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Friday, April 29, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Good luck to 1988 graduates as they leave college behind
"Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself, in all cases as the ages and generation which preceded it. The vanity and presumption of governing beyond the grave, is the most ridiculous and insolent of all tyrannies."
- Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man"
To the Class of 1988:
Congratulations! You have won the planet Earth and are about to undertake an adventure that will last 50 to 60 years in this place that 5 billion other human beings call home. It is a planet with more than its fair share of problems and suffering, and it is a planet in desperate need of solutions.
You are the solution. You must be. There is no one else, not now anyway. Not until you hand over this world to your children. So, for the time being, you are in the hot seat. This is the real world's game of tag, and you are it.
When you walk down the Hill in two weeks, don't just fall in line for some spot that someone else is vacating; make a spot in life for yourself. The only way things can improve for the human race is for each of you to be willing to toss the revered status quo out the window. We would all still be in caves if it weren't for those who refused to live their lives in the same way as their forefathers. Change is necessary.
You will hear the argument that "You are so young and inexperienced." Don't buy it! Youth and inexperience may be just the thing that mankind needs right now. The world is in pretty bad shape, and it could use some new and fresh ideas.
If you see something that needs to be changed, don't blindly accept the explanation that "it's always been done that way." If you see a better way of doing something, then go for it and try to change it.
Search for truth and reason and make a difference when you can. Each of you has behind you the collective knowledge and wisdom of more than 20 centuries of human thought. But knowledge and wisdom alone are not enough. That is where you enter yourself into the equation. You are the X factor for the human race, and you are the variable that just may change the course of history. Don't be afraid to take on that challenge.
Everyone will say that the torch has been passed to you. This is true. But that torch is meant to light your way. There is nothing that can show you the way. You must find it on your own.
To make the world a better place, you can't take the same old trail that the human race has gone down before. Look around you: hunger, terrorism, killing, hijacking, oppression, greed, selfishness, inequality, bigotry and hatred.
Congratulations. You have won the planet Earth and all of its problems, as well as its joys. You will have a million dreams and a million choices to make. If it becomes necessary, make waves; question authority; upset the apple cart; go against the tide; rock the boat; fight City Hall; but, finally, try to make the world a better place to live. Good luck.
The editorial board
Remember December grads
Many members of the Class of 1988 will graduate from the University of Kansas on May 15.
During the next two weeks, these men and women will be honored with receptions, dinners, breakfasts, speeches, pomp and circumstance, and finally that long awaited commencement walk down the Hill.
As the graduates of 1988 are sent from Mount Oread to pursue their futures, left behind are classmates, also members of the Class of 1988, who will receive their diplomas in December.
Unlike their counterparts who finished their studies in the spring, December graduates won't receive nearly the same attention. Because of weather and tradition, official celebrations are limited.
Although the University invites December graduates to participate in spring ceremonies, this is impossible.
Although the University invites participate in spring ceremonies, this is impossible for some. December graduates are no less important and deserve increased attention.
The editorial board
Graduation is still seven months away for some seniors. The University and members of the Student Alumni Association should work during that time to develop a better plan for remembering December graduates.
The editorial board consists of Alison Young, Todd Cohen, Alan Player, Jody Dickson, Katy Monk, Van Jenerette and Russell Gray.
News staff
Alison Young...Editor
Todd Cohen...Managing editor
Rob Knapp...News editor
Alan Player...Editorial editor
Joseph Rebello...Campus editor
Jennifer Rowland...Planning editor
Anne Luscombe...Sports editor
Stephen Wade...Photo editor
Richard Stewart...Graphics editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Kelly Scherer...Business manager
Clark Massad...Retail sales manager
Brad Lenhart...Campus sales manager
Robert Hughes...Marketing manager
Kurt Messersmith...Production manager
Greg Knipp...National manager
Kria Schroff...Traffic manager
Jimmy Coleman...Classified manager
Jeanne Huea...Sales and marketing adviser
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Picking a president is torturous
For narrow-minded voters, no candidate is really representative
"I won't vote for Jesse Jackson. There's no way," the customer in the barber shop said.
"Why not?" asked the barber as he turned the chair toward the mirror.
"Why, he's a black man."
"That's no reason to disqualify him, is it, Mr. Smith."
"Well, to me it is," Smith replied loudly. "wouldn't vote for Reagan in 84 because he's
"That's a funny way to pick a president," the barber said. "Are you a conservative or a
Mr. Smith looked puzzled. "I'm a Gemini, I think. I was born in June. Why?"
"No, no. Mr. Smith," the barber said. "What is your political viewpoint liberal or conservative:
"I haven't made up my mind yet," Smith replied. "But I know what I don't like, and that includes that other foreigner, Cuomo."
"Mario Cuomo isn't even running," the barber said with a start.
"Well, he could buy my vote even if he was.
"Let me guess," said the barber. "Cuono would be out, even if he was in, because he's an Italian?"
"You got that right," Smith said, nodding his head. "I'd bet he's a dyed-in-the-wool Mafia gangster if you want my opinion!"
Do you want the back blocked or tapered?" to change the subject. Mr Smith sighed the longer.
"It's too bad Gary Hart dropped out." Smith said. "He was almost my kind of guy."
"Himmm . . .," the barber murmured as he climbed away.
"No way for a guy like Bush, though," Smith continued "he's a northeastern snob who went to Harvard or Yale . . . and Gore is a white red-neck from the South . . . and Simon wears a stupid bow tie."
