4A
Friday, April 21, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: CAMPAIGN RHETORIC
Dole's judgments are clouded
Senator Bob Dole reached new heights of hypocrisy when he publicly denounced the entertainment industry for poisoning the minds of America's youth at a recent campaign stop in Iowa.
Dole's attack on Hollywood is not surprising, considering the earnest scramble for the Republican nomination for president. Since Dan Quayle removed his name for consideration, the remaining candidates have been busy championing the issue of "family values," which is primarily accomplished by attacking the entertainment industry.
The senator's condemnation of the producers of television violence is curious, considering his stance on legislation regarding the tools of real-world violence — guns. Dole, in a nod to the National Rifle Association, has repeatedly expressed his desire to repeal last year's ban on 19 types of assault weapons. Apparently, assault weapons are only odious when used on television.
In Dole's mind, it's those naughty television producers, and not the patriotic gun producers, who are at fault for turning America's cities into battlefields. If Dole is so concerned that television is poisoning the minds of America's youth, then why is he trying so fervently to kill public broadcasting, perhaps the last bastion of high-quality
Sen. Dole's lambasting of television violence and gun-control laws all in the same breath is definitely hypocritical
children's programming?
Just as interesting is Dole's idea of how to bring "family values" to fruition. He proposes that Americans "shame" the entertainment industry into behaving better. Perhaps we could force programming to wear a scarlet "V" on their chests. Dole's shame idea would bear more weight if he wasn't so selective in its use. Dole reserves shame for the entertainment industry and welfare recipients, not for campaign contributors and corporate welfare recipients such as the tobacco industry and farm giant Archers Daniels Midland, let alone weapons manufacturers.
Of course, these contradictions in thought are not unique to Dole. In fact, they are quite common among Dole's fellow Republican presidential suitors, especially those to his right. When Dole ally Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., was denied the position of Senate majority whip by Sen. Phil Gramm ally Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., Dole must have seen the writing on the wall.
Sen. Dole is now lurching to the right faster than a Yugo badly in need of alignment.
WILLIAM KENEALY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE. VOTER TURN-OUT
GTAs made their voice heard
The recent elections have shown the two sides of voter turnout — apathy and interest.
The GTA unionization election had the highest turnout, 66 percent of eligible voters. This should be commended. The fact that 486 GTAs supported unionization sends a strong message to administration. Why did so many GTAs go to the polls on Monday and Tuesday? Surely it is because of the strong feeling that GTAs have about unionization. It also illustrates that people will vote if they perceive that the election will directly impact their lives.
More students should realize that their vote counts in each election.
Only 16 percent of the student body showed up to vote in the Student Senate elections. Granted this is a three percent increase from last year, which probably resulted from the candidates reaching out to voters on Daisy Hill and from the amount of election publicity. But the numbers would be even higher if student realized how much Senate affects their lives.
Perhaps all students could take a cue from the GTAs and realize that each vote counts.
HEATHER LAWRENZ FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Visit home inspires thoughts of childhood, growing up
I think I'm growing up, and I'm not sure I like it. I'm a planner, but I never thought to schedule this in.
While I was driving home last weekend, I had three and a half hours to ponder where I've been and where I'm going. I realized how much I've changed and how much more change is on its way.
I've come to accept that I'll never move home and feel that "safeness" again. Dinner on the table, someone else to make sure the door is locked at night. I have an apartment full of furniture that I guess has become my home. When I anticipated this time of my life, I had no idea it would be this unglamorous to be on your own. I have a phone bill, and the groceries aren't delivered to the refrigerator by fairies.
