OPINION
5A
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Time is money, as the adage goes, but gas prices now may cost more than time.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Kansas Energy Council is considering a proposal to decrease maximum Kansas highway speeds from 70 to 65 mph in order to conserve gas. Not only does 65 sound pretty slow, it also grinds against core American values of progress, freedom and individuality.
Reducing speed limit not big enough of a solution
But before grabbing your pitchfork and doing 100 all the way to Topeka, consider a forgotten American value — sacrifice.
During World War II, thousands of men accepted conscription, women took up factory jobs and volunteer posts, taxes spiked, unions signed no-strike pledges, and food and other items were rationed. During the 1973 oil crisis, the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act reduced the national speed limit to 55 mph, and gas was available only on an alternate day basis. A national conservation campaign used the slogan "Don't Be Fuelish."
Sacrifice; the government used to require it, and Americans used to wholeheartedly accept it for legitimate crises. Today we aren't asked to sacrifice anything for
country. Throughout the War on Terror, rhetoric of sacrifice has been replaced by President Bush telling us to fly and take vacations, go shopping and feel warm and fuzzy when you receive your stimulus check in the mail.
Despite acceptance that peak oil is nearing, the notion of curtailing our gaudy lifestyle seems as foreign as the Middle East.
A reduced speed limit isn't a long-term solution to our energy problems. We must continue to work toward alternative energy and improve intrastate mass transportation.
In the mean time, however, if having to slow down on highways doesn't seem worth conserving a couple year's worth of oil, consider the notion that the idea behind the cut may be more important in the long run than the cut itself.
In a world with scarce resources, the current American mindset of endless consumption without real consequence is frightening. Americans need to relearn sacrifice, and accepting that it will take 10 extra minutes to drive to back to Johnson County is an encouraging, albeit small, start.
-lan Stanford for the editorial board
editorials around the nation
ASSOCIATED PRESS
United States should not interfere in fight
John McCain and Barack Obama disagree on many things, but in response to Russia's invasion of Georgia, they both knew that the United States should reddouble efforts to bring Georgia into NATO.
They're wrong, and dangerously so.
Consider that if President Bush had gotten his way over European objections, Georgia would already be a NATO member country. The recent Russian invasion would have committed NATO to go to war with Russia which, despite its weakened state, still has a sizable army and thousands of nuclear missiles to defend Georgia.
Are Americans willing to engage in a shooting war with Russia over this former Soviet republic? What is the U.S. interest at stake worth paying that kind of price?
Others say that were Georgia in NATO, Russia never would have invaded. If the U.S. is not prepared to fight for Georgia, it has no business extending security guarantees to it.
Georgia's fight with Russia is not our fight, nor should it be. Russia has drawn a line in the sand, right in its own back yard. We would be prudent not to cross it.
The Dallas Morning News Aua.18 editorial
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A new species on the loose at this year's DNC
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Despite what some scientists claim is the next great mass extinction, a new species has emerged after Sen. Barack Obama was named the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. This fierce new species, called the PUMA, is a mammal in the Hillary Clintonte family and is native to the Americas.
This new breed of PUMA lurks in the deep, dark depths of the "comments" section of the Cafferty File blog, one of their most common habitats. They are most active around dawn and dusk, infiltrating the dense underbrush of the Internet. They feed on rationality, and are known for their shrill cry, which sounds somewhat like "Second place is the same as first place".
Where to spot: The pack has temporarily relocated to the Denver area for the Democratic Convention this week, but these PUMAs can be spotted around the country.
This contingent of Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters began referring to themselves as PUMAs. PUMA, as I came to learn after a great deal of confusion, stood for "Party Unity My Ass." They quickly became known for their baseless rants, annoying threats and strong hind legs for catching up with quicker prey.
ZooCards: the PUMA
After amusing myself by reading inane comments for a few weeks, I started to wonder: Who are these people, really? Surely, not everyone who voted for Clinton in the primaries is that riled up about her narrow defeat to Obama that they would try to form some subversive group to distract the party from its goal of reclaiming the White House.
I've read a lot about the supposed 18 million voters who apparently want Clinton running on the Donkey Party, or they will switch their votes to Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. This seems unrealistic to me, since Clinton is much closer ideologically to Obama than to McCain. If people wanted so badly for her to run the country, it doesn't make sense that their second choice wouldn't be somebody whod have an at least relatively similar administration.
That, and all of the Clinton supporters I know have been
willing to accept that, as well as she did, Obama obviously did slightly better.
Prey and feeding:
tend to be active
at dawn and dusk,
lurking around CNN.
com, killing the comments section with
their sharp teeth and inane submissions
According to the PUMA tracks that were left on the Cafferty File blog, the leadership in the Democratic Party had somehow anointed Obama their candidate when he did not deserve it. Reasons for this include the number of super-delegates who declared their support for him, after many of them were believed early on to be in favor of Clinton. And, of course, there was the fiasco involving the delegates from Michigan and Florida. When the two states had their delegates stripped for holding their primaries before Super Tuesday, a privilege that had only been granted to a few states, "Count Every Vote" became, for a brief period, a popular slogan.
But I think I may have discovered a secret facet of the species.
I spent a fair amount of my summer perusing the comments on CNN.com's various blogs, which are apparently the natural habitat of PUMAS. For every story, even ones which had absolutely nothing to do with the presidential election (therefore, not the fun ones), I was told that Obama and his mean, nasty supporters are rich, elitist snobs who hate America, women, blue-collar citizens and fluffy little kittens.
Natural habitat native to the United States, primarily in Democratic-leaning states
Call it a cave-in to an extremely vocal minority (which is what I call it), but ultimately, it seems necessary to bring the Democratic Party back together in time to win back that prime habitat called the White House in November.
My favorite conspiracy theory is that the PUMAs who have overtaken the Internet are actually covert McCain supporters, using subterfuge to help their candidate.
Admittedly, this is unlikely for the organization as a whole. I've read about organized PUMA groups that number around 2 million members, so there have to be a few legitimate sore losers in the pack.
The organizers of the Democratic National Convention have agreed with that sentiment and have stated that not only will Clinton get a prime speaking time in Denver, but her pledged delegates will also be able to cast their votes for her, despite her suspending her campaign over the summer.
In truth, I see the rise of the PUMA as a need for ventilation after an extremely heated primary. It isn't unreasonable, considering that toward the end, it became almost as intense as the general election will be.
Cohen is a Topeka senior in political science.
Energy solutions for U.S. economy include drilling
The beginning of a new school year means a lot of things. We catch up with our friends, find out which of our professors are evil, and realize that the only thing more expensive than our textbooks is the gas we spend driving back from wherever we call home.
Outrage over gas prices is nothing new. I have been moaning and whining about over-paying since prices rose 10 cents to $1.59 per gallon right when I needed to fill the tank sometime around 2004. Farther back some might remember the fuel crisis of the '70s and the misguided price control schemes of the Carter era that only resulted in long lines at the pump.
renewable and more environmentally sound than oil. For the sake of our economy and our energy independence (and, consequently, our national security) we must invest in these alternative energy sources. American ingenuity is what made this nation great. In the last century it was innovative ideas for use of oil that helped us prosper; in the next it will be wind, solar, biofuels, nuclear... you name it.
Today, we are far from weaned of our "addiction" to oil. Let's face it: It will be decades before our reliance on oil significantly phases out. This is not to say that we cannot do anything about the current problem. There is much that can and must be done. Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama has told us that we cannot simply drill our way out of this problem. In the long term, he is absolutely right. There are numerous alternative sources of energy, much of which is
While we transition into the next generation of energy there are still millions of vehicles and homes that rely on oil. For many, the cost is unbearable, so in the short-term we must utilize our resources for the sake of our economy. That is exactly what the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566), which Congress needs to debate, proposes. The bill financially encourages alternative energy research while allowing environmentally responsible drilling.
When it comes to drilling, the two main areas in dispute are the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Unfortunately, both Sen. John McCain and Obama oppose drilling in ANWR. Despite the fact that there are billions of barrels of oil to be produced, the drilling sites and the pipelines would take up less than 1percent of the land. Finally, congressmen who have visited the area have stated that wildlife in the arctic region have flocked to current pipelines and thrived.
support drilling in OCS. Of course, this was not always the case. While McCain has supported it for some time, Obama opposed it from the start. That was until he caught wind of the national poll stating that approximately 70 percent of Americans favored drilling in OCS. That was enough to change his tune in a heartbeat. To be fair, in an election year any politician would have done the same.
Fortunately, both candidates
Opponents of drilling have claimed that the oil from either ANWR or OCS would not actually come online for as late as 10 years from now. In fact, 10 years is the long estimate. The average estimate for OCS is about five years and could be as soon as three. Even three years is too long a wait for gas prices to go down. Fortunately, because of speculation, the price drop would be virtually immediate and significant.
It seems pretty clear that in order to solve our energy problem we have got to do all of the above. And it just so happens that the American Energy Act is essentially an "all of the above" solution. For all of our sakes, this legislation must pass. We must do all that we can, not only to bring prices down in the short term, but to encourage innovation and energy independence.
Poole is a Wichita senior in political science and psychology.
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Don't diss polos. I love them and I hate frats.
The communications department has screwed over every COMS 130 student who bought their textbook online. Screw your packaged workbook.
--wake up smiling.
And it just so happens I can carry a tune without the bucket. Jesus Christ, I talk like Jon 50.
You guys out there want to know what I want? I want someone who is smart, funny treats me right, and will sing to me, no matter how bad they think they sound.
--wake up smiling.
I have this dream where a crack opens up in the earth and swallows up every fraternity and sorority on campus. I wake up smiling
cute lay.
Clarification on difficulty of freshman lay opportunities: Difficult for a guy to find a
I would so much rather do Math 002 three times over than a semester of Calc II at 8 a.m. that I'm currently taking. Damn my ambitions.
--or Mizzou.
Sunday Funday, Greek for "The Beginning of Four Years of Bad Choices"
--or Mizzou.
Freshmen, learn how to read a map and ride the bus. Stop sitting in my lap.
--or Mizzou.
What kind of asshole wears PJ's on the first day?
Dear teachers, customizing a textbook does not save us money because we can't resell it.
I think my ex-girlfriend got cheated on. Kharma's a bitch isn't it?
--or Mizzou.
Do NOT eat the shrooms you can buy from the herb shop on Mass.
--or Mizzou.
--or Mizzou.
Dear beautiful women of KU, I love you and thank you Dear ugly women of KU, at least you don't go to K-state, or Mizuno
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My horoscope was right on today. Who knew on a Monday it would be a full workday with no time for lunch and that the traffic in Lawrence would be awful? Definitely not me.
The people on my floor are cold and unloving. Where's the free love, folks?
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