4A
Tuesday, March 19, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Benefits of study abroad concealed by ignorance
The recent bombings in Israel have stirred many emotions in me. A year ago on the Jewish holiday Purim, I was running around the streets of Tel Aviv with my friends and hundreds of Israelis, in celebration of the festive day. Unfortunately, this year on that joyous occasion, everything was shut down in Tel Aviv because of the bombings that took many innocent lives.
I spent the second semester of my junior year studying at Tel Aviv University. The experiences I had, the friends I made and the beautiful places to which I traveled are irreplaceable and unforgettable. I was fortunate to get to experience Israel when times were better.
After going abroad, I realized that so few students have actually been overseas. In all of the years I've been going to school and sitting in uncomfortable desks, forcing myself to listen to monotonous instruction, I've learned little compared to what I learned during the six months I was abroad. So why aren't students taking advantage of this great opportunity?
Mary Elizabeth Debicki, director of the Office of Study Abroad, thinks that students aren't taking advantage of the opportunities given to them due to a lack of knowledge. She said students didn't realize how accessible the information was or how much they would get out of the experience.
Cost should not be an issue
Many students also have the misconception that studying abroad is too expensive. My semester abroad cost about the same, if not less, than a semester spent here. Students wouldn't know that unless they took the initiative to find out. If students took that initiative, they would also find out how
THE ISSUE:
Study abroad
The experience of one editorial board member shows how students can take advantage of the overseas program.
easy it is to apply. Filling out a simple application, attending a couple of meetings and going through the paperwork are the basic prerequisites to studying in a foreign country. Students could easily end up lying on a beach in Israel, running from bulls in Spain or sipping tea and eating biscuits in a quaint cafe in London. The possibilities are endless, each special in its own way.
From Fall 1994 to Summer 1995,748 students went through the Office of Study Abroad for their semester spent overseas. Of those students,555 were from the University. The rest came from other colleges that go through the office. There are about 27,000 students attending the University. Five hundred and fifty-five students out of 27,000 isn't a lot.
Deadlines are soon
Debicki said she thought more students would study abroad if they knew more about the programs. One way would be for faculty members to encourage their students to study abroad, and Debicki said that type of support had been increasing.
With deadlines around the corner for the summer and fall semesters, Debicki encouraged students to find out about the program by calling the office at 8643742 or stopping by 203 Lippincott. The information is available, but it is up to students to take the initiative in obtaining it. Students need to get off their couches, put down their remote controls and haul themselves into the office.
SARAH PRESTON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
ASHLEY MILLER
Editor
VIRGINIA MARGHEIM
Managing editor
ROBERT ALLEN
News editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
HEATHER NIERHAUS
Business manager
KONAN HAUSER
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Editors
Campus ... Joann Birk
... Phillip Brownies
Editorial ... Paul Todd
Features ... Matt Hood
... Tom Brinson
Photo ... Matt Flicker
Graphics ... Noah Musser
Special sections ... Novakda Sommers
Trump ... Trevor
Illustration ... Meihn Leuker
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Karen Gorch
Regional mgr ... Kathy Connelyse
National mgr ... Mark Olsmek
Special Section mgrs ... Norm Blow
Production mgrs ... Reachal Guillot
Marketing director ... Cary Breisch
Administrator ... Alison Kingman
Creative director ... Ed Kowroth
Classified mgr ... Stacey Wohlgraben
Internship/o-op mgr ... T.J. Glash
With increases in crime, the divorce rate and teen suicide, it is no wonder that the focus of debate during the 1996 presidential race will be values.
By John Hart / Illustration by Tom Nilson
D during the 1992 presidential race, the chant was, "It's the economy, stupid." This year, however, values will be at the center of the debate, and for good reason.
Since 1960, violent crime has increased by 560 percent, illegitimate births have increased by 400 percent, the divorce rate has quadrupled and teen suicide has doubled.
These figures illustrate the value crisis in our culture and our need for dialogue as to what our values should be.
