THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN OPINION moore in her into nock- who held. MONDAY, OCTOBER 17.2005 WWW.KANSAN.COM WHEN IT RAINES IT POURS Don't be a Halloweener: Get creative PAGE 5A It's that time of year again. America's greatest holiday is nearly upon us, a time for celebration, gatherings of loved ones, exchanges of gifts, food and cheer. Religious for some, fun for all, I'm referring, of course, to Halloween. While Halloween is great for many, many reasons, the feature that separates it from other festivities is the opportunity, for one glorious night, to be anything you want. It's a release from reality for the shy and socially challenged, a catharsis from conformity, the American dream without the inevitable disappointment. Donning that carefully-crafted costume grants you a license for fun without strings, a get-out-of-embarkarssent card for an evening of unbridled debauchery. Of course, all this is contingent on choosing the right costume. This will be the most important decision you make for the next year, and those photos will be around forever, so don't take this lightly. Nothing can sink an otherwise-perfect Halloween faster than wearing a lame get-up. Humor is the most important factor when considering a potential costume. Your costume should immediately evoke shrieks of laughter CHRIS RAINE opinion@kansan.com from on-lookers, kind of like real life, except on this special night, they'll be laughing with you, marveling at your comedic genius. If your costume can't conjure a chuckle from your fellow revelers, you've failed. Second to humor in costume choice is originality. This doesn't necessarily mean your costume has to be an entirely original idea, but rather one that hasn't been done too recently. Costumes are a form of fashion. You don't want to be caught wearing last year's styles. Ladies, many of you are un-doubtedly planning on dressing as a sexy something. This is not discouraged, especially because many of you simply can't help but look sexy. But instead of your generic sexy nurse, devil, kitty-cat, etc., try dressing as something that's inherently un-sexy. For instance, perhaps this year you should dress as a sexy lunch lady, sexy parking ticket lady or a sexy tortoise. costumes are always a good idea. Be it a chicken, gorilla, rhinoceros, whatever, dressing up as a giant silly-looking animal will be a can't-miss costume. Speaking of tortoises, animal Group costumes are always great ideas, providing they meet the humor and originality criteria. Last year, for instance, eight friends and I posed as the Supreme Court and managed to win a costume contest. If that doesn't sound funny, well, you had to be there. Incorporating animals into a group costume is an even better idea. Tell me you wouldn't smile if you saw a flock of giant chickens running down Massachusetts street at one in the morning, or a swarm of giant bees shaking their stingers on the dance floor. Couple costumes are almost always annoying. If you must dress up as a couple, remember originality and humor. Dressing as Fred and Wilma is not funny. Dressing as a priest and an altar boy is funny. Costumes can be expensive, but the financially-challenged shouldn't despair. There are many low-cost costume possibilities. For instance, you could go dressed as a certain feminine hygiene product. Just put on your best polo shirt, pop the collar, and you can be rest assured that everyone will know exactly what you are. This costume can also be worn year round. Unfortunately there are many of you set on dressing up as pimps and hos, medical staff, rednacks, etc. You're ruining Halloween. Do everyone a favor and stay at home. I'm sure MTV will be running Laguna Beach reruns or something, so at least you'll have entertainment, and the rest of us won't have to be brought down by your incredible levels of lame. Halloween is only as fun as you make it, and it's one of the few times in life where the effort is all that is necessary. This is your opportunity to be Matthew Sevcik/KANSAN whatever you want to be, and the only limit is your imagination. Grab your slippers, Cinderela, and get to work on that gown Halloween is almost here, and it won't be back for another year. Raine is a Wichita senior in journalism and psychology. Let's make it a night to remember. ▼ LETTER TO THE EDITOR Not just sticks and stone, Mencia Comedian Carlos Mencia and KU student Kevin Hess are wrong. Words, like actions, can do violence to people. Consider Mencia's choice of word to back up his assertion that words are inoffensive: "cunt." Would people have agreed if he'd said "nigger" or "spick ?" I don't think so, but his audience seemed to have no problem with a word that demeans women and their bodies. If Mencia and Hess truly think words like "cunt" are laughable, then I'll assume they address women in their lives - family members, friends, teachers, co-workers as "cunts," to their faces, without fear of retribution. gence. Past history and current events illustrate that language is part of oppression, racism and sexism - and also part of opposing those forces. After all, in Mencia's world, those who use language have no responsibility for what they say. Instead, people who "let the words hurt them" are to blame. Thankfully, we are in a university environment with other information sources. We don't have to let Mencia insult our intelli- The bottom line is that Mencia uses shock value to make money. It's no surprise that he rationalizes his act with "eitheror" thinking that is downright stupid. Ray Pence Casper, Wyo., graduate student in American studies. Alcohol worse than marijuana LETTER TO THE EDITOR First of all I would like to express my condolences to Lindsay Shelton for her father's problem with pain killers. Addictions of any kind can destroy lives and families. Being passionate does not save you from being wrong. A study done in 2002 by the U.S. National Household survey on drug abuse concluded "teenagers who tried hard drugs were predisposed to do so whether or not they tried marijuana." It also made the point that My grandfather's abuse cost him his life and hurt his wife and children emotionally. people generally used marijuana first simply because it was more available than harder drugs and an elimination of marijuana would not lead to elimination in harder drug use. Just because people are willing to argue until they are blue in the face does not make the theory correct. When religious conservatives opposed Copernicus far out "round earth rotates around the sun theory" I am sure they too were willing to argue until they were blue in the face that the earth was flat. (If our parents told us the truth we'd find out many of the smoked pot, quit and