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Opinion
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Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Perspective Stull skeptic debunks myths
ror comments, contact Ben Voosen Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Dear pathetic wall of Stull. Well, old friend, you seem to have made quite a name for yourself. And as I stand before your crumbling frame, I find it all a little hard to believe.
Maybe you really are one of the gateways to hell, and maybe this elusive "devil child" really does drop in each Halloween. Just because I haven't personally visited one of Satan's equinoctial black masses doesn't mean they don't occur.
By now, Stull, you have probably heard these legends whispered by the uninvited visitors you entertain most every weekend in October. The stories are hard to ignore, retold in local newspapers, listed in anthologies of haunted places and passed from one folklorist to the next.
n't ever a believer. Far from it. Back in my day, I was your biggest fan this side of Highway 40. You should have seen me the first time I heard about you, my horrified face glowing in the campfire. Through friends' accounts, Internet sites and repeated listening to Black Sabbath, I learned everything about you I possibly could.
But like so many ambitious ghost-chasers before and after me, I had to see you for myself.
Just between you and me, I don't buy it
I remember my first trip on a rainy afternoon in July. My friend Dave and I parked on the side of the road and climbed the barbed wire fence. In the field behind you, we thought we saw the devil. Turns out it was just a man in a red flannel shirt, but the archetypal flash of color was enough to increase our pulses.
were thrown against your walls. I was told about the mysterious stairway that led to the underworld. I read about the old pine tree cut down by the authorities to quiet rumors about its haunted properties.
The second time I went was only a day later. After hearing my story, my other friends wanted to see you, too. I had already had my fun and was content to leave it at that. I went anyway.
Quite frankly, I was disappointed when I stepped inside your walls. Broken glass and budding trees were surrounded by spray-painted tributes to Korn and a few crude pentagrams. There was no real cause for concern. I offered Dave an empty Heineken bottle to throw, but he declined.
"My arms are too short to box with God," he said. I shrugged. It was up to me to put your evil to the test. I stood about 15 feet back and threw as hard as I could. I bounced. We ran.
Luke Wetzel
guest
columnist
opinion@kansas.com
I heard about the bottles that wouldn't break no matter how hard they
This time we didn't pull any punches. We drove right through the main gate, parking at the top of the cemetery. We threw more bottles, finally getting them to break. But even at midnight, there wasn't anything to be afraid of. It was only when we walked back to the car that the terror set in.
Down the hill from where we stood, two men were locking the cemetery gate with us inside.
Todd and I ran to his car while the men got in a truck and drove away. I managed to open the gate. Just as I got back in the car, the truck drove back toward us. Todd signaled left. The car moved in position to follow. We inched forward, turning right at the last second. The driver switched to reverse, driving backward alongside us for at least 10 seconds, yelling out his window from under a dark, wide-brimmed hat. He chased us all the way to Topeka.
I'm not the only one this has happened to. Year after year until 1989 — when deputies were stationed to hand out trespassing tickets
were crowds wearing masks — crowds have stood on your front lawn on Halloween, drinking beer and waiting for some kind of phantasmagoric pyrotechnics. But no dice. Satan has repeatedly left them in the lurch. The disappointment is equal to staying up and waiting for the tooth fairy, only to have your parents make you to bed halfway through the night. It hurts for a while, but you get over it.
Your legend will probably never die, at least not until they quit releasing Blair Witch films. But with another Halloween come and gone, students should consider that some spirits might be better off left alone — especially the ones that probably don't exist.
Now, I don't care what kinds of coyote noises people hear when they visit you. Cops and irritated farmers are the only things to be afraid of. If people want to visit a really scary, ominous place, they should check out the Watson library stacks or one of the local Taco Bells.
Wetzel is a Westwood sophomore in English and journalism.
By the Numbers
25 bil. Annual consumption of cigarettes in the United States in 1900.
29 Percentage of college females who reported smoking consistently in the past 30 days.
430 bil. Annual consumption of cigarettes in the United States in 1999.
32 Percentage of college males who reported smoking consistently in the past 30 days.
400,000 Number of smoking-related deaths annually.
46 mil. Number of smokers in the United States.
Source: American Lung Association
Perspective
Election debacle calls for Electoral College ban
The Electoral College always existed without being noticed by most people. It was a mere constitutional formality that never made a difference — at least during the lifetime of anyone reading this column.
The question that arises after this crazy election is, "Who designed the Electoral College?"
If I didn't know the answer, I would be tempted to say it was someone such as Forrest Gump, Bill Gates or some Harvard statistics professor.
But who really designed the Electoral College?
The Founding Fathers, to the surprise of many, is the answer.
