THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012
PAGE 9
opinion
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"What's the ph of water?" "2?"
"Maybe in Detroit. . ."
I felt like a courageous and victorious knight as I listened to The Ride of the Rohirrim (LOTR) going into battle today. What was that battle? A French test.
I wonder how many students have begun to hate February as much as I do;
It's like missing your period...stressful and unnecessary.
Okay, so we can't make fun of his
hops now. Are lawyers still fair game?
That awkward moment when you hiccup, but the sound emerges from the depth of your soul like some kind of monster.
It's been a tough choice, but I've decided to leave the fight at Daisy Hill and take my talents to the Wescoe Beach sidewalk chalkers.
I had the worst night of sleep last night, I was cold, uncomfortable, and there was a hippopotamus in my bed.
How do they make baby carrots, and while we are on that subject, how do they make baby corn.
Do you ever have the urge to take a moment out of your day to wrestle an octopus?
Editor's note: No, but sometimes I get the urge to high-five a walrus.
This pasta is definitely not al dente.
Get it together, E's
You know that friend that picks you up after a night of shacking is going to be your bridesmaid one day.
My OCD has gotten so out of control that I live in constant fear of waking up and being Sheldon Cooper.
Every morning it takes a lot of will power to not break into the sororities and steal all their bacon.
I just freaked out for about 5 seconds that I don't have a seat belt in budig. Way too early.
What does it say about your life when
your therapist is standing you up?
My professor told me that in order to make my point more effective, it needs to be well rounded. Doesn't that make it pointless?
That moment when you worry it was your boyfriend who openly admits he cheated on his girlfriend in the FFA.
My horoscope just told me I could "coast to victory." I have a chemistry test tonight...I don't think coasting is an option.
Amazing how easy it is to detect in which disciplines are or aren't taboo to discuss smoking weed in class discussions
Aw, man. I'm sitting next to the ignorant atheists again.
I swear that my drier is actually alive and eats my socks just to ruin my day.
Leading a camping group should be a minor at KU.
Arizona should make a tea that's half sweet and half crazy called the Ronald Paul-mer.
Illustration by Ryan Benedick
Syrian violence ignored in United States
During the last year, thousands of people have been killed in Syria by President Bashar al Assad's forces.
The United Nations was scheduled Thursday to consider a resolution on the violence in Syria. According to a CNN report updated Thursday, a draft of the resolution called on the Syrian government to immediately end human rights violations and attacks against civilians.
The Wall Street Journal reported Ambassador Susan Rice said she was "disgusted" by the actions of China and Russia, President Obama, who has expressed intentions to fully support the Syrian people against the oppressive Assad regime, claims the conflict can be resolved without resorting to military action.
While many of us enjoyed a relaxing Super Bowl Sunday this year, Syria reeled after an attack on Homs that weekend that killed over 200 people. The shelling of Homs by the government entered its thirteenth day Thursday, according to CNN.
Sometimes I cringe at how easy it is to block all of the distant violence out of our minds as we go about our daily lives. I do it all the time. I certainly wasn't thinking about Syria while I watched Madonna's halftime show or when I ran my weekend errands. My friend and I got the news about the Security Council vote while in a coffee shop. We were very upset, but we still went out for pizza afterwards, blocking it from our minds for a while.
I notice two things happening here. We have developed an
understanding that the further something is in proximity to our daily lives,the less we can supposedly do about it at an individual level—so the less we should pay attention.
We also have become desensitized to violence through media. Sometimes the televised coverage of attacks on Syrian protesters is gruesome, but we do not react in the same way as if we saw something even half that atrocious happen in person.
What does this mean for human rights? In order to make a change to better society and protect the rights of disadvantaged or oppressed groups, the cause has always needed a significant amount of support to get anywhere. The Syrian people still have a large amount of support from the United States (both the government and its citizens) and elsewhere, but it's not the same kind of focused support as, say, an activist with direct ties to the people or the outcome has.
Nicholas Kristof's column in the Feb. 5 New York Times talked about the power of online activism and how the web provides tools for change to those whose voices would otherwise not be heard. But I have also heard complaints about how online activism perpetuates this "care
for five minutes" mentality. I can go online and sign a petition and feel like I did something to help a cause without taking further action that could make a bigger difference. Is this, coupled with our eroding concerns for distant issues, hurting human rights activism?
I'm not sure I have a decisive answer. I idealistically, and perhaps foolishly, believe that activists still make the world a better place. I also believe that caring for five minutes is better than not caring at all. I also think that if strong focus on specific issues on a higher level than five-minute activism continues to be eroded, the protection of human rights may become more difficult to assure.
Cosby is a senior in political science and English from Overland Park.
ENTERTAINMENT
"Dirty Girl" introduces new, talented actors
"Dirty Girl" definitely lives up to its title and then some by providing wonderfully raunchy and comedic screenwriting which reminded me a lot of Diablo Cody's "Jennifer's Body."
