4A
Wednesday, March 6, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Participation in primary shows students' interest
It is not often that presidential candidates take the time to address issues concerning students.
It is a catch-22: Because they believe students rarely involve themselves with political issues, the candidates don't think it is worth the effort to target their campaigns toward the 18to 25-year-old demographic, and because students don't think that the candidates care about them, they rarely get involved in politics.
But today students at the University of Kansas have the opportunity to join about 15 other universities across the country to vote in a mock primary to show the presidential candidates they support the most. It also is a chance for students to voice their opinions on issues they feel should be addressed in the presidential campaigns.
The National Student Primary was organized by David Stevens, Wichita senior and coordinator of the KU Student Legislative Awareness Board. Stevens wanted students to have a
THE ISSUE:
Student primary
chance to voice their opinions on the '96 presidential race, so he contacted student governments from other universities to organize a primary that would show candidates that students wanted to be involved in the election process.
Polls are located at the Kansas Union and Wescoe Hall. Just like a real primary, students can indicate the parties, if any, with which they are affiliated, and for whom they choose to vote. The ballots also ask students which issues they find most important and if they intend to vote in the November election. Students also can register to vote when they participate in the student primary.
The results of the student primary will be announced on CNN, MTV and National Public Radio and will be sent to Washington, D.C. to inform the candidates about who students are most likely to support.
CRAIG LANG FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KU Endowment Association should let bike path be built
The City of Lawrence has wanted since 1979 to build a bike and pedestrian path from 15th Street to Clinton Parkway along the creek located between Iowa and Kasold streets.
This path would not cost the University of Kansas a single cent, and the city already has approved $257,000 in federal funds for the path's construction.
However, getting permission to build the path has not been easy.
The south portion of the land is owned by the University, and the northern portion is owned by the KU Endowment Association. In trying to get permission from the Endowment Association, the city was sent on a run-around.
First, the University had to make the bike/pedestrian path a priority in its planning. Then the Chancellor had to make a request to the Executive Committee to consider and respond to the proposal.
The Endowment Association stated that it wanted to hold West Campus land for the future expansion of the
THE ISSUE:
Bike path
University and that the land should not be made available for the bike path.
However, in a letter to James Martin, president of the Endowment Association, Lawrence City Manager Mike Wildgen pointed out that the land was located in an area that easily could be flooded, thus restricting building use.
BRW, a consulting firm that conducted a transportation study of the University, also said the path was unlikely to interfere with potential building sites.
As a result, the University has agreed to let the city build the path on its portion of the land. However, the Endowment Association still is refusing.
Because the land is not suited for buildings and a bike path would be beneficial to both the city and the University, the Endowment Association should allow the bike/pedestrian path to be built on its land.
SARBPAL HUNDAL FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Shawn Trimble/KANSAN
Bogus virus causes fear and loathing on the Internet
Some things just never disappear. Ross Perot consistently reappears on the evening news even though it has been more than three years since he lost the race for the presidency. Pauly Shore keeps coming back to the big screen to star in movies that continually receive bad reviews. And warnings about a computer virus called Good Times keep reappearing in my e-mail.
During the two years that I've had an e-mail account at the University of Kansas, I've received four messages warning me of the virus that comes in the form of another message titled "Good Times." According to the warnings, when the Good Times message is opened a virus is unleashed, wreaking havoc on the computer's hard drive, its processor and on all the people whose lives are affected by the personal computer.
The virus is spreading fear among e-mail users across the country — and perhaps throughout the world. However, it has been pointed out for quite some time that the Good Times virus is a hoax.
I learned of the hoax immediately after I received my first warning of the virus. The warning had come from a friend in Pennsylvania who had forwarded the message to everyone she knew.
res, for those of you who still are nervous every time you check your e-mail, the virus is a hoax. As I had heard once before, and as I had confirmed with Wes Hubert, KU assistant director of academic computing, viruses can't be distributed through the text of an e-mail message — a program would have to be downloaded for a virus to be exposed through the Internet.
KANSAN STAFF
Apparently, Good Times has caused enough stir that government agencies have released information discounting the virus.
A World Wide Web site has even been created to inform users of the hoax. It can be found at http://www.usit.net/public/lesjones/goodtimes.html.
Of course, who can blame them?
How much do any of us know about the Internet?
The ways some of these warnings are written are enough to make anybody believe that they were written by a technology expert.
"If the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor if left running too long," according to one warning.
It's like the technobable the writers of Star Trek used to get the Enterprise out of a sticky situation — it has no real meaning, but it sounds real enough to make anybody put his or her faith in it.
We have all heard the horror stories about the terrible effects of computer viruses. Today marks the fourth anniversary of the appearance of the Michelangelo virus, the one that would destroy a computer's memory banks while displaying an image of the artist's famed statue of David whenever the computer's internal calendar reached March 6.
With the expansion of the Internet, a person could receive a virus from anywhere in the world without ever leaving home. The thought is enough to frighten anybody, and apparently that is what happened when the Good Times virus warnings began to circulate.
It is good to see that my friends care enough about me and the well-being of my computer to warn me of this menace to the Internet. However, the continual spread of these warnings to uneducated recipients could create a scare similar to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast in the 1930s.
