4
Wednesday, December 1, 1993
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Brady bill's gun control sign of hope in Congress
Last week's passage of the Brady bill marks a significant move toward compromise in fighting escalating violent crime in America. Jim Brady and his wife, Sarah, should be applauded for sticking with their seven-year fight for stricter gun control measures.
The GOP's decision to compromise and allow the bill to pass with a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns and a background check is representative of the growing national concern that action against violent crime is needed now. In return, the bill will be subject to modifications as soon as next year, and the waiting period will expire as soon as a national, computerized background check is implemented.
The Bradys, who have fought long and hard after Jim Brady was wounded during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, were instrumental in gaining national support for the waiting period. Their perseverance should be a model for everyone who is concerned about the tragic number of Americans who are wounded or killed each year by handguns.
The waiting period will give potential handgun buyers a chance to "cool off" and will allow suppliers to run the background check, which is supported by the National Rifle Association. Together, the two measures will help prevent convicted felons from purchasing handguns and give people the chance to think through their purchase of a gun.
Although the effectiveness of the Brady bill will not apparent for years, the recent compromising nature of Congress is encouraging and should extend into next year's session as other vital issues are addressed.
The fact that the Brady bill has been surrounded by controversy makes this victory bittersweet. An issue of this magnitude should demand compromise immediately, not after seven years, so that progress is not impeded. Violent crime should not be a bipartisan issue.
EISHA TIERNEY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
New bill would target teen drunken driving
The need for the legislation is obvious.
That's the centerpiece of a bill now winding its way through Congress under the sponsorship of Republican Sen. John Danforth of Missouri.
Teen-age drivers should be required to maintain clean records for one year before they are allowed to receive permanent licenses.
Danforth's bill focuses primarily on teen-agents. It offers $100 million in grants to states if they beef up their laws on drunken driving.
Drunken driving is the No. 1 killer for young Americans ages 16 to 24. Teen-agers are the most vulnerable. They have only 7 percent of all driver's licenses but account for 15 percent of highway deaths.
Under the bill, a young driver would first have to acquire a provisional license effective for one year. If the driver keeps a spotless record, he or she can then seek a permanent license.
The bill would also offer grants to states that:
— Establish a mandatory fine of
at least $500 to anyone who sells or gives alcohol to a minor.
— Set the blood-alcohol content at 0.02 for drivers under the age of 21. The current level, which is used by police to measure intoxication, is 0.10.
— Suspend for a minimum of six months the license of anyone under 21 who is caught buying or possessing alcohol.
Those measures are tough and reasonable, but a couple of others in the bill are too harsh. One section of the bill, for instance, would confiscate the vehicles of anyone convicted of drunken driving more than once in a five-year period.
Such a law could place a severe hardship on the innocent members of families who rely on their vehicles for transportation to and from work. States should focus instead on stiffer sentencing, strengthened treatment programs and better enforcement of suspended licenses.
With a few changes, Danforth's bill could help reduce the number of Americans — particularly young people — who get behind the wheel when they shouldn't.
The Freelance-Star
Fredericksburg, Va.
Trouble in the choir
Personal loss inspires AIDS prevention work
Over the last few years, people have asked me why I am involved in AIDS-related programs. I, like most others, became involved with AIDS causes for personal reasons.
Blake Rothas was a boyfriend of a friend of mine named Erich. They met when Blake was distributing condoms in Oklahoma City. Blake gave Erich's friend a condom with his phone number on the wrapper.
Blake was very good-looking and had been a model. His family had moved to San Francisco from Oklahoma when he was still in high school. He used to cut class, going into the Tenderloin or Castro areas to stand on the corner with his friends, watching the men go by. And he did more. Blake was reluctant to talk about that, to me anyway.
Blake also had AIDS. Back then we thought it was romantic, to have a dying lover. We were 19; none of us had experienced the pain of outliving someone we loved.
Blake was a bit of a celebrity in Oklahoma City. He appeared in the media, answering questions about AIDS and HIV infection. He tried to educate as many people, gay and straight, as he could.
I was an assistant editor for a humanities journal at the time, and I thought an interview with Blake would be a great piece. It would be his last interview, as he had just been hired by the state to be its first AIDS education trainer. During the interview he told how being HIV-positive had affected his life, given him a philosophy of making a difference.
Blake also mentioned how difficult
it was to become close to someone. I remembered how Erich had quickly dumped Blake, saying he could not handle the emotional burden. Every time he and Blake tried to make love, Erich would see these little plastic tubes hanging out of Blake's chest. The tubes were to test his blood count. Erich would close his eyes, but then he would feel the tubes, or hear the nearly whisper noise of them rubbing against each other, pounding home the fact that Blake was dying. Then, if Blake would try to hold him, or bend over to kiss him, the tubes would brush against Erich's skin. Erich was right; he couldn't handle it.
COLUMNIST
Blake was hurt, of course, but understanding. Even in the end, when he talked about the people he loved, Blake always said he never blamed Erich. If anything, he said, it was his own fault.
After the interview, Blake encouraged me to attend a training session for AIDS counselors. I thought it would benefit the story and provide good background information. I did not realize it would become a focal point of my life.
One night Blake and I went to play
pool. He was bothered that night, about his work, his life and his progressing illness. He appeared tired and thinner, but I told him he looked well. He stared at me, put his hand on my arm, and asked, "What about my hair? Can you tell I'm losing it?" For a moment the person in front of me was no longer the state's spokesperson for AIDS education, but the young man whose good looks were fading, whose hair was falling out, whose vitality was vanishing. The only time I lled to him was when I told him I did not think his hair was thinning.
