4A
Friday, April 12, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY·DAILY·KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Students deserve to know full story about candidates
The Student Senate elections commission acted unethically in closing its Wednesday meeting to the media and public. At this meeting, Samantha Bowman, Voice candidate for student body vice president, was being tried for taking part in the theft of a Vision coalition banner from the front of Wescoe Hall. Although the Buckley Amendment, which protects a student's private records, states that action taken against Bowman is not public information, commission members said that any affect on the coalition could be made available to the public.
But yesterday the elections commission, acting on the advice of University counsel, did not release the findings of the meeting, including any action to be taken against the coalition. Bowman made the findings public, and the commission declined comment.
Despite the private nature of the commission's meeting, open meeting laws indicate that it should have been opened to the media and public even though we now know what happened. And although the Buckley Amendment prevents the media from publishing private information of a student, it seems ironic that in an attempt to protect Bowman, any punishment against her was not going to be announced. She already was named on April 4 in the Kansan as a suspect in the theft of Vision's banner. Her name, then, and the accusations against her, already were in the public eye.
THE ISSUE:
Elections commission
The commission's decision was announced yesterday about 30 minutes after polls closed, too late for students to let the announcement affect their decisions, and therein lies the biggest problem of closing the meeting. Regardless of what the law might say, such action was a disservice to voting students. Students must know about the character of their candidates before electing them to a high campus office.
What if students expected to hear a decision concerning the allegation before they voted? The student body deserved to know before voting was completed if Bowman was guilty. More importantly, Bowman deserved to have the student body know before voting was finished if she was found not guilty.
ASHLEY MILLER, KANSAN EDITOR
Watkins patients should have access to nearby parking lots
Watkins Memorial Health Center has a serious parking shortage. The only parking spots allotted for customers of Watkins are metered spaces located on the building's south side.
Of these metered spaces, 11 are one-hour meters and three are reserved for handicapped parking. Clearly 14 parking spaces are not enough to serve the constant traffic in and out of Watkins.
There is no shortage of parking in the vicinity of Watkins, but the lots are not open to the general public. The lot between Robinson Center and Naismith Hall always has open spaces, but they are reserved for people with parking permits.
The parking problem easily could be remedied.
If the Watkins staff offered special parking permits to patients and allowed them to park in these normally restricted areas during peak hours, the problem with parking would be solved.
Here is a proposal: As a patient checks in, they
THE ISSUE:
Parking at Watkins
should be given a temporary parking permit to place in their cars while they are using the health center. These permits could be marked with the date and the time so they would not abused. A patient with one of these permits in his or her car should be able to park in the lot between Robinson and Naismith without getting a ticket.
This probably is one of the few parking problems at the University of Kansas that could be solved in an economical and convenient way.
The Watkins waiting room and the pharmacy always are busy. Most of the time there are more than 14 patients at Watkins, so 14 metered spots are not enough to serve the patients and customers. More parking needs to be available and the Watkins staff easily could monitor parking passes as patients check in.
TARA FITZPATRICK FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Shawn Trimble / KANSAN
Republicans should have paid respects to Ron Brown
The soldiers marched together, in groups of eight or 10, into the belly of the huge aircraft. They stepped with purpose, and went deep into the plane. When they emerged, they carried the flag-covered caskets of those lost in the horrible crash in Croatia. One group of soldiers carried the casket of Ron Brown, Secretary of Commerce. And as they marched carefully, solemnly toward the waiting hearses, America the Beautiful moaned sadly from the French horns and trombones of a dutiful military band.
President Clinton stood holding Alma Brown, Ron's widow, on his arm. She leaned on him from time to time, and looked drained and almost dead herself. Hillary Clinton was worn-out too, and her face showed the strain of dealing with the families of those who died with the Secretary. Vice President Al Gore walked with them, his weary eyes staring quizzically off into the distance.
And the soldiers kept marching.
President Clinton spoke briefly, and mentioned the great and wonderful mission these proud Americans were undertaking. By bringing business to wartown countries, this unfortunate
STAFF COLUMNIST
group hoped to put into action the philosophy of Ron Brown, by providing "trade, not aid" to troubled nations.
was a key player in the Democratic Party. But after hearing about his vision this past week, and learning about what he had wanted for this country, I am deeply saddened and sort of embarrassed at my not knowing these things earlier. He deserved our attention.
I know a little bit about Ron Brown. I remember the important role he played in the 1992 election.
And I had known that he
What is most troubling, and downright angering, though, happened on that agonizing day at Dover Air Force Base, when the victims of the crash were returning for their final voyage home.
As the president and the families grieved openly at the airport, and as the lonely line of hearses slowly drove away, I noticed that a couple of people
who should have been there weren't: Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich.
Where were they? Why couldn't they have shown up for this important ceremony? Couldn't they have put aside their party politics for one day — for one hour — and shown the families of the dead that their loved ones mattered? It is just plain shameful that these two were absent.
I don't know about you, but I simply can't trust anybody who is afraid to show a bit of humanity. Clinton's difficulty in getting through his speech told all who watched that Ron Brown and the others on the plane meant something to him and to this country. And his willingness to go ahead and grieve on CNN was impressive.
