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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10. 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
GUEST COMMENTARY
RAY PENCE
opinion@kansan.com
Until this semester, the Vickers Memorial Lecture Series has been a valuable part of intellectual life at the University of Kansas. Some students, myself included, may disagree with the conservative ideas that most Vickers lecturers express. But there is no denying that the past speakers have been first-rate.
Appearance by Coulter inappropriate
In the past, students have heard from the first President Bush, Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
One does not need to share the opinions of these individuals to respect them and their service to society.
Unfortunately and inexplicably, those who choose lecturers for the Vickers series have demeaned its 36-year tradition by picking Ann Coulter to speak on March 29. For those who don't know her, Coulter claims to represent conservatives in her TV commentary, newspaper columns and best-selling books.
Coulter envisions herself as the champion of true Americans fighting against their enemies — terrorists, feminists and liberals whom she lumps all three together in hateful rhetoric.
For many people, however, Coulter's work is hilarious. They enjoy her brazen attitude and the way she outrages liberals.
I appreciate satirical humor as much as anyone, and I don't expect political commentary to always be polite. But I draw the line at writing that advocates killing Muslims and liberals, calls for terroristic action against The New York Times and insults disabled Vietnam War veterans.
In an interview with www.rightwingnews.com, Coulter suggested that the execution of John Walker Lindh, the American who fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, should have been an example for liberals.
"We need to execute people like Lindh in order to physically intimidate liberals by making them realize that they can be killed, too." Coulter said.
In the current atmosphere of legitimate anger and fear about terrorism, Coulter's comment is truly dangerous.
The Web site for the School of Business states that the Vickers lectures focus on the need to "debate or discuss subjects vital to maintaining a free political and market society." Nothing Coulter has done or said supports this admirable value. She wants to humiliate and silence, rather than debate her opponents. Her words are violent, as well as her proposed response to liberals.
Feminists are another favorite target for Coulter, although they shouldn't be. Deep down, Coulter knows she wouldn't have a career as a single woman, making millions by expressing her views publicly if it weren't for feminism.
As bad as Coulter is, she is not alone in turning American political discourse into an ugly cartoon. Liberals have their versions of Coulter in commentators like Ted Rall and Michael Moore, who rely on name-calling, sweeping generalizations and outright falsehoods.
As a liberal who respects those who disagree with me, I reject Rall and Moore as spokesmen and call on conservatives to do the same with Coulter.
I also urge those in charge of the Vickers series to reconsider their choice of Coulter, and to be more conscientious in the future. There are better conservative representatives available. And there are other campus venues that would be more suited for Coulter's rhetoric. She would fit right in with Fred Phelps and his followers outside the Lied Center.
- Pence is a Casper, Wyo. graduate student in American studies.
SACK'S PERSPECTIVE
STUDIO KRAUSE
Steve Sack/STAR TRIBUNE
Bottled water not quite all it's cracked up to be
SOUZA SAYS
Every day, this campus is flooded with water. Water in bottles. People carry water everywhere, and water bottles in class are as common as notebooks and pens.
This epidemic is not just present here at the University. It seems to be sweeping the country.
GABRIELLA SOUZA
gsouza@kansan.com
Bottled water has always been a necessity outside the United States, where the local water has harbored threatening diseases including dysentery.
But here in the United States it seems almost unthinkable to spend extra money on water when citizens already pay a monthly tap water bill.
It is because people are being led to believe that tap water is not sanitary and is bad for their health. Consumers also are spoonfed advertising for bottled water, which makes it seem cool for the American public to have a water bottle surgically attached to their hands.
One curious aspect of bottled water is its outrageous cost. It is cheaper at some convenience stores to buy a fountain Coke than it is to buy a bottle of water.
The statistics get much more shocking. According to information on the Natural Resources Defense Council Web site, www.nrdc.org, a $1.50 half-liter bottle of water could cost about 10,000 times more per gallon than regular tap water.
"American Demographics" reported that "a five-year supply of bottled water at the recommended intake of eight glasses a day can cost more than $1.000. An equivalent amount of tap water costs about a $1.65." Perhaps when people realize how much they are spending, this manic use of water bottles will pass.
tising and labels, it makes a statement about how clean and chemical-free it is. As the International Bottled Water Association states, "Unfortunately, tap water can be inconsistent — sometimes it might be OK, but other times it is not." This is not the reality of the situation, however.
