Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF NOTES FROM ABROAD
COMING WEDNESDAY
United States First Amendment
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
PAGE 13
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
People who use u instead of you make me want to punch them in the ovaries.
To the person who managed to find their firecracker's way into my car on Tennessee: Good shot, ten points.
I think I am having a secret love affair with sweet tea. Oh and what's the easiest way to drop a best friend of 7 years?
As I was walking into the Underground, I passed a squirrel that was less than a foot from me. It took so much self control not to
capture it!
--homes in the Oread neighborhood. We don't see other complexes being demolished or closed.
I just compiled an awesome playlist on my iPod for my walk along campus. If you see a girl busting out random dance moves on Jayhawk Boulevard, that's me!
Summer school is killing me. One day at a time.
Who is as ready for FOOTBALL season to start as I am?!!
I'm 20 and my co-worker asked what grade in high school I was yesterday.
--homes in the Oread neighborhood. We don't see other complexes being demolished or closed.
NERD RAGE!!!!
--homes in the Oread neighborhood. We don't see other complexes being demolished or closed.
Harry Potter Midnight Showing!
--homes in the Oread neighborhood. We don't see other complexes being demolished or closed.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Students should wait for cheap rent
Students are paying more for everything. Groceries cost more. Tuition just increased. Gas prices are unpredictable.
The deteriorating economy seems to be affecting almost every business in every industry. Yet, massive apartment complexes are still being built throughout Lawrence.
The Exchange, 2034 W.31st St., will soon open offering 300 apartments targeted at students. And The Grove plans to offer another 300 new apartments. Both complexes will open in August, with the potential to house hundreds more students.
And, it's not as if these new complexes are replacing older units or
All that added competition can only be a good thing for students.
Of course these new
complexes aren't your run of the mill apartments in the student ghetto. Yes, they will cost more. No, they're
These lower prices may not be
not located just a few hilly blocks from campus. They'll probably be larger, newer and cleaner. But the laws of supply and demand still suggest that these new developments will bring prices down across the Lawrence market.
realized immediately. It could take a year or so for other landlords to adjust to the growing supply of housing. But, the effects of the rising housing stock are already being
KANSAN'S OPINION
seen.
The Grove and The Exchange are already offering move in specials and promotions. Cheaper rent, lower (or
no) fees and even incentives in the form of gifts are being offered by Lawrence leasing agents.
For every day that gets closer to Aug. 20, leasing agents become more and more desperate to fill empty apartments. So students who haven't signed a lease yet might
want to wait it out. And those brave enough to wait to sign until the first week of classes may cash in on some great deals.
It goes without saying that the student housing market in Lawrence will always be strong. As long as the University is around, students will need a pad to call their own. But every new complex that pops up could mean a few extra bucks knocked off each student's rent.
In a time when everything seems to be getting harder, the Lawrence housing market might have just become a little softer for many KU students.
Kevin Hardy for the Kansan Editorial Board
NOTES FROM ABROAD
Rebel attacks an exception in peaceful Ireland
Yesterday, Irish Catholic radicals orchestrated the most violent attacks across Northern Ireland in the past five years during the annual Orange parade.
Approximately 23 police officers
injured, numerous vehicles were hijacked, burned and pushed towards officers, and shots were fired at police. Rioters, approximately 200 of them youths, threw gas bombs, bricks, bottles and other missiles at the police. In turn, the police fired plastic bullets and a water cannon to disperse the crowd.
The Real Irish Republican Army, a splinter guerrilla group of the IRA, is believed to be responsible for yesterday's attacks, but the group claimed to be uninvolved.
I first heard about the RIRA in Derry, or Londonderry, or Freedrie. Just a few years ago, the
name you called the city depended on your political or religious views (Londonderry for Protestant British loyalists, and Derry or Freederry for Irish Catholic nationalists). The city, made famous by U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," was one of the most violent cities in Ireland from the late 1960s until 1998, a time known as "The Troubles."
The marches of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association borrowed the peace' civil disobedience strategies of Martin Luther
King and the NICRA sought an end to a long list of institutionalized discrimination against Catholics. From the beginning, the marches were met by violence from Protestants and the British police did little to stop it. Then, on January 30, 1972, now referred to as Bloody Sunday, the First Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment shot 27 NICRA marchers in Derry. The event killed 14 people, seven of them teenagers. Witnesses, including bystanders and journalists, claimed that everyone shot was unarmed.
Recruitment numbers for the Provisional Irish Army went way up after that day, and the rest, as they say, is history.
But today, maybe everyone can learn from Ireland's mistakes. Many Northern Irish Catholics saw Britain in the same light that some in Palestine view Israel, as aggressive invaders stealing land.
More and more people,including politicians and activists from Israel, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Iraq, are looking to the Northern Ireland agreement of 1998 as a model of conflict resolution.
Yes, Ireland is disturbed by yesterday's events. Yes, yesterday is proof that achieving peace is a long and sometimes tragic journey.
But all of Ireland considers yesterday's violence the desperate acts of radicals, not a campaign for a political or religious cause. Although nothing is certain in this world, I think yesterday, if anything, shows that peace can be possible with compromise, forgiveness and understanding. And maybe, if Ireland can prove this, there's hope for the rest of the world, too.
Edited by Annie Vangsnes
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to opinion@kansan.com
Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line.
Length: 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown.
Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
Todd Brown, business manager 864-4358 or toddb@kansan.com
Jesse Trimble, editor
864-4810 or jtrimble@kansan.com
Amanda Thompson, campus editor 864-4924 or athompson@kansan.com
CONTACT US
Cassie Gerken, sales manager
864-4358 or cgerker@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news adviser
864-7657 or malbison@kansan.com
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or jschitt@kansan.com