The values debate is brought to surface because of the government's failure to cure our social ills.
Since 1960, when our social fabric began to unravel, the federal government has spent almost $3 trillion on social welfare programs.
Obviously, the government was wasting money on problems that money couldn't solve. Now, even most liberal democrats agree that "big government" programs can't produce meaningful change since the causes of our social ills are moral and spiritual.
A cultural war
The Pagan Left claims that there are no objective values, and everything is just a matter of opinion. Values are relative to each culture or individual.
The debate about what this moral transformation should entail has sparked a cultural war between the Pagan Left and the Religious Right.
We shouldn't impose our values on others but rather, we should tolerate differences.
Woodrow Wilson, in his last published words, offered a thought that Christian conservatives should remember.
This approach sounds nice, but rails when, for example, we want to denounce the Holocaust as evil. Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews, so who are we to impose our cultural values on it? Only with an objective sense of right and wrong that transcends culture can we judge the Holocaust as evil.
Using relativism to direct our values is like putting a powerful magnet next to a compass and hoping to get a steady reading.
"The sum of the matter is this, that our civilization cannot survive materially unless it can be redeemed spiritually," he wrote. "It can be saved only by becoming
permeated with the spirit of Christ and being made free and happy by the practices which spring out of that spirit."
Operating in the spirit of Christ by obeying his command to love God and others infinitely will do more to transform our nation's soul than placing Pat Buchanan in the White House.
Because relativism fails logically, the all-encompassing tolerance that comes from it fails as well.
The Religious Right takes a different approach. It correctly acknowledges the reality of good and evil and usually advocates good policies but fails in one major area.
The Religious Right spends most of its energy seeking a political messiah, as if the incumbent messiah somehow is lacking in power.
The life of Christ also shows that values are best communicated through relationships, not rhetoric.
At this point, some religious conservatives and liberal socialists agree that changing policy is a substitute for moral and spiritual transformation.
Making changes only requires faith
This proves that change can occur regardless of what political party is in power.
It is easy to forget that Christianity had the greatest period of growth 2,000 years ago in a country occupied by a foreign nation with political policies overtly hostile to the spread of its faith.
It is good to correct unjust policies, but real change won't occur on that level. This isn't the easy answer but the only answer that will work.
When Mother Teresa was asked whether she was disillusioned when, in spite of her efforts, poverty and death continued in Calcutta, she offered a beautiful response: "I'm not called to be successful, but faithful."
So how will this attitude cure our social ills? Very slowly.
John Hart is a Shawnee graduate student in journalism.
People don't recycle unless it's convenient
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The computer center paper probably is not recycled, and most of our office paper is thrown in the garbage.
I believe that most people feel good about recycling. But the reality is that people will not recycle products until it is convenient. That is the reason that people are working right now to change the University of Kansas' current recycling plan. Why does the system need change?
Who cares? This is one of those issues everybody should be concerned about. I, as an environmentally conscious individual, feel that paper should by
recycled. Businesses such as Securities Shred of Kansas City want paper because it is profitable.
That is right, some businesses are discovering that it is profitable to be environmentally conscious.
Change is affected when people work together. Right now, office paper at the University is recycled in relatively small amounts, compared to the total amount used.
Office paper at the University is administered by an office that does not have a personal stake in the matter.
It doesn't seem to matter to them a whole lot whether our
In 10 years, people will recycle office paper, in much the same way aluminum cans are recycled today. But like all other movements, some work is absolutely necessary.
paper is recycled. Otherwise, why have they been so unresponsive to attempts I have made to talk to them? I don't get avoided that way by groups who actually care about their public relations.
Adam J. Fogarty Lawrence junior
Whether or not you agree with my solution or not is debatable. But I think most anybody can agree that the University's paper recycling program is not completely effective.
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 StaufferFlint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Paul Todd, editorial page editor, or Craig Lang, associate editorial editor, at 864-4810.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin