4A the university daily kansan
opinion
thursday, September 18, 2003
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editorial board
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, the Commission on the Status of Women and other feminist groups at this University have established a commission to create a new KU calendar. This calendar will feature women who have accomplished great feats of academia or crossed seemingly insurmountable hurdles — the kind that don't stem from having a bad hair day. This calendar will highlight the true power of women: the power to be confident in making the choices necessary to succeed.
Calendar highlights real images
This new commission adamantly states that the proposed calendar is not meant to demean the Women of KU Calendar or imply that the calendar is inappropriate.
We can all agree that a calendar that showcases women who have worked for their positions in life is a more positive view of women. We have all seen the original Women of KU Calendar.
We should not want our University's female population to be represented by topless women. We should want people to see our University through the eyes of women with Ph.D.s and personal triumphs under their belts — and the fact that they will be pictured wearing belts is a step in the right direction. The Women of KU Calendar may be preparing its subjects for lucrative careers as models, shallow actors or television personalities, but an institution of higher learning should be remembered by the size of its students' IQs rather than the size of their breasts.
It is nice that, even in some small way, the climate of tolerance here at the University is going to exceed the mean of society as a whole. The notion that a woman's worth is proportionate to her looks supposedly went out of style a long time ago. In actuality, that notion is alive and thriving everywhere we turn.
It is heartening that at least one group at the University, which is renowned as a progressive stronghold in an otherwise conservative state, is striving to break apart the notion that women are no more important and worth no more than they can garner in sales from horny buyers.
Patrick Ross for the editorial board
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Presidents should always be held accountable
COMMENTARY
On Saturday, Aug. 30, George "Dubya" Bush was visiting the Waco Texas, Little League Midway softball team that won the World Championship when his sweet little dog Barney slipped out of his hands, falling directly onto the concrete and landing on its head. Bush automatically swept up his uninjured dog. Many news sources reported this story stating that the dog had passed away, only to submissively slip in that it hadn't really.
Barney, the Scottish terrier, did survive the fall from Dubya's arms, but many others have lost their best friend's lives by placing them in Bush's hands.
Chris Cardinal
opinion@kansan.com
lives by passing throughout history, we have seen presidential blunders such as Ford shaking his son's hand as if he were an audience member at Utah State University, Nixon's "Can't Stand Pat" speech, Bush Sr. vomiting on the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister at a state dinner, and Michael Jackson holding his baby over the rail of a high-rise apartment building. All right, Michael Jackson wasn't necessarily the president of the United States,
but the King of Pop is close enough.
but the King of Pop is close In these instances, different organizations and the media jumped at the chance to persecute people who are responsible for upholding a higher-than life image.
Our president currently is getting away with massive amounts of scandals, moral dilemmas and personal problems, and most are doing no more than,turning their heads.
President Bush is performing these misdeeds in your name and mine and is disgracing America's name as a whole. Incidents such as the showing of Qusay
and Uday Hussein's corpses, a.k.a. the ace of spades and the ace of hearts, have been horrific. James C. Moore, coauthor of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rowe Made George W. Bush Presidential, spoke for a lot of people when he said, "I was disgusted that my country gave sponsor to the notion of showing their dead faces on television, as though that might reassure the Iraqis. This was the modern international equivalent of brutal tribes placing their conquered foes heads on a spike in the town square."
town square.
Before the war, Dubya's lies focused on "imminent danger" propaganda. During the war, they centered on "liberating the Iraqi people," not tearing apart a culturally rich society. And now, after the war, he claims we're fighting in Iraq on the battlefield of "international terrorism."
After the tragedy of Sept. 11, we realized that our leaders have extremely stressful jobs that take up massive amounts of time, and have heaps of important duties that will turn them gray after three years. If Bush had dropped little Barney two years ago, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other animal rights organizations would have jumped at the chance to get some exposure. Now, after the change in perception of political figures, nothing was said. Most Americans and organizations choose to overlook the president's measly personal problems and downfalls, including lying to the American people numerous times about weapons of mass destruction, trying to make a mysterious connection between Iraq and international terrorism, and telling us about the "imminent danger" that we are all in.
