4A
Thursday, February 23, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: LMH/COLUMBIA PROPOSAL
Hospital should accept offer
What at first seemed to be a hostile takeover threat of the local hospital now looks more like a helping hand.
Columbia/HCA Healthcare no longer is seeking to buy out Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Columbia would like a 50 percent partnership.
the hospital should accept the offer. It would allow LMH to maintain its commitment to the people of the city and could build the bridges LMH needed for future financial health.
Though rumors have circulated about the demise of the hospital,LMH is not in any financial distress, for now. The hospital's problem is with its image; however, recent symptoms have attempted to contradict the hospital's impending illness. A LMH ad campaign last fall was indicative of the image problem for which the hospital is beginning to suffer.
Across town there were billboards of a glowing expectant mother in the third trimester of a pregnancy, assuring drivers-by that the hospital was a
LMH,which has had problems keeping patients in town,should accept Columbia's plan for a partnership.
good place to have a baby.
good place to have a baby. However, expecting mothers have been driving an hour to other hospitals, making LMH feel abandoned.
There is a trend towards managed care in Kansas. If the hospital is still struggling with other local hospitals for business instead of building alliances, it stands to lose important insurance contracts. LMH does not know how to face the future. Lawrence and hospital workers are divided about how to cure what ails LMH.
However, one thing is certain. If the hospital loses in the upcoming battle for managed care contracts so do the people of Lawrence.
Presently everyone is entitled to treatment, regardless of their ability to pay, at the city-owned hospital. This is one vital service we can not afford to lose.
JOHN BENNETT FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE ISSUE: STATE LOTTERY
Lottery bill is a winning ticket
The State Senate's Federal and State Affairs Committee should have no debate about whether to pass a bill that would make renewal of the Kansas Lottery automatic. They should pass the proposed bill without question.
The bill would make it more difficult for anti-gambling politicians to abolish the lottery. It would delete a provision that requires the Legislature to take positive action every two years to keep the lottery in place. The lottery was adopted by Kansas voters in 1986, and unless the citizens vote otherwise, it should stay in place.
The Kansas Lottery has provided $206 million in revenues for state economic development and correctional facilities since it started in November 1987. The notion that the lottery should be abolished because it encourages gambling and social problems is absurd.
The state Lottery, which provides for development should not be abolished unless citizens of Kansas decide to get rid of it.
The benefits of the Kansas Lottery outweigh its costs by a landslide. In addition to giving money back to the state, the lottery gives the people of Kansas a little excitement in their daily routines. Kansans have bought $693 million in tickets since the lottery started. The entire state should not be punished for the alleged gambling problems of a few people.
The decision to end the lottery should not be in the hands of politicians. The choice should be made by the people who participate in the lottery; the voters.
By passing the bill, the Legislature would keep paranoid politicians from killing a good thing, and it would keep a program that is beneficial to Kansans for a long time to come.
JENNY WEIDEKE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
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Editorial...Matt Gowen
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CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
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Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Letter writer discriminates against art-ignorant people
I'm just so arts ignorant.
I was looking at Guernica, Picasso's depiction of war, the other day and thinking how much I liked it. I didn't notice the brush strokes, the influences of Impressionism, Romanticism, Cubism, Astigmatism, or whatever. I just liked its portrayal of war, the chaos of unanchored facial features and the silent screams in the air. It's a striking vision, and it affects me in a way no other piece of art ever has.
But as a recent letter to The University Daily Kansan seems to point out, I have no business discussing art. The letter was written by a fine arts senior and condemned a Kansan reporter for not having a full understanding of the world of art. She castigated him for not attending a recent arts lecture I'm sure most fine arts majors didn't even know about. She also condemned him for writing in his feature the line "Unlike Europeans, Native Americans have no art for art's sake." She called it a "blatantly misinformed sentence," saying it — and, presumably, the reporter — was "ignorant."
Part of the art and science of news reporting is getting one's facts straight. When writing for a publication that seeks to inform, as the Kansan does, getting the facts straight is the single most important element of a story. Sure, the Kansan makes mistakes, but it teaches this lesson over and over again to KU's budding journalists. I've made my mistakes here, and I've learned that
STAFF COLUMNIST
lesson the painful way.
But we're in an entirely different arena where art is concerned. The reporter got this idea from the Native-American artists his story was about. So the statement wasn't an actual fact but represented a source's point of view — an appropriate action for a feature story. And let's face it: With art, there are very few facts but many points of view.
This letter writer represents what turns many people off about art. To express an opinion about art, even just to say "Hey, I like that," it seems one has to belong to a certain art
But I also hope I'm allowed to appreciate art personally, as an art-ignorant journalist, instead of through what others think. Such a philosophy actually limits artistic points of view instead of reinforcing them. For example, I have art-major friend who has been told by some of his professors that his vision is wrong. Does that encourage unique perspectives? Unfortunately, it encourages the opposite.
clique. One has to know the current movements, the past movements, the future movements, and essentially what everybody else thinks before expressing a subjective opinion.
