THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
PAGE 4
My TA just made botany seem erotic,
she must be a witch.
The model in my life drawing class keeps making eye contact with me. I can't decide if its because I'm pretty, or because I keep lip syncing the songs on my iPod very enthusiastically.
The Union reeks of high schoolers. Thanks J-School.
A treehouse is a really insensitive thing. It's like killing something and asking one of his friends to hold it
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
A dude on crutches just passed me on the sidewalk.
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or at kansan.com
Just watched someone snapchat for 30 minutes straight...
I swear only McCollum has early morning fire drills.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Only McCollum has early morning fires.
Today, on Wescoe Beach: Assassin's Creed
Am I the only one that turned down a free condom? #singleandiknowit
I recently found out about the KU tradition where if you smile at girls on campus they share blankly at you for a moment and look away.
Crossing the street in front of Naismith hall feels like playing Frogger.
Note to self: don't fart in the quiet section of the library.
A hooded figure, a red blood cell, and an impremptu dance party...you'd think I was mad tripin' but it's just Wescoe Beach.
Anyone wanna place bets on how often I show up to my 8 am class this semester?
you know they are freshman when they are scared of the squirrels! The squirrels on campus have a mind of their own!
It'd be really fun if everyone just ran to class all the time and then we'd all get stamped so I guess it wouldn't be.
Is it egg nog season yet?
Breaking Bad marathon on AMC. I swear the world wants me to drop out of school.
ENVIRONMENT
I swear I saw a squirrel pick up another squirrel that was twitching and carry it up a tree. #what
you are all beautiful. Have a great weekend!
I've been down to the nub of my deodorant stick for like 26 weeks now.
Being wasted is no excuse for wastefulness
I've never been one for trash talk, but I think littering is deplorable. On a scale of one to ten—one being not holding the door open for someone in Budig and ten being a hit-and-run on Ohio Street—littering is right up there with driving away after a "love tap." We, as a collective group of college students, consumers, Americans and humans, like to throw our used stuff on the ground and forget about it.
ground and tough.
It's more than a little gross and hugely detrimental to the environment. I've heard many excuses for littering, like "it's going to end up on the ground in a landfill anyway," or "litter gives people jobs," but by far, my favorite excuse/justification is "I only litter when I'm drunk." To me, that's like saying "I'm only an arsonist when I'm in a bad mood" — an altered state of being does not negate the consequences of an individual's actions. Being trashed isn't an excuse to trash.
ittered with connections between the state of being intoxicated and solid waste. For example, being wasted, trashed, and messed up, are all ways of describing inebriation. I've often wondered about the social meaning behind this overlap. According to the theory of linguistic relativity, the language of a society can construct the perceptions and preoccupations of a population. Essentially, language shapes a group's worldview. To me, the overlapping vocabulary between drinking and littering is linked to an overall negative societal view of both activities. Which leads me to my next question: if our society understands littering to be negative, then why do we do it?
The American vernacular is
In order to understand the reasons why people toss gum wrappers out of car windows, one must know the psychology behind littering. Although scientific studies on motivators for littering are not conclusive, the theories are intriguing and logical. Some
By Gabby Murnan gmurnan@kansan.com
psychologists believe disenfranchised individuals litter to feel powerful. Others argue that littering is the result of a generation with few responsibilities; younger people litter because they know that someone will clean up after them. But littering isn't a new phenomenon. We've been throwing crud on the ground since the invention of crud. And "crud throwing" is only amplified when alcohol enters the equation: instead of psychological causes, one must consider biological causes as well.
it will come as no surprise that alcohol consumption impairs the body and mind. Alcohol decreases activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for rational thinking and decision-making. Therefore, a person who is normally environmentally conscious is less likely to
comprehend the negative impacts of tossing an empty beer bottle on the ground. Additionally, inebriated non-litterers may be more likely to neglect trash receptacles because alcohol impacts serotonin levels, the chemical that signals a person's mood to his or her brain. Changes in serotonin levels cause personality shifts, leading to uncharacteristic littering by even the most eco-friendly people.
So how can someone who has "had a few" fight back against fluctuating serotonin levels and an impaired prefrontal cortex? I have a few suggestions. First, know where you stand. If you walk into a bar silently affirming your love of the environment and sanitation, you are more likely to walk out feeling the same way. Second, know your facilities. This may sound a bit nerdy, but locate trash and recycling receptacles before you start drinking. The first thing on your brain when you walk into The Hawk should be finding a trashcan for later use.
And third, standards for littering should be set by University students as a whole. It's time we approached littering Buddy System style. Instead of letting it slide when you see your friend toss a Solo cup, call him out on it. Friends don't let friends throw crud on the ground.
The bottom line is this: whether an individual is drunk or not, littering is never acceptable because it disturbs the ecology of the impacted area and causes public health risks by decreasing sanitation. So next Friday night, when you realize your beer can is empty, take a stand against trashiness and find a waste receptacle, because being messed up is not an excuse to make a mess.
CAMPUS FINANCES
Gabby Murnan is a sophomore majoring in environmental studies from Pittsburg.
Student Senate unqualified inexperienced with finance
Is Student Senate really fit to manage the approximately $880 each of us pays to set foot on campus? I really don't think so. Sometimes, Student Senate reminds me of professional athletes. There's a "sudden wealth" effect. As a college athlete, one day, you barely have money for laundry because of the abusive NCAA; the next day, you get a $5 million signing bonus from the NBA. As a student, one day, you make some Student Senate election promises; the next day, you help a $24 million dollar budget. Can Student Senate ever effectively manage the $24 million dollars that the entire student body is forced to pay?
