OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
TARA TRENARY, Editor HEATHER VALLER, Business manager
LINDESEY HENRY, Managing editor MARIA CRIST, Retail sales manager
PAUL EAKINS, Editorial editor JUSTIN KNUPPE, Technology coordinator
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news adviser DAN SIMON, Sales and marketing adviser
Wednesday, July 16, 1997
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Editorials
City Commission should examine public opinion on city bus system
At the Lawrence City Commission meeting at Tuesday night, the commission failed to vote on whether citizens should decide if a public, citywide bus system should be implemented in Lawrence. Commissioner Bob Moody proposed the public referendum, but no commissioners seconded the motion.
On Wednesday in a study session, the commission discussed the transportation issue again. Commissioner John Nalbandian called for a straw poll to gauge public opinion about a fixedroute bus system by the year 2000. The other commissioners all turned down this proposal.
The actions of the commission essentially killed any chance that a public bus system would be implemented in the next few years. By refusing a vote or a poll, the commission gave two possible messages to the citizens of Lawrence:
1) You are not intelligent enough to make a decision about how your money will be spent on an issue as important
Denying citizens opportunity to vote or to be polled sends bad message from City Hall
as public transportation.
2) We don't think your opinions are needed in making a decision about how we should or should not spend your money.
Moody, commissioners Erv Hodges and Marty Kennedy, all of whom were elected in the spring, had run on platforms advocating a public referendum on a bus system. Despite this, Hodges and Kennedy still failed to support any action involving the bus system at all.
Even Moody said, as was quoted in last Wednesday's Lawrence Journal-World, that he did not need a referendum now, because he did not believe that the public would support a raise in taxes for the $1million system.
However, the article refers to a survey conducted for the commission, which found that 54 percent of Lawrence residents would be willing to have their property taxes increased 1 percent to pay for the bus system. Apparently, there may not be as much public opposition to the idea as some of the commissioners seem to think.
If the bus issue were put to a vote, or a straw poll was taken, then the commission would have a better understanding of the ideas and opinions of the community.
A related issue is that of downtown parking. While the commission, downtown business owners, and Lawrence residents fret about what would be the best way to increase parking, no one seems to have noticed the connection between this and a bus system. If there was an efficient bus system in Lawrence, perhaps shoppers would take a bus downtown so as to not have to search for a parking space.
Bus users not only would have a way to get around town, but those who normally would drive might lighten the downtown parking situation, thus solving two problems in one stroke.
PAUL EAKINS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
School attendance law a good move
Education is of great importance. It is through education that Americans may better themselves, improve their skills and often improve their role in society. Through the public educational system, society seeks to educate its children, creating intelligent, open-minded individuals who will be future contributors to and shapers of our civilization.
It is not easy to succeed in America without at least a high school diploma, and Kansas lawmakers took action to ensure that children had adequate education and preparation for life.
A new state law that took effect July 1
requires children to attend school until
A new Kansas law requires students to remain in school until 18 years old
they're 18, rather than the previous age of 16. This compulsory school attendance law is a good step in the drive to better the educational standards of Kansas and the United States of America.
The law could keep potential drop-outs from getting into trouble during the day when they're in school, and perhaps give them some purpose as well. The two extra years of school that the potential drop-outs will have to attend could send them in a more productive direction in life.
If a 16- or 17-year-old wants to drop out, he and a parent must go to a counseling session, in which they will learn the benefits of a high school diploma.
such as increased job opportunities. If the student still wants to drop out, then both he and his parent must sign off on the decision.
The law is a good thing that will benefit the individual students, although some of them may not realize this, and society as a whole.
PAUL EAKINS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NEWS EDITORS
JEN SMITH ... Copy
ANDREA ALBRIGHT ... Campus
ASHLEIGH ROBERTS ... Photo
BRYAN VOLK ... Design
CORY CORONA ... Assistant Design
KANSAN STAFI
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
KATHRYN JENSEN ... Classified
RACHEL RUBIN ... Creative/Special Sections
STEPHANIE DECKER ... Regional/Campus
How to submit letters and guest columns
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
**Guest columns:** Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
Quotable
All letter and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Paul Eakins at 864-4810 (opinion@kansan.com).
"The most beautiful
thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
Albert Einstein.
Columns
What I Believe
Befriending media is two-way street of trust
And I thought we could be friends.
After all our time together, you still don't trust me. You think I'm insensitive. I'm biased against you and countless others. I'm alternately gloomy and grotesque. To top it all off, I'm told I treat you as if you have the IQ of a box of Pop Tarts.
I am the "evil media." You are the poor, unsuspecting public. And never the twain
shall meet. Readers trust me and my kind about as much as an unfamiliar toilet with a dripping wet plunger alongside it. No wonder newspaper people drink like Johnny Cash at happy hour.
Every few years someone does an extensive poll that proves once and for all the shocking news that — I'm not making this up — PEOPLE DON'T TRUST THE MEDIA. So I guess we're not palms after all. Never were, never will be.
The latest proof that the press apparently sucks was generated by Parade, that little insert into Sunday's newspaper that we pitch straight in the garbage after reading those wonderful "Personality Parade" letters on page two, such as this one:
Q: Now that Prince Charles has divorced Princess Diana, is he looking for a new wife? Does he like blondes? You think you could get me his phone number? I just think he's the cat's meow. — Fanny O'Bannon, Huntington, W.V.
A: I'd say you've definitely got a shot, Fanny. Charles personally told the editors of Parade he's specifically looking for an uncultured American hick to help him assume the throne of the British empire and assist his rule over 58 million English subjects.
