4
Tuesday, April 17, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Noise ordinance
Uneven enforcement of Lawrence's volume law results in loss of respect for police, commission
In a crime-ridden world full of dangerous noise, thank goodness we have the Noise Police.
The Noise Police act quickly. Two days after Lawrence's noise ordinance went into effect, they issued their first citation.
they issued their first notice. The Noise Police show no mercy. When they issued that first citation on Feb.16, they approached the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at 1645 Tennessee St., where the noise violation, a party, was occurring. They demanded to see the group's president. Before he knew what was happening, the Noise Police had cited the president for violation of section two of the ordinance, which states, "No person shall participate in any party or gathering of people from which sound emanates at a sufficient volume as to disturb the peace of the neighboring inhabitants."
neighboring police are inconsistent. In a community where parties and loud bands are the norm, police issued only two more citations in the 1 1/2 months after the first violation. In practice, the Noise Police warn an offender before issuing a citation. Sometimes they warn the offender once to reduce the noise level. Other times, they extend their graciousness and warn the offender a second time. And at other times, as with Sigma Phi Epsilon, they offer no warning.
The Noise Police pick and choose. Citations are issued depending on the situation and on an officer's mood. In the words of Chris Mulve-
non, Lawrence police spokesman, "It,depends on the type of noise, how long the noise has been going on, how loud the noise is and the cooperation of the person involved."
So the Noise Police can decide what type of noise is offensive and how long is long enough for noise to be bothersome. In addition, they can base their decision on the attitude of the offender.
Entertainment at The Crossing, a bar at 618 W. 12th St., was silenced by police twice in a two-week period. Bar owner Tom Conroy said that he wished people had called the bar rather than calling the police. Bar employees are courteous and willing to lower noise levels, he said. Nonetheless, police have been called to the bar numerous times. Recently, police pulled the plug on a band just 10 minutes before the end of its set.
Police officials and city commissioners need to decide how the noise ordinance is to be enforced. As it stands, the slipshod, unequal enforcement that police administer makes the noise ordinance little more than a bad joke
Officers should enforce the law with a fairness that does not allow one person to be cited at the first warning yet allows another to get off free after being warned twice.
Only when fairness in enforcement becomes apparent can Lawrence residents respect a law that many people think was a mistake to begin with.
Chris Evans for the editorial board
Members of the editorial board are Richard Brack, Daniel Niemi, Christopher R. Ralston, John P. Milburn, Liz Hueben, Cory S. Anderson, Angela Baughman, Andres Caveller, Chris Evans, Stephen Kline, Camille Krehbiel, Melanie Matthes, Jennifer Metz and Scott Patty.
Voter apathy ended
High turnout bodes well for student government
The smoke is clearing from last week's Student Senate elections, and everyone is claiming victory for the results.
And rightly so. Students cast 5,485 votes, the highest turnout in recent years. That could have been because of the issues that the coalitions brought to the forefront. Minority issues, the environment, closing Jayhawk Boulevard and better student representation were salient issues with which each student could identify.
The coalitions themselves were a reason. Real Representation assembled a diverse group of candidates in an attempt to put the students back in Senate. With members from all five coalitions, Senate will begin with new faces in new places.
Efforts by the University Daily Kansan to inform readers about the candidates and the
issues also contributed. The responsibility of any newspaper is to let the readers know the people and issues they are voting for.
But ultimately, the voters made the difference. The turnout indicates that students care about this University and what student government does for students. Voter apathy was not a factor this year as in the past when candidates and issues seemed distant and unfamiliar.
The University should be commended for it efforts. If the coalitions' promises and goals are carried out, the next Senate should be productive. But the YOU coalition needs support from all senators and students as the new government takes shape.
No matter how many people vote, if government is not supported, it is not a true government.
John P. Milburn for the editorial board
Local environmental support needs help from government
As the 20th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 approaches, the environmental movement's bandwagon is gaining even more momentum. Environmental awareness and concern have become acceptable and even fashionable on an extremely widespread basis. Three out of every four Americans, including George Bush, consider themselves environmentalists. This ecological renaissance is both good news and bad news for the environment.
The good news is that some environmental topics have received a great deal more attention. Grassroots movements to start curbside recycling programs, clean up hazardous waste sites and attract governmental attention and financing for a variety of problems have grown significantly. Groups such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation have enjoyed increases in membership and revenue. The average person in the United States has become involved in the movement to save the planet and, as a result, many more issues are getting the attention they so desperately need.
the recycling program initiated this year on campus is evidence of this environmental
Dan
Grossman
Staff columnist
fervor. The yellow collection barrels for aluminum soda cans are symbols of the culmination of local groups' efforts to stimulate action on behalf of the environment. Students are sending much less recyclable solid waste to landfills where space is becoming more and more limited.
what has happened in Lawrence is happening across the country. Municipalities from Seattle to Minneapolis have taken steps to
Another example of local action was the Union Food Service's decision to stop purchasing non-biodegradable polystyrene products made with ozone-lethal Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's). The efforts of the local group Environs were instrumental in convincing the Union to stop encouraging the production of such environmentally hazardous materials.
encourage recycling and ban plastic foam packaging. Individual communities have taken the lead in environmental reform, assuming the role of vanguard in the war against apathy.
But the progress that has been made at the local level has been diluted somewhat by the inaction and apathy of the federal government. Environmentalism has become the subject of a large amount of Washington rhetoric with little substance. Politicians have made moving speeches of the imperatives of the Earth Crisis but have refused to act in a substantive, constructive manner to meet these challenges.
