4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2002
864-0500 free for
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about
any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
This bug has been flying around my room for a good half hour now, and I feel like a jerk if I don't let him out. But if he leaves, what do I do? I have nobody else to talk to. I hate my life.
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My roommate is a fast food connoisseur. The guy eats more McDonalds than Ronald McDonald himself. Travis, eat something healthy. I'm worried.
This message goes to all the Alpha Chi Omegas, we miss you, and we're sad that Rock Chalk is over.
This is in response to the Generation Y entry, and anyone born after 1980 is not part of Generation Y. They are actually a part of what is called the "no me now" generation.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
Two words: Enrique escape.
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I'm glad someone knows the difference between an air ball and a brick.
I just sat in front of Wescoe for 32 minutes reading Free for All and not one of my active friends came by and yelled at me. I guess I'll get braced later, but anyway it was fun. I'm glad my name's not Moe.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
I think if the administration wants to blame the Legislature then they should get out of their $300 leather chairs and go up to the Legislature and do something about it. Let's organize a sit-in to encourage them to work a little harder to help us.
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To the brick and the air ball people, you guys just need to learn what you're talking about before you speak. That's all. Bye.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
Kudos for Justin Henning for writing his article about a healthy lifestyle. Thanks for increasing our anorexia problem on this campus. Way to go.
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Looks like the KU administration believes in Reaganomics. They are pricing the working class out of an education, getting government money for a research center and bypassing competitive bidding laws in the middle of the state's worst revenue problem — while we lose programs like Meals on Wheels. Ah, but the faculty will still get a raise. Thanks.
I just went to the Jayhawk bookstore and bought $6.80 worth of stamps and only paid $7.60 for the stamps.
What's up with that?
Damn it's nice out. I have the 40s. My couch or yours?
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
People that propose in the Free for All are pathetic.
Why is the Free for All so bad this semester?
Seems like the Free for All is delayed by three or four days this semester. I don't think it was that bad last semester. Can you tell me what's going on?
Officially the worst cause of death is choked on his own wallet.
I'd just like to say that my Theater and Film 283 professor just said "um" or "uh" 55 times in five minutes. That's ridiculous.
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spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
I just bet my roommate $15 to pick up a dirty tampon with her mouth and throw it in the garbage, and she did it. She won the $15. Just wanted to let everyone know how gross she is.
I work at Old Navy, and they have this thing called an on call where you call in two hours before your shift and they tell you whether or not you're to go to work or not. I think that's the dumbest thing I've heard in my life. We're not doctors. We're not nurses. We're not anything important. We're freaking retail workers, and we have an on call.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
You know there's two things that piss me off about KU right now. One is this tuition increase, and the second are those girls that wear those damn bandanas on their heads.
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My roommate just found a five-cent nickel from 1868 out at Clinton lodge. Will this get me in the Free for All?
Hi, just wanted to say that Alicia Keys last name really isn't
Ki's to all you people out there. Hi Kristen.
I was enjoying spring, and then the smokers came.
I'm 24 years old. Is it so wrong that my 16-year-old sister is my hero? Ali you rock.
To all the in-state people whining about tuition costs raising,
I'm from Missouri, and I'd kill to have your tuition prices.
So I'm watching Greg Brady get dominated by Danny Partridge. Life doesn't get much better than this, or at least not until the Tanya Harding fight.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
On the next episode of Celebrity Boxing, Roy "Mad Dog" Williams versus Quin "Light in the Loafers" Snyder. I've got $5 on it.
spring break. Known to many teachers as "a really long weekend for students to use for extra homework and self-improvement."
To the person that keeps feeding my poor, little cat speed would you please stop, because you're driving him insane, and P. Kitty doesn't deserve that.
Yeah, I jut saw Tanya Harding punch the crap out of Paula Jones. Thank you so much for celebrity boxing. God bless trash TV.
MATT GERTKEN/KANSAN
By the Numbers 1898 Year in which Bayer trademarked "Heroin"
1 in 5
2000 Year in which "idiot," "nitwit" and "fool" were removed from Microsoft Word's thesaurus
Chance that a U.S. resident has a valid U.S. passport
3 in 4
Chance that a resident of Florence, Ariz. is living in prison
3
Minimum percentage of votes in each New York City election since 1988 not counted due to mechanical error
2. 3
Minimum percentage of votes by which Michael Bloomberg won the city's mayoralty last fall Source: Harper's Weekly Index
PERSPECTIVE
Remember feeling of free time after return of papers, exams
Welcome back from spring break! Today is that glorious day when we all return to the reality and routine of college.
