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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
LAYIN' DOWN THE LAWSON
Let's talk about sex-ed
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PAGE 5A
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For the past few months, the Kansas State Board of Education has been attempting to pass an opt-in policy for sex education. Kansans for Responsible Sex Education, a task force formed with the goal of derailing the opt-in policy, has managed to delay this decision.
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The opt-in policy would require parents to sign permission slips for their children to learn about sexually-transmitted infections, healthy relationships, contraception and HIV/AIDS at Kansas public schools.
The federal government allocates $500 million annually for abstinence education. The basis of these programs is that the expected standard of sexual relationships is a mutually monogamous relationship in the context of marriage.
It has been widely recognized that abstinence has a high failure rate. Studies by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States show that 46 percent of high school students have had sexual intercourse.
JOY LAWSON
opinion@kansan.com
I understand that abstaining from any form of penetration is the only way someone can be completely assured to not contract a sexually transmitted infection or conceive a child. Contraceptives do not work 100 percent of the time.
But by not teaching teens how to properly use condoms and birth control, we are drastically increasing the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
The only way we are going to be able to prevent teen pregnancy is by giving teens the facts and good guidance about making sexual decisions.
If we do not arm our youth with
comprehensive knowledge, we are responsible for the consequences
Comprehensive sex education discusses all aspects of sexual health, including abstinence.
More than 5,000 teens get pregnant or contract a sexuallytransmitted infection annually according to Planned Parenthood of Kansas & Mid-Missouri.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are studies that show teens who receive comprehensive sex education wait until they're older, which increases the proper use of contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
There have been no conclusive studies that have found that abstinence-only education reduces the rates of teenage sexual activity.
Lawson is a senior in women's studies and an active member of Kansans for Responsible Sex Education.
Free All for
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 "uktrefooralf."
And check out www.kansan.com for more comments!
So many comments, so little time. Free for all, you rock my world.
The 3rd floor Naisim Drinking Team would like to challenge the North Templin Liberation Front to a drinking game. We'll bring the beer.
Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt are the best games ever!
Baby, you don't even know me. I've got a level-3 Sorcerer that can shoot 2 Magic Missiles per turn.
Teachers quoting Napoleon Dynamite?
Depression due to a relationship status change?
And I care because?
I actually overheard this conversation at the Wheel:
Guy 1: Whoa! Guy 2: Man, you're wasted. Guy 1: I can barely walk! Guy 2: Then where are you going?
Guy 1: To my car. Guy 2: guess that's as good a place to pass out as any. Guy 1: Pass out? I'm driving home.
Guy 2: But, you're too drunk to walk. You just said so!
Guy 1: Too drunk to walk. That doesn't mean I can't drive.
I bet 95 percent of the people who wear Che Guevara shirts around here have no idea who he is, and that most wouldn't wear them if they did know who he was.
I'd just like to say that I am totally in love with a guy who plays World of Warcraft hardcore. I mean, that's weird, right? Not only that, but he buys me shoes too.
Oh my God, I am so glad that Free for All is now on Instant Messenger, because it’s a lot harder to leave a message like this over the phone:
kekekekeOMGLOLBBQI!!{^_^<@$%!^_^}>-|
My roommate just ate a cookie off the ground. I don't mean he dropped a cookie on the ground and then picked it up and ate it. I mean he found a cookie on the ground that he had never seen before, and just ate it.
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So, it's Halloween and my friends are partying, but I'm at home writing two papers and studying. Thank you teachers.
To the guy who yellied at me as I was walking down 15th street on Monday evening: You are sad, pathetic little man.
We just went Chipotle-hopping to get free burritos.
Guys, should I call Free for All a pie tonight?
Does anyone else find it disturbing that a minor has to have their parents' permission to get married but not to have an abortion?
To the people who wanted to throw the goalpost in the Kansas River: Get a life. And even with our one conference win, we still need a new offensive coordinator. Whatever his name is.
To the member of the greek community that confused the word notification with recognition: It's amazing how every time you open your mouth, you prove you're an idiot.
Free for All rocks! Rhombus House lives!
Has anybody noticed that the term "facebook" has become a verb?
This is for the girl that asked for the pencil and I said no. I did have a pencil, I just don't like you.
I'm so high I can't even feel feelings right now.
Dude, wait, I'm thinking of a good one.
If you were a president, you'd be Babe-raham Lincoln.
If your name is Emily, I just found your bus pass outside of Wescоe, so, uh, get back to me.
When Vin Diesel jumps in the ocean, he doesn't get wet. The water gets Vin.
I swear to God that if society didn't start accepting gays, we'd all be gay.
How many drunk people does it take to help me do my math homework? The answer is 4, and it keeps getting higher.
Hey, non-smokers, I'm fully aware the smoking will kill me faster, but sometimes a cigarette is the only thing that keeps me from ripping your face off.
Does the name Gary come from Garrett?
Tonight is a good night to drink beer.
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbickel@kansan.com
Jonathan Kealing, managing editor 864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
Austin Caster, editor
864-4854 or acaster@kansan.com
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The Short Stack
Editor's note: The Short Stack is a new opinion page feature in which we publish less lengthy comments and letters to the editor. If you have something to say, but aren't drunk enough to call the Free for All and don't like to write long, lofty essays, then e-mail The Short Stack at opinion@kansan.com.
Neo-Nazis to blame for riot
regardless of who threw the first stone.
I would argue that, by virtue of its presence in a multiracial, urban environment, the National Socialist Movement did, in fact, "start the riot."
While I agree with the Kansan editorial board that freedom of speech should be protected, it seems to place the blame for the Toledo riots on inner-city residents, instead of on the neo-Nazis whose explicit purpose was to disrupt the city's black community and cause havoc.
And by withholding the site of the racist's rally, Toledo officials are also to blame. Three years ago, when the NSM held a "white unity rally" in Topeka, the demonstration site was made public weeks ahead of time, and a heavy police presence was used to contain the neo-Nazis, rather than counter-demonstrators
Far-right groups such as the NSM thrive on apologetic publicity as a means of spreading their racialist worldview. Every indication that I can see shows that the neo-Nazis scored a major victory in Toledo.
Unlike in Toledo, NSM activists couldn't capitalize on favorable press
coverage, and Topeka residents were able to channel their outrage in a productive way.
Ben Wilkins Kansas City junior
Fraternity shows poor taste
I was walking on campus Saturday, enjoying the beautiful day and festive atmosphere. At 11th Street and West Campus Road, I stopped dead in my tracks.
A homemade banner hanging on the front porch at the Triangle fraternity read "SHIT on Missouri." Now that's a great way to show school spirit: scatology language for young football fans to see.
taste and class would trump partisanship. In Triangle's case, sadly, I was wrong.
- Phil Wilke Lawrence resident
Even during Homecoming Weekend. I'd like to think that good
Abortion debate unresolved
In response to Mr. Armstrong and his article, "Abortion unai-
lienable right," all I can say is that it's a broken record. Anyone on either side of the abortion debate knows this tired argument.
question at the heart of this debate? The question, of course, being: Is the fetus, a human life?
My question is, why not address the real
The day proof is produced that it is indeed not a human life and only "part of the woman's body," is the day that every "oppressive, bible-toting" conservative is silenced. Until then, the debate will continue to go in circles.
- Tom Ferry
St. Michael, MN,
freshman