V
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
PAGE 4
+
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to (785)289-8351 or at kansan.com
FFA OF THE DAY Ordering copious amounts of chinese food seems like the only way to order chinese food.
Goal for the week: to not go insane from having 3 tests, 2 of which are on the same day.
I wish there was an app that would warn you when a bee was about to sting you.
Thanks, Facebook. I really love how you notify me of a person's birthday. A person that I haven't talked to since high school. #pleasestop
I love when all my favorite shows come back from mid-season breaks...yaaaaas!
Grumbling stomach in class. :(
So embarrassing.
Who was that grandma in a wheelchair bar hopping this weekend?
When you know you're coming down with something and it's too late to prevent it, :(
No, Arch majors have a bigger gap in credit hours than music majors. #nosleep
Somehow macaroni got into my bed last night...slightly confused, but also pleased?
Kanye West is HILARIOUS. I don't care what anyone else says, that prank was funny and for those who don't have a sense of humor, you guys can get outta here.
I'm in favor of having an armed populace, but it's insanity to not require permits and training. We have mandatory education for safely driving a car, because cars are dangerous. Why should guns be treated differently?
When you forget to do all your readings for class
whatawewtalkingaboutagain
Anddd now it's cold again.
Better Call Saul — anyone watch it Sunday night? That ending though!
I think I died and Satan has brought me back to life and I'm paying for my sins with this hangover.
50 Shades will do to the BDSM community what CSI did to the Furry community.
Kim Kardashian and I have the same hair. I don't know whether to be offended or pleased.
When I wake up, my dog always tries to pretend like my boyfriend didn't take him outside in the morning when I know for a fact that he did... You can't fool me.
Teacher-student affairs fuel unfair standards
On Jan. 22, 32-year old sexual education teacher Deresa
tion teacher Deresa Poe confessed to having a sexual relationship with her 18-year-old student, according to WKFOR, an Oklahoma broadcast station. She faces six second-degree rape charges, since Oklahoma law prohibits teacher-student relationships if the student is younger than 21. A few weeks ago, during a news segment, hosts on 96.5 The Buzz discussed her "hotness"
As much as I usually love 96.5 and the hosts' commentary, listening to their comments felt completely wrong. No matter a teacher's age or appearance, it's wrong for teachers to sleep with their students. Yet, all we're concerned with here is whether or not she's hot?
Back in 2006, "South Park" released an episode titled "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy" where one of the female teachers sleeps with five year-old Ike. Instead of being concerned about the kid, the public sympathizes with Miss Teacher because she's attractive.
While the plot is far-fetched, the social commentary is still applicable. Nine years separate the "South Park" episode and Poe. Nine years and we are still fixated on
a person's appearance to validate criminal offenses. When I tried to look up statistics on leniency toward female teacher sex offenders, one of the first results to come up was "Top 10 Sexiest Female Sex Offenders."
they were eventually dropped and she served no jail time. Instead she was required to complete three years of house arrest and seven years of sex-offender probation.
Poe
In 1997, Mary Kay Letourneau was caught having sex with her former sixth-grade
Poe is not the only female teacher to behave inappropriately. In 2005, Florida woman Debra LaFave was arrested for having multiple sexual encounters with a 14-year-old student, according to The Tampa Bay Times. She faced serious charges at first, but
student Vili Fualaau, according to the Los Angeles Times. Fualaau got Letourneau pregnant, and they continued their relationship until she was jailed for more than seven years.After she was released in 2004, she and Fualaau
married, and their wedding ceremony was covered by Entertainment Tonight, according to CBS News.
Lafave made the Top 10 list, and Letourneau is on another list of female sex offenders ranked based on their looks. Some of the comments about these female sex offenders applaud the boys who were "lucky enough to be chosen." It's more difficult to find a list of attractive male teacher sex offenders.
by focusing on a female sex offender's appearance we
are excusing their criminal actions, which not only adds to the disparity between charges and punishments, but also invalidates the victim's emotions.
According to a 2012 University of Michigan study, male
justification for wrongdoing nor is gender. Perpetuating these ideas, consciously or subconciously, will further deteriorate any progress we are making in diminishing double standards, especially in the sexual assault aware-
"RATHER, THESE ISSUES COMMUNICATE THE UNDERLYING DOUBLE STANDARD IN SOCIETY: MALES ARE AGGRESSORS AND FEMALES ARE DELICATE."
sex offenders' sentences were on average 63 percent longer than women's. The extent of the crime did not matter - females simply were not held as accountable for their actions.
ness movement.
