OPINION
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CRAM LANG, *Editor*
SUSANA LOOP, *Managing editor*
KIMBERLY CRABTREE, *Editorial editor*
TOM EBILEN, General manager, news advisor
MARK OZMKE, *Business manager*
DENNIS HAUPT, *Retail sales manager*
JUSTIN KRUPP, *Technology coordinator*
JAY STENNER, Sales and marketing adviser
Friday, March 14, 1997
Julianne Donovan/ KANSAN
Editorials
Lawrence and the University need a joint city busing system
Wouldn't it be nice to hop on the bus to downtown Lawrence from McColum or to get on at Snow Hall and ride out to Wal-Mart and grab a few necessities?
Wouldn't it be even better if a regular KU bus pass gave you that option?
If KU on Wheels and the city of Lawrence decide to work together on a joint busing system, you may have that opportunity in the next few years.
Lawrence has been considering a public transportation system for several years, but it was not until this year that the plan seemed to become a real possibility.
Right now the KU bus system, run by KU on Wheels, and the Lawrence City Commission are considering combining KU on Wheels system with a city system.
Bob Grunzinger, coordinator for KU
Students must show their support for a city, campus joint bus system
on Wheels, said that the main concern was to be sure the city supported whatever system the University became involved with.
A combined busing system would benefit the KU community immensely. With a bus system that would run all around the city, students without cars would have easy access to shopping and entertainment in areas not within walking distance of campus. There would be more bus stops, reducing the need for many students and faculty to drive to school. Parking lots would be less crowded and campus roads less busy.
A combined busing system would also benefit the Lawrence community as a whole. As the city expands to the west and south, it becomes more difficult to get from one end of town to the other. Traffic is bad, and many of the roads are worm. A community bus system would reduce both problems.
In the coming months, the city commission will work with KU on Wheels to come to a final decision on the combined bus system.
As members of the KU community, we should show our support for a system which would greatly benefit the campus and the city. Stay abreast of the news on this issue, and let the city commission know what you think. With the cooperation and input of the KU community, a combined busing system can become a reality.
BEN SHOCKEY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Action must follow pothole gripes
Tired of having your car's alignment jarred every time you drive over a pothole on campus or on the Lawrence streets? Stop complaining to your friends and do something about it.
With wheel alignment jobs costing up to $60, the feeling of one half of your car clunking over a pothole is pretty fearsome and sickening. But during the ever-so-long Kansas winters, potholes seem unavoidable, so many drivers just deal with them, sweep a lot and complain to their friends when they get to their destination. But complaining to friends does no good, and friends can't do anything but join in the anger party, so start calling someone who can do something: the city or the campus parking department.
The campus parking department and the city of Lawrence realize that potholes are a nuisance to drivers and a
The next time you run over a pothole, don't be reactive become proactive.
danger to vehicles. Unfortunately, they are difficult to take care of during the winter, because a repaired pothole will often crack open again as soon as the next freeze occurs. Because of this, Rita Jordan, KU parking supervisor, said repairs weren't made until the last freeze has occurred before fixing potholes on campus. However, if the department receives complaints and the pothole is a significant danger, attempts are made to take care of the problem earlier. Connie Frazier, dispatcher for the street maintenance division of Lawrence Public Works, said the city tried to fix potholes within a few days
However, facilities operations vehicles don't just spend all day roaming the campus and Lawrence looking for potholes to fix. Although routine checking does occur, the best way to get a pothole fixed is to report its location. The old side remark, "call someone who cares" really is the best course of action in this case. Potholes occurring on campus can be reported to the KU Parking Department at 864-7275. To report a pothole off campus, you can call the city's pothole reporting line at 832-3456 and leave a message stating the location of the pothole.
regardless of the time of year, because it wanted as few cars as possible to sustain damage from the potholes.
So instead of creating a public disturbance next time you drive over a pot hole, do us all a favor and call it in. You could save someone $50.
KANSAN STAFF
KAREN CHANDLER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NEWS EDITORS
LATINA SULLIVAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASI . . . News
NOVELDA SOMMERS . . . News
LESLIE TAYLOR . . . News
AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . News
TARA TRENARY . . News
DAVID TESKA . . . Online
SPENCER DUNCAN . . Sports
GINA THORNBURG . . Associate Sports
BRADLEY BROOKS . . Campus
LINSDSE HENRY . . Campus
DAVE BREITENSTEIN . Features
PAM DISIMAN . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . Design
ANDY ROHRBACK . Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT . Wire
LIZ MUSSER . Special sections
AERICA VEAZEY . News clerk
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLER ... Assistant retail
JULIE PEDLAR ... Campus
DANA CENTENO ... Regional
ANNETTE HOVER ... National
BRIAN PAGEL ... Marketing
SARAH SCHERWINSKI ... Internet
DARCI McLAIN ... Production
DENA PISCOTTE ... Production
ALISON PIERCE ... Special sections
SARA ROSE ... Creative
DANA LAUVETZ ... Public relations
BRIAN LEFEVRE ... Classified
RACHEL RUBIN ... Assistant classified
BRIDGET COLLYER ... Zone
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Columns
Limit spring break ills, follow this creed
Ah. spring break
The time when all standards of decency head south for a week, when students across the country travel miles upon miles to bungee jump into moral deprivation.
The bass pumps, the neon glows and well-oiled flesh glistens in the blinding tropical sun.
Sensible college students grind the night away on the dance floor, dooL at the opposite sex and spend
obscene amounts of money in pursuit of the ever- elusive good time.
High school students wish they were in college and head south. College students then pretend they are still in high school, and somehow the whole thing never lives up to anyone's expectations.
Nevertheless, year after year, it's Daytona. It's Panama City Beach. It's South Padre, man.
Like zombies, people make the trip again and again, thinking that somehow this trip will be better than previous trips. They attempt to better prepare themselves with more beer, more money and less clothing. But guess what? It never really happens like it does on MTV.
So, for those relentless hedonists who refuse to realize that there is no such thing as a perfect week in paradise, I have created the spring breaker's creed. When you get about halfway to your destination, turn down the Spice Girls and repeat this to yourself.
I, the free-wheeling college student, do
solemnly swear that I will uphold the standards of good taste while enjoicing my spring break.
If I vomit, I will not buy a T-shirt commemorating the moment. Nor will I purchase any article of clothing displaying a top-10 list of any kind.
I will not use my automobile, my pectoral muscles or cereal malt beverages to impress high school,juniors and lure them to my stinky hotel room.
I will not scream "Woo-hoo0! Party! Spring break, man!" while hanging out of a 10th-floor window. I understand that such behavior leads my fellow spring breakers to believe that they are not having as much fun as I am. This, in turn, leads them to overcompensate by hanging out of their windows. I know that such contests are unsafe and unproductive.
I will not ignore excurciating pain in the quest of furthering my tan. When my skin starts to bubble. I will take some time off from the beach.
I will not pierce any part of my body nor will I get a tattoo of a cartoon character holding a beer can unless I really want to do so. I will not alter my body simply because everyone else whose name is on my airbrushed T-shirt does it.
I will not falsify accounts of my week. Even if it rains the whole week and the apex of social interaction occurs between myself and a good-looking gas station attendant somewhere in Mississippi, I will tell the truth when I return to Lawrence.
Finally, when the last beer has been bonged and it all comes to an end, I will realize that my life still has meaning. Therefore, painful as it is, I will eventually stop talking about my spring break.
Eric Westlander is a Floyds Knobs, Ind., sophomore in journalism.
Eighties child ponders future of today's youth
After the murder of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. and the deaths of other pop icons, I often wonder whether the children of the 90s will look back on their adolescence with nostalgia or with sadness
It seems that each generation loses its innocence earlier than the previous one, but there always are those moments in which that innocence is recaptured and the generation can pass its "remember when" stories to the next. However, I'm afraid that the "remember when" stories of the children of the '90s will consist of hard-core survival stories.
So, as the weekend and the end of midterms approach, I
As children of the '80s, our parents were the children of the Civil and Women rights movements, the hippies and those who continued to fight for social rights of all people.
would like to refresh the memories of the children of the '80s and take you back to a time when it was safe to play in your yard, to be a child, to let your imagination take over and to not be bothered with the troubles of the world.
