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Wednesday, February 17, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Process of choosing new RAs needn't exclude sophomores
Resident assistants can make a lot of difference to the students they work with.
They can help new students adjust to college life; they can mediate roommate disputes; they can advise, console and provide friendship. Good BAs are worth their salt
Last year, the office of residential programs decided to stop considering sophomores as applicants for RA positions on the grounds that they were less experienced than juniors and seniors and didn't know the University as well.
But the real losers are the residents whose RAs are being selected from a needlessly small pool.
The policy is as poorly thought out as it is unfair. Applicants should be considered on their individual qualifications, not on their year in school. It's a slap in the face to well-qualified sophomores.
The office should change its policy if it wants to serve hall residents well. Preference should be given to juniors and seniors for their added years of experience, but the selection process should be tougher across the board, for sophomores as well as upperclassmen.
Hire RAs for quality, not credit hours.
Prairie Acre worthy of care
KU's Prairie Acre is more than a patch of grasses and brush. It is a symbol of Kansas' pioneer spirit and a reminder of the roots of this University. And it deserves to be cared for accordingly.
The class of 1932 donated this acre of prairie land behind Blake Hall and a plaque with the inscription: "The Prairie Acre whereon is set this block of Oread Limestone to mark and preserve Nature's sweet fashion in making her garden." But because of poor maintenance, the Prairie Acre is dying. Overgrown trees block the sunlight, and weeds compete for available space. A campus environmental group, Environs, estimates that about 50 species of prairie plants have been killed since 1932.
Recent efforts by Environs and the University to revive the Prairie Acre are commendable. Both groups are working on plans to remove undesirable plants and possibly reintroduce lost species. But it may be two years before the plot is fully restored.
In a time when campus green space is at a premium, the University should take special care in preserving this original green space. It serves as a reminder of where the University of Kansas has been as we move into the future.
Alison Young for the editorial board
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
Editorial decisions are made by the editorial board at meetings twice a week. At these meetings, issues are discussed and an editorial stance is voted upon. The editorial board consists of Alison Young, Todd Cohen, Alan Player, Jody Dickson, Katy Monk, Van Jenerette and Russell Gray.
Koop's testing plan a good idea
Although the incidence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome is highest among 20- to 24-year-olds - male homosexuals and drug abusers being most at risk - there has yet to be a large-scale testing directed specifically at this age group.
Surgener General C. Everett Koop's recent proposal to conduct mass AIDS screening on at least one U.S. college campus is a logical and reasonable approach.
True, the surgeon general's plan is sketched at best at this point. But, any information gathered from this voluntary program could serve as guidance for the surgeon general.
Testing on college campuses need not, and should not, exclude continued AIDS education. A nationwide testing program would further heighten the public's awareness of AIDS that has been generated by the American media.
Continued education is a good idea. But health officials need a broader knowledge of who has the disease and how it is spreading. Random testing of college students could provide this.
Education and testing should not be mutually exclusive. Research has always been a tool for education
Indiana Daily Student Indiana University
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...Graphic editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
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National Knapps...National marketing
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Kimberly Coleman...Classified manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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SEXUAL AWAKENINGS IN THE 1980'S
Wars should invite fortunate sons
ials want to crank up the U.S. military, let their own kids join the fun
What this country needs besides a good five-cent cigar is a War Powers Resolution that gives everyone a chance to get in on the action. Think about it. Right now if President Reagan deploys U.S. military forces to flex a muscle here or rattle a sabre there, only a select group of lucky American youngsters get to make the trip.
Is that any way to show the world that all of America really stands behind the President's decision?
Not very convincing.
The way things are now, you almost can predict whose sons and daughters are first in line for a chance at a purple heart.
When you're serious about something, you pull an Abraham and toss your own kid up on the sacrificial rock first. Now, that will get anyone's attention. Right?
Well, don't give up hope yet. With a few changes here and there, this War Powers thing could be straightened up . . .
"I'm sorry, this seat is taken," said the sereant.
"How 'bout this one?" asked the private as he hauled his duffle bag into the Air Force transport plane. It was headed to the strategic 'emergency' in the Middle East with the first wave of U.S. troops.
"That's taken too," said the sergeant grumfly. "Just throw your bag up on that pallet and sit on the floor."
The trooper carefully worked his way to the back of the jet past the waiting soldiers of the first plane.
"But this plane is only half full," the private exclaimed.
"These seats are reserved — official orders. I don't make 'em, I just follow them!" the sergeant shouted as he checked names off a list on a desk. "I'm going to tell you that you can't nose, so park it and shut it." private!
"What's with the sarge?" the private asked a young lieutenant sitting in a web-sling seat near the rear of the aircraft.
"Oh, he's waiting on the newbies. Some rule that Congress just passed," he replied. "Anytime
Van
Jenerette
Staff Columnist
U. S. troops are sent to a hostile area, a certain number of slots on the first wave are reserved for relatives of the big boys."
