MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002
4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
OPINION
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002
TALKTOUS
Jay Krail
editor
864-4854 or jkrell@kansan.com
Brooke Hesler and Kyle Ramsey
managing editors
864-4854 or bhasker@kansan.com and
kramsey@kansan.com
Laurel Burchfield
readers' representative
864-4810 or lburchfield@kansan.com
Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter
opinion editors
864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Amber Agee business manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Eric Kelting retail sales manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 864-7667 or mglbson@kansan.com
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or mf fisher@kansan.com
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Two days in fall not worth loss of study time for finals
In February of 1999 the University Council voted to change the academic calendar. The changes included adding a fall break and a two-week intersession after January 1. The changes also shortened finals week from six days to five.
According to an article in The University Daily Kansan the same month, Carol Holstead, Calendar Committee member and associate professor of journalism, said the committee was making the changes to respond to expressed needs for mental downtime.
A shortened finals week may seem like a small sacrifice for two days off in fall. Especially considering that in previous years without fall break students were in school continuously from the Labor Day until Thanksgiving break.
Yet, students still have a say in this issue and need to ask themselves this question: is having a fall break worth less time to study for finals?
For one thing, the break might not be that effective.
Fall break comes in the middle of October, during most students' midterms. Since the University doesn't have a designated week for midterms, the scheduling of tests is left up to professors. This means students are just as likely to have tests the Wednesday before fall break as they are to have a
test the Monday after fall break
Having to study over the break doesn't constitute much of a break.
The plan also included a longer winter break to give students the benefit of taking interim classes the first two weeks of January before returning for the spring semester.
Prior to the changes, stop day was usually in the middle of the week, allowing for students to have a weekend between finals. The weekend was useful not only for study time, but for rest time as well.
Now finals start on Monday and end Friday. Students receive three days before finals, including stop day, to prepare.
Finals are a stressful time, and having adequate time to prepare is essential.
While the University has the best interest of students in mind, students need to provide feedback. This plan is not final. Changes can still be made.
Students need to let the University know if a fall break is really worth cramming finals into five days. Contact a school senator and tell them whether the school calendar is working for you.
Mandy German for the editorial board.
BY THE NUMBERS
$337 million
FRANKO'S VIEW
Total operating budget for the University of Kansas Lawrence campus 2002
44%
9. 5% Percent of total budget spent on research in 2002 FY.
Percent of total budget spent on instruction h 2002 FY.
8. 7%
5.6%
Percent of total budget spent on student services such as advising and admissions in 2002 FY.
Percent of total budget spent on physical plant operation such as utilities and housekeeping in 2002 FY.
1. 1% Percent of total budget spent public services such as museums in 2002 FY.
Source: Oftfie of Institutional Research and Planning
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those components of the work that are original to the author, not to the facts themselves' (Feist v. Rural 1991).
I've noticed some rather derogatory comments toward Carrot Top, and I'd just like to say, I'm related to Carrot Top. He's my cousin. He's worked really, really hard to get where he's at. So I would appreciate everybody to stop slamming on him. Let's give some props to Carrot Top.
those components of the work that are original to the author, not to the facts themselves' (Feist v. Rural 1991).
Man, Sigma Phi Epsilon, nice Christmas decorations. What are you guys, drunk?
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An ode to a squirrel. I love squirrels and their bushy tails, their beady eyes and their teeth of pearl. So next time you see a squirrel, just go, "Hey, squirrelly squirrelly."
Is there a polite way to tell your roommate
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those components of the work that are original to the author, not to the facts themselves' (Feist v. Rural 1991).
that he sucks?
I just wanna know if it's the paper or the student body that is so petty that all they can think of is to make derogatory comments about other schools. And then, the paper prints it all? I don't get it.
those components of the work that are original to the author, not to the facts themselves' (Feist v. Rural 1991).
Is it bad if your girlfriend wears one of your shirts and stretches it out, not in the chest area, but in the stomach area?
those components of the work that are original to the author, not to the facts themselves' (Feist v. Rural 1991).
This is a message for the hot guy at the law school. You need to keep your beard
Went to the pet store, bought me a hamster, put it in the microwave.
Hello, we are cooking some crepes over here, and I've gotta say that my roommate Patrick is the crepe pimp. He's the crepiest pimp there ever was. And my buddy Michelle is his crepe ho. And we're having a creperific time.
PERSPECTIVES
I just got done talking to one of my friends who thinks he can create a race of supermen by microwaving his sperm. My suggestion: hide your micwaves.
Last Friday, me and my friend finished off a 1.75 liter of Ciclon. Later that night, we shared the toilet as we wuked into it. Now that, my friend, is a shared moment.
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When did they tear down Dunkin' Donuts,
and why didn't anyone freaking tell me?
