FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011
PAGE 5
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351
opinion
Girls who participate in noshave November are the best. Their legs passively give a middle finger to the Man.
Because of the FFAs, I've started to actually read the UDK.
'Tis the season to dress like a hobo!
The soul patch in picture from yesterday's beardology article is placed a little high. Is the UDK subliminally trying to make us have Hitler 'staches?
Dear boys of KU, there's a reason Chevy's are called pick me-up trucks.
FREE FOR ALL
Dear kissing couples, It's annoying enough that you tongue wrestle right in front of me, is it necessary to take up the entire sidewalk?
If I've learned anything in my four years at KU so far it's the best spots on campus to take a peaceful and quiet dump.
To the girls afraid to walk from Mrs. E's to Lewis in the rain: man up. This is just the beginning.
I got matched up with my brother on a dating site. Again. FML.
To the people who walk/run in the wrong direction on the track you make me wish the University would increase admission requirements.
Remember when bleach-blond hair, orange skin and raccoon makeup was in? Neither do I.
I think Santa Clause started no-shave November to start on his beard for Christmas.
Doctor visit, $60. Medicine to help loosen phlegm, $24. Watching girls faces when you hack a loogie on campus, priceless.
Read the article about beards in the voice of the Old Spice man.
Silly freshman, google "ku bus tuition" and you'll find a page from the University dispelling that rumor. Go ahead and get hit if you want.
I think you and your brother are the only two people under 25 using online dating sites ...
TEXT IN FREE FOR ALLS
I love spending my mornings looking for a parking spot at the Towers. It's always an enthralling, exuberating waste of half an hour.
No-sex November? Puh-lease.
You weren't having sex with me
before the beard, anyway.
BIEBER HAS CHILD!? My innocence has officially been corrupted.
EDITORIAL
You won't get free tuition for getting hit by a bus, but you will get a hospital stay, rehab, and, if you survive, a stupidity award.
The Kansas Department of Transportation did a great service to the families of Kansas Highway 10 crash victims when it agreed to install cable median barriers on two accident-prone stretches of the highway. But it still takes personal responsibility while driving to ensure deadly crashes don't happen.
Personal responsibility is key to safe driving
Just in the past 10 years, K-10 has seen eight fatalities on the Eudora and K-7 interchanges. After an April 16 crash killed two people, including a 5-year-old child, state officials discussed K-10's safety between Lawrence and Kansas City. After about six months, they finally approved the
construction project.
The cable barriers will provide some protection to the interchanges, which accounted for eight of the 11 total fatalities on K-10 because of cross-median crashes since 2000. A North Carolina Department of Transportation study found that while interstate highway cross-median crashes accounted for only three percent of highway crashes, they accounted for almost one third of traffic fatalities.
Many factors play into these accidents, including distracted driving.
According to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, 20 percent of injury-crash reports in 2009 contained incidents of distracted driving. Using a cell phone hand-held or hands free while driving — an increasingly common occurrence — delayed drivers' reactions as much as after consuming the legal limit of alcohol.
It's on the driver to become the safest deterrent to fatal crashes. While the barriers will help prevent fatalities in the event of a crash, drivers on K-10 especially need to stay focused while commuting.
Local University students occasionally visit home on the weekends, and many commute using
K-10. While most students are technically legal adults, it doesn't mean they are capable of handling driving while distracted.
It's up to drivers to determine if they want to become part of the grim statistics. Instead of calling or texting from your phone, turn on the radio, listen to your favorite music, or enjoy the calm, settled view while driving. Your iPhone, e-mail, and significant other's texts can wait for another hour, and if it's an emergency, pull over.
It isn't worth it.
Vikaas Shanker for Kansan Editorial Board
WHAT ISSUES SHOULD WE TAKE A STAND ON THIS SEMESTER?
Send your thoughts to vshanker@ kansan.com to let the Editorial Board know.
POP CULTURE
Kardashian divorce keeps her in news
Kim Kardashian got married for love. According to her recent blog post, she just wants "a family and babies and a real life." She thinks that she may have jumped into something too soon. Is she kidding? After only 72 days of marriage, Kimmy K. has turned another page in her lifelong storybook of classless endeavors. This chapter barely took two months. Only a few weeks after her "Fairytale Wedding" aired, Kim found a way to land herself back in the headlines.
