4A
Tuesday. Mav 2.1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: ALCOHOL MANAGEMENT
Binge parties concern greeks steps taken to prevent abuse
The 21-shot birthday party may be on the way out.
Members of four greek houses have recently voted to sign contracts pledging not to take part in 21-shot birthday parties. This decision is the first step towards a more responsible attitude involving alcohol management by members of the greek community.
Spurred by the members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, the members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and the Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities have all agreed to swear off the so-called tradition of drinking 21 shots to celebrate one's 21st birthday. The rest of the Greek community, and the University community at large, should view this decision as an acceptance of responsibility and emulate it in their own living organizations.
The 21-shot party has been a symbol of the college lifestyle for many years. It is a dangerous and senseless practice that generally becomes a
Four houses have taken the lead by deciding to pledge to be careful in drinking alcohol at 21st birthday parties
memorable event for those watching the party, while the guest of honor gets sick and ends up forgetting the whole thing.
Every reason for drinking is obliterated by the inebriation caused by 21 shots. The amount of alcohol in 21 shots is enormous and can take most people to the verge of alcohol poisoning. A birthday is much better celebrated and remembered if some self control is applied and one drinks in accordance with his or her tolerance.
In a time when binge drinking is progressing towards epidemic proportions on college campuses and in the greek community in particular, it is a comforting and reassuring sight to see young men and women accepting responsibility and acting in a mature fashion regarding the use of alcohol.
CHRIS VINE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE: HUMAN RIGHTS ORDINANCE
Commission finally helps city take a step in right direction
Justice has finally been delivered by the Lawrence City Commission.
In a 3-2 vote, commissioners voted to place the words sexual orientation into the human relations code. This makes Lawrence the first city in Kansas to pass such legislation.
The controversy and debate that surrounded this issue was unnecessary. This measure should have been passed in November when it was initially introduced, but it took the election of three new commissioners to finally do the right thing.
The measure, dubbed Simply Equal during the debate, for the group that spearheaded the effort, does only what those two words say: treat homosexuals in Lawrence equally. It is, as the name indicates, a simple concept that became distorted in arguments and ignorance. To see the ignorance finally overcome by a sensible commission restores some hope in the political system in Lawrence.
The vote in favor of adding the words 'sexual orientation' to the human rights ordinance was a positive move.
Bob Moody, who voted against the legislation, said that you cannot force tolerance. But such a measure can at least help Lawrence take a step in the right direction towards acceptance and equality.
We can only hope the rest of the state will look a Lawrence as an example and soon follow in the footsteps of this much-needed measure.
JENNY WIEDEKE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
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JENNIFER PERRIER
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Jeff MacNetly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
'Sludge' bids adieu to KU, recalls college experiences
Hey kids, remember me?
I'm the cat who wrote those movie reviews with Matt Gowen last spring.
You know, "Matt & Sludge: At the Movies."
Everyone kept telling him how cool it was that he invented an alter ego to talk with about movies. They said how perfect the Sludge person was, since he represented the average college Joe, or is it Joe College?
Well, when Gowen was little, he had this invisible friend named Digs that he'd talk to all the time (He's kind of strange, isn't he?)
But I'm real, OK! He actually has a friend named Sludge. Even my parents call me Sludge. Where'd the nickname come from? That's another story. I really can't get into it here. But you have no idea what it's like to have countless stories written about you, only to realize those stories are actually about leftovers from water treatment plants. You've seen the headlines: "Residents prepare to deal with sludge," or "Sludge causing foul smells in reservoir." It does wonders for your ego.
Anyway, I don't consider myself the wisest man on campus, so I never had a problem representing the average guy, 'cause basically that's what I am. So maybe I can do that again here, as I say goodbye to KU.
That's right. Like 4,500 or so other students, I'll be strolling down the Hill on May 14. And since drinking's
not allowed on the Hill anymore, I'm sure everyone will be stone-cold sober (Uh, yeah). Of course, like
Let's talk show.
GUEST COLUMNIST
many of you walking with me, I'm done...um, in December.
Then I have some student teaching to do. And then some graduate courses. Damn! Oh well.
said life was fair.
Yeah, I suppose it's not as nifty as being done, graduating and walking down the Hill all at once, but then, no one ever
But, I gretess if I get a bunch of presents (wishful thinking) and have a party with my friends, that can't be all bad. right?
Even if I'm not completely done, I soon will be saying goodbye to the days when Coke, coffee and beer replaced the bloodstream and Cheeze-its, grilled cheese, Cheerios and spaghetti kept me alive. The diet of champions.
Gone will be the days of going to your job and to classes looking like a complete Sludge, Imean, slob. you always can tell the freshmen, too, can't ya. Dressed to the teeth. Combed, showeder, tucked.
Soon everyone learns the art of throwing on a sweatshirt, thongs and a hat, though. By the way, the most random hat wins (mine is the
Southwest Louisiana State Rajun
Cajuns).
Ah. college.
- When a friend has this friend and she'd really like to meet you and she's got a really good personality, (Besides, I'm taken.)
■ When you hear it's quarter draw night somewhere, and you grab $2 in change to buy for the night. As I finally figured out after I started working behind a bar, bartenders just love it when you have exact change.
■ When you run into someone, they say "Hi, Sludge," and you couldn't remember that person's name if someone offered you free Subway for a month. And, of course, they know you don't know because you say something like, "Oh, hi you," or "What's um. guv?"
- When it seems like you owe money to everyone you've ever met.
