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Friday, April 13, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Student politics
Senate should be able to enforce election rules instead of allowing campaigners to violate them
A penny saved is a penny earned; a stitch in time saves nine; and rules were made to be broken. Right?
If you follow student politics at the University of Kansas, you could easily be convinced that at least the cliche about the rules is true.
■ That rule is always broken. We have never done anything about it.
In fact, when confronted with a violation of their rules and regulations, student senators usually can be counted upon to give one of the following answers:
■ There is no way we can enforce that rule.
■ That rule can be interpreted in many ways.
Such rationalizations from the people who should be enforcing the rules lead us to wonder why Senate even bothers to make them.
A case in point is the violation of election campaign rules that occurred yesterday and Wednesday. In clear violation of the rules, campaigners were hawking their coalitions with rhetoric and fliers within steps of polling places.
That is illegal, according to section six of the Senate's rules and regulations. Confusion among election officials is understandable,
though, because two rules apply to campaign day electioneering.
The first says campaigning is illegal within 50 feet of polling places. The second says campaign material is illegal within sight of polling places.
Senate Election Committee Chairman Eleanore Macnish admitted Wednesday that the violations were widespread but said that enforcing the rules was impossible.
It seems it would be easy to catch violators. Macnish could send one election official to each polling place. When a campaign handed the official a flier within 50 feet of the polls, the campaigner would be informed that his or her coalition would be assessed the $100 fine as stipulated by the (you guessed it) Senate rules.
The Senate has spent much time discussing election rules in the past year, and you would think they learned a valuable lesson: Don't pass rules you don't intend to follow. If the rules are unenforceable, repeal them. If they are needed, then follow them. Simple.
Richard Brack for the editorial board
Obscenity charges Jury indictment violates freedom of expression
freedom of expression is in grave danger if Cincinnati is any indication. The declaration of one senator lost
The declaration of one senator last summer spurred a chain of events that came to a head in this conservative midwestern city Saturday, regarding the exhibition of photographs by the late Robert Mammoth.
by the late Robert Mappihorne. The 175-work exhibition includes two photos of nude or partly-nude children and five others that depict homoerotic acts. In June, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., declared the photos obscene, prompting debate in Congress concerning federal financing for the arts.
Saturday, a Hamilton County grand jury indicted Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center and its director on obscenity charges for the Mapplethorpe exhibition after jurors anonymously viewed the photos and concluded that seven were obscene.
This is ludicrous. It is an outrage to anyone who believes in the Constitution and its guarantee of freedom of expression.
The question, is it art or is it pornography,
has yet to be decided by a state jury, and the arts center has been ordered by a federal judge to keep the exhibition open.
"You may not recover any photos; you may not close the exhibit to the public; you may not take any action that could be intimidating in nature to prevent the public from seeing the exhibit," said U.S. District Judge Carl Rubin, noting that closing the exhibition would make the argument at displaying the photos moot before it was decided.
Rubin also said that police had an obligation to maintain order at the exhibition but that the obligation could not be used as an excuse to close it.
We can only hope that in the meantime the state's jury rules in favor of freedom of expression and puts an end to this Helms-style, ridiculous, Victorian prudishness that has swept Cincinnati and its arts center into a cloud of controversy. Until that time, freedom of expression is at stake everywhere.
Angela Baughman for the editorial board
Students' unity achieves goal
Many students smiled in Strong Hall Wednesday.
Although they were there because they were unhappy with the University administration, many students left happy with themselves.
There was an undescribable unity in the air as many student groups dropped their differences with other administrators to fight for administrators' attention.
It was incredible. Seeing members of Black Men of Today, Students Concerned About Discrimination, Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas, Hispanic American Leadership Organization and other concerned organizations designed to support each other gave the day a 'gts-like mutuality.
Finally, victims of all forms of discrimination, be it sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism or just plain intolerance, have started to realize that discrimination is just that — discrimination. It is the same dismal reality for anyone who varies from the cutout we call the norm.
Finally, victims of discrimination on this campus under this administration have started to realize that they have the same basic problems. The most important all are equally sighted by the atmosphere of indifference that runs rampant at the KU, indifference on the part of the students, faculty and administration.
Liz Hueben Associate editorial editor
I heard a few people at the protest say their teachers had let them out of class early and urged them to attend the protest.
Then I saw the turnout of diverse people, saw the administration, in the form of Chancellor Gene A. Budig, forced to speak on some of these issues and I heard cheers from the crowd when student leaders spoke out on the particular problems of the group they represented.
This is the only way to achieve the goal of negating the attitudes that lead to so many isms that people encounter. As students, we need to continue to voice the fact that we will not tolerate isms.
There was support. There was
caring. There was unity. And there
were warmers.
When there is unity in a protest, however, there is a vulnerability. This is something Wednesday's protestors should watch out for. When all groups are supporting all the other groups, no one can slip up; the coalition needs to keep moving in a
positive direction.
After all, the result was positive. Even if Budig did not say much that was new, at least he talked. This, however small, was a change and it was positive.
It is hard to maintain a positive attitude when the frustration level escalates each time the administration shuns a group, skips a meeting or dodges a phone call.
Wednesday's protest was the result of that frustration. The administration hadn't taken a solid stance on the SAE incident, and the KU police attempted to halt the original protest on Jayhawk Boulevard in front of Strong Hall.
It is up to the administration to make sure that the dialogue continues, and it is up to concerned students to check them on this. Perhaps now Budig and Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, know they can no longer ignore the students they are supposed to serve, the students whose tuition pays their salaries.
