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Friday, October 8, 1993
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Obesity should not be part of disabilities act
The authors of a recent study concerning obesity believe that weight should be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This would be
Americans with Disabilities Act. This would be impossible to enforce. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that overweight people have lower incomes and are less likely to be married than their thinner counterparts. The researchers believe that their data is sufficient proof that obese people need special protection under the law. Preferential treatment standards should not be available to every group that seems to be treated unfairly.
The first problem for such an endeavor would be the definition of obesity. Although medical statistics exist that can define obesity, different body frames can appear to be heavier than others. Since weight and appearance are subjective, it would be nearly impossible to form a meaningful definition that could be used in a policy against weight discrimination.
Second, it would be impossible to separate people who are genetically inclined toward obesity from other overweight individuals. Unlike race, sex, diabetes, blindness and deafness which are not chosen or altered by someone's behavior most people can influence their body fat composition by changing their eating and exercise habits.
While it is admirable to try to rid society of its prejudices, it is not possible for our laws to cover every human inclination toward bias. The focus on anti-discrimination laws should remain on characteristics that an individual cannot alter. Including weight in the Americans with Disabilities Act could not be feasible and would only place an undue burden on the rest of society.
RANDY REITZ FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
'Generation X' label unfair to our peers
Generation X. 13ers. Slackers. The MTV Generation. All of these are pet phrases for advertisers and market researchers who feel that they have to precisely define and label our generation in order to sell us their products. It is time that we define our own identity.
One of the labels unfairly applied to those age 15 to 30 is the apathetic, bored loser endlessly flipping through the channels and just living day to day. As with most stereotypes, it is inaccurate. Those growing up today and entering the job market have it much tougher than any generation in recent memory. We are saddled with a struggling economy and crumbling public institutions, as well as a dying environment. Much of today's troubles have been caused by the greediness of '80sera yuppies, who are the former flower children of the '60s. They talked big but accomplished little other than passing their mistakes onto their children.
Many members of our generation are doing something to correct the mistakes of our elders. Many of us are trying to save the Earth not through grand speeches but instead by actually doing something such as recycling or choosing a bike over a car. Our generation has a volunteer rate twice that of the baby boom generation. Rather than wringing our hands over America's social problems, we are doing things such as tutoring inner-city children or building homes for the homeless.
Within a decade, we will be the largest voting bloc in the country. We must not repeat the mistakes of our elders. Let us continue to be active in dispelling the stereotypes.
MIKE SILVERMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSANSTAFF
KC TRAUER, Editor
JOE HARDER, CHRISTINE LAUE Managing editors
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Editorial...Terrilyn Cornellk
Campus...Ben Grove
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AMY CASEY
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JEANNE HINES
Sales and marketing adviser
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Kate Burgess
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Classified mgr ... Janice Davis
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Kansas must include class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be
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High-power drugs make modern medicine so vital
Recently I had the distinct pleasure of having my wisdom teeth removed in a complicated procedure called "Tooth Extraction," subtitled "Let's Screw the Patient." This would not have been a particularly nasty procedure were it not for a number of facts. First, my wisdom teeth had rooted themselves firmly in my brain.
"You know," my doctor said, "this looks like a difficulty factor of about a five on a 10-point scale."
Oh really, I thought. That's not so bad.
Little did I know that "Hell Freezing Over" would rate somewhere between six and seven.
"Ummm, how would you like to experience your operation? It's really quite fascinating to be awake during surgery."
"Yes. Quite fascinating. Although you might feel a slight pounding when I chisel the teeth out."
Hmmm, I thought, and then quickly opted for the Knock You On Your Butt package, wherein they give you enough drugs to cause you to call the nurse "mommy," regardless of the quite noticeable fact that the nurse is named "Brett."
The drugs, which are introduced into the body by a needle the width of a genetically altered supercarrot, take approximately 2.3 seconds to do what it normally takes a 55-gallon barrel of Jagermeister to accomplish.
Of course the wonderful thing about
STAFF COLUMNIST
this is that you could have undergone a triple-bypass and not known the difference. Or even cared for that matter. I woke up an hour later, and then proceeded to hug Brett and tell him that I would be home sometime before Thanksgiving.
My roommate had the distinct misfortune of driving me home. He related an interesting story, wherein I taunted him—apparently—by rotating my head 360 degrees a good number of times and throwing blood-soaked gauze at his head.
Brett, of course, had a hearty laugh at my expense and responded quite comically: "Get away from me, you freak."
My roommate, being the hardy person he is (hardy as in "not especially astute"), decided he would pay me back by having a sudden and rather untimely appendectomy.
