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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014
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opinion
"My power comes from a scarcity of parking just like your dad's comes from a lack of hues."
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to (785) 289-8351 or at kansan.com
Dear Student Body Prez,we were glad to protect your sandwich in the lovely lands of Schutz.
My roommate's cat always jumps in my lap while I'm doing homework. The issue? He's always soaking wet.
Bravo to the UDK, I legitimately complained to a friend about wifi costing money next year. April Fools!
Is it sad that it took me 10min this morning to figure out that the UDK was fake today?
To the guy with the anti-voting t-shirt idea: if you make them we will buy them.
The IDK? may just be the best thing to ever happen on a Tuesday SooO funny.
I would definitely buy a shirt to keep tablers away...
I don't know what I keep expecting, but I continue to look for actual information today and the effort is clearly wasted on April 1st.
Blue from blues clues was a Blue Baltic Boarder Blood hound puppy, from the small island of Bainbridge off the Baltic coast.
So I have not heard how the Whale in Potter's lake is doing for a while now. Has anybody else?
I literally took the bus from outside Budig to Fraser just so I could avoid the people tabling for Jayhawkers and GrowKU. Social anxiety at its finest.
Was anyone else panicking when they read the House of Cards article? My heart was racing until I realized it was April Fool's day.
Legitimately had a 10 minute conversation with my mother complaining about paying for wifi...wow.
Severus Potter as the media director and content strategist for the Daily Kansan? Someone's been doing some wistful thinking.
The answer is iodine. I'm a bartender and I never get sick. 1. Because I wash my hands every 5 seconds and 2. iodine in the bar sinks kills everything.
It wasn't until I read the article about the Hawk that I realized the UDK was joking. Isn't that sad?
Well played, UDK. Well played.
Don't become polarized by ideological groups
DEOLOG
Ideologies of any kind are dangerous in nearly every way imaginable. They box out progress, create backwards groupthink and polarize groups that aren't necessarily working against one another.
I'm of course talking about the " -isms." They come in many forms, political, social, you name it, there's no end to them. It seems like they're more popular than ever with the advent of the internet. Increased communication means an increase in groups forming and generating ideals.
The most basic way ideologies have brought modern America to its knees is in the two-party system. I'm sure that it's better to convince America to give up Thanksgiving before they did
the two-party system. But that's not for lack of trying.
The reason they're stuck in place is that all of the money is within those formed groups. Political action that doesn't fall within their boundaries is labeled fringe and promptly dismissed.
As goofy as some of their ideas were, the Tea Party were a perfect example of abnormal politics being squashed.
What was telling (and what I learned the most from that shebang) was the Tea Party wasn't taken and shattered to pieces. They were split consciously and effectively via the machinations of the two parties in power. They said, "Hey, look at how crazy these nutters are. Aren't you glad we aren't as bad as them?" And then absorbed
what was leftover into one of the two parties.
The Tea Party was quickly run over and turned into an ad campaign. That's the ultimate extreme of groupthink and the acceptance of societal "givens" by the public.
These examples run rampant throughout social and political spheres.
It's a logistics problem. Most individuals can't get anything done without supporters and money. That means groups. That means
mottos and party platforms and, worst of all, ideologies
I read an argument recently that the worst possible way of trying to solve a social problem is to determine an end goal and work toward it. The problem with that approach is that you make sacrifices along the way to reaching that goal. Ideas come and go in the process but can be dumped for the sake of that end result.
The same goes for overarching political groups and social collectives. Determining that "this right here is what's wrong with the world, we must solve this" is setting yourself up to box out alternative (and likely more effective) solutions and approaches.
to affect change on their own. I'm not advocating the dissolution of these groups, because they can sometimes do some good. I am pushing for self-evaluation.
I realize the issue of individuals being unable
I hope that if we look inward at the factions, groups,and societies we claim as "allies" and "good guys," we can rediscover solutions and reform problems within those institutions.
While this is all very nebulous and based in ideas rather than actions, I think it's absolutely essential to demand political and social groups that aren't shackled to the mantra they've got plastered on their wall.
Wil Kenny is a sophomore from Leawood studying English.
RELIGION
There is no good argument against same-sex marriage
Always a controversial topic, same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights are some of the most talked about and most prominent movements in America today. I myself am not gay, but I've never had a problem with gay marriage. Personally, I've never understood the argument against it.
The most common argument against same-sex marriage is that multiple prophets and disciples, (such as Timothy, Leviticus, Corinthians among others) say in the bible that same-sex relations are an "abomination" or are only for the "sexually immoral."
With all that being said, everything I have read gives no real reason why it is considered such an "abomination." In addition, I have not seen one passage where Jesus speaks out against same-sex marriage and being gay in general.
