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Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or at kansan.com
To the girl whose dad was a 9/11 first responder: maybe he was the one who saved my uncle's life. Tell him thank you.
Pols professor "is there anything you'd all like to talk about before we move on to chapter 2?"... Chapter 1 maybe?
To the boy/girlfriends of Battenfield:
Thanks for keeping it classy and
keeping your poop IN the toilets.
Week 4 and I just went and sat down in the wrong class. I'm a loser.
From a townie: The best Chinese food in town is at Jade Garden. Look it up, they deliver!
Finally, someone else appreciates 2 chainz. Stripuhs!
Why does everyone who had to do the sexual harassment training have to do it again?
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
To the girls at Anschutz: can you like, please stop like, using like, like every like, other like, word? Public speaking like 101!
This semester I set up my schedule to correspond with the UDK. They don't do anything on Friday so neither do I.
Does the hotdog man take debit cards yet?
It's ten minutes before the test, I'm frantically trying to learn something, and dude over here is trying to pick up girls.
KeepNaismithDirty
it'd be really cool if there was a loose bear on campus that we always had to be wary of.
I wanna start a blog called badbeards.wordpress.com for all the dudes in my English class.
Let's be honest, we've all thought about stealing the Bazinga cardboard cutout from that store on Mass Street.
I think it's been like two years since I've eaten vegetables. I miss my parents.
I made myself dinner last week and
I think I can now safely say that I
didn't give myself food poisoning.
Subway sucks.
KU is gonna be on Rice like white on rice. Wait, what?
Gucci Mane 4 Secretary of State
My TA is a child.
I like trap music, but I also like reading.
Libraries are for reading and misery, not sexy fun
HUMAN
There are only a few times I think it's OK to be loud in the library: if you're Nicolas Cage in National Treasure, if you're having a heart attack or if you're reading a book on the history of yelling and you're a kinesthetic learner. Outside of those very specific scenarios, don't say a word or even make a sound.
This may seem petty. This may seem nitpicky. In the context of my other columns, it's downright silly. But this is getting seriously annoying, guys.
I knew the time had come when I watched a bumbling frat boy drop a volume of Japanese vocabulary off the balcony in Watson. I guessed he was flirting with some totally hot babes down on the floor below but I can't be sure.
Flirtation by bombardment? I really don't understand the dating game.
game.
The library isn't an extension of your sweat cave. It's not a place to find your hookup or connect with your soul mate. The library is not where you test out the Kama Sutra (although numerous copies are conveniently nearby).
It's like so exciting to make out in the stacks though!
Right, I don't care. It's time to come down hard on this issue before it grows into something we can't control. Messing around in the library is an oxymoron. For anyone without a librarian fetish, it's one of the least sexy places ever. The whole building smells like a used bookstore and your grandma's coat closet. The only,
By Wil Kenney
wkenney@kansan.com
and I mean only, exciting thing about it is the rush of being seen. I learned the hard way that some of campus' more restless exhibitionists decided that the library would host their next get together. It's hard to dig in and settle into study mode when someone's moaning three aisles over.
If that's really your thing, go fool around on Wescoe. You could even try the middle of the street. There's the added adrenaline rush of having to dodge passing cars.
or having to upgrade
I know I'm coming off as harsh because that's my intention. It's only a month into the semester and I've already been driven out
of the library four times by the volume alone. The cacophony of shushes that follows any freshman girl's outburst of giggling is almost as criminally obnoxious as the laughing itself. It's like there's a swarm of cicadas underneath the tables.
Speaking of which, there was a massive hornet in the lobby of Watson the other day. Somebody should do something about that.
Instead of just whining about problems all day, I've come up with some healthy alternatives for all of you bubbly group-studiers. For one, the big signs with "Group Study" on them? Stay behind those. Sometimes those are full though.
I know, it sure is tough to find a place where your friends are
nearby, there's a place to spread out, and all within walking distance. Wait, that's pretty much your dorm room and/or house. So stay there.
If you're planning on gossiping and throwing things at each other, don't come to the library. If you're planning on ordering a pizza and can't handle cheese well, don't fart loudly and repeatedly on my time. If you're planning on doing anything but quietly studying and occasionally printing something off, just stay home. Spare the rest of us from your piercing, squeaky giggles.
Wil Kenney is a sophomore majoring in journalism from Leawood.
SOCIETY
Americans: stop judging others and begin improving yourselves
Maybe it's because of advancements in technology - video games
are more real now than ever before - or maybe it's the lewd conduct being shown, and therefore thought to be condoned, on television. Or maybe it's the fact that high-profile trials seem to defy judicial odds - a mother with evidence stacked in favor of her killing her child is acquitted, and not much later, a man murders a teenager in "self-defense" and faces no legal penalty. To me, it seems America's moral might be misguided
Now I'm a proud believer that America is the greatest country on earth, but I don't let that cloud my thinking.
Honestly, I feel like what I formerly thought of as taboo and a "no-no" is now the standard of "American" behavior, portrayed in our culture and propagated by the media.
I fear I live in a culture that takes pictures of lewd acts and encourages them, instead of taking responsibility and calling the police. I fear I live in a culture that seeks approval in the acronym "YOLO" and tests the boundaries of death because of it; "Dude, I'm going to get drunker than I've ever been before and black out. YOLO!"
