4A
Wednesday, July 10, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
New University position may improve environment
The recent creation of the environmental specialist position in the Office of Environmental Health and Safety is a welcome addition to the hierarchy of environmental professionals at the University. Typically, environmental progress has been the responsibility of a loosely associated network of committees, departments, and concerned students and faculty. The specialist will help coordinate and combine environmental efforts.
The new position will signal the beginning of a new era of dedication to the environment at the University. Students and faculty have struggled to respond to the looming presence of environmental issues, and the University was sadly mistaken if it believed it could effectively respond to the need of an improved campus environment with no unified leadership. However, the University should be commended for its effort to
THE ISSUE:
KU environment
The University needs an environmental specialist to coordinate environmental efforts on campus.
alleviate this situation.
The individual will be available to help students and faculty minimize waste, conserve energy and prevent pollution.
In addition to acting as a liaison between campus committees and departments, the specialist will help develop a comprehensive recycling program, traditionally an embarrassing topic for the University, said Mike Russell, head of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety.
Perhaps the emergence of the new position can put an end to the confusion and frustration that have stunted previous efforts to improve the campus environment.
JEREMY LIND FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Drivers should reduce speed for road construction workers
Summer is a time of much travel on Kansas highways and roads. Families,including students,will be driving through the state on their vacations. And with increased speed limits in place, people can drive faster than last summer.
Those deaths could have been avoided easily with careful and attentive driving.
The safety of those traveling and working on Kansas highways must be protected.
In Kansas, roads are repaired on a daily basis during the summer. Last year five highway workers were killed in construction-zone accidents, and the number of work zones in Kansas is expected to increase by 50 this summer.
Kansas drivers should
THE ISSUE:
Highway safety
Driving carefully in construction zones could prevent accidents and fatalities on Kansas highways.
be vigilant during their travels this summer. Observing the speed limit, slowing down in construction zones and simply paying attention to driving will prevent accidents and save lives of both construction workers and motorists.
It is in the best interests of all who travel on the highways to keep accidents to a minimum. So, please, take it slow, respect your fellow motorists and give highway workers the 'brake' they deserve.
NICK PIVONKA FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
SARAH WIESE
Editor
CRAIG LANG Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
Editors
AREN GERSCH
Business manager
SARA ROSE
Director of Client Services
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Editors
Campus ... Jason Straff
Associate Campus ... Dan Gelston
Editorial ... Kim Becka
Photo ... Edmee Rodriguez
Wire ... Craig Lang
Design ... Robert Allen
Copy Chief ... Julie King
Business Staff
business staff
Campus / Regional mgr...Shelly Wachter
Special Sections mgr ...Rachel Gahill
Production mgr ...Karen Gerach
Assistant Creative dir ...Dena Pisr*
Classified mgr ...Stacey Weingarten
Zone mgr ...Troy Sauer
Monish Send
Shawn Trimble / KANSAN
America's military mission in the Persian Gulf doesn't have anything to do with making the world a safer place for democracy. It has everything to do with making the world safer for capitalism and the greed to which most of us succumb.
Most of us have seen the footage of Khobar Towers that were destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 19 service people and wounding 300 others.
American oil consumption risks lives in Middle East
The images from Saudi Arabia were eerily similar to those of last year's Oklahoma City bombing. Once again, we are searching for reasons for a senseless and cowardly act of violence.
The government's explanation for the presence of about 25,000 American troops in the Persian Gulf is "dual containment." The mission of the United States is to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, created after the 1991 Gulf War, and to keep in check both Iran's and Iraq's aspirations for regional dominance.
The question that the people of our nation must now answer is whether we wish to continue down this path of destructive and selfish consumption.
In those terms, Americans could be proud to commit material and human resources to a valiant mission and can repress the truth of Pentagon doublespeak: The real reason America lost 19 citizens to terrorism is greed.
Although it would be a gross exaggeration to say that our obsession with driving somehow makes us accomplices in the deaths of our fellow Americans, we must not delude ourselves.
We need to question why U.S. military personnel are stationed in the region.
