4A
Thursday, March 30,1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: FIRST AMENDMENT
Freedom of press is essential
The First Amendment guarantees that the freedom of the press shall not be abridged. But many people assert that these protections are too broad and that the press is abusing its power.
While sensational reporting has existed since the American press began, it is outweighed by the strength of the press to check our government.
In this country the name Elijah Lovejoy, a journalist slain for advocating the abolition of slavery, is not a household name. We forget about Lovejoy because his murder more than 150 years ago marks an aberration in U.S. history and not the norm.
Journalists across the globe aren't necessarily as lucky as we are. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that 72 journalists were killed around the world in 1994. Of that number, 58 were murdered for their beliefs, and 14 were killed in war zones.
The most recent example was the assassination of Vladislav Listyev, a Russian anchorman. He was
Although the First Amendment protects some, a report found that 72 journalists were killed last year.
the host of a show that was watched by 200 million viewers every weeknight. But his wide public appeal meant little to his murderers who were infuriated with his attempts to reform a television industry that was backed by the government.
In the U.S., people will continue to point out the faults with the First Amendment and the shortcomings of our "abusive" press. As proof people cite "scandalous" reports about a president and his alleged affairs or a basketball player and his reported use of cocaine.
But we shouldn't forget that the broad powers guaranteed in the First Amendment were designed to protect the likes of Lovejoy and Listyev in their quests to challenge governmental authority. To this end the First Amendment has been a success.
LANCE HAMBY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ISSUE: BIG 12
Big 12 overlooks best choice
The leaders of the new Big 12 conference resembled referees sorely in need of eyeglasses when they passed over Bob Frederick as the conference's first commissioner.
Steve Hatchell, the new commissioner, clearly has the credentials to indicate that he could be successful but so does Frederick.
The Big Eight's record paints a different picture.
However, Hatchell made a glaring misstatement when he said that the Big Eight was inferior to the Texas schools joining the conference.
In three sports, the Big Eight claims a national champion or contender: Oklahoma State in the men's basketball Final Four championship; Nebraska, national football champion; and Oklahoma, College World Series champion.
The new conference should not have overlooked Frederick's leadership in bringing Roy Williams, Glen Mason and
Frederick's contributions to KU show that he was qualified to lead the new Big 12 conference effectively.
Dave Bingham to Kansas. These coaches contributed to the record set when the University of Kansas became the first NCAA school to send teams to the College World Series and the Final Four and to win a bowl game in the same year.
Hatchell recently said that the location of the league office would be up to the same executives who had chosen the commissioner. This is not encouraging, given their recent shortsightedness. However, he did indicate that the basketball tournament would remain in Kansas City, Mo.
The best part of their decision leaves Frederick at Kansas, where he can improve his outstanding record. We are fortunate to have the benefit of his leadership.
JOHN COLLAR FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Robert Tapley / KANSAN
English-only legislation limits our understanding
One of the easiest ways to colonize a people has been to force them to use your language.
A cursory glance at former European colonies will support this assertion. Africa is still very much divided along colonial lines, primarily French and British.
One of the advantages of the United States was that it had long been viewed as a beacon for all peoples and languages. If the movement for English-only legislation is any indication, this advantage is quickly disappearing.
This alarming specter of nativism has reared its ugly head in our own fair state in the form of Kansas House Bill 2517, known commonly as the English-Only Bill.
I believe that supporters of this bill feel that is the one way to rescue nonEnglish speakers from a lifetime of language deprivation. Or maybe the supporters of the bill intend to imply that, unless you speak English, you are somehow less than American.
The language of House Bill 2517 lends some credence to such a claim since it states, "The common language of the state of Kansas is English." The implication is that any language other than English is now
At first glance, this bill may seem to be relatively innocuous, that is until one tries to understand why such a bill is necessary. Isn't English already the common language of Kansas? So, is this bill actually changing the status of English in
Kansas? No
uncommon
STAFF COLUMNIST
Is this bill saving the taxpayers any money? No, according to the defenders of the bill. The only saving they mention is a possible, unquantifiable amount of money some time in the future.
Well, in the aftermath of Proposition 187, it seems as if this bill is one way to warn immigrants that they better learn English if they want to be common citizens.
Thus, if this bill has no practical value, what is it symbolically hoping to accomplish?
Isn't the message clear? We don't want none of them foreign languages spoken here. And yet, as one
of the opponents of the bill pointed out, Kansas has a long history of foreign immigration.
So why is it now when the majority of nonEnglish speakers are Hispanic or Asian that such a piece of legislation deemed necessary? Didn't the other immigrant groups who came through Kansas eventually become predominately English speaking?
