4A the university daily kansan
opinion
thursday,november 6,2003
talk to us
Michelle Burhenn-Rombbeck editor
864-4854 or mburhenn@kansan.com
Lindsay Hanson and Leah Shaffer managing editors 864-4854 or thanson@kansan.com and lehaffer@kansan.com
Louise Stauffer and Stephen Shupe
opinion editors
864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Amber Agee
business manager
864-4358 or adddirector@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864.7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Taylor Thode
retail sales manager
864-4358 or adsales.kansan.com
Matt Fisher
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7666 or mfisher@kansan.com
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
perspective
I'm in Arif-Jan, Kuwait, running missions to Iraq about every week for good ol' Uncle Sam and wanted to give a shout-out to the KU football team. Hell of a job, fellas. You're being represented from the Middle East.
Do you know what this country needs?
This country needs Dan Quayle.
I round a dog on Louisiana and the owner should call the Humane Society because it is a great dog. I hope it finds its home.
perspective
The Unity Dance Troupe needs to teach the KU dance team how to dance.
图
Is it weird to anybody else that we have metal detectors at the front of schools but there are no seat belts on busses?
氢
Studying. Where is that going to get you? Think about it.
perspective
Mr. weatherman, where is the sun?
perspective
How could you eat a butter burger and not feel guilty about it?
sack's view
'BAD NEWS, SiR. MORE SIGNS OF "MAJOR SUCCESS" REPORTED IN THE NORTH, iNCiDENTS OF "SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS" ALL ACROSS BAGHDAD, AND "STEADY IMPROVEMENTS" ERUPTING FROM HERE TO TiKRiT!...'
Make 'Free for All' worth reading
COMMENTARY
There is a lot of gray area between slanderous and obscene comments and comments that have a place in a public forum. As opinion editor, I want the Free for All to be a forum for insightful comments about our University, our town, our state and our world. But the Free for All should also be a place where freedom of expression can flourish. So what is an editor to do to make sure the Free for All becomes a quality public forum?
Steve Sack for KRT Campus
Louise Stauffer
opinion@kansan.com
The idea for the Free For All originated with Nathan Willis, who was The University Daily Kansan's editor-in-chief in fall 2000. Willis, who is now a copy editor at the Dallas Morning News, said he wanted the Free For All to have an edge and be funny. But he also wanted it to include serious debate.
Free For All turned out a little dirtier than he envisioned. Though he was a little disappointed,he said that dirtiness was part of what made it so popular.
Other publications have had similar concerns with their public forums.
It's the same at the Kansan. Poop is funny once in a while, but when you read 2,000 comments on it a day, the humor wears off. (Note: This includes comments about masturbation, sex and puking.) The best humor is insightful and doesn't talk about how you want to do God knows what with your graduate teaching assistant. Those comments are best left to the bathroom walls at your favorite bar.
Keep this in mind: The Free for All is a forum; it displays people's opinions. The Kansan has no bias behind the Free For All. We do not run comments with malicious intent. The only way the opinion editors choose Free For All comments is by intelligence and relevance, and trust me, it's slim pickings. For example, the amount of times we receive comments about being intoxicated far outnumbers comments about local issues of any sort. All of the comments, except for those that are slanderous and
I spoke to Andrew Lawson, the Kansas State Collegian's opinion editor. Lawson edits the Campus Forum, which is the Collegian's version of the Free for All. Lawson's problems with the Campus Forum were similar to the opinion editors at the The University Daily Kansan. He said the biggest problem with the Campus Forum was vulgarity.
obscene, run on the online edition
Lawson said he wished the forum could be more like The Wichita Eagle's. I agree. Check it out at www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/editorial/7174133.htm. I spoke with Angela Cato, online coordinator and transcriber for the Opinion Line. Cato said the trick to keeping the Opinion Line good was to print calls that focused on issues, not people. But, she said, you will always have calls that are profane or attack others. She picks comments that encourage the best dialogue.
The Free for All will start following the Eagle's lead. But you, the reader, must help. To use the Free for All for its original purpose, a public forum to discuss issues, start calling in comments that fit that realm. If you hate all the comments in the Free For All, call in comments you want to read. Call in comments that are actually funny, not just about defecation.
Lawson said there had been talk about ending the Campus Forum at the Collegian. He doubted it would ever happen, because the staff knows people read it. Same here. The Free For All isn't going away. But it needs to go somewhere. So I ask you this: If the opinion editors hold the Free For All comments to a higher standard, can you meet us halfway?
Stauffer is a Holland, Mich., senior in journalism and English. She is opinion editor.
editorial board
Excise student names in Free For All' comments
I would like to express concern about the continued publication of a series of statements that seem to be provocative or inflammatory in the name of journalistic freedom. I understand that readers think the section "Free for All" is funny and perhaps even interesting. Continuing, however, reference to names and personalities in comments that serve no purpose other than to disparage others in print is inappropriate.
