OPINION
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3. 2008
5A WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3, 2018
FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Start looking for new dining spaces
Every day between noon and 2 p.m. it's the same story. Students crowd into the eating facilities on campus.
The results: huge lines and a lack of seating. Lunch, which is supposed to be an enjoyable experience, becomes an annoyance and a challenge, especially because many students have only
The University needs to create new eating areas and expand the existing ones, particularly The Underground in Wescoe. At peak
a small break between classes.
hours, the crowd seems big enough to violate the maximum fire code capacity, and students can be heard complaining about waiting in line and the lack of seating.
But in the administration's defense, it is a difficult problem to solve. The number of students using The Underground has increased significantly in the last couple of years, and keeping up with the demand is challenging.
KU Dining Services, an attmate of the University, has added outdoor seating, created four new Hawk Stops and expanded The Market in the Kansas Union in an attempt to spread out the
lunchtime demand.
But it hasn't been enough.
Further expansion is necessary. But the issue is where.
According to Nona Golledge, director of KU Dining Services, the eating areas are pretty much landlocked, and because there is no place to grow, there aren't any current plans to renovate o.
OUR
VIEW
expand.
KU Dining Services is part of the Kansas Memorial Unions, which is a private nonprofit corporation, and it depends on the University to
Because our campus is located on top of a hill, it will be a challenge to make enough space for academics, athletics and students.
allocate space for expansion. The University should seriously start looking for that space.
However, it is not impossible, but an issue of priorities. Perhaps instead of continuing to allocate land for more athletic facilities the University should consider a more basic student need: eating.
It's time for expansion plans to be put on the table.
Patrick de Oliveira for the editorial board
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Abstinence-only classes haven't slowed Plan B
In response to the Nov. 7 story, "Plan B use increases on campus." I think Plan B use could be greatly decreased if comprehensive sexual education programs were available to teens.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
An April 2007 federally funded study of four abstinence-only programs by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., found that "youth who participated in the program were no more likely to abstain from sexual activity than those who did not. Youth who participated in the program and those who did not had similar numbers of sexual partners and initiated sex at about the same average age"
On Aug. 29, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Roderick Bremby rejected federal Title V, Section 510 funding for abstinence-only sex education programs, citing the aforementioned study as a reason for rejecting the funds. This rejection places Kansas with the
Taxpayers have spent more than $1.5 billion on these programs to date. Using the currently unallocated state funds to provide comprehensive sexual education programs would provide teens with this vital information.
majority of states who have decided to stop wasting taxpayer money on these ineffective and irresponsible programs that fail to provide young people with the medically accurate and potentially life-saving information that they deserve.
Bremby's decision is a small step in the right direction. I look forward to seeing more public officials follow in his footsteps.
Vanessa Hays is a graduate student from Toneka.
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FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
TYLER DOEHRING
How did we forget the point of food?
Just like your mama said, doing the right thing isn't easy. When it comes to food, eating right isn't hard — it's just expensive.
Perhaps you know that organic produce is vastly superior to its chemical doused, biologically and nutritionally inferior counterparts. Or maybe you know that grass-fed animals produce meat with more nutrients and that it is better for you and the environment. But you definitely know that these things cost more than the average student can easily afford. So what are students, or anyone on a budget, to do if they want to take the first small steps toward eating better?
You must take those small steps toward the kitchen. You must dust off the cookbooks spurned by a generation of women before, and you must cook.
Taking time to cook your own food can save a ton of money over take out, and it provides so much more nutrititionally for your money than processed boxes of instant carb-sodium sustenance do.
Although it may be a hard sell after slaving away over Thanksgiving dinner, cooking isn't terribly difficult. If publishers can sell cookbooks for children, the average college student can scrape
Food is what your body is made of. It's what keeps you alive, and it should be a bigger priority when it comes to your budget. Ramen may make you feel full, but it's leaving your body starved for nutrients. And when it comes to malnutrition, the cheap food decisions you make now may lead to much more costly medical conditions later. Diet-linked conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer cost more than just money — they could cost you your life.
something edible together too.
McConnell is a Dallas junior in English.
