4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
TALKTOUS
Jay Krall editor 864-4854 or jkrall@kansan.com
Brooke Hesler and Kyle Ramsey managing editors 864-4854 or bhesler@kansan.com and kramster@kansan.com
Laurel Burchfield readers' representative 864-4810 or lbuchfield@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 Kotting
retail sales manager
864-4358 or
advertisingkansan.com
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Makcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7667 or mgjbison@kansan.com
Matt Flahar sales and marketing adviser 884-7686 or mfifher@kansan.com
Students deserve to know who is seeing their records
It seems that Congress is not without a sense of humor. How else can one explain the passage of a bill with the name "USA Patriot Act" when its enactment is anything but patriotic?
What other way is there to see a 128- section,119-page mandate that was not only written but passed through subcommittees, committees,the House and the Senate all in less than six weeks?
It's akin to a stealth raid into a student's home under the guise of a search warrant.
The USA Patriot Act allows the government to invade, among many other things, a student's records, directory information, and private e-mail communications.
Furthermore, the schools that receive these demands from the government are not allowed to tell the affected students that their files have been compromised.
This last part is the most disconcerting.
A student would be deliberately kept in the dark, unable to stop or even protest the government's actions.
That the actions in this bill are legal does not automatically mean they're constitutional.
Congress realizes this. It also realizes that any challenging court case would take months, if not years, to settle. Meanwhile, it's a field day.
Some may say that it's OK because the government will only use this act to target suspected terrorists.
One only needs to look at increased airport security, the bag searches, the pat-downs, the car checks and even the shoe checks to see that everyone is a suspect and everyone can be affected.
Now, one can still attempt to rationalize this act as necessary for the good of the country.
Ben Franklin said it best: they that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Further, if citizens stand idly by while rights continually get taken away in the name of freedom, everyone ends up losing.
That we live in a land where even suspected terrorists are innocent until proven guilty shows that America has a unique and rational outlook on justice. By taking away constitutionally protected rights in an effort to save us, our government degrades the very essence of what makes America so great.
this knee jerk reaction to terrorist attacks, stripping away the rights and Constitutional powers of every United States citizen, cannot be seen as anything but one sick joke.
Yes, Congress certainly has a sense of humor.
The University of Kansas should not help make students the brunt of it.
Dan Osman for the Editorial Board.
Call 864-0500
Free forAll
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
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.
Bus passes are available in the SUA office. It's adjacent to the Hawk Shop. Thanks.
who are looking for good stations, 99.7 V100.3,and 101 the Fox are awesome Thanks.
I just saw an ad in the paper today that said "help stop transmission terrorism." So now is every asshole, jerk, and bad person a terrorist? That's just insane. Can we please get a definite definition of terrorism?
who are looking for good stations, 99.7 V100.3,and 101 the Fox are awesome Thanks.
I just wanted to say that Meagan Kelleher's article about pop tunes was the best article I've ever read. You go girl, that was awesome. And for those newbies
--statement on the back of my car. I did not put it there and I did not want it there.
This is in regards to the "Pop Tunes Aren't Real Music" article. If you don't think it's real music, then don't listen to it. But nobody wants to read your stupid article. It's stupid.
statement on the back of my car. I did not put it there and I did not want it there.
Where is the tomb of the unknown freshman? I was told it is behind Strong hall, but I couldn't find it there. Then I was told the back of Strong Hall is really the front. Can someone clear this up?
So did they cover up the guitar player's face from Guns N' Roses because they didn't want you to know that he wasn't... you know who I'm talking about, he's not in the band anymore. It's not cool. And Axl looks like a toolbag. We love you Slash.
--statement on the back of my car. I did not put it there and I did not want it there.
Whatever happened to all the people who used to put stuff in their pipe and smoke it?
Why do MTV's VMAs suck so much this year?
statement on the back of my car. I did not put it there and I did not want it there.
statement on the back of my car. I did not put it there and I did not want it there.
GERTKEN'S VIEW
Homeland Security
BY THE NUMBERS
S6 million
14
Dollars cut from KU's budget by the state of Kansas
Source: University Daily Kansan
$3.3 million
Number of former non-interim KU chancellors
Source: KU Info
Dollars allocated to fillthat deficit from the $8.6 million tuition increase
$100
Source: University Daily Kansan
Minimum donation required to sit in the William's Fund Section and tail-
Number of buildings on the KU campus named after former chancellors Source: KU info Note: Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers (1969-72) does not have a building named after him.
Source: KU athletic department
Cost of a student sports package Source: KU Info
PERSPECTIVES
Just say 'no' to study distractions
The idea is to adequately balance my social and academic life to the best of my ability. So, as usual I made the resolution at the beginning of the semester to go out less and study more.
