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4A the university daily kansan
b n 30 V n
thursday, april 15, 2004
EDITORIAL BOARD
Applaud spring sports success
One season after highlyrespected men's basketball coaching legend Roy Williams departed for Tobacco Road, Bill Self took a group of over-achievers to the Elite Eight.
For KU athletics, this is turning out to be a year to remember.
The women's soccer team, led by All-American Caroline Smith, won its first ever NCAA Tournament match and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
The women's volleyball team was invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time and reached the second round with a victory over five-time NCAA champion Long Beach State.
Spring sports are also enjoying success. After having its third most successful season with 35 victories last year, the baseball team already has 24 victories, including defeats of two top-15 teams, Wichita State and Texas A&M.
Coach Tracy Bunge's softball team has already surpassed last season's victory total with 24, playing in the new Arrocha Ballpark.
And who could forget the football team creating a buzz at a school that is traditionally known for its basketball? From 2-10 to the Tangerine Bowl was a
OURVIEW
The Kansas athletics teams have made great strides in improving this season. The change is unexpected, but appreciated.
great accomplishment for Mark Mangino and his boys.
On the individual athletic scene, senior Leo Bookman won the Indoor Track 200-meter National Championship. Bookman is preparing for a possible spot in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
With other sports such as women's basketball defeating Missouri, Kansas now leads the Border War 16.5-8, according to www.kuathletics.com. Missouri won the Border War last year.
If the success carries over to next year it could invoke memories of the '92-'93 season when the football team won the Aloha Bowl, the baseball team made it to the College World Series and the basketball team made it to the Final Four.
For now Kansas fans should enjoy the successful season in a year when much wasn't expected.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com
opinion
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It just made my day. Santa Claus just waved at me.
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I just saw a girl on campus with a boob job.
Bush keeps saying we need to make a free world. He needs to focus on our country and not all of these other places because we are suffering here.
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I'm the king of wishful drinking
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To the girl that called me Monday about the car insurance survey: I just want to say that you have a hot voice.
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I just realized that this issue of the Kansan is only going to have one sentence that I really like.
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Why did the little boy fall off of the swing? Because he had no arms.
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Rock is dead. Long live paper and scissors.
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Why am I suddenly the dumb one of the group?
My Econ. TA just said "all right" 151 times in 45 minutes.Do the math on that.
The Oracle is an embarrassment to the greek community. Does anybody even edit it.
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Don't step on Marie's blue suede boots.
Wow, if I didn't know any better I would think that KUinated lived out in front of Wescoe Beach and in front of Mrs. Es.
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I would just like to say that the only reason that greek stereotypes still exist is because of papers like The Oracle that make us sound stupid.
✓ GET OUT AND VOTE
Do you think Mizzou's Gamma Phi Beta sorority is going to make a shirt for the blood drive now?
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Am I the only one on this campus that listens to country music?
Happy birthday, Rebecca. We love you.
What does the ghost say to the bee? "Boo bee."
The student t body president and Student Senate will be responsible for appointing student representatives on University advisory boards or committees, including Judicial Board, Legal Services for Students Advisory Board and a tuition oversight committee. In reality, the administrators run the show. The University is a bureaucracy. However, students influence the administration and work to compromise to promote change. The accomplishments so far are commendable. The future is up to you. Vote at a polling site or on a University computer.
Today is the last day of Student Senate elections. Student Senate is not the same as a high school student council. Whether you prefer Delta Force or KUnited, real issues are on the table. The Student Recreation Fitness Center, the free newspapers around campus, recycling programs, a new Multicultural Resource Center and fall break are all tangible results of both coalitions' accomplishments and the real power of Student Senate.
- Opinion page editors
PERSPECTIVE
Zach Newton for The University Daily Kansan
Television not the cause of all evil
COMMENTARY
A plague has apparently descended upon America's families, and television is the proverbial swarm of locusts. At least, that's what the TV Turnoff Network is proclaiming.
April 19 to 25 marks the organization's annual TV Turnoff Week, a respectable effort initiated in 1994 to curb Americans' habit of watching the so-called "boob tube."
Portraying TV as an ogre is a rash move, however. Yes, the bug-eaters and wardrobe malfunctions have given a boost to the organization's campaign, but overlooking the positives of broadcasting is a mistake.
Amy Kelly opinion@hansan.com
A 2003 report by the journal Science claimed a link existed between TV viewing and violence. The study cited more than 1,000 cases during the past 30 years supporting the theory.
Television likely does influence some individuals to commit harmful acts, but let's not forget how much it has given to
But the evidence does not mirror other statistics. Given that 98 percent of American households own at least one television set, violent crime statistics should be skyrocketing out of control. They're not.
Instead, preliminary crime statistics for 2003 released by the U.S. Department of Justice showed an overall 3.1 percent decrease in violent crime.
Many TV moments have been invaluable to America. Programming continues to spark conversation, educate and entertain.
societv.