I visited Blake before he died. He floated in and out of reality. He reached for a jar from his bed stand, and rubbed clear ointment of some kind all over his lips, repeatedly, in larger and larger swipes, until he was applying it to his chin. I asked what he had been doing since last we spoke. He responded, but his voice was not his; it was the voice of a locust, trying desperately to leave its shell, yet unable to wrestle free. "I've been dead for weeks."
Today, on World AIDS Day, I remember why trying to prevent AIDS is important. And I remember the faces and voices forever gone. Dennis, from high school. Timmy, who entertained so many of us. Larry, whose graff exterior belied a helpful nature. Roger, whose droll humor prodded but never hurt. And Blake, whose dedication and style showed a purpose for me in the madness of the world.
Patrick Dilley is a Lawrence graduate student in higher education.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Columnist should not portray Mexico as inferior
I choked, and I had to read the article twice to realize it was true that someone actually wrote that. I could not believe what Jim Kimmel wrote Thursday. Nov. 18. I'm aware of everybody's right to express, and I am able to write this because of the same reason; yet this freedom is not unlimited. There are points one should not go beyond, especially when it comes to others' rights to be respected.
KANSAN STAFF
that, as a Mexican, I am deeply offended by some of Kimmel's comments. The anger is greater because it's not only a personal aggression, but it extends to my whole nation. Where is the respect my people and I deserve? How can we have a pleasant atmosphere at KU, and how can we talk about nondiscrimination when people write in the newspaper that "without these steps we may become more like Mexico instead of Mexico becoming more like us?"
The reason I write today is to say
about Americanizing Mexico? What makes him think becoming like Mexico is bad? Why would it be better for Mexico to become like the United States? I guess he cannot really see the sovereignty of Mexico. I find it offensive that he implies that Mexico is inferior, and that it would not be a good thing to become like it. Let's just hope that now that NAFTA has been passed Mexican people don't become like Kimmel and his ideas; then we would certainly be lost as a country.
Liliana Valderrama-Blum
Oueretarama, Mexico, freshman
Who told this guy Mexico wants or should become like the United States? With what right does he talk
BILL SKEET, Systems coordinator
Assistant to the editor ... J.R. Clairborne
News ... Stacy Friedman
Editorial ... Terrilyn McComrick
Campus ... Ben Grove
Sports ... Kriati Fogler
Photo ... Klip Chin, Renee Knoeber
Features ... Erra Wale
Graphics ... John Paul Fogle
AMY CASEY Business manager
Well, all of that aside, KU games can be great enjoyment. You can learn much from the very knowledgeable fans that stand behind you and yell things that will convince you that they would make great referees. Things like, "Hey, ref, are you watching the same game we are?" If you decide to brave the conditions, have fun and GOICHABODS, I mean, JAYHAWKS!
KC TRAUER, Editor
JOE HARDER, CHRISTINE LAUE
Managing editors
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Chris Ronan is an Overland Park pamphle
majoring in broadcast journalism.
Business Staff
Business manager
AMY STUMBO
Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
Business Start
Campus sales mgr ... Ed Schager
Regional Sales mgr ... Jennifer Perrer
National sales mgr ... Jennifer Everson
Co-op sales mgr ... Blythe Focht
Production mgr ... Jennifer Blowey
Kate Burgess
Marketing director ... Shelly McConnell
Creative director ... Brian Fusco
Classified mgr..Gretchen Kotterleinrich
3. Getting in and finding a seat. This is the most fun adventure of the trip because at about 9 a.m. — before the game is but a speck in your eye — loyal fans with nothing better to do camp in the lobby of the Field House. They, and 6,000 of their closest friends enter the second gates open and quickly fill up the north (fun) end of the court. You then have to sit in the south student section with fellow 50-year old, two children, graduated in the '60s "students." You may be able to find a seat in the fun section, about 4,000 feet above sea level, where the players look like little pencil specks.
As we here at KU bid farewell to the football season (sob, sob) we happily welcome the arrival of the long-awaited basketball season (yippee, yippee). As with most years, this squad shows great promise in that, at some point, trying to attend a game will cause each and every one of us to lose many hairs.
Allen boasts several great matchups this year. Among them, Indiana, Temple, Kansas State and the perennial powerhouse Washburn Ichabods (mark Dec. 6 on your calendar). But take it from me. Getting in to see a game can be almost as interesting and suspenseful as the game itself. Several factors can lead you to want to go home long before the contest has even begun. Let's look at a few examples:
1. Driving. Getting to the game by way of car is, well, downright stupid.
It is stupid because if you want to take your car, you will battle with about 50,000 people from Kansas City who all converge on Lawrence at the same time. Also, unless you want to leave the game with over ten minutes left and Washburn only down 160-4, you will deal with the same 50,000 Kansas Citians who all reach their cars and leave the campus at the same time.
This leads us to our next problem ...
2. Parking. Unless you arrive several hours before the game — which may not be early enough — plan on parking somewhere near Eudora. This is because at about 4 p.m. — give or take an hour — the "Parking Patrol" begins charging $2 for parking in any lot within 10 miles of campus. These are the same lots that you may have paid $50 — plus tax — to park in for the year. As you can imagine, the Kansas Citians all get to the lot, see a sign that says "PARKING $2. YES, EVEN PEOPLE THAT PAID FOR PERMITS." reach into their pockets, find $2, get change and then ask questions like, "OK, so where's the Field House from here? Can we walk there?" This causes a huge backup to 23rd Street. If you do make it to Allen, you will experience our next problem ...
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas must include class and homeetown, or faculty or staff position. Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be
Field House hassles are adventurous part of game
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
photographed. The keeper reserves the right to relict or edit letters, guest columna and cartoons. They can
COLUMNIST
University of Mars
by Joel Francke
9