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Opinion
19
Monday, March 26, 2001
for comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Perspective
School shooting shouldn't spur new gun laws
By now everyone's heard of the March 5 school shooting in Santee, Calif., where it was reported a 15 year
B by now everyone's heard on the March 5 school shooting in Santee, Calif., where it was reported that 15-year-old Charles "Andy" Williams killed two students and wounded 13 others. This tragedy reigned the national controversy about gun control, causing many political leaders, media commentators and a Kansan columnist to call for stricter laws or, better yet, a complete ban.
Although the rhetorical ruckus paled in comparison to the hysterical, gun-bashing shrieks following Columbine, the debate still dominated several news cycles.
Amid the media blitz,
perhaps you didn't hear about some other life- and death stories involving guns that week. For instance, did you hear about the Hays woman who chased away a potential rapist by pulling a handgun from her purse? What about the De Beque, Colo., man who, after being repeatedly stabbed by three hitchhikers, managed to shoot one and send
the others running for their lives? Or the Galveston, Texas, man who used a gun to protect his mother from her knife-wielding ex-boyfriend? I could continue, filling up this entire column, but you get my point.
Unless you're from Hays, De Beque or Galveston and read back to page Z18 in the newspapers, chances are you missed these accounts and any others on guns being used in self-defense.
John McCool columnist
noonin@kansan.com
For all the coverage of school shootings and gun-related murders, you'd think criminals monopolize gun use when, in fact, the opposite is true. Here are the facts
There are two possible reasons: One, the national media don't report such stories for the same reason they don't report successful plane landings; or two, they don't want you to know how often guns help save people's lives. My money's on the latter.
According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, there were 8,259 murders committed with guns in 1999 and roughly 164,000 gun-related aggravated assaults all felonies, all punishable by extremely long prison sentences.
Yet according to the research of Florida State University professors Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, Americans use guns approximately two million times a year in self-defense, 10 times more often than they're misused by criminals.
Even the Justice Department, in a 1994 study on defensive firearm use, concluded that the number was at least 1.5 million. In more than 90 percent of the cases, merely wielding a gun was enough to frighten away criminals, and the chances of a defensive gun use resulting in a fatal accident were 1 in 65.000.
Some say only police should have guns — that we should rely solely on "professionals" for protection. But consider a shocking story last September that reported it took, on average, 10 to 15 minutes for Kansas City police officers to respond to 911 calls. One woman even told of getting the police department's answering machine.
The concerned chief assured the public he was forming a commission to see about bringing those numbers down to five to six minutes. Just in time to draw the chalk outline or bring in the rape counselor.
Unness America is somehow transformed into a totalitarian police-state, or until the 23rd century rolls around and we can teleport police officers instantly to trouble spots, Star Trek-style, we citizens must take some responsibility for our own safety. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "I advise the gun" — the great equalizer.
But if you'd rather cower under your bed, hoping the police arrive before you depart (permanently), it's your life, your prerogative. Just don't seek to deprive others of their right to defend themselves and their families because of your anti-gun prejudices. Yes, they can kill, but more often they protect. As the old Eric Clapton song goes, "it's in the way that you use it."
McCool is an Evansville, Ind., graduate student in history.
IF ONLY THE KU ID"SMART CARDS " WERE A LITTLE LESS STUPID...
Graham Moyer/KANSAN
Kansan.com poll
Last week's question: What would be the best way for the Athletics Department to deal with budget constraints?
Cut teams, as it did the men's tennis and men's swimming and diving teams.
- Reduce each team's budget proportionally.
Reduce the football team's budget.
Cut staff and administrative positions.
Next week's question: How have international outbreaks of mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease affected your eating habits? Log on to www.kansan.com to cast your vote.
This poll is not scientific. Numbers do not add up to 100 percent because of rounding. Total votes: 185
Perspective
Inappropriate coverage merits Kansan apology
I've got some eye-catching headlines for you try them out and decide which you favor: "Crappy story fails to sully Kansan's reputation."
"Poor fact-checking doesn't damage Kansan credibility."
"Misquotation doesn't derail 'Kansan.'
What do you know if I'm sucking up to the boss, but I think the Kansan deserves it. After all, despite a few flaws, it's still an award-win-
all, despite a few flaws, it's still an award-win
I wrote that paragraph to demonstrate what the editors and staff of the *Kansan* apparently fail to understand. Positive coverage that begins with a negative event colors the whole article, regardless of its content. This is the crux of the Black Student Union's objection to the article.
However, the objection goes further. It also observes that the coverage of the fight was inappropriate, the Kanman's response
However, in its story on a conference that lasted for days and involved hundreds of participants, the actions of two boors dominated the coverage. In this instance, the Kansan seemed less like a paragon of journalistic integrity and more like a fourth-grader screaming, "Fight, fight, fight!" on the playground.
The fight at the conference had nothing to do with the conference itself. It occurred because young males with poor anger management skills occasionally beat each other silly. This happens quite often in Lawrence and is usually reported in the section of briefs on page 2A.
Robert Chamberlain columnist opining kansas.com
The Kansan then made a bad decision worse.
was ill-advised and that the *Kansan* owes an analogy to the BSU. It is correct in all respects.