I have some doubts, because money management is not a skill developed overnight. Both athletes and governments can be awful with their money. No one is shocked knowing 78 percent of NFL players, two years after retiring, go bankrupt. We might elect the worst money handlers (in the history of money handling) for their infectious enthusiasm and strong leadership, but not for their financial competencies. Our voting reasoning may have been as strong as "That candidate is better looking."
The way athletes and governments earn income defies conventional wealth accumulation. Traditionally, income increases over time as money management expertise grows. Athletes experience the exact opposite: With no money management expertise, earning potential is the highest near the beginning of careers. Governments, on the other hand, just take money in the form of taxation or fees. Government "income" is not correlated at all to money management ability.
By Chris Ouyang couyang@kansan.com
Officials, after election, suddenly become managers, on a federal level, of billions of dollars. Both athlete and government wealth are NOT a function of business acumen.
You might say, "Well Chris, Student Senate doesn't just go broke like pro athletes." That's true, because athlete income is a function of value creation. When they aren't able to produce results, their income reflects that. Student Senate, however, doesn't need to create value in order to collect fees. If Obama's phrase, "You didn't build that," is true sometimes, the phrase "You didn't earn that" is even truer for Student Senate.
I admit that governance itself is completely necessary. Private markets cannot handle public goods, like the environment and its protection. But Student Senate isn't providing public goods i.e. national defense, and our fees aren't really going to any regulatory role either. Then where is all the money going, and why is Student Senate handling all this money to begin with?
Student Senate's legislative processes and volumes of rules prevent an immediate athlete-like catastrophe. Some of our elected have the competencies to create a vision for this massive budget too. But before you get caught up in how impressive it is—and it is terribly impressive—for students to run this budget, I strongly urge you to consider if it's proper at all.
Let's start with the "where": The majority of the money goes to student organizations and campus services. Really, they're
just special interest groups. If you look at the breakdown of Student Senate spending, students that don't go to the rec still pay $150 a year for it. Students pay over $30 a year to student groups they never join. Did you know that you're paying so my student group can rent a room for free in the Burge Union? The current approach relies on students not going to the rec, not riding the buses, not renting rooms at the Burge, and not joining student organizations, because to do so would overwhelm the system. The status quo is to take equally from all students and give to the few that "take advantage of their opportunities".
opportunity. Senate Student cannot fairly or efficiently allocate student fees.
Is there any solution? If there are to be fees at all, students should have direct input, beyond an arduous, pseudo-accessible legislative process. Why not take 100 fee dollars per student and let each student decide where to allocate them on Enroll & Pay? I could put all $100 toward a student organization I'm passionate about, instead of the rec, which I haven't been to in a year. Doesn't that make more sense?
Athletes, despite their terrible money management, still manage their own money because it's their money. But government is different because it's our money. There's the fear that, without controlled appropriation by Student Senate, some services would cease to exist. What? A service that students don't want to fund ceases to exist? That makes perfect sense to me. I'm all for it.
Chris Ouyang is a senior studying petroleum engineering and economics from Overland Park.
HEALTH
Save lives: wash your filthy hands
Today I gave someone the stink-eye so intensely that it gave me a migraine. He fleed from the stall, afraid of what he left there, speed-walked right past the sink and out the door.
The guy after him ran his hands under the water for less than a second before pumping furiously on the paper towel dispenser for a small rug's worth of hand-drying.
It could be something that only plagues the men's restroom, but I somehow doubt it. I can't say with any certainty that I know the hand-washing habits of those cootie-packed dungeons. I do feel comfortable saying that it can't be a 100 percent success rate, so don't think you're off the hook.
I'm not going to pad this language: if you don't wash your hands then you're murdering children and old people. Not everyone is graced with a rock-hard immune system and one day, when your equally selfish children abandon you in a nursing home, you'll be the exact same way.
If I were to fondle myself and then walk around touching people, things, and my food before I ate it, I'd be tackled and committed to an institution. The only real difference between that and not washing your hands is that millions practice one of them each day and think nothing of it.
What's generally considered to be a petty gripe becomes a big deal the second that you shake hands with a child or a senior citizen and straight up kill them with your infectious digits.
I won't throw facts or numbers from some source that no one will check at you. I'm not interested in convincing you here and now. I'm confident that if the past twenty years of posters, scoldings and the dead bodies of children at your feet haven't persuaded you, then I certainly won't in a dozen
By Wil Kenney
wkenney@kansan.com
paragraphs.
So instead, I'll just command you to do it. I don't care what nutso health magazine told you in 2004 that hand washing isn't effective. I don't care that you think your body is a flawless temple of cleanliness and, by the way, how dare a measly columnist question your antibodies? I don't care that you're late for the bus - maybe don't eat as much red meat next time.
Of course, you might believe that one fellow in your biology lab that claims it strengthens your immune system. You know, the same guy still wearing novelty t-shirts he bought in middle school who rides a Razor scooter to class?
And while I'm on bathroom etiquette: stop taking the urinal adjacent to mine and then audibly panting, I've got a shy bladder to begin with.
To be completely honest, it's really damn disrespectful to everyone around you. It proves to me that you value 30 seconds of your time over the health of your friends, family and the hundreds of strangers you encounter each and every day. It's disgusting, selfish and spits in the face of everyone who's considerate enough to do such a simple task.
Jesus, man, wash your hands. It's not difficult. It's not a particularly extraordinary demand. It's thirty seconds that could honestly save a life or at the very least slow down the flu. So do it and quit killing the children.
Because that's the demographic I lump you into when you scoot on past the soap and water.
Wil Kenney is a sophomore majoring in journalism from Leawood.
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