Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14,2009
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.
Shorman: Attention received by University not all bad
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--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
I like to use my Jedi mind tricks on the paper towel dispensers.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
Just because it's raining doesn't mean that you have to drive 10 miles an hour. Quit being sturid.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
You'll never guess what I'm doing when I'm texting you.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
Does FFA have Caller ID?
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
My mom sent me an e-mail saying 100 years ago women used egg yolks for shampoo. Unlucky.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
FML ... I had sex in my snuggie today.
You think that's awesome?
One time my girlfriend gave me the business while I was playing "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance"
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
There should be a bra burning on Wescoe Beach. They just don't happen enough
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
Some people dress up for halloween everyday — most not on purpose.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
Why don't we have a campus-wide "hide 'n seek" game next time it's not freezing outside?
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
I found a naked man magazine in my boyfriend's room. He is probably cheating on me with another girl who took it there. How do I catch her?
Really guys, for me, do poorly so we all do well.
The Wesco beachers are now crowding the halls inside. Suck it up and sit outside in the cold.
Dear midterms: Are you going to at least call me tomorrow? Treat me like a lady
I fell asleep during my second midterm of the day during the essay part. I have no idea what I wrote.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
To the man picking up crab apples on the lawn of Strong: I wouldn't eat those apples if I were you.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
KU Safety e-mail: You have officially creeped me out.
I tired of seeing Toyotas and Hondas everywhere. I kind of want to run them over with my American-made car.
--weekend to help students embrace the autumn season and take a relaxing vacation from schoolwork. However, it is important to stay safe on campus and in Lawrence while the majority of students away.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Stay safe during fall break
On the brink of fall break, students staying in Lawrence should not despair about the cold weather or lack of travel destination, and instead should get involved with the local community. There are many events taking place over the
Yesterday, Marlesa Roney, vice provost for student success, sent all students an e-mail that detailed safety precautions that should especially be taken over school breaks. As described in the e-mail and in the news, the Lawrence Police Department is still investigating an active serial rapist who has been known to attack during school breaks. Staying safe should be a priority, while still having fun. Following the safety guidelines outlined in the e-mail will help students enjoy their full break while keeping a healthy awareness about their surroundings.
Here are some activities to participate in if staying in Lawrence:
25TH ANNUAL LATE NIGHT IN THE PHQG
Watch the men's and women's basketball teams get pumped up for the coming season with skis and scrimmages. According to the Athletic s Department, Late Night in the Phog will be featured
KANSAN'S OPINION
once again by ESPNU's "Going Mad for Midnight Madness." Bring non-perishable food items for the
department to donate to local food pantries. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the newly renovated Allen Fieldhouse, and the event runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
This 24-acre pumpkin patch is family-owned and great for a free weekend activity. With farm animals, a hay bale maze and 35 varieties of pumpkins how could you go wrong? The pumpkin patch is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; go to www.schakespumpkinpatch.com for driving directions.
SCHAAKE'S
PUMPKIN PATCH
STATE RADIO
The band will be at Restore, 701
Connecticut, 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday.
Restore sells salvageable materials from torn-down houses to help fund Habitat for Humanity.
The band will be playing at the Bottleneck the same night at 7 p.m. The show is $16 per person and part of the proceeds will fund Amnesty International.
MAPLE LEAF FESTIVAL
Travel a quick 15 minutes south of Lawrence to Baldwin City to enjoy the annual Maple Leaf Festival. The parade begins at 11 a.m. Saturday. Other events include a 5K run, country music, train rides, carnival and more. See a schedule of events online at www.mapleleafonline.com/events
If nothing else, enjoy a walk around campus as the leaves are changing. But make sure to stay aware of your safety. It is especially important while students are away on break that those staying make safety their first priority. If you are staying in, lock the door. If you are going out, have a friend to walk with. Whatever you do, have a great fall break!
— Kara Walker for The Kansan Editorial Board
SIGH. 1 EXAM AND 2 MORE CLASSES, AND I'LL HAVE SURVIVED TO FALL BREAK!
WELL, HAVE FUN AND STAY SAFE AND SURVIVE FALL BREAK TOO
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Death to the death penalty
The abolition of capital punishment is not a matter of being soft on crime. It's about having a humane and just system that works.
Troy Davis, charged with murdering an off-duty police officer, is on death row in Georgia. Of the nine eyewitnesses who testified against Davis, seven have withdrawn their evidence as nonfactual and blamed police interrogation tactics for the false testimonies.
Many death penalty abolition and equal rights groups have claimed racism as a factor in Davis' trial. They worry that if this continues to affect the case during Davis' evidentiary hearing, an innocent man will be put to death.
It's hard for me to discuss the moral inconsistencies of the death penalty without bringing up my faith. As a Christian, I believe it is wrong to punish someone with death at the hand of a human being, because God should provide judgment, not humans.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered on Aug. 17 that Davis be allowed an evidentiary hearing, according to CNN. This gives Davis another opportunity to demonstrate his innocence and escape death row.
Is this cruel and unusual form of punishment really worth the price? The costs are both moral and monetary.