■ When you get so wired on coffee, while studying for a test, you start seeing little fuzzy things run across the floor.
"Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."
Ah, college.
In closing, I'd like to remind y'all of a quote from my idol Vince Lombardi that keeps me going (it may keep you going, too):
When it seems like you don't have time to do one danit thing.
Well, that and a nice, cold beer. Bye kids.
Brad Stoll is a Lawrence senior in education.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Some students in Social Welfare are 'taxed without representation'
In the last five years, I have been assailed by every media and popular culture outlet, that I needed to "Get out and Vote."
In fact, candidates were openly pressing flesh in front of Wescoe and the Kansas Union, urging me to "just vote, baby" On top of this, my brother has put considerable pressure on me, saying that my vote was my only real voice in student government and that it needed to be used. These messages persuaded me. On April 10, I went to one of the polls to vote.
This has included the recent KU Student Senate elections.
Instead, I was informed that I could not vote. I immediately questioned the decision and was told to seek redress at the Registrar's Office. This proved fruitless because I was informed that they had no part in student elections. The Registrar's Office referred me to my school, the School of Social Welfare.
Unfortunately, the story doesn't end with a feeling of accomplishment.
I contacted Ra Willis, secretary in the school, who looked into the matter. After Willis checked with Student Senate, she informed me that because I was a newly admitted student in the school, I was not allowed to vote. Their justification was that they were unsure of my intentions of attending
school in the fall and did not want a potential nonstudent affecting the election.
This is ludicrous and a direct violation of my civil rights. First, and most importantly, the fact remains that every single vote, regardless of what school the student votes in, is liable to fall under the same restriction. After all, how can the glorious and omnipotent Senate know that a liberal arts student will be returning to school in the fall? Can they see the future? Consider the competition that I had to face in order to get into the School of Social Welfare. I guarantee that it was much tougher than getting into the College of Liberal Arts and Science.
That seems to say that my dedication to returning in the fall is greater than a student in the college. Doesn't it make sense that someone who has to make the extra effort to get into the school is more inclined to return in the fall than someone enrolled in the college? Yet, liberal arts students are given the right to vote while I'm denied. Senate has obviously violated my civil rights by unfairly discriminating against me based upon a judgment that it refuses to apply to all students. If I am not allowed to vote because the potential exists that I may not return in the fall, than everyone else who may not return in the fall should also be disallowed to vote. Obviously, if this
guideline was applied uniformly and consistently, then no one could vote.
There are no guarantees of anyone returning.
There were three Senate candidates running for the School of Social Welfare, two were chosen. There were only 55 total votes for the winners. Fifty students from the school were not allowed to vote. That means that almost 50 percent of the school are being governed without representation.
These voices in government are the ones that vote to determine Senate budget items, codes of conduct etc. I think now is an appropriate time to recount an old saying from the Revolutionary War, "Taxation without representation is tyranny."
Tora Jackson Leavenworth junior
I have no intention of sitting idly by and watching this occur. There can be no compromise. I want the right to vote. I want the right to choose my representation. This is not a privilege — this is my right. I will have it. This is not a case where there can be some middle ground. I am illegally denied my voice in government. There, will be redress or there will be action. I will not be silent.
Taking a look at where you've been helps see what's important
And so this semester disappears into the sunset astride its white horse.
Each of us look at our accomplishments and failures.
Those of us who are graduating are
I was once told that I should take time to look at my life to think about what has happened to
Those of us w,
preparing their
goodbyes, others
look forward to
the respite,
and some, like
me, take a
breath before
continuing the
long trudge
toward a degree.
me, to examine my successes and my disappointments, the reasons why they happened, and the effects they brought. For some reason, this advice appealed to me.
Now I examine my life every semester.
Was this a good semester? No, not really. I found myself having to struggle with the details of my life and watching my scholastic career suffer as a result. This is nothing new to me, and I am almost used to it. Many of my goals just didn't come through. Some of the blame rests on the world's idle whimisms, but most of it rests on my shortcomings.
Yet I am a happy man. It is rare that I do not smile, and all in all, I am content with the semester and with my past year.
I wish I could put my finger on the reason why. I give credit to my friends to some extent. There is quite a bit that I owe to people who I promised not to name in this column. But they know their names, and they know what they're done. But a companion to the movies, a shoulder to ary on, a weekly lunch just to talk, intense discussions over the phone — it all matters; it was all appreciated.
And still that is not the entire story. I enjoyed writing this column, having the chance to babble for a few inches every week or so. I worked with interesting people in a few campus organizations. I continued to meet professors and graduate teaching assistants who challenged me to learn even when just talking on Jayahawk Boulevard.
Perhaps I finally discovered an important new step in the dance of life — the way to enjoy the world despite myself. It lets me smile at the exhortations scribbled on the sidewalks and the rain against my window. It lets me grieve at tragedies and feel cleansed afterward.
It lets me live my life with hope.
Hope that no matter what happens,
I will survive it. That's all it really is
— hone.
I doubt anything I write in this space will change lives and bring illumination. I have no need to be the voice of a generation or the preacher of a good life. I don't take myself that seriously and neither should anyone else.
But this is the one message I wish to have everyone hear just once.
It's time to climb down off the soap box for awhile. I was getting splinters.
Isaac Bell is a Lawrence junior in English.
How to submit letters and guest columns
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the authors 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 letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or out-right reject all submissions. For any questions, call Heather Lawrenz, Fall 1995 editorial page editor, at 864-4810.