OPINION
9A
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2008
FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hurricanes present a difficult situation to government and law enforcement agencies, especially during evacuations. Unlike a tornado, which people can take shelter from in their basement, a hurricane forces evacuations because no type of effective hurricane shelters exist. Even if citizens stayed, New Orleans showed us that the damage to water, sewer, gas and electrical systems would place them in serious danger.
No reason not to prepare for storms
come since Katrina. New Orleans was wholly unprepared for that storm, and cities and states should not hesitate to issue voluntary evacuation notices, even
if the storm has only a chance of hitting that location.
The hurricane season has gotten off to a strong start, and as hurricanes dart closer to the Louisiana coastline, officials should ask themselves how far the United States has actually
Unfortunately, hurricanes are also unpredictable. Even if the National Hurricane Center can
Although the hurricane might fizzle out, mandatory evacuations should be enforced for any urban
give people a range of where the storm might strike, intensity and exact location are not certain.
Although it might seem like a waste of money to prepare for only a possibility, this country has seen the devastating consequences of not doing enough.
area that might lie in the path of a hurricane, simply because of the likely unlivable state of the city afterward. Rural residents should be given more leeway in
choosing if they want to leave, as long as they understand their life is in their hands.
No one should try to balance the equation of money saved by comparing it to lives saved.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Do campus police have nothing else to do?
Yes, I got pulled over on my
Midway through the second flow of rhymes from Lil Wayne, I hear the sound of a cop car. Are you kidding me?
I realize at 9:50 on a Thursday morning there might not be too much for the ever-so-busy University police officers to be doing. However, while most students are still recovering from dollar night, I was riding my bicycle to class. With the "Lollipop" remix bumpin' on my iPod, I cruised down Jayhawk Boulevard on the 26-inch rims ... of my bicycle.
bike. If you were on campus and witnessed this, please laugh it up. Although I thought it was hilarious, the officer did not. He informed me that I was indeed endangering lives by "failing to yield at a stop sign."
Students: please learn from my $130 mistake. The University obviously doesn't have enough money. Now it seems like we are in the middle of a war between the University police department and the KU Parking Department to see which can give out the most ridiculous tickets.
-Max Kozak is a junior from Anchorage, Alaska.
@KANSAN.COM
COMMENTS ALREADY ONLINE
If you want cars to treat bicycles as equal passengers, you'd better be prepared to equally follow the laws of the road.
er, blowing through stop signs on a bike or having headphones on while riding a bike around cars and huge buses. And if you weren't wearing a helmet while riding, then you're insane.
-comment by Hendrix321
-comment by vladislav
I don't know which is stupid-
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What Will Wright gets wrong about evolution
MAX RINKEL
If LOLcatz, Battlestar Galactica and Mr. Potatohead procreated, youd get the newest video game sensation, Spore. It's the brainchild of Will Wright, who created The Sims, which turned out to be the best-selling PC game in history.
Spore is similar to The Sims, in that players control the evolution of their creatures. The evolutionary premise of Spore is quite innovative, but when science and pop culture meet, scientific accuracy always takes a back seat to amusement (see "Star Trek," "Frankenstein," "The Brave Little Toaster").
Spore isn't trying to teach us evolution — it's trying to take up space on your hard drive. Here's what you should take with a grain of salt:
Life in Spore begins when an asteroid hits earth, depositing multi-celled bacteria that laze about until a player starts adding limbs and allows the bacteria to reproduce. Spore deserves a nod for including a scientifically supported background story, but the "space stork" is only one theory. Other scientists think organic material, such as amino acids and proteins, was grown in the right temperature, light and chemical conditions in some unfortunate prehistoric time when computer games couldn't stunt their productivity.
1 WE ARE ALL REALLY CUTE ALIENS
Spore is infused with a humansas-divine-beings mentality. While the creatures don't resemble us, the game assumes that our conditions as land-dwelling, group-cooperating strategic thinkers led to our survival. This is why the game is so popular: It feeds our egos by allowing us to control life.
As June bugs have proven, you don't need much of a brain to resist extinction. Surviving on land doesn't guarantee better survival, either. Whales, the largest aquatic mammals, actually developed from land animals. Evolution requires a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps mentality. Organisms survive if they can use limited resources in a small area, not if they can conquer the universe.
2 NO NEED TO SAVE THE WHALES
Spore allows you to skip entire stages completely after you have played the game once. Unlike in Spore, species don't seek out new ways to succeed unless their environment or genetic makeup demands it. In Spore, advancing from level to level is expected.
