Opinion
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FRIDAY,OCTOBER 2,2009
Buser: Good night's sleep crucial to student success
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--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
My roommate just woke up from a dream in which her legs were full of chicken noodle soup.
Old people with tattoos freak me out.
--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
I love bottles of root beer, but I hate the questions asked when carrying them to my dorm
Happy birthday, Brenna Hawley!
Damn you morals. I want to have sex!
I almost fell asleep with my laptop on me thinking of something cool to say.
It's been about eight months since I've been laid. Is it true that if you don't use it you lose it?
I just really need a hug. Is that too much to ask?
Who wants to have a pajama party and watch episodes of "Douq?"
Wake up Green Day! September ended.
There's always money in the banana stand.
--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
I have new underwear on today.
--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
Hello Kitty Band-Aids make all the pain go away.
Hi Hanson: I plastered my walls with your posters when I was 11. And now you guys have kids ... I'm freaked out.
Nothing beats eating a good can of pork and beans!
--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
Is it sad that my fish AND my boyfriend are only happy to see me when I'm naked?
Damn you Miley Cyrus and your catchy songs.
Dear American government Where the hell is my money for college? I'm broke.
--section has only north-to-south-facing stop signs on Engel Road. This means traffic on 15th Street doesn't normally stop unless the crosswalk is occupied. Two yield signs warn drivers to slow down for pedestrians, but because of the intersection's location at the top of a hill, it is hard for drivers to see what's ahead. Bushes on the north side of 15th Street also make it harder to see pedestrians.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Safety at intersection needs improvements
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Every day, at the top of a busy hill, hundreds of University students cross the intersection of 15th Street and Engel Road on their way to class. These students deserve a safer intersection, one that is better focused on the day-to-day pedestrian traffic coming and going from the residence halls.
"When it gets busy it's hard to see all the cars coming and is almost scary to cross," said Matt Hannasch, Omaha, Neb., freshman.
Hannasch is one of the numerous students who walk from the residence halls atop Daisy Hill to campus every day. Many of these students say they don't like the current state of safety provided.
"It needs stop signs," sai Mandelbaum, Wichita freshman. "All the students I've talked to think it needs at least stop signs."
intersection.
The intersection at 15th Street and Engel Road had 72 accidents between 2000 and 2008, according to the KU Public Safety Office. This should be reason enough for increasing safety at this
Two flashing signs warn drivers to slow down to 20 mph, but they don't specifically warn of an upcoming pedestrian crosswalk or indicate when the crosswalk is full.
Because of the low visibility and the high walking traffic at this crosswalk, a sign warning drivers of an upcoming and often busy
crosswalk would likely improve student safety. Even better than a warning sign would be something to notify drivers far away of an occupied crosswalk.
"It would be nice if there was a crossing light," Hannasch said.
Placing a flashing warning for pedestrians to warn drivers of an occupied crosswalk or converting the existing signs would be an effective way to increase safety at the intersection. Drivers from farther away would be able to slow down sooner and drive more cautiously at the intersection.
It would not be conducive to
traffic flow to turn the intersection into a four-way stop. Even though this would increase safety for pedestrians, it would likely cause even more congestion on campus, especially during already crowded times such as rush hours and times before and after basketball games.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said in an e-mail that the office would "support a study of the intersection to see what, if any, changes could be made to improve the overall safety of the intersection."
The crosswalk is under management of the City of Lawrence, and any changes would be under the jurisdiction of the traffic and engineering department.
It shouldn't require waiting for a tragic accident to occur just to increase safety at this intersection. The city should do its best to protect students at the University by looking into improving pedestrian security.
— Clayton Ashley for The Kansan Editorial Board
CAMPUS
MARIAM SAIFAN
Different season, same chant
After last year's football season, I was hoping to never need to address this topic again. It was my naive notion that the vulgar football kickoff chant would cease to exist. Unfortunately, several students are still willing to jeopardize the image of the University for a few seconds of immaturity.
KU football is in a place it hasn't been in years. The success of the team continues to put the program and the University on a national stage.
Although the football team is the focus of this attention, we, the students, are also being looked at, criticized and judged. The students have always had the power to shape the perception of the University, and now with more attention being paid to the football team, the responsibility of the students should be held to a higher standard.
The chant can be distinctly heard when KU games are televised. This has forced networks to bleep out the kickoff, or just not show it. Networks could choose to not broadcast KU football games at all in an effort to uphold a positive image of their station.
Likewise, students should be concerned with what image of the University they are showing to spectators across the country. Students have an obligation to represent their University positively and should remember this obligation when attending any athletic event.
Students are entitled to have fun and enjoy themselves while watching KU athletics. They should be able to participate in traditions and cheer on their favorite athletic teams.
