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Friday, January 25, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Homosexual rights
Lawrence City Commission should reconsider proposed amendment to human rights ordinance
In 1988, the City of Lawrence sent a strong message that certain groups in the community were not worthy of protection from prejudice and discrimination.
The human rights ordinance, which was passed in 1983, prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color or nationality.
But the ordinance fails to provide protection against discrimination based on actual or perceived homosexuality.
On Jan. 19, 1988, the Lawrence City Commission voted against an amendment to the ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual preference.
The commission meetings on the subject were some of the most well-attended city commission meetings in years.
The issue turned into a political hot potato. People became polarized on the issue. Some said homosexuals were entitled to equal protection under the law because they were human beings. Others said homosexuals should not be protected under the ordinance.
If passed, the amendment "would legitimize a perverse evil," some argued.
After six hours of public debate and an additional 90 minutes of closed debate among the commissioners, the amendment failed.
Although the commission was split, the majority refused to acknowledge the rights of homosexuals.
For almost three years the issue has been allowed to sit idly.
The real issue is one of civil liberties.
The real issue is one of CIVICISM. The prevailing argument of the commissioners was that no documentation of discrimination against homosexuals existed in Lawrence. Therefore, the city did not need to amend the law, the commissioners said.
However, the Lawrence Department of Human Relations-Human Resources, which documents discrimination complaints, said that it could not accept discrimination complaints based on homosexuality because it was not recognized in the ordinance.
This is a catch-22.
This is an important Complaints have been filed with Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas and the University of Kansas ombudsman.
The office of affirmative action at KU attempts to protect the rights of the gay community. However, Lawrence City Commission refuses to address the issue.
The commission should reconsider the proposed amendment.
The Lawrence community should not allow elected officials to legalize discrimination.
Elicia Hill for the editorial board
Drinking laws
'Moralistic' tavern laws considered unrealistic for present-day Kansas drinking establishments
T times change — but not in Kansas. The moralistic drinking laws passed 30 years ago by the state legislature are still in effect today.
There are two types of clubs in Kansas. Class A establishments are non-profit organizations, such as fraternal or social clubs, which are closed to the public. Class B clubs, such as Jayhawk Cafe, Louise's West and the Bottleneck, are profit organizations that serve alcohol, but patrons must pay a membership fee to belong.
To become a member of a Class B club, the state stipulates that individuals pay a minimum $10 fee and wait 10 days before the membership is valid.
Only establishments in which 30 percent of the business is food are allowed to serve liquor without a membership requirement
The law was amended in 1987 to allow counties to vote on dropping the 30 percent food requirement. Only four counties — Sedgwick, Wyandotte, Geary and Ellis — have dropped the requirement. Sixty-six
counties in the state are dry, meaning there are no drinking establishments open to the public.
Although these laws have been active since 1965, they are probably not familiar to everyone. The reason: they're nearly impossible to enforce. To accomplish this, Alcohol Beverage Control officers would have to stake out all the clubs every night, which is not economically feasible.
The laws are ignored by most clubs and are enforced on an irregular basis. Therefore, what is the purpose of having the laws? Even Jim Conant, acting director of the ABC, could not explain their relevance.
Adults should have the right to drink in public without a club membership requirement. The state has imposed its moral standards on residents for too many years. It's time for legislators to bring Kansas into the 20th century.
Stacv Smith for the editorial board
New fountain pen improves his unreadable autographs
the young man behind the counter looked at me suspiciously. "Is this some kind of gag or something?" he asked.
I told him it was no gag; just doing some shopping.
"But didn't you write something
    "
Yes, I know what I wrote, now let’s go on with how bank transactions.
Mike Royko Syndicated columnist
get on with our business transaction.
“... write something making fun of people who use traditional fountain pens?”
Not people in general. Yuppies. I was very specific about that: the many yuppies who buy expensive certain pens as a new status symbol.
The young man smiled. "So now you're buying a fountain pen? Come on, what's up?"
He shrugged. "OK, do you have any particular pen in mind?"
Up? Nothing was up, except my dander. A person should be able to make a simple purchase without being interrogated. Nobody asks the Japanese why they're buying all of our best golf courses, but I have to explain why I'm buying a fountain pen.
Something that doesn't leak and won't cost me an arm and a leg, or even a toe.
I told him that I had a cat that was curious, and curiosity killed it. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. The curiosity made it cross-eyed. It became curious as to how many times it could sink its claws into my arm, so I punched it in the brow. To this day, it stares at its own nose.
We settled on a moderately priced pen. As I turned to leave, he said,
"I'm curious. I still don't understand."
recently wrote a scornful column about the pretentious folly of buying old-fashioned fountain pens, which have to be refilled and pampered, when a cheap plastic ball-point get the job done just as well.
Within a few days, the letters started coming in from confirmed fountain-pen users, calling me an uninformed fool and explaining why they prefer the old nib.
"I am not a yuppie, I'm a granny," one woman wrote, "and I a fountain for one very simple reason: it writes better. Those cheap ball-points that you prefer slide all over the place. And felt-tip pens flatten out and before long it looks like you're writing with a paint roller."
But I decided to confess. Yes, I
That's essentially what all of them wrote. And I knew they were being truthful because they provided evidence: the letters, themselves.
I could read every word, every letter, every punctuation mark. That's in contrast to the illegibility of the handwritten mail I receive.
