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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUR OPINION
Illinois student paper makes the wrong call
Twelve cartoons that started an uproar in the Muslim world have gotten two Illinois student newspaper editors suspended. Editor Acton Gorton and opinion editor Chuck Prochaska were relieved of their duties Tuesday by The Daily Illini after printing six of the Danish cartoons.
The newspaper has suspended both students for two weeks while it conducts an investigation on "the internal decision making process" that led to the cartoons' publication. The paper later wrote a split editorial, with the rest of the editorial board saying that the actions of Gorton and Prochaska were made without the editorial board's input, and Gorton and Prochaska saying the rest of the editorial board is scared of the outrage regarding the cartoons.
The ethics of both the original publication of the cartoons and subsequent publications is certainly open to debate. But the decision to suspend an editor of a college newspaper for printing them shouldn't be.
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The University Daily Kansan made the decision not to run the cartoons. So did nearly every other major newspaper, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. Our paper didn't think it was ethical to publish cartoons that show the prophet Muhammad, which by itself is forbidden in the Muslim faith, in such an offensive light.
It smacks of political correctness. It smacks of cowardice.
However, a decision to print them, while controversial, is a justifiable, if not honorable, decision. The newworthiness of these cartoons is undeniable.
They have caused protests from the United States to Europe to the Middle East, where the protests have turned into riots. Over ten people have died in Afghanistan and five in Pakistan. Embassies were evacuated. Middle Eastern journalists have been arrested.
Gorton said in an editor's note beside the cartoons in the Daily Illini that it was important for Americans to see the cartoons and make their own decisions on how offensive they were. He chastised the rest of the press for not showing them for fear of public reaction
Issue: Publication of controversial cartoons
Stance: Student editors should have freedom to make mistakes.
And he did it in a studentrun, independent newspaper a paper he may no longer work for.
Gorton has been suspended because he made an unpopular decision. Rather then respect a newspaper editor's view when it clashes with most other newspaper editors' views, a board that oversees the paper removed him from the staff.
They left him out to dry in the mist of an important journalistic dilemma. The board's decision paints a sad picture for any student journalist that holds an opinion different than his peers. And it does it in an environment that is supposed to nurture, train and applaud students for making their own decisions, right or wrong.
One thing our general manager tells the staff of this paper is that if you're going to make a mistake or take a chance, do it while you're at The University Daily Kansan. Not only will teachers, fellow staff members and peers be behind you, they also will help you learn from your mistakes, as well as praise you when you do good.
What is to be learned from the suspension of an editor who did something controversial? How many other editors will be looking behind their back the next time they are forced to make a tough call?
In a time when Muslim and Western cultures are clashing, when the United States is at war in a Muslim country, when cartoons are causing riots, the board of the Daily Illini is teaching all the wrong lessons.
What Gorton and Prochaska learned was that they worked at a paper that took the easy way out when two of its editors made an unpopular call.
- John Jordan for the editorial board
JOIN THE DEBATE
If polls don't let you adequately express your view, go online and add a comment to this editorial at Kansan.com. We'll publish selected comments on the Opinion page next week.
AND FINALLY, A CARTOON THAT OFFENDS NO ONE...
Danish cartoons affirm value of open commentary
The Kansan invites you to let us know what you think should have been done with the cartoons. Should media publish the cartoons? Go vote in our poll online at kansan.com/polls
The past couple of weeks have been a turbulent period for the international relations of one small European nation - Denmark. People from North Africa to the Middle East, all the way to Indonesia have taken to the streets, destroying embassies and attacking Western symbols, as a form of protest against a grievous insult perpetrated by the Danes.
What could have sparked such an uprising? Is it a product of a trade war impacting commodities such as Danish blue cheese?
Nope.
Could it be a case of geopolitical conflict arising from military maneuvers carried out by the powerful Danish navy in nearby waters?
Wrong again.
All of this destruction and mayhem concerns a few cartoons published last September by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The cartoons have since been reprinted in several other European dailies.
an atheist such as myself, however, it is completely exasperating. This is not the appropriate forum to discuss all of the various reasons why religious stories about gods, angels, devils, fiery serpents, and so forth are myths, but it does raise the interesting question of whether such fictional texts should be open to public scrutiny and commentary, such as political cartoons, even though it may result in hurt feelings.
Apparently, depicting the holy prophet Muhammad is a form of blasphemy to the Muslim faithful. As a result, various Islamic fundamentalist groups have taken offense and have actively fomented a series of violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world. This has inevitably produced a broad public discourse on how freedom of speech and press, rights that are integral to a free society, can coexist in a respectful manner with religious dogmas.
The provocative Danish cartoons include one caricature of Muhammad with a bomb beneath his turban, and another that shows Muhammad standing on a cloud holding back a line of smoldering suicide bombers trying to get into heaven and saying "stop, we have run out of virgines." Is this simply a case of European arrogance and Islamophobia? Or is there a political statement conveyed by these particular cartoons that has been largely overlooked?
Every religion has its own moral teachings and unique world views that contribute to the wonderful diversity of human traditions and cultures we see today. But when they are interpreted as the literal truth by radical groups and individuals, and applied to society and government in an absolute fashion, it can become a repressive doctrine responsible for widespread suffering and the stifling of human thought and creativity.
For people of faith, this debate about political correctness may appear to be a legitimate issue. To
Quran for their Jihad against the West and the values it stands for. As a consequence of this radical interpretation, young Arab men have been more than willing to commit acts of terror in the name of Allah, the most dramatic being the events of 9/11. This said, however, one cannot disregard the damaging role of American foreign policy and its close alliance with the state of Israel in straining the relationship between the West and the Muslim world, creating a volatile mixture of nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism in places such as occupied Iraq.
