4A
Wednesday, November 15, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: RADIO STATION
Community radio station would give diversity a voice
There is room on the Lawrence airwaves for one more quality radio station.
Plans are underway to establish a community radio station in the Lawrence area. Organizers saw a need to create a radio station that caters to different voices in the community. As a result, efforts are now underway to garner support and funding for the volunteer-run station.
Any attempts to increase the variety of voices on the community airwaves should be heralded as good news. Lawrence can use another radio station that presents viewpoints and opinions that are generally not heard on most mainstream stations.
Because programming will be determined by volunteers, a wide array of musical and creative exploration will be possible. Additionally, the station will draw on the talents and experiences of area cultural groups, artists, philosophers, writers, educators and cooperative organizations to help diversify the station. The Haskell community also has expressed interest in getting involved.
Lawrence would benefit from a citizen-run and supported radio station that would offer a variety of programming
With such distinct programming, the station will be a welcome addition to a community that consists of a variety of viewpoints. Presently, KANU public radio station also offers programming to attract and represent a diverse listenership. The community radio station will be yet another way for the Lawrence community to make its views heard.
AIMEE WITTMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
HOPE winner deserves praise
OPINION BRIEFS
Who says engineers cannot communicate? Congratulations to this year's HOPE award winner, Marylee Southard. The associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering has achieved what all teachers should strive to attain, a student-based award.
Who knows better what being a good teacher is all about? The students who go to class and take the time and
effort to comment on excellent teachers do. Accordingly, the HOPE award should be recognized as a notable award at the University of Kansas, as students nominate and select the award' s recipients.
It should be every teacher's goal to communicate well enough that students learn the material and enjoy the experience. Apparently, Marylee Southard has achieved just that.
Students should donate toys
It's time to start thinking about toys.
The annual Toys for Tots campaign is underway, and everyone at the University of Kansas should participate in this worthy cause.
The campaign coordinates efforts to collect holiday toys for children who wouldn't receive gifts otherwise. Toys for Tots helps boost the spirits of many less-fortunate Douglas County children.
Members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity are organizing the KU campus effort. Donations of toys, clothes and nonperishable canned foods can be left at various campus locations.
By donating money or a new toy, everyone can help bring a smile to a child's face.
Jeff MacNelly / CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Responsibility of ending racism belongs to all of us
What is racism? Born in the liberal enclave of the San Francisco Bay area, raised on a steady diet of tolerant and egalitarian ideals, I thought I knew. Racism was an ignorant, fearful demonstration of hate, the work of some abstract "other." I, clutching my humanitarian creed, was not a part of the problem. I was wrong.
In this era of political correctness, when prejudice is not so readily voiced, it is easy for those of us in the white community to believe that significant inroads have been made against racism.
Yet the absence of more obvious forms of intolerance does not spell its demise. Rather, racism has disguised itself with a mask of anonymity and silently descended into our social unconsciousness, where it weaves itself through the fabric of our lives, our institutions, the machinations of our political system.
Geneticists and psychologists alike search for biological explanations for low IQ scores or the propensity to commit violent crimes. But who shows interest in studying, say, genetic links between race and embezzlement or tax fraud or any number of white-collar crimes?
Some of my peers voice angry accusations at the inherent unfairness of affirmative action programs, complaining that they undermine true equality. But such programs rarely reach beyond middle-management levels, and the upper echelons of corporate America remain as homogeneous as ever. Where is the anger at that inequality?
When I first began to approach the issue of racism with some honesty and listen to the complaints it
GUEST COLUMNIST
engendered, my reactions were mixed. I felt accused, judged, my defenses rose. After all, I had not created the structures of inequality that governed our society. I did not ask to be born with the privileges my world afforded me. But as I began to divorce myself
from those accusations and listen objectively, I wondered if I, through my silence, was not condoning such a system.
Several weeks ago, I attended a lecture by Sayde Logan, associate professor of social welfare. She spoke of her own battle against racism and her journey toward healing the wounds it inflicted. Near the end of her talk, looking out over a sea of white faces, she admitted feeling apprehension at sharing her message.
A few days later, I sat in on a forum gathered at the University to discuss problems confronting the Black male in today's society. Being neither Black nor male, I wondered if my presence would be welcome. Sitting in the room, acutely aware of my otherness, I understood something of Logan's fear and uncertainty. But as the night wore on, I found myself wishing that all of my peers who ever had entertained racial stereotypes could have been there, for one could not sit in the presence of such beautiful, intelligent and humane men and not have those images shattered. I sat quietly
and listened as they discussed ways to combat the problems faced by Black men, problems they did not create but nevertheless shouldered the responsibility of solving. That responsibility, I thought, belongs to all of us.
Racism, in its myriad manifestations, is so subtle, so insidious and so pervasive that attempts to confront it can seem futile and overwhelming. But confront it we must.
It is no longer enough for those of us in the white community simply to hold humanitarian ideals. We must act on them. We need to hear the anger of our brothers and sisters who have lived with oppression. We must listen to the pain in their stories and gain something of their strength — a strength borne of necessity and tempered by hardship. We must look honestly at our own assumptions about race and no longer allow the burden of healing the rift in our society to fall solely on the shoulders of others.
We live in a country that is known for the diversity of its population, a diversity that only will increase with time. America is challenged today with finding ways to equitably accommodate the needs of all its inhabitants. Let us rise to that challenge. Let us begin an honest dialogue that addresses our various needs. Let us welcome and embrace the unique gifts of each culture, gifts which can only make our society stronger and richer. And when we look into the faces of our neighbors, let us not fix our attention on the color of their skin, but regard, instead, the humanity in their eyes.
Kristin Brumm is a San Francisco senior in religious studies.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Foreign students' interests ignored
According to the staff at Robinson, there will be no space for table tennis this semester because a multi-purpose room has been changed into a computer lab. Robinson has put at least six pingpong tables in storage. Since table tennis is a fairly common interest among international students and is a recognized Olympic sport, second in world popularity next to soccer, I really cannot see any reason why the University of Kansas has closed its doors on the recreational, collegiate, and national level table tennis players.
Compared to peer universities, KU has tougher policies for non-English speaking international students on Applied English Center tests, teaching qualifications and campus jobs and now — gymnasium availability. Put yourself in a different country without football
or baseball. Wouldn't you feel out of place? Table tennis is in its infancy here, but please take into consideration the more than two thousand international students when making decisions pertain to their interests. Hopefully, KU can continue to present itself as an exciting and friendly place for students, from here as well as abroad.
Chun-yen Liu Taiwan graduate student
Football teams are forsaking dedicated fans for the dollar
Football is acting more and more like baseball. Baseball cares more about trading players than keeping fans. Loyalty means loss, and the loyal fans are suffering.
It is a new name for greed.
STAFF COLUMNIST
Teams and players are following the dollar. We knew it would happen. America always has been a synonym for money. Why shouldn't football, the Great American Sport, translate to the Great American Moneymaker? And it is. We are talking about
But go to any neighborhood park, and you will see where true dreams are made — children who play for nothing more than applause and the glory of being part of a team. Mom and Dad are in the stands cheering for their own child's team — not just the team that happens to be in the park. This is loyalty. Nobody talks open-air stadiums or revenues, lucrative franchises or economic competition. Instead, they play the game for reasons, which the pros forgot long ago.
billions. But for teams like the Cleveland Browns, it just isn't enough. They are the third team to announce a move in the past year. And it seems football is following dreams of green and gold.
The pros still remember how to play, and they are still the best, but for whom do they play? Sports have become a game of musical chairs, each player fighting to sit on the biggest pot of gold. And now the chairs are moving, too.
It is a classic case of the Midas touch, and everyone wants it. Ah, to be able to turn things into gold. Browns owner Art Modell's fingers are tingling with the touch of gold. Owners and players of professional teams should be warned. King Midas touched and touched until he took breath and life from his only daughter. With one touch, the fool turned her into gold. The gold didn't seem to mean as much to him after that.
King Modell, you should remember the fans, the children — anyone and everyone who has visited your games in the last 50 years. They watch out of loyalty and love for the game. Nobody paid them to see your team play, and they shouldn't have to pay you more than the obscene amount already charged just to make you stay.
Amy McVey is an Oathe Junior in Journalism.
How to submit letters
Letters: Should be double-
spaced typed and fewer than
200 words. Letters must
include the author's signa-
ture, name, address and tele-
phone number plus class and
hometown if a University
student. Faculty or staff must
identify their positions.
Questions?, call Heather
Lawrenz, or Sarah Morrison at
864-4810.
KANSAN STAFF
By Greg Hardin
HUBIE