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TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2014
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opinion
Send your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or kansan.com
How to tell if someone likes you.
1. They don't.
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
Welcome to the Midwest. Where it can be a nice sunny day and before you know it it is windy, snowing, and the temperature drops faster than a drunk girl running in high heels.
With all this wind, I'm going street-sign collecting before class.
Candy Crush Saga brings out an overly competitive side of me that I didn't even know existed. Meaning, I find myself yelling at my phone when playing the game.
rm the only conservative in a class
full of liberals. Crap.
Thanks SW220.
Today I got a free Red Bull. I imagine the rest of my Mondays this semester will be terrible by comparison.
@SquirrelsofKU graduated, for the person that was wondering.
You are stellar.
So I found out that my dad wiped my GameCube memory card with all of my childhood on it. I'm going to cry
Nice days in Kansas winters are such a tease.
Today in class we learned how to say "Why is every cat flying?" in Chinese. The chapter isn't even called "Useful phrases While Tripping on Acid."
Fun fact: Mrs. E's composts all their used paper items.
All 1,644 lbs of it.
I dream of the disintegration of frat packs.
I wear cut off jeans at all times
Self-declared gym rats, congrats on your bud but unless you're on the KU basketball team I don't really care how "swoll" you're getting.
...we could spend the night, watch
the earth come up...
Did you guys hear they invented a cure for swine flu? It's called a flu shot.
Editor's Note. Wrong. A flu shot helps prevent the flu, not cure it.
Horoscopes tend to reject the idea that people have bad days.
Some days you just want to eat some nutella and cry about where your life is going.
Dance like no one is watching, unless someone actually is.
Dancing through life
SAFETY
Guns not the solution to ending violence
I used to be a big gun guy. I owned three guns, loved shooting them and, despite the fact that my friends probably wouldn't describe me as "stable," I've managed to never shoot anyone. To me, it never seemed hard to be a safe and responsible gun owner. So whenever the issue of gun control was raised, I was a staunch defender of my right to own firearms. "Come and take it" was my motto.
Fla., over an argument about texting during a movie.
However, my attitude shifted abruptly when I read the comments section of a Huffington Post article detailing yet another incident of gun violence in this country. On Jan. 13, Curtis Reeves, a 71-year-old retired police captain, shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson in a movie theater near Tampa,
Usually this type of incident is caused by an unstable person armed to the teeth, and so in its aftermath the discourse generally goes something like this: "We should make it harder for these kinds of people to get their hands on these weapons. Perhaps make it harder to get guns in general. Tight restrictions, increase security."
But what about when the guy with a gun is a good guy? In the comments section below the story, a user had posted this question: "If even a retired police captain is unable to responsibly carry a firearm in public, why on earth should anyone accept the argument that regular citizens should be trusted to walk around armed?"
To which naysayers generally respond: "People will get the guns if they want them, in the same way you can get your hands on an ounce of heroin if you really tried. The solution isn't removing guns, it's adding them. Arming ourselves. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
By Preston Bukaty opinion@kansan.com
I think that's a valid point. It's easy to rationalize how these incidents happen when the antagonist is mentally unstable or someone hell-bent on destruction. We explain away their actions as behavioral outliers and we reassure ourselves that well-meaning,
stable people would never behave this way. But even sane, stable people are prone to over-the-top emotions. Hell, I don't even trust most people to drive safely. Why should they be allowed to have guns?
Again, I used to defend my right to my guns, but for me this incident was the tipping point. Nationalized incidents of gun violence are omnipresent on news sites. Maybe I'm becoming more paranoid, but part of me is now somewhat scared to enter a movie theater, a school or a post office. I don't want to be the next victim.
Perhaps we do need to tighten restrictions and decrease the number of guns floating around. If we accept for a minute that "guns don't kill
people, people kill people," then wouldn't it be better if less people had less access to guns? I agree that a complete ban on guns won't be effective because people will get guns if they really try, but increasing gun ownership and having everyday citizens carry concealed firearms isn't the answer either. Guns may or may not be the problem, but they certainly aren't the solution.
Preston Bukaty is a graduate student from Overland Park in the School of Law.
TECHNOLOGY
Relationships in digital age still need human interaction
Although I primarily write on literature, "Her," directed by Spike Jonze, prompted me to revisit the relationships that we have with our electronic devices and the ways in which they succeed and fail to approximate real human contact. The film is set in a near future in which artificial intelligence has finally passed the Turing test; that is, the new operating system purchased by Theodore, the main character, can learn from experience and converse so well that it is indistinguishable from a human. The OS even has Scarlett Johansson's sexy voice and names "her" self Samantha after reading an entire baby name book in less than a second.
