Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009
United States First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Compton: Obama loses focus on presidency
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--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
I've got star power on "Koopa Troopa Beach,"coming up hot on Yoshi.
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
LFO, Chumbawamba,
"Barbie Girl" Spice Girls,
"Thong Song" "Mambo No.
5" and "Tootsee Roll" ... Oddly enough, five of those I use as ring tones.
Sonic charges 10 cents per extra cherry. What the hell?
As students, we stayed at the game, but you guys on the football team forgot to show up. Thanks a lot
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
To everyone who saw me cheat at halftime at the football game: I want you to know that I did not mean to cheat, I could not hear him. I am not a cheater.
Hey football team, if you want to stay for the second half, you have to show up for the first.
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
Someone tell White Owl not to yell at our own volleyball
I love sneezing. It's just like an orgasm: Feels great and it feels great
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
I farted on your pillow. I hope you don't get pink eye.
I just got from 23rd Street and Wakarusa Street to 23rd Street and Louisiana Street without getting a red light. Big success!
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
There seems to be a correlation between small minds and big government.
Thank goodness for long hair. It covers up this huge hickey on my neck.
I have maybe studied 20 hours in my entire life.I knew there was a really good reason for why I haven't graduated
After thirty minutes of P90X. I was in the fetal position.
"Jennifer's Body" = "Twilight" for guys.
Storm Troopers: Bad eyesight or lousy aim?
My pickup line is, "I have silk sheets at home."
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
--isn't possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the buses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.
DIVERSITY
Handicap (in)accessibility Winter months raise concerns
The Oread Inn has added a new piece to Lawrence's skyline, but it may be an even bigger piece than was originally thought. With the brand-new hotel already 33 feet higher than was planned, builders should continue with caution because of the hotel's proximity to campus and a historic district.
Although we've had a few dips back into sunny weather, winter is coming. Everyone should use more caution when the paths on campus turn icy, but they are especially dangerous for handicapped students.
The various modes of transportation employed by these students (traditional wheelchairs, motorized wheelchairs, canes and seeing-eye dogs) require a little more consideration when calculating maneuverability. As winter approaches every year, I inevitably hear conversations among some of these students about the difficulties of getting up Mount Oread in particular.
Many of these students prefer to take the bus; most students prefer to take the bus when it's below freezing. But often, this just
Some of the ramps going up Mount Oread are very narrow and curvy and only allow for one small wheel chair. During the sunny months, that amount of zoom is completely adequate, as long as the other students make room. But when snow and ice are factored in, they can become much more difficult to navigate.
But the campus exterior isn't the only place that needs upgrading. A few semesters ago I took a class in Smith Hall. We had to swap classrooms with another class on the main floor because there was no handicap access to the bottom floor of the building.
Mount Oread does have several stretches of wide, sloping concrete, but they don't extend all the way up. Money should be invested in widening the small side ramps as a safety precaution for the colder months ahead.
I went back a few days ago
The University has already had its fair share of critics on investing money to expand an already wonderful recreation center or on using funds to add tree cover for our sports teams to practice behind. I'm not going to say those ventures aren't worthwhile projects, because I believe that improving the University's extracurricular offerings enriches the college experience overall.
to confirm and wandered around to every unlocked door I could find. There was no elevator, and the only access to outside was a set of narrow concrete stairs rather than any kind of ramp. Many of the buildings on campus were built a long time ago, but the University has had plenty of time to upgrade.
But the basics, such as access to all classrooms and unimpeded paths to class, should be taken care of first. And for a portion of the student body, those basics aren't being taken care of.
Lytton is a Kodiak, Ala., senior in creative writing.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
CHIEFS PLAYER MAKING A WRONG MOVE
MARIAM SAIFAN
DIVERSITY
Fear of'the others' still exists
There's no such thing as minorities," my friend's roommate
norities," my friend's roommate eloquently once said. "If there used to be such a thing, there's not anymore." She had chosen to proudly voice her views in the company of, in my opinion, minorities. We all laughed the comment off as naivety and a lack of experience.
Despite our African-American president and our country's progress regarding same-sex marriage, there is still ignorance and denial of our treatment toward "the other."
I often find myself coming back to that story because of what it illustrates and says about our society.
The line, "I don't discriminate because I have a gay or a black friend," has become, "There's no such thing as prejudice in our country anymore because we have a black president and allow same sex marriage."
Just to clarify something, having a friend who is homosexual or African-American does not mean you don't hold or exhibit racist or prejudice characteristics and views. The same holds true for our country.
