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2005
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OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2005
PAGE 5A
▼ GIVIN' IT TO YOU STRAIGHT
Keep friends close, and your real friends closer
As we get older, some of our friendships advance with us and some of them do not.
At this age, most of us would probably agree that one of the important things in our lives is our friends.
A friend can be generally defined as someone you enjoy being around whom you hang out with, drink with, confide in and rely on in times of need.
You have close friends who you trust more than just an acquaintance, and of course, there are your best friends who you trust the most. You are closest to these people, and have have known them the longest.
If you were asked to think about approximately how many friends you have, how many do you think it would be?
Then, if you were asked how many true friends that you believe you have, what would that number be? Most people would have a considerably lower number for the second question.
MEGAN LOGUE
opinion@kansan.com
You are probably wondering why I bring this up. Lately, I've witnessed quite a bit of melodrama between some of my friends, and I couldn't help but start thinking about the way people treat each other who they ultimately consider their real "friends."
Now, girls can be vicious, catty, competitive animals with each other and boys are also competitive but are nowhere
near as petty as women can be. Because I am a girl, my perspective may be a bit different than the average guy's.
Even though those traits are human nature, it is not the way we should treat the people we call our friends.
Right now, we have friends that we go out and party with, that we live with, have class with etc., but once we are spread out and working in the real world, who will you still keep in touch with?
Girls, think about all of your true girl friends. Of those, how many do you still want to know when you are 40?
The question I'm asking is, who are your real, genuine friends? Some people might say that they have countless true friends and are not concerned about evaluating them, and if you are one of those
We are adults now, and there is no reason t keep someone around simply because you are afraid to tell them how you really feel or because you're worried about what other people will think or say."
people, you are either extremely lucky or lying to yourself.
A true friend would not say rude things about you behind your back, lie to you about anything, compete with you or do something that they know
I know that there are friends of mine that have done all of the above to me or another friend, and I know that I am guilty of doing these things sometimes as well, but through all of it, you have to be able to decide what is forgivable and what is not.
would hurt you.
We are adults now, and there is no reason to keep someone around simply because you are afraid to tell them how you really feel or because you're worried about what other people will think or say.
Right now, it seems like no big deal, but as we get older and go through the hard parts of our lives, we will realize more and more how vital our friends really are.
My point after saying all of that is simply this: keep the people around who truly care
about you for who you are, will treat you the best and bring the best out in you, and who you truly trust.
That may seem obvious and common, but if you really think about it, I bet you would be surprised at what you came up with.
By that, I don't mean make a list of all your friends, check the ones you think are worth holding onto and screw the rest, because that is not what I mean.
There is no reason to be confrontational or immature to get your point across, just be smart about those who you call your genuine friends and be careful when you give away your trust. Remember, true friendship is felt, not said.
Megan Logue is an Overland Park junior in English.
Free All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kanan editors reserve the right to omit comments Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded. Instant message the Free for All at `atukfreeforall`.
Hi, this is Chuck Norris, and I just called to say thanks for all those nice things you've been saying about me.
Who would win in a fight, Chuck Norris or Ditke? Trick question. I'm pretty sure the world would explode.
Free for All, why do you hate me?
Is it because I'm a freshman?
How could you be embarrassed to be a KU fan? We got beat by a team that is going to win the national championship.
Either I am way too stoned, or this is the longest Free for
All ever. But, that just took forever to read!
Hey Free For All, it's cold outside. Like, oh my God, "my nipples could cut glass" cold. That could just be my diamond nipples, though.
Vin Diesel can win a game of Monopoly without owning any property.
I'd just like to say that Phili Kinee isn't a Republican, he's just an ass.
I just found $20 in front of Bailey Hall. If anyone lost this,
let me know. The bill number is CL21167717.
My girlfriend just lost her pants, if you've seen them, call 7-6-0... Wait, don't print her number, she'll kill me.
She found her pants, but she says I lost my brain. If anyone has seen my brain please call the same number.
Seriously, who can't relate to the Ninja Turtles?
