MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2012
PAGE 5A
opinion
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Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351
To pay homage to the Gringotts vault in Harry Potter, my rec locker always has the combo 713.
These days, I enjoy glorious German opera on my way to class. It seems to help against the cold.
If you're going to screw with me on the road, at least have the balls to stop next to me at the light..pussy.
I'm sick of people bashing on frat packs... Apologies to the people who can't find friends to walk to class with.
Governments that try to censor the internet are SOPAthetic.
I love walking around campus on Friday mornings... it makes me feel like less of an alcoholic.
Am I the only one who thinks the editor of the FFAs is just like the ever mysterious gossip girl?
Editor's note: You know you love me.
XOXO, FFA editor.
Does the UDK touch up the photos or are our basketball players that ripped? Editor's note: They're just that ripped.
Sometimes you wonder if Witty knows @fakejeffwithy is more popular than him. Or did fakewithy make him popular?
Is it bad that I look like a man when it is freezing outside and I am bundled up?
I swear I have nice boobs.
My professor sounds like Morton from family guy and looks like Sheldon from big bang theory. It's so entertaining.
My English teacher just referred to "diction" as a "fancy word". I'm paying for this?
Editor's note: You spelled "teacher" incorrectly. Maybe you are getting your money's worth.
Just passed a guy wearing a hoodie that said "I'm not an asshole", I wish all guys had shirts that said things about their personalities.
I swear it's like "The Hunger Games" when I'm trying to get a spot on the 43 bus.
Trying to sneak on the bus from the back when its cold outside will get you jumped.
KU's phone app needs a GPS bus tracking system so I don't have to stand in freezing weather for 30 minutes. Always on schedule? Right...
I was so drunk that once I tried to call you, FFA.
Editor's note. Don't feel bad; it happens more than you think.
I would have had to take 32 shots if I made a drinking game of how many times my instructor said "woah" in lecture.
So I met Dan the bus driver today and dare I say it...God in his present form.
People walking around outside in T-shirts and shorts, I'm impressed... by your stupidity.
POLITICS
Being small, when it is windy outside I find a larger person and strategically walk behind them.
Robinson and Taylor, if you play that way again, you'll lose many fans. Not because we are mad, but because we'll die of heart attacks.
Point counterpoint: Voter ID Regulations
A new Kansas law now requires that voters present a form of photo identification at the polls. Two columnists present opposing arguments on the bill's photo identification requirements Each columnist presents an argument and then responds to three of the other person's points.
From the Left
Something happened after the 2008 election. Greater turnout of young voters provided a boost for the Obama campaign, and when he won the presidency, the Republican Party panicked.
The panic resulted in a slew of states passing laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, as well as some laws eliminating early voting on Sundays.
The government cannot overreach its power and begin impeding the ability of certain age groups and other specific populations of citizens to reach the polls. Such a practice is disturbingly reminiscent of the poll tax.
According to the New York Times, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School conducted a study that found at least five million legal, eligible voters would face difficulties at the poll if these laws were still in effect in 2012. This is largely because a portion of the electorate, often groups who are marginalized in other ways due to economic status or minority status, does not have state-issued photo identification.
These laws also specifically affect students who are not trying to subvert the law but simply want to exercise their right to vote.
This is a specific effort targeted at young people and students because of their inclination to vote for the Democratic candidate. They are targeted because they often have to vote away from home, and these laws have effectively invalidated many college IDs as a form of identification (as some universities now must revamp their student ID card systems, which takes time and money), causing problems for out-of-state students trying to register to vote (New York Times, Dec. 2011).
By taking away measures that facilitate voting for students, a group that already votes in small numbers will have even less incentive or ability to vote.
But Republican lawmakers are not concerned about the low voting trend among young people and are happy to stifle the voices of the students who do want to participate in the political process because it better serves their interests.
RESPONSES:
Proving your identity is an accepted, routine, and necessary part of our everyday lives. And it isn't just for things like driving, flying, cashing checks, and buying drinks. I have a constitutional right to buy
(Christian's arguments are in italics. Kelly's responses are below.)
a legal firearm, but in order to exercise that right, I have to present ID and undergo a background check.
It is obviously true that in order to purchase items like alcohol or tobacco, or in order to fly on an airplane, or drive a car, or use a credit card, one must have state-issued ID. This is exactly why the requirement of photo identification at the polls marginalizes a specific group in the electorate: the people who are not able to do any of the above activities, namely because they cannot afford such conveniences, are the ones who do not have state-issued ID.
The right to vote is fundamental. It of course encompasses the right to physically cast a vote on election day. But it also includes our right to not have our legitimate votes nullified by illegal acts such as voter fraud.
The key in the right-wing argument is that these isolated incidents of voter fraud are pinned on liberals who are given a bad name because of groups like ACORN. Obviously most Democrats do not support voter fraud, as they value just as much as other party members the foundations of equal political representation. Some Republicans just use isolated cases like this to justify the very discriminatory practice of essentially eliminating a portion of the Democratic electorate.
In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana's Voter ID law. The opinion was written by none other than liberal Justice John Paul Stevens.
While the idea that voter ID laws don't really have an effect on turnout for Democratic voters based on the Indiana law is interesting, I find it to be irrelevant. The point of giving every citizen the right to vote without unnecessary obstacles is not about advancing one party over the other; it is about one's individual rights in relation to the political process. This is why I agree that a vote is fundamental and should be safeguarded in the sense that each individual's ability to vote should be protected.
