Wednesday, February 28, 2001 The University Daily Kansan Section A · Page 5 Letters to the Editor Coverage of fight at conference employs negative stereotypes The most disturbing aspect of your coverage of the recent Big 12 Black Student Government Conference ("Fight fails to derail minority conference," Monday) was that one of the most basic elements of sound journalism — "why?" — was missing from the article. This is crucial because that element is what ultimately would If the fight was between two men about a woman, for example, then who cares about the fight? That's an unfortunate reality of human nature, and it likely happens several times a night in this town on any given weekend. It has only minor bearing on the story of a student government conference. — was missing from the article. This is crucial because that element is what ultimately would determine whether the fight was newsworthy. If, however, the fight broke out because of the politics of student government, then that's a whole other story. That's news. If the fight was instigated by students — White or Black — who came to disrupt the conference, that would be newsworthy. In fact, if the fight was a minor fractas over some unrelated issue, then the story becomes: "Why did the campus police decide to shut down the event entirely instead of merely taking away those involved?" Perhaps the fight was newsworthy. But read ers were given no information about why the fight broke out. Without it, none of us — not even those who supposedly teach sound journalism — can assess the newsworthiness of that aspect of the story. Without it, the story became just another negative stereotype of minority people being inherently violent. "Why" was that possible distortion so easy for the Kanan to accept without further investigation and "why" was that not made an issue by the journalism teachers who later were asked and quoted about the story? The answer, unfortunately, is because the racism and discrimination in our society are deeply ingrained in and perpetuated by our media today. The perpetuation of negative stereotypes continues because mainstream journalists and journalism educators continue to accept and/or ignore the fallacies of the media's unfair and unrealistic representations of minorities in the "news." You all just accepted the violence at the conference as if it were an expected occurrence, rather than questioning "why" there was vio- You all just accepted the violence at the conference as if it were an expected occurrence, rather than questioning "why" there was violence at the conference. Unfortunately, that's nothing new. Mike Cuenca assistant professor of journalism Kansan was mistaken to imply that fight defined weekend conference If a fight did not derail the Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government, why was it the highlight of this article, which attempted to overshadow any positive element of the conference? The fight occurred at a party Friday night, not at the leadership conference. As a student in the School of Journalism, I know as well as you the headline and first paragraph are the most important in a newspaper article. The first word in the headline was "fight," and the first and second paragraphs talked about the fight only. The word "minority" is completely out of style and should not have been used. I know you had space to fill, and the word filled the space. But as an editor, Melinda Weaver's job is to follow the stylebook and find the politically correct word. When I took my class in editing in Spring 1988, we did not use the word "minority." That was three years ago. This conference had an impact on 1,000 students from across the country and offered 36 workshops during two days. It is unfortunate that this article failed to give a more thorough and accurate picture of the conference for the people who were not able to attend. The media have a tendency to portray African Americans in a negative light. You have added to the problems faced by African Americans from the media. The fight did not define the conference, but you allowed it to do so by the poorly written article. Veronica Shorter Lawrence senior Televising execution of McVeigh won't help bring closure to victims In the yesterday's issue of the Kansan, the editorial board argues that families of persons killed in the Oklahoma City bombing have a "right" to watch Timothy McVeigh's execution ("Victims have right to view execution"). As if the death penalty's existence weren't tragic enough, our society — in the form of government — is making the worst of a bad situation by turning the execution into a TV show. I have no doubt that victims' families are still dealing with the grief and sorrow caused by the bombing. But if they think see McVeigh die will bring closure, I think they'll be sorely disappointed. Adding another death to that tragic episode — even the death of the assumed bomber — doesn't make the situation better. Watching a human die won't make the victims' families feel better about their loss. Aaron D. Profitt Overland Park senior As long as our society continues to manifest an institutional callousness toward violent death, we will find it difficult to deal with violent crime. McVeigh's execution is institutionalized violence, but it's still violence. Turning it into a spectacle for grieving