4A
Tuesday, February 27, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Club sports shortchanged by Anschutz restrictions
Anschutz Sports Pavilion is a University of Kansas facility that should be available for university students and clubs, but Anschutz is unavailable for club teams to hold practice. Eight teams, men's and women's, are trying to obtain permission to practice in Anschutz: ultimate frisbee, soccer, rugby and lacrosse. These teams are not allowed to practice because they are not insured by the University. However, the University does not prohibit the teams from conditioning and running in Anschutz. Any KU student can use the track in Anschutz to run. These students are not insured and are just as likely to incur an injury as a club team that is practicing.
If the club teams do get permission to practice in Anschutz, their time will be restricted severely. The teams will be allowed to use Anschutz for practice only three times a week for three hours. That is eight teams trying to divide nine hours into workable practice time. This is unfair.
On most week nights, only the spirit squads and people running are there. The spirit
THE ISSUE:
Anschutz Pavilion
Uninsured club teams can't use Anschutz,but uninsured runners and intramural teams can.
squads take up a small portion of the indoor football field. The rest of the field is sufficient room for teams to practice on.
With this much space available, why only allow the club teams access three times a week?
Insurance is an understandable concern. However, the majority of the people running in Anschutz are not insured. And while lawsuits are always a concern, the University does not require intramural teams to be insured when they play in Robinson Center and shouldn't require it when club teams practice in Anschutz.
Working out a schedule with the club teams, spirit squads, and varsity teams is the fairest route. Each group needs time to practice. No one group should be shortchanged.
DEBBIE THOMPSON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
State committee should keep handgun legislation concealed
The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights declares that "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
These are the facts: Americans own 212 million firearms, and 67 million of these are handguns. Semi-automatic pistols constitute 75 percent of the handguns made in the United States. Handgun homicides account for 60 percent of all firearms homicides. The number of violent crimes involving guns rose by 55 percent from 1987 to 1992.
The Federal and State Affairs Committee in Kansas is conducting hearings on a bill that would allow licensing of concealed weapons, which are handguns. The principle is that people need protection. But people already can carry such weapons as long as they are in plain view. The argument is that concealed weapons are better protection. This is absurd.
From a libertarian standpoint, people have the right to protect themselves, and they are going to carry weapons, concealed or otherwise, whether or not the government says it is proper. This is a
THE ISSUE:
Concealed weapons
In Kansas, people have the right to carry weapons; they don't need the right to conceal them.
double standard: a federal ban on assault weapons, yet state laws making it easier to own handguns, which are more dangerous.
Look at where the bill would allow concealed weapons. You would not be able to conceal in courtrooms, police stations, universities and other places where security monitors are present. You may pack heat in nursing homes, day-care centers, playgrounds, parks, restaurants or churches. In other words, you are safe while paying a parking ticket, yet if you go to church, you may want to take your Walther PPK and be sure to conceal it under the hymnal.
Annually, 38,000 people die of gunshot wounds. Libertarians argue that the Second Amendment is the last protection against tyranny. Is it wrong to suggest that weapons be displayed so we at least can duck for cover?
TOM MOORE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
...Now more than ever
By Stacy Nagy
ook around. Choose five random people; any five people will do. Study them. Concentrate Now, think about this: Four of those people probably have had sex. If they haven't, they will before they graduate.
Now, look around again. This time, choose 10 people. Assuming that eight of them have had sex, which is a pretty safe assumption if you choose college students, one of them has a sexually transmitted disease. Kind of a scary thought, but it is true.
Candyce Waitley, Watkins Memorial Health Center nurse, said that 85 percent of college students were sexually active by graduation. If you look at high school students, the number drops, but only to 68 percent.
Sex is everywhere in society today. Now longer is it the taboo subject of the past, nor is it the giggly topic of junior high school conversations. It has become real to most of us. The topic still is avoided by some but now is discussed by many. The reason for this change is clear — everybody's doin' it. Well, almost everybody.
