TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
PAGE 4A
TEXT FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 or at kansan.com
Just because you have a roommate doesn't mean pants are required. I haven't seen my roommate in pants yet.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Don't you live at home?
What's worse: when I introduce myself to people, they don't know where Toronto is? Or that I have started saying "I'm from the same city as Wiggins"?
So if I don't wear tail socks with flip flops is it still ok for me to enter Robinson?
I feel bad for the freshman who don't get to experience Dan driving for them.
Just finished a whole tube of chapstick without losing it. Easily my biggest accomplishment in three years of college.
Best way to ensure attendance in lab? Hot TA!
If I had a dollar for every pretentious person I had in my Shakespeare class, I could pay for my tuition.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... It is WAY more difficult to be a left handed student at this campus than it should be. I am an oppressed minority.
Just found out my calc professor was a spy in the army. Note to self: DON'T CHEAT IN CALC.
thanks, Kansan for my free T-shirt!
Being obsessed with the Cryptoquip has finally paid off! #daymade
Hahahahahaha K-State
When I picked up yesterday's paper for a brief moment I hoped I was in Groundhog Day.
If your girlfriend's dad insults her driving, the correct response is not "preach."
There is a raccoon dancing outside Wescoe. :)
I can't wait until the freshmen start skipping class and I can get my crunchy chicken cheddar wrap in peace. #seniorproblems
To the person who wants to live in a "box under a bridge," it is a "van down by the river." EDITOR'S NOTE: Wow, you should be editor.
Perks of being a night owl, you get to see KU's mama fox and her ADORABLE babies.
Forget alcohol education, new students need to take Street Crossing 101.
VMA performance reflects on music industry, not individuals
Miley Cyrus is my personal Voldemort, or She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Though Cyrus' scandalous act at the Video Music Awards on Aug. 25 was about as disgusting as the floors of The Hawk, no one can seem to stop talking about it, and frankly, I've grown sick of hearing about it. Amid the outrage she sparked over sexual exploitation, racism and objectification, another underlying issue has been pushed aside. While Cyrus has been busy twerking and sticking out her tongue, other artists have been left in the shadows that her giant teddy bears have cast. The general public may be concerned with the damaging impact on society, yet no one has voiced a concern for the damaging impact on the music industry.
My music-loving dad (who went to Woodstock) always compares music from decades past to the music of today. He feels that in the past, artists that crossed a line did
so with the purpose to create a united front and promote change - Woodstock being a prime example. In contrast with today, in which music crosses a line simply to be on the other side. To get noticed. To grab our attention.
While all music involves some aspect of live performance and entertainment,the trend of "shock entertainment"has shown continual growth and Cyrus is just the latest and most prominent example.
No one cares to mention the medley of Timberlake songs, or the fact that Ryan Lewis, Macklemore and Mary Lambert won "Best Video With a Social Message," for their song "Same Love." Why have these achievements been overlooked?
It's been over a decade since the development of file-sharing corrupted the music industry - resulting in desperation for a comeback. Media is getting smarter while the music is left to suffer. There are people within
the industry who, by choice, are sacrificing pure, raw talent for the media's attention. Today with our constant access to information via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and more, there are countless ways we spread news. The issue lies in which news we choose to spread.
By Lyndsey Havens
lhavens@kansan.com
Some artists in the music industry still preserve and value the art of producing music and putting on modest performances for the sake of enjoyment - though their presence greatly lacked at the VMAs and they rarely receive praise through mainstream media outlets. After all, news has to be new. Not many care to spend their time reading subpar stories with little impact - although I personally find such underappreciated articles to be more interesting than the facts on Snapple caps.
For new and emerging artists.
trying to catch a break in the industry is no new struggle. While artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson and David Bowie, all prided themselves on their image, they still held their music at equal value.
oday, breakthrough artists aim for this same acclaim, although their focus lies less on the music, and more on their looks and their actions.