The study of art is terribly important. Life should be more than food, clothing and shelter. I hope it's part of everybody's lives, and I certainly hope it stays part of mine.
So next time this letter writer is at a museum, and myself and a group of art-ignorant friends stand next to her to appreciate it, she shouldn't shy away and criticize our views. There's enough room in the art world for everybody to appreciate its beauty.
Carlos Tejada is a Lawrence senior in journalism.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Students should know basketball history
"What is this Phog thing?"
This was the question that sent me into a state of dismay with no hope of recovery.
The other day, I overheard two individuals in my political science class discussing articles in the Feb. 8 edition of the Kansan. When they came across the splendid picture of our famous banner in Allen Field House; "Take Heed All Who Enter, Beware Of The Phog!" one of them asked "What is this Phog thing?" Fortunately, the other informed this lost soul that "The Phog" was a legendary coach of men's basketball team, thus saving her from a satyr lecture in Kansas basketball history.
This is why I believe any required
admissions to the University of Kansas should include common knowledge questions concerning the basketball mecca of the world.
The greatest legends of this sport have graced our campus in the past 100 years. Among the trivial academic questions asked on an admittance test, I propose the following additions:
Q: What is KU's all-time win/loss record?
Q: What was the score of the first KU basketball game?
A: Kansas lost to the Kansas City YMCA, 16 to 5.
Q: What team gets the least respect on ESPN by Dick Vitale?
Q: Who is the winningest active coach in college basketball?
A: Kansas.
Mark Lawlor
Augusta junior
A: The divine Roy Williams.
Q: Is Roy Williams a god?
A: Giveaway!
Columnist's stance based on emotions
If students ever have any question concerning the political slant at this campus, all they have to do is read Michael Paul's Feb. 16 column, "Republicans are right: Let's do away with all government." Paul takes the typical liberal approach to Republican hashing.
He confronts substantive issues and facts and deals with them on a purely emotional level.
As a result, Paul relegates himself to a simple whiner as opposed to a critic.
Matthew Couch Prairie Village senior
Coming out is difficult but necessary for one bisexual
Let's get one thing straight: I'm not. I've made oblique references to it before, but in case you've been dying to know the orientation of your favorite columnist, I'm bisexual.
It took me years to come out of the closet. I'd always known, but I was ter-
riffed on anyone finding out about what one friend calls my nonspecific romantic identity. At first, the only person who knew was my now ex-husband. He was really supportive about it. No, it wasn't the reason we divorced — that's material for a whole other column.
I was seeing a counselor in a last-ditch effort to save my marriage. My counselor suggested that I find some group I was interested in so I could make more friendships outside of my marriage. I got involved in LesBiGayS OK. Probably not exactly what she had in mind, but I quickly became an active member and started coming out to my straight friends. To make a long story short, I made many new friends, gained a considerable amount of self-esteem, stopped going to counseling and decided to give up on a lost cause and get a divorce.
HUBIE
"No," he told her, "they're bisexual. She looked puzzled. You know, mom, surf and turf." Of course, he told us about this immediately, so we were even more squirmish around his mother for the rest of our visit.
Even after coming out fairly painlessly, there have been uncomfortable moments. My roommate and I spent Thanksgiving with a friend who invited us to stay with his family for the weekend. Andrew is very out to his folks — so much so that he made me squirm quite a bit during our stay. One day he was alone with his mother, and she asked him. "Are your friends gay, too?"
So far, the hardest thing has been coming out at my job, which I did last semester. To their credit, my co-workers have been remarkably accepting and understanding. A lot of people who work in my building still don't know. I admit I'm nervous about what their reactions to this column will be. Coming out is a continual process. I'm always meeting new people and facing the decision of if, when, and how to tell them. Invariably, there is the fear that someone will react negatively or stop speaking to me allogether. I'm still not out to my parents. I've tried to broach the subject with them but no dice. That's enough material for another column, too.
But no matter how difficult it'been, being honest with people is not nearly so difficult as it was fearing that somebody might find out about me and think that I'm an awful person because I'm not straight. Author Suzanne Pharr wrote, "Every act of visibility is an act of resistance." So consider this column to be my little act of resistance for the day. And no matter what your sexual orientation, I hope your day is a good one.
Chris Hampton is a Lawrence graduate student in higher education.
How to submit letters and guest columns
All letter and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the absolute right edit, cut to length or out-right reject all submissions. For any questions, call Matt Gowen, editorial page editor, or Heather Lawrenz, associate editorial page editor, at 864-4810.
By Greg Hardin