Cooking makes you aware of what you're eating, and it changes how you eat. After you've taken the time to cook, you're more likely to sit down and actually enjoy it, rather than dumping it down your gutl in a feeding frenzy. And if you're slowing the eating processes down, chances are you'll eat less, which saves money and makes you become a healthier consumer.
A mentality revamp is in order. Americans spend a lower percentage of their income on food as compared to people of other western nations, and it's because we don't think sustenance is that important. We've chosen to view food as merely a remedy for the uncomfortable pangs of hunger, a necessary chore we must perform as quickly and easily as possible, or even something to entertain us when we're bored.
Although the USDA can retool the food pyramid to make any diet seem sort of acceptable, there's one pyramid that's set in stone: Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Do I need to remind you what's at the bottom? Because I promise you, it's not Netflix.
Why I just don't care about the news now
I have been struggling to come up with ideas for this column for the past month and have been trying nightly to figure out why. I'm opinionated and well-informed enough to be able to at least go on a rant, but that hasn't been the case. After taking my editor's advice and scouring the news and trying to find something to write about, I finally found the answer.
The election of Barack Obama gave me some hope that we finally came together and lifted this derailed train up and returned it to its place on the tracks. But now trains are barreling upon us from
For starters, this country has gone topsy-turvy in one month. Tom Friedman says the economic problems are just the end of the beginning, and all young people should be saving. But Robert Samuelson says that saving, especially during the holiday season, hurts the economy.
all directions, and all I feel is that we won't save ourselves in time.
I just don't care about anything newsworthy anymore.
Maybe they decided they would write each other's column for a day without telling anyone.
Al Franken is almost a senator, and Skeletor, I mean, Ted Stevens, is gone. Oh yeah, and Congress is flogging automotive representatives on spending in excess. Is this Bizarro America?
But none of that matters to me because there are other important things happening that I don't seem to care about. The American auto industry, the symbol of America's middle class, is about to implode
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
has already hit the campaign trail. There is actually a severe risk of monetary deflation. Unemployment is rising. Housing prices are decreasing. There have been pirate stories twice a week for the past month and none of them were cool. There's talk of creating a woolly mammoth from DNA found in some ice.
Well, maybe there's some hope with that last one.
I really have no idea why I have lost all emotion and sense of attachment to this country. I used to read the news and feel something, but now it's just a shrug of the shoulders and a sip of the coffee. It took a four-month stay in Europe to cure me of these ills the last time I got them. I hope my three-week stay there this winter will do the same.
Graham is a Columbus, Ohio graduate student in exercise physiology.
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500.
I'd rather dance than have sex.
--to shut up.
Mirror pictures were so high school.
--to shut up.
I'm not saying I'm gay, but if I were, I think I'd have a thing for Todd Reesing.
I think I like you. It's too bad you're a jersey chaser.
--to shut up.
I heard Cole Aldrich doesn't block shots — he scares the ball away from the net. Also, Sherron Collins sees the
You know it's love when your boyfriend humors you and hangs up his Christmas decorations exactly how you want them and kisses you when he wants you to stop talking instead of telling you
--forms today!
You know what you did last Saturday. I hope it haunts you forever
--forms today!
To the guy playing the piano at the Union today: I wish you could be my personal study music assistant. Maybe then I could do well on my finals.
I haven't gained a pound since college started. Then I went home.
--forms today!
I was at my house today and found out that I have Christmas trees growing on my land, I cut a little one down and have it in my room.
Seriously, E's, what do you think 90 percent of us ate, like, four days ago, and yet you insist on serving us turkey in not one, two, but three today.
Kerry Meier's hair is magical.
--instead.
When you see this, I hope it gives you hell.
--instead.
So I should be studying for the massive amounts of tests I have these next three weeks, but I just found out you can watch "Twilight" online already, so I'm doing that
--outlines.
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
--outlines.
I was going to say something clever or something, then I got here, and I forgot what I was going to say. DANGIT!
Next homecoming week there should be a ban on charcoal as a substitute for black chalk. Wescoe beach looks disgusting with the gritting.
@KANSAN.COM
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