WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014
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opinion
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
i skipped all of my classes today to have a Kirsten Dunst movie marathon by myself. What has my life come to?
Text your FFA submissions to (785)289-8351 or at kansan.com
Where does the editor get information to put in the editor notes?
Editor's Note: Common sense, Google, and occasionally actual research.
So we have roving sorority roller blade gangs now.
Chris Ouyang, thank you for your thoughts in Monday's opinion section. It refreshing to read an alternative view, especially one as well written as yours.
Yeah, if the Chick-fil-A in the Underground could also include the spicy chicken sandwich, that'd be great.
lpad in a purple case was found on a bench at Mrs.E's Monday night. It's now in the lost and found at Mrs.E's
Sometimes, no, most times. I wish the FFA accepted emojis. Because sometime life can be summed up with one, simple, beautiful emoji.
"Thank you, FFA, for allowing me to vent about life and profess my love for Nutella to those who truly understand." - Jimmy Fallon
My teacher just talked for 5 minutes about how when Bob Dylan died people used his rights. Only one problem:
BOB DYLAN ISN'T DEAD!!
Love many trust few always padle your own canoe.
Okay I understand advertising other colleges in the UDK. But K-state? Really??
If someone wanted to learn to play some Fall Out Boy on the Campanile boy'c be bomb.
We are not made of ego, don't be part of World Suck dude.
Sometimes it's funny watching guys check out girls; it's like when a dog sees a squirrel.
it's about now when the flowers come out that I remember just how pretty our campus can be.
Help! I'm trapped behind a frat pack walking slower than a toddler learning to walk.
Every time someone tells me "there's only a few weeks left" I plug my ears and hum. I refuse to think about finals, and you can't make me.
Senate needs to re-evaluate closed door policy
Today at 3 p.m. the University Judicial Board will hear the appeal of the Jayhawkers coalition regarding its disqualification from the Student Senate election. The meeting was initially open to the public, but at the request of the Jayhawkers, the meeting is now closed.
Roses are red, violets are blue, lilacs smell sweet, I love KU!
According to the Judicial Board rules, closing this hearing is in accordance with its policies.
However, this policy directly violates the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA), a law applicable to the University because it is a public, state-funded institution.
KOMA serves to ensure a transparent government. By allowing a closed meeting, the Judicial Board affirms that what has already become
a long and convoluted Senate elections process will conclude in an equally complex manner.
Typically, the Judicial Board deliberates individual cases of student misconduct. Accordingly, in the instance of an individual student, hearings would not be open to the public for confidentiality reasons.
Judicial Board hearings are considered closed unless all parties agree to open the proceedings, according to section 6.1.2 of the Hearing Phase policy for University Governance.
For the individual student, this policy might make sense. But in the case of University-wide Senate elections, this is precisely opposite of what the policy should be.
Student Senate receives
money from the University and has a direct impact on the lives of students and faculty. Therefore, a hearing regarding alleged campaign violations should be open to the students that these potentially elected officials might soon represent.
Why is a closed meeting even an option for this elections hearing? The students involved in the hearing are either already members of Senate or are campaigning to represent their peers.
These student leaders should be held to the same level of integrity and transparency most would expect of their state and national politicians.
However, it is important to put this year's election in perspective. What started as free Chipotle and free
cappuccinos has transformed into an ethical debate — is it fair to compare our student senators and campus elections to state and federal proceedings?
We think it is. This editorial serves to highlight a fundamental violation of student rights.
How can we as students trust our potential senators if they lock us out of the hearing regarding a breach in policy?
Grow KU and the Jayhawkers both addressed transparency in their mission statements. Before ever taking office, it appears "transparency" only occurs when it is convenient.
is falsely accused, we should be able to hear the testimony ourselves to form our own opinions as attentive voters.
Students should be able to trust their senators. If a rule is broken, we should have the courtesy of knowing how and why it was broken. If a group
We hope Senate and University leaders alike examine the contradictory policies of the Judicial Board and work to resolve the loopholes that allow such clandestine proceedings.
As for today, it is up to Jayhawkers to open the process. I
Perhaps the concern of the student body will remind our University Governance that we are a powerful voice who will not be ignored, even if they make us wait outside closed doors.
t is within their control, according to the existing University policy.
Adoption has benefits for both pet and owner
Getting a new pet is an exciting and sometimes difficult decision. Many questions arise, like what kind of pet, what breed and where to get it. Growing up I never had any pets, except for hamsters because my parents were allergic to dogs and cats. I was the girl at the pet shop that played with puppies and kittens, but never left with one. The moment I moved out of my parents' house and moved into my own place in Lawrence, I decided that I was going to get a dog.
Choosing a pet is always a difficult option and should not be taken lightly because owning a pet is a huge responsibility. Many people are faced with the decision of buying pets from a breeder or adopting from a shelter. I originally thought I wanted to get a puppy straight from a breeder because I've always heard that adopted pets were much more difficult to handle. I looked for several types of dogs online that were only a few weeks old, but noticed that dogs from breeders were in the high hundreds to thousands of dollars. The fact that the dog alone was that expensive baffled me.