Companies misuse copyrights infringe on consumers' rights
GUEST COMMENTARY
Image the mistake or going shopping on Black Friday this year. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. It gets its name because this is the day retail companies' bottom line figures leave the red and enter the black.
Avoiding this situation and giving shoppers an extra edge was the intention of those who posted this year's Black Friday sale prices nearly 10 days in advance on a variety of Web sites, including Fatwallet.com and DealExpert.net.
Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and Office Max, among others, were bothered by the free advertising. Their lawyers sent letters to the sites threatening lawsuits if the sale prices were not immediately removed.
Greg Holmquist
opinion@kansan.com
The postings of sale information consist primarily of a series of rearranged facts. Retailers built their suit on claims that they have copyright control over these facts.
Faced with the threat of lawsuit from the retailers, the sites were forced to take down the information.
The Supreme Court has held that "copyright protection extends only to
This case is interesting because of their claims. Retailers threatened suit under copyright protection rather than trade secrets provisions. Moreover, they did so citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA.
Still, retailers pressed their ultimatum citing copyright law, likely because of the DMCA. Under section 512 of the Act, defendants are not liable if they immediately remove the content in question.
But even though provisions exist to put back the information if it is not protected by copyright, the process wouldn't have been completed in time for Black Friday.
Ironically, section 512 is the very provision that's supposed to "protect" sites such as Fatwallet.com.
The options are clear: escape now by complying, or fight under the risk of financial disaster. The DMCA benefits those who wrote it: lobbyists for those who want to wrestle all control back from us, the consumers.
For threatened sites, the decision to remove the information was a business
one, not a moral one.
The reservations of Fatwallet.com were painfully clear when they removed the information.
In place of the ads Fatwallet, com wrote: "While we believe that sale prices are facts and can not be copyrighted, we have made the business decision to comply with the DMCA notifications...If we were to choose to fight this battle, it would require more resources than are available -and we would no longer be able to serve consumers."
Fatwallet com sums up the danger of the situation in one simple line: "we would no longer be able to serve consumers."
We, as consumers, are the victims in this never-ending trade against our rights.
Whether it's claiming copyright over a series of facts or making it difficult to convert music from legally purchased CDs into MP3s—making MP3s from albums you own is 100 percent legal—the exploitation of intellectual property laws written by and for powerful interests continue to stifle our rights as consumers.
As consumers, we have to be willing to fight against these encroachments, and the first step is recognizing that there is a problem.
Holmquist is a Topeka junior in business and psychology.
Obedience to law not an option for moral, social reasons
Andy Watson sold marijuana and got caught according to Friday's University Daily Kansas. Unfortunately, his assessment of the experience illustrates a faulty way of looking at the law.
Watson said, "It's a dumb idea, but it's not a morally bad thing to do — it's dumb because it's illegal...it doesn't hurt anvone."
Watson's implicit idea is that following the law is not a moral question. Instead, each person must choose the laws to follow based on what legal punishments they are willing to risk.
Thus, selling pot isn't bad because it's illegal — it's bad because you might get punished. This is a philosophy that following the law is optional based on risk-reward analysis. Unfortunately, it's a defective philosophy, both socially and ethically.
Socially, Watson's attitude leads to increased crime and increased law enforcement costs.
If obeying the law is a matter of risk-reward analysis, then people will frequently commit crimes, since there is not much chance of punishment. The probability of being caught speeding, littering or stealing is often quite low. In contrast, the benefits of these activities, in terms of personal enrichment or convenience, are immediate and sure. Why not take the risk?
Joe Pull
opinion@kansan.com
GUESTCOMMENTARY
When the "following the law is
optional based on risk-reward analysis logic is adopted by everyone, problems quickly mount because people have different ideas of which laws can be ignored.
The result is litter everywhere, no secure property, more car accidents, etc. We are forced to spend more on repairing the consequences and on law enforcement.
Optional observation of the law benefits the individual, but it damages everyone.
Besides the pragmatic consequences of the optional view of the law there are also ethical problems.
Society benefits when everyone obeys the law out of a sense of duty rather than as a risk-reward analysis—there are less of crime's negative social consequences.
Citizens are obligated to obey the law so long as the law itself is not morally objectionable. Being part of a civilized society, thereby gaining the benefits of that society, confirms an obligation to respect that society's laws.
America would need few uniformed police officers if it had 280 million citizens each policing themselves. Even from a purely pragmatic, economic perspective, obeying laws we don't like makes social sense.
Watson's idea that selling pot is dumb because you might get caught is wrong.
Selling pot is dumb because it's unethical. It's unethical because it violates the law, and because the optional view of observing the law is defective both pragmatically and ethically — regardless of whether selling pot hurts anyone or not.
Pull is a Colfax, N.O., senior in history and political science.