THURSDAY,SEPTEMBER12,2002
NEWS
OPINION
4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SA
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
TALKTOUS
Greg Burchfield
Jay Krail
editor
864-4854 or jkrail@kansan.com
Brooke Hesler and Kyle Ramssey
managing editors
864-4854 or bheler@kansan.com and
kramssey@kansan.com
Laurel Burchfield
readers representative
864-4810 or burchfield@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 advisor 864-7667 or mgibsen@kansan.com
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing adviser
884-7668 or mfshser@kansan.com
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Students need to take an interest, vote on Nov. 5
"Students don't vote. Do you expect me to come in here and kiss your ass?" -Senator Wich Fowler, Jr.
These words, spoken in 1992, represent politicians' general attitude toward college students and voting. Students generally are not interested in voting when election time rolls around.
As a student, if this roller couster ride of a year has not been enough to convince you to vote, what will? Within the last six months, the University of Kansas has watched as budgets have been slashed across the state. Now you as a student are feeling the brunt of the state's crisis with the rise of tuition dollars.
If college students at the University do not show up for elections on Nov. 5, it will only reinforce the idea that politicians can make important decisions without seeking the opinion of college students. This is our one chance to redeem ourselves and show that college students really can make a difference and have a powerful voice in Topeka.
Jeff Allion, community affairs director, said voter turnout not only among students but also in Douglas County is quite low. Allion said there is no excuse for this because the county is one of the largest populations in the state, has a highly educated populace and a close proximity to Kansas City.
A prime example of excellent student voter turnout is the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Voter turnout in the year 2000 was 70 percent, said Anita Bertram, Vote 2002 coordinator for the University of Wisconsin student government.
Call 864-0500
Free for All
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to叮令 comments. Standorous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
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I'd like to welcome back the sorority girls as well, and remind them that real man don't come from Iowa, they probably come from some place like Delaware or Rhode Island.
--parked. Threeyoungmen,KU students asked if we needed help,and our answer was affirmative.
Does anyone else think that KU bus drivers are just itching to kill pedestrians? Men, those guys just barrel down Jayhawk Boulevard like it's nobody's business. Woo-eee.
One example of the university's student body influencing law-making decisions at the capital building occurred last year when the University of Wisconsin faced a $108 million tuition hike. Students rallied at the capital and eventually a comprume of a $44 million tuition increase was agreed upon.
Does anybody else think that the parking situation on campus is ridiculous? I was late to class today because it took half an hour to find a parking spot. Quit overselling the lots, KU parking.
Bertram directly attributes this to the fact that students do take the time to vote and politicians have taken notice. The university also plays host to several congressional debates during the primaries.
The University of Wisconsin is a nice example of what can happen when students become involved in government issues. Wouldn't it be nice if the next time a big decision were going to be made at the capitol building concerning the university, if politicians were here on campus asking for student input? This could become reality if students vote in November.
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KU Info is one of the most useful programs on campus. Nobody wants a fricking Web portal.
If you want to become more involved, the Student Legislative Awareness Board will have its first meeting today at 6:30 pm in the Kansas Union.
Tina, I just wanted to say that I love you,
and that I miss you, and remember you
always hold the key to my heart in your
hand.
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I just got coutcours in my Birkenstock.
Now it is up to you as a campus to register to vote. You can print off the applications online at the Douglas County Web site (www.douglas-county.com). You can also register to vote on campus at the Audio Reader Network (wwwku.edu/~arnet).
I heard walking through the Campusite gives you bad luck. But what happens if you have sex in it?
钢
If Canada legalizes marijuana, I'm gonna transfer.
What statement do you want to make to politicians this November about college students, a statement of apathy or one of power?
Amy Potter for the Editorial Board
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
KU students helping others
On Aug. 22, we were helping a friend move to the 900 block of Missouri. Three ladies and I were trying to maneuver a large, heavy oak desk upstairs and onto the porch. A car drove by, stopped and parked.
In no time at all, they moved the desk onto the porch, into the house, through several doorways and placed it where it was wanted. They then asked if there was anything else and we said "no" and thanked them. They were offered money, but refused it.
As they left, the neighbor's mother moved by their kindness, said "Those boys were angels." And, you know, deep in my heart, I think she was truly right.
John Glinka Lawrence resident
My pain is so bad that it is not just during my periods, but the entire month. I suffer from severe back pain (my endo grows on organs near my lower back). I also suffer from painful cramps and other symptoms, including chronic vaginal infections.
I am writing about the article about Korbalagae Kunwogal who suffers from endometriosis. I too have endometriosis. It was diagnosed in February 2001.
Endometriosis a serious problem, women should learn more
I am only 22, and have been living with painful cramps since I was 14. Endometriosis is a serious problem that affects so many people. The worse thing is that it affects so many more people that do not know they have it.
I am sure many students at KU have endometriosis,some who know they do, and others who don't know. There are support groups out there.
