4
Monday, February 4, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Homosexual rights
Administrators should have addressed quickly Department of Defense's discriminatory policy
The University Council passed a resolution May 3, 1990, to prohibit ROTC from holding commissioning ceremonies on KU property or involving KU personnel in those ceremonies.
The gripe then, as now, was that the Department of Defense's policy of denying ROTC scholarships and officer commissions to lesbians and gay directly contradicts KU's policy banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
As discussion on the issue lingered on into August, some administrators showed reluctance to restricting ROTC's activities because the military program was a valuable source of scholarships for many students. Others said they couldn't understand why Chancellor Gene A. Budig wouldn't sign the Council's May 3 resolution since it was clearly aimed at eliminating a double standard on campus.
At a Council meeting in September, Budig said the most effective way to change the policy would be to work with other colleges and national associations, although Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney refused to meet with any such group.
Nine months, a petition, several protests, a committee appointment and a war later. Budig approved a statement pointing out the ROTC program's violation of the University's non-discrimination policy and has agreed to send two faculty members to Washington,
D. C.. to circulate it.
The University administration waited too long to act on the overt contradictions in policies on this campus. For starters, when Cheney made it apparent that he was not willing to discuss the ROTC's policies, no matter how many colleges and national associations Budig threw on his bandwagon, the administration should have tried to affect legislation immediately, which Del Shankel, interim executive vice chancellor, recognized as one way to change the policy.
While the administration wasted time pursuing the wrong avenue to force the policy change, war in the Middle East became increasingly imminent. Administrators should have realized that legislators' ears were going to grow progressively defer as the sounds of war built to a crescendo. By the time of the trip in February or March, few legislators' will be enthusiastic about pushing the Department of Defense to change a military policy. And the Department of Defense surely will have other priorities.
Why not just mail the statement and save taxpayers some airfare? At this point, fliers probably would not be more effective.
When administrators recognize a problem of such breadth as a restriction of human rights, they should act immediately to affect change.
Debbie Myers for the editorial board
End to apartheid?
De Klerk's hollow promises lack voting rights; Black South Africans would be kept voiceless
Even when recent desegregation legislation is in place, Black South Africans still will be left without the legal right to vote.
Recent changes in South Africa have left many thinking that the end of apartheid and racial oppression are within sight.
President F. W. de Klerk promised that laws that segregate housing, restrict Black ownership of land and legally classify citizens by race would be repealed by the end of April. His proposal lacks provisions for the transition to democracy.
Many world leaders think de Klerk's plan is by far the most positive step he has taken toward ending apartheid.
The U.S. State Department's representative said that South Africa was "pretty close" to being at the point where economic sanctions could be lifted. This response came prematurely.
Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, noted that de Klerk's plan overlooked the voting issue.
Mandela and Mangosutu Gatsha Buthelezi, leader of the Inkata Freedom Party, have vowed to work at uniting their warring factions. Violence between the groups has left more than 4,000 dead in the last five years.
When April rolls around, Black South Africans will have made little progress toward the ultimate and most meaningful goal.
They will not be able to participate in the process of political empowerment
We should hold out for voting rights, the true key to eroding the foundation of apartheid. Economic sanctions should not be lifted until South Africa has recognized the rights of its Black citizens.
The editorial board members are: Juli Watkins, Stacy Smith, Brent Maycock, Amy Zamierowski, Melanie Botts, Tiffany Harness, Rod Griffin, Chris Siron, Rich Cornell, Melanie Matthes, Clare McGinn, Elicia Hill, Jennifer Shultz, Debbie Myers, and Carol Krekeler.
Tiffany Harness for the editorial board
Nintendo To Drive The Nintendo Solution
Selective political use of Amnesty reports is convenient, but immoral
Clear facts. Black and white. Unambiguous choice. These Independence Bus
Clear facts. Black and white.
Unambiguous choice. These are the terms President Bush used in the letter he sent to more than 450 airport officials and workers. The subject was Iraq occupation of Kuwait. The object was to prepare young people for military confrontation in the Persian Gulf.
The letter cited Amnesty International's recent report on Iraq as evidence to support the administration's position. Perhaps presidential advisers know that Amnesty volunteer groups are now active on more than 2,600 campuses in this country. I hope the administration will soon make the members and other student activists cannot be misled by opportunistic manipulation of the international human rights movement.
When taken at face value, President Bush's condemnation of torture and political killings by Iraqi authorities appears laudable. Violations of basic human rights should arouse indignation and inspire action to stop them. The matter becomes less clear how the president can be held responsible. Why did our president remain mute on the subject of the Iraqi government's patterns of severe human rights abuses before August 1990? Why does he remain mute about abuses committed by other governments, our so-called
Amnesty published its report on the Iraq government's gross human rights violations for one purpose: to advance the protection of human rights. By publicizing such abuses, the movement generates public pressure and international protest. Governments during the years have channeled particular portions of Amnesty's findings into their political agendas, and government authorities undoubtedly will continue to do so in the future. But the United States should not tolerate selective indignation by its own government. We can teach our political leaders that people's human rights are not convenient issues for rhetorical arsenals.
John
Healey
Guest columnist
coalition partners in the region?
The behavior of Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait does not constitute a sudden shift to the brutal side. Iraqi civilians have suffered the same cruel and degrading treatment by government personnel for more than a decade, as detailed in numerous Armney International reports. There was no presidential indignation, for example, in 1989 when Armney released its essays about the torture of Iraqi children. And just a few weeks before the invasion of Kuwait, the Bush administration refused to conclude that Iraq had engaged in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violations.
