OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Kansas Athletics could finance the University of Kansas. But should it?
The answer is no. I know many of you are furious over a $40 fee, but KU Athletics does a lot for Kansas.
Around the country, the athletics department is the doorstop for the University. The Southern Economic Journal reported this year about the "Flutie Effect" — which describes increased enrollment for universities that do well in athletics (Look up Doug Flutie in 1984 on YouTube). The study shows that increases from 3 to 8 percent in enrollment occurred on campuses of colleges that did well in the NCAA basketball tournament. KU won the national championship last year. It wasn't a surprise for me to see increased students on campus this year.
Students think that the $31 million football complex on the hill was built using public dollars. The money was private dollars primarily donated by the Kivisto and Anderson families. Those $90,000 trees that were planted by the athletics department were also funded entirely by private dollars.
Donors tell the University or the athletics department where that money should go. They don't disrespect their wishes. The Kivitos and Andersons decided it would go to a football complex; not towards University budgets.
The main issue with students is that miniscule $40 student fee. Fifteen of those dollars go to the new boathouse for the Kansas rowing team. It will be predominately used by the Kansas Athletics rowing team, but also by the club rowing teams. The other part is the women's and non-revenue sports fee, which many universities have. Many of those dollars go to scholarships for athletes and some even goes back to non-athletes.
For those who are angry about the whistle ceasing to exist on campus, please note that alumni may step up and donate that $3,000 to operate the whistle. Perhaps the science department can find an energy efficient whistle that doesn't use natural gas to create the steam.
So here's the bottom line students: stop complaining. Many of you are getting an incredible bargain for the quality of teams being fielded at the University of Kansas. As an out-of-state student, I'm paying more than double the amount you are for tuition here at Kansas. An extra $40 isn't going to hurt you.
Students get a bargain for the sports here at KU. 2007-08 was the single greatest sport year for KU ever. Would you really have complained if you paid $300 or even more to go to those games last year? I surely wouldn't have.
— Joe Davis is a Coventry, Conn., junior in sports management
Republicans' VP choice shattered the mold
It's been a time of record-making in politics. Democratic nominee Barack Obama's historic nomination acceptance speech, delivered on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech, brought in more than 38 million viewers. Last week was another historic week as Republican nominee John McCain selected the first woman to ever run as vice president on a Republican ticket.
Candidates like Obama who, before starting his campaign, were virtually unknown, usually experience quite a large bounce in the polls following their convention. In 1992, then unknown Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton enjoyed an astonishing 16-point bounce in the polls over President George H.W. Bush. But Obama's bounce was muted by the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the vice presidential run mate.
During the Republican convention last week, Palin gave a speech that rivaled Obama's, bringing in just under 38 million viewers as she introduced herself to the American people. McCain's speech brought in some 500,000 more viewers than Senator Obama's and the most recent Gallup poll shows McCain leading Obama by four points.
The Republican convention last week was anything but conventional. Hurricane Gustav barreled toward the Gulf Coast just as the convention was supposed to kick off. While Michael Moore and other liberal activists claimed
it as proof of a God who wanted Democrats to win, Republicans used their convention as an opportunity to transcend politics and help with relief efforts.
On day two of the convention, President Bush gave a speech via satellite. This might have been surprising considering that McCain had made an effort to distance himself from the president whose approval ratings are hurting. Bush called McCain as an independent thinker who is not afraid to tell you when he disagrees.
However, the most exciting part of the week was Palin. During the five days following her nomination, she faced unprecedented criticism from the media.
But she is the perfect complement to McCain. Her conservative values will mobilize the Republican base, and her youth and charisma have energized the entire nation. Some claim that she lacks experience. But she has more executive experience than any other candidate. It should be troubling to Democrats to hear their candidate claim that running his campaign has provided experience for the presidency. Is that, along with being a community organizer, really the best he's got? I am more confident in Palin's experience as mayor and governor to prepare her for the vice presidency than I am in Obama's experience, especially since he is at the top of his ticket.
Americans are ready for change in Washington. If we are going to get it, we have to put our trust in candidates who actually have a record of accomplishment and who are willing to battle corruption in either party.
Poole is a Wichita senior in political science and psychology.
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After being captivated by the Democratic National Convention, I wasn't sure I could handle any more excitement. Democratic nominee Barack Obama had just given one of the best speeches of his life, and he's a man who knows his way around the spoken word.
But in the world of this proud politi-geek, there would be only one thing that could come out after the end of the DNC that I would pay attention to, and it happened.
Sarah Palin? What was John McCain thinking?
Nobody knew exactly when Republican nominee John McCain would announce his choice of a running mate or who it would be. Old campaign rivals like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were considered front-runners, as was the possibility of a party-line shattering alliance with Joe Lieberman. The Republican Party had a ripe field of potential vice presidents to pick from.
But McCain is just full of surprises. Desperately trying to regain his old maverick status, he picked somebody completely out of right field. I'm aware that the phrase is usually "out of left field," but that would be inappropriate in this context for obvious reasons.
The day after the Democratic National Convention ended. McCain shocked his party, the country and probably his own campaign staff by announcing
anti-gay, anti-abortion and antievolution beliefs.
I don't care which party picks somebody like that — it is unacceptable.
that his running mate would be that shining star of the Republican Party, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
I first discovered this while browsing Facebook, when a Republican friend had changed her status to "McCain/Palin '08." I was unfamiliar with the name, as she hadn't been considered a top pick for the position.
McCain chose somebody who has held only one office relevant to national affairs and who has only held that for a bit over a year and a half. Before this, she briefly held a position on the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission and during the 1990s was both a city councilwoman and the mayor of the vibrant Arctic metropolis we know as Wasilla.
