OPINION
7A
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25. 2008
You read this daily, so you might as well work for it
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RECENT COMMENTS @KANSAN.COM
I am by no means supporting drunk driving, but I know that with SafeRide you need to show a KUID to get a ride, and not everyone carries their ID with them when they go to a bar or party. I also know that there have been times where people have had to wait a lot
Why don't students use what they pay for?
A keep pace of major college students' real lives from the campus, they tell the students they can relate on the campus with their friends and classmates. They know how to dress and have hard experiences. Allegedly, she our consultation helped them understand further with drinking competencies, including knowing importance, including knowing responsibility.
THE UNIVERSITY JAIRY KANSAN
But apparently KU student accounted about the second half of last year for 15 percent of KU students at least six times during hospitalization at five or six double-blackening hospitals. The College Health Assessment. This includes only patients included in this study, and obviously does not account for many of the amount of care coded on our system.
- comment by missmia
longer than 20 minutes to get a ride from SafeRide, and waiting around patiently isn't something drunk people are inclined to do.
I guess I'm just trying to justify to myself why students would drive drunk when there is a free service provided to avoid it.
comment by juniper08
SafeBus doesn't stop at house parties, and SafeRide doesn't operate past 2:30. Need I say more?
As it stands, the way SafeR-
There is no justification for driving drunk, but you have identified one of the key problems of the SafeRide system. One of the most annoying things is that you have to call in about 10 to 20 times to get past the busy signal so they can pick up. I think if they had a better phone system they could get around that. Computer-aided dispatching could help coordinate rides better.
ide is run currently is at times messy, mainly because the dispatching system isn't exactly up-to-date.
SafeBus is a great service, and usually is very convenient for me to use, but it too has some shortcomings. The frequency is 20 minutes, which is a little on the long side, the routes aren't exactly direct; students trying to get across campus from McColum to GSP have to ride around town — you might save time if you walk.
The routes need some tweaking, but overall the service has reduced the demand for SafeRide and is very efficient at hauling large numbers of drunk freshmen.
- comment by sjschlag
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
MARIAM SAIFAN
Maybe it is time to rethink gay marriage
Logic has taken a nosedive when it comes to why people have struck down or overturned same-sex marriage initiatives. Here are some of the best reasons that have crossed my path.
Gay couples do not naturally procreate, so they shouldn't be able to marry, either. Infertile and elderly couples should therefore be banned from marriage, too. And don't even think about adoption. Those 30 children who were abandoned under Nebraska's safe-haven law (which allowed parents to abandon their children legally) can find their own homes.
gay people to dress in draq to entertain us in "Hairspray"
► Allowing gay marriage would open the floodgates for anyone to marry anything. "Can someone please get Fluffy a pen?"
► If gay people could get married, the meaningful nature of marriage would be destroyed. Carmen Electra's nine-day marriage to Dennis Rodman personally puts me at a loss for meaning in my life, and I don't know whom to look for guidance.
Being gay is a trend and will pass with time. This is news to Alexander the Great and his lover, Hephaestion, who are probably gasping in disbelief in their graves.
Marriage is a religious institution, and all religions, churches and denominations agree on the same doctrines, religious figures and attitude toward homosexuals. Thank God scientistologist John Travolta got past his quibbles about
With the success of Proposition 8, clearly the people have spoken, as they did with the 18th Amendment. That beer you're going to have tonight? Probably came from organized crime, which increased while Prohibition was in effect. It would be ludicrous for an amendment of any constitution, state or national, to be repealed.
Conservatives know best when it comes to values such as marriage, because a strong marriage creates a strong family. That's because the states that voted the most conservatively in the 2008 election have the lowest birth rates (from 2004, ages 15 to 27): Alabama (29.1), Louisiana (30.2) and Texas (37.1). And the most liberal states have the highest: Vermont (8.2), Massachusetts (11.7) and Connecticut (12.1). Wait, what?
The definition of marriage hasn't changed since its inception. That whole Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case allowing interracial marriage is just an old wives' tale.
Children need both male and female figures at home to have a successful family life. Those 12.9 million single parents (in 2006, according to the Census Bureau)
Hirschfeld is an Augusta senior in journalism.
Gay people have civil unions as an alternative. Four states (Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont) offer civil unions, and it's better to have all the gay people concentrated in one area, too.
need to find a mate — fast. They clearly don't know what they're doing.
Conversations to avoid when you're at home
Welcome back to those awkward pauses at family dinners after you've moved away for college. It's awkward, but resist filling that pause with the first thing that comes to mind. You've been tuned the past four months for sitting and yakking with your peers, not with your folks. Here are a few subjects to avoid.
► If you are trying to outdo your uncles or cousins in the area of drunken tales, just remember this: They're usually older than you, and they have less to live for. Also, if you want graduation money I'd be best to not look like a lush.
> Replace any reference you make to alcohol in No. 1 with a drug.
Don't tell them about your
BASYKES@FLICKB.COM
sexcapades. They don't care. It'd be the same as hearing them discussing how their sex life has been going since you've left home.
never need to attend class to get good grades isn't a good idea.
▶ We all think we figured out the system in college. That's great. But telling your folks that you
Don't tell them that all those extra charges on the credit card in Missouri were for booze you bought at a grocery store.
> If your folks, or someone from your family, buy you your food, don't explain to them how much better you eat than they do. Milk in a glass bottle isn't a novelty.
— it's delicious. I know. I've had it before.
► You're proud of some of your achievements, as we all are, and want to show them off. But if you're going to show them off on Facebook, it might be best to check around your profile before you let them sneak a peak. No one wants to skip from a picture of themselves winning an award to one that includes little to no clothes.
Vacations from school are supposedly a stress-reliever, so take a break and don't ruin it for yourself.
Stewart is a Wichita senior in journalism.
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500.
If you put "I'm a cutie" on your vanity license plate, you're either really cocky or compensating for something.
I just saw a bumper sticker that said "TicketMaster sucks." Who in the hell has time to put that on a bumper sticker? That's pathetic.
--talking about
--talking about
My girlfriend wants me to have sex with her. What do I
--talking about
Free for All, I'm wasted, and I wish you were here.
To the couple I saw at Pizza Shuttle that clearly just started dating: Guy, stop trying to impress her. Girl, stop pretending to care what he's talking about
--movies.
I don't know what's more pathetic: the fact that Panic at the Disco is on the "Carson Daly Show" or the fact that I'm giving up sleep to watch it.
--movies.
The UDK's fantasy football column makes no sense. The Denver Broncos defense, really? The Chiefs scored 33 points against it at the beginning of the year.
--movies.
Free for All, I'm stuck in the Union from 4 to 7 doing Rock Chalk Reve shit. I need a flask. Can you bring me one?
--movies.
I have a belly button
--movies.
Hey Free for All, your mother's a whore
I just spent the entire morning watching clips of the National Championship and listening to the Backstreet Boys.
--movies.
What does a free for all mean?
Can you have sex with it?
Have you ever noticed how much better the roads get the second you cross into Johnson County?
--movies.
You know, we don't have to drink every night of the weekend.
--movies.
To the girl I just intensely freaked out: No, I was not following you. I was looking for a parking spot. Don't give me that look. You don't know me.
I think the campanile bell tower was just playing the theme from the "Halloween" movies.
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@KANSAN.COM
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