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it rains a lot in April because even the weather is stressed towards the end of the semester.
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, APRIL.18, 2016
Shout out to all the cats out there
I love seeing a bunch of random people I know out at the bars. When they say lets hang out, you know that won't ever happen
RIP temporary bar friends
Twitter suggested that I follow Donald Trump and so we're done with the internet for today
Happy birthday!
I'm surprised the dinner I cooked last night was so good, considering the bottle of wine I drank while cooking it
I've been done with this semester mentally for about 2 weeks now
@KANSANNEWS
An apple gives you more energy than a cup of coffee. I like to soak my apples in red bull.
THEKANSAN
I want the job of the person who throws food to make them bounce off the table in restaurant commercials
I wish I could listen to Reel Big Fish at home in my underwear every day instead of going to class
There are cats with better social media presence than me
Gary Patterson just followed me on Twitter and that's the most exciting thing that's happened to me all month
KANSAN.NEWS
@UNIVERSITY DAILYKANSAN
Illustration by Jake Kaufmann/KANSAN
Liston: Errors in Kansas' Spanish-language voting guide are an unacceptable oversight
RYAN LISTON
@rliston235
on March 7, Democritic consultant Chris Reeves wrote
Chris Reeves wrote in the Daily Kos that Kansas' Spanish-language voting guide contained errors and was not identical to the English-language version.
In the article, Reeves points out two discrepancies. First, the registration
deadline in the Spanish version was incorrectly set to 15 days before an election; the correct deadline is 21 days before an election. Second, the Spanish version failed to mention that voters can use a United States passport as valid identification when registering to vote.
Even more appalling, however, may be the fact that these discrepancies are not new. After Reeves was interviewed April 12 on NPR's Here and Now, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's office sent the news program a letter stating that the Spanish voting guide had not been revised since November 2011.
In the same letter, the office claims that the discrepancies were "a result of simple human error" and it
Yet without any statistics or information, they cannot be certain that it had no negative consequences.
"believe[s] the mistake has had zero effect on voters in Kansas."
Voters who may have been misled by the inaccuracies and registered later than 21 days before an election would have had their votes nullified. This possibility means that some Kansans may not have had their voices heard in elections for the past five years.
Furthermore, Kansas already has strict voter registration laws that require proof of citizenship and make it more difficult for some Kansans to register. Almost 23,000 Kansans have had their registrations placed in suspense
or removed from voting lists since the proof of citizenship requirement was instated in 2013. Pair this with these recently-revealed language barriers in voting guides, and it is easy to see how many Kansans may feel they are being systematically discriminated against.
Whether Kobach intended on suppressing non-English-speaking Kansas voters or this incident was truly an accident, an oversight of this magnitude cannot be tolerated. Since the duties regarding voter registration fall under the Secretary of State's jurisdiction, it should be his and his office's job to ensure that all information provided to voters is updated. Kobach and his staff's negligence
should prompt an investigation into the issue and lead to greater scrutiny of the office's operations in the future.
The Kansas government must be more diligent in preventing the circulation of false information to its citizens. All Kansans deserve to have their voices heard in elections, and that cannot be achieved when members of our government allow issues like this one to go unnoticed or uncorrected.
Ryan Liston is a freshman from Lawrence studying journalism.
- Edited by Skylar Rolstad
Clough: NBA's decision to keep All-Star game in Charlotte is rational and justified
▶ MATTHEW CLOUGH
@mcloughsofty
Last Friday, during the board of governors meeting in New York, NBA officials addressed rising controversy surrounding the selection of Charlotte, N.C. as the site of the 2017All-Star Game. Critics have suggested the event be moved to a different city in light of the state's House Bill 2, which went into effect last month. House Bill 2 prohibits transgender people from using the restroom of the gender they identify with.
Even though many people, including celebrities like
Changing the event's location seems much too simplistic an action to have any significant impact on the social atmosphere. Certainly, the potential economic benefit to Charlotte of having such a high-profile event would be lost, although the additional revenue wouldn't have been a factor in the first place if a different city was originally selected.
Charles Barkley, advocated to move the game in a display of protest for the bill,the NBA decided to maintain its decision to allow Charlotte to host the event. Although the decision was met with some criticism, it is ultimately the best course of action for the organization, community and the political climate.
Not to mention that the two spheres of sports entertainment and politics are largely unrelated. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday that the law as it stands is problematic for the league. But it doesn't seem
that any legislation would be directly detrimental to the core operations of the NBA, whose primary function is to provide entertainment and promote athleticism. North Carolina's bill may be contrary to the league's ideals, but it isn't in direct opposition to its productivity.
That said, it's certainly important to consider the immense influence athletics hold over our culture. Sports are big business for American audiences, and it's commendable that the league has expressed intentions to continue engagement with those who can bring about change.
Granted, these words may not carry any gravity, but should the NBA actually continue the conversation, it should be applauded for its progressive efforts. Ultimately though, it isn't the league's responsibility to become involved with North Carolina's legislation.
Other forms of entertainment have confronted the
same issue of how to conduct business in the state. Bruce Springsteen canceled his recent tour stop in Greensboro, N.C., in response to the bill.
Stripping Charlotte's host status wouldn't be justified given that the city has its own NBA team. Do the Charlotte Hornets have any less right to play in the city
Yet other artists, such as Mumford & Sons, opted to donate proceeds from their North Carolina concert to a local LGBT group. This response is much more productive and mature - rather than isolating oneself from the situation in protest, the group is actively working to influence change.
Relocating the All-Star game from Charlotte doesn't make much sense in moving forward. If the NBA really does want to try to address the issue, it has more opportunity to do so by remaining involved in the community. Its presence alone can help continue the conversation.
Matthew Clough is a junior from Wichita studying English and journalism.
just because of governmental legislation? The bill isn't even necessarily an accurate representation of the views of everyone in the state - it isn't fair to punish the public by stripping its access to entertainment.
The main focus should be House Bill 2 and the All-Star Game are largely unrelated issues, and allowing one to affect the other isn't logical. Regardless of the potentially problematic legislation of North Carolina's government, the NBA is doing the right thing by keeping the game in Charlotte and continuing the conversation. There are more productive ways to discuss and bring about change than to simply abandon the situation.
- Edited by Cele Fryer
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