I found him one afternoon doing strange things; he was looking in his stool.
looking in your stool? Are you planning the demise of the Parking Department?"
yes, he said. "But also I am in pain and cannot move from here. I think it might be my appendix."
"Roommate," I said, "why are you
Quickly, after watching a cycle of Headline News, I took him to the doctor. The doctor decided that, yes, removal of the appendix was a good idea, and that, yes, it would be expensive. Cost does not matter, however, when it comes to keeping your doctor in the country club.
All of this makes life interesting at our apartment. We pop codeine on a regular basis and do absolutely nothing for extended periods of time. Occasionally, we will enter into deep philosophical discussions on who will get up and get the next Twinkie. We have also become quite creative with our extracted body parts. My wisdom teeth are now knockers on our front door. And in a fit of drug-induced hilarity, my roommate decided to enlarge a picture of his appendix that the doctor had taken during the operation. Now his appendix is the size of a 11-by-17 piece of paper and glosses our wall with such beauty that most people leave a warm trail of vomit as they run out our door.
Which all goes to show why modern day medicine is so important: They give you good drugs.
Todd Puntney is a Manhattan senior major ing in Journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Bible should be a tool not a dictate in classes
As of late, the Western Civilization department has come under fire by a myriad of campus Christian organizations who maintain that the Bible is being misrepresented. What these groups fail to realize is that these are merely critiques of the Bible, not unlike critiques that have been ensued by Christians and others since its original writing.
Critics of the Western Civilization text seem to have a problem with criticism that doesn't cohere with the dogma they advocate. Ward Nitz even argued that "they (the students) just assume it's true since it's
Anyone who thinks that these organizations may be right must consider the alternative they would propose. Under their ideal system, the Bible would be taught as law and as unrefutable. Not only does this break one of the basic tenets of our constitution, it is quite simply not conducive to genuine education. To look at something from only one angle inhibits the learning
in a text, and it's written as though there were no faults in the theory." What I hate to break to Mr. Nitz is that the same can be said of the Bible and that it also is taught in Western Civilization classes. The "text" known as the Bible is rarely taught with opposition out of the classroom, and to date, not many Christians have spoken up.
process; how much can one learn by examining only the good points of an issue rather than both good and bad?
Certain campus Christians seem to prefer that faith be taught in the classroom, a discipline that only can be gained through one's own self. It is not a university's place to decide which religion is right or wrong but merely what religion stands for and studies. The Western Civilization program here at KU has done just that.
David Burge Wichita sophomore
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University of Mars
M. X.
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Minorities discriminate against white people,too
Racism has blossomed into a phenomenon that becomes more intricate by the day. So before you condemn me as being a racist and not understanding the plight of the Black community, remember: We are fighting for the same justice. I refuse to feel guilty for the crimes of others, and I refuse to stand by and let the white race be trashed simply because angry minority groups feel white people deserve it and have it coming to them. This is an ugly issue that probably never will go away, and the only way to deal with it is to treat others as you would have them treat you.
Spending four years in a high school where I was outnumbered by Black students, I was accosted more than once for being white. I know first hand what racism feels like, and this cycle needs to be stopped on both sides.
I'm tired of hearing that white men can't jump, that white men are incompetent and can't represent minorities and that white people deserve to be discriminated against.
Anne Bailey is a Denver sophomore major ing in psychology.
With all the talk in the Kansan about racism, I think it is time to deal with the other side of racism that most people simply ignore. I applaud the two letters combating Miss Hurt's article suggesting that white men, and possibly white women, are only competent to represent themselves. I found that article, and the entire attitude that surrounds the issue, racist and offending.
Every day I hear the cries from Blacks and whites saying that the two groups need to come together as one race. Then hypocrisy takes over and some of the same people who are fighting for equality and justice are the ones dishing out the same crimes they are fighting against.
I understand that this is the same kind of cycle that develops in minority youths, but I don't understand why minorities are subjecting the white culture to the same hardships people like Martin Luther King Jr. fought valiantly to abolish.
The issue, and episodes, of reverse racism are constantly arising, yet this aspect of racism is not acknowledged in our society. For instance, when I first heard about the Black Student Union, I was outraged. But what amazed me was how little controversy was associated with the Union, both when it was created and now. I can tell you that if someone had even suggested a White Student Union they would have been slapped as a racist and a bigot.
So why is it OK for whites to be blatantly discriminated against? For so many years now, the awareness and subsequent decline of white on Black racism has filled every aspect of the media and American culture. It has come to the point where white children are being taught to feel guilty for every racist crime white men and women have committed in the past. This in turn leads to the lasting belief they deserve the discrimination they will inevitably receive from angry minorities.
by Joel Francke