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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2006
OUR OPINION
Randle undeserving of athletic scholarship
Why does someone always have to be around when John Randle breaks the law?
Now some people might be saying, "How does he manage to get himself in trouble so often? Why doesn't he just walk away from these situations?" Oh, how he has tried. At least twice, in March 2004 and then the most recent incident, Randle tried leaving but they wouldn't let him. The police said he was "feeing the scene."
Why just a few weeks ago, the Wichita junior was charged with battery and disorderly conduct in connection with a fight with former teammate Jerome Kemp, marking the sixth time police have arrested the former KU running back. Some other past incidents he has been cited for include stealing beer from a convenience store, fighting outside of its Brothers Bar & Grill and peeing on a door outside the Granada, punching a manager who told him to stop.
Randle can't seem to catch a break with the football program either. Coach Mark Mangino kicked him off the team last spring after a spate of run-ins with the law. Things do not look to be changing much for the upcoming season, as well. If there is any silver lining, it's that he has retained his scholarship each year.
Naysayers contend that an athletic scholarship is a privilege and that it should be taken away from
PAGE 7A
Issue: Former KU running back John Randle's criminal record
Actually, that is an excellent question that the Athletics Department needs to answer and be accountable for. No one doubts Randle's prowess on the field but this does not justify keeping him around on scholarship. His actions deserve repercussions. Even if the scholarship is contractual, the department should be able to opt out of it. Otherwise, Randle will set a dangerous precedent in how the University handles players who cannot act responsibly off the field.
Stance: Academic scholarship students must maintain a certain GPA to keep their scholarships. Randle should have to maintain a certain code of conduct to his athletic scholarship.
Malinda Osborne for the editorial board
Randle because of his criminal record. If he isn't allowed to play on the team, why should he continue to attend the University of Kansas for free, they ask.
Free All for Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
So I'm sitting in my car in Gamma Phi's parking lot and I definitely just witnessed a Sigma Kappa with binoculars. Weird!
have asked the preacher outside of Wescoe real questions, then maybe they would have found out something more about God instead of why dinosaurs don't go to
Why are there never any Naismith-Oliver buses. I need a Naismith Oliver bus.
have asked the preacher outside of Wescoe real questions, then maybe they would have found out something more about God instead of why dinosaurs don't go to
have asked the preacher outside of Wescoe real questions, then maybe they would have found out something more about God instead of why dinosaurs don't go to
If you're going to sit there and preach about God, don't sit there and try to pimp your book at the same time.
This is for the person who said they saw Jesus turning water into Coors Light. Coors Light practically is water. Are you sure that was Jesus?
图
This is to that guy who hates St. Louis Cardinals fans. You can kiss my ass.
This is it. I can't take it anymore. I've never even been to a Spangles, and I feel like I spent my freaking childhood growing up
KU Debate is number one, Suck on that, Harvard.
All the ladies, they love Jeff Diesel.
Dude, if kids would
heaven
leading even to call them "non-economic." It was the decision of the provost to deny us our guaranteed raises. It is also the provost who has the final decision in our grievance procedure, which is the accepted avenue for contesting this sort of contract violation.
Did anyone else find it inappropriate that there was a slide made out of a sinking Titanic ship? Isn't that kind of like making a ride out of the failed Challenger explosion?
leading even to call them "non-economic." It was the decision of the provost to deny us our guaranteed raises. It is also the provost who has the final decision in our grievance procedure, which is the accepted avenue for contesting this sort of contract violation.
That's a pretty cool trick by the Jimmy John's delivery guy to not carry any change so you have to give him a bigger tip.
Jack off
Yeah, Chuck Norris is lame. It's all about Zack Morris.
MOMS
Listen, I want to be on the Free-for-All. I'll do anything. Yes, yes, yes,
anything
Whoever said Julian Wright should be benched: Off with your
Where'd the Man Show go?
Yeah, so I completely bought this girl a water at the wheel, and she thanked my friend and not me. Thanks broad.
read
Is anyone else as sick of those Spangles commercials as I am? Ugh, get them off.
Soccer and frisbee are the best sports ever and the Cubbies suck.
I love Bomberman.
Letter to the new provost: GTA issues need resolution
Dear Dr. Lariviere,
The two sides have reached tentative agreement on four articles of the contract. In all four cases, these were University proposals that the GTA team chose to accept. Three of these were signed in a single negotiating session; the very same day the University team informed us that they had no intention of moving toward a compromise on any open issues, and therefore intended to initiate an impasse. Believing we were finally making progress and having given up some things in the hope that our greater priorities would be respected, the GTA team was shocked.
▼ GUEST COMMENTARY
On behalf of the GTA negotiating team, we would like to welcome you to our University. We would also like to take a moment to familiarize you with a situation here, and express our intense displeasure with the apparent values and priorities of our current administration. As you may know, negotiations between the University and its GTAs have recently reached an impasse. You may not be aware, however, of the details leading up to this event.
From the beginning of the negotiations process, the University has tried to pressure the GTA negotiating team into accepting an unfavorable contract by withholding all merit raises, and threatening to continue to do so until an agreement is reached. Considering that the existing agreement between the University and its GTAs guarantees yearly raises for all returning GTAs, we find this tactic appalling. Yet when we turned down the University's final package of outrageous proposals, we were accused in the press of sacrificing possible raises in favor of unimportant "non-economic" issues.
We do not see why negotiations should be an all-or-nothing process, nor do we feel that money is the only thing that impacts our lives or our performance as teachers.
