OPINION
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1,2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EDITORIAL BOARD
www.kansan.com
Traditions not reserved only for mainstream sports
The Kansan Editorial Board addressed why football and basketball players deserve equal respect. While that is a wonderful concept, it isn't all that "equal." We easily and automatically lend our support to certain supports while many other non-revenue sports are omitted.
Football isn't the only sport happening right now. Soccer, volleyball and cross country are in season and doing well. In fact, the women's volleyball team is ranked in the top 25 and the soccer team is among the top 10 in the nation.
They have the wins. They don't have the fans.
University of Kansas fans seem to have a tunnel vision when it comes to athletics. They focus on football, for a few weeks at least, and then their sights are set on men's basketball. Even when other sports try to distract the fans' attention with sparkly objects such as wins and tournament appearances, the majority of KU supporters stay true to the big two — football and men's basketball.
Some people credit the basketball team's winning record as the reason Allen Fieldhouse is perpetually packed. After last year's season that resulted in a bowl game appearance, football attendance has increased, but winning records cannot be everything. Even during less successful football seasons, a large core group of fans showed up.
Part of it has to do with sports culture. We are highly acclimated to mainstream sports. During Olympic years we see more volleyball, soccer and track and field events, but on a normal Saturday, all the major networks are likely to show the gridiron instead of the soccer pitch. On the other hand, soccer and volleyball are not sports that we are completely unfamiliar with. We experience these programs in our youth and many students probably went to high schools where these sports were offered.
The answer lies in a quality that makes this University great: tradition. Basketball and football games are more than simple athletic contests: they are ceremonies complete with fan-favorite rituals such as the Rock Chalk chant, football pregame video, Alma Mater and historic venues. We camp. We tailgate. It's more than a game: It's an experience.
hence.
It's time to spread the ceremony around. Students and fans need to embrace these other also-important teams as their own. The tradition cannot just come from wins. It is in us, the fans.
We can start new traditions and continue some old, when we make the effort to attend these games and celebrate not only the athletes and teams but the athletes and teams but the athletic history of this University, we're doing our part to make the teams stronger.
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Of all the groups that were handing things out today on Wescoe Beach, the least aggressively obnoxious of them had to be the feminists. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Arrah Nieleen.
and picture questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at
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questions should be directed to the editor at
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The bumblebee goes zip,zip.zip.
If only we would have had ice cream sandwiches back in the Civil War, that whole thing could have been avoided.
Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know I fell in love. Her name is Lawrence.
--and picture questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at
684-8924 or e-mail at editor@kanan.com. General
questions should be directed to the editor at
editor@kanan.com.
You need to sign up for an appointment at Watkins in order to get free condoms?
and picture questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at
684-8924 or e-mail at editor@kanan.com. General
questions should be directed to the editor at
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Why do drunk people think they have the right to relieve themselves wherever they please? Like behind my hall on someone's bike?
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and picture questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at
684-8924 or e-mail at editor@kanan.com. General
questions should be directed to the editor at
editor@kanan.com.
Does anybody else have a problem with the ad in the Kansan that says, "Without K-S-U, you can't spell SUCKS?" You can't spell sucks without KU either, so I think it makes us look really stupid.
Getting drunk is my favorite hobby at KU.
Has anyone else noticed the absurd amount of spider webs on campus?
OK, so technically, if you're a vegan and you're on the Atkins diet, don't you have anorexia?
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7867 or mglibson@kanean.com
Did I call SafeRide? Or the phone sex operator? I'm confused.
TALK TO US
Henry C. Jackson
editor
4810 or jackson@kansan.con
and picture questions, call Anna Clovis or Samia Khan at
684-8924 or e-mail at editor@kanan.com. General
questions should be directed to the editor at
editor@kanan.com.
Jenny Weaver
sales and marketing adviser
864-7066 or jweaver@kansan.com
Staphania Graham
retail sales manager
864-4368 or advertising@kansan.com
Leonovan Atkinson and Andrew Vupelp
managing editors
884-4810 or datkinson@kansei.com and
avapelp@kansei.com
Anna Clovis and Samia Khan opinion editors 884-4924 or opinion kansan.com
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Laura Rose Barr, Byeer, Trawan Good, Anna Gregory, Janey James-Rhoades, Kally Hollowell,
Karan Kain, Jay Kimmel, Stephanie Lovett, Taylor Price, Noel Rasor, R翰 Scarrow, John
Tran, Anne Weltmer and Michelle Wood
Justin Roberts business manager 664-4358 or advertising@ianasan.com
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STINSON'S VIEW
Campus full of dating possibilities
The University of Kansas has many positives for the socialite student. Besides the outstanding bar and party scene, the dating scene has quite the reputation as well. While it seems a 30,000-person campus population would provide a lucrative dating scene, always full of new faces and friends of friends, it actually works against you as a date.
