OPINION
5A
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008
FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ORPHANJONES @ FLICKR.COM
What would make Lawrence recycle?
With the financial crisis, every public program is vulnerable. Although dumping pork out of the barrel is necessary, the Lawrence city commission should carefully consider the importance of projects that promote causes beneficial to the common good
before swinging a hatchet at the municipal budget
One of those causes is protecting the environment, which is why the Lawrence City Commission shouldn't set
aside its plan to expand recycl ing.
A prominent criticism of curbside recycling is that the city pays more for a marginal increase in recycling. This is especially true when a city already provides places to recycle, as Lawrence does.
The discussed expansion involves a city-sponsored curbside recycling program.
For those who can't make it out to recycle, mandatory recycling is the solution. Implementing a mandatory program is the most cost-efficient way to drastically increase recycling. Virtually 100 percent of the population would recycle for the same cost of a non-mandatory program.
OUR VIEW
Cities such as New York City, Seattle, Philadelphia, San Diego and, surprisingly, Newton have implemented mandatory recycling. It's not new either. Connecticut has required recycling since 1991.
Enforcement would be simple and would add no extra costs. Trash collectors would inspect bags if they hear or see recyclables. If the bags have a certain amount of recyclable material — in Newton it's seven items — a warning notice is posted on the bag and it is not picked up. Fines become involved if a household repeatedly disregards the ordinance. Randy Jackson, the street and sanitation superintendent for
Newton, said citizen compliance with the law is "very good."
The expenses of a mandatory curbside program would not be any higher than a voluntary one. When San Diego changed from voluntary to mandatory recycling, it didn't need to hire additional staff, buy additional trucks or expand their buildings.
A feasibility report from the Lawrence Public Works Department, which is available on the
city's Web site, concluded that pickup every other week would cost each household $9.02 per month.
However, the report doesn't factor in the amount the city would save in landfill fees and the revenue it would receive from selling recyclables.
These figures aren't junk change, either. According to a separate report released by the city, Lawrence saved $580,513 in landfill fees last year and made $228,022 from selling recyclables it collected in receptacles already scattered throughout the city.
This makes the cost per household about $6 per month, which coincidently is the same amount the majority of Lawrencians said they'd pay for curbside service in a survey the city commissioned.
Lawrencians need to shift the way they think about reducing waste, and a mandatory curbside recycling program will help play the role of facilitator.
The burden is small. Once a household plans out the logistics, curbside recycling will be as easy as managing trash.
It's something that's universally recognized as good and necessary for the preservation of future generations. It's something the city should seriously consider.
— lan Stanford for the editorial board
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Students are important voters in saving the T
KU students can now ride both KU on Wheels and Lawrence Public Transit T bus systems for free. This new access to public transportation has given KU students new transportation options.
ing even more benefits.
Please register to vote and do your part.
However, unless voters pass Propositions 2 and 3 this November, the T will stop running, the merger will not happen and transportation opportunities for KU students will shrink. It is vital Propositions 2 and 3 are passed this November.
The City of Lawrence and the University are moving toward merging their bus systems, which will result in a unified, comprehensive system provid-
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Ahem.
Some things, for whatever reason, just trigger a rage inside people. For some, it's hearing their shrill, ear-shattering alarm clock go off. For others, it's the very sight of their ex-lover who left them for that suave Spaniard who didn't even really appreciate her at all, and anyway how could she possibly understand a word he said because his accent was so thick?
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
The innovative writing and style of the laugh track-less "The Larry Sanders Show" in the '90s and "All in the Family" in the '70s were ahead of their time, but the inventiveness those shows displayed is increasingly becoming the norm.
We don't need laughter recorded 50 years earlier to tell us when something is funny.
Of course, there's still work to do. The only three-camera laugh track sitcom that was nominated for the Best Comedy Series Emmy this year — the despicable "Two and a Half Men" — is the most-watched comedy in the country.
Just typing that made my blood boil.
Broad situps are losing schedule space in favor of shows that require the viewer to have a finely tuned sense of humor. The laugh track is really a symbol of a mediocre product that has plagued networks for decades. We're better off as television watchers without it.
Figuring out what the hell is so funny
For me, what truly incites a fiery maelstrom of anger in the innermost depths of my long-forsaken soul is the sitcom laugh track.
Nichols is an Overland Park sophomore in creative writing.
A few weeks ago, another season of "The Office" premiered on NBC for a gaggle of fans who watch intently every week.
Later this month, "30 Rock" will begin its third season after winning the Emmy for Best Comedy Series in its first two. And although it struggled in the ratings during its all-too-brief run, "Arrested Development" has found a rabid fan base postmortem. More than 30,000 people on Facebook are fans of the "Arrested Development" movie — which hasn't even been confirmed yet.
What do these three comedies have in common other than critical acclaim, exemplary writing and incredible casts? No canned laffs.
The laugh track originated in the 1950s, presumably as a McCarthyian measure to make sure everybody laughed at only the most American of jokes.
