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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014
PAGE 5A
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Don't let certain hassles prevent you from biking on campus
From trekking up a giant hill to trying to figure out the bus schedules, getting around campus can be a hassle. Most people walk, drive or hitch a ride in some type of automobile to navigate around the University, but for me, biking has come to be the transportation of choice.
Biking around campus seems like a difficult task, but it's something that provides
several benefits. Biking is a faster alternative to walking or waiting for the bus, and it also helps you get in shape.
There are some difficulties with biking, especially when there are classes that require you to go from the bottom of the hill, back up to the top, and then to the bottom again, but biking is a great workout, and doing it enough times can get you very physically fit.
By Tyler Yunk
opinion@kansan.com
Leaving campus is much easier because it is mainly downhill with little work involved.
The other tricky thing about using a bike on campus is finding a good spot to park and lock your bike up. There are many bike racks located on campus, with the most useful in front of Budig. The easiest
thing to do is to find a spot that gets you to all of your classes the quickest, allowing you to make it to a couple classes without the hassle of moving your bike around.
Biking takes a lot of work and commitment, which is why in this day and age many students would rather hop on a bus. However, the benefits you earn from biking are neverending. I always choose
to bike because biking around campus can make you feel accomplished, showing you what you are capable of.
Biking is something that many more people should try, not only for personal health benefits, but for environmental factors as well. It is a quicker alternative to walking or waiting in line to get on a crowded bus.
The benefits to biking will
begin to show as the trips up to campus become easier and easier. To any new students looking for a new way to get in shape, or a way to campus, pick up your bike and ride.
ryler Yunk is a freshman from Belvidere studying journalism
WFB
Clickbait stories improperly attract readers with poor tactics
News is rapidly moving to the web. Newspapers are hopping online and searching for new revenue streams.As paywalls fail and sites compete for clicks, article accuracy is losing out to a need to provoke readers into reading.
Banner ads have lost their effectiveness. Everyone and their mom knows clickable ads could contain a virus, or at best, just another ad. That realization has sent advertisers and websites scrambling.
The buzzword of journalists everywhere these days is "native advertisement," where publications disguise advertisements as articles. While a bit shady, sponsored content is usually marked as
such, albeit in subtle ways. Clickbait is anything but.
Clickbait takes many forms. Some websites write their headlines to be as inflammatory as possible. Other sites make a controversy out of speculation, stretching the meaning of "reporting the facts" to its breaking point.
In the wake of Robin Williams' death, an article on Gene Simmons made rounds. He was quoted time and time again telling depressed people to kill themselves. Though incredibly insensitive and poorly timed, he made the comments nearly two weeks before Williams had passed. Dozens of news sources characterized Simmons' comments after the fact, for
no reason than to drum up controversy and thus, clicks
Clickbait, listicles and slideshows with new slides on its own webpage are just some of the ways that news sources are clawing at revenue wherever they can. Every piece of news is becoming more about its click potential than anything else, which means reporting the facts takes a backseat.
As more and more
Americans realize that TV news is a biased wasteland, they're turning to the Internet as their primary news source. But with the advent of ad tactics like clickbait, they're hopping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
The power of a news publication is in the trustworthiness of its name. When recognized and established papers post articles, they're obviously given more credence than Joe-Shmoe.com. When those same publications begin to post cheap articles aimed at provoking someone into a click, the whole system suffers.
Real news, sponsored news, and clickbait will begin to look more and more similar until
there is no real difference. Every post will be a political rant disguised as news. The news will become one longform advertisement and the actual, run-of-the-mill news will get drowned out.
It's hard to find someone to blame for this collapse. While newspapers and news sites are guilty of these tactics, they're only a natural response to how modern America consumes news.
While pinning blame is a challenge, finding a solution is even harder. It seems impossible to change the American need for indignation. Being constantly angry with some politician or news event seems to have become a national addiction.
Even if we found out how to curb that need back, it's still only treating a symptom.
The best way we can move forward is to treat every news article as clickbait. Recognizing these changes and keeping them in mind is essential to cut through the various layers of bias and advertisements. Likewise, checking multiple sources should be the standard. Ensure that the news article you just read isn't simple speculation and exaggeration. Treat every news source, even those you've read for years, with a renewed critical mind.
Wil Kenney is a junior from Leawood studying English
OUR OPINIONS BRING ALL THE BOYS (AND GIRLS) TO THE YARD
The University of Kansas 15th Annual
FREE ADMISSION FOR KU STUDENTS!
COLLAGE CONCERT A Musical Collage of the Extraordinary Talents at KU
FRI. SEPT. 19 | 7:30 PM | LIED CENTER
$16 Adults | $11 Seniors & Children | Free for KU students wilD
For tickets: Lied Center Ticket Office | 785-864-2787 | lied.ku.edu
music.ku.edu/collage
KU SCHOOL OF MUSIC The University of Kansas
14,000 GRADUATES. 50 STATES. 49 COUNTRIES. AND COUNTING.
CLASSES WITH FEWER THAN 50 STUDENTS
85%
DOUG WARD
2011
NATIONAL JOURNALISM TEACHER OF THE YEAR
EMPLOYMENT RATE FOR RECENT GRADUATES
83%
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS The University of Kansas
Be a part of it. Apply by Sept journalism.ku.edu
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