It has become, if nothing else, a fact of life, she said.
--ing. However, the same TV shows and some movies also deal with the problems to which sex can lead.
There are many sources that can account for the rise in sexually active students. Peer pressure may be partly to blame, but that could be considered a con-out.
Amy Le Branch, sophomore, does not think that peer pressure is a factor at all.
Movies such as *Basic Instinct* go further with graphic sex scenes and only an "R" rating. However, the same TV shows and some movies also deal with the problems to which sex can lead.
"I don't think it's peer pressure, because it is a personal thing," she said.
However, other factors exist to help make the personal decision easy to make. Pop culture, through both television and film, is much more willing to depict sexually active relationships. Forty years ago, a married couple could not be shown together in the same bed without keeping one foot on the floor.
Today, the world watched as Rachel and Ross finally went to bed together on their second date on Friends. Many were surprised that it took a second date.
With the advent of AIDS, safe sex has become a hot topic in society today. Famed athletes such as Magic Johnson and Tommy Morrison are coming forward to say that they were reckless in the past and that they have ruined their futures. They have shown people that AIDS is something that can happen to anyone. MTV has specials concerning sex in the 1990s and how people protect themselves. However, many people have avoided the fact that AIDS is not the only STD out there, and consequently much more prevalent diseases, such as genital warts and chlamydia, have been all but ignored.
These diseases are out there. In fact, Waitley said, today one in seven sexually active college students has an STD. When this statistic is broken down into all college students, it translates into approximately 14 percent. When numbers are translated into statistics like that, these diseases become much more difficult to ignore. The top three STDs — genital warts, chlamydia, and genital herpes — provide together a threat large enough so that precautions are necessary in sexual relationships.
There are many different ways to protect yourself from STD's, including AIDS. The most accurate way is abstinence. However, the idea of abstinence brings up a whole set of questions, and can be defined in many different ways. For some, abstinence from genital contact covers the definition.
For others, however, abstinence means refraining from contact in general, but excluding kissing. From the technical standpoint, abstinence is refraining from genital, oral and anal contact. Although many people do not realize it, STD's can be passed in all of these ways.
For those people who do not consider abstinence an option, there are several other forms of protection available.
The most common, as well as the most effective, is the latex condom. However, it is only effective if it is used correctly and if it does not break. Therefore, the use of a spermicide can increase the protective value of condoms.
Other forms of birth control, such as the
Illustration by Ross Sit
diaphragm, the sponge and the cervical cap, provide some protection, but are not as effective. Furthermore, both the diaphragm and the cervical cap require a doctor's visit, which is something that makes a lot of college-aged students uncomfortable.
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The last method of protection generally is not discussed with the others. However, I believe that it is one of the most effective, yet the least used of the methods: communication.
It is extremely important to communicate with your partner both before and after your sexual relationship begins. Talk about your sexual history and about what you expect from the relationship. If there is no communication, chances are that the relationship will not work anyway.
In other words, in any relationship, sexual or otherwise, communication is the key.
LeBranch pointed out the importance of communication in a relationship.
"If you don't talk about things, there's no point in going out with someone," she said. "In other words, in any relationship, sexual
If this column comes a day too late for you, and you are among the 12 percent of college students who have some form of STD, or if you are just looking for more information, there are places to go for help.
Off campus, the option of seeing a private doctor always is available. In addition, the Douglas County Health Department provides anonymous AIDS testing. However, most services for students are confined to campus.
Watkins provides both medical and psychological services for students. If you are looking for information, the department of health promotion and education can answer any questions you may have. In addition, the Center for Peer Health Promotion, also located in Watkins, does work to help educate grouns.
However you go about doing it, do educate yourself. Don't go through sexual relationships blindly, playing the odds and hoping you beat them. Sooner or later, the odds will win. Don't become part of that 12 percent.
Stacy Nagy is a Topeka sophomore in Russian.
KANSAN STAFF
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin