4a
Opinion
Tuesday, February 6, 2001
For comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Perspective
Game traffic poses puzzle for students
It's now past 11 p.m. I could have been home an hour ago, snug in my residence hall room and working on homework. But I was denied access because of the incompetence of athletics and parking directors.
Mayhem ensued as I attempted to find an open route onto campus at 9:30 p.m. Evidently, the home basketball game had just ended, and people were streaming out every available exit in droves. Police and security blocked every entrance to speed the flow of outeoing traffic.
entrance to another. At each entrance, a brightly lit police car prevented passage, or a patrolman squeaking his whistle waved me away
What about those of us who endeavored to find a place to put our cars?
Aware that expedition of exit for the thousands of people leaving Allen Fieldhouse was a priority. I drove from one prospective
An hour later, I found a route leading to the Lied Center, where the few lucky enough to find this passage finally let their cars rest and trekked back to their rooms.
Clearly traffic directors and program coordinators have a noticeable lack of foresight.
I wasted sixty minutes during this exasperating
Understand, most rational people don't blame the security force for doing its job. Instead, I blame those who direct the directors and those who cause these inconveniences and disturbances. Those responsible don't seem to take their duties seriously.
taking the problem needs to be journey, and the problem needs to be addressed. An unnecessary hour cut out of a school night is uncalled for.
Brandon Cox
guest columnist
oinion@kansan.com
However, when one must sneak onto campus simply to get to one's residence, the issue becomes one of right-of-way.
Now, instead of the larger flow of traffic being delayed five or 10 seconds as a single car passes, people unfortunate enough to return home during the rush are forced to spend up to an hour or more looking for a way back or park somewhere inconveniently located off-campus.
Most people, including me, would willingly wait a few minutes while traffic directors shuffled cars away from the fieldhouse. Doing so would be perfectly acceptable in light of the massive flows of traffic.
Now a question of logic is introduced.
■ General admission to a home basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse is $25. A semester parking pass for an already overcrowded residence hall lot is $75.
- Parking spaces and seats in the fieldhouse both are routinely full.
- Student drivers return home five days a week — if not seven. Drivers regularly attending basketball games return roughly once every two weeks.
Based on utilitarianism — in which decisions are based on the greatest happiness for the greatest number — what makes sense: inconveniencing the regular student (whose semester bills for attending the University of Kansas can easily run upwards of $3,000) for an hour or inconveniencing a hundred sports fans for five minutes?
What does this mean? The people to whom the University owes a greater responsibility (those paying for school and associated dues) are sacrificed in lieu of its Athletics Department, and something must be done.
When put into a perspective based on money and utilitarianism, the student wins every time. It would take 125 people paying $25 to watch a game to equal the dues for even one in-state student. Those people are less likely to notice a traffic delay than a student forced to drive for an hour.
Perhaps all roads but a major one (such as 15th Street) could be closed to incoming drivers after a game. Perhaps signs could be posted at other entrances directing frustrated drivers with a parking permit to available or low-traffic detours. The obvious solution would be to delay traffic slightly to permit students onto campus.
At any rate, there is a cure for this problem. It just hasn't been prescribed yet.
Cox is a Lenexa freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
INEVITABLE SCENES IN SURVIVOR 2 (and 3, and 4...):
Bruno Pieroni/KANSAN
By the Numbers
3. 42 Average Fall 1999 GPA for undergraduate students in the School of Social Welfare — the highest for any school.
school.
Average GPA for undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
the lowest
2. 745 Number of KU students living in fraternities and sororities in Fall 1990.
the lowest.
1. 898 Number of Ku students living in fraternities and sororites in Fall 2000 — a 31
3,843 Number of undergraduate KU students age 18 or younger in Fall 2000.
percent decline.
Number of undergraduate KU students age 50 or older in Fall 2000.
Source: Office of Institutional Research and Planning
Perspective
Bush's promise of unity ignores human nature
So President George W. Bush promised unity. Already, people are crying. Unity in America — what an absurd statement. I don't really believe it's possible.
I don't care how outspoken Bush is about unifying the country; anybody who believes him is simply ignoring history.
Of course, he appointed ultraconservatives to serve in his administration. I expected that from him. But frankly, unity cannot be imposed by the government.
Throughout history, humans have fought and died for their beliefs — religion, slavery and taxes,
just to name a few. Our
country was founded on
conflict. Sure, it says
the "United States of
America" on an atlas,
but we stay together
through force.
Look at the Civil War; a "state" rebels against its sovereign government, and suddenly you've got troops walking the streets. Or in the case of internal conflict — well, look at the '60s.