I hope that all women would learn about this disease, since it is nearly life-
Kevin Gritzke/Kansas
PPRSPECTIVES
Klutz doesn't fear Friday 13
COMMENTARY
Tomorrow is Friday the 13th
tomorrow is Friday.
I'm not nervous or scared, or pulling out some sort of token that will save my life in case a black cat crosses my path. I'm superstitious sometimes — but maybe it's more of obsessive-compulsive disorder than superstition.
Meagan Kelleher
opinion@kansan.com
I am not afraid of Friday the 13th. Every day is like Friday the 13th for me.
Maybe it's just me, but everything I do seems to end up wrong. I just spent $400 fixing my car, only to discover that while they were "fixing" it, they ripped off my front license plate, took off my back hubcap, broke my automatic seatbelt and got my steering wheel cover filthy.
Later, I went to fill my car with gas and instead of charging me the three bucks it said on the receipt, it charged me $11.
I can't even begin to count how many times I have ordered food and it has ended up all wrong. I can recall times when restaurants have actually forgotten my order and never even brought me food.
Plans never seem to go my way. I am one of those people who always gets scheduled for the 7:30 to 10 p.m. final on the last day. I'm not even going to get into the enrollment debacle. We have all been there.
ordeal in itself, seeing as it took three months for me to get the phone, get the phone set up, and get the little complimentary accessories. Even then, my phone is perpetually on idiot-mode, and if I drop it one more time I may have to wait another three months to replace it.
replace it.
If my computer breaks one more time
I am going to throw it into the middle
of the street and beat it with a bat à la
Office Space.
Ordering my cell phone was an
I had a virus all of last semester. I'll tell you what, that was fun. I am happy if I only have to restart my computer two or three times in a day because it has frozen up or decides not to respond when I click on things.
I am more accident-prone than a blind dog wearing ice skates in the middle of a forest. I fall, I trip, I spill, I drip, I drop, I break, I bump, I smash. I am a walking disaster. The earliest memory I have of injuring myself was when I was little and playing on top of
I fell face-first onto a concrete basement floor and have a scar on my forehead from it. I can also remember doing a cartwheel and ending up with a nail going through my hand. The latest memory of me injuring myself was when I fell in the bathrooms two weeks ago and banged my knee. No wait — it was when I fell down the stairs last week — that's right.
a plastic Fisher-Price picnic table.
I have a mysterious bruise issue, where even when I am at my most dormant, bruises crop up in the strangest places, like on my wrist. What was I doing that required a blue and purple spot to locate itself on my wrist? When I played soccer back in high school it was cool if you were covered in bruises because you could say, "Oh I got that sliding across the field saving a goal."
a goal.
It's not quite as cool as saying. "Oh,
I, uh, don't really know where that
come from. Maybe when I fell in the
bathroom?"
So, tomorrow if you see me on campus, watch out. It's really not a question if something will happen to me. Its more a question of whether or not I will be in your general area when it does happen.
Kelleher is an Omaha, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
long, and could result in infertility and even a hysterectomy.
Katie Post Overland Park junior
Misleading Quote
The Sept. 4 University Daily Kansan leaves a misleading impression of what I said to your reporter about the ironically named Patriot Act.
That law gives the Attorney General the power to imprison certain aliens indefinitely without charge and without court review.
Yet our Bill of Rights guarantees freedom from arbitrary imprisonment to all "persons," not just to citizens.
Therefore, if that horrible and totalitarian precedent is allowed to stand, there is no logical Constitutional reason it could not be extended to cover American citizens and, since some American citizens are in fact terrorists, there will be much pressure to do so.
Once that happened, our democracy would come to an end - because few can afford to speak out against a government empowered to lock them up at whim.
I did not say that our democracy has already come to an end. I believe our democracy is still vibrant. We must use it in full to repeal this repulsive law.
David Burress Research Economist, Policy Research Institute and National Board Member, American Civil Liberties Union
We recieved several letters to the editor concerning this column, and in order to run all of them in their entirety we have decided to post them to the Kansan.com Web site instead of printing them here.
Responses to an atheist
On Sept. 5, the University Daily Kansan opinion page ran a column by Steve Vockrodt. In that column, Vockrodt wrote about his personal belief in athism and outlined some problems he found in the beliefs of theists.
To read these letters go to the Kansan.com, click on "Opinion" and then click on the heading for "Letters to the Editor."
Online you will find letters by Michael Martz, Ryan Murphy, Bryan Mosley and Aubree Mullinix.
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by readers.
Thank you.
Aubree Mullins
If you want to reply to any of these letters, please send us an email at opinion@kansan.com. Please remember that letters to the editor have a maximum of 200 words.
Maggie Koerth
Kansas opinion editor
Submitting letters and guest columns
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Maggie Koerth or Amy Potter at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@kansan.com. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the readers' representative at readersrep@kansan.com.
The Kansan will attempt to run as many submissions as possible that conform to the guidlines below.
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