By not attending this event, Dole and Gingrich sent a chilling message. I don't want leaders who put politics and winning above all else. Didn't they know that by standing with the president on this sad day, that they would have actually won credit for rising above the usual pettiness? Instead, they sank even lower in my book — and they were pretty low already.
Donna Davis is an Overland Park graduate student in education.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mainland China striving to become a better place
This letter is a spin on the article Unification sought by Asian students in the March 21 issue of the University Daily Kansas:
China fought a war 100 years ago with some civilized people who opium. China lost the war, was forced to buy a lot of opium and became poor. Japan took Taiwan from China until the end of World War II. Misfortune persisted: foreign invasions, civil wars and political persecution. Poor and looked down upon by others, I could imagine being born in China must be a dreadful misfortune for those who do not want to be Chinese.
achieved recently has proved that the Chinese do not have to eat plain rice every day. It is certain that people on the mainland are less fortunate. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan. He destroyed everything in his way land took planes, ships of gold and other priceless treasures with him.
What people in Taiwan have
I would not argue with Haulun Huang, president of the Taiwanese Student Association, if he thinks what happened 50 years ago had nothing to do with the present differences along the Strait.
I should thank him for pointing out that China is an economically backward country, as he did in the Kansan article. However, the mainland is adopting a free market economy with a growth rate
exceeding most other countries.
Today's Taiwan will be tommorrow's mainland China, economically speaking. Politically, it is recognized that less than two decades ago, Taiwan's political system was no better than that of the mainland. On the mainland, we have paved the roads toward democracy with our sweat and blood. Each step forward was the proof of our tangible effort, not a luck of birth.
We are determined to build the mainland into a better place. We will learn everything we can from Taiwan — except legislator fist fighting skills.
Fei Gao Inner Mongolia, China graduate student
Criminals should not be pampered in prison or let back into society
The presidential election this fall is forcing Americans to take sides on several pressing issues. Debates on welfare, abortion, employment and family values are taking place every day in city halls and coffee shops.
But one issue which makes us reel is capital punishment. I happen to be in favor of this idea and can't understand why.
understand why so many Ameri
STAFF COLUMNIST
so many Americans fear it.
I am not in favor of killing everyone. Capital punishment should be reserved for the most heinous of crimes — for those individuals who wreak such societal havoc that there seems to be no alternate option.
Sociologists
Sociologists will tell you that by killing the criminals, we simply are lowering ourselves to their level, thus they win. That might be somewhat true, but it is good to know that they won't be showing up at the trophy ceremony.
I favor capital punishment only because it works. Once you eliminate the criminal, you eliminate the crime.
Those persons allowed to sit and rot on death row do us no good. Their very presence is not only a social nuisance, but a financial burden. It is our tax dollars that pay for their meals and fund their leisure. And sometimes the criminals only winds up getting more attention.
Take for instance Charles Manson. This man master-minded one of the most brutal murder campaigns in recent history and is glorified in the media. I just don't think the American public has anything to gain from a man with a swastika gouged in his forehead.
The reason why capital punishment is so appealing to me is because it cuts through the mire of our present judicial system. Every year there are atrocious murders committed in the United States. Instead of doing away with the criminal, our country wants to observe them and find out why they did what they did.
Capital punishment eliminates those whose are likely to commit the same crimes again. That's why its so miffing when someone says that they will kill again and yet still remains alive.
For instance, pedophile Larry Don McQuay remains in a San Antonio jail. This man molested and raped more than 200 young children and now is about to be released. McQuay threw a wrench into the whole deal when he asked to be castrated upon his release.
He wants this because he said he probably would rape more victims and then kill them to shield his identity.
It is baffling as to why McQuay still is alive. He admits to molestation and says that he will kill if released. This monster should have been dead as soon as he pronounced the "I" in "i did it."
But instead we coddle him. And the state of Texas probably will pay for his castration and then release him. Why. I do not know.
The capital punishment debate is one that could take years to decide. There will always be proponents and opponents.
What needs to be addressed, however, is not what I have to say but what you think. Where would you want a person who killed your family, on Channel 4 or six feet under?
Carter Vookel is a Dallas Junior in English.
KANSAN STAFF
ASHLEY MILLER
Editor
VIRGINIA MARGHEIM
Managing editor
ROBERT ALLEN
News editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Campus ... Joan Birk
... Philip Brownlee
Editorial ... Paul Toldt
Associate editorial ... Matt Hood
Sports ... Tom Erickson
Associate sports ... Bill Patula
Photo ... Matt Flickerman
Graphics ... Noah Miseron
Social sections ... Graeme Tarnen
Wiley ... Tara Trenny
Illustration ... Milich Leaker
HEATHER NEHAUS
Business manager
KONAN HAUSER
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Karen Gersch
Regional mgr ... Kelly Connally
National mgr ... Mark Ozdemik
Special Section mgrs ... Norm Blow
Production mgrs .. Rachal Gallif
Marketing director ... Mary Brøllef
Public Relations dir .. Angela Adamson
Creative director .. Ed Kowalael
Classified mgr .. Stacey Weingarten
Internship/oop mgr .. T. J. Clark
THE COMPLETELY POINTLESS ADVENTURES OF BRIGG AND FRO
Y