I didn't want to spend that much money as a college student because I knew all of the other costs that were going to be put into this dog, such as food, vet visits, toys and other amenities dogs need. I started thinking about adoption, but still had my hesitations about
By Cecilia Cho opinion@kansan.com
that decision. I had heard stories of adopted dogs and how they always ended up being more trouble than they were worth because of their lives before and during their stay at shelters. I put my hesitation on the back burner and decided to look up some adoption shelters and see what they had to offer.
My boyfriend and I decided to go to Wayside Waifs in Kansas City due to its large selection of pets and because they are a no-kill shelter. It was eye-opening to see how many pets there were and it made me sad to see that many of them were there for long periods of time. We spent a reasonable amount of time playing with various dogs and tried to see every one of them. We finally came across a dog that we wanted to call our own; his shelter name was Mr. Red Legs.
Mr. Red Legs, now known as Hobbs, is a Golden-Retriever Chow mix who was four-months-old at the time and at first very shy. We don't know too much about Hobbs' history, besides the fact he was recently transferred to Wayside from another shelter. Once we finished all of our paperwork, Hobbs was ours to take home and they had informed us that all of his shots were taken care of. They neutered Hobbs for free and gave us tons of gift cards and certificates to use at Petco, free grooming and free stay for him at a local "dog
hotel" if we ever needed to go out of town. Today Hobbs is just over two years old, and one of the best decisions I've made.
My reservations about adopting dogs has changed drastically and you would never guess that Hobbs was a shelter dog. He's just as playful and loveable as a dog you can get from a breeder, but the feeling you get knowing that you gave this dog a home is something no one can take away. I saved hundreds of dollars by adopting and the fact that they took care of major services for me was an amazing benefit. He is everything I expected in a dog and there is absolutely no difference from shelter dogs and buying from breeders. The only way a dog can be considered "bad" is depending on how you treat them and how you raise them. There are hundreds of pets that need homes that may not see any in their lifetime, but if more people choose adoption we can lower the number of homeless pets and have a best friend that will love you just the same as an animal from a breeder.
Cecilia Cho is a junior from Overland Park studying journalism
SEE PICTURES OF HOBBS ON A STORIFY ON KANSAN.COM
FFA OF THE DAY
"Nature always wins and we all die in the end." Happy morning to you too Western Civ.
JCC shooting calls for love from tragedy
A little over one week ago, tragedy struck Overland Park. It was the day before Passover, a significant holiday in Judaism. There was a shooting. The suspect, Frazier Glenn Cross was said to have killed three people. All three victims were not Jewish, but because the locations of the shootings had Jewish affiliations, the attacks are being classified as hate crimes. The first location was at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and the second location was at Village Shalom, a nearby senior living community. Both places are for all members of the community — not strictly Jewish members.
Cross was a white supremacist for decades who served time in prison in the 1980s. He was recorded screaming "Heil Hitler!" during his arrest. Immediately, the community of Overland Park came together, and even people that do not live in Overland Park sent their support from miles away. It is so sad when something like this happens, especially to a community that is so near and dear to my heart. It is a community that has recently opened their arms up to me and for that I am grateful because the people there live their lives just as I want to one day.
Many people turned to the Internet and social media to grab the attention of others. On Facebook, many pages were made showing support for the victims, and people who had long been going to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Kansas City changed their profile pictures to the JCC's logo. My own newsfeed was filled with statuses about how my friends felt personally hurt. My friend Avery Parkhurst, a University
By Rebeka Luttinger
opinion@kansan.com
student who attended Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in Overland Park, posted, "To everyone in my life, including my amazing non-Jewish friends and family, I urge you to embrace all of the qualities in life that make us human. To love your fellow human being. To be accepting of others. And above all else to know that we are all meant to fix this upside-down world together."
The Jewish community here in Lawrence is relatively large, so this probably affected people that all of us know. It could be the guy in your math class or the girl you do yoga with. Either way, I have learned from this tragic incident that people need to come together during times like this. One of the people I turn to in Lawrence is Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel. I approached him about this terrible incident he said, "When you face hatred, you have to respond with love."
People, not only Jewish people, on campus were scared. At the Chabad house on the second night of Passover, there were two police cars sitting outside for protection. It was definitely something that I was not used to.
My prayers are with the victims and their families during this tough time. I hope that one day, the world can be a place where none of this hatred exists and there is no need for police cars to sit outside for protection.
Rebeka Luttinger is a freshman from Richardson, Texas stuyding journalism.
CAMPUS CHIRPS RACK
Why is it important to adopt dogs from animal shelters?
@BadBuddhist4
it's not. Where you get a dog isn't too important. But affected moral superiority, can't get that from anywhere but a shelter
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