THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
PAGE 5
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY & GANSAN
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FINALLY found out who the girl with the eyes is. Probably the best day
Idea: Get in the FFA. Solve the sudoku, cryptquip and the crossword puzzle all in one day. Challenge accepted.
Is it sad that I'm already saving newspaper for basketball season?
Wish the University would put our tuition money to good use like quality toilet paper in the bathrooms instead of putting our campus security on segways and Chargers.
I just realized how many "Darnells" we've had on the basketball team. This Bud's for you.
With all of this talk of Lion King,
I think I'm going to set my iHome
to wake me up with "The Circle of
Life."
Professor just compared moral virtue to beer pong — finally, a lecture I can follow.
Just saw a girl at E's that looks like Emma Watson. Must. Resist. Urge. To speak in a British accent.
Um the hottest team on campus would have to be the Volleyball girls. Tall Amazon women who are athletic! They're followed closely by the Quidditch girls.
So is it mainstream to not flush after releasing your bowels? I almost shat my pants trying to find a clean toilet on campus today. Not cool.
Fact. Football players are hotter than basketball players.
To the freshman who made it in FFA twice, I'm a sophomore who made it in two days in a row. Get on my level.
I am throwing Skittles everywhere.
Catch me if you can!
I'm cheating on Twitter with the FFA.
Sorry fellas, I'm in an exclusive relationship with Allen Fieldhouse.
To the frat boys with matching outfits ... did you plan that?
My professor sounds EXACTLY like Rafiki from the Lion King.
I text FFA to make it look like I have friends.
Leggings shouldn't be worn as pants. There is nothing fashionable about a camel toe.
That moment when you change your privacy settings on Facebook, but your stalker still knows when you're lifting at the rec.
You know what, the library needs a smoking section. I could get all my work done in the time it takes me to smoke my pipe.
To the girls that try to swing their hips too much when they walk, stop it! It's obvious!
Today, I went to class without makeup on. No one recognized me, not even my best friend. FML.
EDITORIAL
New administrative pay raises unnecessary
Last Friday there were monumental transformations in the Office of the Vice Provost. Chances are students didn't feel the ground shake as the very foundations of administration were shattered and new positions took the responsibilities previously held by the Vice Provost for Student Success.
We no longer have an Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success. Instead, we now have three new vice provests to take its place: one for student affairs, enrollment management and undergraduate education.
Two of the positions were immediately filled by the promotion of existing staff members, while the duties of the other position are being handled by two special
assistants. With these changes come hey raises, totaling $82,111. The fact that these substantial pay raises weren't part of the glowing press release sent out by Public Affairs shows that the University needs to work on transparency.
Earlier this summer, the Lawrence Journal-World reported that most faculty and staff in the University hadn't seen a raise in three years. The state and country have been in a recession for more than three years, so it's understandable that governments and universities are cutting back. In July, the University had to absorb a 1.193 percent cut in state funding for the 2012 fiscal year. In June, the Kansas Board of Regents voted to increase tuition at the University by $222 for a 15-credit-hour
semester. Since 2009, KU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has had to shrink its faculty by 20 percent.
In light of these cutbacks and fee increases, it's perplexing that the Vice Provost's office was able to gift three administrative positions with raises.
When students are asked to pay more for college and a shrinking number of faculty members are asked to teach an increasing number of students, it's disappointing to see such figures lavished on university administrators. The fact that teachers haven't seen a raise in years makes this move even more affronting.
Few students will notice that the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success is gone, but this change is a curious
reverse in trend for the administration's belt-tightening philosophy. It remains to be seen how much of a difference the new Vice Provost positions are likely to make in the lives of students.
In an atmosphere of cut backs and growing tuition, it's unwise to be spending even more on positions that have responsibilities that can be delegated to existing positions. Before one more cent is spent on administration, the Office of the Vice Provost must publicly address how these changes will help students more than lowering tuition, buying new equipment, or hiring more teachers.
Clayton Ashley for The Kansan Editorial Board
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Don't ignore Big 10 option
Recently, an article was written proposing the University of Kansas cut ties with Kansas State and bolt for the Pac-12 with the University of Missouri.
I agree that Missouri would be a more viable partner in realignment than K-State, but what if we didn't have to make that distinction. I'm befuddled by the lack of consideration given to the idea of joining the Big Ten. It's a solution that's right in our backyard (relatively), and it's being totally ignored.
The Big 12 appears to be on the verge of destruction. With many of the big football schools (i.e. UT, OU, TAMU, etc.) close to or already moving, KU can't resign to exclusion. In my view, the Big Ten is the best answer to this.
Last year, they added our former rival Nebraska, and with present conference shifting, they likely will be as enthusiastic as other major conferences to consume more schools and become a super-conference. A path that would yield it great rewards would be to invite Missouri, K-State, Iowa State and the University.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
This is the best possible situation from our perspective. We would be allowed to keep our fiercest rivals and to make new ones that actually make regional sense and don't require the scaling
mountains to visit. Not only that, but this would allow us to join a conference that is highly respected not only for their athletics, but for their academics as well. Like the University, all Big Ten universities, excluding Nebraska, are members of the American Association of Universities (AAU).
This elevated academic classification should be considered as significant at athletic prominence. The Pac-12 is also fantastic in this regard, but the Big Ten simply makes more sense. Rock Chalk.
Bobby Golen Jr. is a sophomore from Elmhurst, Ill.
If people in China are getting cancer and witnessing pollution by making solar panels for "green jobs".
Nick Sambaluk
CULTURE
Open relationships a viable choice
Of course, many of us have accepted the fact that most people have sex for more than one reason. But from the perspective of evolutionary theory, human beings engage in sexual activity for the sole purpose of passing on their genes.
For Western society to continue as it has been, men and women join together in two-parent family units and co-operatively groom the next producers of our capitalist economy: children. That's the logic, anyway.
That's one potential reason why a man and a woman might want to marry and be exclusive with one another for the rest of their lives, sexually and socially. Indeed, men's testosterone levels tend to drop significantly after having a baby, perhaps increasing the likelihood
of monogamy because they are less likely to seek other mates, according to a BCC news article last week. But what does this mean for people who don't procreate or tend not to raise children?
Without children, there certainly appears to be less motivation for people in same-sex relationships to adhere to this strict, sex-with-one-person-forever relationship (not that there aren't gay
and lesbian couples with children or straight couples without children). Perhaps the reinforcement of this relationship structure is the reason many of these couples stay together for life, or even for several years.
Most of us (gays and lesbians) have probably been raised in twoparent, heterosexual households, and we've been taught to value the one-person-forever relationship structure. Certainly it can't be a "bad" thing to desire one companion with whom one shares life experiences forever, for whom one grows immense trust and respect. But perhaps there is more to trust and respect than simply sexual exclusivity. After all, sex isn't all us homoSEXuals do.
Stepping away from what our culture has taught us about
relationships with more than two people — that is, that they are "bad" things — what is so wrong with three or more people, gays in particular, sharing a life together? What is so wrong with two people who share a home together engaging in sexual activity outside of their two-person social unit, provided that it's consensual?
Because the "normal," twoparent family structure caters to heterosexuals, gays and lesbians in particular might consider being open to different relationship styles when seeking stability and happiness in their sex and love lives.
Research in psychology shows that gay men are more likely than straight or lesbian couples to engage in sexual activity outside of a relationship, but they are also
more likely to set boundaries and openly communicate with each other about this activity. Does this seem like an "unhealthy" way to live?
Are we really meant to be with one person for the rest of our lives? Or are our lives a series of long- and short-term relationships through which we seek support and personal growth that shift as our lives and the people around us change? Answers to these questions may not be the same for everyone (including straight people), and perhaps gay culture should work to construct an accepted relationship structure to fit the desires of its group members, to cater to their own happiness.
Castle is a senior from Stilwell in human sexuality and political science
TELEVISION
'Parks and Rec' success lies with characters
In the early hours of Sept. 1, I logged into Facebook and Twitter (@xDYLX) to inform the world that September shall be Ron Swanson Month. For those unaware, Ron Swanson is all that is man and a character of one of the best comedy series on television, "Parks and Recreation."
Though Ron Swanson is my hero, I don't want to overshadow what makes PNR so great. PNR began as a spin-off of NBC's mega hit "The Office," but was not well-received as many believed the show was trying too hard to be "The Office." As the show pumped out more episodes, it began taking on its own identity. Now starting its fourth season (premiering Sept. 22, on NBC at 8:30 p.m.), most of its success lies on the shoulders of its nine great characters.
brilliance. Though she is socially awkward and seems to mess everything up, nothing can stop her when she is at work. As seen in season three, she saves the city's government by generating revenue through a festival. But that doesn't stop her from acting like an idiot from time to time.
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler):
She is an airhead with flashes of
Here they are in order of their appearance in the opening credits:
Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones):
Ann is the show's voice of reason.
Throughout the series she has been Leslie's best friend and recently has been hired to work for city hall.
She is always there to help Leslie
with her problems, but that doesn't keep her from suffering her own problems in relationships.
Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari): Tom is an apathetic government worker truly aspiring to be a club promoter. Many women consider him a pervert as he is constantly hitting on whichever female is around him. Really Tom is just looking for his true love, even if it he goes about it completely wrong.
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman): As stated before, Ron is the epitome of what a man should be. He loves meat, women, whiskey and government coming to a screeching halt. His only weaknesses are his two ex-wives (both named Tammy). "Tammy 2" has all the fun with Ron so far, though that will change in season four, as "Tammy 1" finally makes an appearance. As does the original Tammy, Ron's mother.
April started out as an intern in the department but decided to stay at the end of the internship as Ron's assistant. Because of her unwillingness to help anyone, Ron considers her the best assistant he could ever have. The real reason she sticks around is because of her love interest, Andy.
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt): Andy was a completely loser until Ann broke up with him. Then he finally got a job in city hall as a show-shine boy. Though Andy is very dumb, he has some great life lessons, even if he doesn't understand what he's saying. He eventually marries April after a very short time together.
April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza):
Ben Wyatt (Adan Scott): Ben is a state auditor that came to Pawnee to save the city from bankruptcy. Soon after his arrival, he is portrayed as a jerk that wants to ruin all the fun. Once the city is saved, he starts to show his true self, which is a nerd that Tom makes
fun of. But that doesn't stop Leslie from falling in love with him.
Chris Treager (Rob Lowe): Chris is at first another state auditor but then becomes Pawnee's city manager when the original city manager has a heart attack. Chris is extremely upbeat, so upbeat that Ann didn't even realize that he dumped her in season three. He is also a workout freak and believes he will live to the age of 150.
With these great characters, I expect season four to reach new heights. Leslie will have to decide between her career and her lover, Ann will start a new job, Tom will embrace his dream, Ron will deal with another ex-wife, April and Andy will try to become adults, Ben will still be a nerd, and Chris will still be enthusiastic. It shall be a great season.
Happy Ron Swanson Month.
Dylan Lysen is a junior from Andover in journalism
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