Eventually it became a standard practice, as even shows with studio audiences chose to enhance the laff experience — or "laffsperience" — by adding a laugh track after jokes that weren't quite what one might call "funny at all."
It quickly became a safety net for unfunny, unoriginal sitcoms. It was so successful in sucking people into laughing at anything that soon network executives felt it was absolutely necessary and started slapping them onto shows that didn't need the assistance. Shows, such as "M*A*S*H" and Aaron Sorkin's "SportsNight" were accompanied by laugh tracks against their respective creators' wishes. I absolutely love
"NewsRadio," the woefully underwatched '90s classic, but whenever I watch it, the wholly unneeded laugh track plants that little seed of contempt in my heart.
I hope the success of "30 Rock" and "The Office" are indicative of a trend that will lead to the eventual extinction of the laugh track.
"Laugh tracks capitalize on the fact that we have specialized cells in the brain, "mirror neurons," that are highly responsive to things happening to other people, and put us in a similar state," Stephen flardi, associate professor of clinical psychology, said. "When we hear other people laughing, our brains automatically go into laugh mode as well."
It's not only completely unwarranted — it's insulting. This generation's sense of irony is strong.
So why are laugh tracks so successful?
How cruel! The executives who pour syrupy laugh tracks all over their stacks of poor sitcom pancakes aren't really treating you to a sweet tele-breakfast at all. They're preying on your innermost psychological insecurities.
Choose your very own opinion page column!
**Pope:** Less than a year ago we were standing in your Nikes, dear reader. We sat in the nosebleed section of Budig 110, shifting comfortably in our seats trying to stomach the inane rants that crammed
Ryan: If our time here has taught us anything, that anyone could do this. We decided to test that theory with a few experiments. Test one included "borrowing" some monkeys from the Kansas City Zoo, putting them in a room with some laptops and waiting for the magic to happen. Unfortunately, they just wrote a bunch of Shakespeare and proceeded to defecate everywhere.
the opinion page. And now we're the ones carrying on that legacy! We've come a long way, baby.
Pope: So we move to Plan B. The following is a carefully constructed Mad Lib rant that we invite you to complete at your leisure. Something making you angry? Simply fill in the blanks with whatever words you deem appropriate and watch as your opinion instantly matters than anyone else's. Chances are it will end up better than anything we could have written.
Ryan: Bonus points if you include "Matt Kleinmann" as anything other than a noun.
So I was ___ing down
the other day when
YOUR NAME HERE
off. How could someone be so ___? Clearly, I was right and ___ was wrong. Don't they know that I am an accomplished ___ majoring in ___? How dare
I ___ that the ___
at our local ___ was much too ___. I couldn't believe it. Full of ___, I decided to ___. I asked ___
just what the ___ was going on. ___ responded that ___ and that ___ needed to ___ for ___. I told ___ to kiss my ___ and stormed
I was so ___ by my encounter that I decided to
___ about it to ___ They told me to ___ ___. I conducted some research about ___ to prove ___. When I discovered that ___ contradicted my ___ ___. I just went with what I always write about: ___ So what if ___ is old news? No-body reads this ___. They only stop by for ___.
anyway. They only stop by for
the ___ for___,
submitted by a bunch
of ___ who aren't
worthy of ___ ing my
is ___ with such
will take me.
This whole experience has left me feeling ___. No longer will I stand by as my
I'll take my
langer will stand by us as
is with such
to a place where it will be treated with the ___ ___ it deserves. We'll see who has the last
'ou're
___ is a ___ in
___. ___ is a ___
___ in ___.
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Am I the only person at KU who is super excited that gas just hit $2.99 a gallon?
Two guys on a moped. I know those two guys on a moped. If that wasn't them, then I'm a piece of saasfras.
--you, go cry
I said good day!
I look for the Crossing and what I see makes me want to throw up.
--you, go cry
Only 408 hours and 21 minutes until High School Musical3
I am Ralph Hudson.
To the ass kisser in my Sociology class: please stop, you're making me nauseous.
--you, go cry
I kissed a monk and I liked it.
--you, go cry
If your name was in the crossword, your clue would be filiacible.
--you, go cry
--for me,bra.
Girl on McCollum bus at 1:10 p.m., stop complaining about your boyfriend. He dumped
Oklahoma State doesn't read the FFA
--for me,bra.
To the people who took the pens out of the blue sparkly case Tuesday in Budig 120: You make me sad.
--for me,bra.
I think the FFA online just died. Please let it be true. Oh God, please let it be dead. Please let it stay dead. FFA, I need you back on the phone
---
Forget two girls, one cup. Try three guys, one moped.
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My roommate just asked if he could chew on the other end of a toothpick that was in my mouth. I said no.
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I'd like to thank the jackass who put the fliers on cars in the Daisy Hill parking lot that stick to the windshields.
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Yea, I went to Jiffy Lube today and there was no more oil.
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I saw a guy with a mullet of dreadlocks.
Three times this week I saw KU workers in trucks picking the pine cones out of pine trees. What's the deal?
I am in love with my Social Psych TA.
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