4a
Opinion
Tuesday, December 12, 2000
For comments, contact Ben Voosen Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Perspective
Israel, U.S. near brink of illegitimacy
While the United States still plays the count and recount game in Florida and in Washington D.C., the rest of the world suffers the consequences of this uncertainty.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak resigned Sunday. By doing that, Barak, member of the Israeli Labor Party, seeks what none of the two candidates still running for president here will ever have—a mandate.
indicate. Barak won the elections in 1999 against Benjamin Netanyahu, then prime minister and still a Likud Party member. It is important to remind you that Barak was elected in the first place only because Netanyahu wasn't able to negotiate solid peace agreements with the Palestinians, Netanyahu's
The Likud has traditionally had a more aggressive stance regarding the peace agreements in the region. It has never tried very hard to be conciliatory with the Palestinians, and that hasn't played very well with the Israeli people.
actions, to some extent,
led to the turmoil that that's
happening now, under
Barak's government.
Opinion polls show that the majority of the country's people sun-
port peace with the Palestine Authority, which means that any candidate envisioning a bid for the highest office in Israel will have to be seen as a peacemaker. Netanyahu couldn't do that during his tenure as prime minister, so he lost to Barak in a landslide.
Barak wasn't able to fix the situation — he has resigned.
Cassio Furtado columnist opiningokansan.com
None of the main parties that make up the Knesset — the Israeli parliament — really wants to give up what it should to achieve peace. They are merely playing with the people to stay in power. Palestinians have consistently blamed Ariel Sharon, the Likud chairman, for the beginning of the recent clashes in the Middle East. Sharon visited one of the sites that are considered sacred by both Jews and Arabs — and the Arabs obviously didn't like that.
since his visit Sept. 28, more than 300 people have died, mostly of which are Palestinians. Public opinion in Israel has obviously disapproved of that. Netanyahu leads Barak in the most recent polls by considerable margins. One of the latest opinion polls used by CNN gave Netanyahu 45 percent support against Barak's 28 percent.
harak's resignation, therefore, is a very smart move. The Knisset had called for new elections next year, and that would open the door for Netanayu to run, which would almost certainly give him a victory.
By resigning, Barak forces new elections in a period of two months. This election, according to Israeli law, can only be open to Knesset members.
Netanyahu is not a member of the Knesset.
Barak would then have to run against a Knesset member — probably Sharon, leader of the Likud. And it is obvious that although Barak trails in the polls against NETanyahu, he would certainly prevail against Sharon, winning a new term.
However, would that imply a new mandate?
The Knesset would have to be dissolved in order for Netanyahu to run — and most members admit that they would need more than 60 days to dissolve it.
Running against one of the most radical political figures in a country where most of the people have consistently said that they support peace can give Barak anything but a mandate. It would be something like George W. Bush running against Pat Buchanan.
In that situation, even Democrats would vote for the Texas governor.
israel, like its most powerful ally, the United States, is taking the risk of having a totally illegitimate government. Here, it's because votes weren't counted; there, it's because the only strong challenger wasn't allowed to run. But both situations can still change, I hope.
Furtado is a Pelotas, Brazil, senior in political science and journalism.
Wes Benson / KANSAN
By the Numbers
$300,000 Approximate amount of money the Pentagon spent on a dinner last week
13,092 Number of forks, knives and spoons in the White House
3. 5 years
Average amount of time people spend eating in their lifetime
Average amount of time people spend talking
2. 500
Number of left-handed people killed each year using products made for right-handed people
10 to 1
Ratio that the world's termites outweighs the world's humans https://www.humbo.com
Source: http://sbt.bhmedia.com
Perspective
Santa Claus, Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas
rowing up, Christmas meant only two things: Santa Claus and presents. The entire Christmas season was dedicated to and completely centered around
the big man in red and, of course, wherever there was Santa, there were also presents.
This was all Christmas meant to me, but there is so much more. It wasn't until I was older and had accepted Jesus into my heart that I discovered what Christmas really meant. This past summer I had a close view
of what it means to be in the most joyful time of year while visiting the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, Israel.
Looking back, I still remember some of the toys that I unwrapped from under the Christmas tree. When I was 3 years old, I woke up to find a small Smurf motorcycle — training wheels included, of course. I remember playing on the little piano my grandparents gave me when I was 5. When I was
7 and 8, my presents were Pound Puppies and Barbies.
