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EDITORIAL: The recent death of Milton Freiedman, economist and opponent of the War on Drugs, reminds us of that failed policy. See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 5A
》 OUR VIEW
War on Drugs remains a failed, illogical policy
The recent death of famed economist Milton Friedman has prompted an avalanche of essays about his influential monetary writings. Friedman was indeed a driving force behind many of today's fundamental economic policies, and his ideas deserve the laudatory nature of these tributes. But in the rush to sanctify Friedman's fiscal faculty, another aspect of his impressive career, of special import to students, may be overlooked. Friedman was a vocal advocate for the decriminalization of drugs, and his passing reminds us that the time to re-evaluate the War on Drugs is long overdue.
Though attempts at drug prohibition have existed for decades, it was not until President Nixon declared drug use "public enemy number one" in 1971 that the War on Drugs as we know it began. Since then, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into the attempted eradication of drug use and trafficking, with mixed but disheartening results. Drug use and accessibility have largely stayed unchanged, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges that in the past decade, drug use has increased among nearly every age group. The government has little to show for its 35-year investment in fighting drugs.
Recent changes in federal financial-aid policy make the
War on Drugs especially relevant to students. The potential loss of financial aid in the event of a drug conviction is an excessively condemnatory action, and a dubious one considering the ethical state of other aspects of government. Students face the prospect of a draconian punishment for the use of substances often considered less harmful than their legal and regulated cousins. An action of such finality can do irreparable harm to the educational path of a student.
The government's other Wars on Nouns (poverty, crime, terrorism) have all had mixed results. No problem has been totally eliminated, but at least we can see some modicum of progress in each. But the War on Drugs has been an almost total failure, with regression across the entire spectrum of the effort.
The expected difficulty of a task should never be a reason for dissuasion from that task, and the challenge of a goal should not prevent all work toward that end. The War on Drugs springs from the noble ideal of improving our nation's health and lifestyle, but the time to heed Friedman's advice is here. The War on Drugs has failed, and a new course is needed.
McKay Stangler for the editorial board.
>> LETTERTO THE EDITOR
Corporations can afford wage increase
Interestingly, I have noticed that only large corporations such as Wal-Mart and McDonald's pay minimum wage. I think they can afford
In response to Vince Myers' claim that raising the minimum wage leads to higher unemployment rates ("Turkey and talking points", 11/21): American companies will pay as little as they can get away with, and it is not for lack of resources. This century, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased exponentially.
to cut into their CEOs' wages a little bit, while small businesses tend to treat their employees more fairly.
While it may be true that Wal-Mart would rather fire a few people if forced to pay more, that does not mean that we can allow them to exploit their labor. They will not act responsibly of their own accord.
Paula Nagy Rose Kansas City, Mo., graduate student
Grant Snider/KANSAN
SCROOGE IS VISITED BY MARLEY'S GHOST
GUEST COMMENTARY
Affirmative Action a self-defeating system
RE: Wilkins "Michigan's proposition is racist."
Of course institutionalized racism is alive and well, but painting those against Affirmative Action as being akin to George Wallace and the Ku Klux Klan is going too far. I am against Affirmative Action because it ignores the real effects of racism, it ignores those who need the most help, and it ignores reality.
Affirmative Action doesn't open doors for African-Americans. It closes doors for those who are truly in need of help, those with poor educations and no skills, because it marginalizes their problems. Sure, let's take some of the top students and admit them to college, but what about the rest? Affirmative Action won't help you get a promotion at Home Depot or an entry level position in a factory, and it won't help you get a loan for a small business. But as long as a few extra African-Americans get into the University of
Michigan Law School everything's OK?
Affirmative Action is harmful because it lulls us into a false belief that something is being done, so no further actions need to take place. But this ignores the reality of most of the poor and disenfranchised African Americans because they don't have the education or opportunity to benefit from such a policy.
To effect real change, I propose setting standards that all public schools must meet. To have brand new, fully staffed, fully equipped schools in Olathe, and run-down, dirty schools, with out-of-date textbooks and poor facilities in East St. Louis is wrong. Every student deserves a clean, safe, and up-to-date school in which to learn. No extra federal dollars would need to be spent, simply punish states whose schools are not up to par by taking away federal dollars. I think this would be a good first step, and it
would go a lot further to aiding those who are truly in need of help, without having to use discrimination to fight discrimination.