This disparity in sentencing runs deeper than illegal teacher-student relationships. Rather, these issues communicate the underlying double standard in society: males are aggressors and females are delicate. Straying from these stereotypes seems rare. Good looks are not a
We have to start with our reaction and separate appearance and gender from the criminal offense. Anyone who commits a crime, male or female, deserves an appropriate punishment, regardless of gender and especially regardless of appearance.
Meg Huwe is a sophomore from Overland Park studying chemical engineering
Tax code benefits privileged, hinders poor
Some of us pay them Snow and others dread paying them in the future: taxes. Taxation is a reality we must all eventually face. Wouldn't it be nice for this requirement of civilization to be simple, efficient, and above all, fair? Unfortunately, the present U.S. tax system possesses none of these qualities. The system is so complex that the tax code, at almost 4 million words, could be recycled and used to print the entire Harry Potter series almost four times.
According to a 2013
article from The Economist. Americans collectively spent 6.1 billion hours every year sifting through the tax code. That time could be better spent working, studying, innovating and caring for families. Instead, 59 percent of filers hire accountants to receive help with their tax returns, spending anywhere between $261-$400, according to the National Society of Accountants. This is certainly a lot more than they would otherwise spend on taxes alone. As future laborers in the burgeoning 21st-century economy, avoiding unnecessary tax costs, both in time and money, should be of importance to us.
What makes the tax code so complicated? The answer resides with the mirag of deductions, exemptions and credits that lie within, known as "tax expenditures." Pushed by lobbyists and special interest groups, Congress
carves out special incentives for large corporations, the privileged and upper-middle class. By pandering to these groups, many politicians can expect their pockets to be bursting come campaign season, and ordinary Americans can expect tax forms that make even less sense. If filling out the FAFSA seems complicated now, there is no telling what it will be like in the future if this corrupt trend continues.
Many politically concerned students wish to uphold institutions that promote fairness. In my view, the federal government's tax system enforces existing systems of privilege that promote the powerful and oppress the poor. Concerned citizens, including students, should investigate any notion of such oppression.
as for the everyman. This is no coincidence as politicians rely on campaign donations from this very demographic. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office reports that 50 percent of all tax expenditures go to the top 20 percent of income earners. Even if more of these expenditures were available to the poor, chances are the underprivileged would be unable to access them as few are able to hire accountants.
The solution to this tax complexity is simple: We must be rid of every single tax expenditure. At the same time, tax rates should be lowered at the same rate that tax breaks are reduced. Currently,the effective tax rates for many individuals are significantly lower than the rate assigned to their tax bracket due to deductions. This proposed change would mean that the actual income tax rate for individuals would
The vast amount of tax expenditures fall on the wealthy, despite being sold
equal their current effective tax rate. The burden of taxes would not increase, and the federal government would kill fewer trees every time they print the tax code.
With over 6 billion more hours at Americans' disposal, eliminating all tax expenditures while lowering rates would make the United States' population vastly more productive — and we would not have to badger our parents as much for their financial information every spring. Tax evasion would be reduced, which could chip away at our future deficits. There would only be a small set of people who would lose out with this policy: accountants, bureaucrats and politicians. If you ask me, that is a small price to pay for progress.
John Olson is a sophomore from Wichita studying economics
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Send letters to opinion@kansan.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line. 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/fletters.
Brian Hilix, editor-in-chief bhillix@kansan.com
Paige Lytle, managing editor plytie@kansan.com
Stephanie Bickel, digital editor sbicket@kansan.com
CONTACT US
Cecilia Cho, opinion editor ccho@kansan.com
Cole Anneberg, art director canneberg@kansan.com
Kristen Hays digital media manager khays@kansan.com
Shariene Xu, advertising director xsu@kansan.com
Jon Schilt, sales and marketing adviser
jschitt@kansan.com
Jordan Mentzer, print sales manager
jmentzer@kansan.com
THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan
Editorial Board are Brian
Hillix, Paige Lyte, Cecilia
Cho, Stephanie Bickel and
Scharlene Xu.
+