Volume 124 Issue 96
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
kansan.com
the student voice since 1904
A HEART-Y HISTORY
VALENTINE'S DAY ORIGINS
1601
St. Valentine's Day is mentioned in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, signifying the day's rising popularity.
BCE
Rome celebrates Lupercalia, a pagan fertility festival, on Feb. 13, 14 and 15. Young men strip naked and spank young women's back-sides to improve their fertility.
1847
Esther Howland from Worcester, Mass., markets Valentine's Day cards.
1400
1913 Hallmark Cards starts producing Valentine's Day cards.
The High Court of Love, which had jurisdiction over marriage contracts, cheating spouses and abuse, opens in Paris. Soon after, the Duke of Orleans sends his sweetheart the first Valentine's love letter.
AD 197
1929
Bishop Valentine of Terni is captured, beaten and beheaded in Rome on Feb. 14 for his Christian beliefs, according to legend.
During the Al Capone era, Chicago gangsters kill each other with machine guns on Feb. 14 in what's known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
1382
Geoffrey Chaucer links St. Valentine's day to romance in his Parlement of Foules: "For this was on St. Valentine's Day / When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate."
496
289
Pope Gelasius declares Feb. 14 St. Valentine's Day, a religious celebration with a feast. It's considered to be a compromise for the Roman Lupercalia festival.
On Feb. 14, Valentine of Rome, who is a Christian, is martyred after supposedly helping prisoners. In other legends, he officiates secret weddings and sends a note to his love, the emperor's daughter, saying "From your Valentine."
1980s
St. Valentine's day turns into a commercial holiday with an increase in chocolate, flower and diamond sales.
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
Instead of buying cards, chocolates, or flowers, young men would strip naked and whip females with goat or dog skins to improve their fertility during the pagan festival Lupercalia, which occurred during mid-February. Through the years, this festival was co-opted by Christians and is now known as the modern day Valentine's Day, according to the National Geographic
Today's meaning suggests a day for couples to share their affection. However, some believe showing love should not be relegated to just one day.
"If you're going to be with someone, they should be nice to you all the time, not just on Valentine's Day," said Molly Hadfield, Leavenworth senior.
A selectively special day or not, today's traditions associated with the holiday are far from the origins of St. Valentine himself.
The name Valentine is derived from a pair of Christian martyrs, one executed in AD 197 and the other in AD 289 under Emperor Claudius, according to The Telegraph. Legend has it that the later Valentine fell in love with his jailer's daughter and also performed forbidden marriages for soldiers sworn to celibacy.
SEE VALENTINE PAGE 2
2009
Valentine's Day retail becomes a $14.7 billion industry.
EDUCATION
Professors boycott publications
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcpolla@kansan.com
Elsevier, an academic journal company, is getting a failing grade from thousands of professors who have decided to boycott the company.
Academic journals used to be published by not-for-profit organizations that wanted to provide scholars and students a way to exchange ideas at little to no cost. Because professors would submit and review content for free, larger companies saw an opportunity to make money and took over the academic publishing industry. Now 60 to 70 percent of academic journals are published by large commercial publishers, which hasn't been good news for professors or the library, said Ada Emmett, the head of scholarly communications research for the University library system.
"The scholarly publishing system is in crisis," Emmett said.
After years of unrest with Elsevier, one of the leading international publishers, professors reached their breaking point. In the past, articles written about research that comes from government funding have been available to everyone. However, last month several congressmen introduced the Research Works Act, which would give publishers the right to make people pay to access articles produced by taxpayer money. The congressmen had received more than 30 donations from Elsevier executives, Emmett said.
Thousands of professors from all over the world have since signed their names on thecostofknowledge.com, agreeing to boycott the publisher by
not submitting or reviewing articles and refusing to do editorial work.
"I don't think they really should exist," said Mohamed L-Hodiri, a professor of economics who is participating in the boycott. "It's part of a huge rip-off, basically. Elsevier is most criminal in that respect."
El-Hodiri questions the quality of the journals and fears that much of the content is edited by people who just agree with, rather than challenge, the points presented. He said that instead of allowing big name publishers to run the academic journal industry, he would like to see academic associations produce their own journals.
