4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2002
TALKTOUS
Jay Krall editor 864-4854 or jkrall@kansan.com
Brooke Hesler and Kyle Ramsey managing editors 864-4854 or bheleser@kansan.com and kramsyer@kansan.com
Laurel Burchfield readers' representative 864-4810 or ibuchfield@kansan.com
Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter opinion editors 864-4924 or opinton@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
864-7666 or mfshear@kansan.com
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
University energy should catch the winds of change
The University of Kansas is often seen as something of a dinosaur in our commitment to the environment, but now we have a chance to support green technology and save some green in the process.
KU is considering a plan to draw its power from one thing Kansas has in abundance: wind.
Kansas Wind Power LLC has received approval from the Butler County planning commission to build a wind farm near Leon and is offering a contract to KU.
Student Senate has already voiced their support, and it is now being addressed by the KU administration.
Currently KU gets electricity from Westar's coal plants.
Over coal, wind has the advantages of being cheaper and vastly more environment-friendly. Wind power is sustainable; it will never choke the air with pollution and it will never run out as long as there is sunlight and air, unlike any fossil fuel.
There are a few problems.
For one thing, the proposed wind farm is all the way out in Leon, and it will cost money to use the power lines to bring it here.
Kansas Wind Power LLC is not yet sure how much that would cost, but is certain that in total what we would pay is
less than what we now pay for coal.
A more difficult problem is that the wind doesn't blow all the time. Kansas Wind Power LLC is looking into means of storing some of the power it generates so that it could continue to provide electricity on calm days, but has no current plans to that effect.
This means KU would have to have a joint contract to get most of their power through Kansas Wind but still rely on Westar when it is calm.
KU's annual electricity bill comes to about $5 million, and in these lean budget times any savings helps.
Some wind power is better than none, especially if it's cheaper than the alternative.
If KU agrees to take advantage of this opportunity, we could be getting our energy from the wind as soon as early 2004. Because this is an outside company, KU will not have to shoulder any amount of the construction cost for the power plant.
We should take advantage of this opportunity to support a cheaper and more environmentally sound emerging technology. Students can voice their opinions on the matter by contacting KU's utilities manager, Cindy Strecker.
Sam Lane for the editorial board.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I'm calling in response to the Free for All that said the roommate would never leave the couch, and he said what should I do? I'm thinking C, sell the couch, because if there's no couch to lay on, he'll have to get up and find something to do.
digital photo of me and my friend, but he asked for my e-mail to send it to me. So all I have to say is, no matter what city you go to and country you're in, K-State students and alum are still very strange.
My roommate, please remove rotting pumpkin from the balcony. I went to touch it, and my finger went through it.
digital photo of me and my friend, but he asked for my e-mail to send it to me. So all I have to say is, no matter what city you go to and country you're in, K-State students and alum are still very strange.
I'm calling from London, so yeah, this better go in the Free for All, because this is costing me a lot of money. I just wanted to call and let you know that while I was shopping here in London, I saw a 40-year-old man in a K-State shirt, and I thought it would be nice to let him know that I go to KU. And not only did he ask to take a
miss out every event
Pre-season exclusion. Sports combs cost $100, so why do students who buy them still have to pay an extra $15 per game to attend pre-season events? Can we say gouging, kids?
I was sitting here reading the Free for All, and I was actually laughing out loud. I was just wondering, how do you sign up to get the job to listen to the recordings for the Free for All and decide which ones go in the paper? Because I think I'd be great at it.
miss out every event
Pre-season exclusion. Sports combs cost $100, so why do students who buy them still have to pay an extra $15 per game to attend pre-season events? Can we say gouging, kids?
I called in last week about my roommate that would never leave the couch. Well, we moved the TV into her bedroom, and now she won't ever leave her bed.
图
Here's a question. Is it littering if you throw it down but you have every intention to pick it up? 'Cause I just got a $500 ticket for throwing out my Coke bottle, and I was gonna go pick it up. The cop didn't seem to think it was a good idea.
Loser is spelled M-I-Z-Z-O-U
.
I'm sorry, but the basketball team rules, but there should be no reason why the people in Oliver should not be able to get back into their dorm. I think the police suck.
To Scott. Don't do it, man. Don't do it.
miss out every event
Pre-season exclusion. Sports combs cost $100, so why do students who buy them still have to pay an extra $15 per game to attend pre-season events? Can we say gouging, kids?
miss out every event
Pre-season exclusion. Sports combs cost $100, so why do students who buy them still have to pay an extra $15 per game to attend pre-season events? Can we say gouging, kids?
'KANSAN' REPORT CARD
Pass:
Big siblings in college. Being a Big Brother/Sister is a wonderful way to be a positive influence in a kid's life. KU big siblings can influence positive behavior and give kids a connection to higher education they may not have had.
Letting the ladies play through. At a time when female golfers aren't allowed in some clubs and face discrimination at others, it's good to know that Lawrence clubs don't stand in the way of women.
- Quitters do win. Giving students a chance to win prizes if they surrender their smokes is a great idea. Looks like the Great American Smokeout has learned the valuable preschool-inspired lesson of rewarding good behavior.
Fail:
Mousing around. If we are considering banning credit card companies that mislead students why are we still letting Disney scour KU for intended servants?
Follow the Dot. Despite the fact that Douglas County is awash with thirsty college kids, Wyandotte became the first Kansas county to challenge this state's alcohol blue laws. Douglas County needs to get with the game or local liquor stores will miss out on revenue.