One promotion of bottled water is that through its adver-
The National Resources Defense Council Web site also reports that bottled water does contain contaminants in some cases and that overall, tap water has to be monitored more often than bottled water.
In fact, tap water testing can only be done in government-certified labs.
One can only assume why bottled water is so popular at this moment. Perhaps it has become attractive to always have a water bottle handy. Or perhaps it should all be blamed on advertising.
Whatever the reason, it should be made known that the assumptions about bottled water versus tap water can be false.
Then, maybe when a person finds himself about to buy a bottle of water, he will just save his money.
♦ Souza is a St. Louis sophomore in journalism,
REPORT CARD Pass:
♦ KU baseball: The Jayhawks opened their season by winning their first four games. The best part: It was on the road against Hawaii-Hilo.
KU Men's Glee Club: The Glee Club represented the University well by serenading Bob Barker on "The Price is Right" during winter break. A choral director and a member also left with parting gifts of knives, women's jewelry, a lamp and luggage.
Fail:
U2: It's bad enough its repetitive songs have fully penetrated nearly every commercial break on television, and now the band rips off fan club members. Fans paid a $40 fee in return for early access to tickets to its upcoming tour dates, but never got the access to tickets that they were promised.
CORPORATOCRACY
STEPHEN SHUPE shupe@ku.edu
U.S. took part in unfair Chavez coup
"Yeah, Bush won and nobody's moving to Canada. Want to know why? Because we're all staving here to start a revolution."
- Free for All comment. Nov, 16, 2004
This story, recounted in Greg Palast's groundbreaking book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," provides a snapshot of the world situation this generation will have to face throughout the 21st Century. It's a story about globalization — how the United States has spread her corporate arms across the planet to harvest resources. It represents the real fight that will have to be fought to end tyranny in our time and the despair that leads to terrorism.
The coup occurred on April 12, 2002. Venezuelan elites stormed into the palace to kidnap President Hugo Chávez at gunpoint. Told that everyone in miraflares — Venezuela's White House — would be executed if he protested. Chávez went quietly.
In 1998, Chavez won the election with 58 percent of the vote. He gave land, bricks and milk to peasants living at or below the poverty line — peasants making up 80 percent of Venezuela's population.
At times Venezuela has been the No.1 supplier of oil to the United States, and its reserves are unmatched in the Western hemisphere.
To fund his domestic projects, Chavez, who also leads the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, raised the price of oil sold to American companies.
The Bush administration's hatred for Chavez then burned bright. In 2002, Iraq and Libya threatened an Arab oil embargo to protest the U.S. government's support of Israel. Access to Venezuela's oil became urgent. On April 12 the CIA backed a coup against Chavez. Fortunately, a million Venezuelans marched on the palace on April 13 and restored their president to power.
But the United States' imperial policies against Venezuela continue, exacerbated by the complicity of journalists and politicians alike.
Two months after the coup, the Venezuelan elite marched against Chávez in a protest numbering 200,000 people. This demonstration was widely reported in the American media. What the television stations and newspapers that covered this story failed to mention is up to a million people marched for Chávez on the same day.
The disinformation campaign directed against Chávez continues to this day: "Venezuelan society has become poorer and, in addition, divided," said Anibal Romero, a political science professor at Simón Bolívar University, to The Associated Press.
In fact, Venezuela has fared the best of all Latin-American societies. Chávez stands alone in refusing to join the expansion of NAFTA, which has imploded economies elsewhere.
The administration's feelings for Chávez are now openly hostile. In Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 18, 2005, the Secretary of State said it was "pretty hard" to find anything good to say about Chávez's government. Her stance was so imperial that Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said "the Venezuelan people have spoken."
In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, President Bush quoted Abraham Lincoln: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."
We'd better hope Honest Abe was wrong.
♦ Shupe is an Augusta graduate student in journalism.
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So I was looking for my horoscope today in the Kansan,
and apparently, Aries didn't make the cut. Does that
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You know what, Mr. Two-and-a-Half-Hours, it was great going for that long, but there just comes a point when I want to get some sleep.
To the girl whose boyfriend lasts too long during sex, if things don't work out between you, I'd like to offer you 90 seconds of heaven.
So I see a lot of snowing, but not a lot of plowing. I think that's a problem.
I'd really like to have the number of Mr. Two-and-a-Half-Hours.
Mr. Two-and-a-Half-Hours.
My car just spun off and landed in the front yard of a mortuary. Is that a sign?
I have a question that needs answering. Where are you. KU Info, where are you?
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