The above situation begins to illuminate just why those other issues are incredibly important, and why it is misleading even to call them "non-economic." It was the decision of the provost to deny us our guaranteed raises. It is also the provost who has the final decision in our grievance procedure, which is the accepted avenue for contesting this sort of contract violation.
Similarly, the 10-semester limit on GTA appointments has an undeniable impact on both educational quality and the economic realities of GTAs. By firing GTAs systematically after five years, before most students can complete their Ph.D.s, the University manages to eliminate the most experienced GTAs as well as force active GTAs to hurry through their degree programs, leaving them overworked and psychologically strained. Many of the best graduate students must choose to leave KU after completing their Masters' for programs that offer better funding opportunities. We were told, however, that, because GTAs who have reached their 10th semester can apply to become lecturers, at which time they would be allowed to maintain the same job responsibilities for a smaller salary and without a tuition waiver, we should not complain about the current situation. It was further explained to us that we could even see this as a benefit, because most universities will assume a lectureship constitutes a promotion, and will consider our applications more favorably because of this.
KATY MARTIN AND KVLE WAUGH opinion@kansan.com
Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or pross@kansan.com
For an institution whose purported mission is higher education, this is a surprising position to articulate. Not only does this imply a willingness to mislead our peers in the academy about the nature of employment here, it also allows KU to claim that one third of its courses are taught by GTAs, when many more are also led
by students who merely hold an alternate title. We're sure we do not need to tell you that this is dishonest, and represents a clear preference for the appearance of quality rather than its actual existence.
Sarah Connally, sales manager
864-4462 or adsales@kansan.com
Art Ban, business manager
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
But other issues aside, let it be known that KU's salary offer was by no means something we could accept. The minimum salary the offer proposed was $3,000 short of KU's own estimate of our cost of attendance, and the annual increases showed no sign of closing that gap. We doubt we need to explain that a starving employee, or one who is forced to take on several jobs, is probably not able to perform at her full potential either as a student or an instructor.
Furthermore, KU's proposal exacerbated the inequality between GTAs by insuring those at the bottom of the salary range would never feel the benefits of a raise for good performance, while those who make the most would continue to see raises each year. We think rewarding employees for exceptional job performance encourages GTAs to give their all, and we certainly can not accept any offer that would place even greater economic pressure on those who are struggling most to get by.
Milcob Gibson, general manager, nova adviser
8748-7877 or milcob.gibson.com
We are deeply concerned with the current climate of our University. To prefer such empty posturing over an opportunity to improve the actual quality of our institution indicates, we feel, a serious perversion of priorities. We address this to you because you are in a position to help us correct our trajectory. We hope that you will promote education, rather than pay it lip service for the sole purpose of capital gain. Let's keep KU a college, not create a corporation. Will you restore our rightful interests, or will you continue to lead us in our current direction?
Sincerely
TALK TO US
Katy Martin & Kyle Waugh Graduate teaching assistants in the department of English and members of the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
854-7688 or jweaver@kansan.com
Remember, even the most crooked people were once just regular people who thought they were basically honest and good. They never imagined they would one day be capable of carrying out the treachery that they have. We can't make that same mistake. We need to realize that the potential exists within each of us and take measures to prevent it.
Jonathan Kealing, editor
864-4854 or jealking@kansan.com
There is hope. Our manner of conduct now will form the mold for decades to come. The habits we learn (and unlearn) will be the ones we still practice later. So, don't merely consider the fact that the issue you're grappling with is not of profound significance at this moment. Consider the fact that your slight aberration from principle may be the beginning of a long downward slide into the depths of dishonor.
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbicket@kansan.com
Nate Karlin, managing editor
864-4854 or nkartin@kensen.com
Shorten is a Stillwell senior in business administration.
Business crimes have humble beginnings
Though it seems impossible that these types of people were once aspiring professionals like the rest of us, we would be wise to acknowledge that they, too, were once decent human beings. How, then, did they stray so far from the moral path? It seems reasonable to suspect that their bad habits grew from humble origins. Hermdon's topic becomes relevant here. We regularly face opportunities to cheat, lie, steal, coerce and manipulate for personal advantage. Granted, the things that tempt us at this point in our lives will probably neither injure thousands of people nor make us extravagantly rich, but minor transgressions can quickly turn into habits that ensnare otherwise good people into lifestyles of depravity. Every time a person commits a questionable act, it becomes easier to do it again and to become callous to morals. This downward spiral continues until their face appears on the front page of the newspaper with a story about their utter corruption and immorality, all to the great embarrassment of their community and family. Thus, great offenses may grow from seemingly trivial ones.
COMMENTARY
After getting past the shock and revulsion from such stories, we wonder how such vile, repulsive humans can exist. Herdson's message theorized how these breaches of trust originate in the minds of their perpetrators. He suggested that atrocities derive from the alignment of three elements: Presentation of opportunity, justification of their actions and possession of greed. When all these ingredients are present, and a strong set of moral standards is absent, bad things happen.
SCOTT SHORTEN opinion@kansan.com
Last week, FBI Special Agent Robert Herndon's talk for the Sutton Ethics Lecture focused on fraud, bribery, embezzlement and deception in the white-collar arena, some of which strike particularly close to home — a pharmacist's scheme to siphon medicine from cancer patients to line his pockets with $19 million.
Jason Shaad, opinion editor
864-4924 or jahaad@kansan.com
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