Opinion
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.
Roesler: Finding new ways to appreciate modern art
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2009
COMING MONDAY
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FREE FOR ALL
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
All I want to do is be the best housewife and mother ever. Is that too much to ask?
Does anyone know what's with the eighth floor of Oliver? I hear it's madness.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Remember making piles of leaves and jumping in them only to hit the ground really hard? Leaves aren't great for jumping into after all.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I just love the excitement of a Wednesday night: sucking the helium out of a balloon with my roommate instead of studying
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
True Life: I'm addicted to tanning.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I always lie. (Think about the logic behind that.)
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
"Bubble Shooter" is the only thing that keeps me from kicking my roommate's ass.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I wish all the buses were double-deckers.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Ruck fain.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Every morning I cook break fast in my underwear while dancing around and singing Taylor Swift. It's always the highlight of my day.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Finishing the second part of the AlcoholEdu makes me want to drink right now, and it's only 8:42 in the morning.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Chocolate soy milk and "Cash Cab" all in one morning I have a great feeling about
Dear construction crew:
I will throw a rock at you.
Sbbhh!
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Just had sex ... so disappointed.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
Fishy wake up,why are you sleeping?
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I enjoy this almost-complete relationship very much.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I had sex in the rain once; it was cold as balls.
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
I just threw my phone because I thought it was a mouse. I think that is a sign I need to go to bed.
So this girl uploads pictures of herself in a bikini to her Facebook. Naturally I click on the pictures and I'm like, "Damn, that's my cousin."
--approval of a task force to look into creating benefits for University employees in domestic partnerships should be both commended and supported by the University community.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Domestic partnerships deserve equal benefits
Partners of KU faculty ano staff members in domestic partnerships do not receive benefits equal to the spouses of KU faculty and staff members who are married. This is not only discrimination, but it is detrimental to the University because it could cause a loss of exceptional professors and staff.
A change needs to be made, and the Faculty Senate's recent
This new task force has been charged with looking at possibilities and barriers to providing these benefits. Co-chairman Steven Maynard Moody, professor of public administration, said the task force is moving along rapidly and should have a report out by December.
"Clearly, we have a very strong statement of non-discrimination against sexual orientation." Maynard-Moody said. "But, we deny very clear benefits to same-sex couples who are engaged in a long-term relationship. We are looking into this area of discrimination."
The University would not be the first to pass such a measure. The Universities of Texas, Colorado and Iowa, among others, have a policy similar to what is being discussed. An update needs to be made in order to keep up with and compete with these schools.
Lori Messinger, a professor in the School of Social Welfare, and also a member of the task force, said there would be multiple advantages
to providing this new policy
"It would be a very big step at this University," Messinger said. "We have lost some faculty members
to other schools who have these domestic partner benefits. It helps us be more competitive."
Maynard-Moody said though interest in the task force has begun in earnest, many roadblocks stand in the way of figuring out just how to include the benefits for all faculty members while still appeasing the state government. Figuring out a way around these roadblocks has presented the task force with many challenges.
"The faculty and staff of this University are state employees," Maynard-Moody said. "The state has passed the Defense of Marriage
Act, which defines [marriage] as among different-sex couples, and benefits are provided only through the state. This is one of the issues that we are struggling with a bit."
While still remaining in the deliberation stages, this task force has undertaken a huge responsibility for the LGBT community. For being progressive in its stance and acknowledging that a change needs to be made, the Faculty Senate should be proud of the steps it is taking to provide domestic partners with equal benefits. For Messinger, the progress being made further solidifies her personal stance with the University.
"I find the University a welcoming place, I feel comfortable here as an out lesbian." Messinger said. "To be a good school, this is what we need to be doing, and I feel very good about that."
Along with other benefits, this possible new policy is important to the University's future. Not only will it help current faculty members, but it will also attract new talent and give them a good reason to stay. The administration and the community should support the task force and this endeavor to end this form of discrimination.
— Brett Salsbury for The Kansan Editorial Board
EDITORIAL CARTOON
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
NUTRITION
Is honesty really the best policy?
I hate to break the news, but a triple whopper at Burger King costs a whopping 1,160 calories. Thinking about running across the street to McDonald's? A comparable triple-quarter-pounder with cheese still packs a 960-calorie punch. If this information comes as unwelcome, then any potential travel plans to one of these fast-food restaurants may need to be reconsidered.
In May 2008, New York City became the first city to implement calorie-labeling laws. Since then, momentum for similar laws has quickly picked up as city and state governments around the country have mandated displays of nutritional information in many restaurants. This makes it virtually impossible to remain blissfully ignorant of what exactly it means to "supersize."
Though the truth hurts, the laws have been placed with the best of intentions. Health officials estimate that, because of the labels, the number of obese New Yorkers could decrease by 150,000 during the next five years. However, both junk food junkies and health nuts have met the laws with resistance.
Upon first impression, it seems obvious that more awareness on the nutritional information of food items would result in a healthier populace. Seventy-nine percent
of people are in favor of calorie postings at restaurants, saying that more information leads to smarter choices, according to a survey by MSNBC.com.
