Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 17:22:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Kevyn Jacobs To: "Kansas Queer News [KQN]" Subject: UDK EDITORIAL: PAPER DEFENDS OBLIGATION TO PRINT TRUTH FROM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS - LAWRENCE APRIL 7, 1995 EDITORIAL PAGE ================================ PAPER DEFENDS OBLIGATION TO PROTESTERS TO PRINT TRUTH By Matt Gowen - Editorial Editor Stop the madness! For those of you unaware of the goings-on here on Mount Oread yesterday, I'll start with a quick recap. Yesterday, the Kansan ran a front page story about Eric Moore, the director of LesBiGay Services of Kansas who resigned and withdrew his name as a social welfare senator candidate, citing health reasons associated with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Let me first say that my heart goes out to Moore, who has contracted HIV. The article then addressed that the disclosure of his conviction for a sexual offense may have affected his deci- sion. Moore refused to comment. Having said that, I must address the mayhem that happened yester- day. A little before noon, several members of the one of the Senate coalitions, and others who were just downright beefed about our lead story, grabbed the issues of the Kansan from most of the prevalent bins on campus and put them in a big pile in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall. It looked like they were going to light the newspapers on fire and start an angry dance ritual. Instead, they simply sat on them, mugging for the photographers and firing spiteful sound-bytes to our reporters. I'll give them this, they knew how to get the publicity. There will be no more compliments. If "No one reads this rag anyway," as one of the protesters, Student Senator Ami Hizer said, what was the reason for the demonstration in the first place? And if they were upset about the content of the, story, they should note that the Kansan reported only what was true and public record. The story stated plainly that it was unclear as to why he decided to resign from LesBiGays OK and withdraw from the Senate race; there were no gaps in fact. Furthermore, if there was concern about the perpetuation of a stereotype, why wasn't there a protest when the story ran about an assistant football coach charged with rape? Moore, according to the Supreme Court of the United States, is a public figure. That means that since he is a campus leader, a Senate candidate and publicly known to have tested positive for HIV, he is subject to public discourse. As harsh as it may sound, if Moore did not want publicity, why did he announce his situation at a 5 o'clock news conference and then again Wednesday night in front of more than 800 people at the Kansas Union Ballroom? "It's our civic duty," a member of the angry bunch shouted as they marched proudly to the recycling bins to dump the papers in. The KU police told them to throw them away, since littering is a far worse crime, I guess. Call me a fuddy-duddy but I have always been taught that civic duty implies upholding the First Amendment, not breaking the law; you know, that kind of trivial stuff. And, again, call me crazy, but taking the newspapers from their shelves prevents students from information for which they have paid (in their fees) and have a legal right to receive. The papers are also the property of the Kansan (chalk up anotherviolation). Legal issues aside, the attempt at the mass removal of newspapers from this campus is no better than book burning, and that's what's aggravating the most. But don't worry, about an hour after the papers were thrown into the recycling bin, we, the news and ad staff of the Kansan, thought it was our civic duty to gather them and place them where they belong, back in the bins within the reach of the students whose papers they are. Matt Gowan is a Lawrence senior in Journalism.