By the mid '70s, when we came along, our parents were tired of fighting, getting high and of whatever else they did in the '60s. They decided that it was time to take their roles as parents seriously.
The '80s was an era before Sega, Nintendo and SuperNintendo. We had Atari and PacMan, but if your parents were cheap and didn't understand why playing outdoors couldn't be as stimulating as playing a video game, then you had no choice but to take your Transformers, G.I.Joes (with the broken arms), Barbies, Strawberry Shortcake dolls and whatever else you could grab in your tiny arms outside.
And playing outside was the ultimate experience. For two or three hours, you were the president, the parent, the minister or the queen. You blew up the world while Barbie and G.I. Joe got together to create a family. And the yard was your oyster, you had a mud pie every once in while on a dare. You ate those wild strawberries that grew in the grass, you were as content as could be until you got sick. And you didn't dare tell your mom why you were ill.
The '80s can be remembered as a decade that had its ups and downs. Unlike the '90s, it allowed many of us to have a childhood, which was not marred by the murder of our pop icons, gang violence or drugs.
And when you weren't outside playing in the dirt or pouring salt on snails, you were watching television. You felt Arnold's pain when Abraham, his goldfish, died. You were in awe when the pre-Baywatch David Hasselhoff and K.I.T.T. faced K.A.R.R. And every Sunday evening, your eyes were glued to The Muppet Show as you sang along. You held your breath every time the Greatest American Hero tried to fly, and you wished that he would find those darn directions.
And the clothes, you begged for neon shirts and socks, Izod (sometimes with the recycled label) and button-down shirts and parachute pants. You could relate to the Fresh Prince, Will Smith, when he sang Parents Just Don't Understand.
As with any era, the '80s had its downside. It stripped away pieces of our naiveté. We inadvertently caught the assassination attempt on President Reagan's life. And in sixth grade, we were excited when our teachers let us watch the space shuttle Challenger lift off. After the countdown, our excitement turned into fear as the ship exploded.
And then came MTV and BET. You knew every Michael Jackson video by heart. And you tried to do the moonwalk but never got it right. You had the poster, the buttons, the purse and the doll (wait maybe that was just me). Anyway, your favorite Jackson video was *Thriller* after you realized that it wasn't that scary.
What will the children of the '90s remember?
LaTina Sullivan is a Memphis, Tenn., senator in English and Journalism.
Those were the days.
Animal rights must be considered in cloning
Letter
But like most people, Martin's approach was very human-centric. He only thought about the implications of cloning humans and ignored the issue of cloning other animals. What cloning really emphasizes is the need for compassion.
In his column on March 4, Michael Martin described how the recent cloning of an adult ewe emphasizes the need for human originality.
It is time we considered the ethics of cloning animals.
Scientists hope to use this new technology to clone animals for use in experimentation, agriculture and to genetically alter animals to produce drugs in their milk or grow organs for human transplantation. If these applications are realized, they will only lead to
an increase in the billions of animals enslaved and killed for humans use each year.
This trend leads us to see animals as objects to be manipulated and not as they really are—living individuals in their own right who are capable of feeling pain and emotion.
These applications may benefit humans, but they completely disregard the animals' perspective. We ignore the possibility that animals may prefer to live outside of a holding pen or lab cage. As a society, we treat animals as machines—for food production, for testing drugs, for producing chemicals and organs—designed for human use.
Some scientists suggest that production of genetically identical animals would reduce the number of animals needed in experiments. In spite of what they say, however, the only thing that will reduce the number of animals necessary for experiments is a reduction in animals experimenters.
As a society, we increasingly use animals with only a minimal regard for their interests.
By seeing animals only as machines, tools or objects available for human use, we define their worth only in terms of what they can provide for us and hardly ever in terms of what their lives might be worth.
We see oursels as distinct not only from animals, but from the whole nature; consequently, we misunderstand something fundamental about nature, humans and other animals. Treating and perceiving animals as something less than what they are will do all animals, including ourselves, an injustice.
Michael T. Schmitt Lawrence graduate student