I was raised in a Christian family and practiced the religion until I was 16 years old. From personal
In the bible, Jesus explicitly speaks out against divorce. And in our society, divorce is becoming much more prevalent. This being in a society that is incredibly built off of Christian influences, and the majority of people in the United States actively practice Christianity.
experiences at church, bible studies and youth groups, I was supposed to take the bible as the word of God and his followers. I was taught to take almost everything out of it as truth and lessons to live by.
It doesn't make sense to me how many of these religious leaders and groups are accepting of people who get divorced, and yet are so hateful against people being gay. Some of these figures believe same-sex marriage is disrupting the purity of marriage.
If anything, divorce is harming marriage when upwards of two million people in the United States are getting divorced yearly. That's almost half of all marriages ending in divorce.
Some of the leaders and groups against same-sex marriage also believe being gay is a choice. But if you are someone who thinks this, may I pose this question: when did you 'decide to be heterosexual? You probably don't know. Just like I don't know.
Which brings up the point of the House Bill
2453, nearly passed here in Kansas and also Arizona. The anti-gay segregation bill would grant business owners the ability to reject job applicants on the basis of perceived sexual orientation.
There was also House Bill 2203 passed last year that denies protection for sexual orientation in the hiring process. This bill overrides the anti-discrimination clause that was approved in the city of Lawrence.
To me, this is exactly the circumstance that the Civil Rights Movement strived to prevent. It is blatantly discriminatory. It is the same as store owners in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s denying African-Americans service or work solely because of the color of their skin.
The final factor in my misunderstanding towards the argument against being gay, is why does anyone care? Why should anyone care who someone else wants to be with? It has zero effect on your life, so why should you even be able to have an opinion on it? It's not for you decide. Believe what you want to believe, but don't force it upon others.
G. J. Melia is a freshman from Prairie Village studying journalism.
SCIENCE
'Cosmos' doesn't have to humor creationists
Length: 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
Katie Kutsko, editor-in-chief
kkuksko@kansan.com
Allison Kohn, managing editor
akohn@kansan.com
Lauren Armentarz, managing editor
If you don't have a TV, you're weird. But undoubtedly you're also missing one of the great new series this spring. "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" is a 13-part, science documentary series that airs Sunday nights on FOX. Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the show explores a handful of scientific theories that explain the workings of our universe. A reboot of the 1980 TV series presented by Carl Sagan, "Cosmos" is intensely interesting and entertaining. If you haven't yet, watch it.
Lauren Armendariz, managing editor
larmendariz@kansan.com
Amazingly enough, a documentary that talks entirely about science caused an uproar with the airing of its second episode, titled, "Some of the Things That Molecules Do." The episode aired Sunday, March 16, and presented an explanation of evolution and the origin of life. A science documentary explaining a scientific theory — how shocking.
Creationist groups are furious, with some even demanding equal airtime to explain their own "theory" of the origin of life on Earth. Now look, I don't want to get in a debate over creationism versus evolution, frankly because I don't want to have to explain freshmen-level science to someone who writes an angry letter to the UDK. This is America after all, and you're entirely free to believe whatever you want, even if you're completely wrong.
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The issue here is much more simple — why should the creators, financiers and producers of Cosmos devote airtime to an idea they don't
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to opinion@kansan.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line.
So to the creationists out there complaining — it's not Neil de Grasse Tyson's job to adapt his program. Evolutionists have "Cosmos," where they present their explanation of proven, testable theories of science. Creationists have the Creation Museum, located in scenic Petersburg, Ky., where they present explanations of their beliefs. Naturally, consumers will select one or the other.
Preston Bukaty is a graduate student from Overland Park studying law.
If only creationists could understand. See, it's not up to "Cosmos" to provide a fair and balanced view. If creationists want to create their own documentary series titled, "Genesis: A Biblical Odyssey," that's entirely their prerogative. It could explore the handful (literally, one hand's worth) of biblical theories that explain the workings of our universe. I probably wouldn't watch it, but I'm sure some people in Kansas would.
By Preston Bukaty opinion@kansan.com
believe in? Tyson recently criticized the media for even considering the idea, reminding us that in science, there are no fair and balanced views. This is science, not CNN. Some people are right; some people are wrong. The theories adapt, humanity progresses, and hopefully soon we'll have hoverboards. That's how science works.
Anna Wenner, opinion editor
awenner@kansan.com
Kolly Botts, sales manager kbotts@kansan.com
Sean Powers, business manager spowers@kansan.com
If you didn't read your email from the Provost yesterday, do.
FFA OF THE DAY
@KansanOpinion Well done, staff!
IDKallday
@Davis_Samuel
@lauwrenorder
KansanOpinion Totally believed every bit of it because I'm that one gullible person. #thestruggle
CONTACT US
Brett Akgi, media director and content strategist
bakagi@kansan.com
Jon Schlitt, sales and marketing adviser jschlitt@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansas Editorial Board are Katie Kutte, Allison Koen, Lauren Armendariz, Anna Winner, Sean Powers and Koly Botts.
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