OPINION
4A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
CRAIG LANG, Editor
SUSANNA LOOF, Managing editor
KMBERLY CRAFTREE, Editorial editor
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news adviser
MARK OZIMKE, Business manager
DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
JUSTIN KNUPP, Technology coordinator
JAY STEINER, Sales and marketing adviser
Thursday, April 3,1997
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Editorials
Rock Chalk participants deserve praise for many hours of service
The frezied activity of Rock Chalk Reveus has drawn to a close, but the positive effects of the program will continue throughout the off-season.
Rock Chalk Revue is more than just a variety show. Participants and organizers of the Revue should be commended for their charitable contributions, through both community service hours and funds raised for the United Way.
Since the 1980s, the Revue has been the largest contributor to the United Way in the state of Kansas.
All proceeds of ticket sales to the event are donated to the United Way, which sponsors 30 charitable agencies in the Douglas County area.
The United Way sponsors organizations that provide invaluable services to the residents of Douglas County, including the Douglas County AIDS Project and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Douglas County.
Without the allocation of United Way's funds, many of the organizations it sponsors would have difficulty providing the caliber of service they provide now. Rock Chalk Revue's contribution to the United Way is an important contribution to the health of Douglas County.
This year, participants donated more than 34,000 hours of community service.
Participants in the Revue work hard to make the show the best it can be and thereby maximize ticket sales and their donation to the United Way.
Regardless of KU students' decisions to attend or not attend the Revue, or their feelings about the Greek community as a whole, everyone at the University of Kansas can be proud of the Revue's contribution to charity.
In addition to the monetary contribution produced by the Revue, participants also donate many hours of their time to community service. Last year's Revue generated 30,450 hours of community service by participating living organizations.
This year, residents of 25 fraternities and sororites and two scholarship halls donated 34,390 hours of their time to local charities.
This contribution represents an enormous sacrifice. While many students at the University donate little or no time to charity, the organizations participating in the Revue's community service competition volunteered and raised $30,000 for the United Way.
They also generously sacrificed much of their time while working hard to produce the Revue.
The contributions made by the individuals who took part in Rock Chalk Revue should be seen as a source of pride for all members of the University community. These dedicated students donated tremendous amounts of their valuable time to charity, and their sacrifice is a flattering representation of the best elements of the character of the University.
KELLI RAYBERN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Fraternity policy needs enforcing
Like all campus housing and many sorority houses, the national chapters of two fraternities on campus, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu, decided last month to make a rule allowing no alcoholic beverages to be stored or consumed in their houses. This is a positive step toward changing not only the image of fraternities on campus, but also in preventing future alcohol-related problems.
Fraternities are often seen as party centers rather than the academic and social living establishments they were created to be. By removing alcohol from the houses, Sigma Nu and Phi Delta Theta are taking a positive step toward changing their image on campus, a step which will most likely have positive repercussions within the houses.
However, if these new rules are to have a positive effect, they must be enforced. Simply passing a no-alcohol rule without
The decision by two greek houses to go alcohol-free is the right idea.
The ban also could reduce the occurrence of hazing and other alcohol-related problems that have plagued fraternities in the past. In this way, these two fraternities have taken a step toward preserving their reputations in the university community and protecting the interests of members of their houses as well as the campus community as a whole.
making sure members adhere to it would be nothing more than propaganda to make the houses look good.
they are simply no longer allowed to have it in their living establishments, something that on-campus housing dwellers have had to deal with for a long time. Fraternity members also chose to join that organization, and their subordination is voluntary. Anyone within these fraternities who has a serious problem with the new rule can leave the fraternity or attempt to have the new rule re-examined.
By no means is this new rule an infringement on the rights of members of these fraternities. Members are not banned from consuming alcohol, but
whether other fraternities should follow these two fraternities is up to them. It is likely that these new rules will improve the reputation and record of the participating fraternities, and perhaps other fraternities will soon follow the lead and ban alcohol from their houses. Ultimately, however, the choice to make such rules should and will be left up to the individual houses and their members.
