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Monday, November 15, 1993
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OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Chomsky speech shows failure of SUA planning
Student Union Activities' presentation of Noam Chomsky was a success for the 900 people who actually heard the speech. But for those who were turned away, SUA's poor planning literally left them out in the cold.
SUA failed the students it serves on several levels.
First, admission to Friday's event was free with a ticket. Tickets were distributed at 7:15 p.m.on a first come, first serve basis. There was no requirement of a faculty or student identification. Therefore, anyone who came early enough to get in line, and was one of the first 900 people, was admitted into the speech whether or not they were a student or faculty member. The students who were turned away and who pay the activity fee that brought Chomsky to the University should have had priority over others.
Second, an estimated several hundred students stood in line unnecessarily waiting for tickets. Advance tickets would have kept those students at home. In the past, when big-name speakers have come to KU, tickets have been given out before the night of the event. SUA should have followed this plan for Chomsky's speech.
Third, the high turnout for the technical lecture on linguistics and philosophy should have signaled the interest in hearing Chomsky. SUA also should have started the planning for accommodating the people who would not be able to hear the speech. SUA did have a live, closed viewing in a room adjacent to the ballroom. But that room's capacity was only 50. The broadcast should have been moved to the Big Eight Room, which has a larger seating capacity.
As one professor said, "The chance to see Noam Chomsky speak is a chance of a lifetime." For several hundred people, that opportunity was not realized because of poor planning. In the future, SUA should take this lesson and ensure that students don't miss another opportunity of that magnitude.
TERRILYN MCCORMICK FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Packwood should resign
give diaries, 'fade away
It was a year ago that the largest newspaper in his home state editorially told Bob Packwood to resign. The embattled U.S. senator from Oregon should have heeded his hometown newspaper's advice.
Similarly, Packwood's plea for privacy rings hollow because he sought to use selected pages of his diaries to bolster his defense.
We may all admire fighters and sneer at quitters, and we may agree with those who argue that the privacy of the senator's diaries should be respected. But there comes a time when to keep up the good fight is not only an exercise in futility, it is downright harmful.
Also, given Packwood's demeanor during the Senate Ethics Committee's inquiry into his behavior, we're not sure if his campaign to keep the committee's hands off his diaries qualifies as a "good" fight, especially in the minds of his colleagues, who resented his dramatic
warning that disclosure could cause some of them grave embarrassment.
Even after the (the) Senate vote of 94-6 to require him to comply with a subpoena that would force him to turn over the now-notorious diaries to the committee, Packwood and his lawyer were vowing to take his fight to keep the documents private into the courts.
"I believe he has lost the grasp of what it means to be a U.S. senator," Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the former majority leader, commented. ... "None of us is without flaws, but when those flaws damage the institution of the Senate it, is time to have the grace to go." ...
Packwood should spare the Senate any further agony. He needs to wrap up his political career with a thoughtful farewell speech and then, like an old general, just fade away.
Tampa Tribune Tampa, Fla.
KANSANSTAFF
KC TRAUER, Editor
JOE HARDER, CHRISTINE LAUE Managing editors
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TOM EBLEN
BILL SKEET, Systems coordinator Editors
Assistant to the editor ..J.R. Clairborne
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Editorial ..Territty McCormick
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AMY CASEY
Business manager
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AMYSTUMBO
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Parent-teen relations shouldn't be attempted
Now that my son has turned 13, I'm thinking about writing a self-help book for parents of teen-agers. It would be a sensitive, insightful book that would explain the complex, emotionally charged relationship between the parent and the adolescent child. The title would be: "I'm a Jerk: You're a Jerk."
The underlying philosophy of this book would be that, contrary to what you hear from the "experts," it's a bad idea for parents and teen-agers to attempt to communicate with each other because there's always the risk that one of you will actually find out what the other one in thinking.
For example, my son thinks it's a fine idea to stay up until 3 a.m. on school nights reading what are called "suspense novels," defined as "novels wherein the most positive thing that can happen to a character is that the Evil Ones will kill him BEFORE they eat his brain." My son sees NO connection between the fact that he stays up reading these books and the fact that he doesn't feel like going to school the next day.
"Rob," I tell him, as he is eating his breakfast in extreme slow motion with his eyes completely closed so that he accidentally puts food into his ear, "I want you to go to sleep earlier."
COLUMNIST
Of course, psychologists would tell us that falling asleep in cereal is normal for young teen-agers, who need to become independent of their parents
"DAD," he says, using the tone you might use when attempting to explain an abstract intellectual concept to an oyster, "you DON'T UNDERSTAND. I am NOT tired. I am SPLOOSH (sound of my son passing out face-down in his Cracklin' Oat Bran)."
and make their own life decisions.
That is fine, except that if my son made his own life decisions, his ideal daily schedule would be:
Midnight to 3 a.m. — read suspense novels.
It takes 80 p.m.
3:15 p.m. — Order hearty breakfast from Domino's Pizza and put on loud,
hideous music recorded live in hell.
3 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Sleep.
4 p.m. to midnight — Blow stuff up.
Unfortunately this schedule would leave little room for, say, school, so we have to supply parental guidance, the result being that our relationship with our son currently involves a certain amount of conflict.
At least he doesn't wear giant pants. I keep seeing young teen-eagles wearing ENORMOUS pants; pants that two or three teen-agers could occupy simultaneously and still have room in there for a picnic basket. The young men wear these pants really low, so that the waist is about knee level and the pants' butt drags on the ground. You could not be an effective criminal wearing pants like these because you'd be unable to flee on foot with any velocity.
