4A
Thursday, December 5, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
University should not decorate for holidays
Though some have called the administration's decision not to place a Christmas tree in the Strong Hall rotunda an example of political correctness gone awry, the decision not to promote one religious faith more than others is appropriate for a university setting.
Students, faculty and staff have justifiably complained in past years about the Christmas tree's presence. Responding to these complaints was the only responsible decision the University could have made.
However, replacing the tree with poinsettias in some ways undermines their original purpose, which, according to Provost David Shulenburger, was to make Strong Hall religiously neutral.
A Christmas tree and other holiday decorations, such as poinsettias, support a Christian holiday that many members of the University community do not celebrate.
The University is a state institution and here, if nowhere else, separation of church and state should be practiced.
"A Christmas tree shouldn't be a part of the University at all," said Keri Abowitz, St. Louis junior.
Eradicating all endorsements, no matter how subtle, of the Christian faith supports the American value of freedom of religion.
Shulenburger said in an article in Monday's Kansan that individual departments within the University could decorate their offices however they wished.
That privilege should be extended to individual religious and student groups on campus that wish to decorate Strong Hall with holiday decorations specific to their religious traditions.
However, the University itself should not be involved in the decorating process.
NICOLE KENNEDY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Residence halls owe students more moving time after finals
Residence halls close for winter break at 9 p.m. on Dec.19 For the unlucky students who have a final examination scheduled during the last time slot from 3 to 6 p.m., the University gives them about three hours to leave.
To allow students to recover from finals, the University should give them at least until noon the next day to pack and move out.
One of the reasons why the residence halls aren't open until Dec. 20 is that they've had high levels of vandalism, said Randy Timm, an assistant director of student housing. In addition, most students living in residence halls leave before the last day of finals, Timm said.
Students should be aware of their finals schedule, and if they use their time well, they should have more than enough time to pack. If students are strapped for time, Timm said many of the resident assistants could help students with preparations.
"We've been pretty good at working with students and have arranged guest housing," Timm said.
Lewis and McCollum halls and Jayhawker Towers will remain open during winter break if students need a place to stay. However, priority for gaining temporary housing will be given to students who aren't going home for winter break, not to students who need an extra day to pack.
Students should realize that Friday, Dec. 19 is not the day to begin worrying about preparations for winter break. While it is true that students should make better plans for leaving after their finals are completed, the University should give these students more than three hours to vacate residence halls.
DOUG WEINSTEIN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
AMANDA TRAUGHBER
Editor
CRAIG LANG
Managing editor
MATT HOOD
Associate managing editor for design
KIMBERLY CRABTREE
CHARITY JEFFRIES
News editors
DARCI L. McLAIN
SARA ROSE
Public relations directors
Editors
Campus ... Sunanna Lovin
... Jason Stratt
... Amy Meyvoy
Editorial ... John Collar
... Nicole Kennedy
Features ... Adam Ward
Bill Peterson
Associate sports ... Carlin Foster
Online editor ... David L. Teska
Photo ... Rich Devinki
Graphics ... Noah Musser
Associate Rothkobbe
Special sections ... Amy Meyvoy
Wire ... Debbie Staine
AREN GERSCH
Business manager
HEALY SMART
Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Mark Ozdemk
Regional mgr ... Dennie Haupt
Assistant Retail mgr ... Dena Contento
National mgr ... Katie Nye
Management mgr ... Hannah Koepp
Production mgr ... Dan Kopee
Lien Quebbenman
Marketing director ... Eric Johnson
Creative director ... Desmond Lavelle
Sales manager ... John Pleitgen
Mass Impact mgr ... Dena Plisotte
Internet mgr ... Steve Sanger
Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Strain of Christmas cheer may unravel a family's ties
Last week, millions of mothers across America laughed in the face of salmonella poisoning as they shoved turkeys into ovens and struggled to free that disturbing cylindrical cranberry substance from cans.
And so began the season that brings retailers and eating-disorder clinics more business than any other time of year. The holidays: A time when "I love you" is written in invisible ink on $20 bills, and relatives who are talked about behind their backs dare to show their faces.
Weighted down by the iron oven mitt of tradition, my family and I celebrated a traditional, nuclear family Thanksgiving. By this, I mean that everyone ate as quickly as possible and then ran to separate corners of the house.
At first, this year was different.
Before we ate, my mother, having read a book (always dangerous) and perhaps having been subject to too many very special episodes of Who's The Boss? demanded we go around the table and offer thanks for something. My sisters and I groaned.
"I'm thankful you're all going to shut up and do this," my mother began, flashing a poison-dart smile.
"I thankful I'm Mom and Dad's
favorite," my littler sister said.
"I'm thankful Bush's new album is out," my little sister said. "And I'm thankful for Gavin Rossdale. And I'm thankful all his shirts are two sizes too small."
"I think your Morn and I are really most thankful that Michael hasn't disappointed us this year," my father said.
"More than usual," my mother finished.
STAFF COLUMNIST
"I'm thankful that my loving family still has all their limbs," I said, spearing an artichoke.
develops every holiday season. Togetherness leads to teasing, then tension, then eventually someone gets threatened with some sort of damage.