COMMENTARY
Individuals whose spring break may have consisted of potato chips and Clint Eastwood marathons on TNT probably have no idea what makes this day so special.
It is the rest of you whom I turn my attention to. The ones who came back from Cancun with a tan the shade of oompaa loompa skin. The folks whose faces are red — except for around the area where ski goggles were fused during your continual struggle to stay at the top of a snow-covered mountain. I'm talking to the folks who went home to see their parents and got together with old high school friends.
While we spent our respective breaks in a variety of places, we had lists in the backs of our minds of things that were to come. Every time you skied down the mountain, went out to the beach or saw a movie, there were probably two thoughts running through your minds. "Wheel!" and "I have a paper due Wednesday and a presentation on Fridav..."
Justin Henning
opinion@kansan.com
Ah yes, the oxymoronic college siesta,
And now we are back, ready and energized for a strong half to an already stellar semester! Yeah! Let's go!
My break was the sweet taste of freedom. For a few days, I had something at my disposal that I had never had.
It was scary and empowering at the same time. Not knowing what this sensation was, I called my dad and said, "Dad, what do you call a feeling that is scary and empowering at the same time?"
His first response was the punch line to a
blond joke.
But then he said that this was called "free time."
Now, as many of you might have experienced it for the first time, I want to briefly tell you what you are supposed to feel. If you looked at the clock and at 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon you were still wearing what you slept in. this was free time.
If on this same afternoon you did nothing productive, this was free time. If you had a constant headache, this was free time, but you probably should have eaten more than ice cream all week.
But now we are back, and our free time has ended. The days of monumental projects, late nights and anxiety attacks waited patiently for you to get back from vacation.
So as they all three start to set in, smile to yourself about the nothingness, the pointless naps and crazy stories that were your spring breaks. And remember what this sensation called "free time" felt like. It works well against school.
Henning is a Leawood junior in journalism.
PERSPECTIVE
Be daring at enrollment: take a class for fun
Even though Spring Break came and went, it seems as if the semester just began. Even more amazing is the fact another semester is about to begin. Along with new semesters comes the task of pre-enrolling for the fall semester.
COMMENTARY
While this process can often bring headaches — from waiting in long lines to trying to get into closed classes — the pre-enrollment period can also bring lots of hope as well. No matter how well or poorly a student does this semester, the pre-enrollment process brings with it the promise of a new beginning.
James Manning opinion@kansan.com
If a student is doing well, he or she can see continued success in the pre-enrollment process. If a student is down on his or her luck, the pre-enrollment process brings hope of better successes. If a student is feeling in a rut of some sort during his or her college career, this is the time to be considering that rut and what can be done about it.
Oftentimes a students thinks only about what is needed when selecting classes for a new semester. Many college students make a priority of getting out of college as soon as
possible by finishing up as many required courses as they can during one semester. While this is a smart decision, it is also beneficial to think about sanity.
Next semester, consider taking a class strictly for enjoyment's sake. Consider enrolling in a class capable of providing release outside the regular area of study.
For instance, if you enjoy athletic activities take a weight lifting class or try your hand at recreational swimming. Perhaps you love to read. Scan over English literature courses and find a class suited to the particular reading genre that is right for you.
While enrolling in a class outside the major field does take some time and money, these resources could seem very small if relaxation is achieved or a new area of study interest is found. Oftentimes many academic areas also offer minors, so the rewards may come in terms of certification as well.
Maybe you're just unsure of what major you want to pursue. Try some classes in other areas and see if they provide any guidance. You never fully know if a major is right for you until you try a class in the given area.
Most of all, the classes are a way to relax and enjoy the total college experience. They will often allow students to meet others who have similar interests with whom they can build a system of support.
Instead of dreading the cons of enrolling for a new semester, consider all of the benefits enrolling in new classes has to offer. With careful planning you can still graduate on time while making the college experience enjoyable.
Manning is a Liberal graduate student in communication studies.
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