4A
Tuesday, November 19, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Vetoed Senate seat lies in misinformation cloud
Student Senate President Grey Montgomery has vetoed a bill granting a Senate seat to the International Student Association.
The ISA is not upset. As it turns out, they never wanted the seat anyway.
Student Senate had voted incorrectly in favor of creating a seat for ISA because the defunct International Council no longer had a representative in Student Senate. Senators apparently were misinformed that ISA wanted a seat.
"No one talked to me formally about the issue," said David Cohavi, president of ISA. "That just never happened. People assumed what we wanted."
"I understand their concern for the seat, but we as a group never decided what we wanted. This Wednesday we will be meeting to reform International Council. Then, by the Student Senate constitution, we will get a seat."
Cohavi expressed concern that forming a Senate seat for ISA would cause division. The seat would have meant that a social club would have to elect someone to represent it, which would then mean becoming a political organization — something Cohavi does not want.
Apparently, there is not a consensus among international students on whether ISA should become a political organization.
Lack of consensus
Girish Ballolla, graduate senator and international student, supported the passage of the bill for an ISA seat.
"International Council is no longer functioning, so now the International Student Association is trying to expand their function as just a social and cultural organization into becoming a political organization where they can voice their concerns," he said.
Yet, just as Cohavi contends, the ISA is simply too international to elect anyone.
Cohavi wonders who would represent the concerns of American students and Iranian or Turkish students without causing some division.
The bottom line: Cohavi does not want division in a social group dedicated to education and unity.
Ballolla also contends that ISA wanted the seat.
"I have spoken to David Cohavi myself. They want a seat. ISA has been trying for the last couple of years to expand their concept and this is a good chance," Ballolla said.
Senate's decision
Montgomery said the group lacked interest in the seat as proposed in the bill.
"As it turned out, the group was not very happy about getting the seat. They met and decided against having the seat. Apparently, Gerald Harris came and spoke before the Senate regarding the issues, I guess without consulting ISA," Montgomery said.
Harris, the group's faculty adviser, admits that the seat was what he wanted, but he also said that ISA was aware of what he was proposing.
"What I wanted to see happen was international students getting representation. After International Council is reconstituted, they will get a seat," Harris said.
This has been an instance of bad communication and rushing to action without needed information. International students now lack a voice.
Blame rests with those who lost interest in International Council and let the seat slip away. Senators who quickly supported this bill were not to blame for misinformation.
TOM MOORE 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   Susanna Lóóf
    Jason Brakt
    Amy McVey
Editorial   John Collar
Nicole Kennedy
Features  Adam Ward
Sports   Bill Petulin
Associate sports  Carlyn Foster
Online editor  David L. Teaska
Photo   Rich Devkind
Graphics  Noah Musser
Andrew Rothbush
Special sections  Amy McVey
Wire   Debbie Stalne
KAREN 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 Ozkmel
Regional mgr ... Dennis Haupt
Assistant Retail mgr ... Dana Centeno
National mgr ... Kate Hye
Production mgr ... Keith Napoleon
Production mgr ... Dan Kopec
Lisa Quebb曼
Marketing director ... Eric Johnson
Creative director ... Desmond Lavelle
Sales manager ... Neil Ramsay
Mass Impact mgr ... Dena Piscotte
Internet mgr ... Steve Sanger
Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Kansan deserves praise for answering complaints
In the last couple of weeks, the University Daily Kansan has become a target of intense criticism by various groups on campus. While supporting many of the complaints from various groups as true, I want to praise the editor because she is the only Kansan editor since Fall 1990 who has taken criticism seriously and tried to improve the quality of the paper.
This semester the Kansan has published many letters to the editor and guest columns criticizing the paper. These intense criticisms may give the false impression that this semester's staff members are not competent in performing their jobs.
I read newspapers from other universities, most national and a few international newspapers. I have been reading the Kansan since 1990 and read each page except the sports pages. Since then, I have observed the biased, manipulative and childish news publication of the Kansan. Therefore, we should not criticize only the current staff.
Kansan staff members are KU students and get their "education" on "fairness" from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. If each semester a new group of students takes the helm of the Kansan and performs poorly, then we should start thinking about the nature of education the journalism school is providing.
It is also true that the Kansan is just one example of the unfair media in the United States.
GUEST COLUMNIST
The KU community is small
enough that we know all the true information from our friends or most of the events are occurring in front of our eyes.
Therefore, we can easily detect the discrepancies between what the Kansan reports and the truth. We can easily comprehend the unfair practices of journalism
here. On the other hand, the world is too big for us to witness first-hand the events that are happening.
We rely on newspapers and other media to learn the truth. Based upon the information we receive through the media, we decide whether other countries are good or bad or which country we support in a conflict. Sometimes we choose to support the actions of our government, such as bombings or imposing economic sanctions against other countries.
However, we forget to scrutinize our news providers. Are they telling the truth? We often forget that journalists who are supposed to bring us truthful news do make mistakes, commit bigotry or manipulate information because of their own religious beliefs against the religions of others.
Therefore, we should not just blame our friends working at the Kansan, who are trying hard to build a résumé and to get a job after graduation. After all, they are just trying hard to learn the methods of the U.S. media.