The labeling laws are held back from reaching their potential by a key paradox. In most cases, only restaurants with 15-plus locations around the country are required to post information. This mainly includes fast-food chains. Unfortunately, the typical customer at many of these places is not usually concerned with nutritional information, whether obviously posted or not.
What government officials fail to realize is that the obesity crisis is about more than simple numbers. To truly impart change, the behaviors of an entire country need to be addressed. This takes more than posting dauntingly large calorie counts.
The average customer actually ordered slightly more calories than before the calorie labeling three months after the New York City
law went into effect, according to a study published in Health Affairs, a medicine and health care journal.
In an ideal world, everyone would be responsible enough to educate himself or herself on the importance of nutrition. This unfortunately isn't the case. The truth is that there will always be people who don't care about the saturated fat in an order of fries.
So who pays the consequences? What about the people who view eating out as an experience to enjoy or as a reward from an otherwise healthy diet? For these people, calorie postings mean that a little bit of the pleasure of food is stripped away. It is difficult to enjoy a treat — emphasis on "treat" — in the comforts of oblivion when its nutritional information can't be ignored.
I believe that there is some merit in calorie labeling laws; if they are able to inspire even a few people to make healthier dining choices, then something positive has been accomplished. Even so, food is about more than numbers. It's about nourishment, enjoyment and — occasionally — a little bit of indulgence.
McCoy is a Lincoln, Neb., sophomore in journalism.
Spare a beer, save a life
Let me present to you a bit of information, which I hope you'll take a moment to consider.
This statement remains as true today as it did a dozen years ago when it was first written.
In the introduction to his remarkable book "Living High and Letting Die," New York University Professor Peter Unger writes, "If you contributed $100 to one of UNICEF's most efficient lifesaving programs a couple of months ago, this month thered be over 30 fewer children who, instead of painfully dying soon, would live reasonably long lives."
- the cost of a beer or a Big Mac
- you can save a life. You can and you should.
Unger's observation is a call to action, and contains within it an implicit answer to the fundamental moral question regarding what, if anything, people owe each other. For three dollars
But heck, these are the facts. Unger explains that millions of children die annually from easily preventable diseases. For example, everyone who suffers from untreated dehydrating diarrhea could be saved with a treatment of oral rehydration salts, which, according to his estimation, cost only a few dollars.
By now you may well have concluded that this sort of solicitation is trite and annoying, similar to some late-night infemorial assailing you with pictures of emaciated children wandering listlessly through a filthy slum in some impoverished, fly-infested corner of the world. Making people feel guilty seems to be a thoroughly distasteful way to get them to do something. It's self-righteous moralizing, too.
I'll be the first to admit that after I read Unger's book, I didn't send any money to UNICEF. I had to buy groceries and pay rent — not to mention the beer. But it made me think: Why do I care about those luckless kids on the other side of the planet?
DANTHOMPSON
On the other hand, there are many good arguments for why we should be concerned with the well-being of others. One that I find particularly well-reasoned and compelling was made by the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In his view, our duties to others respect no boundaries because each of our lives is an accident of birth, a result of genetic lottery.
There's nothing wrong with a bit of rational self-interest, right? I, too, read "The Fountainhead" in high school. But such blatant disregard of others' various misfortunes, brought on by no fault of their own — as is presented in the book — has always struck me as somewhat odious and self-serving.
For example, it is sheer happenstance that I was born in prosperous America and not as an AIDS orphan in the slums of Harare.
At the very least, those of us lucky enough to have been spared the myriad evils of poverty, disease and insecurity should keep in mind our tremendous good fortune and consider giving up just a little bit — just one beer — to save a human life.
Thompson is a Topeka senior in economics.
MAKE YOUR OWN
DONATION TO
UNICEF
Visit www.supportunicef.org
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I like that President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I think we could all learn from this carefully selected appointment of such high honor.
Yes, I have the ability to effectively communicate with colleagues, faculty and individuals at all levels of the administration. I am an energetic and interactive public speaker, a skill certainly associated with many college graduates. My writing is skilled, articulate and persuasive.
I think the University of Kansas should award me a Bachelor of Arts degree — today. Why not? It seems highly probable that I'll graduate. My grades are excellent, I'm taking a steady number of hours each semester, and most importantly, I have excellent communication skills.
Of course, I have yet to complete all the necessary requirements to acquire a four-year degree, but certainly I'm showing the potential to do so.
And if the president is awarded for having these communication skills, why can't I have my degree or senior management position?
Furthermore, I'd really like that job as the operations manager for the Athletics Department. No,' I haven't demonstrated any ability in leading effective teams committed to goals or proven my ability in fostering collaboration among team members and among teams. But I can influence people. I can assert ideas about mobilizing to take action. I believe I have the ability to encourage and empower others to achieve, creating enthusiasm and a desire to excel.
James Castle is a sophomore from Overland Park.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Brenna Hawley, Jessica Sain-Bairn, Jennifer Holtz and Michael Holtz.