Catholicism dictates that the eye-for-an-eye mantra in the eye is actually meant to restrict
government, not to allow broader action by the government, according to the Catholics Against Capital Punishment Web site. I am not Catholic, but I do believe that it's not within Jesus' philosophy to advocate a death sentence.
There is also the obvious possibility of executing an innocent person. The case of Cameron Todd Willingham in Corsicana, Texas, provides an example of a death by shoddy evidence.
Religious arguments aside, there are plenty of other moral arguments against capital punishment. A much more constructive function of criminal justice is to pursue rehabilitation for criminals.
Willingham was convicted of arson; officials said he burned his house with his three children inside. Willingham protested his innocence until his death, and although evidence surfaced proving the investigation had been faulty, Gov. Rick Perry deemed the execution appropriate, according to the Huffington Post. Willingham was executed Feb. 17, 2004, as an innocent man.
"These death sentences are cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual," Justice Potter Stewart said in the 1972 Supreme Court case Gregg v. Georgia.
The disturbing fact that executing an innocent person can and has really happened should be reason enough to ban the death penalty. One must also recognize the abuse of basic human rights.
Though Justice Stewart was speaking of death sentences he believed were handed out on the basis of race, I would argue that all death sentences are cruel and unusual since the determining factors are not always consistent or reliable. It is psychologically and physically cruel as well. Horror stories of lethal injections gone wrong are enough to make one's skin crawl.
The financial cost of the death penalty is perhaps more persuasive to individuals not moved by the moral argument. According to a performance audit report by the Kansas Legislature, cases involving the death penalty cost an average of 70 percent more than cases that don't. This should be reason enough for some Republican lawmakers to consider the abolition of capital punishment.
Cosby is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism and political science.
CULTURE
Accents embraced as cultural identity
I have felt terrible in my Spanish conversation class during the past few weeks. It was my first time realizing how tough it is when learning a language to overcome a particular cultural barrier: the accent.
While still sharpening my English, I started learning Spanish my freshman year. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I was fond of it and was excited to be trilingual, speaking the three most spoken languages in the world.
Even so, I still remember how I felt on my first day of Spanish class: frustrated and dumb.
After the instructor explained the syllabus in English, all words and sentences I heard were bizarre and meaningless. With no exposure to Spanish before, I was totally lost. The only thing I could do was cram the material at home and read the words out loud while guessing the correct pronunciations.
After the first month things started making sense to me, and I could respond properly in class. Spanish became my favorite class each semester because my grade always reflected how much effort I had put into it.
The conversation class I'm taking now has been discouraging me. Almost everyone in class is good at speaking, except for me. I'm always nervous to say something with my poor Asian accent. It sounds weird and I'm always wondering how my classmates feel. Because of this, I look like an inactive student in class.
"Your accent is totally fine," my instructor told me. "An accent signifies your culture and it shouldn't be changed because it's your
unique cultural feature."
"Speak with accent is cute," a friend commented on my Cantonese accent in Mandarin.
He was right. As long as people can understand us, an accent doesn't matter. I think the most valuable thing to learn from studying a new language is the culture, not only the language.
I met some Americans who spoke Chinese fairly well. I like to talk to them because I can see the effort they have put into learning Chinese and their passion for Asian culture. It's always miraculous to meet someone from a completely different cultural background who speaks your language. The world is really connected.
Some friends of mine desire to speak and act like ABCs (American Born Chinese) because they think speaking with a mixture of Chinese and English is cool (and ABCs easily grab girls' attention). Every culture should be respected and appreciated. People within the culture should embrace it rather than discriminate oneself from it. A cultural identity is a gift we should keep for a lifelong, no matter what.
Ho is a Macau, China, junior in journalism.
FROM ILLINOIS
Northwestern U.
Daily Northwestern
BY CALLEY TRAUTWEIN
Learning to cope with weight gain
Some girls are naturally skinny. Some girls like to take spin classes, which I will never understand. Some girls "don't like the taste of junk food." I am not naturally skinny. I hate biking indoors. And I believe that on the seventh day, God created Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and it was Good.
That's scary. That's not okay.
That's got to change.
I feel like as a girl, it's my job to look a certain way. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels that way. Four out of five American women say they are dissatisfied with the way they look, according to the fitness Web site inchaweigh.com.
Sadly, an estimated 10 percent of female college students suffer from a clinical or borderline eating disorder, according to the Anne Collins weight loss program.
Let's face it together: There are some very beautiful people out there who know they're hot. But most of us, at one point in our lives, have felt insecure about our
bodies. We do not see our own brilliance and beauty.
I am only 18, and in so many ways I'm still a kid. But I'm smart enough and old enough now to look at each new day as loaded with possibility, laughter and the chance of free food. I'm not sure who I am yet, or what size jeans I'll be over the next few years, but you know what? It's a wonderful, intoxicating not to care.
As the wise Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich once said, "You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine."
I know there is time ahead of me to change myself if I should ever choose. But on those days when I don't mind I'm a smidge overweight, I challenge you to look past my chubby cheeks and listen to what I'm saying. I promise you I'm friendly to talk to, and I'm always up for pizza.
UWire
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