OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
4A
CRAIG LANG, Editor MARK OZIMEK, Business manager
SUSANNA LOOF, Managing editor DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
KIMBERLY CRABTREE, Editorial editor JUSTIN KNUPE, Technology coordinator
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news adviser JAY STEINER, Sales and marketing adviser
Wednesday, March 5, 1997
Amy Miller / KANSAN
Editorials
Immaturity level of some comes to light during acts of vandalism
Is a little respect too much to ask for?
The actions of certain students in Jaya-hawker Tower D have led some to think that the answer is yes.
Recently, vandals have been removing light bulbs from the fifth and sixth floors of Tower D and dropping them down the stairs. This has not been a one-time occurrence — the damages are $200 to $300 each week, tower officials say.
As college students, have we not learned enough about respect for each other to stop stupid, trivial actions like this?
Hopefully, the vandals are random people not associated with the University of Kansas. Unfortunately, this is probably not the case.
It seems likely that it is a few Tower D residents who continually entertain themselves by unscrewing light bulbs and performing gravity experiments.
If you know who is behind the acts of vandalism,you should let officials know.
These could be students who complain about the quality of University housing, yet they cause about $1,000 in damage each month.
To make matters worse, it is possible that some Tower D residents know who is causing the problems, but they do not take actions to prevent them from occurring.
Matt Aschenbrenner, complex director for the towers and Stouffer Place, said that 12 security monitors patrol the buildings at night, but it is up to the students to monitor problems themselves during the day.
When Aschenbrener and other staff
members talked to residents about the vandalism, no one divided information
Could it be that the University is dealing with supercriminals who are capable of this vandalism during the patrolled security times? This is doubtful.
Maybe everyone in Tower D is involved in a large-scale revolt and is using the vandalism to throw University officials off their track. This idea also is ridiculous.
The truth seems to be that no matter how mature we claim to be or how long we have lived away from home, there are still those among us who have not matured. Grow up and give it a rest.
If you know who is responsible for this mess, let someone know.
A pseudo-secret police state is not what this University needs, but we should not have to put up with this kind of ludicrous behavior.
CODY SIMMS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KU should rethink linear tuition
Recently, the University of Kansas was forced to ask for an increase in state funds to compensate for a drop in credit-hour enrollments. Despite the fact that the drop in revenue and enrollment was expected, this shows that the decision to switch to linear tuition was a bad idea that hurts both students and education in general.
The switch to linear tuition was made to create a more equitable way for students to pay for their classes. Under linear tuition, students pay for every hour in which they are enrolled, rather than a blanket fee which they can take as many hours as desired.
Although this reduces education costs for those taking 12 to 14 hours, students taking 16 or more hours are hurt by the increase in tuition. Out-of-state students are hit particularly hard, paying $265 per hour or $795 for each
The switch to linear tuition was a bad idea that hurt the educational process.
three-hour class. Students with double majors and others who must take more than 15 hours a semester to graduate in four years are punished for taking heavy course loads.
Because taking fewer hours is now less expensive, students are letting their wallets decide how many credit hours they can afford to take. Thus the University has experienced a drop in tuition revenue. Although the drop in revenue may be rectified by the increase in state funds, it never should have occurred.
Clearly, KU and all the other Board of Regents schools should return to a flatrate tuition system. Ray Hauke, director of budgets and planning for the Regents, said that this could be done if all the Regents schools made a request for reversal to the Board of Regents.
inclined to take classes that interest them — after all, if there is no reason to take a class other than interest, why spend the money? Instead of learning as much as they can, students are learning only as much as they need to graduate.
Education suffers as a result of linear tuition. Outstanding students are less
This action would once again allow students to learn as much as they can at fine institutions like KU and would give the University the tuition money it needs to function. Until this step is taken, education will have suffered yet another setback at the hand of the dollar.
