WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013
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THE UNIVERSITY DARY & SANM
opinion
FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351
Dear frat boys, if your only pick-up line is, "I'm in a frat," just go home.
Sincerely, all girls.
Two break-ups witnessed at Wescoe Beach. Rough Monday.
I feel like the Lance Armstrong of academia when I take Adderall.
Who forgot to pack the game jerseys?
Guess it's shoot around uniforms for prime time.
Nothing worse than telling someone a secret and then they text it to the FFA...
On a scale of 1 to Bill Self, how mad are you right now?
I would marry Tyler Self just so I could call Bill Self daddy.
Note to self: Do not try to eat an apple while holding an onion in the other hand.
Only in Kansas can you be under a tornado watch and a winter weather advisory at the same time.
If you were a proud American you wouldn't yell anything at the end of the national anthem because that's disrespectful to America.
My first time in Allen Fieldhouse was for a Fieldhouse cleaning. #ultimateproblems
If anyone catches me Googling "Tupac Conspiracy Theory," just know that it's for class!
Hey sports section: Can we please have more pictures of McLemore? I need decorations for my room.
This weather would be so much more tolerable if I were at Hogwarts.
Do you think Sinbad watches over Obama's kids?
I don't think Teo is as much of an attention hog as he was covering up for embarrassment of getting duped by his "girlfriend."
For the love of Bill Self, keep your political beliefs out of the FFA!
We purposely let their hope build up during the game just to crush it down at the end.
Who loves sorority girls? I love sorority girls.
I feel like you aren't really a KU student until you see a basketball player in real life and completely flip out.
I overheard one guy telling another how he had already skipped two chemistry lectures. Dude, there have only been four so far...
Oh ooh editor! Pick me! Pick me!!
Yeah, banning "assault" weapons will prevent mass murders... I guess the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres don't count.
POLITICS
Dear Squirrels of KU guy, be my Valentine?
Obama brings hope for LGBT rights
The greatest benefit of making friends is the increase in seating possibilities in Anschutz.
The faint memory of a homophobic, eight-year-old me reared its head
old he reared his head at President Obama's inaugural address. His address was the first to openly support, or even mention, gay rights.
When President Obama recognized the movement in this way, jaws dropped and tears beaded in the corners of eyes. I was among them. This small, ten-second sound byte took all of us one step closer to securing my aunt and her partner's rights and, ultimately, their happiness.
In hindsight, it should have been obvious. It always seems that way. My mom said they were long-term roommates and left the rest up to me, an idiotic elementary school child. By the time I figured it out, it was something like realizing pancake was a portmanteau of "pan" and "cake"
at the sad age of eighteen (which also happened to me). But when the pieces fell into place, it was so natural that all of the negative labels attached to "two women in love" collapsed.
I had grown up a Protestant in a Catholic school, a little homophobic tyke with a penchant for hurling slurs with the boys out at recess. It wasn't sincere; I was an immature fourth-grader trying to fit in. I doubt that any one of my elementary school classmates had seen, let alone met an actual gay person. Everything they knew about the LGBT community had been run through a deeply conservative parental filter.
Over that fourth grade Christmas break, on my annual trip to Grammy's, I found out that my aunt and her partner were lesbians, and so learned that a huge population of Americans
had been falsely demonized. I transferred to public school the next year. What I found there was a petri dish of ideas and identities that only grew as we were funneled through to high school. I met openly gay and even transgender students. They were more sure of who they were as people than me or my Catholic school friends had ever been. It was incredible.
One of my aunts is a schoolteacher herself and confirmed my
suspicion that simply knowing and interacting with someone who is a part of the LGBT community can dramatically change your perception of the issue. This is one of the main reasons the gay rights movement has been so successful: the LGBT community is everywhere. They are in classrooms, state and federal offices, and blue-collar jobs disproving bigots left and right.
Nowadays, Generation Y recognizes that marriage equality legalization is inevitable. Support for it among those born from the 1980s to the early 2000s is overwhelmingly positive and growing. So far, we've all just been too polite to say it: once the baby boomers exit the electorate, America will be a much different place.
rights movement of this generation, struggling against the same cruel and warped justifications that the civil rights and women's rights movements did. President Obama's reference to all of these groups in the same breath gives me faith that the next four years will be filled with success for the LGBT community.
Obama recognizes that marriage equality is the seminal
While the rest of us sit around gripping about privileges we already have, the most resilient and determined political group in America remains happy as can be. The rest of us could use some help in that department.
Kenney is a freshman majoring in political science and journalism from Shawnee.
FINANCE
'Student loan horror stories' inspire creative solutions
As I was browsing the web one day an article caught my eye. "Nine Unbelievable Student Loan Horror Stories," published by the Business Insider. I knew better than to click on it, but it's like being a character in a scary movie—you hear the door rattle, you know if you touch it you'll probably die, but you just can't help it.
So I clicked. And I read. And soon, my heart was beating faster and my palms were sweating, and I could have definitely outrun that movie villain if I'd had to. Unfortunately, what I can't outrun is my student loan debt.
Now, some people have accepted their loans as a part of their life. Like a child, they're a dependent that sucks all of your hard earned cash away faster than you can think. But what many students fail to realize is that there is another way. I mean, sure, there's the old cut spending and increase revenue idea, but when has that worked for anyone? If our elected representatives in our government can't do it, I don't see why we students should be expected to be any more responsible. So in the spirit of creativity, here are three sure-fire ways to lose those loans.
START YOUR OWN CHARITY
Charities are "institutions engaged in relief of the poor," and who is poorer than a college student? I recommend making a few dozen business cards, and maybe a T-shirt or two for whoever will be collecting for the charity, to make your institution a little more legitimate. Then go door-to-door, person-to-person, and ask in your nicest way for donations to the "Student debt relief fund."
STAR IN YOUR OWN REALITY
SHOW
LOCAL
These days just about anyone can be on television, all it seems to really take is the willingness to make a fool of yourself on a national scale. In the case of reality television, the stupider the better, and college is known to be the time in a person's life when they do the stupidest things.
Why not have it all recorded and shown to the world? If this
doesn't appeal to you, you could always start smaller and send tapes of your friends doing stupid things to America's Funniest Home Videos. Trust me, they'll love you for making them into a star, and you'll love the money that comes from a winning video. And if they don't love you for it? Well, clearly they lacked a sense of humor. Everyone else certainly thought it was funny.
GIVE ADVICE FOR A PRICE
Personally, I recommend waiting until finals week when the student body is at its most vulnerable. During that week of fogged thoughts and panic, an offer of help goes a long way. Plus, while Lucy only charged five cents, with inflation and your neediness added in, you could easily charge 50 cents a question. You'll be paying back your loans in no time.
Remember Lucy from the "Peanuts" comics? She had the right idea toward paying off her future college debts with her stand offering "psychiatric help". Sure, her advice was never what Charlie Brown wanted to hear, but you'd be surprised how many college students could use a bit of blunt guidance.
Wenner is a sophomore majoring in English and history from Topeka.
Lawrence offers unique businesses
If you're reading this article right now, there is a good chance that, like me, you also consider Lawrence to be the greatest city ever conceived by man. Having spent nearly three years at the University as a student, I have come to love my "home away from home." And at this point I identify myself more as part of this community, than the one in Kansas City that I spent the majority of my life in.
Now I'm no world traveler, but I have visited a number of other states as well as a few different countries and I have found that there is nowhere quite like Lawrence.
With this in mind, it breaks my heart when I hear of someone I know that has yet to sample some of the "hidden treasures" that this city has to offer. Those of you that have yet to branch out and try new things are living in woeful ignorance of some of the amazing food and great shops that make Lawrence such a great place to live.
Whatever your hobbies or food preferences may be, Lawrence has something for you. If you love a good burger and fries than look no further than my favorite local restaurant, The Burger Stand. Or you could try its biggest burger rival, Dempsey's. Are you addicted to coffee? Branch out from Starbucks and try Henry's Coffee, The Bourgeois Pig, La Prima Tazza, or Java Break and you will not be disappointed. Do you enjoy good food and even better beer? Get to Free State Brewery immediately and prepare to have your mind blown.
As well as offering up some
spectacular local restaurants, Lawrence has a number of shops that are both local and unique. Shops such as Sharks Surf Shop, Au Marche European Market and Brits offer a plethora of goods that you would otherwise have to special order for a steeep fee.
We are certainly spoiled with the sheer amount of amazing unique local businesses that are available to us at anytime.
I have said it before and I will say it again; the college experience consists of much more than simply attending class and making the grade. While your main focus during your time here should be to do well in class, if you aren't getting out and experiencing all that this amazing town has to offer, than you are simply not getting the most out of your time here.
So don't be "that guy" don't get stuck in the rut of Wal-Mart, Chipotle and McDonalds. Step out of your comfort zone and try something new. At the very least you will have bolstered your "hipster" street cred a bit but most likely you will discover that you have been missing out on some phenomenal food and merchandise.
Sisk is a junior majoring in journalism from Kansas City. Follow him on Twitter @calebskish.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
@SquirrelsOfKU
@UOK, Opinion Best part about the University is that it's the best part about Kansas!
@Princess_Mirr
@UOK_Opinion the sun rises and sun
sets (:
@Hraverdarko
@UDK_Opinion the love every ku student has for this school.
@grizzlyrisley
©DUK Opinion The fact that
it's not Missouri.
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