OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
7. (10 marks)
CRAIG LANG, Editor MARK OZIMEK, Business manager
SUSANNA LOOP, Managing editor DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
KIMBERLY CRABTREE, Editorial editor JUSTIN KNUPP, Technology coordinator
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news adviser JAY STEINER, Sales and marketing adviser
4A
Monday, March 3, 1997
Amy Miller/ KANSAN
Editorials
Students need to take active role in lobbying their representatives
During this session, the Legislature will consider allocating $7.5 million for technological equipment upgrades at Regents institutions.
This decision will directly affect the ability of the University of Kansas to provide its students with updated and adequate technology. Therefore, KU students must stand up for their educational needs and take an active role in lobbying their representatives. Without such action, it may be easy for representatives and senators to cut this much-needed funding.
In the Feb. 25 University Daily Kansas, House Speaker Pro Tern Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, said that she was concerned that education spending would undermine efforts to reduce taxes.
Many legislators who want to cut taxes may not be inclined to increase
It will take students just a few minutes to write their legislators for funds.
funding for higher education. If students tell their representatives that there is a need for this funding, the chances of its passage could be greatly improved.
"The Legislature holds the purse-strings, and they decide if they can give us the money or not." she said.
Ashleigh de la Torre, legislative director for Student Senate, said it was important for students and their parents to contact their legislators soon, either by phone or in writing.
De la Torre said that students and their parents didn't need a perfect understanding of the budget process to
influence the issue but could simply express the importance of the funding to the University.
The need for student action is apparent in light of lawmakers' willingness to cut this funding. Already, Gov. Bill Graves has trimmed the Regents' original request for $12 million by $4.5 million. If students are unwilling to raise their voices, these funds could be cut further or eliminated altogether.
It only takes a few minutes to write or call your legislator. A student could easily spend more time waiting in line for a computer on this campus, and even more time complaining about waiting. Instead of being resolved to this situation, it is the responsibility of students to take action by contacting their representatives and expressing the need for this funding and their support of it.
KELLI RAYBERN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Large classes can still aid learning
Western Civilization is considered by some to be one of the corner-stones of the educational foundation at the University. But some students who are enrolled in large lecture classes feel that these classes do not adequately satiate their intellectual curiosity. Although large lecture classes are accompanied by smaller discussion sections, some students argue that this is not enough and that each lecture class should be the size of the discussion sections. However, larger classes are needed to accommodate all Western Civilization students. Instead of complaining, students should seize all opportunities to increase knowledge. Smaller classes are more conducive to discussing the philosophical and theological content that the Western Civilization program teaches. But the large lecture classes provide important
Larger Western Civilization classes are necessary to accommodate all students.
guidelines to fully understanding the material taught in Western Civilization classes.
There are smaller lecture classes open to students. Jim Woelfel, director of Western Civilization, said that ideally, he would like to see all of the large Western Civilization lecture classes shrink to more manageable sizes. However, the resources for hiring more professors to teach the course are not available. Woelfel said that the Western Civilization program wanted to have more experienced instructors teaching its classes. Teaching assistants are not allowed to teach their own
sections of Western Civilization without at least two years of experience.
The large lectures are designed to provide historical significance and to help guide students through the material assigned, Woelfel said. The discussion sections are designed to be forums where students can discuss the complexities and eclectic interpretations of this material. The lecture classes help students prepare for discussion classes.
Perhaps there is a symbiotic relationship between the two. Perhaps both large lectures and smaller discussion sections are useful in our pursuit of the perfect education. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "The things taught in schools and colleges are not education, but a means to education." Although large lectures coupled with smaller discussion sections may not be ideal, they are intended to provide this means.
NICK ZALLER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
LA TATIA 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
LINDSHEY HENRY . . . Campus
DAVE BRETTENSTEIN . . Features
PAM DISIMAN . . . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . . . Design
ANDY ROHRBACK . . Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT . . Wire
LZ MUSSER . . Special sections
AERICA VEAZEY . . News clerk
NEWS EDITORS
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 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
LZ HESS ... Zone
ANTHONY MLIAZCO ... Zone
MARIA CRIST ... Senior account executive
Letters: Should be double-spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
Guest columns: Should be double-spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
How to submit letters and guest columns
All letter and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Staffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Kim Crabtreat (opinion@kansan.com) or LaTina Sullivan (lusillian@kansan.com) at 864-4810.