Nearly all conflict in the film stems from relationships. We meet Theodore going through a painful divorce, and he quickly becomes romantically involved with Samantha, the OS, to cope with his loneliness. While in the back of our minds we know that Samantha isn't a "real" person, the relationship actually brings new vitality to Theodore. It's a tender—if bizarre—love story. See the film for yourself and develop your own opinions, but I would assert that the film's conclusion affirms
Our smart phones aren't as seductive as a Scarlett Johansson-voiced OS (are you reading this, Apple?), but even now we spend large fractions of our days interfacing with them. I'm no Luddite—I don't think we should throw our phones away and spend our time sending messages via carrier pigeon; however, I think it's worthwhile to recognize the potential of technology to alienate and to evaluate the ways we use it with this in mind. Consider this example: last semester, the number of snaps I sent increased, while the number of texts I sent commensurately decreased. I think some of my friendships suffered in a measurable way because you can't fit complicated thoughts into a snap. Although it has its uses for conveying emotion, it's a poor
our need for interpersonal relationships. After seeing the film, I asked myself what would equate to Samantha in our own lives.
method of communicating. These days I still use Snapchat, but I follow up with a text.
The main question I think we should be asking ourselves is whether we're using technology as a tool to further human interaction, or as an end in itself. In "Her," Theodore's relationship with Samantha is sealed off from human interaction. In my example above, Snapchat serves as a way to exchange fleeting moments of life with one another, but not as a means to connect and exchange nuanced thoughts, ideas and emotions. The former is like eating a few M&M's, while the latter can be a full, well-balanced meal. I think it's imperative that we seek out these life-giving interactions. Take a look at your phone use. Are you asking a friend about their life, or tweeting about your sandwich? Are you sharing a funny cat picture, or sharing an article that meant something to you? Enjoy the cat pictures, but make sure you aren't missing out on real human interaction because of it.
Jason Bates is a senior from Overland Park studying chemical engineering.
FFA OF THE DAY
If you want to see someone's true character, be with them when one person votes against suspending camping.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
What building on campus have you heard of but never actually seen?
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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Katie Kutsko, editor-in-chief kkutsko@kansan.com
Allison Kohn, managing editor akohn@kansan.com
PERSONAL LOSS
Lauren Armendariz, managing editor larmendariz@kansan.com
Anna Wenner, opinion editor
awenner@kansan.com
Sean Powers, business manager spowers@vansan.com
Memories help healing process
Kolby Botts, sales manager
kbotts@kansan.com
It's difficult to fully come to terms with the death of someone close to you, especially when he or she was important in shaping your past.
Not long after that, Mrs. Rathbun left and like so many times before, I was alone with my old friend. My hands went to my pockets, and I just kind of stood there. No tears, and no sobs. Just the tingling feeling of goose-bumps arising on my skin, the wind picking up.
On Nov. 25, 2013, I returned to my friend Tyler Rathbun's memorial, a place I had visited many times before. This visit was different because it had been a year since my teammate's passing.
The brisk wind that day felt eerily similar to the day following his death. As I walked up to the patch of wood chips in the middle of my high school parking lot, memories glazed through my head: not flashbacks, just a slow realization of how far I'd come in a year.
I saw his mother and his ferocious little French bulldog, a sight that was warming to me. I embraced Mrs. Rathbun, and gave the dog a soft pat to the head. We had a short conversation and I was relieved to see she doing OK, at least staying sane for a portion of the day.
A lot had happened in a year: I had graduated and gone to college. The parking lot his memorial sat in wasn't so familiar anymore.
I glanced back down, realizing my mind had gone off on one of its many tangents.
I noticed that I think a lot, almost too much sometimes.
But was I supposed to just forget everything? I didn't want to leave all of it behind, that's why I was back there
G. J. Melia is a
that day. I was there for reembrace; I was there to let out the true emotions I held in for a while.
G. J. Media is a freshman from Prairie Village studying journalism.
When I woke up that morning, I knew the day would be one of the toughest I would have in a long time. I had to fight the sadness that hit me multiple times during class, and a few times on the drive back to Prairie Village. When I made it to the memorial, I imagined I would be shaken and need a shoulder to cry on.
It's always hard to leave something, or someone, behind. Every once in a while, it will come to mind and nearly every time you have a different way of reflecting and looking at it in a new light. It's never a bad thing to take a trip down memory lane because memories are all you have, and they have a profound impact on your future. Memories can change your mindset moving forward, and you will need others to stand by your side throughout.
But, when I got there, I felt much different than I thought I would. I reflected more than anything. The emotions hit me hard as I expected, but I didn't cry like I had so many times before. I didn't plead that he come back; I accepted the fact he was gone.
@TimbukDrew
@Ben_Samson
@KansanOpinion According to legend, if you go to Oldfather Studios you can still hear the screams of frustrated film majors. Spooky!
@KansanOpinion "Memorial Stadium." Supposedly KU used to have a football team back in the day
@jellioo
@KansanOpinion the rec (that was a joke, for clarification)
CONTACT US
Brett Akagi, media director and content strategist
bakagi@kansan.com
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser jschitt@kansan.com
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Allison Edison are Katie Kutie, Alison John, Lauren Armendariz, Anna Wenner, Sean Powers and Botty Kobts.
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