GUYS AND GALS
a date.
A huge populace makes it easy to lose sight of what you are looking for in a companion, and in turn, settle for something less. Settling is where danger ensues, because it most certainly leads to unforeseen awkwardness, dissatisfaction and even heartache.
The settling risk factors run higher than you would think, with the severity dependent upon the scenario. If you simply settle for a one night stand, for example, a number of things can happen: First, the assured morning-after awkwardness, in addition to possible shock at the intoxicated decision you made. Second, the chance you did something with a person that indicates a level of commitment to them you did not intend. If you falsely reciprocated his or her feelings, you may have invited anger, possible stalking and indisputably, a marred reputation. Third, if you get into settling as a habit, you may never be able to draw the line. This tendency can escalate into dating, then into more serious relationships.
The Singles Café Web site for daters provides a list of "ways people can unknowingly settle for less than they
ASHLEY SMITH opinion@kansan.com
want and expect" in relationships. These reasons include: settling for someone's image or reputation, settling because your friends or family believe someone is ideal for you, settling because you share physical attraction with a person, settling because he or she is madly in love with you or settling because you believe you can change the things you dislike about someone.
Settling is not to be confused with seeing someone you would not normally date. It is instinctive being surrounded by so many fresh faces, so much choices, that you might want to try a little of everything. Think about the kid-in-the-candy-store concept. As a child, did you only want your favorite candy that you already knew you loved? No, you wanted to try every candy in the store, just to make sure you weren't missing out on anything. That same childlike concept applies to dating. While you already know what satisfies you, alternatives are appealing because they're fresh and new.
settle while waiting around for their prince to come, he will be blind to her because she is "tangled in a web of useless, half-hearted men, lurking around because she hasn't asked for much from them."
A relationship column at Askheartbeat.cautions if women
The site further encourages that, "It really is okay to be selfish enough to refuse to settle. More women should chose to be alone until they find the man who is capable of loving them as they need and want to be loved."
No matter how much the dating scene has burned you in the past or how overwhelming the social scene may be, he or she is out there. Even if we have become cynical or bitter, we must not forget to hold onto a childlike faith in true love. The fairy tales our parents read us before bed really can come true. Don't kid yourself, deep down, you know what you are looking for.
So go back to that image you made of the perfect person when you were young. As much skepticism, contempt and plain distrust I had for the concept of a soulmate, someone has recently entered my life and renewed my belief in true love. Ladies, un-crumple that "Prince Charming List" you so adamantly made after watching Cinderella for the umpentheth time when you were eight. Because he is out there in the flesh, dreaming of a girl like you.
Smith is a Tulsa, Okla., junior in journalism.
Bracelet profiteering unethical
We all have seen the countless people wearing them on campus and have seen it even more during the sports contests that we see on television and in person. There were two articles written about them in The University Daily Kansan.
The LiveSTRONG bracelet has become the newest trend in sports and at colleges and universities around the country. This little bracelet is in such high demand that people who are interested in purchasing one cannot do so without going to auctions on Web sites such as eBay.
such as buy.
They have been back ordered on the Web site www.wearyellow.com for weeks and it will take about three to four weeks for an order of 10 to become available. Why is this? What is all the fuss about?
GUEST COMMENTARY
NEIL SPECTOR opinion@kansan.com
As many people already know, the LiveSTRONG bracelet is endorsed by six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. After surviving testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs and brain, Armstrong became an advocate for cancer research.
for cancer research.
Thirteen million wristbands have been sold for $1 a piece, with profits going toward cancer research.
Unfortunately there are some people
I was appalled to see there was someone out there who saw this as nothing more than a fad and a way to make a quick buck.
After reading the article "Student lives strong by supply and demand" in the Sept. 23 edition of The Kansan, I was appalled to see there was someone out there who saw this as nothing more than a fad and a way to make a quick buck.
out there who see the popularity of the bracelet as a way to make a profit. This is not justified.
I understand that most college students have difficulty accumulating money while they are in school, but there are so many other ways to get it instead of exploiting the popularity of an item that helps fund cancer research.
FRIDA
If the person mentioned in the article wanted others to have these bracelets, he should have done things differently. He could not have purchased the 300 bracelets he sold and let others buy them.
These people should have been assured all of the money that they were spending went directly to charity. If he had to buy the bracelets and sell them on eBay, he could have gotten his initial investment of $300 back and given the rest to the charity.
Nobody should use the popularity of an item from a charity for personal gain.
It is my hope that people at the University and other places in the country understand that every dollar collected from the sale of the LiveSTRONG bracelets should go toward finding a cure for cancer, not for personal gain.
Spector is a Buffalo Grove, Ill., junior in political science.
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