3 IF YOU SUCK AT LIFE,
MOVE PAST GO
4 SEEING GOD BEHIND THE CURTAIN
If Spore didn't have the God complex built in, we'd be doing the same old thing — making secret ugly Sim characters out of our siblings.
Saving your tatch hut from burning to the ground in the tribal phase depends largely on what type of arms, legs and eyes players give their creature at the start. Like the real world, creatures with the best-fit characteristics flourish. However, Spore doesn't notice that evolution isn't a decision. Organisms don't choose how they look. Biodiversity arises from genetic mutations and environmental pressure. Giving players a God complex ignores the basic mechanism of evolution — natural selection, not divine power.
But the point of Spore isn't for the Board of Education to dispatch librarian patrol over all K-12 computers. Players can overlook the simplified representations of evolution because Spore isn't a learning tool: It is science appropriated for entertainment.
Oberthaler is a Wichita junior in English.
Presidential election should revitalize politics on campus
The presidential election is 49 days away, and the anticipation is building. Voter turnout among young adults is increasing. According to civicyouth.org, 47 percent of 18 to 24 year olds voted in the 2004 presidential election, up from 36 percent in 2000. With all the enthusiasm surrounding the November election, why weren't students this excited about the Student Senate elections in April?
Student Senate elections, but political involvement on campus is just as important. Student senators have as much of an impact, if not more, on our daily lives than the person we put in the White House.
Voter turnout for the last Student Senate election was extremely low. Only 17 percent of the student body voted. Although this is an increase from 12 percent the year before, the turnout is pitiful. Not voting means not being heard, and less than a fifth of the student body had a voice in April.
The presidential election may seem more significant than the
The decisions of Student Senate set the foundation of the school and have been widely questioned, and sometimes criticized, by students. Issues like voting with clickers, financing the construction of a boathouse and making buses free for students were widely discussed. But why didn't the majority of the student body vote?
Political involvement on campus does not begin and end with voting. Students should get involved in the decision-making process.
If you didn't vote on Student Senate election day, you can still have a say about what happens to your campus and your money. Students can start petitions and write referendums. Students can
even write their own bills with the permission of a student senator.
Apparently only 17 percent of the student body found these issues important enough to elect the people who control them instead of just complaining.
Student Senate said it is trying to tackle campus voting apathy. Student Senate has created a new committee to reform the election process in an effort to get more students to the polls, said Aly Rodee, Student Senate communications director, Student Senate hopes to shorten the campaigning process so that students won't feel burn out and may be excited to vote.
In order to get the best experience from the University, students must be informed and involved in their campus community.
Being informed about the politics of the University is just as important as voting for the president. It may even be more important. After all, the president does not manage student fees.
Young people are hungry for a positive change. This change we crave will not come from our next president but from ourselves.
Brown is a Wichita sophomore in journalism and political science.
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500.
To the girl who took all the duct tape off me: Thank you. I probably looked ridiculous.
To the person who tried to check in at the dorms with a fake ID; not smart.
--legs.
--legs.
I'm so tired of hearing people whine about the new Facebook. It's not that different. Learn to adapt, please.
I was going to delete all the pictures of us, but I didn't have the heart to clean out my recycle bin.
Am I a loser because I was doing homework for part of my Saturday night? And I was OK with it?
--legs.
I need a good date. A really good date. Like something out of a movie.
--legs.
To the guy I almost hit with my car Friday when it was raining: I'm so, so sorry. Let's hang out and celebrate the fact that I didn't break your
--no money.
That rainbow was awesome!
You may laugh at your roommate in ROTC for having to get up every morning at 5:30, but you won't be laughing when he's the one defending our country.
--no money.
Why are all the guys I like so focused on school that they can't be open to the idea of dating?
--no money.
Everyone is slowly leaving Facebook chat and yet here I am still on Free for All. And five hours from now, I will still be here. I am a loser. I'm going to go play Grand Theft Auto 4 and pretend I'm not a loser with no girlfriend and
---
My best friend was a virgin until two months ago. Now he's getting married.
---
Three members of my high school graduating class got married in the past month. They are dropping like flies.
I broke up with someone, and they don't even know.
I hate the new Facebook, but I don't think my will-power is strong enough to bovett it.
---
Jayhawks, what happened?
I'm playing "Spore" right now. One of the greatest games since sliced bread, eh?
@ KANSAN.COM
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