That is the ultimate message of these cartoons. The supposed reward of 72 virgins in heaven for Muslim martyrs has been preached by radical groups such as al-Qaida, who have misrepresented the
But nonetheless, religious dogmas can be extremely dangerous and should not have a special status in an open marketplace for ideas and debate. The need to be subjected to the critical eye of reason. Otherwise, if considered as literal truths and taboo as topics of discussion, a return to the Middle Ages may be knocking on our future's door. Discrimination against certain members of society can occur unchecked (e.g., women under the Taliban regime, the gay community) and, what is particularly relevant to the state of Kansas, scientific progress can become compromised if it is in conflict with religious beliefs (e.g., modern evolutionary theory).
We should be thankful for the freedoms we have. Sometimes all it takes are a few cartoons from a small country in Europe to help us realize that.
Mark Zlojutro
Goderich, Ontario
anthropology graduate student
▼ LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Tanning is overexposed
I am writing to express my concern with the Thursday, Feb. 9 news article, "Official tanning salon of Women of KU calendar expands." As a former tanning salon customer, my prior bout of idiocy is hypocritical.
On the National Center for Bio technology Information Web site, a March 2005 study on malignant melanoma concluded, 'Results indicate a significantly increased
If I could take back the time I spent in those UV infiltrating beds, I would in an instant.
Not only was I putting myself at an increased risk for skin cancer but I was actually paying to add wrinkles to my delicate epidermis.
risk of cutaneous melanoma subsequent to sun bed/sunlamp exposure." Melanomas are the most lethal form of skin cancer. Use a sunless tanning lotion. Save a few bucks (or hundreds) and avoid those tanning beds.
For a generation so keen on stopping smoking and lung cancer, no one seems to put much thought into the skin cancer epidemic caused by tanning salons.
I would hate to ruin anyone's profitable business, but this is a matter of life and death.
Jayme A. Aschemeyer
Aurora, Colo.
bioscience graduate student
Free All for
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.
If Julian Wright grows an afro, Kansas will win the national championship at least three times in a row.
How dare Sunflower Cable do an emergency broadcasting test in the middle of "Fam-
Call 864-0500
"ly Guy." A shame and pox
three times
Sarah Connelly, sales manager
864-4462 or.adsales@kansan.com
Ari Ben, business manager
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Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or pross@kansan.com
upon your house Sunflower.
Sasha Kaun, you have such hot arms. I want you veins.
Jaso n Shaad, opinion editor
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Nate Karlin, managing editor
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Single white male seeking woman to go back in time with me. Must bring your own sword. Safety is not guaranteed.
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbicket@kansan.com
Once.
Jonathan Kealing, editor
864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
TALK TO US
This is in response to the person who said bad people go to Oklahoma when they die. Yeah, the hottest girls are from Oklahoma, and we're bad. Pretty bad that is.
The comics in the Kansan are not funny. Please replace them with Marmaduke, Cathy, and Family Circus. I think I laughed at those.
Honestly, why are you wearing Uggs at all? Also,
Jason Bourne rules all action heroes. Yeah, that's him shootin in the background.
Ty Beaver's opinion for the editorial board seems to neglect the fact that GTAs are students by definition, and so when he says that we should think about what students need at this university, he should think that GTAs are first and foremost students, and we keep the students' interests at heart.
Thank you
I've heard of a Ronald McDonald house, but what is a Ronald McDoland house?
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Jonathan Kealing, Joshua Bickel, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross, Ty Beaver, John
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JEFF VINCENT opinion@kansan.com
Parking on campus has become increasingly difficult and costly as the student body at the University has grown. More and more students have begun to drive to class from their off-campus residences.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Jason Shaad or Patrick Ross at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
This is being dealt with primarily through the creation of a new Park and Ride lot on West Campus. The cost of the lot is estimated at nearly $10 million and is being paid for, at least in part, by the dramatic increase in the cost of parking permits that occurred at the beginning of the fall semester.
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
▼ COMMENTARY
Parking proposal deserves approval
The potential to retain the symbolism inherent in the initial act, while at the same time providing for the ostensibly reasonable request of a select group of students, is a realistic possibility and one that should come to pass.
Vincent is an Overland Park senior in English.
Accompanying this cost increase was the perhaps more symbolic action of closing the yellow lot to the east of JRP Hall from the hours of 4 to 6 a.m. to free up space for commuters.
This has prevented the influx of overflow parking from nearby sororities into the lot. As a result, this overflow parking has moved primarily to the stadium lot at the bottom of the hill.
Members of Chi Omega sorority, Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Sigma Kappa sorority, citing safety concerns related to the distance they now must walk and the poor lighting in the area, recently proposed a compromise to the parking commission, in which they would pay for a specialized "overnight" permit that would allow them to park in the lot until 8 a.m.
The parking commission considered this issue during its monthly meeting Tuesday. The committee moved to advise Provost David Shulenburger to allow the sale of an overnight parking pass to accommodate this overflow parking under the condition that those who park there must move their cars by 7:30 a.m. in order to allow space for students, faculty and staff whose days begin at 8 a.m.
This certainly seems reasonable. However, there needs to be a greater penalty than the standard parking ticket put into place.
A harsher penalty would ensure that this privilege isn't taken advantage of — whether it's doubling the existing fine or some similar punishment.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor @kansan.com.
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