In 1969, a nation sat in awe as Neil Armstrong took his first step upon the moon. Would the event have been as momentous without the visuals? Probably not.
The 1977 miniseries Roots, based on the book by Alex Haley, exposed millions to African Americans' battle for liberation in the South. The history books became brutally real when the lead character, Kunta Kinte, is whipped for not accepting a new name.
Children watching TV can face a
And as devastating as the Sept. 11 images were, it could be argued that citizens never felt more of a need to stand together.
gauntlet simply by going from station to station these days. Yet, it's the responsibility of parents to explain what is right and wrong about a gory Anime episode or heated love scene on Young & The Restless.
Viewing is not harmful if a child is raised with communicative parents. If TV Turnoff Week gives the much-needed wakeup call to parents, then more power to it.
Karen Lewis, program director of the TV Turnoff Network, said she had witnessed plenty of success stories in the program's 10-year history. Lewis said a Virginia boy faced the possibility of repeating kindergarten until his parents turned off the TV.
"This sequence of events set him up for classroom success," Lewis said. "The teacher was puzzled by the change in his ability to sit down, finish his work and play nicely with his friends."
The program can be a useful tool for children like the one in Virginia, but television should not be portrayed as causing the decline of Western civilization. Unobservant parents turning a cold shoulder to their children's development are the real tragedy.
Kelly is an Overland Park senior in journalism and art history.
WAKE UP!
Arrogance and ignorance play part in Iraqi conflict
COMMENTARY
The leaders of the Western world — the U.S. government included — and radical Islamic fundamentalists are equally ignorant and arrogant. The West wants to spread democracy and Western ideals at any cost, and the radical Islamic fundamentalists want to spread Islam.
So what happens when you pit these two stubborn factions against each other, with each willing to fight for their respective causes? You get the Iraqi War, Sept. 11, suicide bombers, radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda and a breeding ground for the likes of Osama Bin Laden to preach and promote hatred.
Brandon Cobb opinion@kansan.com
One of the most commonly used terms in the media when referring to Islam and terrorism is jihad, or to struggle. In its most extreme form, jihad is viewed as a war against infidels. In its most sincere and regularly used form jihad is interpreted as striving for a better life.
Some fundamentalists have declared lihad against the West.
In Bernard Lewis's book The Crisis of Islam, Lewis explains some of the traditions and rules of warfare when conducting jihad. Lewis writes, "Fighters in a jihad are enjoined not to kill women,
children and the aged unless they attack first, not to torture or mutilate prisoners, to give fair warning of the resumption of hostilities after a truce and to honor agreements."
The aforementioned statement helps reinforce the fact that Islam does not condone terrorism.
At times, the media portrays Islam and terrorism in the same light.
True, radical Islamists use the Islamic faith as a foundation to declare jihad and other rhetoric against their enemies. But this is a false representation of the religion. One of the problems is that every time the media focus on someone from an Islamic terrorist organization or an Islamic conspirator wanting to commit
terrorism, it helps fuel the belief that the West is at war with Islam.
The West definitely does its part in providing ammunition for radicals to make a strong case that the West is at war against Islam, but the radicals in the Muslim world also do their part to create a problem between Western ideologies and Islam.
Radical Islamists view westerners as infidels and the West views radical Islamists as people who pose a threat to world peace and in some cases want life to revert back to the ways of 7th century. So which side is right? It depends on what side of the spectrum one tends to agree with.
No matter how barbaric the West thinks Islamic radicals are, Islamists have every right not to want the West to tell them how to live. But any person that does not want to live under the teachings of radical Islamists should not have to do so either.
Both sides should agree to disagree because innocent citizens are suffering and have to live through constant fighting and terrorist attacks.
KANSAN
Michelle Rombeck editor
864-4854 or mburhenn@kanear.com
Cobb is a Kansas City, Kan., senior in political science.
Andrew Vaupel
managing editor
864-4854 or vaupel@kansan.com
Meghan Brune and Johanna M. Maska
opinion editors
864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Danielle Bose .
business manager
864-4358 or addirector@kansan.com
Stephanie Graham
retail sales manager
864-4358 or adeales.kansan.com
Melcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing adviser
864-7686 or mfisher@kanasan.com
Editorial Board Members
Kendall Dix® Lynzee Ford® Laura Francoviglia
Amy Hammontte® Kelly Hollowell® Teresa Lo
Mindy Oaborne® Ryan Scarrow® Elizabeth
Willy® Paul Whitmoretome® Zach Stinson® Zach
Newton® Wes Benson® Sara Behuek® Kevin
Flaherty® Brandon Gay® Zack Hemewey
Alex Hoffman® Kwin Kamphirth® Amy Kelly
Cameron Koiling® Courtney Kuhln® Brandi
Matheusen® Travis Mcalef® Mike Norris
Jonethan Reeder® Erin Rifley® Alea Smith
Kari Zimmerman
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