I have had an opportunity to talk to eight different Kansan editors since 1990 concerning its biased news publications. Only Amanda Traugher, the current editor, paid any attention to my criticisms. Former editors firmly stated that they were performing their jobs correctly. A few of the editors were extremely rude to me.
In previous semesters, I wrote letters to the editors and many never were published. I have heard similar complaints from a number of other KU students.
This semester is the exception. I had an hour-long discussion with the current Kansan editor. She not only acknowledged mistakes but also apologized again and again.
To the best of my knowledge, she has published all the letters to the editor criticizing herself and the Kansan. She often encourages her critics to write guest columns, which is commendable.
In addition, she invited all students to attend the Kansan's advisory board meetings. Recently, she and other staff members attended cultural programs of various minority groups that had bitterly criticized the paper in the past. The neutrality of international news coverage has improved greatly since.
Amanda, therefore, deserves praise and recognition.
Sohel Kahn is a Chittagong, Bangladesh, graduate student in electrical engineering.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Movie wasn't just about love makin'.rebellion
I am writing in response to Andy Rohrback's column in the Nov. 11 edition of the Kansan about the new movie Romeo and Juliet. I don't feel it is appropriate to write about a movie one hasn't seen. I get the impression that Rohrback got his ideas about the movie from watching the 30-second TV teasers or the 2-minute movie trailer.
If those were the only sources of his information, I could understand how he might see the new version as being a shoot 'em up, love makin', rebellion-ridden movie. I think that if he had seen the movie, he might have a different view of it.
First of all, there was no nudity in this film, unlike the Franco Zeffirelli version that we all saw in high school — the one in which the teacher stood by the television anxiously waiting to cover Juliet's breast when it appeared on the screen. Also, Romeo and Juliet did spend one last night together before he had to leave for Mantua. But what really went on in the bed that night is up to the imagination of the audience because it was not presented on the screen. I believe that Romeo and Juliet spent the night together in the original play.
I would like to comment on his statement, "Luhrmann's Romeo mixes sex, violence and outright rebellion with Shakespearean romance to make it palatable."
Next, there was violence. But there was violence in the original play. The violence portrayed in the movie was with guns, and the violence in the play was with swords and daggers. Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, and Romeo and Juliet still die in the end in both versions.
I thought the movie was a great adaptation of the original. It used
the original words of Shakespeare, albeit some scenes were edited out so as not to drag on for hours. This is also not the first time that Baz Luhrmann has updated a story to modern times. He updated La Bohème when he directed it at the Sydney Opera House a few years ago. The idea was to show that the words of Shakespeare are as relevant in our times as they were in his time. This was a story that could appeal to anyone in any time. I don't think that "pure" love was a reality in Shakespeare's time, either. I think it was an ideal — just as it is an ideal today. However, I think Shakespeare knew that "pure" love was a foolish thing; it makes you do irrational things. And that is why he wrote *Romeo and Juliet* and why Luhrmann brought it to the big screen.
Mike Alvarez Eudora senior
Meat messages reveal students are consumed by paltry ideas
The recent vegetarian messages on the sidewalks in front of Wescoe Hall say quite a bit about our student body.
Namely, the people who wrote the messages must not have too much to worry about. It's difficult to get students to vote for the president, yet people get off their couches to grouse about eating or not eating meat.
STAFF COLUMNIST
I don't care if they murder vegetables or animals or plants; I just want to know where they get the free time to write about it.
Consider how boring their lives must be to have time to ponder whether what people eat is morally wrong. Then, after deciding it is wrong, to
have enough free time to cover the campus in propaganda.
I didn't have a problem with the anti-divorce messages last year. The sporadic slogans that deplore domestic violence didn't bother me either. In both of these cases, something could have happened in these people's lives — like getting divorced or being the victim of an abusive spouse — which could cause them to turn into activists. I prefer they not write on the sidewalks, but it's better than becoming a disgruntled postal employee and killing co-workers.
Memo to these propagandists: Get a grip, get a life and get a clue. Then, get off campus and quit vandalizing my walking space. If they're against meat, then they shouldn't eat it. They shouldn't assume they hold such moral high ground that they can tell me that it is right or wrong to eat meat. If they are so sure of the merit of their beliefs, then they should give me a chance to disagree with them face-to-face. The sidewalk propagandists shouldn't remain anonymous.
But what could possibly cause militant vegetarianism? Did watching Bambi's mother get shot have that great an effect on their psychological makeup?
The issue is two-fold, and neither element has much to do with eating meat. First, they should quit writing on the sidewalk. We pay to wash it off (and it's annoying). Second, if vegetarians have this great energy and free time, they should channel it toward some project with more of an effect than a laugh for students on their way to Wescoe.
Andy Obermuller is a Liberal, Kan.,Junior in Journalism.
How to submit letters and guest columns
**Letters:** Should be double-spaced, typed and fewer than 200 words. Student letters must include the author's signature, name, address, telephone number, class and home town. Faculty or staff members must identify their positions.
**Guest columns:** Should be double-spaced, typed and fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run.
All letters and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall, or by e-mail: opinion@kansan.com/ The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject submissions. For more information, call John Collar or Nicole Kennedy, editorial page editors, at 864-4810.
FATE
By Shawn Trimble