The barber let Smith drone on "Himmimm . . . "
"... Babbit's face looks melted ... Gephardt
looks like an alino preppie ... and Robertson
smiles too much." Smith said, looking pleased.
The barber let Smith drone on. "Hmmm . . ."
"How about Dukakis?" asked the barber.
Smith's eyes got wide. "Gosh! He's the worst
me in the world," he said. "He's the worst
he's going to be when I get a big person's head on a little
board."
Van
Jenerette
Staff Columnist
person's body. Besides, I had a neighbor with a dog named Duke."
"Well, Mr. Smith, there must be someone who you think would make a good president," the
"Being a 'good' president isn't the point. I think the president should be able to represent me."
The barber felt like he needed to get some fresh air. "OK, Mr. Smith, just what type of American man?"
Smith looked around the barber shop. "It has to be someone who can understand me and identify with my culture and heritage."
"You are an American, aren't you?" the barber asked.
"Of course!" Smith exclaimed. "My mother was English, German, Irish and Scottish. And my father was French Huguenot, Turkish and American Indian!"
"That's quite a mix, Mr. Smith," the barber said. "I can see why you have trouble making up your mind on you who want as 'your president.'"
"Do you know why I can't vote for Dukakis?" Smith asked. "Them dirty Greeks fought the Turks in the 1820s and slaughtered my ancestors that came from there."
"I don't think Dukakis was even alive then, was he?"
"Well, that doesn't clear him in my book," Smith said forcefully. "As far as I am concerned he's guilty by ancestry . . . bad blood."
"Maybe so . . . but I still can feel the pain."
Smith said pointing at himself with his finger.
"But you weren't even alive in the 1820s, Mr. Smith," the barber said. "And unless there's someone running around that's 168 years old, I don't believe there is anyone alive that remembers the Greeks fighting your ancestors from Turkey!"
"I suppose not," Smith replied, counting on his fingers. "But that by itself doesn't remove the pain."
The barber said nothing and shook his head while he sharpened the razor and mixed the shaving cream.
turkey, but distrust him. He instructed him and distrust could be imbricated. Mr. South, "the barber said."
"Even if I didn't know I had ancestors from Turkey, I distrust them Greeks," Smith said.
"Well, I can't explain the feelings, but I do know what I want from a president." Smith said.
"Since you have such a problem with nationalities, Mr. Smith, perhaps you should vote for a candidate by religion," the barber ventured. "What religion are you?"
"I'm not sure," Smith said. "My Irish Catholic grandfather tried to take me to mass every Sunday, but my French Huguenot grandmother on my father's side told me to never trust the Catholics because they pray to idols and listen to a Pope who wears a hat that looks like a pinaction."
The barber rinsed a towel in the sink and glanced into the mirror at Smith's reflection as
"... and my other grandmother, who was half Cherokee Indian, told me that I should never believe the religion of a race that blows their up. You know, Cherokee Indians and folds them up to save in their pockets."
"I sounds as if you had an interesting childhood, Mr. Smith." The barber looked at his watch and shook his head. "Tell me, how did your parents pick a candidate to vote for?"
"They flipped a coin each leap year and voted a straight party ticket for the next four years."
"I'm not sure I wanted it that short," Smith replied. "But then, I'm not sure if I wanted it much longer."
"Maybe that's a method that'll work for you, too." The barber held a mirror so Smith could see the back of his head. "How's that, Mr. Smith?"
"Seems to be a way of life with you, Mr. Smith," the barber said as he put the scissors away, and Smith got out of the chair to pay him.
"I guess I just have to make up my own mind about these things," Smith muttered as he walked past her.
"Sometimes that's the only thing to do, Mr. Smith," the barber called after him as he walked away. "Sometimes you have to do some thinking on your own."
Van Jenerette is a Lawrence graduate student majoring in journalism.
Coverage was weak
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
I am appalled and outraged at the University Daily Kansan's blatant, unprofessional, insensitive and overall disregard of covering Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week. I have long been aware of this University's attempt to have KU symbolize an enclosure of upper-middle class, straight white kids, but now I am seeing this attitude reflected in full regalia in the Kansas.
On Sunday, April 10, approximately four television stations covered the human rights
march, and yet there was no mention in the Kansan. On April 11, a vigil for all oppressed people took place at the Campanile. The Kansan did not cover the story or make mention of it in either the editorial page or campus events. There was, however, a bland and irrelevant note on the importance of Fawn Hall. The "Campus/Area" section included international news; a space that, had the news assignment persons been aware and socially conscious, would have been reserved for worthy GALA week coverage.
I found it particularly strange and sad that the Kansan did a series on racism after Black History Month and the KKK controversy but did not include coverage on homophobia, which, exactly like racism, those who are different from those around them vulnerable to attack. The attitude the Kansan, along with the Reagan administration, has fostered is on that says we cannot officially sanction discriminatory and violent behaviors toward groups we believe threaten our existence, but we can turn our heads the other way.
A look at KU's recent past has proven this. And unfortunately the Kansas has done nothing to uphold its social awareness responsibility. I urge the news staff to re-evaluate and make a meaningful commitment to represent and raise the consciousness by informing the University of Kansas of all the people and issues that make the University of Kansas a learning environment.
Todd A. Rowlett Chicago junior
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed