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Wednesday, June 7, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Violence against students in China shocks, outrages
We are filled with anger and sorrow after reading reports of the Chinese government turning violently upon its own people. Although we have always known we had freedoms that were denied citizens of a non-democratic nation, we were shocked when China turned to the methods of its past.
When we speak out against actions or ideas we don't agree with, we know that our government and university will not turn guns against us. At the very least, officials will listen to us and discuss ideas with us. That is what students in China asked for, meetings with leaders to discuss political reforms.
They demonstrated peacefully for weeks, with so much support from other citizens that their nation and the world had to take notice. But their own government opened fire on them rather than recognizing them; the few Chinese officials who seemed to support the demonstrators have not been heard from in days.
Communism, in its purest form, promises equality of all citizens. But communism doesn't deliver.
It is the nature of human beings to want more of what they consider good, whether it be material goods, leisure, freedom or power. Often, those with less, resent those with more.
Governments are composed of people. But unless all the people are heard, the exalted few control the state. Because of the greed for power, the structure of the communist state lends itself to decline into totalitarianism.
Education and free speech for all citizens is essential for a nation to come as close to true political freedom as possible. The educated youth are the hope of the future. Their ideas will not be crushed beneath military tanks.
But, as French president François Mitterrand said of the massacre, "A regime which is reduced to firing on its youth to survive, when the youth it has educated rises up in the name of freedom, has no future."
The Chinese government's use of the archaic method of force to control a populace indicates a move backward rather than forward.
We extend our full support to the demonstrators in China, who are risking their lives to move forward, and to the Chinese students at KU and throughout the world. We urge our readers to express their outrage regarding the violence by writing to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Ave., Washington, D.C. 20008.
Kirsten Bosnak for the editorial board
AIDS awareness is a must
In May, the American College Health Association released results of its yearlong study of AIDS on college campuses. The University of Kansas was one of 19 schools nationwide that participated in the study. Student health centers provided blood samples from students who had sought medical attention. The found that two out of every 1,000 students tested HIV positive.
Each school was to provide 1,000 blood samples for the study. However, not all schools met the quota. So the study was conducted from 16,861 blood samples.
The study indicates that AIDS is a problem on college campuses. KU students should realize that they could be affected.
Ten of the 19 schools participating in the survey had no HIV-positive but five institutionally infected students or studen- ters. Two of these had nip-tips gettin' over them.
The 0.2 percent rate of infection is higher than was expected and indicates that more preventive measures, such as education, need to be taken on campuses. There is no question that the AIDS virus is widespread.
And now the results of a study by physician David Imagawa, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., in the New England Journal of Medicine, have revealed that some people may carry the AIDS virus for as long as three years before it can be detected by standard tests. This should increase the need for concern.
Kathy Walsh for the editorial board
As college students we may feel as if "it could never happen to us." But as students, as our country's future, we need to take AIDS seriously, even if it requires re-evaluating our lifestyles.
The editorials in this column are the opinion of the editorial board. The editorial board consists of Jill Jess, Ric Brack, Kirsten Bosnak and Kathy Walsh.
News staff
less...Editor
Rie Bitok...Managing editor
Stan Diel...Campus editor
Kelly Lamson...Photo editor
Shagged Kline...graphics editor
Tom Ebert...General manager
Business staff
Scott Frager...Business manager
Jerre Medford...Retail sales manager
Loris Campanella...Campaign manager
Adam Pfeffer...Production manager
Mike Lemann...Classified manager
Jeanne Lohm...Sales and marketing
Jeanne Lohm...Sales and marketing
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE U.S. AND CHINA
Summer Kansan wants you Readers play important role in decision on news in paper
M any of you may have been surprised when you walked across campus today and saw the Kansan in its boxes.
We're hack
Were back. However, The University Daily Kansan is a misnomer during the summer session. The paper comes out once a week, on Wednesdays.
We have an abbreviated staff in the summer because many journalism students have summer internships. However, our news coverage will not be abbreviated.
Our weekly production schedule gives us time to do more in-depth stories. Our reporters and editors can ensure that stories are covered completely and accurately. We can write more features and explore new angles to stories that would otherwise be handled as breaking news.
But we are going to need our readers' help. Charles A. Dana, the editor of the new-defunct New York Sun, once said, "The newspaper must be founded upon human nature. I must correspond with the people. I must furnish that sort of information which the people demand, or else it never can be successful. The first thing which an editor must look for is news."
I am looking for news.
The Kansan gets its story ideas from a number of places — press releases, tips from sources, reporters' investigations, public events and meetings, to name a few.
But reader input is one of the most valuable sources of story ideas. It is only through this input that we can know what the students want to see in the newspaper.
Jill Jess
Many readers are unfamiliar with the workings of the Kansan. Because we want you to be an
Editor
integral part of the newspaper, it is important that you understand the process of putting out the Kansas.
The Kansan staff is made up of the news staff and the business staff.
The editor and business manager are hired by the Kansan Board, which is made up of administrators, faculty and student representatives in the School of Journalism. The editor and business manager then interview and hire candidates for their staffs.
The business staff is responsible for making money for the newspaper. It accomplishes its task by selling advertising space. But while it is an integral part of the Kansan, it is separate from the news staff. This separation ensures that advertisement will in no way be influenced by an advertiser.
The news staff is under the direction of the editor.
The campus editor assigns stories to the reporters. He also edits the stories, with the help of an assistant campus editor, for content, as a flow and libel. The campus editor is Stan Diel.
The photo editor assigns photos and assists in the editing of images to be published. The photo editor is K.K. Lamson, a photographer.
Stephen Kline, the graphics editor, is responsible for all news artwork and graphics in the Kohlberg Report.
