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Opinion
MCCONNELL: WITH ALLERGIES PEANUTS SCARE YEAR-ROUND
COMING THURSDAY
United States First Amendment
WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 4,2009
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.
FREE FOR ALL
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
A note to all guys: If you don't like us, don't tickle us, cuddle with us, and all that other stuff. It's very confusing.
I don't even know that I go to KU anymore since White Owl went MIA. Where are you?
Do I really need to learn about Tsunamis, eh? Maybe my Canadian professor can teach me something a bit more useful.
To the girl who pooped on the floor in The Hawk: I hope you weren't hot.
I always wonder who posts in the Free for All and who they are posting about.
I'm sorry, but am I the only person who sees a problem with the fact that while we were filling up with gas there were not only one, but two cars still running?
I love the dictation on Wescoe Beach! Whoever it is, keep it
Where do I find Weston?
I need to know what I'm supposed to ask him.
I have the worst RA in the history of the Earth. I can't believe that douchebag gets free room and board.
Dear sorority girls! Please put on some pants. And no, leggings do not count as pants. I feel violated whenever I look at you. I'm not cool.
Hello, all, it's Weston. If you need to find me, I look like a mixture of Bob Saget and David Hasselhoff.
No, that person is lying. I really look like a combination of Jim Carrey and Will Smith.
--inspected after they ran into major problems with the house's plumbing. The inspection found serious fire code violations, including unground'
To the guys across the hall!
I hate you and all of your friends. You're all huge tools and posers.
When you're with me, girl, you only need two minutes cause it's so intense. Two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven.
--inspected after they ran into major problems with the house's plumbing. The inspection found serious fire code violations, including unground'
Wario Little!
I want to take a gigantic poo on Sigma Chi and all of their
I have the biggest crush on Tyreel Reid. If he doesn't already have a girlfriend, I call
EDITORIAL BOARD
Oread's outdated zoning laws allow risky conditions
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
PAGE 7A
Housing and the laws that govern it in Lawrence and Douglas County became a national story last month involving Judson King and his hedgehog. Judson, an 11-year-old Lawrence resident, successfully petitioned the city commission, during a period of three years to allow ownership of hedgehogs within the city limits. Though Judson's request might seem more lighthearted than other housing and zoning battles, it is a testament to the power of someone traditionally outside the planning and zoning process. Students must seize the opportunity to change the neighborhood dynamic that reigns in the Oread. If an 11-year-old can change things, students twice that age can too.
Last semester, The University Daily Kansan reported the story of six women whose house the city
electrical outlets and a dangerous attic bedroom lacking a fire escape. According to the inspector, violations were fixable, albeit extremely dangerous, but occupancy limits were non-negotiable; the six women would have to become four or face eviction. Occupancy limits in Lawrence prohibit more than four non-related people in a dwellings unit in multi-family zoned areas, or three non-related people in single-family zoned areas.
Brian Jimenez, zoning code manager, described most of the Oread as multi-family residential. This allows higher density development such as subdivided houses and apartment complexes but
maintains the occupancy limit per dwelling unit. The result is a confusing situation where large houses are divided to reach full occupancy legally, but large, undivided houses, along Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky that students might rent in groups of eight or nine, are technically in
KANSAN'S
OPINION
Jimenez said the city did not actively enforce occupancy violations and that action
violation of occupancy limits
was usually only taken when a neighbor complained or an inspection exposed a problem. This being the case, it is irresponsible of the city to facilitate a state of de facto negligence of its own codes among landlords, by letting it be known that the codes aren't actively enforced, but to then turn around and threaten eviction of students and renters when they report possibly life-threatening violations.
It is up to the renters and students to rectify this situation. Poor maintenance and occupancy limits are among the pet peeves of some residents of the Oread. Those residents should stand up and petition for changes that make their neighborhoods more enjoyable.
TO CHANGE zoning laws contact Michelle Leininger, Area and Neighborhood planner at:
(785) 832-3163 or mleininger@ ci.lawrence.ks.us
Fortunately, students have an opportunity to propose these changes. Michelle Leininger, area and neighborhood planner with the City of Lawrence, has started work on a new plan for the Oread that will seek input from involved groups, including the Oread Neighborhood Association, KU Student Housing and students. With this new plan, students can bring their interests into play, replacing the current system of neighborhood associations and landlords that currently run the Oread. As Jimenez put it "Hey, you guys have got to get together and decide which position you stand for."
Alex Doherty for The Kansan Editorial Board
EDITORIAL CARTOON
And next on KJHK,
an impromptu
'fireside chat' from
Chancellor Hemenway
Good evening, friends. I tell you, in the midst of this economic blight, we have nothing to fear. Scholarship funding may have been slashed, learning communities abandoned, and I may be leaving all you suckers soon, but keep your chins up our basketball team is doing GREAT!
JAMES FARMER
Adkins could unite GOP
KANSAS
Luckily she isn't new to the scene. With years of political experience, Adkins has long been a GOP leader, though not necessarily part of the Capitol's who's list. She has previously worked on Capitol Hill as a staffer for many years, worked at the Heritage Foundation, and managed the successful campaign of Sen. Sam Brownback's reelection campaign in 2004. It is worth noting that Brownback received the largest number of votes ever in Kansas history for a candidate running for a state wide office.
