+ opinion + FREE-FOR-ALL • WE HEAR FROM YOU People who wear fake glasses for fashion reALY light MY fire KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, JAN.19, 2017 post malone's album is my everything Hoes don't get cold Instead of saying a fun fact about myself in class we had to share a poem we wrote in 5 minutes I need a nap immediately Taking an 8am is not as bad as a 4:00 This guy is one of the best big men in the NBA and he's only 21 years old I'm currently eating my headphone. Does that count for something? Really, KU? I pay you how many thousands of dollars in tuition each year and you're still giving us one-ply toilet paper? Happy birthday to Mac Miller and me! It's too early in the semester to be struggling but here we are. steve carell made us all believe "The Office" was coming back today for about two seconds. That was a solid two seconds. I care more about peanuts than plagiarism I'M ON FIRE Insta animals get me through life I'm going to miss Obama being president for the rest of my life it's amazing how slow time goes at the end of a football game compared to how fast it goes at the end of chopped I'm out of queso. HELP ME TED CRUZ! Jonathan Peters' emails will get me through First Amendment. "fugly" is an underrated fake cuss word READ MORE AT KANSAN.COM /THEKANSAN @KANSANNEWS KANSAN.NEWS @UNIVERSITY DAILYKANSAN Fans "wave the wheat" in the Allen Fieldhouse student section. Missy Minear/KANSAN Letter to the editor: Student section needs to 'get hyped and stay hyped' JOEY ANGUIANO Dear KU Student Section: After Saturday's game against Oklahoma State, enough is enough. The noise and cheering at men's basketball games this season has been quieter than Anschutz Library. I'm a senior and lifelong KU fan, and this is the most apathetic student section I have ever seen. The fact that the video department had to play a hype video at the under four timeout during a close game is pathetic. Thank God we have legacies, tradition, and Rock Chalk Video, otherwise that would've been "Sandstorm." We haven't won 12-straight Big 12 titles to have every Susie Smith and John Doe quietly sit in the student section on their phones eating ice cream. There are students who went here who still think about Section U. You did those who fought for that a disservice on Saturday. We might consistently get named "best home court advantage" and "best student section" in college basketball, but these days we rarely act like it. Over the last four years, we've gone from never sitting from the start of the starting lineups (with the exception of halftime) to seeing students sit every TV time-out. If you want to sit down, do so on your couch, not in the stands, that's not why we come to games. We haven't won 12-straight Big 12 titles to have every Susie Smith and John Doe quietly sit in the student section." If you're here just for your Instagram and Snapchat, please get that nonsense out of the way during the two exhibition games, or at least during the pregame. On the Rock Chalk Chant, please don't woo. And leave that Chiefs nonsense during the national anthem in Missouri, at Arrowhead. During the free throws, work in unison. The students and noise are two important factors that make the Fieldhouse so great. Get hyped, and stay hyped for the duration of the game. If you're in the front row, slap those boards. Jump up and down. Lose your voice. That's what Kansas basketball is all about. And please, stop wearing button downs underneath your jerseys. It's not a good look. Sincerely, A senior wishing for the "Good ole days" - Joey Anguiano is a senior from Berryton majoring in liberal arts. McCarthy: Tax 'experiment' has failed Kansas ★ KEVIN MCCARTHY @kevindmccarthy Last week, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback gave his annual State of the State address. On the surface, many of his proposals sounded promising, but overall his plan only includes shortterm fixes for the nearly $350 million budget shortfall. Like many State of the State addresses and other high profile speeches, there were several attractive policy ideas put forward, but not many specifics were given about those ideas. Therefore, it is important to examine the governor's budget proposal that his administration released last Wednesday. In the proposal, Brownback advocates for more short-term budget solutions. Some of them include tax increases on tobacco and liquor, changes to Medicaid and the sale of future tobacco company payments (known as securitization). If this sounds familiar, that's because it is. Brownback has proposed sweeps several times in the past, which led to education cuts, the depletion of the state highway fund and many other devastating budget cuts. If we want to dig ourselves out of this budget hole, we must do things differently than we have in the past. One way to do this is by passing comprehensive tax reform legislation. The culprit of the Kansas budget crisis is the massive tax cuts that Gov. Brownback signed into law in 2012 and 2013. He must acknowledge that this "experiment" has failed. Despite all of this, there are a few reasons to be optimistic about the 2017 Kansas legislative session. First, several moderate Republican and Democrat lawmakers were elected in August and November. Previously, an ultra-conservative majority had a stranglehold on the legislature, but that will not be the case in 2017. This will undoubtedly shift the ideological dynamics of the legislature. Second, Brownback indicated that he may be willing to compromise on the repeal of small business tax exemptions. If this holds true, it would be a step in the right direction toward more comprehensive tax reform measures. "We must do things differently than we have in the past." Lastly, there's already been strong and vocal opposition to Brownback's agenda in the legislature. Hopefully this will lead to compromises between the two sides and shifts in policy that will ultimately lead to long-term budget fixes. Overall, I am more hopeful about this year's legislative session than I have been in the past. There are still many problems that need to be addressed and they will not all be solved this session. However, we must start moving in the right direction. If we don't, Kansans will continue to pay the price for the irresponsible economic policies of our state government. Kevin McCarthy is a senior from Lenexa, studying political science, history and public policy. - Edited by Allison Crist HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR LETTER GUIDELINES: Send letters to editor@kansan.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the email subject line. Length: 300 words The submission should include the author's name, year, major and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters. CONTACT US Lara Korte Editor-in-chief lkorte@kansan.com Tucker Paine Business Manager tpaine@kansan.com THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Lara Korte, Christian Hardy, Tucker Paine and Vince Munoz. +