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Thursday, September 15, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Reasons to vote abound, but they aren't all cliches
Forget the old propaganda that exercising your right to vote is a patriotic move.
Ignore those commercials where politicians sincerely ask you to register to vote in the general elections and hope that you can be enticed by their friendly smiles and colorful U.S. flags in the background.
Registering to vote and voting can mean many things, but the main point of having that right is often lost in the political climate.
Deprogram your thinking that voting and politics go hand in hand, and start a new view about what to going on the polls on that "first Tuesday after the first Monday in November" really means.
What doesn't voting mean? Voting doesn't mean that you are pro-American or that you worship the Constitution or the founding of this land on which we stand. Many voters hold beliefologies and beliefs not consistent with the American Dream.
And voting doesn't mean that you have to be a member of a political party. You don't have to wear political buttons, go to the polls and vote.
You can look at voting as a duty to your country, a right granted to you by the Constitution or as a privilege of living in a democratic society. Or you can look at being registered and voting as something more personal.
Voting doesn't always mean that your vote will directly influence a difference in the outcome. Voting does mean that you count and weigh whether you care about the outcome.
And you can't be countertalk unless you Register at
Registering to vote couldn't be easier than in Lawrence.
Booths have been and will be set up at grocery stores and at
the county clerk's office before the Oct. 18 deadline.
and when you are in the voting booth in November,
remember, it doesn't matter why or for whom you vote: The
voter will vote.
Julie Adam for the editorial board
When waiting saves lives
Is seven days too long to wait to save a life?
No.
The House of Representatives is debating and is expected to vote soon on an amendment to an anti-drug bill that would increase penalties for illegal use of prescription drugs.
This bill is designed to give the police a longer period to access the country, support the idea.
But the National Rifle Association says this delay violates our constitutional right to bear arms. The organization says we should not allow them.
The NRA ignores the fact that the Constitution is a 200-year-old document made when the country was at war, the frontier was filled with dangers, and sometimes people took the law out to their own places. The laws have been impractical to wait seven days for a gun.
But thankfully the Constitution is a flexible document that was designed to change with the times. In the modern United States, anyone who needs a handgun at once is planning to use it for self-defense rifles, the purpose of a handgun is to kill or kill people.
The amendment could do more than give police extra time to check handgun buyers. The seven days also could act as a cooling off period. Statistics show that easy access to handguns is a contributor to many needless deaths every year in the United States. This is especially tragic when易买枪 is turned on, and if you buy them, turn the gun on themselves in the throes of depression.
Lawrence's three-day waiting period serves this purpose. The city enacted the statute shortly after a Lawrence woman bid for the mayor's seat.
Another favorite NRA argument is that criminals can always get guns, but law-abiding folk will be forced to wait before they can defend themselves. But this amendment can at least make it more difficult for criminals.
Considering how much higher U.S. death-by-handgun statistics are than those in countries where handguns are banned — for example, Great Britain and Japan — a seven-day waiting period is not enough. But it's a compromise that could save many lives.
Julie McMahon for the editorial board
The editorials in this column are the opinion of the editorial board.
News staff
Todd Cohen ... Editor
Michael Horak ... Managing editor
Jill Adam ... Associate editor
Stephen Wade ... News editor
Michael Merschuel ... Editorial editor
Noel Gerdas ... Campus editor
Craig Anderson ... Sports editor
Dave Niebergall ... Photo editor
Dave Eames ... Graphics editor
Jill Jones ... Art/Features editor
Tom Eben ... General management
Business staff
Greg Knipp ... Business manager
Debra Cole ... Retail sales manager
Chris Cooper ... Campus sales manager
Nationals sales manager
Kurt Messermitts ... Promotions manager
Sarah Higdon ... Marketing manager
Brad Lenhart ... Production manager
Michelle Gordon ... Astr. production manager
Michael Lehmand ... Classification
Jeanne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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A hard sell for a real tough hill
It's new. It's improved. It's the fun way to work off those unwanted pounds. Available now for the first time nationwide, it's the University of Kansas' very own "The Hill."
Since KU's founding, "The Hill" has been a center of innovation and staffing to staff and students. But now, through the miracle of mass production, KU's best-tested is available to everyone, for both students and faculty.
Football players train on it. Students drag books, bicycles and back-packs up it. Elders history professors swear at it. Regardless of give you a workout you'll not soon need to
Don't buy an expensive roving machine. Throw away those clumsy weights. You don't need to chase a silly ball from wall to ceiling for "floor. The "Hill" does it all. One invigorating movie will cramp your wrist, your lungs will ache and you'll persist in places you never knew you had.
Or you can get the deluxe winter "Sasiusph"
version. It includes two feet of snow, an inch of
ice, and a thick coat.
"The Hill" comes in the standard summer version complete with enough heat and humidity to keep you sweating halfway through your day. Deodorant and change of clothes not included.
Mark
Jost
Staff Columnist
Don't buy an expensive rowing machine. Throw away those clumsy weights. You don't need to chase a silly ball from wall to ceiling to floor. "The Hill" does it all.'
you, scratching and sliding, right back to the bottom
But wait. There's more. Millions enjoyed the original version, but "The HILL" is new it's a bit bigger and better, with building construction at every turn, you virtually are guaranteed a trek rivaling the march of Hamnab. Correctly used, the new model gives you the expression, "You can't get there from here."
In addition to "The Hill." you also will receive
"The Stairs of Strong Hall." Yes, just when you thought you had reached the top, conquered the crest and subdued the summit, the four floors of the building were completely aerobically attuned combination of "The Hill" and "The Stairs of Strong Hall" are guaranteed to be fully fit or physically sick, whichever you prefer.
And, if you order before midnight tonight, you'll receive, at no extra charge, your very own hiking trail to the caveasse into your portable player and stroll "The Hill" accompanied by the KU Marching Band's renditions of "Climb Every Mountain," "Day You Can See Tongonite" and many more.
Yes, for just $29.5$, slightly more than a nearly worthless parking permit, "The Hill," "The Stairs of Strong Hall" and your collection of "HillClimbing Halls" all can be yours.
Order while supplies last. Shrug off those unwanted pounds. Exercise with friends. Put your body in the peak of condition. Above all, get "The Hill" that it gets you.
(Batteries sold separately.)
Mark Jost is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
Article unhealthy
As students involved in the Health Center's Anorexia nervosa and Associated Disorders support group, we are writing to express displeasure at the manner in which the Kansan presented the articles, "The Freshman 15" and "The Freshmen 20." Although most of the information contained in the articles was valuable and informative, the angle of these stories and choice of accompanying illustration resulted in a schizophrenic message. Freshmen were warned that they should be careful with any amount, which might have them looking like the illustration's unsightly Mrs. Spratt) and at the same time were encouraged to resist soci文化 pressures to be thin, which may be hazardous to their health. The articles succeeded in messaging the message they sought to defame.
We have faith that the Kanas did not intend to purposely present such a message but feel that it exhibited poor judgment and a lack of sensitivity in the wav the articles were.
played.
General information about healthy eating habits and background and referral information regarding eating disorders would have been preferable to the confusing message presented. Eating disorders are highly prevalent in the college population, and articles such as "The
Lori Irving Karen Betstadt Pat Harney
Graduate students in Clinical Psychologv
Apathetic solution
I have to agree with Toni Schlocky's editorial concerning KJIRH's format change. I too am familiar with the arguments of arguments time and time again." And Toni, let's face it: Someone at KJIRH is not doing their best.
Only 5% of KU students listen to JHJK's
creative advertising and promotions instead of
diluting the format of one of the nation's most
important and innovative college radio stat-
ements.
The sales staff is unable to sell a station that reaches only 5 percent of KU students. Why not teach them how to sell radio instead of statistics? Most of the sales staff will eventually wind
up selling time for stations with low numbers or formats that they or their clients may not relate to. So the sales staff may already be getting a headache in world. Any more meaningless arguments, Toni?
You did have one valid point. "In the service medium, are you going to do something that is better for a lot of people, or only a token few?" Perhaps I should refer you to the KU journalism platform, Mass Communications by DeFlier and DesFiore, that people with low artistic and intellectual tastes out farnumber the highly developed tastes. This crude law of large numbers generally accounts for the low artistic and intellectual level that prevails in American college classrooms. And programs that will reach the largest possible number of purchasers of beer, soup and soap."
So I guess it called right Toni. If only 5 percent of KU students listen to JKH, perhaps the remaining 85 percent are just a bit too thick for me to understand format. Or someone's not doing their job.
One thing is certain: If diversity, creativity and artistic integrity in music programming have no place in broadcasting, then folks such as the youngest, most talented and sure are headed for successful careers.
Rav Velas
former KJHK music and promotions director
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed
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