During the Reagan years, the environment was not even an issue on the executive agenda. Growth and development were the words that dominated any cabinet discussion of environmental concerns. Reagan's appointments of James Watt as Secretary of the Interior and Anne Burford as head of the Environmental Protection Agency are evidence of the right wing's non-commitment to the environment. Watt sold out to developers at the cost of the protection of our National Parks, and Burford led the EPA into an abyss of mismanagement and inefficiency.
But Bush continues to insist that he is an environmentalist. However, money spent by the United States on energy research and development in 1989 was about one third of that spent in 1980. The EPA was allocated no more money than it was in 1975, even though demand for clean-up funding has increased markedly. The portion of U.S. government revenue spent on environmental research in general in 1989 was a pathetic 5 percent.
Bush promised during the 1983 campaign that he would be, among other things, the environmental president. But any substance hidden within this rhetoric has yet to be seen. In fact, Bush's Interior Department has stayed the course set by Reagan and Watt. In a Frontline interview, Watt stated, "Since I've gone, my people' continue in positions at Inferior. And I've had conversations with Secretary Lujan, and I would expect that those policies and people will stay."
The Bush administration's rally behind the Clean Air Bill, passed through Senate on April 3, is evidence of Bush's token environmentalism. The bill passed because of a Democratic Leadership/Bush administration compromise which weakened the legisl-
tion significantly. But the House is expected to pass a much stronger bill, which upsets the environmental president. Bush stated, "I again reject the extremists in the environmental movement who would burden our economy by mindless regulation." So although he is a self-proclaimed environmentalist, Bush would rather burden our environment by mindless consumption, waste and pollution.
That is what is dangerous about this renewed environmental awareness. Our leaders in Washington use the issue as a political football and pay lip service to its causes. But this pseudo-environmentalism is exposed when positive, constructive action is rejected. The local movements are essential to environmental reform and their renewed strength is welcomed. But in order for our country to accomplish this reformation we must have the support of the federal government, not its rhetoric. Actions speak louder than words, and I can't read George Bush's lips.
Dan Grosman is a Denver senior majoring in political science.
Other Voices
CHIJMU, South Korea — An air of despair and tension has settled over the Gajwa campus. This time, we are witnessing a breakdown of mutual respect and fellowship between the school administration and the students. Some students were expelled from the school, and others were subject to stern punitive measures for leading the radical protest movement against the tuition increase.
tent against the curtain came the
The student's move came after the
school's administration issued tuition bills that charged school fees, which rose 9.5 percent during the previous year.
We wish to see the tuition dispute in terms of increasing mistrust and a lack of genuine dialogue. No college can function smoothly, without disruptive tensions, if there is no fellowship among its members.
From the Gyeongsan Herald, Chinja,
South Korea, April 21.
News staff
Richard Brack ... Editor
Daniel Nieman ... Managing editor
Christopher R. Relaton ... News editor
Lisa Mosa ... Planning editor
John Milburn ... Editorial editor
Candy Niemann ... Campus editor
Mike Considine ... Sports editor
E. Joseph Zurga ... Photo editor
Stephen Kline ... Graphics editor
Kris Beaquet ... Art/Features editor
Tom Ebb ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
margaret Townsend...Business manager
Tami Rank...Retail sales manager
Misyse Miller...Campus sales manager
Kathy Stolle...Regional sales manager
Mike Lehman...National sales manager
Mindy Morris...Coat sales manager
Nate Stamos...Production manager
Mindi Lund...Assistant production manager
Carrie Staninka...Marketing director
Jamie Glennigan...Creative director
Janet Borholm...Classified manager
Wendy Stertz...Tearsaests manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and less than 200 words and must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University of Kansas, please include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and less than 700 words. The writer will
be photographed.
The Kansasans review the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can do so by submitting to the Kansas newsroom, 111 Staffer Hall, Halt. Letters, columns and cartoons are the opinion of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daily Kansas. Editorials are the opinion of the Kansas editorial board.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Animal abuse
I am writing in response to the local brief in the April 6 Kansan concerning the KU student who tried to kill his roommate's cat. The kitten apparently had not yet been properly box trained and mistakenly used the man's bed instead. In a truly macho response, the man "bounced the cat against the wall and threw it down the stairs. He then chased
From its beginning stages, AOTB was intended to be "an arts festival open to all students who wish to display their artistic and musical talents, which would not otherwise be seen by a large number of students." The Student Senate Cultural Affairs Committee and its fine arts subcommittee can work as hard as it wants to. However, the success of AOTB ultimately depends on the interest and commitment of the potential participants.
David Burgett Overland Park freshman
the cat out of the apartment...“
the cat out of the apartment. . .
It never ceases to amaze me the level of ignorance people continue to express for the lives of animals.
I am so enraged that the only thought that reduces the level of cruelty inherent in his life is that of the number of children who are similar to those used at a young age, as this man's parents throw an angry against the wall every time he failed to use the toilet? I don't know, but that still wouldn't justify his actions against the kitten. My only hope, for the good of his children and society in general, is that the KU student can work out his problems before he has children of his own to abuse.
Beth Brady
I am certain that the artists in AOTB can vouch for the significance of such an event. The six visual artists and five musicians took advantage of an excellent opportunity to let the students of KU enjoy their work. By participating in AOTB, these students could show off their talents that they have no doubt spent many years of hard work developing.
benn bray
Chairman of the Fine Arts Subcommittee of the Student Senate Cultural Affairs Committee
Art festival fails
It is true that I was disappointed at the small number of students who chose to participate in this year's Arts On The Boulevard Less than half of the people who had agreed to show their work or perform actually did.
CAMP UHNEELY
BY SCOTT PATTY