According to 2000 U.S. census, it's population is close to 7,000 people, meaning it could theoretically be invaded and conquered by the line for Chic-Fill-A at the Underground on any given weekday afternoon. Oh, and she was also the runner-up for Miss Alaska in 1984. Sexy.
No.I hadn't heard of it either.
The desire to be exciting has led to a reckless selection of an unqualified candidate for the second most powerful individual in the nation. If anything were to happen to a President McCain, who has a history of skin cancer problems, this woman would be president of the United States.
And you can't tell me that she's free of controversy. It was reported a few days after her nomination that her under-age, unwed daughter is pregnant, which could also be a knock against those elusive "family values" the Republicans refuse to define. Also, she is under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power after firing a public safety official when he refused to fire her former brother-in-law.
If we dig into John McCain's mind, his decision in selecting Palin becomes clear: she has two X-chromosomes. The McCain campaign has been desperate to court disenfranchised Hillary Clinton supporters, and they seem to feel that the best way to do this is to include a woman on their ticket. It may mean that in doing so, they've pointed the gun at their foot and pulled the trigger.
Cohen is a Topeka senior in political science.
You can't tell me that she's experienced enough for the job. She may be the only person on either major party ticket with executive branch experience, but it is too little to qualify her for the position she is running for.
Don't tell me that she represents change, the favored buzzword of this election. She's a staunch neo-conservative, open about her
I would not be so bold as to say that this will completely dash McCain's hopes of winning. The 2004 election proved that some voters are willing to forgive anything. That doesn't stop me from calling this the worst possible pick McCain could have made short of vice president Dick Cheney and, for once, it isn't just because of my partisan bias.
Public transit is the best remedy for drunken driving
The first is simple rebellion. By nature, teenagers are rebellious. Most teenagers, and those close to being teenagers, are just going to do the opposite of what an authority figure tells them to do. Since the law is the ultimate authority, breaking the law is the ultimate rebellion. How do lawmakers not understand something so basic?
With more than 100 presidents of colleges around the nation calling to discuss changing the drinking age from 21 to 18, the debate about lowering the drinking age continues. However, in the process, two of the most important factors in deciding what to do continue to be ignored.
Even when a student leaves home, this attitude doesn't change. The student now has more freedom. With this new freedom comes the freedom to make good as well as bad decisions. With little to no parental influence, peer pressure rising, and the disdain for authority always present, the
probability of a student making a bad decision far outweighs that of making a good one.
These bad decisions have varying consequences. Some are minor and insignificant, like passing out and then waking up in a pool of your own vomit, but others are more serious, like injury or death. CNN reported a few weeks ago that 1,700 college students die each year in accidents related to drinking. Among the general population, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, nearly 13,000 people died in alcohol-related car accidents last year.
However, attacking alcohol for drunk driving is not only easy but also stupid. Banning all motor vehicles would make more sense. What should be attacked is the system that allows these bad decisions to continue. MADD ignores why people frequently drive drunk — because there is no other viable option.
If MADD wanted to accomplish something, it would encourage the development of public transit. This should be MADD's only mission. Instead, in 2006 the organization launched an initiative to eliminate drunken driving forever by pushing for sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlock devices for convicted
drunk drivers, vehicle technology to prevent drunk driving and public support. Strangely there is no mention of the simplest thing that should be done, which would be to increase funding for public transit systems, nor is there any mention of any other way to discourage people from driving.
Luckily, KU transit is not so obtuse. The University offers its free SafeRide service from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on any evening. By showing a KUID, it will pick you up and take you home. Though SafeRide has been criticized for its frequent tardiness, KU On Wheels last year launched a free night bus on Friday and Saturday nights to further serve students. These buses run from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
With the elimination of the bus pass this year, KU transit is rolling in the right direction while MADD continues to sit parked, wondering if it's sober enough to continue driving its mad caravan into the abyss. Ultimately, it will be those drunken individuals sitting at home while thinking who are clear-headed enough to know why they're not out exploring the world.
Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.
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Dear Muse lover, I want you, I need you. Meet me in the Watson stacks to fulfill my dreams.
I think my neighbor is cute and I think last night I may have scared him away.
--week
F--F-F-FALCON
PUUUNCH!!!!
C-c-c-c-combo breaker.
--week
Wow. Really classy. You're an alcoholic now, on top of completely blowing off your best friends? That's really cute
Do you hate when you remember somebody, but they never remember you?
--week
I would like to find a girl that enjoys having a good time, but doesn't feel the need to go and drink her brains out three nights a
To the lip-ring wearing, bearded bus driver's fan club: been there, done that, totally not worth it.
--myself. Oh well.
I love her but she's six states away.
--myself. Oh well.
When the hell will I ever need Western Civ, majoring in biology please someone tell me.
--myself. Oh well.
Psst. Arabic is a language, not a social identity!
I told myself at the beginning of the semester rain wouldn't stop me from going to my classes... Now it's raining and freezing cold and I'm staying in my nice warm bed... I guess I was lying to
--bars!
I watched a cop give a ticket to someone who parked their car in their lawn Ridiculous.
--bars!
Why can I not find any tickets to Vampire Weekend this Thursday? Any help?
There are so many emo people on here,you'd think I was at a Fall Out Boy concert.
--bars!
To the awful weather: Take some antidepressants already!
--bars!
Jangle Jangle Jangle. Oh you know who you are.
--bars!
If you can't find guys who don't just want to play drinking games and get drunk, then stop looking for us at the beer pong table and
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