If U.S. policies before August 1990 had reflected concern about the Iraqi government's human rights record, our country might not be digging in for war today. Tomorrow's tensions in the region may well be mapped by the human rights records of our long-term friends, such as the Saudi Arabian government, and new found friends, such as the Syrian government. We've heard little from the U.S. government in recent years about the appalling tactics of repression used in Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Torture is reportedly a common practice in Saudi Arabia, and political detainees have been jailed there for prolonged periods without charge or trial. Syrian prisoners are routinely tortured. A majority of the thousands of political prisoners held there have been denied their right to a trial.
Relentless and ruthless abuses by the Iranian government continue. More than 5,000 Iranians have been executed during the last three years. Incommunicado detention and torture are routine in Morocco, and that
country's government persists in responding to disappearances with secrecy and silence. Our government fails to act with determination against the torture suffered by tens of prisoners held in Turkish jails.
The Egyptian government has subjected many thousands of political prisoners to detention without charge or trial. The torture of political prisoners, especially supporters of Islamic groups opposing the government, is reportedly common in Egypt. In Israeli occupied territories, thousands of Palestinians have been detained without charge or trial. Many of the detainees commissarities of peacefully exercising their rights to free expression and association. Israeli troops, often engaging in excessive use of force, have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
President Bush's selective indignation over Iraq's abuses in Kuwait undermines the norms of human decency he touts in his letter to campus newspapers. All people in all countries are entitled to human rights protection: international humanitarian standards rest upon this principle. The standards are unequivocally practical, because human rights protection establishes a foundation for just, peaceful, stable order. Exploiting human rights to justify violent confrontation is itself indecent.
Annetney International takes no position on the territorial disputes now raging in the Persian Gulf. But we do support international coalition building to prevent all egregious human rights violators from conducting business as usual. If President Bush is sincere about desperatelyancing a national effort, it will give us ambiguity from his invocation of moral obligation, then let him be consistent in his concern for human rights.
John Healey is the executive director of Amnesty International.
Acquire the appearance of sophistication in four easy steps
E everybody knows him. He's the guy who quietly walks into a room and everyone notices. As he glances around with a worthy eye he crosses his legs the moment he suddenly nobody wonders about his sexuality.
A crowd gathers around him as if something great were about to exude from his lips. He mutters something about how the world would be at inner peace where creatures could meed rumors, then he walks out of the room. Silence.
"God, he is sooo deep!" scream the
girls after a pause. None of them knows what he said, but they are sure it was really important. To be deep is to be interesting, intelligent, witty — you know, all the things you aren't it. You need to be smart, compiled this list of all you need to
Matt
Walsh
Staff columnist
know to be deep.
■ Go to galleries. Pick a painting with a bunch of naked people. Don't make fun of all the rolls of fat on the female nudes; you must remember that they lived in a time long before Soloflex. As you gaze at the hefty nude, not your head and comment on the lovely shading techniques and the religious or sexual overtones. Don't worry, no matter what the painting is, there are always some religious or sexual overtones to it.
past the occasional excerpt from Jackie Collins' book in the National Enquirer.
Read. It would be nice if your knowledge of literature extended
Poetry is also good to read. It helps to quote passages at social gatherings. Try, however, to avoid the poem about the woman from Nantucket if you happen to be giving a speech at your grandmother's 80th birthday party. If you write your own poetry, don't make it rhyme and, if at all possible, make it totally meaningless. Your deepness level goes up considerably with incoherent verse because all you have to do is say the
poem is a statement about nuclear war.
Attend cultural events. Going to the ballet is a wonderful tool to raise your deepness level. Of course, points will be taken away if you inform everyone in your row that the head stubs his tights with gym socks.
Take in the opera and pretend you know exactly what they're singing about. And please, for me, don't ask how long until the fat lady sings no matter how funny you think the joke may be.
- Become political. Many deep people take a strong political stand. I, myself, have taken a stand against politics.
OK, all the steps have now been taken to be, or at least appear to be, deep. Now it is the moment of truth. Repeat after me: 'The world would be in inner peace if butterflies could mend their own wings.'
Could you say it with a straight face? I guess you're a lot deeper than I am.
Matt Walsh is a freshman majoring in journalism.
KANSAN STAFF
by Tom Michaud
CHRIS SIRON
RICH CORNELL
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
TOM EBLEN
AUDRA LANGFORD Business manager
MINDI LUND Retail sales manager
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
JEANNE HINES
Business staff
Editors
Editors
News. Melissa Matteas Campus sales mgr. Sophie Wehbe Editorial. Tiffany Harness Regional sales mgr. Carden Dresch Planning. Holly M. Neuman National sales mgr. Jennifer Claxton Campus. Jennifer Reynolds, Co-op sales mgr. Christine Musser Pam Soller Production mgrs. Rich Harshbarger Sports. Ann Sollner Kette Salem Photography. Keith Thorpe Marketing director. Gai Einbinder Graphics. Melissa Unterberg Creative director. Chrissy Hitsa Features. Jill Hartington Classified manager. Kim Crowder
Business manager
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
The Kenan reserves the right to reject or edit edits, guest column and cartoons. They can be maled or brought to the Kenan newroom, 111 Staffer/Flall Hall.
Home Remedies