MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 4
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Looking back I don't think the 2-point attendance extra credit was worth braving the cold.
Did girls even wear pants or shoes before leggings and riding boots?
I just tried to hold the door open for my own reflection. Chivalry is confused.
Notorious B.I.G. - "Mo Money Mo Problems." Engineering Students - "More Problems, More Money."
To whoever insinuated that music majors never get any homework. You're wrong. Music majors always have homework. It's called practicing.
Yeah I took the elevator up two flights of stairs. I'm hungover. That's a handicap.
The wand chooses the wizard.
If there was an award for most dope newspaper staff the Kansan would have it in the bag.
My friend says the FFA is a "freshman thing." I say he's just bitter he never gets in, and now the whole campus knows.
I know class is canceled tomorrow,
but I still need my UDK... Editor's note:
Snow does not stop the Kansan. We
print no matter what.
Thanks to all the maintenance workers for coming in and shoveling campus today!
If engineering is so hard, how do you always have time to submit things to FFA?
Excuse me? Captain America shield all the way.
Is she is an undergrad? She is too young for you to write that.
That moment when you get a text about canceled class and immediately hear screams of joy through the hallways
To the music and engineering majors, you pick your major. Stop complaining.
Sledding to class
A music major I know once complained to me because she had a final.
ONE FINAL
I don't like Beyoncé. At all.
You know you are an old lady when you spend every Friday night watching "Dateline NBC."
If I'm "too loud" you are in the wrong place. The Fieldhouse demands my battle cries.
Thank you Perry much!
Silly hipsters. You started smoking to be ironic, but now ya'll addicted.
POLITICS
The day all three of my roommates have their girlfriends staying over is the day my world will end.
Brownback's reign ignoring youth needs
Let's not mince words: aside from our cultural loasis, most of Kansas is a pretty boring place. Any time I find myself having to journey outside of Lawrence to the west, south or north, I grimace a little.
The rest of the state, we like to think, is of little consequence to us here. The politics are no different: tedious, unchanging, oftentimes caught in the past or actively trying to return to it. But something has been brewing in Topeka over the past couple years that deserves the attention of our youth and student population, whether you plan to spend your life in the Sunflower State or will be on a plane out of here the second they hand you that diploma.
I'm talking about the increasingly unsettling policies of Gov. Sam Brownback and the state legislature: a body that has never
By Eric Schumacher eschumacher@kansan.com
ueen what one would call progressive, but in the past year has tilted even further toward Tea Party-esque fundamentalism.
Brownback's tax plan proposals, if enacted, could increase the financial burden on young people by hundreds of dollars a year. For one, his proposal to extend a sales-tax hike that was supposed to be temporary will keep prices high for just about everything, depriving all Kansans, especially those without much money to spare, some sorely needed relief.
Then there are last year's tax cuts, which have been found by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy to actually raise taxes on those making less than $25,000 per year, which includes the vast majority of students.
Some Republican legislators are nervous about his budget proposals. The governor has also admitted recently that a $2 billion budget shortfall that he has repeatedly claimed his predecessor left for him never existed. Not exactly a promising sign for his office's budgeting capabilities.
While all this budget talk might induce groans of boredom (admittedly from myself at times), what happens in Topeka has real consequences here at the University. Everything from construction projects for outdated buildings to class sizes and the cost of tuition is hugely affected by the fiscal processes in the capital, and the decisions coming from the governor and legislature lately haven't been promising.
But taxes and the budget aren't the only things that should grab our attention. Last year, the governor signed a bill that throws up several impediments to women seeking to terminate unwanted pregnancies. In the pages of the bill is one provision that requires women be told abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, which has been roundly demonstrated to be false and is hard to imagine as anything more than a scare tactic. Another provision allows pharmacists to make a woman's health care choices for her by refusing to fill a prescription that "may result in the termination of a pregnancy" — loose language that seriously imperils access to birth control and reflects confusion about its functions.
As controversial topics as birth control and abortion tend to be, here in Kansas the debate has shut out the voices that are most adversely affected by the sort of laws that Brownback has made
the trademark of his governorship. Far too many of us bury our heads in the metaphernal sand, either repulsed by politics or simply bored with it. It's no wonder that young people are leaving our state and small towns in droves. Aside from a lack of diversity and opportunity, it is becoming increasingly apparent that young people simply are not a top priority for the current administration.
But we will only have an influence to the extent that we are willing to make our voices heard. The first step is to wake up and take notice.
FASHION
Schumacher is a senior majoring in political science and English from Topeka.
It’s tough to find trendy clothes at bargain prices
Soon the weather will get warmer, and it's time for me to shed my thick winter coat and slip into something more seasonally appropriate. Specifically, this nice linen sport coat by Boglioli. Made of a luxurious blue plaid fabric, this beauty is already a steal at only $1,195, but I'll bet you my old winter sheddings I can find one for cheaper. All I'll need to do is hit up the discount stores, right?
TARGET
I walked into Target, armed only with my keen deal-finding instincts and a copy of "Esquire" magazine that featured the coat prominently, which I tucked under my jacket to protect it from the lightly falling rain. Standing around in the menswear section, I was puzzled by the fact that there were only two blazers in sight; one black, one navy, both made of cheap cotton. What the hell? I thought this was supposed to be a classy establishment!
Thinking on my feet, I got the attention of a young employee, dressed in a baggy red sweatshirt and baggier khakis. "Excuse me, sir, could you help me find this jacket?" I said as I whipped out the magazine.
"Does it say it's available at Target?" the youth answered. He looked confused as he studied the page.
"Well, I guess it was stupid of me to assume you carry the exact brand," I said. "But would you happen to have anything similar? I'm looking for something in a similar color and at about the same price point."
When I informed him of the price, the employee started to chuckle nervously. "I don't know if you'll find it here, man," he said. "We only carry your normal, average stuff here."
"What's average to you may not be average to me," I replied. Fed up, I rolled up the magazine and
bid him adieu.
WAL-MART
Intent on avoiding frustration this time, I decided to cut to the chase and hunt down a stocking clerk right away. I found a middle-aged woman with wiry tan hair hanging clothes on a rack, and I showed her my magazine. "It's Boglioli, if that helps," I said. "Surely you carry that brand."
"I'm sorry, we don't have that brand, and you won't find anything like that here."
Confused, I asked her to clarify:
"Not in the whole store. ma'am?"
"That looks like a dress coat," she said, spitting on the precious magazine a bit as she pronounced the last two words. "We don't carry dress coats here. This is a Wal-Mart. Try looking at J.C. Penny or Kohl's."
I could immediately tell that this woman wasn't terribly good at her job. While I don't know much about sales, I do know that if you're telling people to get out of your store and go look somewhere else, you're doing it wrong. Not wanting to waste any more time here, I put the "Esquire" back in my jacket and headed for the door.
T.J. MAXX
Scanning the store, I found the menswear section almost empty. I was forced to cross through the women's wear and ask a woman behind the jewellery counter. I laid the magazine on the counter and pointed at the coat.
"Let me see" she said, and dialed a number on her phone. After talking for a few seconds, she
turned back to me and, frowning,
said, "I'm sorry, we don't have any
linen coats right now, but we're set
to get some in next week. They're
Ralph Lauren, if that helps."
"I don't want Ralph Lauren, though," I said. "I want this one. The Boglioli. I've heard nothing but good things about it." After thinking for a second, I decided to rephrase my request: "Look, you know the little tags you put on your merchandise that say, like, $19.99. compare at $25?"
"Yeah, I guess," she replied, not seeming to follow.
"Well, do you have a section of clothes with tags that say, for example, '$900, compare at $1,200?' A 'high-roller section' I guess."
She picked up the phone and asked her manager, "Do we have a section of just upscale, high-priced men's clothing?" After listening for a few seconds, she turned back to me and shook her head. "Sorry about that."
GOODWILL
My shopping motto is "you can't spell 'menswear' without 'swear,'" and I was sure swearing as I drove to the Goodwill. But it was there, in the middle of a long rack of jackets, that I finally found my prize. Sure, I couldn't tell if it was Bogliolio, because the previous owner had ripped off the tags, and it smelled like a mothball-and-cat-litter casserole, but it felt sort of like linen (it was a cloth of some sort, I'm sure of that) and it had excellent shoulder pads as a bonus. ! only paid 20 bucks and the clerk ever threw in some polite pointing and hyena-like laughter on the way out!
May is a sophomore majoring in German and journalism from Derby.
SCIENCE
Technology helps improve sports
If my point hasn't come across yet, I want to remind all of you how much of an impact technology has made on sports. Today, most of it comes across as little things we take for granted, like instant replay. When I think about it, I have never watched a sporting event where a referee hasn't been able to look into a little box and look back in time to see if he or she made the right call. That's amazing.
"Dear Scientists, on behalf of all sports fans, thank you for all of the cool things you've invented that make sports awesome. You people are great. Sincerely, Andrew."
Luckily, these things do exist,
thanks to technology and scientists.
In fact, I will thank them:
Football helmets. Instant replay. That magic yellow 10-yard line. Dunk cams. Games shown on TV. Radio broadcasts. The giant HD screen in the middle of Allen Fieldhouse. Madden. Tennis shoes. Titanium golf clubs. Racing cars. FIFA. NBA2K13. All of ESPN. Now, what if none of these things existed? Would most sports as we know them even exist either?
Even something as simple as watching a basketball game on TV has only been possible for 50 years out of all 10,000 years of human history. When we watched the Jayhaws play West Virginia (I'm skipping those losses and pretending they didn't happen), a camera in Morgantown took millions of HD pictures, turning them into electrical pulses, which were then turned into radiation, which was shot into space and bounced back to your TV, where they were turned into millions of pictures again.
I'm going as far as saying fandom wouldn't exist without modern technology. I'm sure places like Allen Fieldhouse would still be sold for every game, but would a giant network of KU fans all around the world tune in to their watch Jayhawks play? Absolutely not. The most
All of the new safety ads the NFL shows are more than gimmicks. The organization is working with researchers to take lifesaving equipment from bicycle helmets and even earthquake resistant buildings, and bring them into the game technology. The faster this change happens, the better for football players everywhere, especially children getting into the game. Any improvement for children, whose brains are still developing, is great.
Even after actual football helmets were invented, the protection was limited at best. According to the New York Times, of the 34 former NFL players that have donated their brains to science, 33 were shown to have degenerative brain diseases caused by impacts between players. Because of these diseases, some of the game's greatest players have committed suicide or dropped to a near vegetative state.
On a more serious note, I'd like to point out the impact of improvements in sports gear, like football helmets. Before there were helmets, players used leather caps. I would be frightened to see the results of brain damage research done on players from that era.
exciting thing people not at the game would get to see would be large block letters in their newspaper.
Okay, I've rambled on for too long. But take some time and think about it. Technology makes almost everything better, even if you barely notice it.
Simpson is a freshman majoring in chemical engineering from Fairway.
@kihilgers
@Kjhilgers
@UDK_Opinion I'm holding out
for a five day snow weekend
procrastinationatitsfinest
@ThatHawkwardGuy
@UDK Opinion Not in the slightest. I could still use the time to dig myself out from under all this homework.
PapersEverywhere
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@UDK_Opinion Seeing as we're getting 11 more inches Monday evening, I think 1-2 school days in a week is pretty cool.
Hannah Wise, editor-in-chief
editor@24xaa.com
Sarah McCabe, managing editor
sancare@24xaa.com
Nikki Wedding, managing editor
meeting@24xaa.com
Ophidian Lynx, opinion editor
diyer@kanan.com
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efarin@kanan.com
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jonder@kanan.com
Dylan Lysen, opinion editor
dlysen@kansan.com
CONTACT US
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of The Kansan Editorial Board are Hannah Wise, Sarah McBehle, Niki Wentlson, Dylan Lyon, Elise Farrington and Jacob Sluder.