A popular saying amongst proponents of "Reaganomics" is "A rising tide lifts all boats." Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath reinforces the reality that this rising tide simply drowns those who can't afford boats, an unacceptable reality in a country overflowing with wealth.
Raine is a Wichita senior in journalism and psychology.