then went on to lead successful lives free of any drugs) The problem seems to stem from his overuse of Xanax. The DEAs own studies have concluded that more than 75 percent of people who use marijuana never go on to use an harder drugs. The problem in this story was not the fact that your dad used to smoke pot in high school. that his gateway was Xanax and not mariana. In summation, it is imperative that KU recognizes Mr. Mencia during Hispanic Heritage Month along with other cultural programs because it displays our diversity to the nation and the world. The point that pot is harmless like alcohol is also untrue. Alcohol is not harmless. It resulted in 85,000 deaths in the United States, in 2000. Contrast that with the zero deaths caused by marijuana. In the article it says that you are supposed to only take it for the worst of times, but he took it for 20 years. This led to him using morphine and Oxycontin. Alcohol also causes bar fights, spousal abuse and other social ills. It is a rarity that someone high is in the mood to do anything other than eat microwaveable burtats at 4 a.m. I am not professional but it seems His performance will stay with the hearts of audience members because he made them think about social issues. There is no reason to be tough on marijuana. The only reason people crack down on marijuana is a social stigma and the fact that people keep saying "gateway drug" until people accept it as truth. But saying something is true does not make it true. - Conor McCartney is a Madison, Wis., sophomore in Pre-medicine. - Evaristo "Joe" Ramirez is a Kanopolis, alumnus class of 2005. Austin Caster, editor 864-4854 or acaster@kansan.com Jonathan Keeling, managing editor 864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com TALK TO US Joshua Bickel, managing editor 864-4854 or [bicket@kansan.com] Matthew Sevclk; opinion editor 864-4924 or msevclk@kansan.com happen in Iraq. Sarah Connelly, business manager 864-4014 or adddirector@kansan.com SUBMISSIONS John Morgan, sales director 864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com a special event to the University which is why he took questions after his performance. If remember correctly, he said, "This is a place of higher learning." He respected that because he was a former electrical engineering student. It is difficult for me to believe that his performance was "short-sighted" or "insulting." Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser 984.7866 www.jenniferweaver.com On the contrary, he intended to make his performance exactly what it was advertised as: FUNNY! Some of his jokes were actually attempts to foresee what will Malcolm Gibson, general manager, news adviser 848-7667 or mibson@kansan.com adviser 854-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com 864-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Austin Caster at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com. General questions should be directed to the editor at editor @kansan.com. LETTER GUIDELINES GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES Maximum Length: 200 word limit Include: Author's name and telephone number; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published) LETTER TO THE EDITOR Eoy Ford, Eylant Wang, Joel Simone, Dhoy Hove, Anne Weltmer, Juel Paulie, Nathan McGinnis, Joe Goosting, Sara Gartick, Travien Brown, Julian Pontille, David Archer Maximum Length: 650 word limit Include: Author's name; class, home- town (student); position (faculty member); phone number (will not be published) University lucky to book Mencia Also: The Kansei will not print guest columns that attack another columnist. EDITORIAL BOARD SUBMIT TO Kansasan newroom 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall 1435 Kayshaw Blvd. Lawrence, KS 60045 (706) 884-4810 opinion@kansasan.com The performance of Mr. Carlos Mencia was very indicative of Hispanic Heritage and so were the other numerous events throughout Hispanic Heritage Month. This dedicated month gives everyone an opportunity to learn more about Hispanic culture and enjoy its famous Hispanics. Mr. Mencia is one of the few Hispanic entertainers in the nation and the University was fortunate to attract him to campus. Carlos realized that this was Call 864-0500 Free All for Free for all callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kanans editor reserves the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded. Free for All Revolutions: www.kansan.com. Be there. I want to say thanks, Free for All, I'm driving home with my brand new bunny. My friend, he laughs at the guys that get arrested on *CDOPS*, don't you think that's wrong Free for All? I'm in love with my roommate. Hey, just because we had a pickle fight last night does not mean you have to tell the whole school, dammit! When the Cardinals win the World Series, I'm going to have the best orgasm of my life. All I know is that I'm drunk, and it took me 20 minutes to find the newspaper, so I better get in the Free for All. I just called and I naked, and I'm listening to Madonna, the "immaculate Collection." Free for All loves the Thundercats, snarff, snarff Hi Free for All, just calling to let you know that I'm pretty sure my roommate peed in his pants, yup, they're wet. Jorgensen, I can't believe you flushd my earrings down the toilet. I'll get you Jorgensen, damn you Eric Jorgensen. Free for All, I think I in love with you! I think KU should look for English speaking professors instead of English speaking tutors. On the way to K-State, there is a KU sign with a big purple pen on it. That is kind of messed up. Did you know you could order a pizza directly to Watson library and just take it and run? My roommate just took a pill-water first then the pill, how do you take your's Free for All? Water first, or pill first? There is nothing that gets me going like a test of the emergency alert system. And the stats for the night are: Found one homeless man in the Alpha-Chi dumpster, lost the senses of 40 sorority girls that were running around the parking lot screaming. + You know, I just don't know what you guys are talking about, I love the Olive Garden commercials. Is it just me, or does every Gina Ford article sound the same? Do you think Paris Hilton has ever eaten Ramen noodles? My dog is hung like a light switch. I'm so high I cant even remember the last time I was not high. Free for All, if I got to choose between my ex-girlfriend letting me sleep with her again, or my ex-girlfriend getting hit by a bus, I would flip a coin. Forget kegs for Katrina, we've got Rupes for Rite, bitch. There are five steak knives lodged in our wall, goodbye deposit! Therefore: heeds should be called bus, and tales should just be called tails.