4A
Monday, May 1, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: GTA UNION
Unionization vote prompts petty response from Topeka
Kansas Senator Gus Bogina recently led the drive to cut the 3.5 percent salary increase for Kansas GTAs out of the omnibus appropriations bill, employing an impressive use of flawed logic and juvenile pettiness.
Legislators argued that GTAs were overpaid and that faculty members at KU needed the raises more than their assistants, citing statistics that show GTAs at KU make 101 percent of what GTAs at peer institutions make, whereas faculty members make only 89 percent.
This line of argument is flawed for two reasons. First, the Legislature's idea of salary increases as a zero-sum game is wrong. GTA salary increases don't take anything away from the faculty increases. Secondly, if legislators really believed faculty salaries should have priority, why didn't they give faculty a larger pay increase when they killed the GTA
Sen. Bogina has made no secret about his opposition to a union in the past, and now it looks as if he intends to follow through.
increase?
Certain Legislators obviously are more concerned with hurting GTAs than helping other faculty. Unfortunately, many administrators correctly predicted a hostile response from the Legislature if GTAs succeeded in unionizing. However, this response may indicate why GTAs need an organized voice in Topeka. Although this board has voiced its opposition to unionization, now GTAs have unionized all parties involved must deal with the decision professionally.
If the Legislature intends to retain its hostile attitude toward GTAs at KU, the lobbying power of the union will become even more important.
STANTON SHELBY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ISSUE: AMERICORPS
Programs shouldn't be cut without fair examination
in their effort to make effective budget cuts, the House has voted to slash the financing for 1995 AmeriCorps, the program the Clinton administration has called the new domestic Peace Corps. However, the House made this decision before they even heard one word of testimony from the leaders of the program.
The vote called for the financing of AmeriCorps to be cut to $160 million, an amount that Eli Segal, chief executive officer for the Corporation for National Service, said would virtually destroy the program
The House Republicans need to realize that just because something is not included in their Contract with America does not mean that it is an ineffective program that should be eliminated. If they wish to continue to have support from their constituents, they must be able to prove they have carefully examined the needs of every program before they
Funding for AmeriCorps was cut by the House,but Congress should realize good programs exist outside of 'Contract'
decrease financing.
Although making cuts in the budget is important to Congress, it should be sure that programs that are meant to improve the quality of life in America are preserved. AmeriCorps, which allows students to use their education to gain experience through volunteer work, is one of these.
Segal is optimistic because AmeriCorps has received bipartisan support from the Senate. The Senate has restored most of the money for the program by setting financing at $470 million. For the sake of this program, let's hope the Senate prevails over the House.
And in the future, let's hope Congress makes a little more effort in examining a program before deciding its fate.
CRAIG LANG FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
ARIZONA
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Oklahoma bombing is tiny compared to global images
Since the bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City, I have been glued to my television, watching rescue workers feverishly dig through piles of rubble, hoping against all hope for a miracle. I have become transfixed on the images of pain and anguish, and I have been moved.
The death, suffering and rubble shouldn't be shocking, but it is. After all, images of bombed buildings, dead or hurting children and grieving families really aren't new. They have been on the nightly news for years. These are the pictures that have captured my undivided attention.
I am not alone. Across America the bombing in Oklahoma City is the topic of conversation. Our hearts go out to those affected as we realize, in surprise, it could have happened in any of us.
Somehow some of us believed that the Midwest was encased in a protective bubble that made it more wholesome and protected than the rest of the country. We knew that really wasn't true, but it was the Norman Rockwellian notion to which we clung.
But the world is a place of balance. Even though it may be hard to believe without hindsight, something lost means something gained.
Pearl Harbors
OKLAHOMA CITY
While our Midwestern image of relative safety was blown to pieces by this bomb, we can still take something positive from the experience.
There are the obvious things, like a heightened sense of community or a healthier perspective of being content with the present. Then there are
NWKHYYMGNGBHCE
KANSAN STAFF
Bombing in war or peacetime isn't supposed to happen anywhere, but it does. It's justified in many ways, including politics, security or religion — it doesn't matter. Bombers always think they have a good reason for their actions.
While we are looking for logic from the chaos or reason in the madness of what happened, perhaps we can remember how cruel and cowardly bombing seems the next time we shrug it off in some distant corner of the world. After all, we are all human beings, each worth no more than the other. If even a few of us learn to value each other accordingly, then something good might grow out of tragedy.
We tend not to react to the same events elsewhere because they happen to people caught up in struggle. "Isn't it a shame those people can't learn to get along," we say from the comfortable protection of our living rooms. We might publicly say we are sorry about all that is happening to them, but we really don't care. We just go on with our daily lives and forget, except for the few glimpses we get on television.
The danger is that we inadvertently blame the victims. We expect them to put up with this sort of thing all the time, and we blame them for the violence. Why is the Oklahoma bombing shocking? Because it wasn't supposed to happen to us, here in the peaceful Midwest. But why not?
might do to make ourselves safer. But there is one thing that has been missing from the radio talk shows and the dinner table discussions.
again or what we might do to make ourselves safer.
"I don't know what I'd do the first time someone wouldn't touch me because they knew that I had AIDS."