Reading those neat letters, it occurred to me that my handwriting had deteriorated over the years. It's become embarrassing. Recently, I was signing copies of one of my books in a book shop. A woman looked at her inscription and asked, "What does that say?"
I told her I had written: "To Jeanette, Best Wishes, Mike Royko,"
as she had requested.
I looked at it. She was right. I had written what appeared to be "Bart Wisles, Mrk Rilo."
She shook her head and said, "No,
it says Tc J, some kind of hump, h
and e. then it says Barf Wales. And Mr KrJo."
And I realized that for years I've been autographing books: "Barf Wisles, Mrs Rilo."
It's an embarrassing thought. I've signed some that were bought as gifts, I could hear someone saying, "Oh, thank you. Just what I wanted. A book personally inscribed 'Bart' and 'Mr Kjko.' I'll treasure it always."
I had assumed that my penmanship had slipped because I do most of my writing with a keyboard. But as one of the fountain-pen advocates said, "It is smoother, neater and the extra heft helps you guide the tip more decisively. I'm a lawyer and take notes all day. Believe me, the ball-point or felt-tip pens don't do the job as well."
And that's why I now own the first fountain pen I've had since the ballpoint hit the market. I have no fear of being mistaken for a yuppie, since I still wear a nerdwand, complete with a tiny calculator pad, alarm clock and plastic straps over American cards, and I call it spaghetti, not pasta.
But I can already see progress. The other day, I autographed a book. And I was pleased to see that it didn't come out. "Bart" was a columnist and is a syndicated column
It will take me a while to adjust to the fountain pen, remembering to take the cap off first, and technical things like that.
- Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Respect surgeons' rights
I must disagree with the Kansan's position that health-care workers be required to disclose their HIV status. One case of the possible transfer of the AIDS virus during surgery, out of millions of operations each year, should not be grounds for mandatory disclosure of HIV status for all health care professionals. We are a country panic stricken about a disease that has prevented an aiming to drop the rumors and myths surrounding AIDS, we respond to that panic with restrictive legislation and public humiliation of those with AIDS. To force people to disclose publicly information about themselves that will put their personal and professional lives in jeopardy is unconstitutional. Perhaps HIV positive individuals should not perform surgery on ethical grounds, but mandatory disclosure of HIV status is unfair and unjust. What this country needs is a dose of reason — mandatory AIDS education, not panic.
Semiramis Rogers Wichita senior
When do rights begin?
Watching the news Tuesday night, Jan. 21, I was struck by a scene in which a group of pro-choice activists were commemorating the 18th anniversary of the legalization of abortion. One particular comment by a participant stood out to me. She said that women who turned 18 on Tuesday now could vote for their reproductive rights, and she called for all those new voters to fight to retain their rights to control their
own bodies. Fascinating! Here was someone asking those born on that day to vote for more restrictions of immigrants who will never grow up to vote!
The whole issue revolves around the definition of who is human and what rights each human should receive. The Supreme Court voted in 1972 for a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Constitution clearly states that the rights of a citizen go to those born in the United States and to those who fulfill naturalization requirements. To be sure, the founding fathers never could have imagined the technology that exists today. This technology continues to blur the distinction of when a fetus can survive the womb of its mother. So, when and where do we draw the line of who is and who isn't a human? More important to this discussion, where do the rights of a citizen begin?
Society will have to balance the rights of women to control the destiny of their own bodies with the
rights of those children they carry in the womb. For any real decisions to be made, we, as a society, must be ready to wear our rights as U.S. citizens begin.
Joe Thompson Baldwin senior
Ribbons are meaningful
The origin of the yellow ribbon began with the 1970 hit song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree," by Tony Orlando and Dawn.
The song tells the story of a man who had been imprisoned for three years. He had written to his old sweetheart. If she still wanted him to return, she was supposed to "tie a yellow ribbon" round the old oak tree. When he did return, he found a "hundred yellow ribbons" round the old oak tree." The song closes with him exclaiming, "I'm coming home!"
In August 1990, the small country of Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. This
'The symbol of the yellow ribbon was never meant and will never be a representation of destruction.'
agression sent thousands of people, including U.S. citizens, fleeing for their lives. Several U.S. citizens were left trapped not only in Kuwait, but also in the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. As soldiers started to move into Saudi Arabia, their families found the need to let the soldiers know that their homes would still be there when they returned. So their families at home began to ask others to hang yellow ribbons.
Now, tens of thousands of ribbons later, the soldiers more than ever need to see support from their friends and families. If a soldier has more to worry about than his or her job, then a delay in response time can end with the loss of a life.
The symbol of the yellow ribbon was never meant and will never be a representation of destruction. It is meant to ease the minds of those who are in combat.
as a navy wife whose husband will one day be serving his country by going to the Persian Gulf, I feel that even one breach of security by a journalist seeking to get into his husband's life is not worth your need to sensationalize the military's rightful withholding of sensitive military information.
In response to the editorial in the Jan. 22 issue concerning war censorship. I have only one thing to say:
KANSAN STAFF
Tim Winklebleck Deerfield, Ill., sophomore
Lives outrank Pulitzers
Carol E. Gerontes Lawrence junior
CHRIS SIRON
Editor
Editor
RICH CORNELL
TOM EBLEEN
General manager, news adviser
TOM FRIEN
Editors
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AUDRA LANGFORD Business manager
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Sketch
By David Rosenfield