It is no secret that the Gulf states produce two-thirds of the world's oil supply. The United
If you doubt that automobiles have become almost as prevalent as indoor plumbing, consider that nearly every large city in America now must issue environmental warnings on some days because of pollution caused by excessive traffic.
than the gas-guzzlers our parents and grandparents drove. On the other hand, getting a vehicle is almost a rite of passage for young adults.
STAFF COLUMNIST
States uses one third more oil today than it did in 1973. This amount is predicted to climb another one third in the next 20 years.
Persian Gulf. The painfully harsh reality is that America is sacrificing its citizens because of conspicuous consumption.
The United States imports 45 percent of the oil that it uses and about half of that comes from the
Most of us own a motor vehicle of some sort. We drive just about everywhere we go. Rarely do we car pool or use alternative methods of transportation.
The American love affair with the automobile is part of the stereotype of rugged individualism which dates back to pioneer days. We have to get where we are going fast because there is something exciting or important waiting for us when we arrive.
On one hand, many vehicles now are much more fuel-efficient
Make your voice heard—apply for the Kansan's editorial board
The University Daily Kansan is looking for a variety of voices.
EDITORIAL WRITERS WANTED
If you feel like your concerns are not being heard, working on the opinion page is the way to make sure that the issues and topics that affect you as a KU student are being addressed properly.
The editorial board will meet twice a week in the fall for members to talk about issues on campus and in Lawrence that they believe will have an effect on their lives. Members
We are looking for outspoken individuals to represent the student body as editorial board members.
of the board then will write about those issues and where they stand.
The Kansan wants a diverse staff of students from a variety of backgrounds and a wide range of opinions. Anyone with the ability to write is encouraged to apply.
Applications are available for opinion page staff in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staffer-Flint Hall. Interviews will be announced by opinion page editors.
For more information, contact Craig Lang, fall editorial editor at 864-4810.
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.
All letters should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staufer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Kim Backa, editorial editor, at 864-4810.
Code of silence mutual between familiar faces on KU campus
During the school year, we pass myriad people going to and from class. Some we see only once, but others we see again and again until their faces become familiar.
They are the people we know but don't know.
OUT FROM THE CRACKS
Hall, he was walking in the opposite direction. He was tall with a mop of brown hair, a person that you would not notice unless you passed him at least three times a week.
Sometimes I think there are hundreds of people on campus that I should know. Last semester, there was this guy I used to see everywhere. Whenever I walked to my 9:30 a.m. English class at Wescoe
Besides, it would violate some understood campus code of anonymity. But if the context changes a bit, you never know what could happen.
Although we never talked, we recognized each other. I think if I were in another town or state and saw this guy I just might say, "Hi." Not that I'm attracted to him; it's the idea of him that intrigues me.
I think everyone has one of these people in their life. Not someone you recognize from one of your classes or somebody from high school, but a random person whose schedule somehow coincides with yours. Someone whose face looks familiar by virtue of the fact that you see him or her almost daily. You recognize the person, and you know the person recognizes you. You have seen almost all of his or her outfits. The guy I always saw had this great pair of worn, brown corduroys of which I am dying to know the origin.
The first week of summer school, I was walking across desolate Wescoe Beach when I saw a familiar figure coming my direction. Being the outgoing soul that I am and glad to see someone I knew even if I couldn't quite remember from where, I automatically blurted out, "Hey." As the figure got closer, I realized that this was the guy with the brown corduroys. I finished the sentence awkwardly with, "You're guy I see all the time." To my surprise he answered "Hey, person I recognize."
You know the color of the person's backpack and what his or her winter coat looks like, but you don't know the person's name.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you tried to talk to the person? If you're like me and always getting to class seconds before the lecture begins, there's no time to stop and talk. What are you going to say anyway? "Say, I noticed your corduroys."
These consistent sightings make me wonder this person is. What does he or she study? Where is the person from? Is the person as interesting as he or she looks?
Although we still don't know each other's names, I think we both walked away from the conversation knowing that next time we saw each other we would probably say, "hi."
We had broken the language barrier. We didn't talk for long or learn a lot about each other except that we were both taking summer courses. I decided not to broach the corduroy issue.
Rachel Whee is a Stanley sophomore in Japanese and political science.
By Jeremy Patnoi