4A the university daily kansan
opinion
friday, august 22, 2003
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editorial board
Institute worthy of student's attention
The biggest happening at the University of Kansas during the past summer was the dedication of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, west of the Lied Center. Attracting people such as Rudy Giuliani, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Tom Brokaw, not much could top it.Although it honors an older generation, our generation can benefit from a visit.
Bob Dole is part of what Brokaw calls the "Greatest Generation," the name given to the men and women who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. Today, Dole is known for his 1996 presidential campaign.
He is also known as a pitchman for Visa, Pepsi and the little blue diamonds known as Viagra. It is too bad that this is what Dole is now famous for, because the Dole Institute shows us Dole the KU student, Dole the World War II soldier and Dole the politician.
So how does an institute honoring a man from the "greatest generation" benefit the students at the University of Kansas?
The Institute is designed to be a model for future generations about the good of public service. Inside, the Institute of Politics contains an expansive timeline of the life of Bob Dole, from his youth spent in Russell, to his days as a student at the University, through the groundbreaking of the institute itself.
The most noteworthy of the displays is the uniform Dole wore during World War II, with his Purple Heart and Bronze Star, standing between two support beams taken from the World Trade Center. Towering over all of this is the world's largest stained glass American flag.
The institute is located on West Campus next to the Lied Center, so there is easy access for KU students. Admittance is free 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. seven days a week. Also, the institute was built through private funding from donations, so the cost didn't come out of students' pockets
Students have nothing to lose. The Dole Institute is interesting in the same way any museum is interesting and is definitely worth the trip for anyone curious about life in the time of our fathers and grandfathers, the "greatest generation."
Jon Ralston for the editorial board
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Zach Stinson for The University Daily Kansan
perspective
Fight for corporate rights
Our corporations are under attack. GUEST COMMENTARY
Our corporations are under attack. Our biggest, most objective media outlet is being criticized and even poked fun at.
The threat comes in the form of one person: Al Franken. If you haven't heard, FOX News is suing comedian and writer Al Franken in the New York courts, attempting to stop the sale of his forthcoming book, Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. In the lawsuit, a judge is being asked the age-old question: "Why shouldn't FOX News not have exclusive rights to use the words 'fair and balanced?'"
FOX News obtained the exclusive rights to these words, and the phrase, by trademarking them in 1995. If we allow Franken to publish this monstrosity, then we allow him to confuse the public into thinking that a dignified institution of journalism such as FOX News is somehow supportive of this smut-peddler's work.
Bill O'Reilly, an awesome FOX News personality, is pictured on the cover of Franken's book, just beneath the word "Lies." You see the words "fair and balanced" on the cover. This is Franken's desperate attempt to confuse the public into thinking this is a book that has the sanction and the authority of the FOX News Channel. We should be applauding FOX's efforts to stop Franken's work and
demand royalties to his earnings from this slanderous publication.
Ben McCarthy opinion@kansan.com
Al Franken is exactly what the court papers filed by FOX News describe him as: a "parasite," "shrill and unstable" and a person whose "views lack any serious depth or insight." Granted, it's hard for me to write that, because, in the spirit of FOX News analysts, I rarely engage in name-calling. Let's not forget how Franken attacked FOX news personalities when he was "intoxicated and deranged" at a press correspondents' dinner in April 2003, according to the Michael Savage fan club.
Franken scored a best seller a few years ago with his book *Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot*. The book's extraordinary sales numbers were all part of the giant, liberal conspiracy that is only perpetuated through numerous liberal personalities in the liberal media. Let it be known that the charge explicit in that title has never
been proven, plus Limbaugh has lost something like 600 pounds since the book's release.
Franken could do himself a favor to take a cue from someone, say, Ann Coulter, and stop feeding off of name-calling in order to make a living.
If a multi-million-dollar corporation like FOX News cannot be protected from a wacko like Franken, then something is wrong with this country's court system and trademark laws. Heck, this might be just what we need to show that the First Amendment isn't what it's cracked up to be.
If the court doesn't grant an injunction preventing the sale of this book and similar works, then maybe our court system is no longer capable of protecting us from other menaces to society such as Janeane Garofalo, Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin.
I guess if you live in Al Franken's liberal world then words such as "fair" and "balanced" can be defined whichever way you want them. It's time for the courts to protect corporations against individuals who feel they have some sort of right to use words and symbols that do not belong to them.
- McCarthy is a Lenexa graduate student in journalism.
perspective
Gun control steals citizen's right to change government
Humans are creatures with an innate capacity for violence. It is this violent nature that causes us to submit to governments, for the good of all. Our agreement to restrain our violent impulses for mutual benefit is the basis of much of Western political theory. Our governments only exist for as long as they continue to act for our benefit.
