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MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAHY KANSAN
opinion
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
I used to think I was really weird for being super into gingers until I started reading FFA. I thought I made the right choice by going to KU.
Text your FFA submissions to (785)289-8351 or at kansan.com
Can you get high on the smell of newsprint? #iloveit
To the other dude who is also crushin on the Gonzalez twins... Would it be weird if we became buds and called ourselves the Gonzalez Groupies?
I am a grilled cheese sandwich.
Thanks, Buzzfeed.
Glad Student Senate is saving me a whole 50 cents next year! I can buy one sentence in a textbook with that!
If texting causes you to swerve all over the sidewalk, put your phone away.
Has anyone else encountered the man who lives in one of the quiet zones of Anschutz?
I'm not opposed to turning the FFA into a Tindr.
Spent an hour perfecting a Linkedln invite message. That's more time than I've spent on homework this entire semester.
Some people have self respect. I have Panda Express at 9 a.m.
It's a beautiful day!!!!!! ... To go inside and cry about midterms...
Did the rapture just happen?
There's no one in the Underground at noon!
INTERNET
This girl in the stall next to me just crawled out...
The best feeling in the world is when someone you hate tells a joke and nobody laughs.
Paying over $1000 for a 500 level class and they are making me color maps ... #geology
I was the one playing Phantom of the Opera in the Campanile. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! More to come.
Editor's Note: Do you take requests?
I was feeling as invincible as Beyonce until my wifi went down now I'm nothing more than a mere mortal in fetal position.
Dibs on the secret tunnel between Spencer and the Union in case of a zombie apocalypse.
Currently looking for an air drummer, back up dancers, and a lip singer. I'm starting an air band and I play a mean air guitar. Meet you in Anschutz in 10 minutes.
Does anyone else try to psychoanalyze people by how they rip up their newspaper?
Memes are the worst thing since unsliced bread
This sentiment has ridden under the surface of most of my columns for the past few years. It's simple: Memes are the single worst product of the Internet and are destroying popular culture.
Memes give the impression of an inside joke. Back in the day, when only a handful of people could catch the reference, that feeling of being part of some club was genuine.
I'm not trying to say that I hate memes because they became popular. I'm not 15 anymore. I'm saying that memes were always good for a quick chuckle and nothing more. When they got co-opted by parents, corporations and every single person on my Facebook feed, they lost their charm, and fast.
The influx of the same joke, day in and day out, is
It's easy to post a link or generate a meme yourself on www.memevomiter.org. You aren't risking judgment because you know it's funny. Memes don't become popular unless people like them, so this layer of cloned jokes and prefab humor protects you.
enough to drive even the most tolerant to pulling out their hair.
The reason why I was driven to finally write this column is that I think I've figured out why people latch onto memes. They're safe and convenient comedy.
Remember "Keep Calm and Carry On"? Everyone and their mom had that idiotic slogan (and its infinite mutations) on a T-shirt or poster. Greek organizations, sports clubs, the school
And once you stop getting laughs and "likes" out of meme A, you move onto meme B. Ad nauseam.
bookstore, you name it, they all hopped aboard.
Until, one day, it lost its charm. That British war propaganda line saturated our popular culture to the point of bursting and we dumped it.
what worries me is that each Gangnam Style and Harlem Shake follows the same trajectory: a small group discovers and shares it, it catches fire and everybody feels entitled to join in, everyone gets sick of seeing it everywhere and abandons it. It's like our culture is a fat, gigantic baby that gobbles up the next big
thing and burps it back up the second it gets used to the taste.
A society of memetics doesn't appreciate new contributions to culture. It digs its chubby hooks into it, beats it to death while squeezing every ounce of profit and comedy from it, and then chucks the empty husk into a dumpster.
I'm convinced that this process of rapid popularity and saturation is going to speed up. We'll eat, digest and poop out our culture so fast that we'll lose our sense of culture.
Take the next new thing:
A website that hosts live streaming videos of games is letting its viewers play a game of Pokemon by typing individual button commands into the stream's chat. Think of the Infinite Monkey Theorem, where if thousands of monkeys
slammed onto typewriters for an infinite amount of time, they'd eventually write "The Complete Works of Shakespeare."
Soon enough, Twitch Plays Pokemon will be the next trashed piece of culture blowing in the wind.
After gaining rapid popularity and spawning a dozen new inside jokes, the Twitch Plays Pokemon crowd is already losing its charm. After starting a petition to make a national holiday for their completion of the game, the backlash grew.
At least it's good for a chuckle while it lasts.
BODY IMAGE
Wil Kenney is a sophomore from Leawood studying English.
Barbie look-alike creates harmful physical standard
Magazines, television shows and advertisements show women that are tall, skinny and covered in makeup. Our society has set the standard that women are not considered beautiful without these characteristics. So if you don't look like the women you see on television, should you change yourself?
I recently watched a documentary on 28-year-old Ukrainian model, Valeria Lukyanova, a human look-alike of the popular children's doll, Barbie. Over the past year she has gained a lot of attention because of her unnatural look. Her body is disproportional, just like one would imagine a human Barbie doll looking, and everything about her seems fake. Lukyanova has claimed multiple times that the only surgery she has had was for breast enlargement, though looking at before and after pictures you can see differences that wouldn't be possible without plastic surgery.
