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OPINION
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
FRIDAY JANUARY 18, 2008
FRIDAY. JANUARY 18. 2008
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Paraphernalia ban targets wrong group
In the name of meth and crack, recent Kansas Legislation has toughened up on what it now considers drug paraphernalia.
This most recent infringement on civil rights (the right to buy a piece of glass without the county assuming you're going to use it to inhale meth) comes from Paul Davis, whose bill was introduced to the Kansas House of Representatives in early 2006.
It is especially surprising that Davis, a Lawrence representative, endorses this bill, knowing the harmful economic effects it could have on some businesses in Lawrence.
Changes to the bill are included in the supplementary notes, which read: "Provided that, although an item has not been used or did not contain a controlled substance, this would not be a defense to a charge of drug paraphernalia."
The logic behind this ban stems from the conventional wisdom that preaches if the meth-smoking devices aren't available, meth won't be a problem.
But who smokes meth out of a hookah?
No one does.
This ban is not hurting the meth and crack dealers that may live in Douglas County, but instead it is affecting many local businesses that students know and recognize as contributing to Lawrence's atmosphere.
Among thebusinessaffected are Aladdin's Cafe, Third Planet, Creation Station and the Hookah House, all located on Massachusetts Street.
Moreover, the glassblowers and local artists whose well being depends on selling their glass products to these businesses will be damaged.
The city has targeted meth and crack use and has waved the "in the name of the children" flag without even proving to constituents that a meth and crack problem exists in Douglas County.
District Attorney Charles Bronson reported to the Lawrence Journal-World that "this isn't going to stop people from doing drugs, but it's going to make it less available."
Two parts of Bronson's statement are particularly vague and questionable.
First, he admits that this won't stop the drug problem, and second, he did not specifically call attention to crack or meth as being the inspirations behind the change in what paraphernalia is.
But "it" is certainly the key and operative word in Bronson's statement.
Does "it" mean meth?
Because putting Third Planet out of business will not shorten the supply of meth.
Does "it" mean crack?
But if "it" means bongs, pipes and hookahs, then this measure could not be more effective.
It certainly will make buying a pipe more difficult.
Although this is a statewide ban, so far only Douglas County officials seem enthusiastic about enforcing it.
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Darla Slipke, Matt Erickson, Dianne Smith, Bryan Dykman and Keleth Launit
Now Lawrencians will have to drive into Kansas City.
Voodoo Crispy by Rachel Bock Branson in the off-season
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Discover the inner workings of this elite KU group of five that prides itself on being living evidence of the First Amendment, using imagination and, of course, catching flies with chopsticks.
CONTACT US
Darla Slipke, editor
864-4810 or dslipek@kansan.com
THE MANY FACES OF 2008
Matt Erickson, managing editor
884-4810 or merickson@kansun.com
Dianne Smith, managing editor 864-4810 or dsmith@kansan.com
Bryan Dykman, opinion editor
884-4924 or dykman@kansan.com
Toni Bergquist, business manager
864-4358 or tbergquist@kansan.com
Katy Pitt, sales manager
864-4477 or kpitt@kansan.com
Lauren Keith, associate opinion editor 864-4924 or lkeith@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news adviser 884-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jschitt@kansan.com
i44-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Tyler Doehrina
One-word political viewpoints trap online users in bubble
COMMENTARY
If you were to do some snooping to find out if someone you were interested in was liberal or conservative, the easiest route to take would be Facebook.
If you were to go hunting in this manner for my political affiliation, you would see on my Facebook that I am "liberal." But if you were a really dirty PL, you might have been confused why I spent last weekend at the 38th Annual Missouri Valley Arms Collectors Gun Show, where "Dutch" VanKirk, navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, shook hands and signed autographs.
Allegiance to a political party is an association that many young adults begin to feel strongly about as they become a part of a campus world of powerful ideas and entreaties to be the generation responsible for positive change.
It is safe to say (like many other public universities) that the University of Kansas is a very liberal one.
According to the Kansas Equality Coalition's Web site, Lawrence was the only city in the notoriously Bible-belted Kansas in which the majority of voters opposed the Marriage Protection Amendment, and the Lawrence City Commission was the first in Kansas to pass a domestic partner registry.
The University, then, can be seen as another bubble world within Lawrence that can make us feel empowered and periodically aloof when academia and knowledge lend insight into lofty analyses of race, gender, art, literature, etc.
Lawrence is surely an independent entity in a bubble within Kansas, and it can be easy to lose awareness of the world around us when the warmth, excitement and progressiveness of Lawrence become our reality.
In this bubble, we can too easily overlook the fact that we breathe the same air as those we know of only in textbooks and lectures.
I have met some of the most interesting, warm, sentimental and generous people
at National Rifle Association- sponsored events, behind display tables of cowboy guns.
I began doing photography for an antique gun collector/auctioneer when I was in high school and was initially uneasy about being near firearms.
The idea of me being comfortable around weapons, which were purposed for death, terrified me.
death, terrified me.
In time, I became comfortable handling firearms. After the initial shock of being one of only three or four women at a day-long auction seating hundreds of older men, I found my place in the world of gun guys.
After many discomforting questions, conversations and exchanges, I gained respect from and grew affectionate for other enthusiasts and many retired farmers that I may have once dismissed as closed-minded, simple old fools.
Although my gun-guy friends and I disagree frequently, they have taught me that you can connect with anyone through genuine sincerity.
We have come to obtusely think of conservative people like gun guys as closed-minded and liberals as open-minded.
ideals can be equally accused of sealing shut their bubble worlds from ideas that can, at the very least, affirm their own. If you get too confident, it is sometimes easy to say "you are wrong if you don't believe in what I do."
But these groups of people with polar opposite political
There are many stigmas about Kansas, and it is easy to feel as if we are constantly fighting conservative force, but in Lawrence, liberalism is the norm.
This only segregates you further.
I am by no means passing judgment on any one group, but rather I am encouraging you to step outside of where you feel comfortable. This is in regards to an instance (although here exemplified by political stance) that you might find yourself sweating in.
I believe in unesiness as it relates to being regret-free. Being aware of yourself in a situation in which you are uncomfortable or the minority only makes you and your ideas more informed and powerful.
And who in the hell wants to be contained and comfortable all the time?
Ryan is a Salina junior in art history.
》 FREE FOR ALL
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish.
sleep in
Hey prof, if you're going to cancel class, put it on Blackboard. Especially when it is my first class of the day. I would like to
Ladies, I'm back working at Watson.
ResNet, when this many people have trouble, you know you're doing something wrong.
Screw you, ResNet. You made everyone pay again for Internet?
Thanks for blowing me off, again. But, seriously, you know the sex was done need.
damn good.
Random statement criticizing a previous state ment!
--call it future insight.
Finally! I'm an upperclassman!
What is this world coming to? Smoking bans in all public restaurants and now the paraphernalia changes. Pretty soon we'll be living out of a chapter in 1984. Call it cliche, or
It's a good thing we have conservative representatives making our laws for us. Where would we be without them?
Free For All, my stats teacher says the word "OK" more than a sorority girl says the word "like". Is that
a problem?
@KANSAN.COM
Want more? Check out Free For All online.
COMMENTARY
Redefining the Facebook moment
What was once used to preserve a memory or leave a legacy to pass down through generations has now turned into an egocentric, self-absorbed facefest.
The idea of picture taking has made many unique transformations since the first cameras were invented.
What was once known as "a Kodak moment" has been morphed into "a Facebook moment," where shame has no meaning and the drunker you are, the better.
Now instead of just telling people what an awesome time you had, you can post your super-interesting, ultrafun life on the Internet for the whole world to see.
has become an addiction, and, alas, I was not able to escape its digital grasp.
Taking pictures of ourselves
In some ways, it's nice to see what friends have been up to.
Whether it's someone's study abroad trip or pictures of a new baby, those things are at least interesting and monumental in that person's life.
Then you get the albums entitled things like "My Drunken Sh*tshow" where there are 50 up-close pictures of Betty Sue and Bonnie Jane making different faces at the camera, with captions like "best night of our lives!" and "1 tequila 2 tequila 3 tequila... MORE."
Somehow that outlines their
super-rad evening.
Why is it becoming ritual to spend an evening taking drunken pictures of ourselves and then looking at them right away?
I can't help but think that American society is becoming more and more self-obsessed by the minute.
Why am I posting these?
Who do I want to look at them, and what satisfaction am I getting from that?
And yet, I posted pictures of a recent trip online today. I do it, but there is just this twinge of self-doubt and guilt in the back of my mind.
The next day there's a picture of Jenny Lou straddling some guy as he's taking a jello shot out of her cleavage.
It's gotten to the point where people purposefully have their camera ready in hand when the party gets raging just to catch people doing disgraceful things. Their inner monologue saying, "Oh yeah, this is gonna be great," with tomorrow's new
album title in mind: "beer + hoes = awesome."
The caption says something like "atta boy" or "FRAT" and Jenny's comment about the photo is "OMG Johnny, I can't believe you took that picture," but she doesn't untag herself and inside she's thinking, "They like me! They really like me."
The picture of you lying in a pool of your own vomit is not going to do you any favors when your potential employer says, "Ah, so I see you're on Facebook."
I mean really, who cares, we're in college, and it's all fun and games until you need to get a job or run for a political office and those pictures resurface.
My friends are always posting old pictures of me back in my "wild stage" freshman year, granted I'm not lying in a pool of my own puke in any of those pictures, but I still look like a jackass in all of them.
I wish there was a way to stop the madness and get back to what the picture was supposed to represent, not this perverse version of pictures that has taken over modern society.
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous the whole circus becomes.
But for some reason, I just can't seem to click that delete button.
The power of the guilty pleasure is too much for this mere human to overcome.
Simmermon is a Leawood senior in journalism.
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