Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
United States First Amendment
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.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009
Bornstein: Labels poorly define personal identity
WWW.KANSAN.COM
COMING WEDNESDAY
FREE FOR ALL
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
Facebook is seriously creeping me out lately. Quit telling me that I need to reconnect with people.
You know it was a good night when you wake up on your kitchen floor holding Cool Whip and chocolate bars.
How come none of the clothing stores sell male skirts? This is sexism.
I want to carve pumpkins every day until Halloween.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
If you're over 30 with a Facebook, I hope you realize that you're automatically a creeper.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
I need a fuzzy hat, a jacket and some guy jewelry for my costume. Any guesses what I'm going to be?
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
Remember that episode of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" in the school pool? Scariest episode ever!
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
Tetris pieces, please return to campus this Friday. You're the highlight of the Halloween season.
Did anyone really think we were going to beat Oklahoma?
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
If someone broke your heart, is it OK to date his best friend?
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
I want to have intercourse with you!
My roommate just caught me making out with my pillow
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
This morning I woke up on time, took my shower and got ready for the day. Then I decided my tummy kind of hurt so I am going back to bed. Sorry class!
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
PAGE 5A
This Halloween weekend,
tequila will be the drink of
choice for me. May God help
us all.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
Why is it I magically become a better dancer with a cup in my hand?
Ladies, I'm at Club Anschutz right now working on Western Civilization and I want to make out. Any takers?
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
I find large bottles of vodka very easy to hold with the indent grips.
--hospitals in Kansas Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
I hate having 202 friends online and no one wants to chat with me.
EDITORIAL BOARD
More certified nurses increases hospital care
Lawrence Memorial Hospital and its nurses, should be applauded for their efforts to increase the number of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) certified nurses.
Because of a lack of certified nurses, the hospital recently had to send sexual assault victims to hospitals in Kansas City and
Janice Early-Weas director of community
relations and community education at the hospital, said currently, the hospital had seven SANE certified nurses who were on call for taking evidence and two certified nurses who would collect evidence if on duty but not on call. Two additional nurses have received certification and are currently going through orientation.
This leaves the hospital with 11 certified nurses, which is almost double the number the hospital had just a few weeks ago, and that number is going to continue to rise
"We have five nurses in Tennessee this week for SANE training," Early-Weas said.
To be SANE certified, a nurse must complete a 40-hour training course and then, once the course is completed, the nurse must observe on a certain number of sexual assault cases. Early-Weas said. The closest course offered is in Tennessee.
"it's hard to say how long the certification process takes," she said. "It varies on the number of patients
KANSAN'S
OPINION
we see"
The hospital has offered no additional incentives to its nurses to get certified. Early-Weas said, but they have always paid for
Registered nurse Katherine Humphrey, a graduate of the KU School of Nursing who works at a hospital in the Kansas City area, said she got SANE certified last year because she believed there "needed to be a gentler hand who worked one-on-one with the patients."
the course and all travel expenses
"If you go to court and you're not certified, you have to prove your capability to do your job as a nurse."
Humphrey also said she got the certification because it would give her credibility in court.
"I'm there to take care of my patient and collect evidence, not to judge," Humphrey said.
Humphrey said. "If you're certified there is no question ... it makes you an expert witness."
Kathy Guth, a nurse practitioner in women's health and SANE certified nurse at Watkins Memorial Hospital, has been certified since 1994. She said she became certified because there were so few nurses trained to perform the exam.
"We only had one other nurse who was certified and since I am in women's health, it seemed appropriate for me to do it."
Early-Weas said 49 patients at the hospital had been seen for sexual assault between Jan. 1 through Oct. 15. This is an increase from 2008, when the hospital saw 35 victims in the entire year.
Early-Weas said that the hospital's goal was to always treat sexual assault victims when they could.
"With more certified nurses this goal is achievable: Early. Weas, said.
With the increase in sexual assaults in Lawrence, the nurses at the hospital should be applauded for their efforts to become SANE certified and students should once again be reminded to always keep their safety a priority.
— Kate Larrabee for The Kansan Editorial Board
WOW- AMELIA EARHART'S MISSING REMAINS MIGHT HAVE JUST NOW BEEN LOCATED AFTER SEVENTY YEARS.
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
POLITICALLY CORRECT Good or bad: The public option
As the health care debate wages on, deciding if legislation should include a public option for health coverage remains one of many contentious issues among Washington lawmakers and the American public. Here's what three of our columnists think about the public option:
The biggest complaint I've heard about the option tends to be that it would force people out of their better coverage. This is usually based on pure conjecture and backed by private insurance companies afraid of the impending competition. And that is what the public option will be to them: competition. There is no end of American society from this plan. There is no bankruptcy of the medical system. There is merely a new player in health insurance.
Soon enough, those of us still on our parents' insurance plans will not be able to get that coverage. A public option would, at the very least, guarantee us coverage until we could afford it ourselves.
Those who oppose "socialized" insurance will be required to opt in to it. That is the point of an "option." If you can afford private insurance and want it, it will still be yours.
- Cohen is a Topeka senior in political science.
Students have a number of compelling reasons to support the Democrats' health insurance reform, and it is in their interest that a public option be included in that plan. People between the ages of 19 to 29 are the most uninsured age group in the country, and 56 percent of the uninsured in this group are full-time workers.