In the grand scheme of things, America is still a young country, and it will be full of unrest for a while. People love to hate their boss; it's the American way. Unity is something people create through person-to-person contact and cannot be mandated by a president.
Conflict has been the single greatest catalyst of human and civil progress. People work much more efficiently when they compete with a common enemy.
Now, those enemies are Democrats or Republicans. Would you like it if there were only one political party? I hope not. Maybe it would be the Unity party.
Shaun Peterson columnist opinion@kansan.com
Conflict also has saved nations. Conflict is good for the economy. Many credit
World War II for bringing America out of the depression.
Unity is impossible. If you disagree, read some history and then decide for yourself. In the thousands of years humans have been on this planet, we still can't figure out how to get along with each other. We didn't evolve by sitting around a campfire singing "Kumbaya" and popping acid.
Conflict is simply part of our nature. Besides, what would you do with your days if you had nothing to go after or struggle to achieve? Aren't you in college because of the American dream?
People have no wish to be unified. People are self-motivated. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Ku Klux Klan and various other groups are all out to look after themselves; they're not pursuing unity.
We can live our lives alimlessly, like the citizens in Brave New World, or we can move on and fight. Unity on planet earth
maybe in a few billion years. That's America and the American dream. Sad as it may be, that's just how the game is played.
I still find it funny that anyone believed Bush when he spoke of unifying the country and Congress. Congress isn't supposed to be unified and efficient.
As Harry Truman said, "You want efficiency, go get a dictatorship." Besides, I like watching them call each other names and fighting. It just goes to show how far away they are from humanity. So all those who want unity: Go to Cuba or accept your fate. Without struggle, there will be no progress.
Conflict is the flower that enriches your life and pricks you at the same time. It's essential for democracy and for the advancement of you and all of western civilization.
Conflict made us what we are today — nothing less and nothing more.
Editorial
Deal places presidency above law
Clinton got off easy when he struck a toothless deal with investigators.
Peterson is a Wichita freshman in pre-journalism.
Former president Bill Clinton struck a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray Jan. 19 that ensured Clinton would not be permanently disbarred as soon as he left office. But the penalties he agreed to suffer are no more than slaps on his wrist.
— which is perjury, a felony. He also must acknowledge that he lied to the public, will lose his license to practice law for five years and will have to pay about $25,000 in legal fees.
Clinton agreed to acknowledge that he lied under oath while testifying in a deposition for the Paula Jones case
Obviously, Clinton has paid a hefty price already by becoming only the second president ever to be impached, but there is no reason why he shouldn't be disbarred if not for any other reason than principle. The president is not above the law.
Now that Clinton is an American citizen again, he should be treated as one. Any other attorney who is convicted of perjury would certainly be disbarred, and Clinton shouldn't be an exception.
"I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal and that certain of my responses to questions about Ms. Lewinsky were false," Clinton said.
Losing his license to practice law for five years is not that harsh for the former president. He will relax, write books and make speeches around the country now that his term is complete. He most likely would have done that even if his license hadn't been suspended. It is doubtful that he would have jumped right back into practicing law after leaving the White House.
Also, acknowledging to the public that he lied under oath is just confirming what the public already knew.
Part of the reason that Ray made the deal is that he wanted closure to an issue that had plagued America for too long. But disbarring Clinton would have brought closure, too. It's good that the final chapter has been written, but Clinton didn't deserve special treatment.
Marc Ingber 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.
四
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What do you say when I'm sorry isn't enough?
Someone needs to fix the computers in the Organizations and Leadership office in the bullpen. I'm glad we pay for them with student fees, but they aren't being maintained. Students would be better served if they are working.
图
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If my Magic Eight Ball is correct, my ex-boyfriend better watch out.
I was just wondering why Stanford's mascot is a Christmas tree.
Today, my American Lit teacher proved to me that there are still some truly amazing people in the world, and I just wanted to say thank you for his generosity.
I think the Thunderbird that's silver and drives by the Towers all the time is really cool.
图
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To all the Chenowith critics: If you think you guys are so good, then why aren't you out there playing? Shut up and give the man a break.
To the GTA who was complaining about freshman not coming to class: I think the best way to get them to come to class is not to call them idiots or tease them because their parents pay their tuition.
I
I just watched a KU Parking Department truck get pulled over by a Lawrence cop. Now if that doesn't make you feel good, what does?
The Phog Phanatics aren't trying to monopolize the student section. They're just the only group that can count in that lottery.
图
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If you smoke pot and get straight A's, then you're not smoking very good pot.
I'm pretty sure Philosophy 140 is the worst course in the history of the world.
图
How much tuition do I have to pay to get soft soap in the bathrooms here?
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