THURSDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2003
NEWS
4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WEBCOMMERCIALVIEW *5A
THURSDAY,FEBRUARY27.2003
Kristi Henderson
864-4884 or, khanderson@kansan.com
Jenna Goopert and Jenna Hinning
managing editors
864-4884, goopert@kansan.com, and
hinning@kansan.com
Leah Shaffer
readers' representative
864-4810 or tshaffer@kansan.com
Amanda Sears and Lindsay Hanson
464-8924-4100 edition
amanda.com
Eric Keating
business manager
864-4358 or adsales@kansan.com
Sarah Jantz
retail sales manager
864-4368 or adsales@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
Matt Fisher
Malcim Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7658 or mfisher@kansan.com
Free for All Call 864-0500
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.
I like my Taco Bell with extra tomatoes.
酸
This is to whoever called about Michelle Branch having a booer up her nose. It wasn't Michelle Branch, it was Vanessa Carlton. Get your story straight.
just ordered a salad at a fancy restaurant:
(Hey, I just couldn't handle five courses
that night.)
If I wanted to learn about politics, I'd watch the news. Start putting more random stuff in the Free for All.
篇
They just said KU on Smallville!
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Don't be a fool, giving blood is cool. If you want to get drunk quicker, give blood and then drink liquor.
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To the greek man: no, you're not better than me. To the guy complaining about Johnson County license plates: just let them be who they are. To the checks and balances guy: people in Kansas vote status quo, no matter how much revolution they preach.
You can tell we're in Kansas. People are still debating evolution.
答
I must concede, creationists are correct. There is no evolution, and the earth is the center of the universe, and if you burn someone alive, it will prevent earthquakes.
Yeah, my roommate called in and said that we loved O-Town, and we didn't get in the Free for All. We're going to keep calling in saying that we love O-Town until you put in the paper that we love O-Town.
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Just because you're religious doesn't mean you have to be so stupid as to not believe in evolution.
Just ANOTHER Day at Watkins.
Language of smiles does not translate across continents
PERSPECTIVE
Editor's note: Stauffer writes a biweekly column about her experiences studying abroad. She is participating in the Humanities and Western Civilization program in Florence, Italy, and Paris.
COMMENTARY
Louise Stauffer opinion@kansan.com
Whoever said smiling was the universal language was obviously not from this one. As Professor Auerbach, one of my professors here in Italy, said, "Smile here at people and they will either think you are American, or insane." This is true. However, even if you are insane, people still have to listen to you.
I, of course, disregarded this advice, along with the tip about packing more than five pair of socks, and still smile a lot here. Flashing a smile has pulled me out of many sticky situations. Like when I forgot to weigh the fruit at the supermarket and made the entire line wait while I went back. Just smiled. Or how about when I paid for a cafe with a fifty euro bill? Smilled. I definitely smiled when I
Smiling can also be used to deter staring, which is very common in Italy. It is no big deal if someone decides to stare at you during an entire two-hour train ride to Venice. Yes, it happened to me. I discovered that a wide grin and bulging of the eyes seems to stop the stoic gaze Italians have mastered.
If anything is the universal language, it is hand gestures. The Italians have this mastered; maybe to communicate with all the tourists. I use hand gestures to
indicate anger, such as when I got clipped by a scooter last night. Or an "OK" gesture can be used for satisfaction with a really good meal. Here is the trick: the more passionate you are, just increase the gesture. Foot gestures can be used in extreme situations. Our Italian instructor Daniela advised us to use a loud stomp of the foot, a wide hand gesture, and to shout "excusa, una birra" all at once if, God forbid, we had a long wait in a pub. It works.
For women, smiling at guys is ill-advised. They really will think you are in love with them. By observing the locals, I too have become a master of lowering my eyes and saying to a friend through gritted teeth "is he looking at me... how about now? NOW?"
Smiling is still a language, it's just that the meanings are confused between countries. If they think I'm insane, no big deal. That's one opinion common to both Italy and Lawrence.
Staffuffer is a junior in journalism and English
'Kansan'report card
Matt Zeller for The University Daily Kansas
Pass:
Great Clips. You can get your hair cut in the Kansar Union for $5.99 until March 14. And you don't have to leave campus. Now if only food in the Union were cheaper.
Fail:
Online enrollment. Free at last, free at last! Of long lines in Strong Hall, that is. But wait, that's only if it actually works. Quick, hold your breath!
KU baseball. Their bats are hot. And they're winning more plaudits than Norah Jones won Grammys.
Lack of parking on game nights. Some of us have classes. True, some of us skip those classes to go to the games, but those of us who don't skip would like to park closer than Egypt.
Michael Jackson documentaries. System overload. He's a freak, and we know it. Hour-long specials that detail all his freakish antics are redundant.
Students who haven't given blood. The blood banks still need blood. Go give them some of yours.
Amanda Sears/Kansan
American flag takes sinister meaning abroad
PERSPECTIVE
Editor's note: Ali Cullerton writes a bi-weekly column about her experiences while studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain.
Earlier today, I sat facing the window on the second story of a bocadillos restaurante. While sipping on my café americano sim leche, I witnessed a powerful expression of human rights. In the plaza across from me hundreds of people of varied ages and colors joined hands and began to protest the potential war. Within minutes, a barren tiled plaza in front of La Universitat de Barcelona transformed into a ballroom for freedom of speech. My eyes closed, refocused and opened while before me a sea of voices shouted, "No a la guerra!" repeatedly, which means "No wart." As the wave began to take over the streets, I did what
We were walking through the rain, wet, shivering and smiling. Above us the birds even seemed to be joining in on our fight. People clapped along on their balconies, construction workers and window washers shouted with us while hanging from the sides of buildings, and even the policemen and women nodded their heads in unison. The streets of Barcelona were camouflaged; suddenly the common city noises were hushed by a chant of peace and a mob of tangible voices to back it.
any activist would have done. I grabbed my books, left a euro on the table for my drink and joined them.
I felt a part of the protest in my opposition to the war when a scent of smoke challenged my beliefs. Behind me a Spanish man of 20-something was burning an American flag. While the vast
majority of people were expressing themselves in a positive light, I could not get myself to forget the darkness of one individual's fire. I was torn between facing reality and wanting to stick up for all that the American flag represents
What does "The Star Spangled Banner" stand for in present-day society? As much as I hate to say it, I can understand how the stars that used to embrace freedom now threaten it.
There is a negative affiliation with the American flag because it represents a country that is backing a terrible potential war. George Bush's face might as well be tattooed between the stripes because that is what foreign people are seeing when faced with it. Our flag is challenging and invasive to people in other countries who equate all Americans with war and greed.
We need to be heard. We need to keep protesting the war, educating ourselves on peaceful options, talking with fellow Americans and volunteering. We need to take advantage of our freedom and attempt to spread it.
What can we do about it? How can we reclaim the banner that is said to be ours?
Thousands of people throughout the world are protesting the war right now. Handfuls of languages are all chanting the same song. Imagine the power of joining hands with these people and demanding peace in a universal language. The fight is not over and the ballroom is waiting, we simply need to join in the dance.
- Cullerton is a Naperville, Ill., junior in creative writing.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bars, clubs in Lawrence must employ safety first
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Common sense would say that 500 people can't fit through one door at the same time. Common sense would say that you don't use pepper spray in a club filled with more than twice its capacity crowd. Common sense would say that you don't set off fireworks in a packed small room that doesn't have a sprinkler system.
Using common sense could have prevented deaths. Using it in clubs and bars here in Lawrence can prevent events like the tragedies in Rhode Island and Chicago from ever happening here.
In Chicago on Feb. 17, 21 people were crushed to death when a stampede of people tried to escape through one door because pepper spray was mistaken for a terrorist attack.
We as students neglect safety in the way of having a good time when we go to places such as Abe & Jake's Landing, 8 E. 6th St., or The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Club owners should worry about safety regulations; we should use common sense.
One person yelling "terrorist" in a crowded night club is the same as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. It has the same effect.
Keep alcohol consumption to a level that doesn't inhibit critical thinking.It's hard enough to worry about date-rape drugs and drunken driving.Now we have to worry about exit signs and fire occupancy codes? It shouldn't come to that.
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In West Warwick, R.I., Thursday, 97 people died when pyrotechnics for a small concert set the stage on fire.
It doesn't have to if we keep our heads level and use common sense.
In two instances in the same week, night club safety became the center of attention because people died.
That goes for everyone - the students doing the partying, the managers and the security personnel running the clubs and bars.
The next time a student walks into a club or a bar he should ask: is having a good time worth forfeiting common sense?
Juniata University
Journalism for the educational board.
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