4A
Thursday, January 18, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Students should voice concerns
The administration at the University of Kansas, which can seem distant to many students, is about to change, and time is running out for students to have input.
Last month, a 20-member task force released its recommendations for rearranging the administration to better meet the needs of the Lawrence campus. Kim Cocks, student body president, was the only student on the task force, but other students were included in focus group interviews. Chancellor Robert Hemenway has not responded to the task force's report, but he will announce what changes will be made in the administration's structure this month.
The changes will affect students, both undergraduate and graduate.
The task force proposed creating a chief technical officer position that would oversee all campus computing, including the computer center and enrollment systems. Both are essential to students. Also, the graduate school would be moved to the office of academic affairs, which would change the academic policies that graduate students' have to follow.
THE ISSUE:
The administration
KU students should continue to provide ideas for the restructuring of the Lawrence campus administration.
With only one student sitting on the task force, students should take the initiative to voice their concerns by reading the report and responding promptly to it on their own. An administration designed to meet student's needs should be created by merging students' ideas with those of the faculty, but time is short for students to have their say.
PAUL TODD FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Students should take the time to check out the task force's report and send the chancellor an e-mail with their thoughts on the restructuring. Copies of the report are available at the reserve desks at Watson and Anschutz libraries, and are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.urc.ukans.edu. The chancellor still has to make a final decision on the restructuring, and the task force will continue to work on its proposal.
Bill usurps states' power
The fate of a state's funding should not lie in drunken-driving legislation.
Drunken driving is a serious national problem that legislators need to address. However, passing this law would not be a good solution because it would force states to follow the standards of the federal government. States should make the ultimate decision when proposing and passing laws intended to reduce drunken driving. Congress has no business attempting to solve this problem at the national level.
A law being proposed in both the House and Senate would cut 5 percent of the states' federal funds if they do not pass new drunkdriving regulations for minors by 1999. Under these new regulations, minors found driving with .02 percent blood-alcohol concentration or more would be considered legally drunk.
In addition, at a time when both the House and the Senate are talking
THE ISSUE:
Highway funds
Proposed law would cut states' federal funding unless stricter laws rule blood-alcohol levels for driving teen-agers.
about giving more power to local governments, making the states enforce new federal standards would be taking a step backward. During last year's elections, Republicans promised to reduce the federal government's control of citizens' lives. Cutting 5 percent of the states' federal funds if they do not tighten drunken-driving laws grossly contradicts the theme of less federal government control.
Finally, this legislation is not consistent with the new laws that Congress already has approved. Allowing states to pass their own speed-limit laws while forcing them to apply federal legislation on drunken driving is a contradiction.
HENRI BLANC FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
King's dream devolving into bitterness and confrontation
New ideas don't always equate progress.
Our nation recently celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I find it ironic that some members of the civil rights community are not working toward "The Dream's" improvement, but rather toward its devolution.
In 1963 King said, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Today, that central message of King's vision is a sentimental rather than primary aspect of the civil-rights community's vision for racial progress. The color-conscious philosophies of multiculturalism and afro-centrism have supplanted King's ideal of treating different races with color-blindness. Also, the cry of "We shall overcome!" in the face of racial injustice can be too easily replaced with the victimized cry of "We've been overcome. We're mad as hell. And it's time to get even!"
Yet the most dramatic mutation of King's dream is the failure of the civil-rights leadership to purge from its own ranks the evil that King and others gave their lives to expel from society: racism.
A common approach to The Million Man March by both Blacks
STAFF COLUMNIST
and Caucasians was to separate the message from the messenger. It was an appealing technique in light of the Rev. Louis Farrakhan's past declaration that Jews were bloodsuckers. Compare King's comment on Jews: "I solemnly pledge to
do my utmost to uphold the fair name of the Jews. Not only because we need their friendship, and surely we do, but mainly because bigotry in any form is an affront to us all."
Unfortunately, Farrakhan is not the only leader compromising the integrity of the movement. The Rev. Al Sharpton, an African-American activist, recently had this to say about a Jewish store owner on 125th Street in New York City's Harlem: "There is a systemic and methodical strategy to eliminate our people from doing business off 125th Street...We will not stand by and allow them to move his brother so that some white interloper can expand his business on 125th Street."
In December, a few weeks after
Sharpton's remarks, a man entered the store, ordered Blacks to leave, then opened fire on every white person in the store. He killed seven before he shot himself. This occurred only one night after three white soldiers in Fayetteville, N.C., killed two Blacks out of racial hatred.
Although such acts of radically motivated violence continue to afflict our society, the United States has come a long way in divorcing itself from racism. Overt racism is dying. The nation seemed poised to elect Colin Powell, an African American, as president before he declined to enter the race.
Much of this progress is the fruit of King's dream, the engine of which is Christ's Biblical command to "Love your neighbor' as you love yourself."
"Love is mankind's most potent weapon for personal and social transformation." King said.
King's vision was so successful because he dealt with the problem of racism at its source, the attitudes of the heart or soul. The current civil rights leadership would do well to remember this and replace some of its half-baked philosophies with "The Dream's" ancient, though proven, truths.
John Hart is a Shawnee graduate student in journalism.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Spending cap would end Rock Chalk waste
This year I was the director for the scholarship halls' and residence halls' Rock Chalk Revue group.
This was the first time our two groups had gotten together for Rock Chalk. Contrary to popular belief, the two groups have very little to do with one another. With the combined budget of the two groups, we spent approximately $800. We were able to put together a quality notebook and a good recording.
Obviously, outrageous expenditures such as $4,000 are not needed.
tags. Even though the scholarship halls and residence halls did not make it into the show, I trust it was because five other groups honestly had better shows than we did. With this in mind, I believe spending caps are needed simply so that groups will not waste money. If they feel the need to spend so much, why not donate the money to charity? After all, that is why Rock Chalk Revue exists.
As for Tara Fitzpatrick's claim that grecks control Rock Chalk Revue because they have the money, I would have to disagree. The only ones to blame are individual groups themselves for not taking the initiative to get involved. It's not money that makes Rock Chalk, it's people.
Hopefully, the judges were chosen because they would be able to rate the shows on quality, not price
Trevor Ruder
Olathe Junior
How to submit letters
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.
All letters should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Paul Todd, editable page editor, or Craig Lang, associate editorial editor, at 864-4810.
Any attempt at Dead tours needs to be sincere,man
On Dec. 10, 1995, the Grateful Dead celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first formal show as the Grateful Dead. The celebration took place at the historical Fillmore in San Francisco. The event was created to commemorate the successful music career of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.
The band has lived three decades, leaving a powerful legend of beauti-
full music and notions of world peace. There has been talk of this legend continuing through the remaining band members' individual careers. When I first caught word of this rumor, I was skeptical. What is the Grateful Dead without Jerry? I'd rather see the Dead, as
a whole, die with dignity. Leave the legend untouched, with no scars. I'd hate to see an attempt for some kind of redemption fail. The Grateful Dead, the music and the fans speak for themselves, and I'm confident that all three will survive a lifetime.
Then something occurred to me. Just because Jerry has died doesn't mean that the other band members' musical careers should die along with him. Each of them made up the fabric of the band, and each contributed their talents. They are all artists and have dedicated a lifetime to the music industry. Why should that stop now? The Boston Globe printed an article on Dec. 28 about life after Jerry. Life after Jerry? Could there be such a thing? Yes, there could be, and why shouldn't there be?
According to the article, guitarist/singer Bob Weir is on vacation in Vietnam and is finishing up a musical on baseball pitcher Satchel Paige. The band's keyboardist, Vince Wellnick, is said to recently have had absences from the tour of his band, Ratdog, because of the flu. Percussionist Mickey Hart is working on a rhythm and blues album. Bassist/singer Phil Lesh is working on the band's archives, notably "on an unfinished last Grateful Dead album that doesn't have much Jerry on it and a video of Dead stadium shows from the last seven years that may be released in some fashion." Drummer Bill Kreutzmann supposedly is studying oceanography in northern California.
Most important, however, is that the Grateful Dead will have an afterlife. Their name recently was retired by the remaining members. Three of the members, Bob, Mickey and Vince, will carry on the tradition by booking a festival-style tour featuring their own groups and special guests. The title of the festival could be "Deadapalooza" or "Ship of Fools." The band hopes to play at amphitheaters this summer.
And so the legend continues. The festival will honor 30 years of live performances. Let's hope it doesn't degrade the infamous Dead shows by its commercialized attempt to carry on a long-living legacy. I am completely supportive of their efforts. However, I don't want to see a weak sequel. Each musician contributed a large piece to the Grateful Dead and deserves support and respect for his individual ventures. At the same time, I also feel that "Deadapalooza," or whatever they decide to call up, would be a feeble attempt to follow up on a very successful 30 years. How can anyone recreate a masterpiece?
KANSAN STAFF
Sarah Preston is a Wilmett, Ill., senior in English.
Editor
VIRGINIA MARGHEIM
Managing editor
ROBERT ALLEN
News editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
ASHLEY MILLER Editor
Campus ... JoAnn Birk
... Philippe Brownlee
Editorial ... Paul Todd
Associate editorial ... Craig Lang
Features ... Matt Hood
Sports ... Tom Bridges
Competitive sports ... Bill Petula
Photo ... Andy Rulletsted
Matt Flickker
Graphics ... Nose Musser
Special sections ... Neon Biern
Nen Humphrey
Wire ... Tara Trenary
On-line coordinator ... Tina Faar
HEATHER NEIHAUS
Business manager
KONAN HAUSER
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
OUT FROM THE CRACKS
Campus mgr...Karen Gorsch
Regional mgr...Kelly Comelyne
Senior mgr...Mark Odelman
Special Sections mgr...Rachel Cahill
Production mgr...Reeshai Valler
Marketing director
Public Relations dir. ..Angie Adamson
Creative director...Stacey Wakley
Internship/o-cp mgr...T.J. Clark
By Jeremy Patnoi