Wilkins asserts that Affirmative Action is intended to correct years of racism and discrimination, but good intentions aren't enough. Good intentions won't help you get a job or feed your family. Affirmative Action has not closed the income gap, only stirred up anger and divided people. We should scrap this failed policy and make policies that get results. Should we continue with failed policies because they have good intentions? No, voting against Affirmative Action is not racist. What is wrong is ignoring the real problems faced by people who are discriminated against, and thinking they can be solved by more discrimination.
Bart Johnson, Lawrence senior
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Kerry Meier, you remind me of Sunshine from Remember the Titans. You need to cut your hair.
To all the sorority girls who are wearing rolled-up jeans so we can see the top of your fluffy boots: You look ridiculous. All of you.
he could hear it
To the couple in front of me at the Townson game: Thank you for giving me an in-house pornography session. I really appreciated it.
I was looking at the ground and I saw really hairy legs. As I looked up some more I saw that it was a girl. I guess that is how it is in
Kansas
I think the KU campus should convert to AstroTurf. We would save a lot of money on water.
--he could hear it
Could you tell the girl in the Tuesday and Thursday geography class who always smiles at me that she is really hot and it makes my
day?
--he could hear it
--he could hear it
Taking the goal posts down at a K-State game is almost as trashy as in K. State
Hey Brad: Watch out for the flip.
Hey, KU: if you aren't going to let me go home after the basketball game, I would at least like a
notice
OUTDOOR
I just went to Dunkin' Donuts and they literally said they were out of donuts.
OK, Underground employees: There can only be one cute, nice girl.The rest of you can get on with your mediocre lives.
I think our teacher watches too much Star Wars.
I just paid a dollar to ride the bus to go to a class that is cancelled. Awesome
celled. Aw
Only a complete tool would pay $500 for an exhaust system just so he could hear it.
COMMENTARY
Richards' episode reveals complexity of racism
Michael Richards did it. He said "n—". We all saw the incident, so there no need to describe it. But is Richards, the man who made Kramer an American icon, a racist, or was he venting his anger at what seemed to be disrespectful audience members? I don't know, people can sink to low levels and say things to offend others when that is not how they would act otherwise.
What I do know is that racism is an extremely complex subject, for which no one has an absolute answer or solution.
Let me pose a couple of questions: How can we universalize the treatment of, and relations between, human beings when they are inherently different? Also, if there really is such a thing as political correctness can you, and should you, strive for it?
I wasn't shocked by Richards' words — I was shocked by his anger. It makes me wonder why I should be shocked by him using the word
BY PATRICK SULLIVAN DE
OLIVEIRA
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
I don't fully understand why some black people use the term if they are so offended by it. Perhaps they are trying to appropriate the word so that it loses its effectiveness in offending and becomes a friendly term. But if that's the goal they shouldn't act offended by its usage in the first place. Also, there is such a diversity of opinion in the black community that there is no way to universalize its meaning between blacks.
when in the room next to mine someone is playing a rap song in which a black man has probably repeated it 20 times.
OK, maybe it's "nigga" Big difference.
So we are stuck with relativism,
The people Richards insulted are suing him. There is something wrong with that. What Richards did was offensive, and those people have the right to be offended — if that happened to me I would never go to his show again — but to sue him? Like it or not, Richards, has the right to freedom of speech. Also, I don't believe the people he offended have the moral high ground to sue him when they replied by calling him a "cracker ass" and a "f—ing white boy."
not only cultural relativism but also individual relativism.
More importantly, we need to have a good look at our society before we crucify Richards. Wasn't
the mistreatment of the Quran by some members of the U.S. military a form of bigotry? But how many people were truly shocked by that? Calling someone a "n—" and disrespecting what, for many, is a sacred book has a similar effect: They both attack what those groups consider the fabric of their own identity. So why tolerate one and not the other?
In one way or another we are all prejudiced. How many times have you caught yourself saying, "That's so gay," when referring to something you are uncomfortable with? How about, "He's such a Jew," or, "That's retarded?" Don't those manifest one form or another of imbedded prejudice? And can you honestly claim
Humans operate in groups, and groups automatically generate labels that lead to prejudices. As I said, it's in human nature to have prejudices, but I do believe it's something we should fight against. But I also believe that there are many more dangerous forms of discrimination that we should be worrying about more than an angry outburst by a comedian. Just have a look at our prisons, or our Congress.
Sullivan De Oliveira is a Belo Horizonte, Brazil, sophomore in journalism and history.
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