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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Friday, Jan. 31, 1986
The area behind the KU bench, where students have traditionally stood for the entire game, will lose the top few rows of seats. The north and south ends of the lower arena may see similar cutbacks.
For now, students no longer have to worry about being forced to watch KU men's basketball games from the rafters of Allen Field House.
The board's decision neutralizes the decision it made before this season to squeeze a few more seats into the lower arena by adding an extra row.
Relief in the stands
The University of Kansas Athletic Corporation Board decided Wednesday to eliminate some of the student seating in the back rows of the "problem areas" of the field house — those where students remain standing for much of the game.
Those who sit behind those who stand have complained recently that their view of the game is blocked.
The move eliminated the buffer zone between the lower-level standers and the upper-level sitters, who then could
not see over those in front of them.
The athletic department then began taking action to try to get the students to sit.
But the athletic department brought the problem upon itself. Board members knew at the time of their ill-considered decision that standing was a common practice at KU games. They could have foreseen the potential for conflict.
The KUAC Board will meet following the season to make a final decision aimed at preventing similar problems next season.
Eliminating the seats is a more reasonable decision than sticking the students up where they won't be a bother. Let's hope the athletic department continues to recognize the value of its 7,000 student season-ticket holders as it considers what to do next season.
Last week, the Kansas State High School Activities Association declared two Kapaua-Mt. Carmel basketball players ineligible to play for their Wichita high school.
The support shown by KU students is exactly what KUAC needs for a successful program. The enthusiasm shown by students for the team representing their school should never be subject to regulation.
Corruption at new low
Sometimes it's surprising how far corruption can spread.
The reason? The KHSSAA determined that the players' $2,700 a year tuition to the private Catholic school had been paid through a Kapaun booster club fund.
Every day reports surface of similar recruiting violations being made at the collegiate level, but this case stands out for all the wrong reasons.
the players, wisely, aren't talking.
The name of the former principal, Sister Kathleen Gilbert, appeared on at least one of the booster club's checks for tuition for the players. The coach, who was also suspended, admitted he knew about the payments. The parents said they were not aware of the high tuition at the school, and
The result of this mire being brought into the open is that the high school basketball careers of two talented young men, very young, are over, and Kapaun's standing with the KSHSAA in jeopardy.
The boosters should be ashamed of themselves. The coach should be ashamed of himself. Perhaps the parents and players are guilty as well.
High school basketball is supposed to be a learning experience and above all, it is supposed to be fun.
The only thing the players at Kapaun were learning was how to handle the college-level pressures of recruiting and corruption.
Perhaps it's time for the so-called "grown ups" of the world to get out of high school and collegiate athletics so the sports can begin to return to a somewhat purer state.
Day for freedom
If any criticism can be aimed at the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is that it was ratified 40 years too late.
Proposed by Congress on Jan. 31, 1865, four months before the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment abolished the peculiar institution of slavery.
The amendment was the first of the Three Reconstruction amendments, ratified from 1865 to 1870, that gave black males the same rights granted to white males.
The anniversary of the amendment is observed Feb. 1 as Freedom Day, a holiday usually overlooked in the sheaves of holidays now on the nation's calendar.
More importantly, the amendment marked the end of one of the most reprehensible practices of a nation otherwise committed to the principles of
freedom and equality
The day is also, appropriately enough, the anniversary of the start of the 1860 sit-in at a Greensboro, N.C., lunch counter. The sit-in inspired a wave of similar demonstrations throughout the South, which eventually ended the Jim Crow laws requiring segregation in public places.
Although there is little reason for Feb. 1 to rise from its obscurity to become a national day of recognition for the civil rights struggle, it is a perfect kickoff for Black History Month.
Even more than Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Feb. 1 commemorates the efforts of thousands of anonymous opponents of racism and reminds us that oppressive laws and institutions, no matter how entrenched, cannot stand forever.
News staff
Michael Totty ... Editor
Laurette McMillen ... Managing editor
Chris Barber ... Editorial editor
Cindy McCurry ... Campus editor
David Giles ... Sports editor
Brice Waddill ... Photo editor
Susanne Shaw ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Brett McCabe ... Business manager
David Nixon ... Retail sales manager
Jim Williamson ... Campus manager
Lori Eckart ... Classified manager
Caroline Innes ... Production manager
Pallen Lee ... National manager
John Oberzan ... Sales and marketing adviser
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KUAC woos, then rejects students
"The Road to Dallas."
Sounds like a big-budget movie that could, in fact, star the players and coaches from this year's men's basketball team, should they make it to the Final Four. Who could, for the price, ask for more excitement, adventure, thrills and triumphs than Coach Larry Brown and his team have provided?
Unfortunately, once you bring in the supporting players (the Kansas University Athletic Corporation and the student fans) you get something closer to a bad soap opera. There's a big, wealthy business executive begging for the hand of the poor girl. For years, she says he has nothing to offer her, and vice versa.
Finally, she agrees to give the relationship a try and they end up living happily ever after . . . at least for a few months. Then, the executive decides that she's not good enough for him and does everything in his power to dump her.
Of course, a few years later the decision will come back to haunt him. Sound familiar?
It was only three years ago that Athletic Director Monte Johnson and the athletic department were begging for student support. After all, college sports are for and about college students.
And while there had been a solid base of support among students all along, through good times and bad, the numbers needed to be bigger.
It was slow coming, but with the help of popular new coaches in football and basketball, the students responded. Seven thousand student season tickets were sold this year. Students at Memorial Stadium showed a spark of life for the first time in years.
Guest Shot
Stephen Gibbs
Suddenly, the athletic department seems to have decided that maybe the students aren't so important after all. "Your continued support is important," they tell the students, but their actions give an entirely different message to the Jayhawks' loudest and most loyal fans.
Seven thousand screaming students in Allen Fieldhouse prompted a Kentucky player to declare that this was the toughest place he had ever played.
The KUAC knew before the seats were ever installed that there would be viewing problems. While most students were home for Christmas break, Santa Claus brought the solution to the remaining students in the form of an unsigned letter. This solution$^{†}$
The $84,000 question is why did the athletic department ever let this situation happen in the first place?
When the students came back to
No one is arguing about the rights of the faculty, staff members and students behind the standing students to enjoy the game in the comfort of their seats.
It was only last year that coaches and players were turning around and telling the students behind the bench to stand up and yell. We weren't making enough commotion sitting down.
This year, the new seats went in, creating about 200 new places to sit, and standing to support the team became a no-no.
Sit. boy. sit.
school and turned out in full force to support the good guys in the shootout with big, bad Oklahoma, the athletic department let the students stand, unchallenged. More people complained about the standers.
The athletic department decided it was time to take action to make the students sit. Of course, the action would not come until after the nationally televised Louisville game. Wouldn't want to look bad on the tube, would we?
It was only three years ago that Athletic Director Monte Johnson and the athletic department were begging for student support.
Which brings up another twist in the soap opera. In their letters, the athletic department tells the students that while prolonged standing is forbidden, it is okay to stand for a few seconds to amplify a good play.
Students were given a final chance in the form of a letter (signed this time) distributed at the Louisville game. Students cooperated as well as possible for the fans of a team that needed a boost early in the game.
Question one: When do the "standee-police" start to work? I'd love to see someone try to put on paper guidelines for when it's okay to stand. That would be a fun one to
A handful of students stood just for the sake of standing, but the majority tried to be considerate by sitting through most of that nail-biter.
enforce.
Question two: Whatever happened to cheering to MAKE good plays happen? I thought that's what "homecourt advantage" was all about. If fans had waited to cheer only AFTER good plays were made, rather than rocking the house long before opening tip-off, I doubt that the Kentucky player would have been nearly as impressed or as rattled as he was.
Word came Wednesday that the athletic department would let the students stay put, for now. However, after the current season is over, they will meet again to decide the students' fate for next season.
When the time comes for that end of the season meeting of the athletic board, let's hope for a couple of things.
First, that KUAC will recognize the public relations problem it is having with the students and decide to invite a couple of students to sit in on meetings.
Second, let's hope that the athletic department remembers that the students they are dealing with now are the alumni and potential Williams Fund members of the future. I'm sure that no one with any sense would alienate a large group of people one year, then turn around and ask that same group for financial support a few years later.
