Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SIMON: WHY WE SHOULD APPRECIATE KANSAS DAY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2009
United States First Amendment
COMING THURSDAY
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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If KU is looking for ways to cut costs, maybe they should start by not having the heat in every building on campus set
I want to leave school and head overseas! Go with the
Is it weird that my toes are always cold? And I mean AlWAYS!
--t's the Chad!
--t's the Chad!
Some elves bake cookies in trees!
--t's the Chad!
Shush girl, shut your lips, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips.
--t's the Chad!
Did I say something wrong?
Why'd you stop talking to me
— I miss you.
I stare at you during Econ,
not because I'm creepy but
because you are beautiful!
--t's the Chad!
--t's the Chad!
Too many shallow girls?
Incorrect, there are far too many shallow dudes here.
It's a fact. Take a look out on that little campus and you'll notice most of the men are douchbear
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
It breaks my heart to see how much you changed. What have you been doing lately? Your life could use improving greatly
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
...because I got high.
To my downstairs neighbor:
I'm really sorry that it sounds like you're living under a tuberculosis ward.
I just added a large piece of lard in the foreign objects found in my Burrito King.
I woke myself up while snoring in math. I almost found myself in a similar situation in Biology, Good night.
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
It's just not a good day if you haven't done the "Arab Money Dance" at least once.
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
I've skipped four already. Whew, off to a good start.
To the cute red-headed girl that smiled and opened the door for me at Strong Hall: you made my day.
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
I'm sorry I mauled you like a bear this weekend.
--have asked my origin or the meaning of my name, which is "child of happiness."
What's in a name?
CAMPUS
Unusual names deserve equal consideration
JAMES FARMER
The minds of her fellow students could only render Sachiko as a caricature, and they preferred to think she was talking about Pokemon when she introduced herself.
"I'm Sachiko," I introduced myself to my group members as we got together for a class project.
"What?"
"My name is Sah-chee-ko." I said, articulating my name.
At the end of the meeting, one of the group members reviewed each of our assignments.
"So, Steve, you'll be working on Powerpoint. And, um.." she looked at me for a second, then said, "You can write a group analysis."
This is a typical scene when I work on group projects with my classmates at the University. Usually people don't get my name when they hear it for the first time. They often refer to me as "you" or "she," instead of calling me "Sachiko."
"Sachiko" is a Japanese name. Because of the way it is spelled, many Americans mispronounce my name. Sasha, Sasihi, Sushi — some people have called me completely different names. They were not joking. When I arrived in the U.S., I wished my parents had chosen a name that sounded more like an English one, such as Lisa.
A professor once asked me whether I had an English name or nickname. I have considered using an English name, such as Sally or Sarah, but I soon gave up the idea. An English name didn't fit my appearance or character. Besides, I like my unique name. I enjoy the occasional moments when people
Another professor asked how to pronounce my name ten times. "Not Sah-shee-ko. It's Sah-chee ko," I corrected her.
No matter how many times I told her, she couldn't get it right.
I learned it was hard for some people to pronounce my name and became more tolerant about the ways Americans pronounce it. I don't mind that people cannot pronounce my name or remember my name at once. If it is an obvious mistake, I can correct it. I even appreciate people asking my name many times and trying to learn. I feel sorry, however, when I notice people avoiding calling me
by name.
According to International Student and Scholar Services, international students accounted for 6 percent of KU students in the fall 2008 semester. Many of them carry names from their countries. And it is not just international students who have unusual names. The diversity of the U.S. is reflected through people's names. At school or work, you may encounter different names. Don't feel awkward to ask someone to repeat his or her name, and don't be afraid to risk mispronouncing it. They'll appreciate it a lot more than, "Hey, you."
Miyakawa is a Tokyo, Japan senior in journalism.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
NASA Gets First Glimpse of Sun's Other Side Make Surprising Find
"I'd never seen a face there before, other than on kids' drawings," says NASA astronomer.
The evolution indicates more than just that dieline drawings from past decades have been more accurate than previous records of ascension from Galileo to Galilei who never questioned the one and only fact of NASA's observation year.
"It appears that the sun does have a face, but it has all this time simply been facing away from the earth."
As seen from Earth
"The sun, our planet's primary galactic source of energy and light, has been giving us the cold shoulder for years."
This statement has led many NASA's to apologize about what might have happened that phenomenon. "Photographe the sun in
suggested" a message addressed by Captain Jay (the sun), which is particularly irritating the roster of the astronauts.
Northeastern NSAA astronaut and spacewalker have entered the police's court case that the local state is not playing diplomatic. You have to prove your case of being an astronaut, a NASA astronaut or a spacewalker, and that we have had access to it in the past. The NSAA calls for a representative to report on the more gain the new mega-budget has made to all back office tasks when these three more single jobs are filled. The Times reporter asked this, as a fellow NSAA budget hail story, if it would be legal to have NASA work as a bureaucracy instead of make an astronaut; but the organisation understands contrary comments from an astronaut.
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
'Protection' from porn not protected by Constitution
FROM MINNESOTA
U. Minnesota
The Minnesota Daily
BY JAKE PARSLEY
President Barack Obama, take note: If you're truly interested in uniting this nation, it seems there's nothing that brings political factions together like a good old-fashioned anti-pornography law.
Take, for example, the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA. It was originally passed through Congress with bipartisan support in 1998 and enthusiastically signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton, and later championed by George W. Bush.
The goal of the law was "the protection of the physical and psychological well-being of minors by shielding them from online materials that are harmful to them."
The day after the law was enacted, Internet pornographers,
Essentially, the ACLIU argued that the bill would throw such fear into law-abiding porn-peddlers that they would either self-censor their content or avoid the smutty quagmire altogether, resulting in "less speech" and, the argument alleged a constitutional violation
Web users and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit in federal court and were awarded a federal injunction prohibiting the government from enforcing the law.
The law lost, but it didn't go down without a fight. Ten years later, the Court of Appeals again found the law unconstitutional. It determined that there was simply no way to interpret the law without somehow infringing upon the First Amendment rights of consenting adults. So the law had
The court decided that the law could not stand. It violated the First Amendment.
to fail. The only chance left was an appeal to the Supreme Court, and on Jan. 21, the nation's high court declined to hear the case without comment.
COPA is now dead. After 10 years and three presidents, the law is finally kaput. The courts have decided that the U.S. Congress cannot pass a law that forces Internet pornographers to ensure that those using their services are old enough to do so legally, because such a law would violate the freedom of speech enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
A couple hundred years before Playboy, our nation's founders determined that speech would be sacred in this country. Perhaps they feared that a government that can suppress unpopular speech for one reason might eventually suppress unfavorable speech for another.
UWire
BLOGS
In Rome: A rainy day tennis blog
BY MARK DENT mdent@kansan.com
ROME — The rain here falls in sprinkles, one right after the next, all day. Never in sheets, never in a downpour. It's always a slow, steady stream of sprinkles.
Having been in Rome for more than a week and seen this type of rain every other day, I'm starting to get annoyed by it. It's making me want to curl up in my bed and listen to Coldplay, Taylor Swift ballads and that one R.E.M. song where Michael Stipe continuously sings, "I'll take the rain."
But on the positive side, the rain is making me think about tennis. Really. The rain brings thoughts of Melbourne and the Australian Open, of the land of Oz, where the sun shines as bright as the yellow balls being swatted back and forth at Rod Laver arena. Rain seems not to exist there.
Wimbledon has the strawberries and cream, the manicured lawns, the old-school tradition and celebrity sightings that even included Common and Jay-Z last year. The French Open has the messy red dirt, points that last for minutes and clothing from Fabrice Santoro that's so flamboyant Prince would think twice before wearing it. The U.S. Open is primetime in the good ol' USA, a fitting end to the season in one of the few American cities that still cares about tennis.
Still, the Australian Open is more special than any of those Slams. Maybe it's because the Aussie is the first Grand Slam of the year, the first opportunity to see whether breakout players from the previous summer can build and whether the established stars can continue their reign at the top. Or maybe it's the fans. Australians love their tennis.
But really, it comes down to the sun and the heat. There's nothing like it at Roland Garros, Flushing Meadows or Wimbledon.
Australia seems like another planet in January. One night two years ago I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to watch James Blake lose to Fernando Gonzalez in the round of 16. Snow fell, three blankets couldn't warm up my toes, and the sun wouldn't rise above the
Follow Mark's travels during his last semester of college in Rome at www.kansan/blogs/ notorious_blog/
Those elements create some of the most compelling tennis every year. You have to be in top shape by January. If you're not, ask Novak Djokovic what happens. He withdrew from his match against Andy Roddick Tuesday in temperatures that reached up to 136 degrees on the court.
horizon for another four hours if it ever escaped from behind the clouds that day.
With the sun and heat, each match becomes a test of endurance. Back in 2000, Andre Agassi finally got past Pete Sampras in a major largely because Sampras withered in the fifth set. Classic matches become even more impressive, like the one in 2003 when Roddick played a two hour fifth set against Younes El Enaoui before Roddick finally won 21-19. They did all that in a stuffy night match.
Not on the TV screen. The setting Australian sun covered half of the blue acrylic surface, while the temperature still hovered in the 90s.
I've missed Fernando Verdasco fool the favorite, Andy Murray, with a variety of mind-boggling angles and spin shots from his left hand. I've missed Roddick put together his best showing in a Grand Slam since the 2006 U.S. Open. I've missed Jelena Dokic rise from the ashes in her home country.
This year, I've missed almost all the action. Rome isn't big on tennis until the Italian Open comes to town in late April. The only match I've seen was Rafael Nadal against Tommy Haas on Saturday afternoon, another rainy Roman day.
And I've missed the Melbourne sun the most.
The clouds are supposed to disappear in Rome tomorrow, but for now, I'll have to take the rain.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Column overlooked historical context
Mr. Kenny was correct with regard to the conclusions reached by Mr. Rousseau and Mr. Marx. Mr. Kenny failed to mention that the economic system based on their conclusions was a spectacular failure, one that required secret police, purges, and mass killings to keep the "beneficiaries" of that system in line.
Mr. Kenny appeared to advocate that our economic system, based generally on property rights and capitalism, should be overthrown in favor of the ideas of Rousseau and Marx. If this were not horribly sad, it would be humorous.
@KANSAN.COM
Read John Kenny's column about changing the economic system at www.kansan.com/stories/opinion.
In his opening sentence, Mr. Kenny stated that students are "educated, attentive, and informed." If this were so, Mr. Kenny would not have used the word "data" as a singular noun.
Edward J. McBride, is a lecturer for the civil, environmental, and architectural engineering
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