As a kid, I was taught that a baby named Jesus was born, some rich men came and brought him gifts and this was why I got presents every Christmas morning. The presents were really all I cared about, since that was what the main focus of the holiday had always been. "Who wants what?" and "How can we get it for them?" were the big seasonal questions.
Besides all of the marketed Christmas hype, which has become a fundamental part of my childhood yuletide memories, is the thought of what Christmas is really about.
Beyond this, I knew nothing about Jesus or Christmas except what I knew about Santa Claus, Rudolph and the other reindeer. I knew more about St. Nicholas than I ever did about Jesus. I'm curious to know, out of so many people who celebrate the Christmas holiday, how many actually celebrate what it is really about?
For the longest time, I had no clue. I truly believed it was all about the lights, the trees, the presents, the wrapping paper, the snow, the TV specials and commercials. Out of all of these things how can a mere baby be more important?
Amanda
Ahlgren
guest columnist
opinion@kansan.com
This past summer I took a trip to Israel. It was on my visit to Bethlehem, at the very site where Jesus was born, that I became overwhelmed with the real meaning of Christmas. On July 29, I wrote this in my journal:
“Will you believe me when I tell you that I am in Bethlehem? I'm listening now to a procession of Franciscan chants as they walk down to the place of Jesus' birth — a place I just visited. It is hard to be alone, and yet I know that even when there are no people to be found — to stand by me, to talk with me, to love me — I am never really alone. I am never alone because of Jesus. By God's grace, his amazing grace, a child was born in a manger, in Bethlehem. That night, about 2000 years ago, I was saved, I was forgiven and I was loved — completely and totally loved.”
This Christmas, as I travel back home to Minnesota to be with my family, I will remember the words that I wrote the day I visited Bethlehem. No matter where I spend Christmas, or whether there are gifts, or whether I see The Grinch on the big screen, I will remember what Christmas really means to me and what it is really all about — the one whose birthday we continue to celebrate.
Ahlgren is an Eden Prarie, Minn., freshman in journalism and international studies.
Editorial
Students' initiative necessary
It will take students, not just funding, to improve KU's minority retention.
Minority enrollment is down at the University of Kansas, and the solution involves more than just giving money to prospective students. Students and the administration should work collectively to make the University a diverse institution.
Sending out brochures with happy minority faces attached is only a short-term solution. Minority students soon arrive to find that they make up only about 9 percent of the student body and that they may be the only minority students in their classes. Giving scholarship money is done in vain if there are no efforts to retain students.
Before the University can effectively attract new minority students, it must support the efforts to create a healthy environment for minority students who already attend the University. Some of the best recruiting is done by students on campus. If these students do not feel as though efforts are being made or that their own efforts are not supported, it will continue to be difficult to recruit more minority students.
The HawkLink program and the Office of Multicultural Affairs need support from the administration in all of their efforts not only to recruit minority students but also to retain those students. The administration should continue to offer these offices financial support and increased exposure to students during campus visits and through mailings.
Students have just as much power and influence to affect minority recruitment and retention. They can work with the administration to make sure minority students automatically receive detailed information about available minority programs. Minority organizations should make efforts to be visible during the first few weeks of school by setting up tables at campus fairs or passing out fliers at local events.
Those organizations should continue to plan programs that bring minority students together to build a stronger community. If we want to see more minority students at the University, minority students must make themselves visible and available.
Erica Hawthorne 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. To read more, go to www.kansan.com.
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College students have sex and do drugs. Thanks, Kansan, for reporting and not preaching.
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Why does Saferide advertise that it's open until 3, but it's 2:45 and no one's answering?
For everyone complaining about the short winter break,try being an RA. We only have 16 days.
--me franks justify the beans.
Why does the Jayhawk at the top of the paper always looks so sad and confused?
Just because they're doing their job doesn't make it just. Is the parking department corrupted? Is KU corrupted?
器
We live in a federal republic and not a democracy. There's a difference, Learn it!
I hate that I have to storm through a barrier of smoke before I get into my apartment building.
me franks justify the beans.
I'm graduating soon. The only thing I'm disappointed about is that they haven't caught the campus masturbater.
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Free for All should have live operators.
--me franks justify the beans.
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To the students who ticket cars for the parking department: You guys suck!
I think everyone should take environmental studies.
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me franks justify the beans.
Bad pick-up line No. 184:
Let's act like dogs so I can sniff your crotch.
We should send penguins to away games.
me franks justify the beans.
If I could do my freshman semester over, I would go to class more.
All I want for Christmas is a dildo.
me franks justify the beans.
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If you choose to work for the parking department, you're asking for it.
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