TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
PAGE 5
My dad sent me to college for two things...to get free T-shirts and become a FFA regular.
Woke up at eight and immediately asked myself how long until karaoke night.
Hey Sports Illustrated, we have two wins! Suck on that!
Did anyone else find the picture of Turner Gill in Monday's Kansan rather bilarious?
I hadn't seen a rolling backpack until today. Feels like an airport and I'm sitting first class on KU Airlines.
Am I wearing my uggs today? Yes. Am I ashamed? A little.
Oobnousy preppy couples make me want to bart. Little nerd couples make me smile.
Cool earring bro. I didn't realize Tools R Us was open this early.
Stalkers are really resourceful people.
Dear Jimmy Johns: I don't know how to tell you this, but I cheated on you last night with Pickleman's. It was so tasty and warm. How are we going to deal with this?
Is "tourskin" a legitimate brand? Girl in J301 wearing flip-flops...
You know you study too much when the only thing you ever sleep with is your marketing textbook.
Saw today's Kansan's Free For All. No mention of breasts. Shame.
Did our professor really just ask if there were any football players in Organic Chemistry?
Submitting something to the Free For All about the Free For All is like Googling Google.
Get with the program irate pedestrian: you may have right of way but my car is still bigger. Quit drunkly stumbling in front of my car!
"She. Touched. His. Peepee! I haven't even done that yet." "How DARE she!" - Tell me we didn't sound like that as freshmen
Dorm beds may not be ideal for sleepovers my friend, but they sure can be fun.
Have you seen all these belies hanging out today? I'm creeped out, I am gonna just wear panties tomorrow. Start a new trend
Black dude singing opera at the bus stop. YES
Some freshman just said that "red" is the least common bus. Are you kid-ing me?
Is a rolling bookbag ever necessary?
My physics professor talked about what happens when you shoot a kitten. Best class ever.
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While the Big 12 Conference teeters on the brink of extinction, the University of Kansas must stick to its best interest.
University should protect own interests first
Although the University and Kansas State share deep connections from operating under the Board of Regents and sharing rivalry in communities and households, a split might be necessary if major changes further threaten the stability of the conference.
EDITORIAL
Ed McKechnie, Kansas Board of Regents chairman, told the Associated Press last week that the Regents would prefer the
institutions to stay together in a conference. He also hoped the Big I2 would consider an academic alignment rather than remain a football-based conference. However, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little already told The UDK that the University is not required to stick with K-State.
Gray-Little has handled the alignment situation well. By supporting the continuation of the Big 12, she expressed the University's commitment to college athletics, rivalry traditions and member institutions. But she has still left options open in case
the Big 12 disintegrates.
As the chief officer of the University, it's Gray-Little's jurisdiction to decide whether to stay in or leave the conference. Legislators and members of the Board of Regents, who have the state's best interests in mind, should not interfere or force the University to stay with K-State in a conference.
The University is accredited by the Association of American Universities - a prestigious academic recognition it shares with Missouri, but not K-State. This actually makes Missouri a better
In any major NCAA conference, football revenue dominates athletic department income, even at a basketball school like Kansas. If rumors hold and football powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas leave the Big 12, Kansas Athletics Inc. could take a sizable hit on the $11.9 million it currently receives from the conference and the NCAA. But with Big 12 television contracts totaling
$150 million per year, the conference will still be lucrative for the University even if those institutions leave.
academic-athletic rival to take along if Kansas needs to move to another conference. A split with K-State should at least be on the table if the Big 12 falls apart.
The best scenario for the University would be to maintain both K-State and Missouri rivalries in the same conference. But a split with either institution should always be considered. The University has a unique identity as a Big 12 member. If we move to another conference, we are free to do it with friends (or rivals) or alone
Vikaas Shanker for Kansan
Vikaas Shanker for Kansak Editorial Board
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As another school year opens, organizations bombard students with safety information. However, in my experience at the University over the past three years, I've noticed that information about biking safety has gone MIA.
