4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TUESDAY,SEPT.18,2001
TALKTO US
Kursten Phelps editor 864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Leita Schultes Christina Neff managing editors 864-4854 or editor@kansan.com
Erin Adamson Brendan Woodbury opinion editors 864-4810 or opinion@kansan.com
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Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or mfsher@kansan.com
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
LETTER TO THE EDITORS
Dear Editors.
I have a serious problem with your cartoon in the paper (Sept. 17). Who cares about global warming at a time like this. Thousands of our citizens are dead, and all this liberal newspaper can think of is politics.
I personally disagree with the president on this issue, but I must look at the situation at hand and realize that this is so insignificant right now.
I am still shocked on how someone can stay within budget expenditures, and yet you still curse his every move. Have you ever heard of fair and balanced reporting? Report the president's mistakes, but also his good deeds. I never saw this paper give Bush credit for the airplane incident with China, for one.
Russell Warren Lawrence senior
PERSPECTIVE
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Hate comes in many forms guard against all of them
The musical group The Coup had to change its album cover on Sept. 11.
Its cover was set to depict the World Trade Center exploding with one of the members holding the detonator. The CD featured a single entitled, "5 Ways to Kill a CEO."
the Coup is not alone in its sentiment. Its angry, leftist message is just the most recent example of what is becoming a popular political movement on college campuses throughout the United States. It is what has sparked thousands of students all over America to start speaking out against capitalism, greed and so-called "corporate power." It is the movement that has called for America to feel shame for its wealth, power and prestige. And it is the very thing that provided the moral justification for the attack on the World Trade Center.
It is a strong statement, I realize, to claim that any person could find last Tuesday's attack to be morally justified, but the statement is in no way false. Few people truly realize what they are fighting against when they attack wealthy corporations or when they call for a punishment tax on the rich. While hiding behind a claim to fight for humanity and "the common good," this group attempts to smash the very institutions that create the wealth and prosperity that we have the privilege to take for granted. The real moral code behind this group's beliefs could only be one of sacrifice and despair.
- it is the only code that would allow them to so vehemently attack the highest and most productive while holding up poverty as the most noble virtue.
Commentary
Rachelle Cauthon
guest columnist opinionakansan.com
The attack on America was a symbolic one. The World Trade towers stood as a constant reminder of America's commitment to individual freedom and its unabashed love of prosperity and life. The towers were the concretization of American values. Only a capitalist country could have built such a monument—a monument to what happens when you allow men to be free and profit from the sweat of their labor. The contempt that fueled the destruction in New York was the contempt for American values—and sadly, it is contempt that is shared by many Americans, whether they consciously acknowledge it.
The morality behind the contempt for America is truly empty, but it is continually propagated through our culture through the same trite clichés and undigested slogans. We absolutely cannot allow them to stand undisputed any longer.
The moment I saw the footage of the plane slamming into that tower, I understood this battle. The frustration I always felt when watching bands like Rage Against the Machine rant about greed or listening to Ralph Nader fight against wealthy corporations has now turned into very real anger. This is no
longer a theoretical battle. America's capitalist values created the World Trade Center towers, and inside of it were the motors, the very driving force, of this country. We should have taken pride in it while it was still standing. We should have never for a moment allowed ourselves to feel shame in what should be the center of our inspiration and patriotism.
It is not too late. Now is the time when we should realize our country's greatness. Now is when we should be able to stand tall with the knowledge that we created this beautiful, prosperous country, through hard work and human ingenuity. We must understand our country's wealth and prosperity and revel in it.
After being bombarded with images of destruction and despair, the greatest source of comfort for me came from an interview I watched with one of the directors from Meryll Lynch. He stood out on the street in a suit without his jacket with his arms crossed and his head high, explaining the evacuation procedures for the 9,000 employees of their office. He explained that they simply walked to someone's house where they will now "regroup and begin to mobilize again."
This is the American spirit. It is the spirit that says, "I may have to struggle and fight, but so long as I am free, I can and will live."
Caution is a junior in biochemistry from Overland Park. She is president of KU Objectivists.
PERSPECTIVE
Kansas should quit paying farmers to pollute rivers
It's not a good idea to take a dip in the Kansas River. It's not a good idea to eat any thing caught in the Kansas River. That the Kansas River is polluted is not news to any of us who have lived in Lawrence for any substantial amount of time.
Most of us also know that the source of most of this pollution is the agriculture industry. What many students might not know is that late last spring, as most of us were studying for finals and gearing up for summer, the Kansas Legislature passed SB 204, better known as the "dirty water bill." And most also don't know what a sweet deal the agriculture industry has in this state and other states, and how much we all pay for it.
Industry comprises a larger percentage of the Kansas economy than does agriculture. But farmers have a disproportionate amount of lobbying power in the Kansas Legislature, as they do in other state legislatures around the country, and in Washington, D.C. The industry as a whole has learned how to manipulate the system.