The Oklahoma City bombing, while horrible, is a relatively small blip on the radar of global, manmade death
destruction.
carnage, but I have realized this week how dangerous that idea is.
STAFF COLUMNIST
—Claire Henderson to her mother about her fear of being discriminated against.
JENNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
Somehow we have been able to watch the pictures of Beirut, Baghdad and Sarajevo while eating dinner or talking about weekend plans. But we should ask ourselves why? Is it because those are pictures of far away places and Oklahoma is close to home, or is it something more?
We have watched the same things happening day after day for years, but those images never moved us like these have.
I thought it was a form of coping. It would be too emotionally draining to get caught up in all the world's
For me, Oklahoma might as well be on the other side of the earth. I don't have friends or family there, and I probably wouldn't go there. It's a place on a map or pictures on the news. So why is my psyche moved by pictures of bombing in Oklahoma and not the rest of the world?
"She would be nowhere without the cue signs she's just a face." Devon Haase, Lawrence junior, about Ricki Lake.
Heather Kirkwood is a Wichita junior in journalism.
— Erika Oliver, off-campus senator, after winning the Outstanding Student Senator award about speaking her mind.
"Either you can accept things the way they are, or you can try to change them."
"The rock diva doesn't play well in Lawrence. This is the incubation stage of the rock world."
Business Staff
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
— Brett Moisman, owner of the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
Campus mgr ...Beth Pols
Regional mgr ...Chris Branaman
National mgr ...Shelly Falvale
Coop mgr ...Kelly Connealy
Special Sections mgr ..Brigg Bloomquist
Production mgrs ..JJ Cook
Kim Hyman
Marketing director ..Mindy Blum
Promotions director ..Justin Frosolone
Creative director ..Dan Gier
Classified mgr ..Lisa Kuieth
"They're not the fastest animal in the world, but when they start going after you and digging you out. you're at their mercy."
the practical things, such as how we might prevent this from happening
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Editors
Tom Swearingen, director of exhibits at the Natural History Museum, about badgers.
News...Carlos Tejada
Planning...Mark Martin
Editorial...Matt Gowen
Associate Editorial...Heather Lawrenz
Campus...David Wilson
Colleen McCain
Sports...Gerry Fey
Associate Sports...Ashley Miller
Photo...Jarratt Lane
Featured Photo...Kurt Zits
Features...Nathan Olanon
Design...Brian James
Freelance...Suan White
—Compiled by Kansan staff the week of April 24
After spending semesters in classes with
stand what sustains these extra-ordinary individuals throughout the years. And an even more pressing question is why did these same people try so hard to discourage me from seeking a similar vocation.
And finally, I would like to offer general thanks to all of my teachers throughout the years who have seen some talent in a shy and often lazy student. Without their encouragement, I never would have been in a position to write these words.
Finally, I would just like to mention all of the professors who have inspired me in my own choice to pursue the teaching profession. They are in no certain order: Professor Jan Kozma, Associate Professor Robert Anderson, Associate Professor Michael Shaw, Assistant Professor Thomas Tuozo, Professor Robert Antonio, Assistant Professor Shirley Hill, Assistant Professor Sherry Velasco, Professor Robert Blue, Professor Richard Kay, Assistant Professor Leonardo Villalon, Assistant Professor Beverly Mack, Associate Professor Cheryl Lester, Professor Robin Schulze, Professor Emeritus George Wedge, Assistant Professor Richard Colyer, Professor William Scott, and Professor Elizabeth Schultz, who has fought tirelessly and valiantly for the Comparative Literature Program.
these unsung heroes, I knew that this was my calling. Yet it was these same people I wanted to emulate who were trying to discourage me. Still, behind their admonitions was a hopeful glint in their eyes, which betrayed their secret wish that I ignore their advice. In their heart, they hoped that I would join their ranks. My experience with professors has only reinforced my decision to pursue my vocation, perhaps as a form of gratitude.
I would like to take this time to thank them for their service, which, as we should now realize, is not done for financial gain.
Nicolas Shump is a Lawrence senior in comparative literature.
I have, all my life, wanted to under-
Foremost is Professor Norman Yetman, who was vigilant in his insistence that I return to school. He then served as my adviser and also gave me my first teaching job, for which he is extraordinarily grateful. I would also like to thank Assistant Professor Juan Velasco, who has shown me a path for post-baccalaureate studies. Velasco is an exceptional scholar and dedicated teacher. Two other professors who have been friends and mentors through my time here are Professors Roberta Johnson and Ted Johnson. I will cherish the mentoring I have received from both of them. I would also like to thank Rocio Muñoz-Dunbar and Rhonda Lewis of the Dean's Scholars program for the four semesters that we have spent together. I know that this will be valuable for me in graduate school. I also would like to thank Dean James Muyksen and Professor Kathleen McJuskey-Fawell for their commitment to the Dean's Scholars program, and thanks to Associate Professor Beverly Davenport-Sypher for continuing their work.
Future teacher encouraged by example set by professors
I can think of few professions as noble as teaching. The rewards are few. Spending long hours poring over a stack of papers is hardly romantic. So then, what possesses people to devote themselves to such a life of thankless anonymity?
MIXED MEDIA
By Jack Ohman