Perhaps something that was just sent as a joke to a couple of people has given a whole nation of e-mail users a bit of fright. The Internet still is new to all of us, and even the best experts in the computing field have much to learn.
Until we learn everything that we can about cyberspace,we just have to be on our guard.
ASSOCIATE
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Craig Lang in a Springfield, Mo., Junior in Journalism
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The next day, she sent another message to everyone she had written to tell them that she had learned the virus was a hoax. She concluded the letter with a heartfelt apology for giving everyone an unnecessary scare.
I used my knowledge of the hoax to try to educate my friends before
Poor turnout for vote shows students' apathy
they sent the warnings to other email users. However, as usual, my friends didn't pay attention to me — I've received the same warning three more times.
I read Colleen McCain's frontpage article on Thursday morning regarding the student vote on a new recreation center with interest. I complement the University Daily Kansan and the recreation advisory board for providing balanced information on the proposed recreation center, actively advertising the issue and making voting convenient for students.
HEATHER NIEHAUS
Business manager
KONAN HAUSER
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Campus mgr ... Karen Gersch
Regional mgr ... Kelly Connelyne
National mgr ... Mark Odkowm
Special Section mgrs ... Norm Blow
Production mgrs ... Rachol Cahill
Messaging Viller ... Heatha Veller
Marketing director ... Jeffrey
Public Relations mgr ... Angle Adamson
Creative director ... Ed Kowlaski
Classified mgr ... Stacey Wehngarten
Intership/oo-op mgr ... T. J. Clark
Business Staff
ASHLEY MILLER
Editor
VIRGINIA MARGHEIM
Managing editor
ROBERT ALLEN
News editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
I am severely disappointed in the students of the University of Kansas. Only 15 percent of the student body voting on the recreation center issue is an embarrassment.
Education at the University should be more than memorizing facts or learning job skills. Students also should be improving their skills as citizens. That involves learning to actively think—and participate. This often is
meet our civic responsibilities will cause us to lose our civic privileges. A 15-percent voting rate is simple anpathy.
If we will not defend our civic privileges by being active citizens, then we do not deserve them. Wake up. Participate. Those of us who are active want your company.
—and participate. This often is uncomfortable. But failure to
Denn Mielee
Construction manager,
Design and Construction
Management
Campus          Jonn Birk
               Philip Brownlee
Editorial      Paul Todd
Associate editorial  Craig Lang
Posture     Gordon
Growth       Tom Erickson
Associate sports  Bill Petelia
Photo         Matt Flickerman
Graphics      Mesh Mussoer
Special sections November
Five           Tom Tranny
Milkman Leakier
From the ashes of the six million murdered, a million of whom were slaughtered children, a new state was born. To anyone visiting Israel, it is hard to believe that this ancient land was transformed into the modern, thriving place it is today. Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has as many fine restaurants, coffee shops and shopping malls as any American city. It has more ATMs, banks and investment centers than any other metropolitan area in the Middle East.
And within walking distance, from the hustle and bustle of downtown lie monuments as ancient as time: the western wall, a remainder of the second temple; the wall of David, which protected Jerusalem from invaders; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
where many believe Jesus was resurrected; and the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock Mosque, shimmering in deep hues of gold.
And so we cry today, and hope our tears will stop flowing along the rivers of blood.
So tragic is the present situation that the following incident can only begin to shed light on Israel's feeling of horror. After the first bus blew up in Jerusalem, Aaron Barnea, a senior journalist and news analyst for Yedidot Ahronot, Israel's largest newspaper, was sent to the scene. He covered the event as he had covered other terrorist incidents in the past. Only when he returned to the editing room of the newspaper did he discover that his son Jonathan was one of the victims.
This is how the militant Muslim group Hamas, supported by radicals in Iran and Syria, tries to instil terror in the hearts of Israelis. A single suicide bomber boards a bus or crosses a street in a busy area. Typically, he carries 10 pounds of dense, compressed explosives on his body. And, before he explodes among his victims, he remembers the promise of his senders: to be with God and to be praised by Allah. After he succeeds, all that is left is to count the dead and the injured. The great irony is that most Muslims see such acts of terror as contrary to Islamic belief.
Eyal Harutu is a Holon, Israel, third-year
law student
But the miracle of the establishment of the state of Israel came at a terrible price. The six wars and thousands of dead constantly remind natives and visitors that the time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of the hard work has not yet come. Surrounded by hostile countries, all Israelis know that complacency means non-existence, and forgetting about the brutal struggles in the Middle East will cost the highest price.
For Israelis, war has become a way of life. They must fight in order to survive, which is why every man and woman involuntarily serves in the army. Israel long has tried to extend its hands to its neighbors. A peace treaty was signed in 1978 with Egypt, and more recently with Jordan and the Palestinians. Today, only a handful of countries are left in a state of war with Israel.
Extremists in Israel threaten chance of peace
But fundamentalist religious and nationalist forces that adamantly oppose peace and call for the complete destruction of Israel, continue to raise their ugly heads. Last week, a bomb exploded on bus No 30 in the heart of Jerusalem. Monday, Tel Aviv's most prestigious and popular shopping area was crushed by a bomb during the Jewish holiday, Purim. All told, close to 70 innocent men, women and children have died in terrorist attacks in the past nine days. And the end is not in sight.
HUBIE
By Jeremy Patnoi