I watched Lukyanova's documentary to see if she could explain the reason why she does what she does. As a child, Lukyanova claimed to have seen spirits from "other dimensions" and that she has been reincarnated several times. She believes that she has been brought to this world to be a spiritual guru and explains that she looks the way she does to gain attention for her teachings. She claims that no one will pay attention to someone that looks like a nun, but that everybody will listen
to a nearly "perfect" human being.
The only message I get from Lukyanova is that people can't consider themselves beautiful unless they have a barely-there waist and change every part of them that is real.
As if she couldn't be more ridiculous, Lukyanova recently stated in an interview with International Business Times that she no longer has a desire for food and hopes to survive on only air and light. She follows Breatharianism, a pseudoscience belief where followers do not eat or drink, instead they live on "cosmic micro-food." To me, Lukyanova seems insane, but unfortunately there are a few who look up to her and even want to be her.
LETTER GUIDELINES
In a scene in the documentary, Lukyanova's sister, Olga, gets her makeup done by Valeria. After she is finished, Valeria tells her sister not to smile because smiling reveals her "second chin." Instead, she should look as if she is in mourning. Olga stated that at one point she tried everything she could to be just like her sister, but after a while decided to be her own person. It's common for younger siblings to look up to their older siblings, but Lukyanova's message to her sister and the rest of society is troubling. When will it be acceptable
for women to look the way they are, without changing everything about themselves?
Cecilia Cho is a junior from Overland Park studying journalism.
Lukyanova's lifestyle is just a distraction and her "spiritual guildings" are basically ignored because of her appearance. I feel sorry for Lukyanova and I feel sorry for women who believe she is a role model. Women of all ages are subjected to criticism when it comes to their appearance, but society needs to realize that you don't need to look like a Barbie, a supermodel or anyone other than yourself
— the natural you is beautiful.
People like Lukyanova are the reason that women strive for something that is not normal and is unachievable. People going as far as getting plastic surgery to permanently change the way they look is unhealthy and sends a dangerous message to younger women. We see celebrities who look dramatically different when they have no makeup on, compared to what they look like on the red carpet. Many girls idolize their favorite celebrities and aspire to look like them. Being beautiful seems to be all people care about these days, but women and even men, should take a stand and love the appearance they were born with. If people cannot learn to accept themselves, more women like Lukyanova might start to surface. I don't see why anyone would want that.
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RELATIONSHIPS
When to consider second chances
Katie Kutsko, editor-in-chief kkutsko@kansan.com
Allison Kohn, managing editor akohn@kansan.com
Lauren Armendariz, managing editor larmendariz@kansan.com
The reason for breaking up is the biggest factor in deciding whether to get back together with an ex. Cheating is unforgivable in my opinion.
If the reason you broke up the first time was because of character or trust, I'd say a second chance may be a waste of time. Cheating is a sign of immaturity and lack of commitment — two things that won't be fixed with a week or two away from each other.
Anna Wenner, opinion editor
awenner@kansan.com
Sean Powers, business manager spowers@kansan.com
Call me a hopeless romantic, but if you really love someone you'll make it work — and that just might happen with another attempt. So when it comes to second chances, at least give it a second thought.
Kolby Botts, sales manager kbotts@kansan.com
B reakups are hard and what's even harder is not knowing if you
not knowing if you made the right decision. Weeks go by and you're still wondering if it was best, and if time apart means getting back together with a fresh start, or just fixing past problems. And what's even worse than breaking up once? Having to go through it all again. But as Cosmopolitan magazine reported, with 44 percent of young adults trying again after they breakup, it's hard to know whether you should be in that percentage or not. They say it isn't over until it's over, but how do we really know when it's over?
If you do choose to walk away from the commitment, I would advise to not let yourself believe that a simple sexual relationship with an ex could work out. Cosmo also revealed that 53 percent of young adults continue to have sex with an ex after a breakup. If he or she isn't good enough to be devoted to then that person is no longer good enough for you to sleep with.
Kayla Soper is a senior from Junction City studying journalism and political science.
Though there is the saying. "You can never change a man." I always hear it, from my mom, in magazines and movies, and I must say that I strongly disagree. Maybe the better way to put it is that you can't change a man who doesn't want to be changed. If he wants the relationship to work bad enough, he will. Sometimes it does take time, or a breakup, for someone to realize how important change is, but everyone is 100 percent capable of changing. However, just because they're capable, doesn't mean they're willing. Don't hold on to hope that someone will change for you if adjustments aren't being made.
charm. If the feelings are still there and changes have been made, give things another try
If you broke up for reasons that can be forgiven, and most importantly forgotten, then maybe the second time's a
— sometimes we breakup and makeup, and things are better than you could have imagined. But without making changes you're bound to head straight down the breakup road again.
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@BonjourCatie
@RadioDJMJ
KansanOpinion the fact that studying is now my full time job. 40 hours and counting..
@KansanOpinion that it's basically finals week but when we're done we have to come right back.
@lauwrenorder
@KansanOpinion Not enough delivery places open at 3 am and the possibility of having your dreams Hulk-smashed. #midtermsyo
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Brett Akagi, media director and content strategist
bakagi@ kansan.com
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jschlitt@kansan.com
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Katie Kulsoo, Kalion Kohr, Luna Armendardi, Anna Werner, Sean Powers and Koly Bots.
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