COMMENTARY
Michael Moore's latest movie, *Bowling for Columbine*, asks some interesting questions about how Americans treat firearms. After seeing this movie, one question kept running through my mind: Are guns necessary for American society? The answer is yes.
Matt Dunavan opinion@kansan.com
Gun-control legislation amounts to government deprivation of the natural right that all people have to renegotiate the terms of the social contract that governs them. Is violence the preferred method to alter the state of governing affairs? No. When dealing with despotism, either the human spirit to fight tyranny, or peaceful methods, must fail without the credible threat of violence. The recent war with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq is a good example. A tyrannical regime can often only be toppled through the use of violence.
All persons are entitled to possess the means to violence. Why? Not because of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to bear arms, but the Constitution is not a moral guide. The framers were not divine, and unless
one wishes to argue that slavery is still acceptable, the Constitution has been shown to be fallible. We must look to a deeper political theory — the Declaration of Independence.
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."
"...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
According to the declaration, if our government ceases to represent us, we hold the solemn right to replace that government with one that will respect our wishes. This right is a right that we hold by the very nature of how governments arise. It is the regenerative power of violence that allows for the correction of despotism and the return of freedom
All people have a natural right to reclaim their capacity for violence when threatened by a greater power. We usually call this self-defense. We may even condone violence when
unjustly threatened by our government.
Is our government tyrannical? One would be hard pressed to say yes. And yet, our government routinely takes actions that restrict our ability to combat despotism if the American vigil against tyranny falters.
That is not to say that government has no place interfering in the use of force. We want governments to prohibit things like murder and assault. While the government can regulate the use of force, it may never regulate the ability of someone to commit acts of violence or restrict the means to do so. To inhibit this most basic right is to pave the way for slavery of the human spirit.
Can gun-control laws be justified through public safety? No. A people are safe only when they are protected from all violence, even violence perpetrated by immoral governments. Restricting a person in the right of self-defense leaves her open to acts of violence in the future for which she will have no adequate response.
Many people often argue that they would never allow a gun in their home. To remove the means to violence from a household is to make it safer in the short term, but it does so only be gambling that you will never need to defend yourself from a greater governmental power. In a society of ever-decreasing civil liberties, that is a bet that I refuse to make.
Dunavari is a Topka senior in political science and philosophy.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
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
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I used my Rock Chalk Meal Plan card at Subway today and it was awesome. I didn't have to use any of my money. It was delicious and I can't wait to eat at Chili's tonight. I am finally going to get some good food. Yeah, go Jayhawks.
For those who live at Jayhawk Towers with me, I recommend you use the Rock Chalk Meal Plan because it was really good food and I get to eat it all of the great places downtown like Subway, Quinton's and Chili's. I want somebody to go there with me, so I want all of you guys to get on the Rock Chalk Meal Plan. It was a great idea. Thank you for starting it here at KU.
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
The Disney Channel used to have a reality show called Bug Juice that followed kids to summer camp. I was wondering if Hassan from season one now goes to KU because I think he does. If so, he should call the Kansan and they should do a story on him.
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
Mr. Whistle, please don't squeeze the Charmin.
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
I am driving down Mass. St. right now with a couple of my friends. I am from Wisconsin and 1-in love this place.
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
It's the Wednesday before school. It is the middle of the week and it feels like a freaking Sunday.
This is to the girl in Hash on the fifth floor that I shared an elevator with earlier today: Could I take you to dinner at Chillis with my Rock Chalk Meal Plan card? Say yes. Please.
ok, people, if you are going to stalk me through the parking lot while I am walking to my car you might as well offer me a ride.
I just found out that if I skip a meal at the dining hall I lose that money. It is kind of a rip off. I ate a grape fruit this morning and I guess I paid $8.50 for that grapefruit. Don't get me wrong, it was a great grapefruit, but $6.507 There has got to be a better way.
I hate this online enrollment crap. I was in the middle of adding three classes and I got a message saying the application server was down from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, the day that classes start. It sucks. I couldn't even find a timetable of classes anywhere. That also sucks. We should go back to the old way.
I don't know why but the whole greek system kind of pisses me off. I think that all of the incoming freshman who want to join a fraternity or sorority should be pistol whipped. Pistol whipped by a monkey, a fat monkey, Yeah, a fat monkey with a pistol. I hope it is not loaded, though.
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Slanderous statements will not be printed? Then why did you print that thing about the janitors that are lazy at the Art and Design Building? That sounds pretty slanderous to me. If someone has a complaint about an employee they need to address that directly instead of, "Man you guys suck."