This movie has the complete spectrum of performances, being the silver screen debut for Jeremy Dozier (Clark) and the first leading role for Juno Temple (Danielle). On the other hand, the cast has one of the best supporting teams I think I have ever witnessed, featuring film veterans, such as Mary Steenburgen, William H. Macy, Dwight Yoakam, and Milla Jovovich.
As stated before, this is both Ms. Temple's and Mr. Dozier's first real shot at the lime light, which I think they execute rather successfully. The chemistry between both actors really ties the film together and without it, the movie really would not have worked as well as it did.
Another highlighted performance that I found to be refreshing was Milla Jovovich's crack at comedy. We have all seen her dominate the sci-fi/ action world, but this is a new side of Jovovich, which almost stole the show. Jovovich plays Danielle's mom (Sue-Ann) who is a reformed version of Danielle herself, now betrothed to a hardcore Mormon (William H. Macy), trying to clean up both their acts.
With no way around it, Danielle fills the void of her long lost father with any boy coming her way. Yet her dirty ways don't fly at Norman East High School, banishing her to the remedial class, full of all the social abominations of the school.
two are forced into friendship. The two quickly become kindred spirits, uniting amongst daddy issues and social awkwardness.
This is where she meets Clark, a chubby, awkward gay boy just looking for acceptance. United by a bag of flour named Joan, the
While working together to help foster Joan, Danielle and Charlie stumble upon Danielle's mom's yearbooks and this is where the adventure begins; Danielle has found the identity of her father. Scored by her new holier than thou mother, and Clark tormented by his homophobic father, the dynamic duo set off to California to find her long lost father.
The film is fairly effective, though a little over ridiculous in its execution, trying to go for the shock value in a fairly un-shockable society. A good, fun film; nothing really to set it apart from the rest of the campy coming of age tales, I think for the beginners in the film it's not a bad first run, and am especially hopeful to see what happens in Juno Temple's career.
SAFETY
The script is what I enjoyed most about the film, while not grade A, it reflects the new and upcoming screenwriter Sylvia's potential and hopefully we will see that grow. If you are looking for a movie to pass that time, make you laugh, and drop your jaw every once in a while, "Dirty Girl" is the choice for you.
Dillingham is a freshman in film and media studies from Houston.
Protect your identity and information online
According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were over a quarter million identity theft cases reported in 2010. The most common method was email account hacking.
Identity theft can lead to having all of your bank accounts emptied, having credit cards or utilities opened in your name, or someone posing as you and committing crimes. Many people have no idea how to protect themselves from these attacks and essentially give their information away. The tools used for these attacks are well known and widely used. When you sit down at a book store or coffee shop, you may very well be a victim and never know it.
One of the best ways to protect yourself from attacks is through safe internet browsing practices. People connect their computer to millions of other computers every day. Wouldn't it be great if there was the equivalent of an internet condom to protect you from viruses, worms, trojans (malicious software posing as something benign), and identity theft?
Some of the best internet practices are to use HTTPS and network firewalls. When you buy something from an online store, you usually see HTTPS in the address bar followed by a lock icon. The HTTPS protocol encrypts all of the data you send. Firewalls help keep you safe by not giving an outside computer access to your system unless you let it. Firewalls also can allow you to lock down your own computer from sending information out when you don't want it to. You'd be amazed at how many legitimate programs on your computer try to call home and send personal information about
you to another computer without your knowledge.
More advanced users may use software such as anonymizers, secure tunneling proxies, virtual private networks, or TOR - The Onion Router. In all likelihood, many readers have never heard of any of these tools. You should They have been vital to the Arab Spring revolutions and free speech around the world.
These tools are not just used to hide your identity from prying eyes, they are widely used by corporations to protect secret information and have important uses that people should know about. Not only can they help prevent would be attackers from accessing your sensitive information, you may one day need them to coordinate activist or revolutionary operations if the government or corporations shut down access to websites such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Change.org, and independent media organizations such as Wikileaks.
Everyone should know to check for the HTTPS in the address bar before entering any important. Google now allows searching with HTTPS to prevent your search questions from being intercepted by your internet service provider or man-in-the-middle attacks. Anonymizers, proxies, SSH tunnels and ad blocking software such as AdBlock Plus for Firefox and Chrome help you navigate the internet without having your activities tracked by advertisement companies.
Why would you need something like this? You've got nothing to hide, right? Wrong. When was the last time you logged into Facebook at a coffee shop? Did you know that for years Facebook didn't offer HTTPS support? This means at any one of those times your username and password could have been stolen out of the air and you would have never known.
Many people use the same password for multiple accounts. An attacker who now has your Facebook password also has your email address stored in Facebook, which means you may have just given them your email account password.
If you have receipts, bills, or other passwords in your email, you may have just given them access to your bank account, bills, and address. You essentially handed them your entire identity to wreck, all because you wanted to post a quick status update. This is a very real danger, and can happen if you don't practice safe internet browsing.
Hopefully I've awakened some people to a digital world that goes on behind their back. It might be a wise choice to buy an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major a drink or lunch in exchange for them teaching you how to protect yourself, your identity, and your computer.
Kennedy is a sophomore in aerospace engineering and astronomy from Kansas City.
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