4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
THURSDAY,JAN.17,2002
TALK TO US
Leita Walker editor
864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Jay Krahl
Kyle Ramsey managing editors
864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Kursten Phelps Brooke Hesler opinion editors 864-4810 or opinion at ansan.com
Amber Agee
business manager
864-4014 or
adirector kansan.com
Kate Mariani
retail sales manager
864-4462 or
retailisales.kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and
news adviser
864-7667 or
mgibson@kanasan.com
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing
adviser
864-7666 or
mfisher@kanasan.com
KEVIN GRITZKE/KANSAN
EDITORIAL
Student housing right to prohibit smoking in halls
Department of Student Housing officials made a smart decision earlier this month to ban smoking in all residence halls beginning in the fall.
No one is asking students to quit smoking if they want to live in on-campus housing, but it makes sense to ask them to take their cigarettes outside. Second-hand smoke is at best obnoxious for non-smokers and at worst deadly.
The no-smoking policy should also reduce fire hazards in the hall. If candles have been prohibited in campus housing, why not cigarettes and all other burning substances?
If nothing else, the policy provides consistency across student housing. Three residence halls and all 10 scholarship halls already prohibit smoking, and it made sense for the department to change its policy early enough for students to be informed before they sign housing contracts for the fall.
But the devil is always in the details.
The department has said it would treat smoking violations like other infractions in student housing.
The department must be careful in how it enforces the new policy. There's already a policy prohibiting alcohol in campus housing, but the housing officials should realize that although many residents are not of legal age to drink, almost all of them can buy tobacco products legally.
It is not the Department of Student Housing's place to be students' parents. Resident assistants should warn residents who violate the smoking ban, but not enforce a no-tolerance policy.
policy. After all, the punishment for drinking in campus housing isn't even consistent. Depending on the RA or scholarship hall director, penalties can vary from harsh punishments to warnings that couldn't even be considered a slap on the wrist. It would be downright silly for that inconsistency to extend to students caught smoking in the residence halls.
Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said that only 7 percent of housing applicants for the 2001-2002 academic year requested to live in a smoking environment, so the new policy won't affect great numbers of students.
dents. Smoke-free residence halls should mean healthier living environments for students and fewer roommate conflicts. It's not too much to ask of smokers to brave the weather long enough for a smoke break.
It's not fair to non-smokers, after all,
to allow smoking in residence halls.
Even if people only smoke in their
rooms on a residence hall smoking floor,
it's possible for second-hand smoke to
creep up or down a floor through the
ventilation system.
If the Housing Department is smart about its new policy, enforces it fairly and consistently and doesn't assume a moral position on student smoking, officials have made the right choice with the new policy.
new policy.
Kursten Phelps for the editorial board.
Kansan report card
Pass:
held, notorious
**Grammy nominations.** Overhyped pop princesses and boy bands were generally passed over for more up-and-coming artists with, gasp, talent.
Bye-bye Mario Kinsey. New head coach Mark Mangino kicked the quarterback off the football team for violating Athletics Department policies. We're not sure what he did, but it's abouttime football players start making news on the field, not off.
coming artists with, gasp, alarm
Oread debate gets a public hearing. The state's historical preservation's top officer changed his mind. Now the public will have a little longer to consider the scholarship hall-Oread neighborhood debate.
Fail:
Financial aid distribution. Students only got five-and-half hours yesterday to pick up their refund checks at the Kansas Union. But fast-moving lines and the direct deposit option helped.
Don't cry for me Argentina. The South American nation has been through five presidents in the last month, plus major economic woes and rioting. It sure makes our recession look a little better.
recession took a little bit better.
No Mailboxes Etc. in the Union. Now there's nowhere on campus to buy stamps. Somehow the credit card companies don't want to hear that excuse for late payments.
864-0500 free for
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to
seconds speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I made out with a girl. Yes, I'm a girl.
I have many snood.
图
Judith. What?
Dawn, you’re the most beautiful woman on this campus. Enough said. Bye.
I say this in rhyme on banners unfurled,
Donny dear lady, you rock my world.
Signed, The Bard.
图
I'm on Christmas break in California. What's the deal? I had to call, because I miss the Free for All.
It's a week before school, and I'm calling the Free for All. The bottom line—I have no life.
It's January, we're barbecuing, having fun. Wool Barbecue!
Oh my gosh, you guys are working again. I just went out with this dude, and he's really cool, and I think I have a big crush on him, so I'm a pretty happy girl right now. And I'm just glad that I've got you to talk to because none of my friends are answering the phone.
cry more turned out to be a remarkable
Then I came up with a remarkable
resolution. I will try to tell the truth
more in 2002. Sounds easy right? I challenge any KU student to try and tell the truth for a whole day. It's harder than you think.
Forget Ben Affleck. The only person drug addiction is sexy on is Robert Downey Jr.
Then again if I got both really trashed and really high do you think I would have a chance with both of them?
So my friend was watching the KU-Dklahoma State game, and she was so turned on by how well they were playing she wanted to screw the guy next door, even though she didn't even know him.