The first night at home felt strange. It once was the norm, now I feel like I am at a hotel. I turned out the light to go to bed and pulled up the covers. I waited a couple minutes until I heard the dogs sneak into my room and find some clothes on the floor to sleep on. One dog decided he'd have half of my pillow. After half an hour of trying to sleep with a cocker spaniel on my head, I realized this is the safety I miss at school. I thought about the 17 years I'd spent in that house and realized that the only me I really know is the me in that house. It feels like I'm
just on an extended stay at summer camp. Four long years at camp col-
My mom tells me that for a couple of days after I leave, the dog still lies at the top of the stairs with his nose hanging over the step, as if he doesn't want to miss me when I walk upstairs. I think I'm still in that waiting stage, but I hope I'm there to catch me too. The next
few years are going to be so different from the last 22 years.
I've noticed another way I've changed at college. I bought a Roberta Flack CD the other day — for me. To listen to. And nothing makes me smile more than hearing Stevie Wonder sing "Superstititus". I buy greatest hits albums by '70s or '80s has-beens, and I don't want previously unreleased material denoted by asterisks. I want the old stuff, so I know all the words. Like a friend said the other day, take Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and some Duran Duran to a party, and you're a guaranteed hit. It doesn't matter to me anymore who's new
I'm talking about the realization that I'm about to become "an adult." We were introduced to this concept a long time ago. I learned very young that adults know everything and are always right and never make mistakes. I'm not ready for that pressure. Lately my anxieties have been about finding a job. I've realized the perfect job isn't necessarily the reward for college. I'm scared about being a big girl in the real world. Not long from now I'll have to trade in my sweatshirts for slips and pantyhose. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that commitment. What if the perfect job turns out to be a nightmare? You don't get a new boss every semester, like at college.
on MTV.
I scoff when I hear these are the best years of our lives. Maybe it is true, comparatively speaking. I guess it is time to graduate and get on with things because I'm really tired of macaroni and cheese. No one ever said that growing up was easy, and no one ever told us how to grow up. I would have settled for knowing that growing up will sneak up on you.
I could have at least planned on that.
Deedra Allison is a Hutchinson senior in Journalism.
GUEST VIEWPOINT
Kansas Relays might see a record
Let's face it, we've all run at one time or another. Nobody likes it. It's agonizing, tedious and boring. Maybe that is why it can be so exciting to watch someone who seemingly can run without tiring. Here at Kansas, our most famous runners traditionally have been milers, and the Kansas Relays is where they have showcased their talents to an inspired crowd.
We've all heard the names Jim Ryun, Wes Santee, Glenn Cunningham and Michael Cox, great KU milers back in the glory days of Kansas Track. Wait a minute — you've never heard of Michael Cox? Well, hold on, I'll get to him in an amlute.
First, in honor of the 70th annual Kansas Relays, here's a little history lesson that every true Jayhawk fan should know. Glenn Cunningham, the "Iron Man of Kansas," was a world-record holder in the mile while at Kansas, but that is not what people in Kansas remember him for.
Wes Santee was a great Kansas miler in the 1950s who almost reached immortality. Roger Bannister was the first human ever to break the four-minute mile. Almost all sports fans have at least heard of him, but few know that Kansas' own Wes Santee was America's sub-four minute hopeful in 1954. As a Jayhawk, Santee had many world records and national championships. He was the pride of Kansas, but Wes Santee never became a nationwide household name. After all, he only ran 4:00.7
Cunningham would not quit. As a child, he was burned so badly in a schoolhouse fire that doctors told him his legs would have to be amputated. He didn't like the idea of losing his legs, so he told the doctors that he would learn to
walk again. Amazingly, he did learn to walk, and even run. In 1934, with his scarred legs, this farm boy from Kansas became the best in the world.
Jim Ryun was the first high-school boy to break the four-minute mile, and while in high school he competed in the Olympic Games and the Kansas Relays. He went on to become Sports Illustrated's Man of the Year while at Kansas and held numerous world records. There was even a time when Jim Ryan packed Memorial Stadium with fans at the Kansas Relay. Incidentally, in 1972, Jim Ryun ran the last four-minute mile the Kansas
Relays has seen, 23 years ago this week. Coincidentally, Michael Cox was born that year.