The Founding Fathers were theoretically a group of well-intentioned men who had to decide the electoral system that this country would adopt.
They had three options: the people, the Congress and the electors. The Founding Fathers chose the electors. But that was centuries ago.
However, they created most of the institutions Americans still cherish, and that's only one reason why most people in this country never questioned what the Founding Fathers did before this election.
Some of these men were presidents, while others founded Ivy League colleges such as the University of Pennsylvania. They were smart people. But this election hasn't been good for them.
I didn't have any civics classes in the United States, so it was only a couple of years ago that I learned that the so-called biggest democracy in the world decided its future by a weird system, which doesn't care how the majority of its people vote.
Cássio
Furtado
columnist
ogition@khanan.com
And a few days ago, I became aware that the United States still uses machines dating from the 1960s and 1970s to count its ballots. It's clearly not the Founding Fathers' fault.
I would say the reason for this mess — or history being made, as many say — is more on the hands of thousands of politicians who have been around since the Founding Fathers left the political scene to enter the history books.
The United States created the Internet but wasn't capable of replacing this system with one that treats everyone as having the same importance when deciding the country's future. This is wrong.
The Founding Fathers did what was best at the time, and that worked for a long time. This entire issue is a matter of realizing the Constitution is not perfect and immutable. The Electoral College should be respected now no matter who gets elected — but it should
There is no better way of deciding an election than making people have the same importance, no matter where they live. This election has been a worldwide joke, mainly because of the Electoral College.
— no matter who gets elected — but it should be abolished as soon as possible.
Elections are not supposed to involve complicated math. They should be very simple and straightforward: one person, one vote.
This was demonstrated by the Cuban and Russian offers to send observers to make sure that the will of the people is respected, by the number of lawsuits that are taking place and by the absurdity of even contemplating having a new election.
Florida's voters are not more important than you. This entire embarrassment to the United States wouldn't have happened if your vote really counted. The people decided overwhelmingly in favor of Al Gore, and the people's will is in serious risk of not being respected because of the Electoral College.
Fartado is a Paleteo, Brazil, senior in political science and Journalism.
Editorial
Cyberscam shows peril of Internet
Fifteen-year-old scam artist swindles Internet investors, revealing online dangers.
The Securities and Exchange Commission wrapped up a massive pump-and-dump scheme involving 15-year-old Jonathan Lebed just weeks ago, ending a scam that left Lebed richer in the pocket and Internet investors angered.
Many investors said the scam took advantage of the industry and the market, while Lebed clung to youth and curiosity as his excuse. Both sides help reiterate that online transactions and communication has its risks.
The New Jersey teen was accused of posting false Internet stock tips on message boards and then selling his shares to curious investors at well above the prevailing market price. He bought massive amounts of small-company stock and then sent as many as 500 messages with fictitious names to Web sites, sometimes stating that the stock is expected to go up by 1,000 percent. While some investors bought his shares and some of the stocks went belly-up, Lebed was making thousands of dollars a day.
Although the SEC fixed Lebed more than $280,000 of his manipulated earnings, he was allowed to keep more than $500,000. In addition to returning some of the money to the U.S. Treasury, Lebed had to agree to a cease-and-desist order which, if broken, would lead to more serious consequences. There is no penalty against the companies that Lebed earned money off of or the investors who acted on anonymous Internet messages.
The Internet is a bathroom wall. People may simply read the messages, write or act on the messages, or choose to not participate at all. Whichever method of action is taken, it needs to be realized that falsehoods and truth often are blurred. Just as one cannot be sure who wrote a certain statement on a bathroom wall, one must question the truth behind a message on the Internet.
All Lebed is guilty of is lying. The decision made by Internet investors to jump on posted messages is not Lebed's fault, but the investors'. Most upset by this scam labeled Lebed as a thief, but it was gullibility that convicted investors this time.
Ben Tatar
for the editorial board
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Why do we have a giant football stadium for our football team,when our nationally ranked tennis team has only six courts to share?
People should not wear sweatpants in public.
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I don't have girl problems; I
have girls with problems.
The people in the media are a disgrace to America.
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The purpose of college is to expand your mind while damaging your body at the same time.
儒
Free for All should be published in all the newspapers in the nation.
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Broccoli doesn't look like litte trees.
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Someone tell my professors that I'll start going to class when it gets a little warmer.
I never stole anything in my life until I realized how easy it was.
Instead of doing homework, I keep calling the Free for All.
Next time Kansan reporters quote a campus Republican, make sure it's really a campus Republican and not a liberal masking as a Republican.
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I already miss Bill.
My roommate hasn't taken out her trash since August.
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