Lady Gaga, for example, played at Lollapalooza years ago as Stefani Germanotta. Not many know this because, well, why would anyone pay much attention to some brunette playing piano?
some of the things playing It wasn't until her quirky costumes and odd behavior grabbed our attention that we started to care. Katy Perry followed a similar path, with Cyrus as the latest addition to the list.
Though I highly disagree with this method of stardom, I can't help but argue that it works. Admitting this makes me as sad as watching any of the season
finales of Grey's Anatomy, but after several days of hearing about the shameful Cyrus, it's clear that her stunt resulted in success. Though she barely sang and the sound quality sucked, her raunchy moves and lack of clothing landed her in the spotlight.
By the time the VMAs was over and the credits were rolling, I was left with my jaw ajar, feeling as disappointed as when I found out that The Bull was being remodeled. The phrase "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" may be credited to the 60s, yet the 2013 Video Music Awards reiterated its relevance - seeing as there was an abundance of sexual inuendos, a plethora of drug references and, well, not very much rock or roll.
Which seems to be the problem
—when did the music industry
stop being about the music?
Lyndsey Havens is a sophomore majoring in journalism from Chicago, Ill.
TECHNOLOGY
Social media encourages lazy writing, information overload
What's on your mind?
I rise out of my long-enough, but still too narrow extra-long twin bed, flip my laptop open and check out Facebook to see what's happening in the world. The familiar Facebook homepage asks me a question. What's on your mind?
Within five minutes of my day, I'm already being prompted to write. I've been asleep for about eight hours. For all I know, the apocalypse could have started in that short window, and God forbid I be out of the loop. The front is all clear - just another couple of song lyrics. Feeling secure, I continue with my morning routine, which will undoubtedly include a brief glance at Reddit, Gmail and a blog.
In my hour before I make it to physical geography, I've been exposed to thousands of words, ideas and images. I've seen, read and vicariously experienced more in that hour than people could have in a whole week a hundred years ago. Some refer to this as "information overload." In the media mania that's erupted in the last 23 years (when public Internet was invented), young people have been writing more than ever before. The informal nature and ease of access of Internet communication has changed how we write. A larger focus on casual writing encourages critical thinking and accessibility. Those thoughts can be sporadic,
By Dalton Boehm dboehm@kansan.com
however, and the practice is in ill form. There are tons of benefits to technology, but such a major splash is going to cause waves.
spash is going to cause waves. The downfall of hyper-connectivity lies in the quality of the writing. Generally, nothing that is published is permanent – nearly every channel of online writing has an "edit" feature. Being able to modify what you've already written establishes a faster, less concrete demeanor about how things are written across the Internet. This mindset sacrifices spelling, content and grammar for the sake of having the first comment on a freshly-posted YouTube video.
Even when the edit function isn't available, brevity is still too common. Texting is notorious for poorly constructed messages. It even has a style named for it – "text-speak." Instead of writing complete sentences with whole words, some texters elect to simplify words with numbers or symbols to make messages more aesthetic. The functionality of text-speak really isn't there; it saves very insignificant measures of time. Instead, it's merely a style that has been continued since instant messaging became relevant. The fire is also fueled by spell check, an ingenious invention that makes memorizing
spelling nearly irrelevant. When I can type "scpel" into Google and be offered the correct form, "spelling," why would I bother making an effort to learn?
Sometimes, connectivity can be beneficial to writing. Twitter forces concise writing, a useful skill in any facet of writing. If someone can't fit all their thoughts into 140 characters, they can house them in blogs or forums that can generate longer, more thoughtful conversations. These debates and stories are the exception to the "need for speed" mentality.
With 60 million Facebook status updates per day, and 50 million tweets per day, the world is writing short, sweet and incomplete.