The protestors realize the value of sticking together. If this continues, there is nowhere for the administration to hide, except of course at a different University.
Liz Hueben is an Overland Park senior majoring in journalism.
Other Voices
System places high price on winning
March Madness lived up to its name this season, with the college basketball tournament more competitive than ever. But although the game itself couldn't be healthier, many problems still exist with a sport that puts such a high price on winning.
College presidents talk about running clean programs with an emphasis on players who graduate. Then they turn around and fire coaches who use those programs. Why? Use their teams don't win more often.
The system being used amounts to nothing more than a tremendous waste of time.
Each of the 64 schools selected for the NCAA tournament receives more than $250,000, and each ensuing tournament victory is worth an additional $250,000. Schools that advance to the Final Four are raking in more than $1 million.
Unless the system is changed, those numbers are only going to increase next year, when the NCAA enters into a seven-year, $1 billion television contract with CBS, in effect tripling the money from the last contract . . .
The tournament's growing popularity has nothing to do with the money involved. It would be followed just as closely if the players were playing strictly for a championship trophy and not some million-dollar prize. Their school Brazilsomething is inherently wrong about unpaid amateur athletes earning enormous sums of money for an institution.
By simply distributing the $1 billion among all 20 Division I schools and eliminating the huge financial rewards given to winning teams, some of the pressures on coaches and athletes would be removed.
News staff
From the Shawano (Wis.) Evening Leader, April 7.
Richard Breck...Writer
Daniel Nieml...Managing editor
Christopher R. Ralaton...News editor
Liam Miles...Planning editor
John Milburn...Editorial editor
Candy Niemlenn...Campus editor
Mika Consalde...Sports editor
F. Joseph Kunigau...Rolls-Royce
Stephen Kline...Graphics editor
Kris Berguelst...Arts/Features editor
Graham McKeown...General manager
Business staff
Margaret Townsend...Business manager
Tami Rank...Retail sales manager
Mikay Miller...Campus sales manager
Kathy Stillman.Regional sales manager
Mike Lehman...National sales manager
Mindy Morris...Co-op sales manager
Nate Stamos...Production manager
Mind Lundar...Associate product director
Carie Stinken...Marketing director
James Glenapp...Creative director
Janet Rorholm...Classified manager
Wendy Staal..Network manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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LETTERS to the EDITOR No Daughters?
February Daughters did not contact Dean or Black Men of Today. One member of the group stated that because it was a racial issue, it really didn't concern them. An unknownable member, who didn't attend the racism forum last week, suggested that the fact that Dean was a woman was probably not brought up during the forum. Last, I was told by a member of the February Daughters that women didn't support other women.
I was disturbed, disillusioned and finally angered at the reaction of the February Daughters regarding the incident at the SAE house. What action did the February Daughters, the only feminist group at KU, take? None. Absolutely none.
The attack on Dean was first and foremost an attack because she is a woman attempting to make a living like any other human being. The fact that she is an African-
American was just ice on the cake, I doubt very seriously that they would have the gall to attack a pizza or color who was delivering a pizza
Let's expose February Daughters for what it really is, an organization full of hot air and broken promises. If you talk the talk, then you should walk the walk. The Daughters have failed Dean and every other woman at KU who attempts to make a living on this campus at night while attending school. The SAE incident is the most publicized attack at KU in more than a year, so there could be no excuse for not being aware of what was going on.
I asked one of the members what their purpose was. I was told that February Daughters was a support group that offered education and suggestions to concerned women dealing with the sexism on campus and in society. Aren't the Daughters cognizant of the documented history of violent attacks of women in fraternity houses? The Daughters offered zero support to Dean and furthermore did not openly speak out against her attack. Daughters is an organization that does not live up to its creed and should be ostracized by every progressive-thinking person on campus.
Another issue one could bring up is what it would have taken for the Daughters to speak out against this attack. Perhaps if Dean were white she would have heard from them. Could you imagine a white woman being attacked at a residence hall and not hearing a peep out of the February Daughters? I find it hard to imagine that they would be silent.
Do the Daughters have any women of color in their organization? Are they just as elite as some of the fraternities? In order for us to hear from them I guess we'll have to wait for the athletic department to put out another Crimson Girls poster. As for Dean, or any other woman of color, she just has the wrong complexion. February Daughters should put a clause in their organization: ONLY WHITE WOMEN NEED APPLY
David Goodman
Inglewood, Calif., Junio
Criticism unfair
After reading Brandt Pasco's April 2 column, I also felt disturbed. Because our congressmen are elected, I have come to expect and even appreciate some criticism of their work. But when Mr. Pasco can take aim at congressional staff members, I felt compelled to respond.
Having served as an intern for Rep. Jim Slattery this summer, I can tell you from personal experience that congressional staff members are some of the hardestworking people you will ever find. If you don't believe me, why don't you ask the widow whose dispute with the Social Security Administration was cleared up by a member of the congressional staff. Or ask the Vietnam veteran whose VA benefits were restored with help from a member of the congressional staff. Or ask the Chinese student whose concerns were alleviated by a phone call to the Immigration and Naturalization Service by a member of the congressional staff. Or ask the thousands of other constituents of this or any other congressional district who have been assisted by congressional staffs.
Mr. Pasco, I am very sorry if you were offended by what was probably an honest mistake. And I am sorry if you feel that you are being poorly represented because of this mistake. But, Mr. Pasco, your attack against congressional staff members was unwarranted and unnecessary.
Lincoln, Neb., senior
CAMP UNNEELY
BY SCOTT PATTY