KANSAN STAFF
GERRY DOYLE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
LA TINA SULLWAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTA BLASI . . . News
NOVELDA SOMMERS . . . News
LESLEY TAYLOR . . . News
AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . . News
TARA TRENARY . . . News
DAVID TESKA . . . Online
SPENCER DUNCAN . . . Sports
GINA THORNBURG . . Associate Sports
BRADLEY BROOKS . . Campus
LINDSEE HENRY . . Campus
DAVE BreTTENSTEIN . Features
PAM DISHMAN . . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . Design
ANDY ROHRBACK . Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT . Wire
LIZ MUSSER . Special sections
AERICA VEAZY . News clerk
NEWS EDITORS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLER .Assistant retail
JULIE PEDLAR .Campus
DANA CENTENO .Regional
ANNETTE HOOVER .National
BRIAN PAGEL .Marketing
SARAH SCHERWINSKI .Internet
DARCI MCLAIN .Production
DENA PISCIOTTE .Production
ALLISON PIERCE .Special sections
SARA ROSE .Creative
DANA LAUVETZ .Public relations
BRIAN LEFEVRE .Classified
RACHEL RUBIN .Assistant classified
BRIDGET COLLYER .Zone
JULIE DEWITT .Zone
CHRIS HAGHIRIAN .Zone
LIZ HESS .Zone
ANTHONY MIGLIAZZO .Zone
MARIA CRIST .Senior account executive
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
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Columns
Cloning emphasizes need for originality
Sometimes, seemingly revolutionary innovations only bring more of the same.
Researchers in Scotland and the United States have managed to clone sheep and monkeys by removing genetic information from another animal and artificially inducing cellular reproduction.
The net result: a new organism and a freshly birthed controversy.
Many regard this development as though it will take us over the edge, provide science fiction with an air of truth.
Some dread the day when fetuses will arrive by Federal Express, complete with a free gift and a money-back guarantee. Others anticipate an era in which bionic virtual ubermen will walk the earth, complete with stainless-steel opposable thumbs and self-cleaning technology.
Last week, I was sitting in class, shut out of the discussion as usual. Cloning was the topic at hand. Those who were visibly conscious thought the whole thing was "whack" and "evil."
I'm not waiting for Microsoft Sapiens 2.0 or Suddenly Humans.
I find it hard to believe that our world will change irrevocably. The only issue that I find surprising is that people are surprised at all. The only element that I find disturbing is that people are disturbed for all the wrong reasons.
Others tried to place the issue in perspective by citing Star Trek and the episode of The Jetsons in which two Georges showing up for dinner caused Jane no end of constatation.
It was there that a case study unfolded before my eyes, provided by two guys in the row of seats in front of me. Dressed in Timberland boots, pleated khakis and mirroring flannel shirts, they looked like a perfectly symmetrical Rorschach inkblot — in plaid.
"What crap," said the other.
The development of cloning should come as no surprise, particularly to those who walk this campus. Humans have always had an obsession with sameness. We have always been intent on replicating things much less complex than DNA.
From the Rachel haircut to religious beliefs, most of our personal characteristics have been duplicated from other people. We rely on others to determine everything from the most superficial to the most significant. About 99 percent of what we do, say or think has already been done, said or thought by other people. Instead of creating, we reconfigure.
The problem is that technological advancement doesn't really advance us to realms outside the physical. Put us on wheels, put us on the moon — technology has given us the ability to gather information from many varied sources, but it has left most of us unable to think for ourselves.
Worst of all, science still refuses to search for the elusive Stupid gene that is responsible for intolerance, jealousy, immaturity and the miniseries Asteroid.
Cloning is an issue awash in contradictions. It is a completely different method of reproductive technology that results in sameness. It is a complex procedure that involves the simplest building blocks of living things.
The biggest contradiction is that all this hue and cry about the inevitable production of artificial humans disguises the fact that the urge to copy is fundamental to being human. It begins when our first strand of DNA replicates itself and doesn't end until our cells stop dividing at death.
I am reminded of something my mother used to tell me when I was younger (with Bactine and protein milkshake in hand, ready to patch me up from some sort of inflicted physical or mental damage): If everyone in the world were the same, it would all be pretty boring.
A decade later, I think that if everyone in the world were the same, it would be pretty much the same as now.
So I wait for the precise location of the Stupid gene and prescriptions for its removal. I anticipate the news that they have determined how to make children resistant to the removal of their originality. I wait for news that they have created a new organism that is completely original and independent — a sheep that doesn't follow the herd.
Michael Martin is a Lenexa sophomore In English and Journalism.
