OPINION
5A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUFSDAY SEPTEMBER 16.2008
TV shows don't represent the LGBT population
I have plenty of my real gay and lesbian friends here in Lawrence, filling my life with laughter and more drama than I can sometimes handle.
But where are my gays on TV, providing me with hours of canned laughter and scripted drama? In the 2007-2008 season, only 1.1 percent of the characters on broadcast TV identified themselves at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual, according to a study by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
This is much lower than GLAAD's 6.8 percent estimate of the number of Americans who identify themselves as LGBT, and it has even decreased from the previous season.
Damon Romine, entertainment media director for GLAAD, said that even though the number of characters on broadcast TV was down, the number of LGBT characters on cable increased from 15 to 40. Also, Romine said, the quality and range of LGBT characters on all networks was improving in plot and character development.
Romine said that many networks were hesitant to include LGBT characters because of a fear that the characters would not be accurately represented and that LGBT characters were usually represented as the victim or villain in many crime shows.
"Where are the gay cops, lawyers and forensic scientists?" Romine asked.
Three shows have fairly represented LGBT characters, he said. The drama "Brothers & Sisters" features a married couple of the same sex, and it's the only show to feature a gay character over 60. With an ensemble of more than 15 characters, though, I would be surprised if the same sex couple
on TV
Check out these LGBT characters on TV:
Marco on CW's "Privileged"
Eric van der Woodsen on CWs"Gossip Girl"
Larry on Fox's "Do Not Disturb"
Scotty Wandell on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters"
Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's "True Blood"
had time to cut the cake.
Two comedies are also paving the way for LGBT characters. "Ugly Betty" features an openly gay character and a transgender character. "Desperate Housewives" features an openly gay young man and a middle-aged gay couple that also got married this past season. I can remember how giddy I was when the young gay male character first appeared on "Desperate Housewives." I was desperate for some reflection of my life on TV.
When LGBT characters become few and far between on TV, LGBT viewers accept subpar representations of themselves, which come to reflect on how they view the community and the people around them.
So is this what we have to look forward to this coming TV season? Some trendy marriages between the same sex and an old gay guy? I miss my shows that involved being gay as a central focus of the show.
The closest show that's come close is reruns of "The Golden Girls." And trust me, it's going to be years before I break out the muumuu and quit attempting to find a fair, focused and adequate representation of the LGBT community on television.
Hirschfeld is an Augusta senior in journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Would-be parents want to care for any child
Weeks later, my wife had what I thought was a standard medical checkup. When she came back, I knew that our dream was on hold. She had a miscarriage.
This summer, my wife and I finally found out she was pregnant. We had anticipated this day since our marriage. Although we could pursue other achievements, there was nothing we wanted more than to be parents. That sounds old-fashioned, but that's fine.
Our story is surprisingly common. About 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. There are many would-be parents who would give anything in the world to welcome a child into their home.
It pains me to see society view the arrival of a new human being as tragedy or a problem. It is the most wonderful gift you could have. Yes, we all hope the
new baby can be born in good health to expecting parents, but every life is precious, whatever the circumstances.
There are extreme times when I agree abortion should be an option — such as if the pregnancy is a threat to the mother's life or rape or incest
— but even then I would hope the mother gives the baby a chance, if at all possible.
If you are not able to raise a baby yourself, many people are willing to help. I know wonderful parents who are able to raise a family because a mother was willing and brave enough to put her child up for adoption. I have played with children who are alive only because someone gave them a chance.
Mother Teresa said she would take any baby that would otherwise be aborted. We would gladly make the same offer.
Nathan Markham is a Lawrence senior in chemical engineering
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Finance health care with a sin tax on cigarettes
Consumer culture is as bad for you as cigarettes or booze. Look at how many people have credit card debt. For most people, this debt isn't from medical expenses or a family emergency. People just want to live outside their means and consume, consume, consume
We have two options to solve this problem. Either we should tax everything under the sin tax that isn't food, water, shelter or clothing, or we should just raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes.
If we don't raise the sin tax on cigarettes, how else are we supposed to help reform health care in Kansas — only one of 10 states that has an increasing number of people who don't have health care.
When people are worried about taxing cigarettes and liquor to help reform something as necessary as the health care system, I get disappointed.
Smokers are the last group of people I'd expect to hear complain about such a thing. All the people I know who smoke hand them out to anyone wanting to bum one. Why all the fuss then?