Anyway, back to the poll. More than 3,000 readers, an alarming number of whom were also named Fanny, responded to Parade's inquiry about how the media could gain more public trust.
The usual answers were abundant. We need to strive for objectivity. Eliminate editorial comments. Respect privacy. Report on more "hard" news and engage in less sensationalism. These are noble traits to which newspapers have aspired for years. Apparently we haven't achieved them yet, because the negative perception still exists among you, the readers.
For example, Marilyn J. Slabach, of Naples, 114., offered this bit of crucial advice for journalists like me: "Be responsible. The role of newspeople is an important one." Gee, thanks, Marilyn. I
thought I'd been writing, reporting and editing for my own personal amusement these past few years. Now that Ms. Slabach has so eloquently made me understand that I need to "be responsible," improving the media becomes a piece of cake.
As always, many respondents wanted more "good" news in the papers. "News items should cover more stories of people helping people," wrote Juan Pinaula of Lodi, Calif. Pat Whisenhunt of Fort Worth, Texas, agreed that positive news was the ticket. "Maybe lots of people would do better, not be under such stress, and people and kids wouldn't be depressed." Who! People AND kids? People, maybe. But c'mon. Kids too?
It's a harsh fact of life that the world is a depressing place. Newspapers reflect that atmosphere. They do so because time and time again, you readers have shown that you don't want to read about Sister Maria's 30 wonderful years of feeding the homeless. You want to read about Father Kenneth's lifelong predilection for 12-year-old altar boys.
If papers focused on the rare occasions in which human beings actually did nice things for one another, then every paper other than the New York Times would have a circulation of approximately three readers, give or take your occasional Juan and Pat.
The problem always will exist until you prove you will pay attention to a media that offers you news in an intelligent, thought-provoking way. But my guess is, if we stop feeding you stories about UFOs in Roswell and Bill Cosby's illegitimate daughter, you will seek out some other medium in which to find them. Papers can be as intelligent as possible, but if they're boring, you will stop reading them. Simple as that.
"I think it's time the news media start acting as if they are reporting the news to relatively intelligent and informed individuals, not a bunch of morons," suggested Roberta L. Hough of Lancaster, Penn.
To Roberta and all the Robertas out there: If you act like a moron, it is the media's right to treat you as one. Confirm for the media that you really want news about the world and how it can be improved, instead of flipping immediately to the comics or Dear Abby. This is the only way newspapers can improve. Before you go pointing the finger at the media monster, ask yourself what type of news really interests you.
My only solace as a journalist — and what sweet solace it be — is that the number of U.S. drinking establishments with Guinness on tap has doubled in the last 16 months.
Jeff Ruby is a Wichita graduate student in journalism.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a student at this or any other university who has never ordered a pizza. College students generally are not known for their copious free time or their amazing culinary abilities. This is probably why Lawrence has so many delivery places. While I'm sure that many of you actually can cook, that usually doesn't mean that you don't occasionally want
Pizza delivery drivers take risks, deserve tips
someone else to cook your dinner. And, as long as someone will bring it to your house, apartment, or dorm room for the same low price, why not let them?
Most college students take pizza delivery for granted. Very few, if any, remember a time when you couldn't just make a phone call and have pizza brought to your front door. While there are a few pizza shops that still don't deliver, it would be hard to find someone, who didn't just arrive in this country, who hadn't had a pizza delivered at one time or another.
What many people don't realize, or don't care about, is that, just like the person who brings your food to your table at a restaurant, the person who brings food to your door should be given a tip. Anyone who provides a service such as this is customarily tipped in our society. This includes, among others, food servers, hair dressers and probably prostitutes, but that's a discussion that should be taken up at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas' student paper. Putting aside the prostitution question, unlike most service personnel, pizza delivery can be dangerous as well as underpaid.
In most states, waiters and waitresses are paid according to a minimum wage just for them, on the assumption that they will receive tips from the customers. The last time I checked, that wage rose from $2.01 per hour to around $2.15. Pizza delivery drivers usually are paid at least the regular minimum wage, (all of $4.75, still not great). They also are paid either
Oprah once did a show in which she said that the proper amount to tip a driver was $1 per pizza or 10 percent, whichever is higher. Think about that the next time you order a pizza. While most people who deliver pizza never have to deal with being robbed, the threat is always present. To have the convenience of having your food brought to your door, there must be enough people willing to wear out their cars and take the risks required to bring it to you. If the tips suck, then it may become harder and harder to find these people. Most people, myself included, do not want to risk guns stuck in their faces for chump change.
So, I hope this helps you all understand why you should tip your driver the next time you get food delivered to your door. I also hope this helps my mother understand why I don't want to work for the post office, so maybe now she'll finally quit trying to get me to work there. I think I've had enough guns stuck in my face for one lifetime.
In the late '80s, out of more than 4000 Domino's Pizza stores in the U.S., the top three for robberies and accidents were all right down the road in Kansas City. I remember this little tidbit of information mostly because I worked at two of those stores and occasionally helped out in the third. Working for two different companies, I've been robbed 4 times. Three of those times I had a gun pointed in my face. When I was a pizza delivery driver and an assistant manager at one store, there were at least 15 driver or store robberies. Once, a 64-year-old man ended up with 24 stitches so that his assailants could get away with $22. He would have given them the money if they had demanded it, but instead they just beat him.
an amount per delivery or mile, which barely covers gas and oil changes and leaves them in need of much more frequent repair repairs than most of us.
V. Meredith Toenjes is a Kansas City, Kan. junior in psychology.
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