Columns
Skywalker is out; Solo is the new hero
Everybody had a hero when they were a kid. It could have been anyone from a noble soul like Mother Teresa to kinetic fitness gurk Richard Simmons, and if the latter was the case, I'm really sorry. I guess it really all depended on the kind of person you were and the kind of things you cherished.
Me? I was of the belief that there was no one more deserving of idolization than young Luke Skywalker. He did, after all, fire the fateful laser torpedo that destroyed the diabolical Death Star.
So I was positively giddy when I got to go check out the Star Wars Special Edition the other week. Finally, my hero was back on the big screen where he belonged.
Plain and simple, the movie
rocked, as I'm sure you're probably well aware of by now. The effects were cool, and the Jawas still gave me the willies for reasons unexplained, but imagine my surprise when a major revelation occurred to me ... Luke is really kind of a pansy.
And not just kind of, either. The boy is a brat and a whiner. I don't know how anybody saw Jedi potential in this kid. Everything he says is "I wanted to do this" or "I wish that." Like when Luke and his uncle bought C3PO and R2-D2 from those creepy Jawas and his uncle told him he had to stay home and work on the droids that night. Rather than accepting his responsibilities as a member of his family, Luke whimpered and said, "But Uncle, I was going to go to the Talski Station to pick up some power converters." Look, I know the boy didn't realize yet that it was his destiny to save the galaxy from the tyrannical Empire, but still, how much fun can you really have with power converters?
Another example: After Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Ben to his closest friends, met his fate at the hands of the dastardly Darth Vader, Luke, Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca sped off in the Millennium Falcon to rebel headquarters. Luke moped around what I guess was the lounge area of the ship and then, in the voice of a pre-pubesent 12-year-old boy said, "I wish Ben was here." Right then, there should have been digitally inserted footage of Leia showing the boy the back of her hand. I'm a firm believer that Jadis don't whine. Of course, traditionally they also don't kiss their sisters, but that's another story.
You would think that somewhere there had to be a better candidate for jedi knighthood. Luke can't possibly fit any of the qualifications. Let's see, we've already knocked out the clause against no whinners, but I'm sure there is a question concerning bravery, like whether or not you actually have any, on the application. Sadly, Luke would have to answer no, if only because of the garbage disposal incident on the Death Star. A single look at Luke's face once the walls start to close in, and you can tell he's shaking in his stolen stormtrooper boots.
But, perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on Luke. This was, I suppose, only the first movie, and I guess he did blow up the Death Star and all. I'm just a little disappointed in him. He wasn't nearly the man I remembered to be.
I will now take this opportunity to announce that I have picked a new hero, a new person to put all my faith in and idolize. It is Han Solo, for the sole reason that he got to hook up with Leia, and if you've seen her in the opening scenes of Return of the Jedi, dancing in Jabba the Hutt's palace, you know that Han is a man to envy, indeed.
Robert Bishop is a Wichita senior in English and Journalism.
Days of Our Lives is like an addictive drug
I have a secret. I've kept it to myself for almost two years now. I guess I was too ashamed to admit that it could ever happen to me.
Every day at noon I feel like I should utter the phrase, "Hi. My name is Mike, and...uhh. I watch Days of our Lives." This seemingly innocent television habit of mine has insidiously become an addiction. Furthermore, there is no 12-step program that I could attend to try to wean myself off of this crap.
How did this happen to me?
