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opinion
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FREE-FOR-ALL
...WE HEAR
FROM YOU
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
you know what's funny? That Steve Bannon is a crushed up eczema waffle and he thinks that he's genetically superior to Denzel Washington.
Watkins charged me $25 for cancelling an appointment... college is literally just one giant scam
I'm not really big on buying books for class. Nor am I a big fan of school.
I identify as a potato, I can help
I just had a religious experience in the Taco Bell parking lot
Eating a Frozen-themes kid cuisine while waiting for my bus is the most me thing I've done in college
About Harambe,
"You know who really
should have been put
down..."
To the girl eating Mc- Donald's at the rec... you're my hero
May you always walk with the confidence of someone who isn't afraid to get hit on Jayhawk Blvd.
I am more fucked up than Donald trump was in the second presidential debate
a friend on snapchat is at a JoJo concert right now and I'm honestly jealous
Therapists make me nervous.
I think I just had one of those moments where you don't know whether to go left or right but with a squirrel.
I think a bee just got stuck in my fan so i'm moving out immediately and never going back.
KU needs more issues of Little Mermaid in its libraries this is a serious issue
Munoz: Empirical evidence suggests a better solution to campus climate
My teacher just dipped out on class for no reason and basically today is the best day of my life.
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If I see a "cinco de drinko" shirt on the 5th, I'm gonna start yelling
Illustration by Erica Gonzales/KANSAN
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▶ VINCE MUNOZ
@vmunoz_18
As the incoming student government prepares to assume power, it will have to address, among other things, diversity related issues highlighted by the recent campus climate report.
According to the report, 37 percent of students have seriously considered leaving the University at some point. The top reasons cited by these individuals include diversity-related issues and lack of support. This comes after many high-profile protests that ultimately resulted in the recent establishment of Multicultural Student Government (MSG).
But supporters and opponents alike have questioned how effective the MSG can be at bettering the University. To address these lingering questions, Student Senate should use existing political science research in crafting policy going forward. If they do, they may find that there are better ways to improve University policymaking.
Obviously, most researchers examine larger organizations rather than universities when studying politics; however, some academic literature can be cross-applied to debate surrounding the MSG.
For example, MSG can essentially be thought of as a "reserved seat" system in which a designated number
of seats within the government are reserved for traditionally underrepresented groups. The theory behind this is that when more members of underrepresented groups are included in legislating, policies should be more equitable.
However, some research contradicts this logic. A 2002 paper on women's representation published in The Journal of Politics notes that, "Representation for marginalized groups should reflect group diversity and should not assume a false homogeneity of interest or identity (in individuals)."
S. Laurel Weldon, the report's author, is saying that simply being a member of an underrepresented group does not ensure that one can fully represent the interest of the group in a legislative setting. Furthermore, a 2008 study by Susan Franceschet and Jennifer M. Piscopo found that, "Gender quotas cannot change the institutional rules and norms that govern the legislative process, meaning that quotas cannot guarantee improvements in substantive representation as outcome."
Though this study specifically dealt with gender, the same principles can apply to minority representation.
To better understand why, think about how Student Senate is formed. In the 2015 election, only 17 percent of the student body voted. The most recent election, only about a quarter of the University cast a ballot. When 3 out of 4 students don't participate in the selection of senators, the institution does not fully represent the student body. Moreover, participation in senate requires time that students who work full-time may not have to give. Therefore, any senate driven initiative to improve representation will need to address poor involvement first.
Weldon's report also found that executive offices are better venues for addressing policy concerns, especially when those offices actively seek input from civil society groups. In other words, when groups interact directly with agencies, better policy is made.
senate
Any senate driven initiative to improve representation will need to address poor involvement first "
"We would expect women's bureaus to improve the political representation of women when they have: (1) formalized channels of access for women's organizations, and (2) the independence and resources needed to formulate and implement aspects of a women's agenda," the report said.
In light of this, a better model for improving outcomes for underrepresented students may be to further empower administrative
institutions to work with our "civil society" rather than through Student Senate. The most obvious way would be to create a permanent process for the administration to work with the University equivalent of civil society organizations - student groups.
An existing office, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs or the Office of Diversity and Equity, could create a permanent student advisory board to review University policy as it is being developed. This board could allow anyone to attend, but should explicitly seek input from advocacy groups such as the Black Student Union, leadership organizations such as the Hispanic American Leadership Organization and minority sororities and fraternities to name a few.
This may not be a perfect solution, but research would suggest that it might improve representation more than a MSG. One could argue that existing research may not be applicable to student governments - this is a valid, yet untested, criticism.
And while the University currently has the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group, it is unclear if this group adequately reaches out to student organizations to channel the group perspectives that scholars like Weldon feel is a necessary component to improving representation.
Either way, the University and Student Senate must use research to further representation on campus going forward.
Vince Munoz is a junior from Topeka studying political science and strategic communications.
Shondell: Defense spending must decrease
► JOSEPH SHONDELL
@jshondy
The billions of dollars poured into our military has come full circle. A bomb falls and then ten years later the same target is in the bomb site, and the need for more military spending comes to the table. Now our extensive weapons spending is on full display in the 2016 Department of Defense budget request.
According to an Al Jazeera article on U.S. defense spending, the Pentagon spent $596 billion on defense in the 2015 fiscal year. This outranks the next eight countries combined in spending.
During the Cold War, the U.S. policy of curbing the spread of communism backfired almost every time. Nicaragua, Vietnam and Panama, to name a few. The U.S. would take democratically elected leaders who were communist, and
Being well protected is essential in today's world, but the U.S. has crossed the line too many times by making itself the world police and not a protector of its citizens. For almost 93 percent of the country's existence, the U.S. has been at war. Yes, some wars are unavoidable but the vast majority involve the U.S. imposing "democracy" on the rest of the world.
The U.S. turns the wheels of economic progress through war and hefty contracts that defense contractors use to keep inflating spending. It's time the U.S. cuts down our massive military and direct spending in order to spend more on education and social services.
replace them with far-right nationalists who took on the role of dictators. All of these U.S.military operations were supplied by taxpayer money and used to dismantle actual democracy.
1Spending more on conventional military operations than on social problems should alarm us all."
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Aside from the exhausting list of military operations, we must value human life and the men and women who do their best to preserve our freedom and safety. Politicians in Washington need to focus more on human lives. Spending more on conventional military operations than on social problems should alarm us all.
People and political parties who support bolstering the budget will bolster it at the expense of art and education programs. Our military budget is on schedule to churn out two new aircraft carriers in the next three years, the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Gerald R. Ford. This will raise our navy to 13 carrier strike groups. To put this into perspective, Russia has the second most aircraft carriers and they have two.
The expenditure on conventional weapons must be cut to free up space for programs essential to human life in the U.S. and around the world, instead of engaging every "bad guy" that moves.
The military is not all about killing. Many humanitarian efforts are headed by the brave men and women who defend us. They respond to massive natural disasters and emergency situations. The U.S.military must transform itself into a primarily
humanitarian force, but occasionally we may have to send ordinance.
An example of this was U.S. warships shooting 59 cruise missiles at a lone Syrian base after the country used Sarin gas on its people. By following the lead of the United Nations, our military can makes itself into an actual, "global force for good."
A new commander in chief has communicated that he intends to increase spending to support the military. Spending will almost certainly go up and American taxpayers will be the ones paying for it. The malicious cycle of death the U.S. has built its military on cannot last. The budget must be cut or we will plunge further into what President Eisenhower warned about, a new age of a military-industrial complex.
Joseph Shondell is freshman from Roeland Park studying journalism and environmental studies.
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