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Tuesday, December 6, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Changing station managers at K,JHK was a bad move
The KJHK board has rolled the dice. But will the gamble pay off?
After a semester of controversy sparked by changes in its internal operation and music selection, KJHK decided last week to change station managers. The KJHK board chose not to rehire the current station manager, Jerry Howard, and instead picked Michael Ulin for the spring semester. Howard will assume the post of graduate assistant to the dean, charged with consulting with the dean about matters pertaining to KJHK.
When the board named him station manager last spring, Howard was given the charge to make the station appeal to a broader base of students; make the station more professional in its operation; and operate it as a lab for broadcast students.
The decision was disappointing and unfair.
Howard sparked controversy by putting control of the music playlist in the hands of the station manager instead of the disc jockeys. He also enforced rules that had been ignored for years, such as limiting disc jockeys to three semesters.
Last semester the board took away their expensive, University-financed toy, and gave it back to broadcast journalism students who are serious about their professional education. And although alternative music is important and has a place at a University-run station, so does professional management.
The board, properly, has not given a reason. But it would be wrong if it had been swayed by the noisy campaign to return KJHK to its old ways. Instead, the board should have sent a message to the protesters that it was time to grow up.
years, said Andrew. Although a small but vocal student group was angered, internally KJHK people seemed to be pleased. Communication between the disc jockeys and the news staff, which once was weak, became more organized and more professional. And Max Utsler, chairman of the radio-television department, said Howard had done an "outstanding" job in enforcing the policies.
So why change course?
Ulin deserves the best of luck in his new position. He might as good a job as Howard, maybe even better. But it's a risky gamble to pass over a proven incumbent in favor of someone who has not worked at the station in more than three years. The board may well see KJHK slip back into its old ways.
That would be unacceptable. KJHK has just started to be responsible and serve the people who deserve it most.
The editorial board
The city of Lawrence and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks should be congratulated for reaching a viable compromise in protecting bald eagles that roost near the site planned for a shopping center on the Kansas River.
A compromise for eagles
The wildlife and parks department issued a permit necessary for the construction of the riverfront mall that requires the city to take the eagles into consideration. The permit is required because the bald eagle is an endangered species protected by the state and federal governments. The birds often fish below the Bowersock Dam near the site.
The permit calls for providing a conservation easement for the eagles along the north bank of the river; using tinted windows at the shopping center so that eagles can't see human activity during the day; restricting human access to a pedestrian promenade in January and February when eagles frequent the river the most; and delaying the demolition of trees at the site.
In past years as many as 20 eagles have been seen in the area where construction will begin. Eagles are solitary birds and probably will not appreciate humans moving in on their fishing spot; Joyce Wolf, a member of the Jayhawk Audubon Society, said no one knew what effect the riverfront mall would have on the eagles. Let's hope the requirements in the permit minimize the effect.
This compromise probably eases the minds of many concerned citizens who had some weight in the writing of the permit. Human encroachment most often has an adverse effect on nature, but it is encouraging to see a city so concerned with its intrusion.
Christin Martin for the editorial board
News staff
Todd Cohen ...Editor
Michael Horak ...Managing editor
Julie Adam ...Associate editor
Stephen Wade ...News editor
Michael Merschel ...Editorial editor
Noel Gerdes ...Campus editor
Craig Anderson ...Sports editor
Scott Carpenter ...Photo editor
Dave Eames ...Graphics editor
Jill Jess ...Arts/Features editor
Tom Eblen ...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Greg Knipp...Business manager
Dewira Cole...Retail sales manager
Chris Cooper...Companys sales officer
Jenna Prokop...National sales manager
Kurt Mussermith...Promotions manager
Sarah Hidgon...Marketing manager
Brad Lenhart...Production manager
Michelle Garland...Assist production manager
Lenneth Lerman...Classified manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Down the Food Chain.
St. Nick has got his work cut out Sophisticated children have Christmas figured out already
"Daddy, can you help me with my Christmas list?"
"Sure, angel. The ESPN college basketball quadrupleheader doesn't start for a few more minutes yet. What are you asking Santa for this year?"
"I can't decide, Daddy. There's so much good stuff in this catalog."
"Like what?"
"All kinds of dollis. It says here that makeup appears when you wash this doll's face with cold water, and warm water makes the makeup go away."
Bill Kempin
they.
"Unh-unh. That's over on this page. The ones with bendable knees that won't stop crying when you point the video camera at them."
"Those aren't the Jim and Tammy dolls, are they?"
on, yeah. Hey, sweetheart, why don't you get that play cookware set with the Easy Bake Oven we saw the other day at the store? You can baking your own delicious cakes in just 10 minutes."
you want:
"Gee, Daddy, I can make a cake in just seven minutes using Mommy's microwave oven. I'd rather get the Fast Food Hamburger play food set with a plastic hamburger, rubber trench fries and orange cheese. It's just $12.99."
"Heck, for $8.99, we can get in the car right now and buy a real plastic hamburger, rubber fries and funny-colored cheese from that burger joint down the street. You can play with that food for an entire year and then eat it next December . Do you
Staff columnist
know what your brother is asking Santa for this Christmas?"
"I have his list right here: a Colonel Clobber hovercraft with depth charges, a Mighty Mike high-speed attack vehicle with elevating wing guns, a Bazooka Ben dual cannon, and a Killer Kyle night blaster with revolving turret and possible commandos. Figures sold separately."
punctuation.
"Naturally. Pencil him in for a talking Pee Wee Herman with action playhouse. That will teach him not to put last year's poseable commandos on the living room lamp and say they were in a nuclear meltdown."
"That made the house smell real bad, didn't it,
Daddy?"
"Yes, but it did make Aunt Martha violently ill and forced her to go home two days earlier than expected. Okay, tell Santa your brother gets a boycraft."
"Can he get a Colonel Clobber figure to go with it?"
"No, he'll have to make do with his half-melted G.I. Joe. Now pumpkin, don't want Kris
Kringle and his elves to bring you two kids some letter blocks or something?"
"How about this pop-up cash register on page 47?"
"Gee, Daddy, we already have an advanced Word Wiz speller. Remember, I used it last week to correct that letter you were going to send to your boss."
"Does it have price code bars and one of those infra-red light beam deals that you have to pass the groceries over a million times before it beeps?"
"Never mind. How about a game like checkers?"
"Do you blow those up on the computer screen in the Quarks space missiles and radioactive interest?"
"Oh, I told Santa to take some of the money he was going to spend making toys for our family and buy some food for somebody without a room who's covering over the holidays. Is that all right, Daddy?"
"Uh. no. You jump over pieces and king them. I guess that doesn't sound too sophisticated these days. Sometimes you act so grown up. I wonder if that's why you're Christmas out. Say, what's this on your list?"
"Like I said, sweetie, you guys have Christmas all figured out already."
Bill Kempin is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
An example to follow
I started believing in radio again last Wednesday when I heard a disc jockey, beside himself with glee, proudly blurt out that "You're listening to KJHK, the new sound alternation!"
It was even that the board of directors of KJHK announced that controversial station manager Jerry Howard would not be back for an expected second term. His attitude, that of "czar" above the wishes of the student body, overtones, were restored.
But, let's face it, Jerry and his croons didn't
didn't make their tenure, several significant
things happen.
Additionally, this semester has ignited an educational spark among a few hundred KU students who are no longer afraid to speak out and with abused decisions and thoughtless tactics.
First, the station was restored to a professional laboratory, with capital P, and a stern message was relayed to future students who mistakenly think they are above acting professionally on the airwaves while having their alternative fun.
And Jerry has also inadvertently helped bring the Lawrence music scene closer together than ever.
So who among us deserves the title of peacemaker who stepped in to begin righting a righ-
the dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism, Mike Kautsch.
Dean Kautsch is an amazing administrator and teacher leading a school that has always prided itself as a vector for truth and justice.
Dean Kautsch was academic enough to demand professionalism and fair enough to realize that both sides in the controversy had a legitimate voice. He was stern enough to maintain but loosened up enough to speak the battle in terms students could understand and respect.
His wisdom and effort to unite was ultimately responsible for bringing the great number of KJHK staff members who opposed non-traditional change to understand the reasons why some people thought some changes were necessary. That same wisdom allowed Dean Kautsch the freedom to recognize that good radio was the goal of all the active voices in the controversy and to direct all future energies to working together instead of tearing apart.
He should be emulated.
He should be commended.
Gary Mark Smith Lawrence resident
I am deeply appalled by Tom Michaud's cartoon of Dec. 1 and the closed-mindedness that it embodies and promotes Directing the blame for any kind of conflict at just one party denies the basic duality inherent in all conflicts. They are both responsible for the powers that back them are equally responsible for the perpetual state of war. They all are stained with the blood of every murdered body.
Stop pointing fingers
Pointing fingers at each other is childish and serves no purpose but to inflame the frustration and violence arising from their mutual opposition. Instead of vainly marching for their own selfs causes, both states should begin taking serious strides toward a moderate resolution. Once our war machines start rolling, the real joke is on us, the human race.
Your one-sided condemnation completely overlooks the reality of the struggles of the Israeli and Palestinian. Yes, the Palestinians have, in the past, embraced the armed struggle and international terrorism as a means of achieving their independence and should be condemned publicly for it. But are these not morally identical to the fascist tactics that the conservative Israeli government has adopted in its occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank?
Nikolas Huffman Lawrence senior
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed