TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013
PAGE 4
opinion
TEXT
FREE FOR ALL
You don't think thread count matters until you use 200 thread count sheets and it feels like you're sleeping on a burlap sack.
Dear Professor, I'm hungry and have low blood sugar. If you mention cookies one more time I'm going to eat you!
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or at kansan.com
It's December and there's a guy running in short shorts with his man bits bouncing about...
If you wear cowboy boots please return to Manhattan.
Two weeks before finals and the most productive thing I did today was pick up basketball tickets.
Next year can we keep the turnovers at the breakfast table and off the football field?
YOU CAN NEVER SAY "cotton-headed
ninny muggins" too often UDK...
NEVER
In response to that Gates comment:
"HI, MAY I HELP YOU?" "Burnt ends!"
Can we PLEASE get a regular season game against Wichita State? That would make for a way better rivalry than K-State.
As someone born in Colorado, but has lived his last 10 years in KC. I am not sure what to think at this point...
one of my favorite things about December is men finally shave. You guys are lookin' handsome! #me
After reading the Anchorman 2 FFA post I'm now reading all posts as if they were spoken by Ron Burgundy. So much better.
To the fan of the carillon music, thank you for actually knowing the name of it. Your request will certainly be fulfilled.
Long johns over everything.
I love Little Debbie snack cakes, but they just taste like middle school every time I eat them. Not good memories.
I decree that everyone on campus get Segway.
POLITICS
It's really hard saying goodbye to my Nike shorts this time of year.
I think it's acceptable for me to start storing fat for the winter now.
When you're not sure if you're being friend zoned or they're just really awkward.
I think all my Mitt Romney jokes are finally starting to get stale.
Harry Reid's bold rule change is harsh, but necessary
Harry Reid has gone nuclear. That was the theme of popular commentary a
week ago on Nov. 21, when Harry Reid and the Democratic majority in the senate voted to implement a rule change hailed as the "nuclear option."
option. Such a description paints a vivid portrait of a legislature gone wild. Reality, however, is a bit dim in contrast.
While the headline-grabbing spin is that an exasperated Harry Reid made a groundbreaking and unprecedented power-grab to supplement his futile and flailing leadership, the devil is in the details — or at least in the context.
Before the rule change, smaller minorities could keep presidential appointees from reaching the floor, where the Senate approves the appointment, because the rule required a three-fifths superma-
jority to bring the Senate to a vote on appointments. The new rule changes the number necessary to bring a vote to a simple majority of 51. It should be noted that this does not affect the vote to approve the appointee, already done by a simple majority, but merely the cloture of a filibuster in debate on presidential nominations.
The rule change is, in effect, a means for Democrats to combat obstructionism of the Republican minority by eliminating the ability to filibuster presidential appointments to the executive branch and judicial appointments to the appellate level (federal judge nominees under the Supreme Court).
raying political games with obstructionism is nothing new, and it will always be a part of the process, but a certain level of civility used to be a de facto law of decorum and practicality. The
filibuster was almost never used to block presidential appointments, but in certain instances, was typically done so sparingly and judiciously as a check on unqualified candidates.
Illustrating this point is that the total number of filibusters on appointments by presidents before Obama was 86. Alarmingly, during the Obama administration there have now been 82 instances of filibusters to block his appointments, without record of reasonable causes such as under-qualification or bias.
This signals the necessity of this change for a governing body in need of a little modernizing. Rather than hailing this as fodder for end-of-times sensationalists, it is more appropriate to accept that this end to coyness was instead only ever a matter of time.
Quite a few people complain primarily of politics for this very reason — that nothing ever seems to get done. The "nuclear option" is merely an attempt, and a fully preceded one (the rule was changed before amending the number for cloture from 67 to 60), to adjust to the contemporary nature of politics and address gridlock.
The real reason this change was truly a necessity is that it isn't actually an issue of partisanship, as those numbers would seem to indicate. Instead, the issue is escalation. Democrats were the most
serious perpetrators of obstruction yet, albeit to a more modest extent, during the latest Bush administration. Republicans aren't obstructionists solely because they are Republicans, and Democrats would assuredly prove to further agitate the cycle of escalation, if nothing more, out of retribution now that Republicans have set this precedent with their tactics.
It is like what Commissioner Gordon had to say about cracking down on crime in Gotham City. "What about escalation? We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds. And you're wearing a mask and jumping off roof-tops."
Something had to be done before the Joker showed up.
Clay Cosby is a junior majoring in political science from Overland Park
INTROSPECTION
Natural talents cannot substitute dedicated work ethic and growth
W what initially makes you successful could prevent you from
prevent you from achieving your actual end. This simple, yet powerful truth was made apparent to me during a class visit at Harvard Business School not too long ago. I was fortunate enough to sit in on a class focused on leadership, taught using Harvard's distinctive case method. An instructor facilitated discussion, but for 80 minutes, students tried to advocate their points of view after reviewing the case — pages of notes, figures, data and other information.
Students discussed Wolfgang Keller. You can look up and even purchase the case if you want. I'll cut to the chase. Keller has an employee he supervises, Dmitri Brodsky, and for a host of reasons, Keller is deciding whether or not to reorganize his group around Brodsky's capabilities, coach Brodsky up or fire Brodsky outright.
outright.
A woman who worked at Apple raised her hand and talked about how she should have fired her intern, a "Brodsky", a few years ago. An ex-military man talked about how his group's "Brodsky" endangered everyone's safety. And on it went.
By Chris Ouyang couyang@gmail.com
But that's not the whole story. You see, Keller was a superb micromanager. When his group was small, his micromanagement meant excellence in every sector, which grew the firm. His employees, however, never developed because of his constant involvement. As the group grew, Keller was unable to manage each person the same way he could when it was smaller, and the firm suffered. It became unclear whether it even made sense for Keller to be deciding to reorganize around Brodsky, coach Brodsky, or fire Brodsky, because Keller was unfit to be a
leader.
The purpose of the case wasn't to definitively decide "firing Brodsky is the best choice." Rather, it was the stunning realization that what originally made Keller an excellent employee for the firm eventually made him a terrible supervisor. His attention to detail grew the firm in the short run, but eventually hurt it in the long run.
This phenomenon is so common that we take it for granted. What initially makes you successful could hurt you in the long run. It happens all around us.
As I listened to the students argue the case, I felt convicted. I felt like Wolfgang Keller. I was that micromanager who couldn't let other project members get involved, lest they jeopardize the project's grade. I was that obsessive person who did everything with excellence, but didn't trust others to do their jobs.
Don't think that this phenomenon afflicts only me. For example, your intelligence may make you the smartest person in the room, able to solve problems quickly. But, it may make you impatient with your peers, unable to work with other people and, eventually, unable to assemble the team required to solve the toughest challenges.
This phenomena isn't limited to business leadership or classroom performance. If you go back and read some of the columns I have written,you might find a fiery one about Student Senate finance. You can clearly see this
phenomenon at work: I wrote the column in such a tone that was controversial, degrading and not supportive. That tone was unnecessary, and apology-worthy. What made me successful in economics class — my ability to apply economic thinking to a variety of frameworks — made me arrogant, such that I assailed Student Senate without regard. What made me successful in class made me a terrible voice for Student Senate reform.
You can imagine what this looks like drawn out in any environment. Say I'm hired at a firm for my confidence and intelligence, both desirable qualities. But what if confidence and intelligence make me think that my bosses are stupid, that my peers are intolerable and that I am above conventional learning?
Initial qualities get you far on any ladder — academic, social, career — you choose to climb. But being blind to how things are changing around you is a recipe for disaster.
HOLIDAYS
I completely believe that leadership is a teachable quality. Actually, I whole-heartedly think that we all can learn from Wolfgang Keller. With serious reflection, what has made me excellent in the classroom and successful career-wise in the short run has, in the long run, cost me relationships and opportunities. Unchecked, they've made me a terrible leader. The old adage "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" is too passive; we should be constantly thinking about how we need to change and grow such that we can be better leaders, or at the very least, better people.
Chris Ouyang is a senior studying petroleum engineering and economics from Overland Park.
Give more than just gifts this Christmas
I'm broke as hell. I'll admit it.
It's shameful and embarrassing, but it's true. With the meager amount of funds that I do possess, I was, moments ago, shopping around at various discount stores for a hat and gloves because this week is supposed to be colder than a penguin's butt cheeks. As I listened to the holiday music resonating throughout the stores it got me thinking about how much I suck. I can't really afford to care about anyone, because that's what the holidays are all about. You buy people a bunch of junk, and then they know that you care.
I'm feeling quite depressed about it. There are so many people in my life that deserve so much more than I can ever possibly give. From my grandma who loves me in spite of all my faults, to my brothers and my best friend, who have stuck with me and believed in me when nobody else did, to my mom and dad who have always been there to pick me up when I fell on my face—they all deserve worldly possessions beyond anything I can hope to give, so I have to figure out another way to show them I care.
I believe it was Garth Brooks who sang, "If tomorrow never comes, will she know how much I love her?"
We need to let the holidays be a time to remind ourselves that there are people in our lives that deserve our outward appreciation.
As I began to look around at the other shoppers, they didn't have joyous looks of holiday spirit on their faces. They had the pained looks of people under severe stress. Perhaps they were thinking about how close they were to maxing out their credit cards, or how much they need to buy for so many people. I began to have a change of heart.
There are things we can do that
speak louder than any amount on a gift card.
I propose that people quit buying all this junk for each other. I must take an that time and stress of trying to shop and put all that effort toward spending time with those you care about.
Be thankful to people that do things purely out of goodness. Make an effort to always utter a sincere "thank you" when someone does something you appreciate. Don't make people feel as if they have to give you the world to have your thanks. Appreciate the people who do things like advise you on what classes to take, or sign your paychecks, or go out of their way to make enrolling easier when you can't cover the late payment fees on your student account.
Please remember this holiday season that prayers may not bring about immediate change, but people can. Many of us have the means to be those people. Take the initiative and instead of donating a few bucks to some charity that only uses 1 percent of its revenue for the actual cause, take that money buy a $4 coat from the Salvation Army, then go to Mass Street and give it to someone who needs it.
If we practice these kinds of good deeds more often,we might get so used to them that they become a yearlong habit, instead of a brief dose of Christmas cheer.
Nick Jackson is a junior majoring in chemical engineering from Lawrence.
I ate ribs in bed today, so I think I'm gonna be really aces at this whole unemployment thing in a few years.
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