I made an honest attempt to believe that Kim had grown up or at least moved past her phase of being a talentless tabloid celebrity. I'm more of an idiot than Kris Humphries for believing that. No matter how many comments the family makes in Kim's defense, I can't bring myself to buy any of it.
Shortly after explaining that she did not get married just for the television show, Kim admitted that she got caught up with the "hoopla and the filming of the TV show and didn't want to disappoint a lot of people." Her comments about her marriage flip-flopped faster than the marriage itself. Later she stated that reports of her making millions off of the wedding were
simply untrue. Do pictures sold to People magazine and around-the-clock E! television exposure count? Guess not.
Kim considers herself a role model for her young fans. Let us hope that this is not the future of every adoring young fan of Kim's. I'd rather see more girls turn out like Kesha. It may come as a surprise, but Kim still has a throng of fans. Those fans bought in to the whirlwind romance and the thought of fairy tale endings. Those are the very fans who are upset with Kim's critics and skeptics, but are they directing their anger appropriately? If Cam Newton had gone through all of the pre-draft drills and workouts only to decide that he didn't like football anymore, his fans would be pissed at him instead of turning their anger towards those who
covered the storv.
Now comes the real question: What's next for Kim? She could be the next Bachelorette because we all know that everybody on that show is doing it for love and babies and a real life. If only El had the rights to that show. It may draw viewers, but I'm sure Kim's version of the Bachelorette would end up looking like an episode of Tila Tequila’s “A Shot of Love.”
Whether she ends up taking New York or not, Kim has successfully locked down a few more months as a relevant human being. Don't think for a second that she'll go away anytime soon, though. Her mother, as it turns out, seems to be a better manager than Eric Murphy when it comes to lining up jobs. Fret not, Kim fans. It's only a matter of time before she shows up again. She keeps showing up without warning, and it seems like we'll never get rid of her. It seems as if you can get rid of a few horrible reality stars, but Kim Kardashian, she stays with you for life.
Gormley is a senior in political science and social psychology. Follow him on Twitter @jgormley.
MATT SAYLES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this Aug. 17, 2011 photo, reality TV personality Kim Kardashian, right, and her fiance, NBA basketball player Kris Humphries, arrive at the Kardashian Kollection launch party in Los Angeles. Kardashian filed for divorce in Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 31, according to the website TMZ. Kardashian and Humphries were married on Aug. 20.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
What are some fun things to do when Daisy Hill loses power?
Follow us on Twitter @UDK_Opinion.
Tweet us your opinions, and we just might publish them.
the_colby_zone
@UOK_Opinion
stress over the online homework due
at midnight
We played Sardines all around Hashinger Nothing quite like getting uncomfortably close to your friends.
LizDarsh
RIVALRY
Missouri and Kansas newspapers go to war.
The University Daily Kansan and The Maneater (Mizzou's newspaper) are in a social media competition.
Whichever publication gets more followers on its Facebook and Twitter accounts between now and Nov. 26 wins. Show your school spirit and help The UDK show The Maneater who's boss.
"Like" us at:
www.facebook.com/thekansan
www.facebook.com/UDKSports
And follow us on twitter:
@UDK_News,
@UDK_Sports
@UDK_opinion
— Mandy Matney
maduuhson
prop open your door and listen to all the girls freak out about everything they need to do tonight.
katiemo91
Blacklight tag #glowsticksftw
nerfgunstoo #10pointsforhittingthera
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER GUIDELINES
LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to kanansopedd@gmail.com.
Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line.
Length: 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown. Include our full letter to the editor policy on kansas.com/cletters.
Kelly Stroda, editor
864-810-390 or kstroda.com
Joel Peterson, managing editor
864-810-390 or jpeterson.com
Jonathan Shorman, managing editor
864-810-390 or johman.com
Clayton Ashley, managing editor
848-1910 or bachan@bahan.com
Mandy Matney, opinion editor
842-1924 or bachan@bahan.com
Vikha Shanker, editorial editor
842-1924 or bachan@bahan.com
Garrett Leint, business manager
864-4358 or glenan@kansan.com
Stephanie Green, sales manager
864-4177 or greenan@kansan.com
Malcim Gibson, general manager and news adviser
864-7667 or mailstaff@kansan.com
CONTACT US
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser
864-7665 or jschitt@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Kelly Strode, Jeet Petterson, Jonathan Shiman, Vikaas Schanker, Mandy Skinner and Stefanie Penne.