Ric Brack, the managing editor, does what his title suggests — manages. He is in charge of personnel matters in the newsroom. He also handles supplies and facilities. Ric is also the first mate of the newsroom. He is the ranking editor when the editor is not present.
My job, as editor, is to make all final decisions on news coverage and editorial copy in the Kansan. I am also the representative of the Kansan to the campus. If you have a complaint about the Kansan, you can talk to Rioc or to me. Our telephone number at the newsroom is 684-4310.
All of the jobs I have described so far are paid positions. But the people who work the hardest and with whom you are most likely to have contact are our reporters. They receive no pay, but they report what is being reported in Advanced Reporting, a two-credit-hour class. But they in put in 15-30 hours a week for that class.
Our copy editors, who read stories for style, clarity, flow, accuracy and libel, also are unpaid. They are enrolled in Advanced Editing. They work two nights a week from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
But the part of our newspaper that is indispensable is our readership. We're here for you. If we had no readers, we wouldn't be able to sell advertising and would not be able to put out a newspaper. Therefore, we want to keep you satisfied.
So let us know if you have a comment on the Kansan. As Charles Dana would say, if we are not meeting our readers' needs, then we are unsuccessful.
Jill Jess is a Lawrence senior majoring in journalism.
Student actions are inspiring
three weeks ago when the Chinese student's demonstrations began we thought, "How quaint."
Our sympathy and support for their effort was strong, if only in thought.
The inevitable comparisons were made of today's Chinese students to the U.S. students who struggled in the 1950s for civil rights and for peace in the 1960s and 1970s. Punits spoke of how we, the students of today, would probably not measure up to the brave actions of our counterparts in China under similar circumstances.
We marvelled at the guts Chinese students as our televisions and front pages told of how they policed Thanaman Square, shared popsicle stores and patriotic songs. We delighted in the erection of their "statue of liberty."
Then martial law was declared, and the mood of our discussions and thoughts about the protests changed from mirth to shocked disbelief.
His prediction, unfortunately, came true in Beijing's Sunday predaunt darkness and the darkness of his father from the eyes of the outside world.
"The next thing that'll happen is they'll stop the flow of information and news," said a friend of mine, bhp by bhp. Theirests would come to a bloody end.
Visions of a party-like atmosphere akin to students camping out to gain entry to a final four basketball game were replaced with visions of bloody students fleeing tank treads and rifle bullets.
While the students in China may have taken U.S. patriots as an example, Deng might also have looked to U.S. history to learn ways of handling dissent by muzzling the voices of the dissenters.
Ric Brack
Managing editor
In the late 1700s, struggling under the weight of press criticism, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, partially to restrain the pens of editors critical of the Federalists. The Acts remained in force for three years, until the presidency of Thomas Jefferson was under way.
Right here at the University of Kansas, censorship and attempts to squelch dissenting voices have been seen too often in the recent past.
More than a year ago, the University's administration was able for a time to block a gathering billed as a free speech forum where members of the Ku Klux Klan were scheduled to speak. The publicity generated by the delay and the attempted censorship ultimately brought much more attention to the matter than it otherwise would have enjoyed.
Officially, senators decided that the Kansan could survive on about half the money it had previously
Eventually, partly because of the pressure of public opinion, the right to free speech won out and the forum was held. Thousands of people freely attended, protested, listened and learned. No one died.
And during its budgeting process this past semester, the KU student government tried to bridge the opinion of Kanan editors who, student senators would say privately, were critical of their decisions and politics.
received from the student activity fee through the senate. Unofficially Kansan editors and reporters were told that a windfall fund could be created if they were carried – if this page carried no further editorials critical of the senate.
The editors continued and the Kansan got its money, although on a restricted basis. Again, no one died.
The Chinese students, as a forum for their expression, had to resort to hunger strikes and demonstrations when the government intervening and life ending — situations
You however, are lucky.
You have the forum provided by this newspaper, on this page.
But we realize that there are at least two sides to every story. We will present our opinions and we invite you to do the same.
We are excited at the prospect of sharing our views and opinions with you here, and we will do that every Wednesday.
You can write a letter to the editor, or if you have an idea for a guest column or cartoon, let us hear about it.
The recent actions of our counterparts in China should inspire us to take a stand for what we believe. The Chinese students were willing to sacrifice their lives. All we must sacrifice are a little time and effort.
What is it that angers or delights you about the Kansan, the University, the city of Lawrence, the nation or the world? Write it down and bring it by the newsroom. We look forward to hearing your opinions and learning from your points of view.
Ric Brack is a Great Bend senior majoring in journalism.
It is very pathetic to see what is going on in China. The soldiers have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocent people including children. We have seen in the history of humankind where the innocent people have been suppressed brutally by the dictators and king and woman, and died under basic human rights — freedom of speech, movement, choice, food, shelter, medicine and so on.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
China struggles
As we know absolute power corrupts humans, so it came as no surprise that Yang Shangkun, Li Peng and Deng Xiaoping acted like the power mongers and oppressors which we have seen in our human history all over the world.
In the history of China it is observed that the students took the leading role to demand the basic human rights, and it is not new to see that the students in 1899 have done it again. But unlike the past, the citizens of the world know about the barbarous act of Yang, Li and Deng instantly. So it is not only the duty of the Chinese students to oppose the dictators and oppressors alone, the citizens of China must work together to achieve our basic human rights. If we cannot get our fundamental human rights just by asking, then we should grab them.
China, please do not give up now.
Remember we are looking up to you.
Do not give up, victory is on the horizon.
Rashid Malik
Dhaka, Bangladesh graduate student