Kelly is a senior in political science and English from Overland Park
Kansas' new voter ID law is a commonsense defense of the integrity of our electoral process. Proving your identity is an accepted, routine, and necessary part of society. Driving, flying, making financial transactions, and buying items such as alcohol, tobacco, and firearms all require a photo ID.
We are fortunate that voter fraud is not endemic in our state. However, the legacy of "vote early and often" is still alive in some areas of the country thanks to groups like ACORN (particularly in battle ground states). To prevent this problem from seeping into Kansas, the state has adopted the most practical method of preventing voter impersonation, double voting, and fictitious registrations.
From the Right
The left has decried these laws as voter suppression, but these objections are completely unfounded. In early 2008, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Indiana's voter ID law, the strictest in the nation, was in fact constitutional. Liberal Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that Indiana's law was "amply justified by the valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process." Despite the same alarmist claims from the left that we're hearing now in Kansas, President Obama went on to win Indiana in the November election and the state had the nation's highest percentage increase in Democratic turnout from the 2004 Presidential election (8.3%). Source: Heritage
Foundation, July 2011
The right to vote is fundamental and should be safeguarded. It of course encompasses the right to physically cast a vote, but it also includes the right not to have that legitimate vote nullified by voter fraud.
RESPONSES:
(Kelly's arguments are in italics. Christian's responses are below).
This is a specific effort targeted at young people and students because of their inclination to vote for the Democratic candidate. They are targeted because they often have to vote away from home, and by taking away measures that facilitate this process, a group that already votes in small numbers will have even less incentive to vote.
The law allows college students to use their University issued ID cards to vote. Indent voters that cannot afford a photo ID card can get one free through the Department of Revenue. Registered voters who show up without a photo ID can cast a provisional ballot. The only way this law targets Democratic voters is if they are committing fraud.
I understand legislators' desire to implement some sort of system to prevent voter fraud; however, the government cannot overreach its power and begin impeding the ability of certain age groups and other specific populations of citizens to reach the polls. Such a practice is disturbingly reminiscent of the poll tax.
The comparison of voter ID laws to the poll tax is pure demagoguery by the left. Requiring a photo ID to vote is vastly different from the old Jim Crow laws, especially since the government now issues ID cards to the poor free of charge. Moreover, voters still have to bear the time and transportation costs of physically getting to the polls on election day, yet no one reasonably considers that a poll tax.
There is surely a less drastic way to effectively eliminate voter fraud that does not trample the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Voter ID laws across the country have withstood legal challenges because opponents have failed to show even one instance where individuals would suffer an unreasonable hardship in order to vote. These laws have now been passed in 30 states and are supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. Nearly every American has a form of accepted ID and those who do not can get one for free.
Christian is a third year law student from Wichita.
Illustration by Ryan Benedick
Never lose your identity while in a relationship
Since childhood, we are taught to put others before ourselves. Don't be so self-centered. Think of others.
And often when we're in relationships, we take that and assume that's the best way to make love last.
But when it comes to dating, this mind set could be harmful. If we aren't careful about when to put our needs first in relationships, we could end up jeopardizing our personal identities altogether.
But because I was blinded by my feelings for him, I missed the warning signs that my so-called loving relationship was really an abusive one. Out of insecurity and jealousy, he started exhibiting signs of controlling behavior that I ignored until they drove me away. Throughout our relationship, he criticized my friends, went through my phone twice, and once became hostile when I wanted to go to a party he wasn't invited to.
Over two years ago, my then-boyfriend and I were convinced that we were meant to be. I don't believe in destiny, but if it did exist, we were part of it. We were madly in love, and I couldn't think of anything that would ruin
Finally, he told me whom I wasn't allowed to talk to and that certain clothes of mine should be worn only around him. As a result I became extremely territorial over my possessions and very distant from him. Even though
that.
I kept my struggle a secret from everyone, my friendships were as strong as ever, even the ones he told me I couldn't have.
I stopped trusting my boyfriend and became too paranoid to even allow him to be alone in my apartment. I couldn't even keep a personal diary without worrying about him reading it. And with that, I felt trapped. It was then that I finally recognized
That doesn't mean I don't love my current boyfriend. But I'm up front with him about who I am. He knows I am myself first and his girlfriend second. I care about my relationship and our harmony as a couple, but I am who I am.
I had to choose between my identity and my boyfriend and figured that if I didn't have my individuality, I wouldn't have anything. I wouldn't settle for that then. And now I never do.
So rather than settling for what we can get, we must be strong in our expectations for our relationships. We have to set high standards and never let our identities become lost in what we think is
Abusive relationships can literally be fatal, so it's crucial for us to have solid identities that contribute to a relationship rather than drown in it. We have to recognize our individuality and maintain it to prevent becoming silenced in a relationship like mine. We have to own who we are and embrace "I" and "me" even when our relationships make us a "we."
We all need to make that pledge now, our significant others included. Our lives could depend on it.
Rachel Keith is a graduate student in education from Wichita.
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
that I was in an identity crisis. I was desperate for a way out of the relationship.
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love because love will never make
u decide which wed rather have.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editor Board are Kelly Stroda,
Joel Petterson, Jonathan Shorman, Vikas Shanker, Mandy
Manty and Stetian Pennec.