THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
PAGE 4A
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THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
opinion
Text your FFA submissions to (785)289-8351 or at kansan.com
I just want a cute guy to watch anime with.
TEXT
FREE FOR ALL
To the guys singing Hey Baby as we ran past Kappa Sig on Monday. We're not sure if it was directed at us, but it made our day regardless.
I wish we still lived in a world where everyone who thunders around stomping wherever they go would get eaten by lions.
Allergies aren't coming, they are already upon us and among us
Yes it's us girls who are supposed to wear clothes to benefit your studying, not our comfort. Control your eyes, not what we wear.
$3.50 crunchy chicken cheddar
wraps suck.
Are my tuition dollars going toward the maintenance men using KU duck tape, because that's an expense we can cut.
Editor's Note. I think you mean duct tape. I'm not sure what you would use duck tape for and I don't think I want to know.
Sociology 104 Hookup Culture Lecture... Interesting.
To the girl who pointed out that I dropped my debit card in the Underground: thank you. You're a life saver.
College is killing my self esteem.
The best part about it warming up.
Free Stuff on Wescoe Beach!!!
Wescoe sorcery, how can you enter one side and be at the same level of the auditoriums, but when walking up the front you have to take the stairs?
Editor's Note: You realize it's built on a hill, right?
submit to FFA a lot. Let's just say if this were 2007 I'd put the FFA number in my Sprint Fav 5.
Shout out to my roommate who never says anything when she finds me talking to myself!
When I think about the campus Tree Advisory Board, I can only imagine a room full of Loraxes.
I want someone I can love more than sharks love blood. The Claire to my Francis is out there.
Baby Jay you make my day.
Unfortunately the hipster glasses don't make you sound any smarter.
POLITICS
I've been in the FFA so much I'm not sure if I'm a comedic genius or no one is submitting...
"Either she's an evil, emotionless, miserable human being, or...she's a robot."
Lawmakers need to examine anti-poverty legislation
President Lyndon Johnson began the War on Poverty in the 1960s, introducing sweeping legislation that aimed to lower the United State's relatively high poverty rate. A wide variety of programs were introduced, including Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, the Job Corps and Work Study. These programs have a history of being questioned by conservatives for their cost and perceived ineffectiveness.
Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, recently issued an attack, questioning the need for such programs. In a 204-page report, Ryan states that these federal programs are not working well enough to justify their cost. Ryan commented, "For
too long, we have measured compassion by how much we spend instead of how many people get out of poverty. We need to take a hard look at what the federal government is doing and ask, 'Is this working?'
The answer to Ryan's question is yes. Research analyzing the trends in poverty since Johnson's time as president shows that the situation has improved. According to the Pew Research Center, poverty rates have fallen from 19 percent in 1644 to 15 percent today. A team of researchers from Columbia University has concluded that, adjusting for economic markers such as inflation and tax benefits, the poverty rate in 1644 was as high as 26 percent.
Lawmakers like Ryan
often state that federal anti-poverty programs trap people in a cycle of dependency instead of raising individuals out of poverty, as they are intended to. Ryan's report states, "Benefits decline as recipients make more money - poor families face very high implicit marginal tax rates. The federal government effectively discourages them from making more money."
Views like this are common in the United States, where poverty is often viewed as a
personal failing. The poor are viewed as lazy, preferring to live off of welfare rather than work for a living. A Pew poll shows that the majority of Republicans believe poverty is the result of an individual's lack of effort, while most Democrats believe it is because of circumstances beyond that individual's control.
Increasingly, research shows that it is structural failings, not personal failings, that keep poverty rates high. The jobs accessible for those in poverty are often part time with low pay that offer little to no benefits. In addition, social mobility for those in the lowest income brackets is exceedingly low; it is near impossible for those born into poverty to escape.
Ryan's attack on the federal
programs that aim to help those in poverty is no answer to this problem. As the New York Times stated in an editorial, "It's easy to find flaws or waste in any government program, but the proper response is to fix those flaws, not throw entire programs away as Mr. Ryan and his party have repeatedly proposed."
However, Ryan's report does show the need for the government to change the way it thinks about poverty. The United States needs to find a way to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and make it easier for those born into it to enter the middle class.
Ike Uri is a freshman from Concordia studying English and sociology.
Honesty not the best policy: the truth about cover letters
The worst part about applying for jobs, other than knowing I'm potentially enslaving myself to a desk for the next 50 years, is undoubtedly writing cover letters. I hate having to write and rewrite a letter where I basically lie in order to suck up to potential employers. "I want nothing more than experience," I'll say. Or, "My work as a summer associate has fully prepared me for a position in your company." Finally though, after more than 150 submitted applications, I've reached my limit. What follows is my true, honest cover letter, written partly from frustration, but also partly in the hopes that an employer will read this, chuckle a bit and finally call me in for an interview.
Dear (insert company name here),
My name is Preston Bukaty. I am a third-year law student at the University of Kansas seeking a position as whatever job opening you have available. Hopefully it pays a lot, but I somehow doubt that it will.
I would be a good fit at (insert company name) because I am very poor, and am thus very motivated to do paid labor. I'm not entirely sure what you guys do, because your website is filled with vague euphemisms like, "We're driven by excellence." That doesn't matter though; I'll do pretty much anything.