My own grandfather came to this country with little knowledge of English. He subsequently learned not only to speak English but also read it and write it. All of this he accomplished without the slightest push from state or local government officials. And yet my grandfather continued to speak Spanish all of his life. Why?
Perhaps the Spanish-American Felipe Alfau, who wrote in English, can answer that question.
"The moment one learns English, complications set in ... he gradually loses his capacity to see and think straight until he emerges with all other English-speaking persons in complete incapacity to understand the obvious."
Nicolas Shump is a Lawrence senior in comparative literature.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Minority coverage still unfair in the Kansan
Last month Zeta Beta Sorority, Inc., held a minority bone marrow registration drive. This year's drive was our fourth annual, and we increased our numbers triple fold. The African-American community is not large at the University of Kansas, so any increase is an accomplishment.
The purpose of this letter is to state that this drive was hardly recognized at KU. In past years, at least a follow-up article was written after our drive. A member of the organization contacted the Kansan several times to have some sort of article written. The original article that was written was so small nobody
We understand that the blood drive the other organizations do at KU is quite a larger event, but it is discouraging to see our drive not publicized the same as others. The representation of African Americans has always been relatively low in the Kansan. If I recall, last year Black Student Union and other minority groups protested the lack of representation in the newspaper. Nothing has really been done to solve this. Zeta Phi Beta distributed calendars to the Kansan as they requested last semester. No one was at any of
could possibly have seen it, and there was no follow-up article written after the drive.
our functions to report. The whole month of February went by with minimal recognition of Black History Month. A couple of days of articles for a whole month of celebration is clearly not enough. There are many activities going on in the Black community that do not get recognition. I, myself, have written letters to the editor to be published on the opinion page, and these have never seen the light of day. How much more will it take for our community to be recognized on the same level as everybody else?
Stefanie Caruthers Kansas City, Kan., junior
KANSAN STAFF
Lionel Richie says "Hello" to the world of has-beens
Nothing brightens my day like a song by Lionel Richie.
"You are the sun, you are the rain,
That makes my life this foolish game."
During the early '80s, Lionel Riche
bad many No. 1 songs. Classic
nating the charts. Casey Kasem even referred to him as "The single greatest musician to ever walk the face of the earth."
Lionel Richie was a master of non music domi.
had many No. booty-shakers like "All Night Long," "Dancing on the Ceiling," and misty-eyed ballads such as "Penny Lover," "Truly," and "Hello," which contained that cry of desperation, "Hello? Is it me you're looking for?"
With MTV, the age of Lionel Richie came to an abrupt end. "Imageology" entered the vocabulary of the power brokers, and Lionel was shoved aside. Why? Well, is was neither his knack to stretch a rhyme, nor his cheesy songs from bad movie soundtracks.
Then something happened.
"For there is born to you this day in the recesses of cable television, a channel, which is MTV."
TV and Top-40 had a son.
Music Television had single-handedly transformed popular music into more of a swimsuit competition and less of a talent show. And Lionel Richie was left sitting at his piano with his starched collar, his pastel sweater and bad complexion.
And the glory of the cathode ray shone around the public, and, whoa, they were very afraid. Yea the announcer said unto them:
Lionel Richie was ugly.
And Madonna sailed to the top, adding milk to taboos and eating them for breakfast.
JENNIFER PERRIER
Business manager
MARK MASTRO
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
And his momma dressed him funny.
My point will be given shelter when you see the following two words: Mill Vanilli.
"Chill, man, for check it out! I bring you greetings and high-fives of great coolness.
Remember these schmucks? They were superstars even though they never went on tour or played live anywhere. They received a Grammy Award ("Best Laughingstock") Por el amor de Dios!
And in the background hiding their faces were two good singer/song-writers watching Milli Vanilli on MTV, shaking its long, permed locks to their music. And why? They were as ugly as the day is long.
It cannot be denied. Melodic genius aside, Lionich Rilieh made one video I can remember ("Dancing on the Ceiling") and whee! was it awful. The gee-whiz video magic. Ouch.
There is one more witness. Leader of the most underrated band of the '80s. "Best Friends Girl" and "Drive" were only two of the songs in the lengthy repertory of the Cars.
I would like to call to the stand a Mr. Rick Ocasik (sound of case closing).
What's done is done. Michael Bolton, Samantha Fox, NKOTB (pronounced nuh*cotb*) Paula Abdul. All Milli Vanillis. And there's more to come.
Lionel tried to make a comeback, but again, he made another video (whoos).
The ugly musician survives, but is not seen. Imean, look at Tom Petty. Ormaybe not.
David Day is a Wichita Junior in magazine journalism and English.
STEPHEN MARTINO
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HUBIE
By Greg Hardin