4A the university daily kansan
opinion
thursday,november 20,2003
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Free forAll
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com
I am from Dallas and I just wanted to say that people from Missouri and Kansas are whack. They don't know how to party.
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Why do dogs tilt their heads when they are confused? Does it help you understand things better?
The Rich Girls is a vile, vile show.
My friend just ate 65 wings. He is no longer a man, for he is a god.
It is all fun and games until someone ends up pregnant.
I have no problem with jaywalkers at all, but don't do it at night time. It is stupid. I can't see you.
letter to the editor
'Face-Off' skirts issues of 'barbaric practice'
Your "Face-Off" on the partial birth abortion ban left much to be desired on both sides of the argument. ("Is Bush's partial-birth abortion ban constitutional?") Nov. 11, The University Daily Kansan) Ms. Flott's piece opposing the ban is rife with inaccuracies. The U.S. Supreme Court has never held that women have an unconditional right to abortion in their third trimester. Furthermore, the new ban does make an exception in instances where the procedure is necessary to protect the life of the mother.
While Mr. Pirotte's piece was an interesting and forthright description of the ideological war over abortion rights, it misses the mark in advocating for the ban against partial-birth abortion.
The strongest reason for the banning of partial-birth abortions is merely a description of what a partial-birth abortion actually entails. First, the physician, using ultrasound, locates the baby's feet. Using forceps, the physician then pulls the baby from the womb, up to the neck. Next, using scissors, a hole is cut at the nape of the neck, severing the baby's spinal cord. Finally, the baby's brains are suctioned out, collapsing its skull, whereby extraction is completed.
I use the term "baby," to the shock and dismay of those opposing this ban, because at the stage many of these abortions are performed, these babies would have been live births.
While this sickening description will surely be found offensive to most, I sincerely hope The University Daily Kansan has the courage and integrity to publish it. If the editors don't have the stomach to present their readers with the truth, they should not be opposing the ban on this barbaric practice in the first place.
Brad Mirakian
Lenexa law student
sack's view
'HURRY UP! Keep MOVING! HUSTLE-HUSTLE! I've Got A RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN TO GET TO! HURRY UP! HUSTLE-HUSTLE!...'
Help free 'West Memphis Three'
perspective
GUEST COMMENTARY
Steve Sack for KRT Campus
While all of us received the opportunity to go to college and enjoy college life and pursue a better education, three men stand to die in prison in Arkansas, one of them by way of death row.
Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin face the increasingly certain prospect of sitting in a cell for the rest of their lives. Damien Echols may soon die by lethal injection.
Steve Vockrodt opinion@kansan.com
The three young men in question, known as the West Memphis Three, were convicted of the gruesome murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Ark., in 1993. The three 8-year-old victims were bound, bitten, slashed and left to die by drowning in a river or bleeding to death. One of the boys was castrated.
With the Arkansas Supreme Court denying yet another appeal for Echols, the light coming through his window of opportunity to be a free man grows dimer. No official date has been set for his execution, pending more appeals.
With the overtones of satanic panic in the early 1990s, the largely conservative and religious town of West Memphis turned its attention to the three men who now sit in jail for a crime virtually no solid evidence ties them to. A coerced confession by Misskelley was immediately retracted, but remained the state's key piece of evidence. Fortunately for
It all makes me remember where I was between the ages of 16 and 18, the ages of all three when they were convicted. Life was full of seemingly endless prospects and chances. No mistake was too big and every avenue of opportunity looked enticing. I would reckon the same was more or less true for everyone on this campus. We all come from smaller paths of life to tread what is a special path in college. We're all
here,and we're all free.
The other link between the young men and the crime involved singling out their predilections for Metallica, Nirvana and dark clothing as "evidence" of their culpability.
prosecutor John Fogleman, the evidence was somehow deemed permissible. Unfortunately for justice, an inaccurate confession by a mentally deficient teenager scared for his life was enough to put three young men behind bars.
I couldn't imagine being strapped down in a chair and forced to die.
So why should you care?
For one, the bands these three young men enjoyed have helped define our generation. At a concert in Little Rock on June 10, Eddie Vedder, lead singer for Pearl Jam, draped himself in a banner reading, "Free the WM3."
West Memphis, Ark., is relatively close by. This is not an injustice in the headlines of another, "less civilized" country. This is happening in America, right in our back yards. The heathens that allowed this abortion of justice are not aberrations; they are members of a community. Their community is not unlike many others around here. Simply put, this can happen to anyone.
The crime was committed 10 years ago, but the injustice lives on today and will continue to do so until the West Memphis Three are rightfully freed. Two documentaries exist about this crime. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and its sequel explore the severe injustice that occurred in 1993. Check out www.wm3.org for further information.
Vockroft is a Denver senior in journalism and political science. He is a member of the editorial board.
perspective
Practice productivity, ignore celebrities
Admit to the inadmissible. You watched Britney Spears' interview with Diane Sawyer. Who really cares about the Elizabeth Smart and the Jessica Lynch interviews? You mean they went through actual ordeals? The story we all really want to hear is whether Britney cheated on Justin.
Sounding extremely pathetic and witless, Britney came across as shallow and uneducated. I suspect that her personality would have benefited from an education. Of course, now her pocketbook can afford her a new one. Men who hear these arguments automatically assume that women dislike Britney because we are jealous, insecure, body-conscious and emotionally inadequate. If I would have had the opportunity to open-mouth kiss Madonna, my life would have been completely fulfilled, yessire.
Britney's faults also include her lack of sincerity about anything — even her infamous comment about no sex before marriage has been tarnished. Big surprise there, although I cannot blame the girl; Justin Timberlake would be my one exception, too. Each of us would probably have the same reaction to this unearned camera attention, but the more we buy into this celebrity crap, the more the media is going to mass-produce it.
Jayme Aschemeyer opinion@kansan.com
GUEST COMMENTARY
I am convinced that the undying scrutiny of these lives has led to the demise of our society. While this sounds extreme, if people are spending time watching someone famous get arrested for drugs, how much time are they really spending on the improvement of their own lives? The general public should really be taking a step back to look at their own lives, their own accomplishments and their own life goals. This celebrity madness is just shoved down our unsuspecting throats, yet when our own realities hit, we cannot stomach the truth.
dow. Go do something more productive. For example, post your friends' pictures on *HotorNot.com*. Some people may insist I have too much time on my hands because I am the perpetrator who put student senator pictures onto the Hot or Not Web site. These same people probably spend countless hours watching Jules Asner reveal the life of another celebrity and Barbara Walters expose yet another juicy secret. At least my time-wasting hobby can be characterized as somewhat humorous, while the rest of these forms of indulgence remain unenlightening at best.
Sooner or later Britney will get old, fat and wrinkly (cross your fingers, ladies!) and a new crop of Paris Hiltons will once again rejuvenate the tired entertainment industry. Unfortunately, unless the public stops buying into this craze of exploitation and exposure, the next generation of wannabe stars will continue — just look at that dumb American Idol show.
Next time Brittney decides to do another interview about her new masturbation song, resist the temptation to pick up that remote. Your brain will thank you later, trust me.
It's funny, I don't even watch Newly-weds, yet the print media has brought enough attention to Jessica Simpson and her question about whether Chicken in the Sea was chicken or tuna to make me want to throw my television out my win-
Aschemeeyer is an Aurora, Colo., senior in human biology and psychology. She is the off-campus student senator.
editorial board
Donating for seats hurts spirit of game
The department has never said specifically what necessitates its current need for money and did not return calls from the editorial board. However, it is reasonable to assume that the department, like most others, has been somewhat hurt by the slow economy. Nonetheless, if the department expects alumni to be sympathetic to its demands, it should provide them, and everyone, with an explanation of what specifically requires more funding.
Part of what makes KU sports, specifically men's basketball, so treasured is that they are accessible to the fans. Basketball is a reasonably priced event that thousands of KU students, current and past, attend every year. College basketball is arguably more loved than the NBA for just this reason. We feel connected to it.
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The Athletics Department's recent treatment of long-time basketball ticket holders could be the beginning of a slippery slope.
The department isn't only angering sports fans. The same people who attend games donate to the Kansas University Endowment Association, schools and programs at the University. Angry alumni may carry their resentment to other areas and stop donating to the University athletics department altogether.
This summer, the department asked more than 100 season ticket holders who were not members of the Williams Fund to pay between $5,000 and $10,000 to keep their seats. Some of the ticket holders refused and a few have complained that the treatment was unfair. Four angry ticket holders have even filed a lawsuit because of how they were singled out.
Is that the kind of fan base we want at the University of Kansas? Students have always resented the alumni for staying seated for the duration of games. In fact, a fieldhouse full of wealthy donors would be contradictory to the kind of place Lawrence, and the University, should be.
The department's attitude is what is at fault. A Nov. 10 Lawrence Journal-World article quoted the associate director of athletics, Jim Marchiony, who said the University will likely switch to a point system based on donation amounts as soon as next year.
The bottom line is this: If the Athletics Department keeps treating the alumni this way, it may soon be low on something much more valuable than money — devoted fans.
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Stephanie Lovett for the editorial board