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opinion
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Can we get more of those triangle interview videos this semester?
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, SEPT. 12, 2016
This is a truly different campus from when I started my freshman year in 2013.
I think ideas have outlived there usefulness. Everything that needs to be thought of has already been thought of.
Telling the fans to get off the football field is like knocking participation trophies out of the losing team's hands at a kid's baseball game.
Running onto the football field = triumphant bliss
Everyone beats up on poor Wescoe
Is it just me, or is the Dole Human Development Center the ugliest building on campus?
"We'll get em next week"-Every KU football fan for the last 6 years
"No offense, but I'm going to say something offensive."
You PC, brah?
Hey maintenance,
I don't care about
the door being fixed
or the walls being
patched, I just want
the AC to turn on in
the bathroom!!
I'd be fine with taco trucks on every corner
Who in here is offended by sensuality?
When you see someone with GOP socks* and you have the overwhelming urge to sock them in the face
Who said it: David Beaty or Coach Calhoun from Grease?
There's another unicycle guy!!!
Can KU just tear down the whole campus and never replace it ever again? Might save money in the long run.
The East Coast is the Sorority Row of America
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Illustration by Jacob Benson
Adamson: Sexual harassment is never funny
- LAUREN ADAMSON
@LeAdamson
Friday was just like every other night out in Lawrence. It was the beginning of a new school year, and I was excited to be back, excited to be with my friends again and excited to meet new people.
When a friend and I walked into a bar and headed for the restroom, I was entirely unsurprised when a complete stranger grabbed my friend by the hand and immediately squeezed her ass. I was, however, a bit surprised (and thoroughly impressed) when she turned around and confronted him about it. She asked him why he thought it would be okay to touch a
stranger. He laughed.
Apparently, the joke got funnier when, two hours later, the same friend and I left a different bar and the exact same guy did exactly the same thing, to me this time.
It was also funny when, in the mid-80s, my mother walked into a bar and was bitten on the ass, "just to get [her] attention." It was hilarious when, 30 years later, a stranger sat on my friend's lap as a way of introducing himself. And it was hysterical when a regular at the restaurant I worked at told me he was, "glad that you're back, because the attractiveness of the staff really declined while you were gone."
What's scary is how
common these incidents are. They are expected, rather than shocking.
What's scary is how common these incidents are."
even have T-shirts that say,
"Jayhawks <3 Consent."
But how much of this is effective in combating the cultural assumption that women can be objectified in everyday activities?
We have all heard the stat: one in five women gets sexually assaulted during their time in school. The University recently enacted new policies and created groups to prevent sexual violence at school. We have a Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center. We have new policies that dictate how the University handles cases of sexual assault and violence. We
It seems to me that there is a small jump from an invasion of privacy played off as funny to an act of sexual violence. While the man I encountered was not violent, he clearly does not know that it is unacceptable to touch someone without their permission. He does not know that he ruined our evening. He does not know the impact his action had on how comfortable I feel while going out.
He and many others like him do not know where the line is.
Unfortunately, Friday was just like every other night. When sexual harassment destroys the enjoyment of an evening, it isn't funny. It makes men and women feel unsafe, and it can make an individual doubt his or her intelligence or self-worth because of the unwanted attention they have been given.
Harassment, from anyone and towards anyone, subtle or overt, isn't funny.
Lauren Adamson is a senior from Leawood studying economics and political science
- Edited by Cody Schmitz
Foster: Apathy among youth voters dangerous
▶ KAITLYN FOSTER
@qreocity
Are you an energy voter?
Do you even vote?
If you've watched much of the election coverage this past year, chances are you've heard the first question too many times and the second not enough.
In a commercial sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, a deliberately diverse group of
men, women, average Joes and businesspeople profess their dedication for voting based on candidates' levels of support for American production of oil and natural gas.
At one point, the ad features a man gesturing authoritatively and saying "jobs."
This commercial and many others like it reflect one of the problems of the American electorate today. Instead of choosing a candidate based on an overall evaluation of their qualifications and positions on issues, more and more voters now select based on party alone, according to a study by Assistant Professor Patrick Miller. Others vote because of a single issue, like
non-renewable energy.
The most pressing problem for young Americans, though, is how politically apathetic we have become. In Kansas, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that 87.6 percent of Kansans over 65 were registered to vote in 2012 while those 18-24 were registered at a rate less than half of that figure. When election day came, as well, the over-65s in Kansas outshone their younger counterparts as did the 18-24 age group nationwide.
You may believe your vote won't matter in a state that has voted so solidly in one direction for decades, and if your goal is to affect the election as a whole, you may be right. FiveThirtyEight, a popular statistics
hub for American elections ran by Nate Silver, puts Kansas at 0.2 in the Voter Power Index (VPI), meaning a Kansas voter is 0.2 times more likely to change the outcome of the entire election than the average voter. Swing state Nevada currently rests at 4.2 in the VPI.
However, by failing to vote, you, at the least, fail to have your voice heard and, at the worst, become cynical about American democracy. The election process has many flaws, but without voters like us, nothing can change.
Young people not voting affects us at a much higher level than the individual. When we collectively decide not to go to the polls,
The last day to register to vote in time to participate in the general election is Oct. 18. Vote, and make your voice heard.
politicians learn they can concentrate their election efforts elsewhere without a big loss in supporters, and as a bonus, they don't have to cater to our demands once in office in order to get re-elected.
To increase our relative power, address flaws in the electoral system and get our issues on the debate floor, the most visible and concrete method is the voting booth.
Kaitlyn Foster is a sophomore from Lawrence studying political science.
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