There are several misconceptions regarding the holiday season:
belief, the Divine smiles most upon those who give the gift of Gap.
family's laughter faded into an ishe-kidding? discomfort and then to a benign sort of terror, I realized that a pattern was developing. The same pattern that
1. It's a good idea to spend it with your family — regardless of whether you're getting along. People believe that old wounds and bad feelings can be covered up with tinsel and handknit sweaters as they attempt to recreate scenes from old black-and-white movies starring happy people who now are dead. Flawed and dangerous, this phenomenon often causes people to eat themselves into comas to avoid conversing with evil second cousins. This is the reason Hallmark was created.
2. The holidays are corrupt; now, they are just an excuse to eat and shop. True, but so what? Holidays meant consumption and commerce from the very beginning. Even the first Thanksgiving was a thinly veiled excuse to eat more than usual. And contrary to popular
3. One should act in the 'spirit of the season'; i.e. polite, charitable, holy (if you can swing it). This causes most people to become actors, forcing the creation of characters not even remotely resembling themselves. Without benefit of Method training, many immediately crack under the pressure and become subject to the vices that plague many actors: irritability, tantrums, alcoholism (to name a few).
This is where I think tension begins. Family members get together for the holidays, and eventually, everyone flips out because they think they have to get along. The pressure to suppress hostility and guilt makes everyone feel as if they're 6 years old, so everyone acts accordingly.
Guess what? The presents are already paid for. No one's going to take them back! Disturbed by Uncle Ted's long, lingering hugs? Tell him! Wonder why Aunt Martha smells so odd? Inquire! Don't keep those things inside!
The bottom line is that holidays are a human construct, which possess all the imperfections of their creators. This holiday season, just be yourself, as evil, commercial and gluttonous as that may be. Indulge your greed. Embrace your dysfunction. Be thankful for it.
Then — just as those relatives after 19 cups of coffee and countless, fabricated World War II stories — the tension might wear out and go away.
Michael Martin is a Lenexa sophomore in English and theater and film.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Hair: Revised represents time when people cared
Those KU students danced and sang their hearts out to an audience of boring, unappreciative attendants. Long live revolutionary mentality and long live Hair.
It's too bad the crowd was so square to get involved in the underlying meaning. Maybe everybody is really happy with the Generation X mentality of passivity. Not me. In fact, that mentality makes my stomach churn.
Hair. Revised, was truly awesome. I commend each of its performers, stage crew, designers, etc. on a fun and thought-provoking play.
And to Bradley Brooks, who wrote the commentary about it. Bury the '60s? Are you crazy? The '60s was the
Tll tell you, this generation needs to clean up its act, and its country, and start running things the way they should be run equally. It's time we took control of individuality and stopped living this life of passive intake and convenient ingestion.
We are the movers and shakers of the 21st century, so let's start moving and shaking the system.
last time that anything truly tragic and beautiful happened in this country. When you bury the '60s, you bury free expression and individuality. *Hair* was being presented to get this generation off its butt and do something to make this country a better place to live and breathe for everyone. *Hair* represents growth and change — not incense and marijuana
Graham Johnson Lincoln,Neb.,senior
How to submit letters and guest columns
Letters: Should be double-
spaced, typed and fewer than
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Submissions should be addressed to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions.
University must allot libraries extra financing to help students
Many students who use the KU libraries find it convenient to do so between classes during the day.
For others, balancing part-time employment, night classes, children, internships, etc., can cut library usage to late nights on weekends. Unfortunately, that does not leave much time to work around the libraries' operating hours.
Watson Library is open until 6 p.m.
on Saturday,
while Anschutz
Science Library is
open until 10 p.m.
Neither is open
again until noon
on Sunday, and
both close at midnight
Sunday
through Thursday.
in an article published in the Kansan on Nov. 14, Marihuja Goodyear, associate dean of libraries.
simply stated, "The bottom line is finance." Goodyear also mentioned that staffing is student-intensive throughout many of these hours and that the increased minimum wage presented problems.
A possible solution could be awarding more work-study. The only problem with this plan is that not very many students would like to work later than midnight and be expected to attend classes the next morning. The limited availability of work-study funds stifles this idea also.
If redistributing financial aid is not feasible, perhaps the University should consider a larger labor budget for the library system. This might reduce budgets for other programs that appear to receive ample financing in our liberal arts education system, including:
Residence hall food costs:
Would better portioning result in less food preparation and less waste? How much food goes from the kitchen to plates to garbage cans?
Parking department: Is it necessary to have the firepower to find an illegally parked car 30 seconds after the engine is shut off? How many times have these oversold lots paid for themselves?
Perhaps if these and other questions were addressed, some of this money could be allotted to programs that might affect what we are here for ... education, not administration.
Most likely, none of this will happen because it would require the redistribution of the University's money. The University would rather redistribute our money by adding a few extra dollars to the campus fee,which has become a quick-fix-it solution too many times.
It seems that library availability should be one of the few things that is included in the swelling costs of a college education. Many students and administrators are concerned with the University's somewhat inadequate computer centers.
If the fat is not trimmed from less important programs, students ultimately will foot the bill to cure these aliments.
The recent conversion to the linear tuition system and the abolishment of credit-card payments proves that some revenue has been generated to alleviate problems such as these.
How this money is spent and the priorities placed upon services meant to help KU students will be decided by officials. It is a sad situation in our education system when parking tickets are more of a cause for concern than accessing our University's wonderful libraries.
Luke Hinson is a Harrison, Ark. senior in biology.
THE AVENGING VARMINT
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By Lili Barrientos