4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TUESDAY,OCTOBER8,2002
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Jay Krali editor 864-4854 or jkrali@kansan.com
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Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
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Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or mfisher@kansan.com
Free for All
Free for All
Call 864-0500
callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan 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.
This is to my friend Bo who recently complained to me that he hasn't won a free Coke yet, although he buys Coke all the time. Well, I won two free Cokes yesterday. Two. Take that one, sucker.
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
I'd just like to extend my apologies to the people who had to watch me puke this morning out in front of Mallott. I couldn't find a bathroom, and I panicked.
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
This is to the girl in Heard on the Hill who said that we should attack Iraq because they've treaded all over us and some people need punishment. Um, I don't know what Iraq ever did to us, so if you could clarify that.
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
I'm ugly, but I'm wondering if anybody would want to date me on account of my honesty.
In honor of Meagan Kelleher's article, I'm going to take 20 shots tonight, puke in my hair, fall down the stairs and shag with some random guy.
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wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
I just called KU info, and I ended up giving them info. What's up with that?
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
Did you ever put your thong on and think it felt weird, and then realize that you put it on sideways?
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
To answer why does food taste so much better when you've been drinking, it's because you're drunk. And also, we still have the squirrel, and it is on the brink of being in little tiny pieces. So you better give us 50,000 buffalo before you get it back piece by piece.
I was just wondering if maybe the marijuana shortage had more to do with the drought than the actual effectiveness of the Lawrence police.
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
This is in response to the kids who stole our banner. I'm calling on behalf of Delta Force. We'll call it even since you took our banner and I took your girlfriend.
What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor? Where's my tractor?
wanting more benefits and a pay raise. I don't know about anybody else, but my RA is freaking worthless. I have to call the front desk every night to have someone come up and quiet the hallways at like, 3 o'clock in the morning. If they want better job then they should do a better job, at least in my case.
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right B,A, select, start. Whoever can tell me what that means, I'm paying a hundred bucks.
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I just saw in the Kansan how RAs are
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Dude, you know your car alarm honks the horn exactly 185 times every time it goes off? Thanks a lot, I hope you're having a good time this morning.
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To the people who keep wearing their KU First T-shirts, the reason they say KU First on them is because they were cool the first time you wore them.
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(honking) 2:30 a.m. You know, if that alarm goes off one more time, frat boy, I gotta tell you, your car may not be there when you get back from the bar.
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Guess what? I don't write articles to put in the Kansan about how drunk I was last night, so I don't think you should write articles to put in the Kansan about how sober you were last night. It's our own decision, so why don't you just chill out and let other people live their own lives.
Dude, it's 3 in the morning. What do you think your car alarm is doing? Is it really protecting your Boyz II Men CDs from being stolen? I don't think so. I hope your battery dies.
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I think that Bada Bing ad in the Kansan is possibly one of the most sexist, tosteless things I've ever seen printed in these papers. If there's one way to embrace stagnation, it's by embracing the sort of patriarchal dominance that is espoused within this advertisement. Way to go, Kansan, let's see things repressed for another 100 years.
Anyone who says that Young Guns was not the greatest movie of 1990 is a heartless fool.
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This goes out to all the scooter kids I saw on campus. You guys are pretty cool, and I was just wondering, how can I join your gang?
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Jim? Jim, why do you have this answering machine? You're not fooling me, come on, answer the phone. Jim, I just wanna really talk to you, okay? We can work this out if we just talk together. Call me.
How much bud can these KBI guys smoke? I mean seriously, it seems like every two weeks they're coming in taking 20 pounds from us.
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It's getting cold in here so put on all your clothes. I am getting so cold, I'm gonna put my clothes on.
Sometimes I feel so hydrogenated. Partially vegetable oils, 35 milligrams. No questions or comments.
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The pirate's tell me thar be treasure on Bonair.
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SACK'S VIEW
ON THE 'KANSAN' ON-LINE
Steve Seck/Knight Ridder
kansan.com
Go to kansan.com and click on the opinion section to check out the weekly online poll. Click on forums to post to the discussion.
Opinion Forum
Do you care about Homecoming? What could KU do to get students more involved in these events?
Last Week's Poll
Out of 73 votes, 37 percent thought KU was doing a good job of recruiting and retaining minority students, 41 percent thought the University wasn't doing enough and 22 percent said they weren't sure whether or not enough was being done.
Opinion Poll
Do you feel the University cares about you?
Yes. KU faculty and staff work hard for me. I couldn't ask for more.
No. Sometimes I think they'd rather I sent them a check and not show up.
I am not sure.
Special Information
Interested in finding out more about KU's football expenses? We've published a chart alongside today's commentary by professors Rosenbloom and Cudd. You can find both on the Kansan on-line.