As Amanda Adkins starts her new job this week as chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party, she will be walking into a political firestorm involving everything from the budget to abortion to the elections in 2010, none of which will be easy.
Adkins will need all the experience she's got for this job. She must begin to build the bridge between moderates and conservatives. Typically, this bridge is needed for the issue of abortion.
Abortion has become an issue that has seriously divided the GOP for years, but Adkins may be getting a break from the most unlikely of sources: Washington, D.C. Currently Congress is debating a bill called the "Freedom of Choice Act", which would allow "on-demand" abortions across the country. Conveniently for Adkins, this act would make state abortion
laws obsolete and take power on this issue from the state and hand it over to the feds. Passage of this act would give Adkins some room to navigate the turbulent waters that are the Kansas Republican Party.
With abortion off the table for the state GOP, Adkins may be able to heal the party and move forward. She will need to revamp the party's platform and, using conservative principals, refocus the party to do what is right for Kansans. This idea of doing what is right for the people will not only be good for the state but will also be good for the party. If she is able to implement these ideas into the platform, then Adkins may have an easy election season in 2010.
Patton is an Olathe junior in business and finance.
POLITICS
Beliefs about Gaza should be more than taking sides
"T there's battle lines being drawn" Buffalo Springfield
once sang. "And nobody's right when everyone's wrong." I've been thinking about this lyric, from the song "What's Going Down" quite a bit lately, and I think it is the best way I can sum up my feelings on a particular issue.
You see, there is one topic that I've struggled for a long time to take a side on. Every time I log on to Facebook, one of my friends has updated his or her status to tell everybody what the death toll has risen to in the conflict in the Gaza region of the Middle East. Some people, using something called QassamCount, will list the number of rockets Hamas has fired that day from Gaza into Israel, while others reference how many homes have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes.
It isn't exactly news to anybody that there has been an ongoing territorial conflict between Israel and Palestine, and recent hostilities about Gaza have pushed it back into the international spotlight. Say what you will about what caused this most recent spat of violence, be it Israel's apparent desire to get a few licks in on its Hamas-led enemy before the typically supportive President Bush left office, or Palestinian frustration boiled over. But the past several weeks have been as ugly a time as any in the conflict's history.
There are two sides to me that make fully supporting either Israel or Palestine impossible. On the one hand, because I am Jewish, Israel represents the center of my faiths culture. Opposing it, joining in the ignorant cacophony which calls it a criminal state for defending itself, would be a betrayal of my religious identity. On the other hand, I am a liberal, and a humanitarian. Much as I groan
about how support for Palestine on the left is fashionable, the fact remains that military strikes have hurt and killed countless civilians. Regardless of the motivation for those strikes, I can't fully endorse a campaign that pays so little attention to collateral damage.
What to do? Give in to peer pressure and take a stance on this issue, knowing that, no matter what, there will be a part of me that isn't comfortable? I can't do that. Neither side, at least among American supporters, has proven itself to be truly superior. Israel is clearly overzealous with its military actions, but Palestine's government is controlled by a known terrorist organization. One country launches rockets into the other's cities, while the latter sends tanks into civilian neighborhoods.
In the end, all I can do is step away. Emotions run high when I discuss the situation with Israel and Palestine with my friends. Many other Jews see criticism of Israel's actions as thinly veiled anti-Semitism, which is a gross over-simplification. Many other liberals beat the drum of the Palestinian cause without understanding the opposite side.
And so, unwilling to sacrifice one part of my identity to appease the other, all I can do is refuse to take a side. It's just like Buffalo Springfield sang about, nobody being right when everybody is wrong. Only when people acknowledge this will the conflict find any kind of resolution.
Cohen is a Topeka senior in political science.
'Tip' doesn't stand for 'Thanks, I pass'
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
When I began my training as a server, I was told by the experienced server who trained me,
"Your job is to wait on these people hand and foot." That has been my mentality every time I walk into work. My job,
in my opinion, is to improve the customer's dining experience. Sometimes this may include the occasional flirt and sometimes it means leaving two people to work out an issue that has forced one or both patrons into tears. Either way, I do all that is in my power to provide an atmosphere one will want to return to.
After all is said and done, however, the expectation of a tip is a part of the sit-down and dine-in experience. In my opinion, if you come into a restaurant, sit down and inhale your water, order your food (no tomato, easy on the mayo, with two sides of honey mustard
and an extra four napkins) from a person who is running around trying his or her best to make you and your friends happy, and who then cleans up after you, a tip is not only expected, it is deserved.
I have found that a good portion of people with no serving experience don't know what servers get paid, the amount of work they do, or the ridicule they encounter to receive the mere $2.13-per-hour wage that they get. If you are a person who believes tipping someone is not necessary, I want to inform you that I am offended and take it personally when a tip line on a credit card receipt is left blank. Tipping is not an option; it is an expectation. My wish is simply for people who feel the need to stiff their waiter or waitress to call ahead and order to-go.
Amber Nelson is a sophomore from Golden, Colo.
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