By Preston Bukaty opinion@kansan.com
You also say you want someone who is "able to get things done without a lot of oversight." As it turns out, I've been managing my own life without any kind of oversight for quite some time. Laundry, bills, groceries, homework — I've even managed to get laid once or twice without anyone hunched over my shoulder telling me what to do. Basically the fact that I'm an adult who participates in society shows I can get things done without a lot of oversight.
I will answer phones, file documents or break rocks on the side of the road, as long as you pay me. I don't really care that much, because it will probably be pretty boring no matter what you have me doing.
What else? You say "the right candidate is a resourceful multi-tasker" I must fit the bill perfectly then, because since I was 12. I've been able to manage the responsibilities of no
I'm not really sure how I'm exactly qualified for this position, because your job posting is also rather vague. It basically only asks that applicants be "hungry and motivated." Well I can tell you this
— in three months, I will have $0 in my bank account, so chances are I'll be very hungry and pretty motivated to do anything to receive a paycheck. Does that count?
less than five different classes at any time during a semester. That's more than 10 years of successful multi-tasking! I'm so good at it now, I can even text and drive without getting into a wreck, which is more than some people can say about driving normally.
If you'd like specific examples though, some of my previous work experience may better demonstrate how I'm qualified for this job. I spent the summer of 2013 working as an associate for a law firm in Kansas City. I could say more about how the skills I learned there would help your company, but chances are you won't look past the words "law firm," so what's the point? You wouldn't be the first company to completely blow me off with a response like, "We're not looking for lawyers."
Still, because I am incredibly desperate, I would appreciate the opportunity to show you what I can bring to your company. Thank you for your consideration and time. I will contact you in a week to confirm you received my materials, although you will continue to ignore me until I eventually give up and stop calling.
Sincerely,
Preston Bukaty
Preston Bukaty is a graduate student from Overland Park studying law.
SEE A VIDEO ABOUT COVER LETTERS AT KANSAN.COM/OPINION
So I totally proposed thanks to Monday's horoscope and now I'm engaged. Thanks for giving me that bit of confidence, UDK horoscopes.
FFA OF THE DAY
LETTER GUIDELINES
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
Follow us on Twitter @KansanOn opinion. Tweet us our opinions, and we just might publish them.
What are you most looking forward to during spring break?
Length: 300 words
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HEALTH
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Katie Kutsko, editor-in-chief kkutsko@kansan.com
Allison Kohn, managing editor akohn@kansan.com
Talking through depression helps
Lauren Armendariz, managing editor larmendariz@kansan.com
Anna Wenner, opinion editor
awenner@kansan.com
I can't be back, can it?
Is the "disease" I fought off two years previously suddenly returning?
Returning at the worst possible time, where I would face it in a new light?
Sean Powers, business manager spowers@kansan.com
I didn't know the answers to those questions. I was scared. I didn't want to think about it at all. The worst years of my life were behind me, right? This was the constant examining process that went through my head over and over again.
Full of unknown and unanswerable questions, I went home over break hoping some familiarity would somehow give me some sort of confidence going forward. But it didn't. I woke up feeling awful, I didn't want to do anything.
It didn't really help that I have suffered through depression before, because it has attacked differently each time I have been through it. And this time, I ignored the fact that something was wrong.
Kolby Botts, sales manager kbotts@kansan.com
The idea that I was most afraid of was that I would be facing the state of solitude alone. Not fully alone, but I'd be in college away from parents, who were so instrumental in helping me out of my depressive state two years ago.
Over break I made poor decisions that lacked judgment, and overall thinking in general. I got mad at my parents, sister and friends like a confused teenager. I wasn't quite me, and I felt as though I'd forgotten how to be myself.
When I actually thought about it, I knew things had to change. Especially before the spring semester began, or I would be in trouble. It did help to be around my parents, because without them I would have had almost no judgment
It's hard to battle constant feelings of dejection and depression. Even before you visit a doctor, talk to someone close to you. Family and friends are there to help you. So use them.
or guidance.
I slowly began to get back in the swing of things right before break ended, yet far from "cured," so they say. And as I think about it now, what made this depressive period of three months so different from previous experiences was that it never had finality. I never went to therapy, had doctor visits or talked with my parents.
The Department of Psychology here at the University has multiple resources in place for students dealing with depression. Whether you simply need someone to talk to, or professional advice and care. They are there to help you take on whatever you may be dealing with.
I sit here today, fully aware of my depression. It comes and goes, and it picks the days where I'm going to feel the worst. But it has gotten much better since November.
G. J. Melia is a freshman from Prairie Village studying journalism.
And as someone who has been through this sort of thing many times, please don't do what I did. I know it can be hard to admit you need help. But tell someone.
@sharynneazhar
KansanOpinion Sleep. Lots of sleep. Eat. League. Lots of League. Sleep.
@igloosheeshio
@KansanOpinion Going to Denver, Colorado with my KU Alternative Breaks group! Should be very beautiful!
@lauwrenorder
@KansanOpinion Seeing my family,my adorable dog and not having to mess with taking a bus anywhere. #yuck
CONTACT US
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Brett Akagi, media director and content strategist
bakagi@kansan.com
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser
jschitt@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Katie Katsie, Allison Koen, Lauren Armendariz, Anna Wenner, Sean Powers and Kolby Bots.
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