"You mean, like political appointments and government jobs?" he asked, shocked.
"Better than that," he said. "Now even corporations with military contracts and other big wigs who vote to put U.S. forces into combat have automatic reservations to make the trip with the troops!"
"What brought on this change?"
"It's a long list — Grenada, Lebanon, the raid on Libya, the Persian Gulf . . . you name it, the big bows missed it!"
"I suppose they're upset that Mrs. Soandso's kid from Lansing, Kan., or Joe Average from Squeedunk, Ohio, got a chance at all the glory?" another soldier asked.
"I guess it was something like that," the lieutenant said.
"So that means under the New War Power Act the movers and shakers or their relatives can bump a regular U.S. soldier out of a chance to go into combat?"
"Starting with the President and his family," the officer said. "But it's not a blank check. It's only good for the first wave."
Another soldier joined the conversation in the back of the plane. "I still don't get it," he said.
"Well," said the young private. "I suppose that if a situation is important enough for the U.S. to send ordinary kids into combat, then it should be made clear that they are made made that decision to send their own kids along."
"Sounds logical to me," added a voice from
farther down the jet.
"So if Grenada happened now, and it was the President's decision to send us into action, little Ronnie would have had a first class seat on the
lead assault helicopter to reach the island."
"And when the Marines were shipped to Lebanon," asked a female soldier.
non?" asked a female soldier.
"A flak vest and a ring-side seat for some of the
"This could change the whole face of war," said the private.
"I suppose that they have just as much of a right to fight for the country as the poor and the middle class do."
"Just as much as the next guy," the lieutenant replied.
it? "It sure looks like him under all that gear."
A new group of soldiers entered the front of the plane.
"Hey, that's Donald Trump, the tycoon, isn't it?"
"It sure looks like him under all that gear.
"The last time I saw him was on 20/20," and he said that American power should be used in the Middle East to just take whatever we wanted."
A corporal asked, "I wonder just who he thought was supposed to do all the taking?"
"Looks like he'll soon be finding out," the private answered.
More soldiers filed into the reserved seating in the front of the aircraft. Battle Tank manufacturing company executives, a few young men filling in for their old influential fathers, the CEO of the M-16 rifle industry, as well as the owner of the company that won the lucrative military contract for body bags.
"Don't you think that the rules might break?" the private asked. "Maybe the President and people who profit from war will become a constituent to get the U.S. involved in hostilities."
About that time the last seat in the jet was taken by a tired-looking soldier with brand new combat gear . . .
"Not a chance," the lieutenant said. "There's always someone to take their places."
'Hey Ron, you made it this time!"
"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said, unconvincingly. "Wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Van jenerette is a Lawrence graduate student majoring
said, unconvI-
for the world.**
Van jenerite is a Lawrence graduate student majoring in journalism.
Rude awakening arouses poetic flair
After the latest in a series of late-night, prank-provoked fire alarms at Joseph R. Pearson Hall, I had trouble sleeping. The Western Civilization student in me demanded that the culprits be brought to justice.
The historian in me wanted to record the event for future generations. The poet in me (clearly the least developed of these quasi-schizophrenic traits) was inspired to verse. My journalistic instinct finally compelled me (much to my roommate's dismay) to crawl out of bed and scratch out this letter to tell the world my moving story.
The result of twenty times of intense creativity is below. I like to call it “Oh God, Not Again— This is the Second Time This Week,” though I suspect that a better title exists.
Derek
Schmidt
Guest Columnist
It was 2.57 and I onghed the boat to
Everybody was stirring — that now seems the norm.
It was 2:37 and all through the dorm
The fire alarm, it was screaming again,
Awaking us all with our loud, piercing din.
I downed dirt sacks, outgrown shirt, worn out shoes
An assortment of clothing of various hues.
And began my descent down the dark, dreary stairs,
I opened the door — it was freezing out there!
And everyone struggled to rise from his bed With gray, vacant eyes and severe pill head.
But exit I did — to the cold and the snow.
The temperature out was a cruel 2 below.
Soon what to my frostbitten eyes did appear,
but familiar green trucks — the firemen were here!
They quickly determined that there was no flame,
One more false alarm — but who was to blame?
A smoke bomb had started this two-thirty show, but who set it off — that's what I'd like to know! There's a villain among us, but none has come forth. We've narrowed it down — he must be from Six North. After what seemed like hours, but wasn't that long, They opened the doors and let in the throng. And as we went in, the last truck left the place. I was almost pure ice — frozen hands, frozen face. The shrill wall of the fire truck horn filled the air. We all turned and were faced with a fireman's stare.
And his look seemed to say as he drove out of sight. "What a dumb bunch of kids — it's sold on tonight."
For my sake and for that of all JRPeople, the Lawrence fire department, and Robert Frost (whose role as America's pre-eminent poet I might threaten given another such inspiration) let's all hope this silly trend stops. Derek Schmidt is an Independence sophomore majoring in journalism.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed