THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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OPINION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUR OPINION
Volunteering worth more than money
PAGE 5A
More than 1,300 students volunteered during the fall semester. Their efforts were split among causes such as collecting food for the needy, cleaning up historic sites, aiding the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and mentoring children.
The announcement by the Center for Community Outreach that the work of those students was worth $70,000 is an indicator of how important volunteering is. CCO's financial estimate that all that service was worth $17.55 an hour may be a tad inflated, but that does not discount the inherent value and need for such work.
Most college-aged people do not appear to be community-oriented. In its 2005 report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that those in their early 20s volunteered the least of any age group, behind those 65 and older. What's more, those who work part-time or are unemployed volunteer less than those with full-time jobs. The stereotype that college students are activists may just be that ... a stereotype.
Enjoying the college experience is something all students should do, but there is also a need to give back to the community. Sixty-six programs have
Issue: Students and community service
Stance: More students should realize the value of volunteering.
connections through CCO, 15 of them specifically supported by the center. Students can contribute in numerous ways, from working at the Lawrence Public Library to playing with animals at the Douglas County Humane Society.
Besides being a benefit to the community, individuals gain from volunteering. The Partners in Community Service at Auburn University gives numerous benefits for volunteering, ranging from developing new skills that can be used in one's career to building confidence.
The important thing to do is to volunteer, and that takes self-motivation. The bureau reported that two out of five people start volunteering by taking the initiative and approaching service organizations.
Go out and volunteer.
Your time may not be worth $17.55,but it's still worth a lot.
- Ty Beaver for the editorial board
Free All for
Did Doogie Howser just steal my car?
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
No way man, NPH definitely wouldn't do that.
Whatever girl I end up talking to tonight, I just want to say I'm sorry right now, because I'm not going to remember it in the morning.
Dear Free-For-All,
drunk is a beast that cannot be tamed. Roar!
Why is it so much harder to get ass now that I am actually 21?
I said me and Julio down by the school yard. I said me and Julio down by the school yard.
I'm pretty sure I've hit an all time low. It's Saturday night. I'm drinking wine and watching Soul Plane by myself in my room in the basement. Where's the time gone?
Kris, with a K, is an idiot.
Underdog is not potty-trained.
I need a guy who likes vegetable beef soup.
▼ COMMENTARY
When you break up with someone you're supposed to have a break, right?
Hey girl, want to be in a video?
I have a very important message. This is going to change the world. Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-books
If you are reading this MC Nick, I beg of you, please put out another album. Your fans need this. Thank you.
Put abortion rights to a vote, make Americans take a stance
Aw shit! Phil Collins was at the Hawk last night, and he got reject ed! Aw shit!
To the idiot who did the noon roll call on Sunday, you got to wake everyone up. Seriously.
So when the stork delivers a baby to Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead, does it come wrapped in foil?
I just drove by a house that had a Port-O-Potty in the front yard. Wow.
To the guy who caused the fire alarm in Tower C, you stopped the best sex in my life mid-stroke. I hope the taquitos were worth it.
Rusty ain't afraid of no ghosty.
I like to drink sweet tarts.
RYAN SCARROW
opinion@kansan.com
Samuel Alito will soon be confirmed as the next justice of the Supreme Court. You will not miss this news event when it happens, for it will
be marked by much discussion over the future of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion case.
Being in Lawrence, there is no doubt that much of this talk, and concurrent handwringing, will come from the left, but it may be time for them to think about some new political realities and perhaps even consider the unthinkable: Quietly letting Roe die.
make them then?
This may be anathema, as I am sure it was to my feminist theory class when I proposed it last semester; after all, it is a bit counter intuitive to think that making abortion bans a straight-up election issue may well bring about the destruction of the Republican Party. But as Joshua Green explained in an Atlantic Monthly article last January, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Liberals.
Influence Money Recognition among the 30 percent of voters who bother to show up
For years, the major pro- life contingent of the GOP, and the Christian groups that support them, has gotten away with making outlandish statements and introducing legislation that they know would never get past a Supreme Court that includes Sandra Day O'Connor. Why
at the midterm elections. This has served them well in keeping the culture wars alive long enough to create such vaunted demographics as 'values voters.'
However, a clear majority of Americans are pro-choice; the details of parental notification or funding for access may be muddled, but when push comes to shove, most people want that choice, and want others to have it.
If the Supreme Court no longer stands in the way of legislatures and Congress in banning abortion, all of a sudden those Americans have a reason to go to the polls. Quite simply, we are lazy; yes we elect a president who nominates justices, and a Senate that confirms them, but if it is not a clear decision with immediate consequences, then we are not to be bothered.
With Roe overturned, and the next election perhaps the trigger that may shut down abortion clinics in a state or across the country, suddenly the Republican Party could see itself split asunder between its moderates and extremists while trying desperately not to become a minority party under generations of young people, now gaining the vote. They have known nothing but an America of choice.
Liberals may cringe at the thought of putting one of their most cherished rights up to a vote, but that shows the timidity of the left in general, and the Democratic Party in particular, in engaging the political debate of the country.
Kevin McKernan/KANSAN
Liberals may cringe at the thought of putting one of their most cherished rights up to a vote, but that shows the timidity of the left in general, and the Democratic Party in particular, in engaging the political debate
of the country. Rather than relying on courts, the prochoice movement should be out making its case to the electorate and putting the debate on its own terms. In a representative democracy, a showdown at the ballot box it is vastly preferable to the political waltz that presidential nominees and potential justices are currently forced to dance to.
If the Democrats cannot make their case to an American public that is with them, if they shrink from an opportunity to win back the national mandate, they then have nobody else to blame for their failure. After thirty years and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the culture wars, it is time to stop the hand-wringing, step up, and win the damn thing.
Scarrow is a Humboldt senior in history.
COMMENTARY
Ecology worthy of more study, recognition
It's not my job to hug trees. I am an ecologist. As a young scientist, I already have experienced several occasions where, upon describing myself as an ecologist, I have been pegged as a Birkenstock-wearing tree-hugger who communicates with squirrels through ESP.
The all-too-common confusion between environmentalism and the science of ecology is generally frustrating, but when other scientists make this mistake, it's particularly infuriating. How did ecology get this mistaken identity, and why is it perpetuated even among scientists?
Ecologists study the interactions that organisms have with each other and with their surroundings. It is "big-picture" biology and, like other sciences, it makes observations, asks questions, formulates hypotheses, runs experiments and draws conclusions about the way the world works. Ecology is involved with accounting for the species on earth and for describing the roles they play in the natural world, affecting creatures other than themselves.
This large-scale view of the natural world can have great benefits for humans. Take for example the conundrum of
HEATHER YORK
ovinion@kansan.com
the avian flu. Until recently, the flu was unheard of; now it makes headlines. Where did the disease come from, and how does it spread? Can it make it to the United States? To Kansas?
Some of my colleagues in ecology and evolutionary biology here at the University are answering these very questions not by peering through a microscope but instead by figuring out which bird species serve as hosts for the disease. By determining the ways in which these birds interact with their environments, ecologists can predict where the birds may migrate, which in turn explains the extent to which the flu will spread. By learning more about the flu's hosts and their relationships with their surroundings, we come to know more about the disease itself. Aah, the beauty of ecology.
All of this aside, as an undergraduate at another institution, I was shocked
All of this aside, as an undergraduate at another institution, I was shocked that so many science majors had either scant ecological training or none at all, yet, as an ecology major, I took courses in physics, chemistry, and all aspects of biology. I can't imagine calling myself a scientist without having had these courses, but a similar sentiment wasn't necessarily shared by my friends with other majors.
that so many science majors had either scant ecological training or none at all, yet as an ecology major, I took courses in physics, chemistry, and all aspects of biology. I can't imagine calling myself a scientist without having had these courses, but a similar sentiment wasn't necessarily shared by my friends with other majors. The general
take on it was that they studied the real nitty-gritty of the universe and that studying the larger scheme of things is a pretty fluffy endeavor.
Unfortunately, there is an example of this thinking that's outside of my undergraduate experience but even closer to home: The recently implemented Kansas Biosciences Initiative, which has a goal of bringing Kansas to the forefront of biological research. While the name suggests inclusion of all aspects of biology, there is very little focus on ecological research in favor of studies based in genetics, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals and the like.
While I do not dispute the importance of these fields to the greater good, it is shameful that studying relationships between diseases and hosts, pests and crops, and invasive and native species isn't viewed in the same light. As a branch of biology, ecology is essential to studies of life on earth and makes invaluable contributions to humankind.
Never mind the hugging. Without ecology, biology cannot see the forest for the trees.
- York is a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology.
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