4A Monday, April 29.1996 OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN VIEWPOINT Executive appointments need new review system Wednesday night, Grey Montgomery, the new student body president, announced his appointments for his executive staff at the first new Senate meeting. Appointing students for the executive staff is tricky business. The manner in which the appointments were made is an improvement from last year when all appointments were announced by Kim Cocks and then voted on by the Senate in one vote. This year each appointment was approved individually. This procedure still could be improved by providing senators with a short biography and qualifications of appointees before the new Senate votes on them. The student body president also could ask for recommendations for other appointments from senators and nonsenators about students qualified to serve on various boards and committees. Ken Lafferty, Student Executive Committee chairman, says StudEx could come out of Senate by a vote and not by appointment. This way the Senate would choose one of its own as the StudEx chair. THE ISSUE: Student Senate Senators, especially new ones, need information about potential appointees before they accept appointments. The student body president needs to appoint qualified people who will have a good relationship with the staff to work together, Montgomery said. Although he does see the arguments that friends and coalition members could be appointed, he also said that if a student body president abused his or her power, Senate would realize this and question the appointment. Jason Fizell, Olathe junior, said that the whole appointment process was wrong and that it needed to be finetuned. He also said that people often got positions because of who they knew, not what they knew. Jason Angilan, Lawrence graduate student, said that appointments were a driving force for past and present political payoffs. "To the victor goes the spoils," he said. SARBPAL HUNDAL FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD University should subsidize credit card fees for tuition Plastic no longer is an option. After June 28, students at the University of Kansas no longer will be able to pay tuition with a credit card. The Kansas Legislature has decided to stop subsidizing the fee that credit card companies charge for each transaction. The cost of processing these fees at the University of Kansas would be $450,000. The situation is complicated further by the fact that companies prohibit colleges from charging students the fee. The end of state subsidization means that the only liable party is the University, and Chancellor Hemenway said this is a burden that we can not bear. This probably is true, yet it seems incongruous when compared with other recent developments in University finance. The Direct Loan program, which the Clinton administration has established and in which the University will participate, means that universities THE ISSUE: Tuition With linear tuition and the increased revenue that KU will receive from it, students need the credit card option. essentially will function as banks, handling all student loans. And banks also incur costs as a result of some of their activities. If the University of Kansas is willing to function as a bank on one level, why not on others? Further, linear tuition almost certainly means that more revenue will flow directly to the University under the revenue assessment guidelines in the linear tuition legislation. From 8,000 to 10,000 students pay for tuition with credit cards. Surely, as students' rates are increasing, some of that money could be used to aid in their being able to pay for tuition increases. TOM MOORE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD KANSAN STAFF ASHLEY MILLER Editor VIRGINIA MARGHEIM Managing editor ROBERT ALLEN News editor TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser Editors I learned an important lesson the other night. I learned that it takes a lot of love to tell someone that they're condemned. Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE Campus Joann Birk ... Phillip Brownlee Editorial Paul Toul Associate editorial Craig Lang Muskett Matt Macdonald Sports Tom Erickson Associate sports Bill Petulla Photo Matt Flinker Graphics Noah Musser Special sections Novelda Bommers Illustration Nicola Lanzer HEATHER NIEHAUS Business manager KONAN HAUSER Retail sales manager JAY STEINER Sales and marketing adviser JUSTIN KNUPP Technology coordinator 'Jesus Freaks' views can be offensive to some students Business Staff I gained this knowledge at an open forum on Christianity held by the self-proclaimed "Jesus Freaks" of Hashinger Hall. I admit that I walked into the forum expecting to be told I was looking forward to an eternity of warm weather, but I didn't expect it to be said with a smile. But, as I found out, these people honestly feel that they are exhibiting love and caring by rejecting the views of anyone who does not accept Christ as his or her savior. Although I disagreed with the "Jesus Freaks" from the beginning, I still tried to listen objectively and respect their views. I admire them for being steadfast in their beliefs and wanting to share their knowledge with others. However, I do not feel that it is loving to refuse alternate views on religion, and I don't think that it is caring to tell subscribers to these alternate views that they have no choice but to accept Christ or burn in hell. tray Him as rejecting anyone who does not adhere strictly to His beliefs. These people also ruled invalid the views of another participant who uses the teachings of both Jesus and Buddha to shape her life. I found this innovative; they of course vetoed it. It wasn't just, they said. Around this time I began to wonder if they saw themselves as the Supreme Court of religion and decided to submit my own beliefs for review. Once again I gained some enlightening knowledge. I learned that Judaism isn't a religion anymore, it is a culture. The Jews of the University of Kansas should thank these people for saving us from wasting our time praying and going to temple. You see, the Holocaust made a lot of people Jewish who weren't really. It gave us our culture. This guy explained to me that it is not against the Jewish religion to accept Jesus as a savior. Well of course it isn't. Haven't you all seen the Jews for Jesus advertisements in Parade Magazine? Campus mgr ... Karen Gerach Regional mgr ... Kelly Connelysay Regional mgr ... Mark Otdmek Senior Sales team mgr ... Rachel Gahli Production mgr ... Rachael Gahli Marketing director ... Heather Valler Public Relations dir. ... Angie Adamson Creative director ... Ed Kowlakil Stuacy Neesley ... Stanley Neesley Internship/co-op mgr ... J. Clark Somehow I managed to stay calm through this defamation of my religion and finished listening to the forum. I'm glad I stayed; I learned a lot about the different participants' views on God. Unfortunately, the "Jesus Freaks" never earned my respect. No matter how much they sugar-coated their views with disclaimers of love, the emotion that prevailed in their discourse on religion was hate. I don't regret attending the forum; it was a great learning experience. I just regret that these so-called "Jesus Freaks" continue to use God as a springboard to promote their cruel intolerance. Steph Brower is a Cary, N.C. freshman in pre-Journalism. My question to them was if God created everyone, why would He create people He was planning on condemning anyway? I always have viewed God as promoting love, not hate; condemnation equals hate in my eyes. Their answer to me and others, time and time again, was "God is merciful, but He is also just." How, may I ask, is this totalitarian view that there is one way to go and everyone else will burn amount to justice? That is tantamount to saying everyone must have brown hair, or everyone must shop at the mall. What if you don't live near a mail? Does that mean you are a bad person and have no hope for salvation? Of course not; STAFF COLUMNIST to even mention such a thing is ludicrous. So is this view of Christianity. We live in a world with billions of people. There are different languages, different cultures — and different religions. No one has the authority to say which is the right religion to practice. I think that one participant, who is a devout Catholic, said it best when he stated that no one knows what happens after we die except for the people in heaven and God Himself. Listening to this guy speak truly was enlightening. He proved to me that someone can be completely devoted to his or her religion while still allowing others to practice their beliefs. As opposed to the "Jesus Freaks," he said he never would tell people that they were going to hell. He followed this by saying his tolerance had caused him to gain a reputation as a bad Christian in some people's eyes. I may not be an expert on religion, but I hold an opposite viewpoint; I feel he embodies the true spirit of Christianity. I don't think God would want to damn any of his children, even if they reject Him or His son as their savior. Tanya Rose, Garden City senior, on her decision to move into her boyfriend's apartment. The "Jesus Freaks" counter this by saying that God does not want to damn anyone, that is why he gives people the opportunity to accept Jesus and be saved. If people ignore His wishes, then He cannot help this. Personally, I think they are making God out to be a huge egoist. They por- "THE FACT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE MY ROOMMATES VERY MUCH MADE IT EASIER TO STAY AT MY BOYFRIEND'S. MY STUFF JUST SORT OF MIGRATED OVER THERE TO HIS APARTMENT." QUOTES OF THE WEEK "I WASN'T REALLY THINKING 'I WON.' I WAS THINKING 'GOD, THAT WAS FUN." ■ Kansas senior distance runner Sarah Heeb on how she felt after winning the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase on Saturday, April 20, at the MT. SAC Relays in San Antonio. Heeb's time of 10:34.4 is believed to be a U.S. record. "IT DOESN'T GET ENOUGH COVERAGE, AND THE COVERAGE IT GETS IS NEGATIVE. WEVE LIVED WITH IT FOR YEARS, AND WEVE GROWN TO ACCEPT IT." Hadi Alhassani, Yemen graduate student and member of the University of Kansas' Muslim student association, on having to deal with the Western media's coverage of Islam. Applications for summer and fall editorial board members, columnists and cartoonists still are available in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall. The application and sample writings or drawings will be due tomorrow at 5 p.m. For more information, call Craig Lang, fall editorial editor, Nicole Kennedy, fall associate editorial editor; or Kim Becka, summer editorial editor, at 864-4810. Interviews will be announced by the editorial page editors. OUT FROM THE CRACKS But I know he is wrong. Isn't he? Please, tell me he is wrong. Here's the situation: You wake up early one morning to the sound of someone trespassing upon your backyard. It occurs to you that this is a bad thing, so you pick up a large lead pipe that just happens to be sitting by the front door and rush out to apprehend the dastardly miscreant. A chase ensues during which said miscreant hurls sticks and small rocks at you. You find this resistance Todd Hiltz is a Lyndon senior in social welfare. But sometimes late at night before the booze has kicked in, when the dark thoughts seep into my head and the hours stretch out before me like a never-ending hell, the demon comes. I'm not sure, but I think it may be Satan himself. He tells me that it is not right for police to beat anyone regardless of the crime committed. He tells me that repeatedly hitting someone who is laying prone on the ground with a baton is excessive — possibly even wrong. He tells me that it is tyranny in its worst form when we allow those who purport to uphold the law to indulge in wanton violence simply because they are pumped on adrenalin. He tells me that police officers, more than any others, need to exercise self-control and restraint in the administration of their duties. Now what do you do? The answer is simple. The proper course of action is to beat him sincerely with the lead irritating. Fortunately, after several blocks, you catch the evil triller passer — or Spawn of Satan as you've fondly named him — before he has harmed you. Cops get angry, take frustrations out on America's illegal immigrants But surely there is catch, you say. It is just too good to be true that one would be allowed to beat a criminal senseless without having to worry about legal recrimination. And I'm, afraid you are correct. Unfortunately, unfettered beatings are open, only to law enforcement officers. Sadly, there still is no justice to be, had at the hands of the common citizen. pipe. He already has given up? He is totally submissive? This does not matter. He is to be beaten anyway. Your actions are excusable because not only has he broken the law but also in the process he has annoyed you to no end and nearly blackened your eye with a thrown rock. Understandably, your adrenalin is high and, therefore, you are not responsible for your actions. And the government won't do anything to stop them. Oh sure, they are deported and sent back to live in abject poverty under the oppressive thumb of a corrupt government. But where is the justice in that? We need someone to give them a good beating before they go. And who better to do than our own police force? They have the practice. They are good at it. But, as you probably have surmised, it is not the common trespasser that I'm talking about here. No, the evil I speak of is much greater, and threatens all that is good and holy here in the U.S.A., God bless her soul. Beware, good citizens, the bane of the illegal immigrant. They come here like they own the place, stealing all the good low-wage, no-benefits jobs. They take over entire towns and force good, solid Americans to speak Spanish — not that I actually know anybody who does, but it happens. Worst of all, believe it or not, none of them have white skin. It is true. It is just too creepy. By Jeremy Patnoi