Clinton was officially impeached for receiving a blow job. Bush illegally kills thousands of innocent people, spends $176 billion doing it, and then drops his beloved dog, and we ignore it. Why, you ask? Because we live in post-Sept. 11, when the president seems to be able to get away with anything.
We can make all our problems go awav come Nov. 6,2004.
Cardinal is a Salina junior in political science and communications.
Job performance slows top to bottom
It was a golden, breezy and sparkling day in Lawrence. As I sat quietly reading my newspaper that morning in class, a classmate sitting adjacent to me noticed I was reading a political article. He abruptly leaned over, and enthusiastically began to rant and rave about our own President George W. Bush. "Bush is such a great leader," he said. "Don't you love the guy?"
GUEST COMMENTARY
students should be positive Before you conservatives shy away from this column thinking this is just another liberal student dismantling Bush's regime, hear me out. I'll agree that Bush has done some courageous things for this country during his term as president, but it may be a safer bet to say that the negatives have outweighed the positives. He has tarnished foreign relations, escalated our debt and lied to fellow Americans.
the guy?
As I pretended to listen, I began to reminisce about how our commander in chief has brought us to a state of despair and anxiety. A state that some of us may shrug off nonchalantly, even though we students should be petrified.
Robert Brock
opinion@hansan.com
This week, Bush's administration announced an $87 billion plan for reconstructing Iraq.Investing that much money in a desert may seem ludicrous, but the disturbing thing is that it will cost much more than that measly roll of cash to reconstruct.
led to fellow Americans. But most importantly, he has allowed our economy to flounder.
to reconstruct. Much of Iraq is undeveloped and antiquated. Even the oil reserves,
which Bush probably hopes will one day reimburse us, need significant revamping.
I want to know when Bush is going to become less concerned about rebuilding a lost cause and become more concerned about rebuilding our own economic stability.
And to think that during war and economic misery, our faithful leader is just returning from a month-long vacation at his ranch. Evidently, he seems to think all is going swell.
is going swam.
Bush is a fascinating character. His words to America are as sincere as a used car salesman's. Frankly, his speeches tend to scare me. He could never get a part as an actor. And it always leads me to wonder: What is under that schoolgirl smirk and confused expression he always wears? Is he thinking hard about our fiscal policy or is he wondering what episode of *SpongeBob* is on after his nap?
Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to connect our incompetent leader directly to our economy's demise. But as
our economy suffers, he makes little attempt to revive it. Even if he is persistently flooding the press with positive garbe or attempting to implement bills that he knows may never pass, I need some sign that he gives a damn.
sign that he is great.
But wait. He is implementing bills to help our dreary economy. He's working day and night cutting taxes. Unfortunately, these cuts are for the wealthiest Americans. Who's going to end up paying the difference to help pay for our increasing debt? Answer: lower and middle classes, which will most likely include many of us students and graduates.
many of our students and graduates. So you may still be asking, why is all this important? For you racquetball majors out there, our ability to get a job relies heavily on that little thing called the economy. And after the seven or eight years some of us will put in here at the University, we will probably expect to just stroll right out of school and into the working world when we graduate. But with the current economy in shambles and hope dwindling, college graduates are finding it much harder to get a job in our now depleting work force.
how depressing this is not a call for Bush's head. All I'm asking is that our president start concentrating on our economy and use wiser judgment, so that we can get jobs, go on with our lives and not swiftly end up in an unemployment office.
Brock is a Dallas junior in journalism
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The Hawk Shop in the Kansas Union no longer carries Milk Duds. We should boycott it.
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Free for All Call 864-0500
To the "know it all" in my class; if I have sex with you, will you shut up? am willing to take one fcr the team.
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This weekend one of the Crimson Girls asked me where Kansas was on the map.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry God.
In other news, CNN.com reports that Kentucky is now changing its name to R. Kelly.
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