Parking department plans to strike again
monster has its hand in your back pocket.
I pay to go to school, so let me park here!
All right. Here's something worth reading. I know it's weird. Calm down and progress. Here's the scoop: The University parking department monster has its hand in your
The lot across from Murphy Hall is open after 5 p.m. to anyone who cares to park there.
Now that I have out of my system, it seems pertinent to write about a new parking proposal that would kill arts patronage in Murphy Hall.
Throughout the year, patrons can see hundreds of artistic events there. Senior
voice majors give recitals, KU Opera puts on several shows in Swarthout Recital Hall and the University Theatre offers more than 60 nights of performances in its two theaters. Patrons typically park across the street.
But the parking department wants to turn the lot into a 24-hour restricted zone. Unlimited parking access would cost more than $300 a year, and evening access would cost $100 a year. So in an effort to raise more money, the department would force arts patrons to park at the Lied Center and shuttle to the events at Murphy Hall.
I have a few responses. The first is this: Sweet God! What do you want from us? Our blood? Leave us alone, parking department! When will your reign of terror be lifted from the fiscally broken backs of the impoverished college students who pay good money to come to this school? Please. No more. We've had enough. Mercy already! You know what? Revolutions start this way.
The second response deals specifically with the arts in Murphy Hall. I recently spoke with Laura
Zabel, box office assistant manager, who told me that the consequences of this parking plan would mean a sharp decline in arts patronage. "We've told people before that because of games or whatever that we would have to shuttle them in the Lied Center, and they just cancel their tickets," she said. "They don't reschedule; they just cancel. They don't want to deal with the hassle."
Watch out, kids, you never know where you won't be able to park tomorrow.
The productions at Murphy Hall would become sparsely populated with friends, family and a few people who care enough about the arts to park a mile away.
Save the arts at KU. Stop the parking department monster. Write a letter, ride a bike, do something.
And finally, the money from the new parking plan would not be funneled back into Murphy Hall. It would go to the parking department.
The arts of Murphy Hall rely on the financial support of the Lawrence and campus communities to present high-quality productions. If patronage shrinks because of a regressive parking policy, the budgets of the programs in Murphy Hall will shrink, too.
Carson Elrod is a Topea senior in U.S. history and Journalism
There is an obligation for the University to look out for the education and enlightenment of students before it looks out for the needs of the parking department.
The result will be a noticeable decline in the quality of resources available to students that use the building and its programs for their education. So in one move, the parking department robs audiences of convenience, performers of audiences, and students and faculty of resources that are integral to a high-quality arts education.
Letter
Athletes not only ones who deserve attention
First, I would like to congratulate the men's basketball team on its record. It takes a lot of discipline, dedication, practice and talent to do as well. But I am unable to identify myself as a fan, superfan or even genuinely interested. Yet everywhere I go, I hear about these guys. You may be saying, "So don't watch the games." I don't. Or you may be say, "So don't listen to the radio show." I don't. You may even say, "So don't read the Kansan, which spends more time valorizing and fawning over these guys and this sport than it does covering any other activity or issue on campus." I don't, at least not the sports section. But why is there so much attention paid to these guys
The Kansan has a responsibility to reflect the environment of the campus, and the amount of coverage it gives to the basketball team is disproportionate to any other topic that deserves to be covered.
who, though talented, are no more special than any other person on this campus? Why don't we hear about other people who are doing extraordinary things on this campus or in this town?
Some may say that I'm just jealous. No. I respect the basketball players so far as they are people who have talents that are in comprehensively glorified in our society. Fine. But the image of these people that we get from the media is often only one-dimensional. My good friend works at a local airport and once when he was merely trying to be helpful by assisting the basketball players with their luggage,
he overheard one of the guys making fun of him because he must have somehow been less of a man than they were. My response to him was that obviously privilege, prestige and pampering don't make a man.
I see hundreds, if not thousands, of dedicated, persevering and talented people doing great things in this community and on this campus and not even getting a nod from the Kansan.
I know it takes a lot to run a university newspaper. I appreciate the Kansan's efforts. I also know that although it may take some work, the stories of other people are out there. I hope the Kansan will take its responsibility seriously and maybe even set a trend.
Dan Griffin Fort Washington, Md. graduate student