PERSPECTIVES
Football program doesn't bring home bacon for other sports
When the University of Kansas football program is caught in a losing streak, the sport is often justified by how much money it makes.
A recent article in The University Daily Kansas ("Football ticket money covers game costs, supports other sports." Sept. 4) concludes that the program generates a large profit that is used to subsidize other, non-revenue generating sports.
GUEST COMMENTARY
However, this conclusion is based on a narrow and misleading reading of the facts. A more thorough accounting suggests that at best the football program may break even, but it may actually be a money loser.
Joshua Rosenbloom and Ann Cudd
oninion@kansan.com
In the article, the only costs analyzed were those directly connected to playing a home game. These are what economists would call the "variable costs."
To answer this question we need to look
This comparison between ticket revenue and variable costs would be the right criterion to use in answering the question: would it be profitable to host another home football game each season? As the article shows, the answer to this question is an unqualified yes.
But suppose we want to know whether the football program is making money; we need to ask a different question; How would the athletic corporation's revenues and costs differ if we eliminated football altogether?
at the total cost of the football program, which includes items like coaches' salaries, scholarships for football players, equipment, and the expense of recruiting new players, what economists would call "fixed costs."
According to Susan Wachter, Chief Financial Officer for Intercollegiate Athletics, these costs come to a bit more than $6 million for the current year, more than five times the cost reported in the Kansan article for six home games and well above the $3.8 million earned in ticket revenue from home games. The biggest cost is paying for the recent renovations to Memorial Stadium. Next are scholarships for football players, and coaches' salaries.
Of course, ticket revenues are not the only source of income generated by the football program. According to the athletic corporation, television rights and post-season bowl game earnings from the
conference are expected to provide revenues of $3.65 million this year.Together with ticket sales this yields revenues of $7.15 million, or about $300,000 more than the combined costs we have been able to tabulate.
It is important to note that there are a number of other significant costs associated with the football program that were not reported to us, but could have been estimated.
Conspicuously missing are any of the overhead costs of the Athletic Corporation such as staff salaries or tutoring for student athletes (some of whom are football players).
In addition, costs for groundskeeping and utilities (electricity to light the stadium for night games and recruiting visits, for example) are not broken out by sport, but football is the major user of these services. Costs of athletic trainers and other medical services were not reported to us, but could have been estimated.
Adding in these costs it is almost certain that the cost of the football program exceeds the revenue it generates.
The facts show that any justification for the program must rest on other, non-monetary benefits that it provides rather than on its financial success.
Cudd and Rosenbloom are professors of economics at the University of Kansas.
Bush's threats of force to Iraq justified by international law
During the current standoff between President George W. Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein people have argued that Bush has no right to threaten Iraq with military force.
However, Bush has been within his right according to international law.
After the Persian Gulf War, Iraq agreed to United Nations Security Council Resolution 687. This resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, meaning that it is a resolution which can be enforced through military action.
In addition to declaring a cease-fire, the resolution called for the removal or dismantling of all Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction and to restrict imports into the country.
Weapons inspectors with the United Nations were supposed to make sure Iraq complied. Iraq agreed with all components of the resolution.
In late 1998, seven years later. United Nations weapons inspectors were finally admitted into Iraq. Iraqi officials thwarted the mission by moving chemical and biological weapon stockpiles to different locations as inspectors traveled. Inspectors reported noncompliance to the United Nations in December 1998 Economic sanctions were introduced and have done little to persuade Saddam Hussein to comply with international agreements.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Audrey Snyder
opinion@kansan.com
In addition to reneging on international agreements, Iraq has been proven willing to use its weapons on just about anybody.
During the 10 year war between Iran and Iraq, Iraq used chemical weapons against groups of his own citizens in northern Iraq.
Iraq has shown itself to be a threat to its neighbors and to the rest of the world.
Now that President Bush has spoken about the possibility of a military attack on Iraq, Hussein has changed his tune.
The tyrannical leader has now decided to admit inspectors. Upon their arrival, he will undoubtedly play the same cat-and-mouse game he played in 1998.
It would be great if the United Nations was willing to avoid military action and all international leaders were honestly willing to work with other leaders. However, some aren't.
If Hussein truly wants to open up his country to United Nations inspectors and play no games, military force won't be necessary. If all goes well, the international community will be more than happy to end sanctions.
However, Hussein's past behavior indicates that he is not really interested in resolving issues.
Bush is right to attempt to build international, active support against Iraq.
The British and Italian prime ministers have stated their willingness to support the United States, Spain, Poland and Israel also have declared their support.
In threatening force, Bush has not asked American allies or the United Nations to do anything that was not agreed to in Resolution 687 in 1991.
Snyder is a Shawnee senior in political science.
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