Commentary
Last year taxpayers paid approximately $23 billion in subsidies to farmers. And this is the fourth year since the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996, in which
Columnist opinion@kansan.com
Tucker Poling
farmers were freed from government production controls in exchange for the phasing out of their subsidies. How can the government still be paying billions of dollars in subsidies to the farm industry?
The answer comes in a convenient loophole — emergency funds.
Now farmers have the best of both worlds: they get fewer government regulation without sacrificing the handouts.
They lobbied for — and quickly received—the funds they had learned to be dependent on years ago.
The "emergency" arose when farmers realized that competing in the global market as other industries did was not much fun.
SB 204 set up a looser classification system for streams and set different
I see pollution as a violation of property rights. If I throw a water balloon full of feces and atrazine from my porch over to yours, everyone would probably agree the act constituted an unacceptable violation of your property rights.
pollution control standards for different classes. It exempts small streams that may be dry for much of the year from the more stringent Environmental Protection Agency pollution controls as implemented in the Clean Water Act.
But after giving the issue some thought, I find myself in the odd and personally embarrassing situation of being in agreement with statist liberals and an assortment of overly zealous environmentalists.
At first glance, it seems reasonable to exempt small creeks from anti-pollution laws.
Some also claim we must keep all our farmers in business in order to avoid being dependent on imported food. But they're wrong. The farm agriculture industry would not wither away without subsidies. It would be more efficient.
This argument demonstrates the mentality of many farmers - and of many Americans - regarding the agriculture industry. There is a tendency to believe the agriculture industry should not be held to the same standards as the rest of the market economy.
Kansas was built on the backs of farmers. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the amount of guts and work ethic it takes in order to run a farm. And I know that this is not the only industry that gets propped up by our tax dollars.
But it's time farmers be treated the same as other business people. It's time they take responsibility and quit milking the system dry. We shouldn't be paying the agriculture industry to pollute.
But many believe it is OK if I put the same mixture in a creek and allow it to flow down to your property.
therefore, be given a break.
An argument used by many in agriculture to avoid pollution standards is that many farmers will go out of business if they are forced to run their farms without polluting. They must,
Poling is a senior in political science from Wichita.
Free for All 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous, obscene and race-based statements will not be printed.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
i hope they don't take my American Spirit away. I really like smoking them.
i hope they don't take my American Spirit away. I really like smoking them.
Whoever thought it would be cool to leave your cell phone on during the memorial service went beyond basic cell phone etiquette into just disrespect.
I love America as much as the next guy, but do we really need to honk to prove it?
In terms of the reason for not canceling classes on Tuesday because we need to show the terrorists that we can continue on, what a load of flaming crap. I'm sure the terrorists are going to look at Kansas University, and say "Oh they're carrying on as normal. Let's not bomb and kill people anymore." You jerks. We need to cancel classes so that people can be by themselves or be with their family in this time of mourning, not in classes where professors are giving pop quizzes and lecturing for the whole time period. Get real.
The events that transpired Tuesday have in no way swayed me from my conviction that war is absurd and wrong. How many more Americans do we want to die? Haven't we had enough die already?
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I can't believe that in this time of tragedy and crisis that people are saying bad things about the president. This is a time when we need to rally behind him and not say that he's mentally retarded and that Bill Clinton would do a better job. Get your heads on straight, people.
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I'm really happy that we have George W. Bush for president for this crisis instead of Bill Clinton who, in the past, proved that he was continually unprepared for foreign policy events except for in the case of diverting attention away from his own political scandals.
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This is for the person who thinks that war is just going to lead to more terrorism. If all the terrorists are dead, there can't be any more terrorism.
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Oh Canada, my home and native land ... Canada's looking awful nice this time of year.
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I thank God every single day, since Tuesday,
that God allows us to have a president who
has a firm faith in God.
To the guy who was wondering if a draft could come from this, I think there's been about 24 drafts — genuine drafts — that have come out of it in my house.
You say standerous opinions aren't being printed, and yet I am reading them every day. You have an anonymous forum where people can say anything they want without putting their name on it, and people are saying appalling things. Not everybody of course, other people are saying good things. Thank you, goodbye.
I think what the situation needs is massive amounts of marijuana — massive amounts. Just ride the out man.
A water slide is a great way of dealing with mourning.
As a result of the attacks on the United States and the American response, our nation has been forced to review again the interaction between the variety of cultures of which it is composed. That discussion has been happening on this campus, and it is an important one.
EDITORS' NOTE Free for All policy
The Free for All strives to be a public forum in which Kansan readers can reach a large audience with thoughts and comments. In order that these comments most accurately represent the public's ideas, we have used only limited restrictions: no obscurity, no slander, no naming of individuals who are not public figures.
The opinion editors also exercise their own discretion when deciding which Free for All comments will appear in the next day's paper and will not print racial slurs, threats or hate messages. Today we remind you of this policy and ask that you use the Free for All in a responsible manner.
We all care about our country. The opinion page strives to present the opinions of students. Let's work to use the Free for All in a way responsible to our campus and our community.
Erin Adamson for the Kansan editors