Last year, I remember reading about cyclists and their safety concerns. I support environmentally friendly alternatives to busing and driving on campus and understand how vulnerable cyclists are. Biking can really be dangerous.
However, I have my issues with them.
On a number of occasions last year, I saw cyclists speeding past the stop signs in front of Sigma Kappa and again at other intersections around campus. Then, my inspiration for this letter came when I again witnessed two cyclists riding past stop signs on Daisy Hill just last week.
It was a new record: two in less than five minutes.
Seriously, though, the issue astounds me. I'm amazed that anyone, much less an adult, would complain about his safety without taking the initiative
to maintain it in the first place.
Likewise, I'd never complain to my apartment complex that I don't feel safe at night if I refused to lock my door. The principle doesn't work anywhere, so it shouldn't work for cyclists either.
While I imagine these cyclists in question are a minority of the entire biking community, it's still a prevalent enough issue to be brought up several times over.
So now I'm challenging biking safety issues on campus. Everyone needs to be safe on streets everywhere, and it's time for the cyclists in question to follow suit.
Until then, I'm unsympathetic to those specific bikers' issues. And I don't feel guilty. No one should.
Because really, common sense obliges me to not hit you with my car. However, your safety is your responsibility. So cut the cord, obey the law and happy school year.
Rachel Keith is a senior from Wichita.
This is in response to the editorial "Our 9/11 identity: tolerance and unity". I could not believe my eyes when I opened the paper and read this. I was just stunned. Really? The only thing that we should take away from the 9/11 attacks is that "hooray we're more tolerant now!"? There is so much more that should have been mentioned in a piece about 9/11.
First of all, the attacks were not a "misunderstanding." The radical Muslim terrorists that launched cowardly sneak attacks against innocent civilians on American soil knew exactly what they were doing. There was no misunderstanding. It is also tragic that the heroism and courage of the first responders at Ground Zero is not mentioned as something that defines this event. Or something that has defined and shaped our generation; the sacrifices made on that day should always be honored and remembered, especially as something our generation should try to live up to. Patriotism, service
—Stephen Messer is a senior from Leavenworth.
to the country, courage, and self sacrifice should not take a backseat to tolerance. Ever. Is it important to remember that we are not at war with every Muslim? Of course it is. The 9/11 attacks should not cause us to distrust everybody from the middle east, nor cause us to despise everybody who practices Islam.
MOVIES
That being said, increased tolerance is not the lesson we have to take away from 9/11. What we learned is that there are organized terrorists out there that will use any means necessary to attack America in any way possible; and for no reason other than blind and jealous hatred. Our great country is still at the top of the world, but it will be never be the same because of what happened ten years ago. We must continue to remain dedicated and vigilant to ensure that attacks like 9/11 never happen to us again.
Lucas has lost touch with original trilogy
At this point, it's kind of hard to care what George Lucas is doing to Star Wars. He's made so many alterations to the original trilogy of films that new changes shouldn't shock us. And yet, they do.
Lucas recently released some footage from the new Blu-ray editions of "A New Hope," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," showing off the new "improvements" that his team has made. Some are mild, like the addition of digital eyelids to Ewoks. However, most of the changes are a potent mix of stupid, pointless and incredibly frustrating.
The most controversial change is the addition of new dialogue. In "Return of the Jedi", there is a poignant moment during the climactic scene where Darth Vader looks back and forth between his evil overlord and his dying son, leading up to his decision to kill the emperor. It's actually a pretty solid piece of acting for a guy who can't make facial expressions.
Lucas decided that Vader should now express his inner turmoil by shouting "No!" and then "NO!" again, in case we missed the point. These lines recall the humorously overwrought "NOOO!" Vader screamed at the end of "Revenge of the Sith."
I have no idea what George Lucas thinks he's clarifying with this. Does he think we all left the movie saying "Why did Darth Vader kill
the Emperor? Do you think it had something to do with the emperor electrocuting his son?"