families won't help them, and it hurts our society. If ever an incident should shock our social conscience, it is this. The editorial board's position reveals a lack of thought and sensitivity about an issue of deep and troubling proportions. Jayhawker Towers has maintenance pest problems that need to be solved As a resident of Jayhawker Towers, I'd like to respond to an inaccurate letter by Kara Smith ("Kansan paints unfair picture of life in Jayhawker Towers," Monday). My roommates and I have had difficulties getting maintenance problems taken care of by the Towers staff. We have experienced stained carpets, leaky windows, rubber in our drinking faucets, broken showerheads and harassment (which was handled promptly by our resident assistants but shouldn't be a problem). I pay $1,800 a year to live here, which makes me question where my money is going. It is the bug problem that has been most difficult. When I called the front desk to have an exterminator come, the woman who answered the phone said nothing about forms to fill out or that dishes needed to be removed from the cabinets. All she said was, "We'll send someone out." No one came, so I called again. It was not the fault of irresponsible residents but a misinformed, incompetent Towers staff member. It was unfortunate that a member of the exterminator's family died. But our complaint was that we were not told of his absence after calling the front desk. The staff couldn't give us any information until hours later. In response to Smith's comments about bugs resulting from unclean apartments, all I say is Jayhawker Towers is a poop-hole. Keeping it clean is all I can do to make it bearable. Smith wouldn't know that because she has never stopped by for some oatmeal and cockroach cookies, which we'd be willing to share. Ryane Ulson Overland Park sophomore As members of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, we feel that your article Atheist,agnostic group encourages open discussion, diverse viewpoints Feb. 12 ("Atheist, agnostic group hopes to boost campus profile") did not adequately represent our group. The purpose of SOMA is to raise awareness of atheism and agnosticism while providing a setting whereby atheists and agnostics can express viewpoints. It is also our objective to promote learned and open-minded discussions of human origins and belief systems. We think that knowledge and understanding of the people around us and the universe in which we live are useful tools to hinder close-mindedness and intolerance. Drawing upon the scholarly resources of the University, SOMA has organized a series of guest speakers to talk about evolution, cosmology, religion and other subjects. Anyone is welcome to attend as we neither discriminate nor intend to indoctrinate. We have arranged these lectures and other events to disseminate knowledge and leave conclusions up to the individual. We urge anyone who has questions about SOMA to attend meetings and learn more. Or visit www.ukans.edu/~soma or e-mail us at soma@ukans.edu for more information. Columnist who attacks gun rights twists opinions of Supreme Court I'm writing this in response to John Audehelm's column ("Statistics stack up quickly against gun-rights groups," Monday). If you want to present a solid, educated article, the first step is to educate yourself on the subject. Audlehelm misrepresents case law in United States v. Miller. This case served as a foundation for gun regulation, not a ban. He further proclaims his ignorance by stereotyping gun owners as conservative Republicans. Had he done his homework, he would have learned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says most legal gun owners are older, educated, middle-class people who are split almost equally between the political parties. Audlehelm is more interested in the symbolic significance of having guns banned than in establishing pragmatic and effective control of them. People such as him allow the National Rifle Association to scare gun owners into believing that gun control equals a ban. Such a ban would be no more effective than the ban on cocaine. Audlehelm should do gun-control advocates the favor of researching before he thinks about climbing on his soapbox again. Rick Frederick Lawrence senior Not getting hit on enough? 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Journalism Career Fair Thurs., March 1 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Kansas Union Big 12 Room - Discover jobs and internships * Network with professionals * Win door prizes Open to all students Sponsored by PRSSA and the Journalism Career Center Billed as musical-drama, the story centers on Selma, a Czech immigrant and single mother who moves to America with her son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood musical and ends up working in a factory, to earn the money necessary for her son to have a vision saving operation. A neighbor threatens Selma's savings, and sets in motion a series of events that bring this emotional story to its inspirational final. 4 A compassionate look into the lives of the homeless people who lived in abandoned railways under New York City. Documentary winner at Sundance Film Festival 2000. Alliance will be the host of WS Africa Multihuman level of the international conference. 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