Oh, that Michael Cox guy, he runs for Kansas now. He is a Big Eight Champion in the mule and is an All American. He has run the second-fastest indoor mile in KU's history — 4:01, second only to Ryan.
Why am I telling you all of this?
For a couple of reasons. People seem to think that the glory days of Kansas Track and the Kansas Relays are over. The truth is, KU still produces some of the nation's best athletes, and they still turn in exciting races at the Kansas Relays. This year will be no exception. We have a chance to see one of the greatest runners in KU history reach a major milestone, and I believe he can do it. Wouldn't it be a shame if Cox were to run the first sub-four minute mile at KU since Ryun and nobody was there to see it?
By the way, last weekend at the Texas Relays, Cox ran a mile in 4:02. Do you think he can do it?
See you at the Relays!
David Johnston is a KU graduate from Lawrence.
The media is forgetting the other sides of campus binging
Counting your drinks by the bottle, not by the glass. Going to a bar with friends but forgetting their names by closing time. Vomiting on your last clean shirt. Attending a Student Senate victory party.
Any of the above may be signs that you've recently committed the new
sin for college
youth: Binge
drinking.
Binge drinking has gotten a lot of press lately. It seems like I've seen a story every week or so, and not just in the Kansan. There have been stories in real newspapers that you have to pay to read.
This fact leads me to believe that journalists everywhere should return to the fundamentals of reporting, such as telling us the shoe size and favorite color of every Simpson trial juror.
These binge drinking stories may be formulaic and boring, but they still manage to be incredibly dull.
They go something like this: "Distinguished Professor of Sociology X, of State University X, reported yesterday, in the Journal of Scientific Common Sense, that a whole bunch of college students drank a whole lot of beer last year. They drank even more than last year — enough by volume to fill the Black Sea and the Oglala Aquifer with malt beverages, which most college students think is 'a really cool idea.'"
The point here is that everyone is missing the point about binge drinking. I mean, sure, it happens. Even to me, I think, although I don't remember. (My friends have pictures of me wearing big, furry, cow-shaped slippers and painfully little else. I can only hope I was binge drinking.)
Anyway, binge drinking is just part of a bigger problem. Binging, in whatever form, seems to be taking over the campus. In fact, the most conspicuous and repulsive group of bingers on campus is not the binge drinkers — it's the evil and sadistic binge exercisers.
It's easy to spot women who binge exercise. They can be seen walking the periphery of campus, often in chatty little groups of eight or 10. They have tanned legs and smile as they glide over the pavement, walking in formation until they are actually on the verge of breaking a sweat.
And while everyone must walk, the white leather walking shoes they wear make them stand out as binge exercisers. Regular shoes just won't do when you're binge walking.
Binge exercisers go to the gym, where they grunt and lift and sweat. Only occasionally will you see one of them stop their binging and look — with the same expression as a 6-month-old looking for his blanket
— to the mirrored walls all around him. He's making sure the creases between his muscles are still there. Once in a while you can actually hear him whisper to himself, "I am the Soloflex guy."
There are other kinds of binging that show up on the campus, too. I've seen people binge on basketball, cold pizza, cigarettes, guitar feedback and bad poetry, just to name a few. In fact, the only thing nobody seems to be binging on anymore is schoolwork.
Who'll drink to that?
Chris Ready is a Topeka junior In English and philology.
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Editors
News...Carlos Tejada
Planning...Mark Martin
Editorial...Matt Gowen
Associate Editorial...Heather Lawrence
Campus...David Wilson
...Colleen McCain
Sports...Gerry Fey
Associate Sports...Ashley Miller
Photo...Jarrett Lane
Associate Photo...Paul Knotz
Features...Nathan Oleon
Design...Brian James
Freelance...Susan White
JENNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
Business Staff
Campus mgr    Beth Pole
Regional mgr    Chris Branaman
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Klm Hyman
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MIXED MEDIA
By Jack Ohman