How did I become so intimate with the personal lives
Perhaps it's the show's campiness that eventually led to my compulsive watching. I was watching Days in my room, not only behind a closed door but also by myself when it happened—my epiphany. As I sat there eating lunch, Marlena, the good doctor, was suddenly hovering over a bed, possessed by Satan. With one swift twist of the plot, I was officially hooked.
t these people in Salem? It began with a friend, whose name shall remain anonymous, at least for now, who "offered" the me soap opera one afternoon, you know, just to see if I liked it. I thought I was in control. "I can stop whenever I want to," I kept reassuring myself. Out of all the soaps on daytime television, Days of our Lives is possibly one of the worst. These characters talk more to themselves than your average schizophrenic. And the acting? Vacant looks are for the supermodels, not for daytime actors to use as an attempt to mask the fact that they have forgotten their lines.
The possession of Marlene was like a narcotic for me. Each day I anxiously awaited Marlene's demon voice and her eyes to open with those green contact lenses. This was not unlike the same feeling I got whenever Diana, the lizard alien from that sci-fi classic V had her face ripped off to reveal her true reptilian skin and orange
experts say that the best drug dealers are those who don't partake of their own product. Is it coincidence that this friend who got me started on Days has now quit watching it, cold turkey? I think not.
I used to think I was alone out there. I watched Days, by myself, waiting for Marlena to expose Kristen's false pregnancy to John. I had been hesitant, until recently, to come out about this. When I stumbled upon the TV lounge of the Kansas Union one afternoon, however, I realized that the prevalence of Days junkies was widespread. Usually the lounge is spotted by a few people, sprawled out in one of those roomy chairs, slowly being lulled into unconsciousness. High noon, surprisingly, transforms the room into a forum of hard-core Days addicts.
A few minutes before the hour they begin to enter the room. Once all of the prime chairs have been taken, people quickly scramble for a piece of the floor with a good view of the big screen. Everyone in this room at noon shares a common bond, they watch Days. They eat, sleep and breathe it. At last, I thought, I've found my people.
This still does not solve my problem though. Going to this room is like waving a vial of crack under the nose of an addict. Each time I sit down in the TV lounge I'm reminded of an alcoholic character from a Woody Allen film who said, "You know I could never resist the taste of salt around the rim of a glass." Like an alcoholic, I cannot relinquish my hour of Days.
What will become of me? Will I start programming my VCR to record episodes I miss because of class — oh wait, bad example. Will I start rearranging my class schedule to accommodate watching both the Topeka and Kansas City broadcasts? Will I subscribe to Soap Opera Digest??? Stay tuned, and remember, "Like the sands through the hourglass..." You know the rest.
Mike Cole Is a Mission Hills Junior In Journalism.
Letter
SLT may do more harm than good to community
The opposition of the South Lawrence Trafficway has yet to hear a logical, convincing argument for the construction of the SLT along 31st Street. The sarcastic, flippant remarks of the not-so-sympathetic and not-so-informed Chris Gallaway in the Feb. 17 University Daily Kansan is typical of what we've heard thus far.
Instead of presenting a solid argument that demonstrates the necessity of the road, he made light of the whole issue through his sarcasm. Educating the students at the University was the purpose of the protest and merely one example of our dedication to this issue. We find it hard to believe that Gallaway focused on discouraging people from speaking out for
The 31st alignment would violate a presidential order on environmental justice, which states that no minority group may bear a disproportionate burden for any federally funded project. If the road is build, there will justifiably be animosity between Native Americans and the rest of the community.
There are alternatives and compromises. There is another route that goes south of the river that has continuously been overlooked. Also, there have been talks to extend the KU bus system around the whole city which would help alleviate traffic problems.
what they believe in by implying that it doesn't do any good. We will present the main reasons for moving the SLT off 31st Street alignment.
Two-thirds of the Lawrence community does not want this
road to be built on 31st Street. At public hearings, the voices heard are overwhelmingly in opposition to this alignment. Two out of the three county commissioners who gave the go ahead on Dec. 5 are associated with real estate developments in Lawrence. The commissioners are not representing the public interest.
---
The environmental and educational value of the wetlands cannot be overlooked. It is home to many animals including threatened and endangered species; only 2 percent of the original wetlands remain in Lawrence.
We must ask ourselves: Is progress building a road that will do more harm than good?
Scott Headner
Shawnee junior
Katrina Justin
KU Alumna