Let's face it. As humans we have had an unfortunate tendency of being oblivious to the most obvious social distinctions. Historically those distinctions, created by us, have led to some of the most horrendous injustices. The Civil wasn't that long ago (150 years), neither was the Holocaust or the gruesome beating and murder of Matthew Shepard.
More recently, Louisiana justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell has forced himself into the national spotlight by refusing to marry an interracial couple.
"I'm not a racist," Bardwell said in an Associated Press article. "I just don't believe in mixing the races that way. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else. There is a
problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage. I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."
On the USA Today Web site where the story was posted, comments on the story ranged from cries for immediate suspension or resignation to support of Bardwell claiming he's just saying "what most people believe."
Regardless of whether you're a blissfully naive "minorities don't exist" type of person or you know that they do but still fear and refuse to accept "the other," I'm going to state a harsh truth for you: Minorities do exist and at some point in your life you are going to have to interact with those you either fear or disagree with.
Minority groups, cultures, relationships and beliefs should be celebrated and acknowledged, not oppressed. Our country has been growing increasingly diverse ever since it was founded. The effects and possibilities of minority influences are limitless, as long as we allow them to be.
McNaughton is a Topeka senior in journalism and English.
Labels often cause unnecessary harm
This is my gay/black/
Muslim/have-what-
you friend." How
often have you heard someone introduce you or another person in that way, or have you said it yourself?
Have you ever thought, "Why did they introduce him or her that way? Why is them being gay/black/Muslim/what-have-you necessary for an introduction?"
Here's the plain and simple answer: It doesn't and it shouldn't be. We all know what labels are, and we use them every day to describe ourselves and everything around us. But there is a time and place for using them, and introducing people to each other is definitely not the time for personal labels. It's likely you don't know all of one person's beliefs or ideas about other races, classes or sexual orientations, and it's very possible to offend one or both people by introducing them based on a socialized category.
I've found this to be of particular concern when it comes to my friends and them introducing me to others. More often than not, I've learned that the first thing people know about me is my sexual orientation, but not because I told them. Yes, I am out and proud about it, but my sexual orientation is my own, and it is my choice to reveal that to people. More people than I am aware of probably know my sexual orientation because of this column, but that's because I choose to be out in my column. My choice. My voice.
Why does it matter that someone else describes me to their friends as a lesbian? Why does it matter that someone I don't know tells me, "Oh! You're his lesbian friend?" It's still a matter of coming into and social propriety. Just because it's becoming more okay to be LGBT in our society doesn't mean everyone wants to know
about it.
I understand that it shouldn't matter what other people think, but it does, especially in the work place where sexual orientation is not protected under federal law. I could get fired from many places in Kansas for being out, so it does matter what someone thinks.
When we introduce someone with a label we identify them with certain characteristics we have learned through society, and sometimes, this has a negative response. People judge through labels, and on plenty of occasions, I've found myself judged before a person gets to know me because an ignorant friend told someone I was gay. Although that person was once friendly to me, they reject me from then on.
So next time you're introducing someone, think before you speak. You'll save yourself a foot-in-the-mouth and a hurt friend.
What should matter to all of us is respecting a person's private life. My sexual orientation is my private life. I do not believe the first thing a person I've never met before needs to know is who I sleep with. It's an invasion of privacy for both of us. I don't introduce my friends as "this is my white/black, heterosexual/homosexual, fraternity/sorority friend," because those are details a new acquaintance can find out about them if they get to talking.
Bornstein is a Lawrence senior in sociology and women's studies.
Sex education reform needed
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The health care reform debate is dominating the news right now. One of the tenets the media is failing to address involves the Hatch Amendment, an amendment which would have serious repercussions for the health education of the American youth. Voted into the Senate Finance Committee's version of health care reform with a vote of 12 to 11, the Hatch Amendment lays out a $50 million funding plan to get abstinence-only education into our classrooms.
Abstinence-only education assumes we all have the same
We need to speak up. For the past eight years, federal funding for abstinence-only has failed to equip students with the information we need. A 2008 Centers for Disease Control study found that one in four women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States are infected with an STI, a staggering amount.
experience with sex and sexuality and broadcasts misinformation about contraception, abortion. STIs and pregnancy. We need to make sure these issues are correctly taught to those who are most at risk of being affected by them.
President Barack Obama's budget eliminated all abstinence-only funding, and in June Congress allowed Title V money, which funded the abstinence-only programs, to expire. Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate have held firm on keeping it out of health care reform, but we desperately need to make sure the 12 senators who voted in favor of the Hatch Amendment don't succeed in returning misinformed, obsolete sex education back into our classrooms.
The American youth deserve the non-sugarcoated truth in our classrooms. Be a part of the fight.
— Jessica Harmon is a sophomore from Topeka.
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