PERSPECTIVES
Maggie Koerth/Kansan
Perfection doesn't really exist, you are your own best roommate
Everybody has some sort of imprudent fear; thunder, locus, heights, even being scared of the dark.
COMMENTARY
But there is one fear that is beyond doubt the cause of shaky hands, nervous stutters, and a queasy stomach: the bad roommate.
Marla Keown opinion@kansan.com
Whether you are paired up with one at the dorms or you choose one with your own bad judgment, a bad roommate can make for a hellish year. My own experience has proven to me that only you can be your perfect roommate.
My first year at college, I underwent the infamous random roommate situation at the dorms.
I filled out a sheet, listing my hobbies, interests, what I wanted in a roommate and what I didn't want and got the exact opposite match.
I spent many nights in friends' rooms while my perfect match went to town with random guys.
Two years ago, I signed a lease with four other friends, three of which were guys.
I woke up in the mornings to her favorite country music blaring in the background. And I had to endlessly listen to her and her friends complain about the guys in their lives and their ever-growing asses.
After spending a year in hell, I decided living alone with another female was not a great idea.
After having lived with a female for an entire year in the dorms, I rationalized that guys would be easier to live with than girls.
While the emotional issues were never raised, the cleanliness factor was way below par. I felt more like a hired maid than a rent-paying resident.
Eventually, I turned in my cleaning uniform and went on strike.
I bought all disposable dishware and either ate out, called delivery or ate microwavable dinners. A couple of weeks later the guys got the clue and started cleaning up after themselves. While this strategy was hard on my wallet for awhile, the results proved to be worthwhile.
I never ventured out of my room except for emergencies like using the bathroom, eating or going to a party next door.
All this time, I vowed to find the perfect roommate.
Instead, I found a cozy one bedroom apartment to share with my ideal roommate, Sammy the cat.
I don't have to worry about her bringing home any strays to shack up with. If she starts to get fatter, I don't have to listen to any whining.
She listens to my CD's intently and doesn't complain when I channel surf. Although my perfect roommate consists of me, myself, and a cat named Sammy, the idea of coming home to a perfect setting is relaxing.
Picking a perfect roommate is a next to impossible feat.
There are no certain guidelines or a helpful handbook to make the picking process easier or even satisfactory.
Reliable sources such as friends or relatives can turn out to be flops.
Friends of friends can become a person's worst nightmare. Even a topnotch interview session with random queries from an ad in the newspaper can become a nightmare in the months to follow.
While living alone can be expensive it is well worth the relief of stress.
Finding the flawless roommate is like winning a $20 million dollar jackpot. It just doesn't happen.
Instead of trying to find the winning ticket, students should learn how to manage their cash shortages.
Keown is a Topeka sophomore in journalism.
Refugees not in Kansas, but U.S. policy needs to change
couple of weeks ago I started hearing rumors. Old friends kept asking if I'd heard that a plane loaded with Haitian refugees had landed in Salina.
Naturally, being curious I decided to contact The Salina Journal to find out more.
As it turns out, the "story" was actually a satirical opinion column on Nov. 3 titled "Cheap therapy," that theorized what might have happened if Haitian refugees had run aground in Salina as they did in Florida on Oct. 29.
According to these stories, a broken plane had landed at the Salina airport and dozens of refugees had run amok through the streets.
Although the column wasn't a true story, the plight of would-be Haitian immigrants is a very real issue. The Coast Guard estimates that last year more than 2,000 Haitians attempted to reach the United States. Nearly all of those were turned away.
Reasons for leaving Haiti vary, but Kiran Jayaram, a Kansas City, Mo., graduate student, said it mostly has to do with economics.
Jayaram spent years studying Haiti and now teaches Haitian language classes at the University of Kansas. He said that inflation has risen in Haiti and that the standard of living is extremely low.
Unfortunately, the U.S. grants asylum to political refugees, but not economic ones. Any Haitian refugees caught on U.S.
OPINION EDITOR
Maggie Koerth opinion@kansan.com
shores are shipped home.
However, the U.S. maintains a double standard for Caribbean refugees.
While Haitians are consistently turned away, any Cuban who reaches American shores is virtually entitled to legal residency within a year, thanks to a 1966 law allowing political asylum for Cubans. Although official reports maintain that
"You can't separate politics from economics," he said.
Jayaram said thousands of people fled Haiti in 1991 after a coup overpowered democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Instead of reaching safety, most ended up in Guantanamo Bay, surrounded by 10-foot barbed wire fences and terrorized by rats.
Cuban refugees are seeking such action, and thus, are different from Haitians, Jayaram said such reasoning doesn't make sense.
In fact, Haiti's economic troubles are mostly due to an unstable political system plagued by dictatorships, coups and alleged election corruption.
Since 1994, both the American Anthropological Association and John C. Faval
ora, Archbishop of Miami, have come out in favor of allowing Haitian refugees into the U.S.
Even Jeb Bush, the President's brother and governor of Florida, agreed the policy was unfair, according to a Nov. 4 story in The Christian Science Monitor.
Too much is at stake for this issue to die just because it has dropped from newspapers' headlines and the minds of satirical columnists.
Students learn about U.S. policy toward Haiti and refugees in general. Once you have all the facts, contact your newly elected representatives and ask them to change this unfair policy.
■ Koerth is a Salina senior in anthropology and journalism.