Opinion
ANSAN 2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
United States First Amendment
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
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.
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THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2009
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To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
Did you know all polar bears are left-handed?
--door.
--door.
My earholes are far too small for these headphones. Ouch!
--door.
It's cool when you see pictures on Facebook of your roommates wearing all your damn clothes. Cool, real cool.
--door.
I could knit a scarf with all the hair on our floor.
The University of Kansas has upgraded its finals week warning to yellow.
--original break.
If you're a McColum smoker and are taking a math final: Good luck. You're gonna need it, because obviously you don't know the difference between 2 feet and 20 feet from the
If I found out my roommate was stealing my clothes, I would crap bricks to build a fort of crap to surround my clothor
--original break.
I just woke up with my laptop on my face.
I just discovered I'm not a good college student because I don't use "FML" enough. FML.
The hotel construction workers are getting craftier and craftier in making sure students near the construction can't get to class on time.
Does anyone else think the class dismissal whistle sounds like the smoke monster from
--original break.
So I figured out what's wrong with my computer's disc drive. Unfortunately it took me sitting on it and snapping it in half in order to find the original break.
--awesome and come hand-in-hand with summer. Students need to find a balance between being some-what productive and just having a good time. Here are six ideas about how to maximiz your summer's fun level, while being productive at the same time.
Senior days scare me. All those parents and kids are like a swarm of locusts, swooping in on campus and eating our
I've had a cough for two weeks now and if I had a dollar for every time someone yelled "swine flu" at me, I'd have enough to buy a year's supply of McD's double cheeseburgers. Or even McBills
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So, a guy starts freaking out at Watson, running around and screaming. Thirty seconds later, the fire alarm goes off. Coincidence? !? think not!
Free for All! I would just like to say before I take my walk down the hill that it has been good reading you for five years. So, thank you, Free for All, for getting re through these five years of hell and great times. I bow and say "Thank you and good night."
6 ways to spend your summer
EDITORIAL BOARD
It's finally here. Well, almost. The conclusion of finals next week marks the beginning of Summer 2009 for University students. Summer's arrival leaves many wondering how to spend the next three months of pure ambrosia. Though academics are important, summer is supposed to be a good time. Warm weather, cold beer, spending time with friends and simply relaxing are all
1. Go on a road trip. Though the turbulent economic times might have many thinking travel is not an option, students can get creative and still have an excellent adventure. Assembling a crew of four or five friends isn't tough, and splitting the cost of gas makes road tripping a relatively inexpensive way to spend a weekend. Kansas' proximity to Colorado, Lake of the Ozarks and many other great places makes it an excellent road trip starting point, as well.
years is damn near impossible.
Getting some extra credits in by knocking out an easy requirement is a great idea and allows for more fun and less stress in the fall.
3. Live in a cool place. Tyler Manson, Wichita sophomore, spent the summer of 2008 living in the small mountain town of Burlington, Vt. Manson and a close friend decided to move
2. Take a summer class. It's common knowledge that graduating from the University in four
to the beautiful Appalachian wonderland after catching word from a friend who was living there at the time. He commented on his summer experience.
"I live for my summers," Manson said. "As much as schoolwork and graduating college might be important, being able to experience things you can't during the school year — things you've always wanted to do — is important, too."
4. Get an internship. Francis Enright, Chicago sophomore, spends his summers networking and making connections in his home city. Enright plans on interning at Mesirow Financial, working on 401(k) portfolios. Though sitting behind a desk all summer isn't very appealing, internships can help you line up your dream job after graduation
"it's beneficial in the long run," Enright said. "I already know a
lot of people in the financial and advertising market just through networking through internships"
5. Go to a concert or music festival. An abundance of good music festivals and concerts take place during the summer. Though Wakarusa unfortunately no longer calls Lawrence home, other festivals such as Lollapaloooa in Chicago, 10,000 Lakes in Minnesota, Bonnaroo in Tennessee and Rothbury in Michigan are all great ways to hear good music and spend time with friends.
6. Make some money, Mike Quattrochi, Chicago sophomore, plans on spending his summer waiting tables at the Lawrence Country Club. The money he makes this summer will go directly to his "fun fund" for next fall.
"I figure with most of the fun happening during the regular school year when most of my friends are here, the chance to make tons of money during the summer will allow me to have more fun during the school year," Quattrochi said.
On behalf of The Kansan, we wish everyone at the University a wonderful summer. Whether you spend it in Lawrence or somewhere else, working or traveling, have fun and enjoy.
Danny Nordstrom The Kansan Editorial Board
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Graduate from school, find out your degree is worthless.
Go back to start Do not collect $200.
STUDENT LIFE
JAMES FARMER
Keep your resume clear of 'truthiness'
As the semester comes to an end, many of us will be applying at various venues in search of some income, experience, or maybe course credit. But whether you're a graduating student searching for your first "real job," just looking to make some summer cash, or trying to learn more in your field via an internship, odds are you'll have to submit a resume. But what if yours isn't that impressive? Is it worth it to fib a little or outright lie to get the spot?
The benefits of adding a few "extras" to the document employers use to judge you are pretty obvious. If it appears you're more qualified, you're more likely to be chosen.
But the obvious issue with lying on your resume is being caught. This can happen in one of two ways: either at the interview itself, or later after being hired. Lied and said you know German but can't respond when your employer begins speaking like someone from Deutschland? Exaggerated your electronic skills and crashed the company's computer? You just lost your job, not to mention thorny embarrassment yourself.
THINGS OF RELEVANCE
Love him or hate him. Donald
RICHELLE BUSER
Trump is definitely a business expert. Trump wrote on his Web site for Trump University that employers are often doing background checks before interviewing potential employees. According to Trump, if "you don't think twice about lying on a job application, chances are you cheated in school and maybe you cheat in your day-to-day business dealings." Yikes, probably not the impression you were hoping to make.
Alicia C. Shepard of The Huffington Post wrote that many successful individuals have recently lost their jobs because lies on their resumes were exposed. A few examples include the former dean of admissions at MIT and the chairman and chief executive of Radio Shack Corp.
But in case the idea of being fired from a top-tier position after many years isn't scary enough, imagine winning one of the most prestigious awards in the world
and then being forced to return it because you're a liar. That's exactly what happened to Janet Cooke of The Washington Post, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her a story on an 8-year-old heroin addict but had to return the award after a standard resume check showed that Cooke had not only lied about her master's degree, but had actually only attended college for one year. Oh, not to mention that 8-year-old heroin addict she wrote about turned out to be fictional. See, people? If you lie on a resume, there's good reason to believe you'd lie about other stuff, too.
The point I'm making here is that lying on your resume is not worth it. No matter how much you want that job or internship, think of the devastating damage you could be doing to yourself. I'll leave you with some final (and good) advice from Mr. Trump: "Figure out a way to tell the truth and still make yourself look good. If you can't do that, maybe you ought to consider another line of work."
Buser is a Columbia, Ill. junior in journalism and English.
HEALTH
It's time to flee the swine
Last week I was transfixed by the 24-hour news networks as I watched the classic 1995 film "Outbreak" playing itself out in real life. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman races to help contain the outbreak of a horrible airborne disease (the deadly Motaba Virus) in Cedar Creek, Calif., before the evil Gen. McClintock (Donald Sutherland) has his way and blows the town to sithreemes.
This week, fears have begun to subside as the CDC has announced that H1N1 is probably no worse than the average flu and is sensitive to the prescription antiviral Tamiflu.
The parallels between "Outbreak" and the recent outbreak of H1N1 are staggering. They both involve airborne diseases. Staggering. People died in both. More staggering. And I would be willing to bet that somewhere Sutherland is wringing his hands, thinking about blowing up large portions of California.
To this, I cry "Shenanigans!"
This is, without hyperbole, the worst thing to happen to the world, ever. We all probably have swine flu right now and don't even realize it. The disease has probably become self-aware and begun waging guerilla war in Chihuahua, Mexico.
The government seems content to play it cool. I'm surprised that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wasn't wearing a jean jacket and shades when
'THIS THINGS I BELIEVE'
ANDREW NEUBAUER
she announced that we should be "cautiously optimistic" about the disease. Cautiously optimistic? What does that even mean? Neville Chamberlain was "cautiously optimistic" that Hitler would mind his own beeswax, and that started WWII!
Despite what the government and well-qualified experts say, I, as an ill-informed 21-year-old, say that this is prime time for a good old-fashioned, running-down-the-streets-screaming-and-robbing-pharmacies-grade mad panic. CNN, it seems, is content to agree with me. As I write this, Wolf Blitzer and his horrible beard are monotonically stoking my fears by bringing in live shots of every pig in the world with the sniffles.
So it is with this one final thought that I close out my final column of the year: Kiss your children goodbye and return your beloved pets to the wild because soon you will be hacking up your innards. Swine flu is clearly the beginning of Armageddon, and certainly not a stupid publicity stunt by cable news.
Goodnight, everybody!
A.
@KANSAN.COM
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FROM CALIFORNIA
BY LEIGH GOODRICH
Group projects aren't for college
we've had plenty of experience dealing with slackers, overachievers and everyone in between. In fact, it's that exact experience that has prepared us for life in dorms, where you can't control who you live near, shower next to or rely on for a late-night snack.
I've never had much luck with group projects. Thinking back over a grade-school math assignment where the girls in the group researched famous mathematicians and the boys honed their video game skills, raving about the host's extensive collection of Nintendo games. I thought that the tedious and rarely equal work put into group projects would finally be over when I came to college. Sadly, I was mistaken.
Daily Bruin
Some people might argue that working in a group is important because you have to learn interpersonal skills, including how to work with all kinds of people. This is true for the years leading up to college, but once we're here
Being in college gives students so much real-life experience negotiating and working with others that they don't need professors to pair them up for practice. In the 12 years of school leading up to college, students are given plenty of opportunities to perform academically in a group. College should be a time to take those skills and apply them to real-life situations, not use them to agree on which slide background color to choose for a PowerPoint presentation.
— UWire
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Member of the Kansai Editorial Board are Brenna Hawley, Tara Smith, Mary Sorrick, Kelsey Hayes and Dan Thompson.