Finally, let's hope that everyone — students, athletic department officials and all fans — can have enough trust and faith in each other to help each other in a common cause: the road to a strong and honest athletic program at the University of Kansas.
Stephen Gibbs is a Lawrence senior molarizing in advertising.
Mailbox
Story ignores positive
The Student Senate retreat, which was the subject of Monty Headley's article on Monday, was held upon recommendation of University administrators and actually did turn out to be a great success. Headley, however, chose to sensitialize the proceeding by looking to the one area of conflict, selectively choosing the only senator who disagreed with both the cost and the intent of the retreat. While Cindy Harnett and Stacy Smith do have their names on the bill referred to in the article, only Martie Aaron has so vocally criticized the retreat, and she herself attended.
The entire tone of the article is highly negative, and I do not believe that a reporter can claim to be presenting both sides of an issue when his prose itself leans the reader in the direction of his own personal bias.
When you next place this objectionable article on the front page with the "Senate wastes fund on retreat, some say" headline, you complete your unjustified malignment of not only David Epstein and Amy Brown, our elected officers, but also the entire Senate.
Senate, through the retreat, is initiating the start of an effort to combat the in-fighting and other internal problems that the Kansan criticized last semester. Headley did not even attend the first day of the retreat.
I have served three terms in the Student Senate and cannot recall so many expressing their feelings about its great success. Student, teno, saves the students money. The $2,000 budgeted for the retreat would not even have been possible had the Senate not saved so much money in the Elections section of its internal budget, and I might further add that the actual cost of $1,789 fell $211 under budget. Of course, the Kansan did not take the time to research these positive aspects.
With the type of journalism exhibited by Headley, the Kansan is showing that their interest is not in the facts or the "goode" prevalent in our efforts, but in the damage they can inflict upon the reputation of Senate.
Charles Lawhorn Kansas City, Kan., senior Liberal Arts and Sciences senator
Error draws ire
I feel compelled to bring to your attention the spelling mistake in Tom Farmer's Jan. 29 article on the Australian film professor, Glen Lewis.
If Farmer knows how to spell the aboriginal word Kuring-gai, he should know that the city of Sydney is spelled with a "y" instead of an "i".
If this happens again, I will be forced to dunk him in sheep-dip and boomerang him into the backout to get irritated by the flies, jumped on
Hugh Williams Sydney, Australia, junior
Star Wars no answer
by kangaroos, nibbled by koalas and taunted by the cackle of the kookaburras and cockatoos.
Paul Campbell's column in Wednesday's Kansan states: "The real goal of SDI is not to build a space shield against nuclear missiles." Rather, he says, its "more costly and controversial aspects will be traded away" as the Soviets, terrified that their economy will collapse under the $26 billion-ruble-plus cost of their equivalent system (has any military system in modern history ever been implemented at the estimated cost?), begin serious bargaining to reduce arms.
If this is the most "effective, moral way to ensure peace" that our military can devise, I'm afraid we're in for the aerospace equivalent of the Bradley tank, only this time coating hundreds of times as much and soaring over our heads every day.
I guess we can be our economy will be strong enough to hold up if Russia calls our bluff, though I'm sure the economic planners of Japan, Korea, Western Europe, etc., would be thrilled to see both the superpowers concentrate on space weapons and leave the rest of the world's markets to them.
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Campbell ignores the fact that the Russians have a very paranoid relationship with the rest of the world (perhaps even more so than the United States because of the wars fought on their own soil with France, Japan and the two Germans). We should realize that the worst way to deal with a paranoid is by bristling, challenging and bluffing for more and more dangerous stakes.
An SDI system that was 99 percent effective would still allow through quite enough nukes to ruin my day and probably (care to bet on it) enough to cause a mass extinction of life that will be an enigma for future geologists (of what species, who can say?). Recent issues of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineer's magazine, Spectrum, have carried a raging controversy over whether SDI's computer control system of stupetying complexity that can never be tested can ever be successfully built at all, much less be percent effective.
No country can "negotiate from strength" over nuclear weapons because even a limited exchange (say 5 bombs each — one for earth state) would leave the entire world in frozen waste. The sooner we recognize that more weapons are futile, the sooner we can begin making the earth a better place to live.
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Kurt Sigmon
Lawrence senior