FROM CURRAN.HELLEHER @ FLICKR.COM
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius would propose a package of health care reforms that includes a 50-cent tax increase on cigarettes, according to an article in the Lawrence Journal-World.
buy, buy, buy,
Just tax the cigarettes and get children and the uninsured some health care.
But there are people against this measure. So I have to ask, how else
are we supposed to get money for such a thing?
A sin tax, usually a tax on cigarettes and booze, is supposed to be a tax on a product that harms people and causes damage to society. If we don't wish to finance health care reforms with a tax increase on cigarettes, I suppose there are plenty of other products that could be considered unnecessary or harmful.
Suppose all we need to survive is shelter, food, water and clothing. Why don't we put a sin tax on all things that are for vain hedonistic purposes?
But how much stuff is really unnecessary in life?
Big screen TV tax. Car tax. Gold watch tax. Big fluffy pillow tax. Wii tax. Desert tax (after all, it isn't a meal). Wet wipe tax.
Think about how much surplus revenue the state could receive every year from such a wide stance on the definition as to what qualifies as taxable under the sin tax.
Stewart is a Wichita senior in journalism.
Are bicycles the same as all other motor vehicles?
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Here we go again, another year and another bicyclist receiving a $120 fine for running a stop sign.
It's not unreasonable to expect bicyclists to follow the same rules of the road that other motor vehicles follow, but it is unreasonable to apply the same punishment to bicyclists as it is to cars, trucks, SUVs and semis because a bicycle is radically different.
My cousin almost died from getting hit by a car that rolled through a stop sign. He lost about half his teeth and broke his arm. It took him a year to recover.
The car wasn't traveling more than 10 miles per hour. However, had he been hit by a bicycle he would have been able to walk away — bruised and angry, but in a lot better shape.
Though technically a vehicle, a bicycle is not a car, truck, SUV or semi, or even a motor vehicle. If a bicycle was the same as a motor vehicle, then bicycles would be required to register with the DMV, get a license plate and pay a property tax.
A typical car weighs more than 2,000 pounds and travels 30 mph on city streets. A typical bicycle weighs about 20 pounds and typically travels about 10 mph. Because a bike travels at a much slower average speed, the cyclist has far more time to react than the driver does to avoid an accident.
Since the state does not consider them a motor vehicle, they are not required to do any of this. So why does the University consider them
the same as any other vehicle when the state of Kansas doesn't?
In fact, the state doesn't even consider all motor vehicles the same. If it did, then there would be only one kind of license, but there isn't. If you want to drive a motorcycle instead of a car, you have to get a motorcycle license. If you use your vehicle for commercial purposes, the state requires a commercial license.
Different rules should be applied to radically different vehicles. The most a bicycle has in common with a motor vehicle is that both are forms of transportation, both have at least two wheels and both run on the ground. Other than that, they don't have much in common.
Since the mass of a car is more than 100 times that of a bicycle, twice as wide and travels at more than double the typical speed of a bicycle, if you get hit by a car you're going to be in far worse shape than if you get hit by a bicycle. I've never heard of anyone dying from getting hit by a bicycle.
Another reason we should punish cyclists less is to encourage more bicycling and less driving. After all, bicyclists are already saving us money through fewer road repairs, cheaper gas and lower health care costs due to fewer sick people.
pedestrian was talking on his cell phone, looking at the ground and jaywalking across jayhawk Boulevard within minutes after the campus whistle had blown. I rung my bell at least five times and swerved, though I still ran into him. I regret to say that I went from 6 to 0 in less than three seconds. He was annoyed, though I was able to grab him before he likely would have fallen over.
If cyclists are to going to be fined at all for running a stop sign, $30 would be a fairer fine, as for the law to be just the punishment needs to fit the crime.
Sometimes two wheels are better than four — though two are certainly better than the one this law is balancing on.
Once I even hit someone while on my bike, though not because I ran a stop sign, but because the
Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.
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damn road!
Wow! Who knew that bicyclists had to obey the rules of the road, too? Get off my street cause I ain't sharin' no
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Next up on the Parking Department's list making people buy parking permits for biker.
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I'll bet the reason the KU cops are giving bike riders tickets is because they know the University isn't making any money on them. If they can't sell them parking permits, they can get here free.
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So, I'm sitting behind a girl painting her nails in chemistry. This means one of two things: 1. Terrible teacher (true) or 2. She has no free
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