The really frustrating thing is that George Lucas used to be genuinely talented and had good ideas. It's not like he made the Star Wars films by accident.
In fact, Lucas had to fight tooth and nail to get the original film made. He pioneered new special effects and wrote hundreds of now-classic lines. Now Lucas seems dead-set on making sure no one sees them as they were originally released. Even if you ignore the really stupid changes, like Greedo shooting first, and just look at the multitude of minor changes he's made over the years, it's still incredibly frustrating. New special effects clash with the old, formerly peaceful scenes become cluttered and chaotic. Every director sees problems with their films in hindsight, but Lucas seems to be the only one with the audacity to go make the changes.
As his new vision competes
with the old, his films become an unseemly mess. It's an ugly, repellent practice. Even George Lucas thinks so.
In 1988, George Lucas spoke before Congress during the debate that would eventually create the National Film Registry. Young George Lucas was furious that companies were going back and re-editing and adding color to old films. He told Congress "people who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit
... are barbarians" and decried using "advanced technology ... to replace actors with 'fresher faces', or alter dialogue."
Still, young Lucas has an excellent point. If we allow Lucas to go back and change his films, what we watch in the future will only vaguely resemble what was originally released. Of course, we are unable to stop him, since he is both the copyright holder and a multi-billionaire. We can only hope he has a change of heart and throws the new editions of the film down a deep chasm. Maybe he can even shout "No!" while he's doing it.
Granted, Lucas was talking about companies changing films against the wishes of their creators, not about creators changing their own work.
— Lou Schumaker is a senior in Film & Media Studies and English from Overland Park.
CULTURE
Rational or not,some things and fans,will never change
Kansas football games are likely one of the largest displays of blue-clothed and blue-chested 20-sometimes yelling about athletes and mythical animals and waving arms together en masse that you can find.
Every fall semester, for several non-consecutive weeks, masses of both the young and old gather together at an outdoor stadium (no matter the weather) in hopes of witnessing a victory. Relatively loud instrumental music fills the stadium.
Not only has our love of entertaining ourselves through venues like athletic competition and other cultural practices (parties, movies, dinners, etc.) wavered little, but we've also gone the extra mile to make sure we will be entertained regardless of the outcome. "Win or lose, we'll still booze," as the Joe College adage goes.
What does this say about our society? We aren't the only culture in the world that will consistently blow money on such entertainment. A different kind of football (soccer to us) is the most popular sport in the world. Ask Europeans if they'll still booze when they lose and I bet you'd get a similar answer
to our own.
For thousands of years, cultures have taken the time to entertain themselves. A surplus of entertainment (and art as well) implies a surplus in wealth and population. If we had half the resources and half the people, our culture would look and operate a lot differently.
But I wonder just how much of an effort it would take for cultural norms like these to change. Clearly, over time and space, a universal need for comfort, fun and relaxation with like-minded people has translated into different ways of passing by the time. I'm not arguing for some sort of change, but it would be valuable to remember the roles we play in perpetuating these norms. We may believe that we are fiercely free-minded, independent individuals, but we are also the product of a culture's ways and means without even thinking con-
Ultimately, the power to change these standards rests in the hands of changing attitudes and customs over a period of time. Realizing how we have a learned ignorance to other cultural practices and how translatable they are over cultural boundaries is invaluable, but yet doesn't serve to change much of the norm in the short term.
The bottom line is that human nature is extremely consistent. I am by no means a behavioral scientist or anything of the sort, but it is clear in my eyes that what makes our current culture distinct from any other is not that we think and reason differently; it is how we employ that very thinking into our own lives that truly makes us original.
— Salsbury is a senior in English, History of Art, and Global & International Studies from Chapman. Follow him on twitter @trbetmerchiaul
Our generic standards of beauty are another example of this; think of how hard it is to project your own standards onto the societal norm. Though what was attractive 10 years ago isn't necessarily the same as today, it's still unremarkably similar.
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