POLICE OFFICER: We tracked the alleged perpetrator from the crime scene by following the trail of his dragging pants' butt.
PROSECUTOR: And what was he doing when you caught up with him? POLICE OFFICER: He was hobbling in a suspicious manner.
What I want to know is, how do young people buy these pants? Do they try them on to make sure they DON'T fit?
I asked my son about these pants, and he told me that mainly "bassers" wear them. "Bassers" are people who like a lot of bass in their music.
My son also told me that there are also people called "posers" who DRESS like "bassers", but are in fact secretly "preppies." He said that some "posers" also pose as "headbangers," who are people who like heavy-metal music, which is performed by skinny men with huge hair who stomp around the stage.
I realize I've mainly been giving my side of the parent-teen-ager relationship, and I promise to give my son's side, if he ever comes out of his room. Remember how the news media made a big deal about it when those people came out after spending two years inside Biosphere? Well, two years is NOTHING. Veteran parents assure me that teen-agers routinely spend that long in the BATHROOM. In fact, veteran parents assure me that I haven't seen ANYTHING yet.
"Wait till he gets his driver's license," they say. "That's when Fred and I turned to heroin."
Yes, the next few years are going to be exciting and challenging. But I'm sure that, with love and trust and understanding, my family will get through them OK.
Dave Barry is a syndicated columnist with the Miami Herald.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Not all Asian groups represent same ideas
I want to respond to Donella Hearne's article on Nov. 2. The article deals with how Student Senate is finding ways to finance minority groups so that it would not finance duplicate services. I agree that the Senate should not duplicate services, but John Shoemaker's suggestion for solving this problem shows great ignorance. He once again grouped Asian Americans with
international students from Asia. Shoemaker suggests that the Asian American Student Union could be an umbrella organization for international student groups such as the Chinese Student Union because we are more aware of the issues and concerns of these groups. He fails to recognize the distinction between Asians and Asian Americans.
One of the reasons AASU formed three years ago was to debunk myths about Asian Americans. While Asian Americans and Asians share many phenotypic features, we come from
different backgrounds and have vastly different concerns. We have experienced racism since the beginning of Asian immigration into the U.S. We face racism because we are perceived by the majority to be foreigners and not Americans because of our appearance. When we are grouped with Asians we are denied of our place in American society.
Shoemaker's comment is a slap in the face because his campaign theme was "cultural diversity."
Quoc Trinh
Wichita senior
Debaters CNN analysts impersonate comedians
I thought I was watching the Comedy Channel.
After the debate, CNN provided commentary. one pro-NAFTA, one anti-NAFTA and one "private citizen" tried to sound intellectual. It would have been easier to analyze the outcome of a beer-below contest.
But no. The little yellow logo in the bottom portion of the screen confirmed my suspicion. I was watching CNN. In living rooms all across the United States, Vice President Al Gore and billionaire gadfly H. Ross — oops, make that just Ross — Perot were beginning their great debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement with a little help from Larry King. Lincoln-Douglas it sure wasn't.
Debate Commentary Part I:
Appearance Both Gore and Perot looked dapper in dark gray, wool suit. Perot added a little flash with pin stripes. On the down side, you can't help but notice that when Perot addresses the camera directly, his ears are lopsided. This might imply some other, internal imbalance. I would suggest either growing his hair long and brushing it over one side of his face à la Veronica Lake or simply tilting his head to compensate.
So, I thought I would offer my own analysis. I decided not to bother with silly things like how well debaters took on the issues. Any spin doctor worth his salt will tell you nobody cares about that.
Gore, on the other hand, is a good-looking man. But what his hairdresser won't tell, those bright studio lights will. Al, you're going bald. If Rogame can't help, try a can of that spray hair the Home Shopping Network hawks a few channels down the dial.
COLUMNIST
Part II: Presentation Both Gore and Perot tried to style their presentations to the ear of the average citizen. Perot peppered his speech with frequent "ol boy" expressions, such as "by golly," and compared his interest in a Texas airport as "gorilla dust."
Gore took the role of a third-grade teacher. He talked so far down to me that I considered taking notes with crayons. Despite Perot's obnoxious attacks, Gore held his own. The two even continued to bicker between station breaks. I swear I could hear "Did not!" "Did too" while Larry King was announcing a commercial.
Both parties made abundant use of charts, graphs and photos. I'm not sure if they had anything to do with NAFTA, but they sure were pretty.
Part III: Special Awards For Perot: the "I Am Not A Politician, But Can Dance A Little Sidestep Just Like One" award, for claiming. "Conceptually, I am for free trade." Perot also wins the "I Have Nothing To Say, So I Will Just Preface Everything With: 'Could I finish?'" award. He spent roughly two-thirds of his time complaaining that he didn't have time. Good strategy, Ross.
Gore wins only the "Debater Most In Need Of An Acting Coach" award. He was more wooden than David Hasselhoff on "Baywatch."
For those of you who missed the debate, CNN is selling the video for only $19.98. I'd wait and just rent it. Look for it in the "screwball comedy" category.
Val Huber is a Lawrence graduate student in Journalism.
University of Mars
That's awful! Instead of creating a core for one of the various terminal diseases, or finding an end to world hunger, we're channelling our energy & technology into things like "c-D Rom" video games and new age video phones... and bigger & better happy meal boxes!
by Joel Francke
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