However, the vulgar football chant is hardly comparable to other long-standing KU traditions, such as walking through the Campanile on graduation day or jumping in the Chi Omega fountain on your birthday.
Even more so, the chant does not encourage the victory of our team or establish pride in
our school like the Rock Chalk Chant. The offensive chant simply demonstrates a lack in judgment and character among a select few students who still seem to consider it necessary.
For the freshmen and transfer students experiencing their first few KU home games, participating in traditions is especially exciting. By choosing to yell the obscene chant, upperclassmen have demonstrated to new students that disrespect is not only tolerated but also encouraged within the student section. Instead of setting a high standard of sportsmanship, the student section has chosen to set a standard of immaturity.
I understand this problem presents no simple solution, as controlling the student section is neither right nor possible. At this stage in our lives we are considered adults and are expected to act accordingly.
I can only encourage as many students as possible to refrain from yelling the offensive chant in hopes that it will simply die out and the real KU traditions can live on.
Brown is a Wichita junior in journalism and political science.
AGRICULTURE
Organic foods revealed
Last month, scientist and humanitarian Norman Borlaug died after devoting his life to feeding the world. He was an agricultural scientist who won the Nobel Peace Prize, was given the title of the father of the "green revolution" and whose discoveries in improving crops around the world are credited with saving more than a billion lives.
But he also was a strong opponent to the organic farming movement that accompanied his agricultural revolution. The reason why such an environmentalist was so opposed to organic agriculture was because organic crops are no healthier than those of conventional agriculture, and the organic farming practices are far from sustainable.
"Organic," in addition to being the field of chemistry that is the bane of every pre-med student's existence, has also become an increasingly popular label on health foods.
Organic food must be grown "without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation or bioengineering," and the farmers must "adhere to certain soil and water conservation methods and to rules about the humane treatment of animals," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On the surface, this kind of farming sounds as if it should produce healthier, safer and more environmentally friendly food. But this kind of agriculture is, at best, misleading and, at worst, wasteful.
Organic agriculture is not healthier than conventional agriculture. In a recent report commissioned by the Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom, there is no difference in nutritional value between organic and conventional food. A team of scientists reviewed a huge number of studies in the scientific literature and concluded that there is no evidence to support the claim that organic food has any additional nutritional value or health benefits.
Proponents of organic foods
often point to the presence of pesticides on conventional produce as a health risk to consumers, but there is no evidence to support this claim either. Although trace amounts of pesticides can be found on conventional agriculture, they are often found on organic food as well, which are often grown with organic pesticides. But in any case, there is no evidence that such small amounts of chemicals could lead to any health problems in those who consume produce.
In addition to the lack of health benefits, organic food is wasteful. Organic agriculture generally has lower yields than conventional agriculture, meaning less produce is made per acre of land set aside to farm.
The only way to subsist a world of organic farming would be to destroy millions of acres of virgin ecosystems, and even then it may not provide enough food. Organic agriculture simply cannot feed the world, which was the primary reason that Borlaug was so opposed to it.
Borlaug was one of the world's greatest scientists and humanitarians. His mission to end world starvation through scientific innovation saved more than a billion lives, and our generation of scientists needs to honor this commitment.
Organic food has no significant health benefits and demonstrates an embarrassingly backward step in our goal of increasing crop yields. Using the best evidence available, we need to instead work to simultaneously sustain human life, health and the environment through scientific improvement of agriculture.
Folmsbee is a Topeka junior in Neurobiology.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER TO Drinking habits formed before freshman year
As a returning student to the University of Kansas, I'm keenly aware of the binge-drinking crisis on campus. Not once, but twice last year my day began with the tragic news that the life of a fellow Jayhawk had been cut short by alcohol.
In response to these deaths, the University has implemented a medical amnesty policy, a parental notification policy and a mandatory alcohol education program. Despite all of this, a surveybyNewStudentOrientation confirms what many already know: Binge drinking doesn't start in college. For this reason, requiring alcohol education at the college level seems unlikely to curb binge drinking.
The survey suggests that nearly half of the students in the class of 2013 went to high school parties where they consumed five or
more alcoholic beverages. This is in agreement with a separate study suggesting that on any given day, more than 25 percent of high school seniors have binged in the previous two weeks. Generally, having four to five drinks in two hours is considered binge drinking.
The roots of binge drinking may reach beyond high school, all the way back to childhood. Research suggests that perceptions of alcohol begin to develop as early as pre-school and that these perceptions are indicative of future alcohol use and abuse.
Binge drinking is such a deep-rooted problem that it seems unlikely a two-hour online course will do anything other than waste two hours.
As one freshman said, "I think it's kind of pointless, because if kids want to drink, they're going to drink no matter what."
At this point, a two-hour online course isn't going to change anyone's mind.
Thomas K. Whitson is a doctoral student from Olathe.
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