A. J., will you go to semi-formal with me?
How come the "Mooody Maniacs" camping group doesn't have any chicks in it?
On my God, it's snowing! And also,
Price is Right is the best show ever.
Hey, candypants, want to boink?
And that was the second time I got crabs.
Chuck Norris looks just like Trey Anastasio.
I've decided to start my life today.
The other day, it had just rained and I saw a guy watering the flowers.
Keep 'em coming, Josh Goetting. You're the only writer in the Kansas that anyone should respect.
The police are coming to get you, Megan, but don't worry because I will bring tater-taters to you in jail
Wow, Free for All, you have the most boring buddy profile I've ever seen. Make it better, or I'll press the warn button.
You're a towell
Chuck Norris killed a lion, then used its mane for a beard.
Los Del Rio will be in concert at University of Nebraska at Lincoln next semester. We cannot let those hicks win! Lets get Meatloaf to come and perform.
I just turned on the TV and saw that Super Troopers are on AMC. They really do know their classics.
Why is it that all the ugly people have very attractive significant others?
+
I just found out that Zulu from Star Trek was gay, Set phasers to stunned!
Matthew Sevclik/KANSAN
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
We need more ad-options
This connection is unpleasant, because David Armstrong does not seem to be satirizing the situation, but rather suggesting that we, as a society, use abortion as a means of population control; if abortion were the logical solution to world hunger and poverty.
One of us is pro-life and one of us is pro-choice, and Armstrong's arguments are deeply disturbing to both of us because they seem to ignore the root problems that face our world and the causes that drive women to abortion.
When reading the latest article in the current debate about the morality of abortion, we were unpleasantly reminded of Jonathan Swift's satire of the famine in Ireland, "A Modest Proposal" in which the author suggests that a solution to both the overpopulation and the poverty in his country is eating Irish babies.
The pro-choiceer was in total agreement with Armstrong until he began discussing abortion as just another means of population control and a solution to world hunger (a logistical leap not supported by any research we know of).
The pro-lifer also thinks that there is a huge difference between an abortion (ending a pregnancy which has already begun) and non-abortive contraceptives.
Are we, rather than attempting to solve the plight of world hunger, simply to begin a new round of genocide?
Africa, as a continent, faces many of the problems discussed by Armstrong and others.
Should we simply drop a new nuclear bomb on Africa
We come from different backgrounds and different belief systems,but what we share is the belief that women deserve better then abortion...
and relieve the Africans of their suffering?
This program has a name: eugenics. We haven't heard its proponents in about 60 years; since the Nazis and other groups, including Americans, used forced sterilization in order to control "undesirable" populations, such as Jews, Gypsies, gays, the mentally and physically handicapped and the poor.
This seems to be the next logical step in the trajectory Armstrong wishes to begin by using abortion to rid the world of all potentially unwanted, uncared-for and poor children.
We come from different backgrounds and different belief systems, but what we share is the belief that women deserve better than abortion, and that, if abortion is continued to be seen as a "woman's issue" (which is debatable but which we will not discuss here), we need to seek solutions that are centered on and supported by women.
studies done by the Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) indicate that lack of financial support (i.e. poverty) and social support for single parents are among the primary reasons women choose abortion, even though many of these women indicate that they wish there was a better choice.
Abortion is not the end-all, be-all solution to poverty, world hunger and gender inequality. Even in the United States,
This means that we, as a society, need to develop programs that provide support for these women who may not see abortion as their best option.
Pro-choice should not only mean that women have the option to have an abortion. It should also mean that they have the choice not to have an abortion.
We need to support programs, like the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Students Act which is currently before Congress.
The act would provide support for women who may otherwise feel forced into an abortion.
The solutions we should be seeking shouldn't involve eating our children, but rather supporting their mothers (and fathers) in an attempt to better the world without destroying the "unwanted" among us.
Why, instead of seeing abortion as the solution to poverty, don't we seek out relief organizations that we can personally support, such as UNICEF and World Vision, which provide other types of solutions to the same problems?
Neah Galloway Graduate Student
Megan Salyer Graduate Student