DANTHOMPSON
Significantly, the proposed reform would allow young people to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26. For those students who do not have that option, the government would provide subsidies based upon income level for individuals to purchase health insurance.
If the government mandates that individuals have health insurance, as the current plans do and should do, then it is imperative that these individuals have an alternative to purchasing a plan through a private insurer. This means the government must provide some form of public option.
- Thompson is a Topeka senior in economics.
Here are three reasons why students should oppose the public option.
How are we going to pay for it? President Obama says we will pay for most of it by eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse" in the system. Very few people on either side of the isle are naive enough to believe that.
First, its projected cost exceeds $1 trillion. It is hard to comprehend this much money. If you spent a dollar per second, it would take you 32,000 years to spend $1 trillion.
Secondly, health care represents one sixth of our economy. Our government has proven it can't even run a railroad. Mixing private healthcare decisions with government bureaucras is a dangerous prescription for both our personal health and the health of our economy.
Third, it will lead to long lines and a rationing of care. How can you insure 50 million more patients with no extra doctors when there is already a shortage?
- Compton is a Wichita senior in political science.
WHO DO YOU THINK IS POLITICALLY CORRECT?
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HUMOR
Self's newest recruit
If you are not Bill Sen, this does not concern you directly, but please feel free to keep reading. This is, after all, a public document.
That's right, Coach, the wait is over: This is my official letter of intent to play men's basketball at the University of Kansas.
But we can't afford to waste any more time. At this point, I will have to come in as a walk-on. I welcome this opportunity to prove myself in open tryouts and show you and the other coaches that the hype about me is justified.
I realize that NCAA procedure usually calls for you to provide me with a letter of intent to sign, but I still haven't received it. I did however receive your lawyer's numerous "cease and desist" notices. One would have been enough, but it was a clever move on your part. Throw the other Big 12 coaches off the recruiting trail. Well plaved.
I know I've been coy about committing to the University of Kansas. I hope you didn't take the picture I e-mailed you of me in a Texas jersey personally. Al, my agent — who is also a fantastic barber and has some fascinating theories about the Cuban missile crisis — said it would be a good idea. I do what Al says. He's the brains. I'm just the once-in-a-generation talent
Speaking of that talent, let me take this moment to tell you and the fans what exactly I bring to the team.
Like so many celebrated athletes, I have turned my perceived weaknesses into strengths. Take my relative obscurity as a ballplayer. Though I'm already a senior, I've never played at the college, or even junior college, level.
I didn't play in high school
BEN UNGLESBEE
either, actually, unless you count gym class. Most of my memories of that time are foggy or repressed altogether, but I do recall the sounds of applause and cheers every time Mr. Applebee sat me down for a breather.
What does this mean for you, Coach? There are exactly zero scouting reports on me out there in the hands of our rivals. Except for the other coaches who have sent me recruiting materials and/or legal threats, it's possible that nobody's even heard of me. I am the ultimate "dark horse" recruit.
It also means that I'm still not used to playing on the hardwood. I've played mostly only outdoors on asphalt. Also, I don't have a whole lot of experience playing with, or against, other people. But that's what practice is for, right Coach?
Now, I'm aware that there are some concerns about my size. Just how tall am I? Well, that's one of those classic NCAA controversies.
If you need a definitive answer, here it is: I am as tall as you need me to be. (But I'm definitely well under six feet.)
This is a big day for both of us. And it's just the beginning. We have a season to look ahead to and a championship trophy to win.
I'll see you at tryouts, coach. Rock chalk.
Unglesbee is an Overland Park senior in creative writing and economics.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Kickoff chant: 'lust boo it'
Fans and supporters of the University of Kansas, your school's reputation has been hijacked during our home football games. Perhaps some believe that too much attention has been given to this topic. However, the same vulgar, inappropriate phrase continues to sound loudly from the student section during kickoffs.
Although KU supporters should be feeling great pride in a football program that has finally reached the status of being television-worthy each and every game, we allow a relative few people voice obscenities loudly throughout the stadium and into the homes of everyone watching on television or listening on radio.
While families should be enjoying beautiful fall weather at the stadium on Saturdays, those of us with children must stay away because of what our children will hear. While we should be enjoying the banter with fans of Kansas State, Missouri and others about
our academic and athletic superiority, we must ultimately listen to fans from other schools chide us for our slip into classlessness with the use of and the acceptance of this phrase.
What am I asking you to do?
I am asking you to boo! I'm not a fan of booing and particularly not a fan of booing one's own.
In this case, however, I believe that the best thing we .an do is to let the voice of the masses be heard. Every time the inappropriate phrase is uttered, boo it. Boo it loudly. Boo it passionately. Boo it every time. Administrators, put it on the scoreboard. Print shirts that say, "just boo it!"
Let not only the perpetrators, but the rest of the college football world know that true supporters of the University of Kansas do not accept this kind of behavior.
When television and radio audiences hear 45,000 people booing the actions of 3,000,they will know what KU fans stand for.
Duane Mellenbruch is a University of Kansas alumnus from Lawrence.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Brenna Hawley, Jesse Sainn-Baard, Jennifer Wittmann, Caitlin Thornburg and Michael Holtz.
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