One of El-Hodiri's biggest complaints about Elsevier is that it has prevented him from accessing his own work. The company bought the rights to out-of print journals, including one published in Italy, which contained a paper written by El-Hodiri. The company would not allow him to view his own work unless he bought back the rights.
Other scholars are not as convinced that Elsevier has done anything wrong. Seungly Oh, a doctoral student studying math from Busan, South Korea, recently submitted an article to the Elsevier published "Journal of Differential Equations". He thinks most of the complaints regarding the high cost and the business practices of the company apply to most journal publishers and Elsevier should not be singled out.
"The idea in knowledge is dissemination, spreading the knowledge, not putting it in golden cages with the key in some idiot's pocket," El-Hodiri said.
"I'm personally not participating and I doubt that many of the graduate students are," Oh said. "It's mostly tenure tract professors that have the luxury to do this."
Oh was conflicted about how to feel because many of the mathematics academics that he respects were decrying the company, but he knows it is critical for graduate students to get articles published in reputable journals.
"For us it's the difference between getting a job or not." Oh said.
Elsevier responded to the boycott in an open letter available on its website saying that its journal prices are lower than the competition and the company provides a variety of access options. The letter said that while the claims of the boycotters are inaccurate, the company will work to better serve the academic community and be more transparent.
"I see it as a very good thing that people become aware of what they're doing and what impact it has on the community," Emmett said. "Because it's not the community of libraries, its the community of students that want to read them, the faculty that want to read them."
Emmett said that the library is currently buying journals from the company as a part of a multi-year contract, but might consider not renewing the subscription if students and faculty expressed that they could do without it.
Regardless of whether or not people decide to participate in the boycott, Emmett thinks publicizing the problems is a significant step.
5,716 PROFESSORS have signed the petition
31
UNIVERSITY
professors have signed
Edited by Jeff Karr
JAN.21
Fields medalist Timothy Gowers publishes a blog post explaining why he is boycotting Elsevier publications, which leads to the online petition at thecostofknowledge.com
the amount KU Libraries spends annually on journal subscriptions
$750,000
the amount KU Libraries spends on Elsevier journals
Source: thecostofknowledge.com and Ada Emmett, KU Libraries
HOUSING
RACHEL SALYER
rsalyer@kansan.com
Dialogue among Lawrence tenants and landlords key
No working heat, oven, or garbage disposal and a cabinet that would fall off the wall.
Those are just a few of the things Ryan Peters, a junior from Leawood, learned to live with last year because of complications with his lease.
"It honestly sucked," said Peters, who lived in the Oread neighborhood with seven roommates. "We would call to get stuff fixed, they'd answer and say someone would fix it, but after two months or so we just fixed everything ourselves."
Peters didn't file a complaint or sue when he didn't get his security deposit back, but wishes he would have done a more thorough investigation of his landlord.
"I didn't have the time to file anything and I doubt it would've been worth it," Peters said. "But I wish I would've talked to the tenants who had the landlord before or something to know what I was getting into."
One way to assess a potential landlord or property management service is to look up legal incidents they have been involved in.
Steve Allton, attorney at Legal Services for Students, said it is not uncommon in Lawrence for tenants to sue to get their security deposit back or for landlords to sue
"We want students to communicate with us when there is a problem," Allton said. "That way, they aren't in it alone, but ultimately communicating with your landlord and allowing your landlord to communicate with you usually allows you to work something out outside of court."
Robert Farha, owner of The Wagon Wheel and Crimson Properties, said as a landlord he tries to keep in mind that he was a college student once, and that most students are first time renters.
"On the flip side of that though, I do want my tenants to treat it as their own home," Farha said. "I don't want to keep anyone's deposit, but if things aren't left how they were in the beginning, I don't have much of a choice."
Alton said the best way for both parties to avoid court is communication.
Farha has managed properties since 1999 and has never been to court. He said the best way to avoid court is by understanding what is expected from both parties.
for eviction.
"I want tenants to read their lease, have their parents read it, and understand what is in the contract." Farha said. "Then, I
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SEE TENANT PAGE 2
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 4
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