By Bryenn Bierwirth
bbierwirth@kansan.com
I fear I live in a culture that supposedly recognizes women's rights, but doesn't treat them as equal (which apparently makes me a feminist, because anyone
who stands up for women is naturally one, right?) I fear I live in a culture where "shock and awe" are synonymous with "desensitized and boring." Obscene behavior is becoming front-line news and now it's America's expectation.
Whether or not you agree with these people's actions is irrelevant, because the damage is already done. There's always a sordid story about [insert celebrity name] being caught with drugs, guns and five strippers; did we mention [insert celebrity name] is married? It's being funneled through the public media for public consumption, and we'll demand more like hungry dogs. And if we don't demand well, we too bad, this is what you're going to get: shocking news about lewd behavior and scandal.
We're just dogs and they're throwing us a bone. Is this really what we crave? Wed rather hear about how our favorite celebrity's moral character is corrupted rather than pay attention to world issues? Am I un-American for writing that I disagree with them? I hope not, at least those aren't my intentions.
my intentions are, first, to tell you that no one is perfect, especially celebrities. They live lives that many of us aren't familiar
with, so we can only speculate on why they have moments of incivility.
Second, don't let companies,
celebrities, "norms," television,
movies, etc. tilt your morals and
values. Stick by what feels right,
not what other people want you
to do, or not do.
I like many of you. I like to tell my friends and family about unbelievable stories that I either witnessed or read about. But we shouldn't rely on such stories to make our lives more interesting or have more depth. It's up to us to create our own stories.
Lastly, I'm sick of older people telling me "my generation is doomed, because we're a bunch of degenerates who have no respect for anything."
Now, there are many things wrong with this, but I'll only address one of the issues that relates to my point: when we're older and looking at the generation after us, do we want to be saying the exact same thing we're being told now, or do we want to be the ones who lead by example and reclaim America's dignity?
It's time we stop hitting the snooze button on our moral clock and awaken to the same morals and values that we preach.
Bryenn Bierwirth is a senior majoring in journalism and communications from Overland Park.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
What's one rule you wish all freshmen would follow?
RELATIONSHIPS
Follow us on Twitter @KansanOpinion.
Tweet us your opinions, and we just might publish them.
Parental relations need to mature in college
It's time to talk about the activity some of us dread, and others relish. No, not discussing KU football, but calling our parents.
parents:
Calling our parents just to ask for money is tacky, demeaning and common amongst our age demographic. I admit, during my freshman year, I only really called when I needed access to my own money. Definitely not ideal. Since then, I've gained more financial independence by managing my rent payments, groceries and bills. This, in my opinion, helped my relationship with my parents.
Now, they know I am not calling about financial woes, but to genuinely talk about this semester's classes, people who are currently irritating me and the state of my ambiguously-existent social life
Throughout high school, and to this day, my parents would become stubborn about an issue, and grind it like coffee in a French press. It made the relationship touchy and delicate. For example, my mom didn't agree with my decision to not serve as a resident assistant again. But I agreed to cover the cost of my living expenses, and the argument finally settled over a tense spring, where I was constantly reminded of my poor decision.
Being away from my parents really helped my relationship with them. It sounds counterintuitive, but being apart, at times, can really help. Exercising agency and making mistakes really allowed me to foster the relationship. My parents are finally starting to view me as an adult, and more as a peer rather than a dependent, leaching parasite.
becoming parents.
Honestly, I think other students should also review their relationships with their parents while in college. Maybe you fought constantly in the past. Maybe you still don't agree with your parents' social or political values. But college is the place to mature and develop, and this means delving into deeper, more meaningful relationships with our parents. You're probably rolling your eyes right now, unless you're my parents (in which case you are thinking, "Anrenee, you are NOT our peer!"). Nobody's time here is infinite, and you'll probably regret not strengthening your bond with
By Anrenee Reasor
areasor@kansan.com
your parents someday. It's time to grow up and (gasp)b friend your mom and dad.
To the people who call their parents multiple times a day, I have a similar message: grow up. As an RA and camp counselor, I met a plethora of students who failed to self-advocate even in basic situations. They called their parents constantly to ask about microwaving food, complain about the heat, or lack thereof, in their room, and voice concerns about their roommate's habits. Their helicopter parents hovered over them even while hundreds of miles away. I admire their parents' willingness to help and their genuine concern, but they are almost doing their children a disservice.
If you call your parents frequently to ask arbitrary questions, you need to discover Google also has answers on how to do laundry, reheat food and clean an overdye shower. Advocate for yourself and realize your parents will not always be at your beck and call to help resolve the next crisis. Don't make your parents call and berate Student Housing on your behalf, file your own facilities request. If you're having roommate problems, talk to your roommate. Ask your mom or dad for advice, but in the end, do something about it yourself. Passively complaining may serve as a coping mechanism, but actively changing your own life is necessary in today's time.
College is a time of growth, expansion and other vague transformations. It's time for us to repair or evolve our parental relationships, or time to shift into becoming independent, problem-solving individuals. Adjust your decisions depending on which category you fit into, but if you don't know...maybe your Mom does, and you should give her a call. Or maybe you need to think about it more and answer this one on your own.
Anrenee Reasor is a junior majoring in economics and EALC from Thayer.
@Ben_Samson
@KansanOpinion Don't wear apparel from your senior year of high school - you might as well wear a sign that says "Freshman Here!"
@Captin_Morgan93
@KansanOpinion slower traffic keep right.
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