The readers' representative, Leita Schultes, wrote a column explaining that the Kansan was forced to make a choice between more conference coverage or fight coverage and felt compelled to go with the fight, lest it be unreported. Her point was undermined a few days later when the fight was reported again on page 2A.
If Schultes had apologized for a bad story, the whole issue could have been dropped. By refusing to do so, and by continuing to defend a tawdry article worthy of the National Enquirer, the Kansan further aroused the ire of the BSU.
In the latest column, Kansan editor Lori O'Toole said the Kansan "should not apologize" for its reporting. I disagree. The Kansan is staffed by a few busy students, not legions of full-time reporters. Sometimes it screws up. That's fine – it's a student newspaper, and its reporters and staff are still learning about journalism.
The mistake that has plagued O'Toole and the Kansan is the failure to admit that fact. From misquoted National Merit Scholars, to fictional Stephenson Hall residents, to misguided stories on the BSU Conference, the Kansan has made, does make, and will continue to make mistakes that would cause heads to roll at a professional paper. The way to deal with this reality is not to deny it but to simply apologize and move on.
The Kansan owes BSU an official apology. It made a fight that deserved (and got) two paragraphs on page 2A the focus of a front-page story. It included a headline that focused on a single negative event. it refused to admit that its "positive" coverage of the event had a negative tone. it has repeatedly denied that there were any errors in the story or the editorial decision to run it.
In fact, the whole sad saga of the BSU conference coverage has been a series of Kansan blunders. The Kansan can, should and must offer an apology to the BSU for the mistakes it has made. It's time for the Kansan to bring closure to this mess – it's time to say we're sorry.
Editorial
Illegal workers deserve chance at residency
Chamberlain is a Topeka junior in political science.
A policy allowing illegal aliens gives legitimacy to workers who want to stay.
Many immigrants believe that to receive a better life, they must come to America, the land of the free. Yet freedom is the last privilege experienced by immigrants who enter our country illegally.
Until Monday, April 30, any illegal immigrant now living in the U.S. may petition for residency, lead Leena Egae, area director of Harvest America Corp. in Kansas City, Kan. She said she believed that her people were coming here in search of a better way of life.
On Feb. 16, President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox met without formally addressing the exploitation of illegal immigrants from Mexico by U.S. corporations. An estimated 3 million Mexicans now work illegally in the United States.
"We have to fight for our rights because we are never going to be equal." she said.
The immigrants fill a void in the U.S. labor force, taking jobs most Americans disdain. It's time to pay them back by offering them a chance to become legal citizens here. The offer on the table now is a good step toward doing that.
Mexican immigrants who enter U.S. borders illegally but are willing to do rugged farm work can apply for a work permit as long as they have a relative who is a U.S. citizen. The work permit must be renewed annually. After working for at least five years, a migrant worker can apply for legal citizenship.
But the road is hard for the Mexican migrants. Even though the temporary work permit lasts 12 months, the jobs do not. Many times the work is seasonal and migrants have to move from state to state to find work. If the migrants who are here were sent home instead of given a chance for residency, the U.S. economy would be hurt.
It is a tragedy that the working conditions of Mexican migrants are less than humane. To allow the Mexican migrants already working in the U.S. to at least petition for residency would be the first step towards mending the inhumane treatment of Mexican migrants.
Tiffany Knight for the editorial board
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed. For more comments, visit www.kansan.com.
I think Title IX comes straight from the devil.
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Why doesn't the parking department just ask for our firstborn child, for cry ing out loud?
What's wrong with being a tree hugger? I'd rather be a tree hugger than obsessed with my own consumer-driven lifestyle. That goes to you Gap and Abercrombie kids.
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The protest against the Kansan is not a Black versus White thing, but a protest for fair representation for everyone on this campus. I could care less who writes the articles as long as they report all the facts and do it fairly.
Black Student Union does not think that all White people are prejudiced. Whoever put that in the paper obviously has not been paying attention. We're upset with some editors at the Kansan, but nobody ever said that all White people were prejudiced.
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You know, some people call me a long-haired Hashei hippie freak, but with too many more presidents like George Bush, our children's grandchildren will probably ask what forests were like. My point: it's not given the great outdoors will remain great
Whoever thinks the campus masturbator is funny is an ignoramus. The victim probably didn't think it was humorous when they were frightened by an act of sexual aggression outside their home.
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The parking fee freeze did not help anyone. It just delayed the pain.
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I just woke up in the fetal position naked on my living room floor with 15 minutes to get to class. Does anyone know what's going on?
The Kansan needs to get serious about what's happening to GTAs. If GTAs aren't recruited well, it greatly diminishes the value of undergraduate education at KU.
Skdoosh. Spelled s-k-d-o-o-s-h.
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Does it really matter who's more racist — Whites or Blacks? Shouldn't we stop and try to get along with each other?
I'm all about this March Madness stuff, but what about The Bold and the Beautiful?
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Tree huggers rule.
I've seen three mullets in the past two days. Beat that.
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Rick Pitino has to be the best TV announcer ever.
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