KANSAN STAFF
BEN SHOCKEY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NEWS EDITORS
LATINA SULLIVAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASI . . . Neus
NOVELDA SOMMERS . . . Neus
LESLIE TAYLOR . . . Neus
AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . Neus
TARA TRENARY . . . Neus
DAVID TESKA . . . Online
SPENCER DUNCAN . . . Sports
GINA THORNBURG . . . Associate Sports
BRADLEY BROOKS . . . Campus
LINDESE HENRY . . . Campus
DAVE BreTTENSTEIN . . Features
PAM DISIMMAN . . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . . Design
ANDY ROHRBACK . Graphics
ANDREA ALBHIGHT . . Wire
LIZ MUSSER . Special sections
AERICA VEAZEY . Neus
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLEY . . . Assistant retail
JULIE PEDLAR . . . Campus
DANA CENTENO . . . Regional
ANNETTE HOVER . . . National
BRIAN PAGEL . . . Marketing
SARAH SCHERWINSKI . . . Internet
DARIC MCI LAIN . . Production
DENA PISCOTTE . . Production
ALLISON PIERCE . . Special sections
SARA ROSE . . . Creative
DANA LAUUVET . . Public relations
BRIAN LEFEVRE . . Classified
RACHEL RUBIN . . Assistant classified
BRIDGET COLLITER . . Zone
JULIE DEWITT . . Zone
CHRIS HAGHIRAN . . Zone
LIZ HESS . . Zone
ANTHONY MIGLIAZZO . . Zone
MARIA CRIST . . Senior account executive
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.
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 Kimberly Crabtree (opinion@kansan.com) or LaTina Sullivan (sulillian@kansan.com) at 844-6810.
Column
Ride on Internet can prove to be bumpy
It's almost frightening sometimes, seeing professors who shouldn't be allowed near a VCR trying to use a computer network. It's even scarier to watch people grow frantic as they search for the "on" switch on an ATM. Some people just aren't compatible with technology.
But that doesn't stop the novelty-starved corporate community from heralding the arrival of the Internet and insisting that everyone can and should have access to the Internet at all times of the day from anywhere in the country.
Information became an end unto itself, and access to information suddenly is a basic human right, even a necessity.
But the shape of the Internet and information access in
general inspires several questions. Can Americans really not get along without instant access to information? Is there any actual value in unedited, lightning-fast content distribution?
Despite the questions, the idea that the Internet intrinsically is good has found its way into public acceptance with scarcely a whisper of dissent.
The rise and fall of commercial online services
One of the first companies to attempt this feat of persuasion was America Online. AOL started as a moderately popular bulletin-board system, which allowed users to e-mail each other and play online games, but little else.
Of course, at the time there were several other bulletin-board systems, such as Prodigy and CompuServe. Little or no interaction occurred between systems.
Then came the Internet. Even the wisest technopundits of today can't explain the rapid rise in the popularity of the world-wide network. Today, Nielsen Media Research reports that 23 percent of people older than 16 in the United States and Canada have Internet access. Television commercials commonly display the location of the company's web site. E-mail is part of the mainstream.
The nation's seemingly unalterable march toward the 21st century came to a screeching halt on August 7, 1996. A technical glitch brought AOL's monolithic network to its knees for 19 straight hours. The ensuing confusion caused many Internet consumers to think twice about the value and quality of the service they paid for by the hour.
as they could use, became the norm. Like the television, the computer quickly became an effective time-consuming activity. Users spent hundreds of hours online each month.
Painful revelations
AOL alone is not to blame for the downfall of the Internet. The entire online community shares in the guilt. Everyone who insisted on "the more the merrier" contributed to the fiasco.
In addition, those commercials would have us believe people spend their online time looking up homework help, talking to teachers and doing their taxes.
Many online junikes — like myself — are coming to terms with that now. We're forcing ourselves to admit that the Internet just isn't for everyone. Even more painful is realizing that there isn't a whole lot you can do with the Internet that you can't do without it.
The Internet is a toy
For example, remember those AOL commercials? The one where the father used the Internet to do research for his son's report on dinosaurs? True, cruising the Internet is easier than driving to the library, but the advantage of serendipity — coming across useful material by chance — doesn't exist online. in addition, a quiet library and a comfortable chair make for far more effective research than a computer monitor with video games just a click away.
The crash was the first crack in the facade of online services in general. Prices were slashed to keep disappointed customers from canceling their subscriptions. As a result, a flood of new customers joined the online community, and a new problem arose: Internet overcrowding.
In reality, far more online time — as much as 81 percent, according to Nielsen — is spent playing games, downloading images and planning vacations. Placing the Internet in the same category as the library and the newspaper is a mistake.
To worsen the problem, Internet service providers made the quintessential marketing mistake: they offered a service they couldn't provide. Unmeted service accounts, which allowed customers to pay a flat rate for as much online time
The Emperor has no clothes
That's not to say that the Internet is useless or malevolent. There are useful qualities in cyberspace. To some people, especially college students, the Internet is a tool. But its overriding function is entertainment.
Some people in the online industry are beginning to realize that the Internet will not make people faster, stronger or smarter. Philips Magnavox is latching onto the passive, novelty-oriented nature of the Internet by rolling out WebTV, which combines the passivity of television with the informative power of the World Wide Web. Also, content providers are serving up more full-motion video, real-time audio and automatic news displays, which takes more of the interactivity out of the Internet. Nowadays, a person can sit down in front of a computer monitor and simply watch the news scroll across the
The busy signal became the hallmark of the information age. The phenomenon is analogous to the length of the line at the express lane of a supermarket. People like speed and will line up to get it. As a result, more people have to wait in line for service they could get just as easily in slower lanes.
David Schell / KANSAN
screen without so much as moving the mouse.
Getting over it
The Internet is by no means doomed. In fact, usage continues to grow, even at trouble-plagued online services like AOL. But consumers are far more wary today than they were 10 years ago. They have reason to be.
If you are joining the throng of Internet users simply because everyone else is doing it, think again. Make a list of the tasks you want to accomplish through the Internet, and ask yourself if you could get those things done without it. Then estimate how much you are willing to pay to do those things. Make an informed choice. The Internet isn't for everyone, at least not yet.
Andy Rohrback is an Andover Junior in Journalism.
E-mail: arohrback@kansan.com
Letters
Columnist should have considered her subject
In regard to Mary Corcoran's column in the March 13 The University Daily Kansan, entitled His name is Robert, I didn't know whether to laugh or be furious. Not at Robert Glimore but as Corcoran. She failed miserably and incredibly in trying to take a politically correct stance.
In the first place, Corcoran said Gilmore was disabled. I must ask, what is his disability? To me, he may be a bit eccentric, but in absolutely no way is he disabled. I have experience working with disabled adults, some who need considerable help from others. Gilmore needs no help from anyone, least of all Corcoran. Without knowing it, Corcoran singled him out to any far greater magnitude than any of the cat-callers or whisperers, who actually are limited to those who haven't seen him that much. I barely give him a second thought.
Corcoran's article appeared on the opinion page, and like the rest of us, she is entitled to her
Mike Wahweotten Lawrence resident
Letter took animal sensitivity to extreme
Having observed events at the University for a few weeks now, I am relatively confident that the sanity that I thought existed on my campus has left it in exchange for a kind of emotional drivel.
opinion. But permit me to make a meek suggestion and suggest that you think about your opinion for a couple of seconds before pushing forth any more sociopolitical agendas.
When I left the University of Kansas in January for an internship in Washington, I was sure that I was going to a place where politically correct speech, thought and deed would be rampant.
Michael Schmitt's March 14 letter on the evils of cloning animals and the third plank in the Unite coalition's platform — if dissection makes you squeamish, you don't have to do it —
have convinced me that I am in a far saner place than my home.
It never fails to amaze me the level to which so-called sensitivity is taken. Medical research on animals has done more than cause pain. On the contrary, it has saved human lives. And the value of those lives, compared to that of a rat or a pig, is incalculable.
Schmitt writes that we disregard the animals' perspective. If The University Daily Kansan publishes this perspective, I will of course read it with great interest. But who would speak for the animals? Cows? Lions? Would Russian bears have different views than the American grizzly?
Maybe Schmitt has read one too many E.B. White books. The simple fact is that spiders and pigs don't speak, people do.
If you can look at a cow and call it your equal, something is very wrong with you.
Tom Moore Lawrence junior