COMMENTARY
As a wise senior, I thought this would be an easy goal to reach. Notice I said thought.
You see, while I believe that this is a great goal to have, I forgot to take into consideration some very important information about my life.
Mandy German
opinion@kansan.com
First, I am a very social person. I don't necessarily like going out to drink as much as I like to go out to talk to people. I don't care if it is someone I have already known or someone I have never met, I like to talk.
Second, my capacity to sit down and study for hours like some of my roommates is never going to happen.
I have this problem sitting at a desk and staring at a book for hours on end trying to retain knowledge. I am what you call a "chunker." I have to chunk the information into my brain in small portions.
This makes me kind of a pain to live with when school picks up because I wander around my apartment between my "chunking" sessions pestering my roommates. I usually try to get them to do something with me that isn't studying, like go out for a beer or ice cream.
I can't help it; I need social interaction.
Third, my friends aren't exactly what you would call homebodies. I have a really close circle of girlfriends that are as much social butterflies as myself.
For instance, my friends Jamie and Michelle know more people than I could ever imagine knowing. When we go out I meet so many of their friends and acquaintances that my head is spinning with names by the end of the night.
My roommates Steph, Holly and Cara are pretty much up for anything. Not only do they like to go out, but also if they have been studying, are bored or haven't been sleeping they get really goofy.
Inevitably we are all bad influences on each other because we can't tell each other "no." We are always afraid that if we say "no" when one of our other girlfriends asks us to do something social, we are going to miss out on something.
Throw that all into the mix and the phrase "yeah, but it is my last year of school, we should have fun" and it's a large concoction of trouble.
So why am I telling you all this? Because I know there are people on this campus just like me. You have those friends. You have that attention-span problem. You have the need to talk to people. You have probably tried like I have to find a balance. I hope you have succeeded.
For those of you that haven't it is time that we get it together.
This is the pledge to myself. I will not go out every Thursday night. I will not go out even if my homework is done and I have nothing better to do. I will let my roommates study. I will learn to say "no." I will not use the excuse this is my senior year.
OK, so maybe I will have to revise my pledge because last Thursday I said something similar to this and ended up going out.
It's like I said I have those friends. I have that attention span problem. I have the need to talk to people.
Maybe this is the best suggestion I can offer; let's start a support group. We can help each other get through this endless cycle. I say our first meeting should be at Fatso's this Thursday.
German is a Johnson senior in journalism.
Keep your political statements off others' private property
It violated my rights of free expression. The white sticker with a red heart covered my French flag bumper sticker.
O sama loves my SUV. Thursday morning I found a bumper sticker with that
I had placed the small French flag on the bumper of my car in January after returning from a semester in Angers, France.
Perhaps the individual who violated my property and my freedom of expression found my sticker unpatriotic.
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in a classroom when another American student in the hallway started yelling, "We're being
bombed." We ran down the stairs to a stand in front of a television. A French reporter's voice described the scene as we watched the twin towers collapse.
While I was in France I was often asked if I was an American. I always said yes. I felt it was somehow my patriotic duty to show pride in my country even if I was in a frightening and potentially dangerous position. Thursday morning, as I pulled the offensive sticker from my bumper, I felt my own patriotism was being called into question.
GUEST COMMENTARY
It's been nearly a year since the terrorist attacks that took so many innocent lives. As the anniversary approaches I'm left with a few questions. This unexpected attack on my civil liberties leads
Jessica Rucker opinion@kansan.com
me to wonder which direction we as Americans will choose. Our country exists for the people. Will we continue to protect the rights of individuals, their property, their privacy, their beliefs?
Or will the United States of America become a society where certain ideas become unacceptable?
If the sticker's creator wanted the sticker on his car that would be his right, but putting the sticker on my car is not free speech and it violates my rights.
Hundreds of international students live in our community. I could have been one of them. What message would "Osama loves SUVs" stuck to the back of an international student's car send to these students? To me it screams "You're not welcome," and it would violate that student's rights.
The creator of this sticker undoubtedly fears that my SUV's gas consumption will work as an advantage for Osama bin Laden. The Middle East's control of the majority of the world's oil could influence the price I pay for gas. Because I
own an SUV I would probably pay more than a smaller car.
Fine, but put that bumper sticker on your car. Don't violate my property or my freedom of expression with your political views.
Patriotism need not be an outward expression, such as a T-shirt or bumper sticker. Unlike singing the national anthem, voting, or saying the pledge of allegiance, patriotism can occur in more personal day-to-day efforts. By supporting freedom of expression, accepting those of a different religion, or respecting the property of others, we are patriotic.
Rucker is Burdett senior in journalism and French.