If you think there is a story to be told, as you seem to through the continued publication of a stream of such comments, perhaps you should move this discussion to a different level. If you find these comments newsworthy, then provide your readers, the people involved, or the situation the reporting you feel it deserves. If not, then be more selective in your publication of comments and avoid the temptation to engage your readership through indiscriminate publication of what may approach defamation.
I am referring to your repeated use of comments between individuals who are, apparently, at odds. Is it responsible journalism to continue to allow these individuals to use you as a public platform to sustain discord? Doesn't the repeated publication of the reference to names and events require that you have
credible and appropriate sources?
I suggest that you not include any names in this section. A university publication should have the same standards as a professional news publication: that is, to present the facts and not provide a vehicle for individuals to express hatred of one another. Freedom of speech is NOT restricted by exercising the judgment required to refrain from promoting public name-calling in matters that are obviously private.
Thank you for your attention.
Moore presents facts writer doesn't want to know about
Marilyn Ault Director, courtesy assistant professor, Center for Research on Learning
John Byerley, I was just writing to ask you how you believe Michael Moore's documentary, Bowling for Columbine, is "grossly inaccurate and ridiculous (and includes) blatant falsehoods" ("Senate bypassed rules to bring Moore to campus," Kansan, Nov. 3).
Have you done any research on his documentary on where he got his resources and statistics, or are you just a right-winged conservative who didn't like the reality of the shape America is in and jump right to the conclusion that this film is wrong? Michael Moore presented the facts, and yes, he might have presented them in a way of
I, for one, am for Michael Moore coming to the campus. I look forward to hearing him talk about politics and inspiring us, because just like his film did, it inspired me. After watching that movie I got off my butt and did something. I went out and volunteered. Plus, his film wasn't to persuade you to a left-winged approach. He presented the facts and then you can do with the information as you wish. Don't just ramble about how Michael Moore made a bad documentary.
I understand your frustration about Student Council and them spending a large amount of money on him coming to speak, but instead of taking it out on Michael Moore's work and character, do something about it besides just writing and complaining, perhaps go to a student council meeting and voice your concern.
shock to gain public interest, but that's something he did to make a great film and to get more public interest and motivate people to do something about the system.
Matthew Aaron Conley
Topeka sophomore
environmental studies
Renounce hateful rhetoric toward Muslim world
On Oct. 22, I returned from three weeks in Saudi Arabia, my home for 12 years. Saudis spoke frankly with me of their concerns with the West, and the USA's foreign policy. But in the same breath they spoke against terrorism and for even-handed dialogue. They are honest, sincere, deeply religious people who want to live in peace.
Just as most Christians, Jews and others disavow the crazies who claim to act in the name of their religions, so too have most Muslims disowned the terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam. Those crazies act outside the community of Islam while invoking its name to gather support.
By the words and actions of some of our leaders and those who advocate for open warfare against Muslims, we are turning our friends into our enemies. I call on everyone at the University of Kansas to renounce the misguided policy of hate and war against Muslims advocated by Leonard Magruder ('United States, University must confront terrorismKansan, Oct. 29).
Number of Muslims in the world: 1.2
billion. The world's largest Muslim
Number of crazy people in the world: Unknown. Number of people who follow crazy people: Inestimable.
country: Indonesia.
Mark Algren language specialist Applied English Center
editorial board
Decide now who will make final decision
Following your appointment of an "agent," Menikoff suggests you talk to that person, extensively if necessary, to make sure they understand your feelings about various conditions and measures of treatment. You can also limit or narrow the power of your agent by explicitly stating your wishes regarding specific situations in an Advanced Directive.
In the case of Schiavo, her husband has automatic power of attorney by virtue of Florida's laws indicating default chains of decision-making. i.e. spouse, then adult children, etc., and the case is complicated by her parents' challenge to that default authority.
The controversy surrounding Terry Schiavo is bringing to light issues surrounding decision-making in critical healthcare situations. At this point, Schiavo's husband and her parents are essentially battling each other for the right to choose the nature of her care. It is important that everyone, even college students, consider how he or she would wish to be treated in a similar situation.
Part of the problem is that the scenarios in which one could become incapable of directing his or her own choices about medical care are so varied that it is difficult to say exactly how one would want doctors to act.
Jerry Menikoff, assistant professor of history and philosophy of medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center, had this to say on the issue: "The most crucial thing for someone is not so much to spell out what their wishes are, but rather to initially appoint someone who is to be their decision-maker when they can't make decisions on their own."
mentkoff further stated that from a legal standpoint, appointing someone to take this responsibility means filling out a Durable Power of Attorney form. It is an easy process and involves your legal indication of who you wish to make decisions for you if you are not able to make them for yourself.
Kansas has no such laws; there is no default person who will receive automatic legal power to direct your care if you become incompetent to do so. Therefore, it might be important for some students to consider who they would wish to be in charge of their healthcare and, if necessary, fill out a Durable Power of Attorney and/or an Advanced Directive form.
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Matthew Pirotte for the editorial board