So how do we fix this attitude? How do we change the attention-deficit question "What's on your mind?" to something more academic? We focus on academics. Education reform is constantly on the desks of U.S. legislators. English courses need to educate youth on how to write effectively and properly in a way that represents both the formal and informal styles that are now everyday occurrences. Those of us who were raised writing this way will be the ones who write the legislation, and I can guarantee that it won't be written with text-speak.
Dalton Boehm is a freshman majoring in journalism from Prairie Village
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
CAMPUS
Freshman year presents high school stereotypes
Shout out to all the freshmen that survived the first week of college. We've all been there and done that. You probably had several questions going through your mind throughout the entire day.
Trevor Graft, editor-in-chief
@kansan.com
Allison Kohn, man.aging editor
@kansan.com
Olyan Lysen, managing editor
dlysen@kansan.com
What is "Wescoe Beach?" There are no beaches in Kansas. Where is my next class? How will I get there in 10 minutes?
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Length: 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy on kansan.com/letters.
We all have had the same thoughts. Being a freshman all over again is very overwhelming, but I promise it gets better soon enough.
A lot of people think that high school stops when you graduate and get your diploma. Technically, that is correct. However, in reality, the stereotypes, the drama, and the cliques are still carried right along in your suitcase that you packed for college. Freshmen, don't be fooled by the whole "new beginning" speech you heard all through the waning weeks of summer. College isn't a whole new world where all your problems from the past disappear. However, you do have the power to choose who you want to be. Just be you and you will find your niche.
I'm not saying that change will not happen. One of the hardest changes for me that will probably occur in your transition from high school to college as well, is the drifting between old friends. Some people will move on and change their priorities. That's just a part of growing up.
growing up.
There still are, and always will be, different types of people on campus with different interests and priorities. There will always be the "brains" - people who are natural geniuses and put school before everything else. There are also the athletes, who in my eyes seem to be the most dedicated and self-disciplined people on campus. Then there are the "greets," who are typically very involved young
Send letters to kansanopdesk@gmail.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line.
Will Webber, opinion editor
wwebber@kansan.com
The next thing I knew, I was walking across that stage being handed my diploma. College is the same way, so enjoy every moment to the fullest, and be sure not to blink.
LETTER GUIDELINES
By Molly Smith
msmith@kansan.com
As you're walking around campus, try to think about the kind of person you want to be, as cliché as that might sound. Trust me, I'm not one to buy into all the cheesy clichés, but I have found this one to be very true. College is the beginning of who you are going to be for the rest of your life. It's the beginning of finding those lifelong friends, the love of your life, and your greatest passions. A lot of you probably felt pretty important walking around on campus your first day, thinking "Yeah, I'm a big o' college kid now!" Well, that's how you should feel. I will always remember my high school English teacher telling my class at the beginning of the year that we would blink and it would be over.
always pick out of the crowd.
But no matter what school,
house or club you end up in, you'll
always meet the same kind of
people. In fact, it doesn't matter
where you are. You'll meet those
people that make you cringe and
those people that make you laugh.
The choice is yours when it comes
to deciding if you will let your
environment completely mold you
or not.
Molly Smith is a sophomore majoring in Speech Pathology from Lenexa
women and men in sororities or fraternities (don't be afraid of the colorful "frat packs" walking around). There are many other kinds of interesting personalities you will see on campus here at KU, but those are just a few that I always pick out of the crowd.
Mollie Pointer, business manager muointer@kansan.com
Sean Powers, sales manager spowers@kansan.com
@Kansan_ Opinion eat pizza rolls in @mlock10's bed and steal her clothes
@coco_ehrlich
and steal her clothes
@mlock10
@Kansan_Optimil cry myself to sleep in @coco_ehrlich's bed.
@SamaraRehfeld
Kansan Orionen change the locks.
CONTACT US
Jon Schittt, sales and marketing adviser
jschittt@kansan.com
Brett Akagi, media director & content strategist bakagi@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Trevor Graff, Allison Kohn, Dylan Lysen, Will Webber, Pointer Mouse and Power Shoes.