Dearest Drew, give us the championship and we're down with the NBA. Choke and you've got one more chance. Love, your fans.
PERSPECTIVE
Telling someone the whole truth and nothing but is not so easy
Well, another year has passed and another glorious semester at KU begins. In the last year I've grown wiser and learned many things, but I am still trying to figure lots of things out.
As usual I have been racking my brains for a realistic New Year's resolution that could make me a better person. I didn't want anything too strenuous or involved like studying more or losing weight. My 2001 resolution of trying to be a more sensitive person and try more turned out to be a real failure
All those little white lies we tell every day get thrown out the window. Imagine the consequences. What would you do without those little white lies we tell everyday? Lines like, "Your hair looks great," "I was so drunk, I don't remember anything," and "Yes, I am 21," all get thrown out the window.
I came to this resolution after seeing a friend from high school during winter break.
COMMENTARY
Of course when she asked us if we liked her hair, we gave her an enthusiastic "Yes!" Immediately after she left, we started making cracks about how bad her hair looked. We couldn't believe that such a beautiful girl had gotten such a bad haircut, but then we realized she went to Mizzou.
She came up to a friend and I at a bar and we looked at her for five seconds with no idea who she was. Finally, she said who she was and we were delighted to see her. The reason we couldn't recognize her was because she cut off her long, beautiful blond locks and got a boy cut that looked so awful Sam Donaldson wouldn't even want it on his head.
After that incident, my friend and I wondered why we didn't tell her that her hair looked bad. We have known her for many years and she said herself she didn't like it. This has happened all too much in my life—lying for common courtesy instead of telling the truth
When you think about it, lying has as much of a place in the world as oxygen and water. Everyone lies and you for the most part you can't live without it. Lying is a central part of the worlds of advertising, politics and personal relationships.
Eric Borja
opinion@kansan.com
We have become so used to lying that it's accepted and almost expected in society.
the world of advertising is based on lies and trickery. Have you ever heard an advertiser say that their product isn't that great but you should buy it anyway? No, because they tell us their product is the biggest, coolest and smartest thing to come around since the lambskin prophylactic. But in the immortal words of Cary Grant in North By Northwest, "In the world of advertising there is no such thing as a lie. There is only expedient exaggeration."
In politics, the lying is even worse. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have blatantly lied to the nation, but no one seemed to care that much. Politics is the
one place where honesty is important to me. A candidate shouldn't be afraid to talk about his wild days as a college student or his sordid affairs with multiple women. To me, those things build character and give me someone to whom I can relate. Lying only pulls politicians farther back from the people.
back from the people.
We have grown so accustomed to lying that we feel liberated when we do tell the truth or speak our mind. It's that feeling when you are mad at a friend or roommate but are too afraid to tell them why. Then, after a week or so of bottling it up, you just let them have it and you feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
We want to speak the truth so bad but are to afraid to say it. All those comments in the Free For All are the truth — those little things inside our heads that we want to say so bad but are afraid of the consequences of saying them.
Maybe I should change my resolution to lying less instead of telling the truth more. Is there a difference? Who knows, but I just hope I can put out an honest effort.
Borja is a junior in journalism from Springfield, Mo.
'Kansan' to focus more on students this semester
PERSPECTIVE
While most of us ate and slept the break away, news continued to be made on campus, in Lawrence and around the world.
If you are anything like me,you didn't care much about the news. There were other things to do,like watch 10 hours of TV each day.
For instance, the Costa Rican woman detained in the slaying of Shannon Martin was charged with homicide during the first week of January.
But things did happen while we were gone.
The Jayhawks climbed to No. 1 in the polls only to lose to No. 11 UCLA.
COMMENTARY
Leita Walker
lwalker@kansan.com
Administrators at the University of Kansas continued their discussions on tuition hikes, and the United States
continued its search for Osama bin Laden.
And during the past week, The University Dally Kansan has seen a few changes as well. Some of these you will never see — they will just change the way we do our jobs. And some of the changes are evident in the newspaper
So we're going to be running a daily snapshot that you contribute. We're going to have a weekly feature about a random person on campus. Your intramural scores will see the light of day.
The other major change you might notice is an effort to "converge." Con-
Our new general manager, Malcolm Gibson, has an interesting goal: Students who attend the University of Kansas should see their names in the Kansan at least once during their four or more years in Lawrence.
you're holding in your hands today.
Our goal for this semester is to really focus on what you, the students, want. Where do you shop? Do you like your job? How do you spend your weekends? Who are your favorite professors?
We have a convergence manager, Theresa Freed, who will make sure that stories in the Kansan are also heard on KJHK. You'll see our reporters on KUJH, the TV station, promoting their stories and giving you a second angle.
You'll see an enhanced Web site with audio and video clips and extra information that doesn't fit in the news.
that doesn't fit in the newspaper. It's going to be a good semester at the Kansan.
vergence is a catch-word the journalism school has been throwing around for a few years now, and it's going to be a reality at the Kansan.
1
We're excited. You should be too.
Walker is a junior in journalism and religious studies from Rolle, Iowa.
K₂
17