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EDITORIAL: After years of so-so entertainment on campus, SUA has brought a number of big names to the University recently, making the most of its fee increase See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 5A
》 OUR VIEW
SUA puts increased fee to good use
The big event on campus last week wasn't a men's basketball at Allen Fieldhouse, but a big name concert at the Lied Center. The Ben Folds concert on Monday has capped what has already been a wonderful use of student fees.
In April 2005 Student Union Activities proposed a $5 student fee increase. The fee was to go toward bringing in major events to entertain students, and since that time they have not disappointed. Much like the ovation Folds received, the same applause should be directed to those at SUA for their commitment to entertaining students.
Monday's concert was just one in a smattering of high-profile events on campus, which had been missing for several years. Just last month SUA brought in comedian Kathy Griffin during homecoming week. Last year, Carlos Mencia entertained a packed Lied Center. Other speakers who have visited the
University recently include rapper Chuck D and Ken Carter, whose story was portrayed in the movie Coach Carter.
Needless to say, SUA has brought enthusiasm and excitement back to the University. People waiting in line for tickets to catch the Ben Folds concert and selling out entertainment events at the Lied Center illustrates the job SUA has done. They have come through on their promise.
With other departments looking at students for funding, the SUA asked for a little and has returned a lot back to the students. Those who want to consider hitting up students for increased fees should take notice of what SUA has accomplished. Giving back to the students doesn't hurt if you want our money.
Louis Mora for the editorial board.
BUILDING ENTRANCE
Grant Snider/KANSAN
GUEST COMMENTARY
Beyond our borders, there's a big,big world
Rich Smith discovered these laws while playing a game and decided come to America for a crime spree of absurdity.
America is riddled with silly laws. No one may fish in Chicago while wearing pajamas. It's illegal to kiss for more than five minutes in Iowa. Whiskey is strictly forbidden in New Jersey — for zoo animals.
From the money (why is a nickel bigger than a dime?) to the violence (police in England usually just carry a nightstick.) things are definitely different on the other side of the pond.
Smith's book You Can Get Arrested for That chronicles his road trip across America and seemed like it would be an amusing read when I grabbed it. Behind his commentary, Smith hints to how the rest of the world sees America.
After having a gun pointed at his face in Chicago (he ran a stop sign and thought the plainclothes officers were gang members) and hearing children talk about guns in an
airport, he decided to fire one at a range in Connecticut. While talking to the regulars about why the police only carry nightstrikes in England, he said "No one needs them (guns) because no one seems to have them. Over here, the guns are out and the only way to combat them is with more guns."
While gas prices were $3 for complaining Americans, Smith was getting a bargain. Gas costs at least $6 a gallon in England and through out Europe, and has for the past decade, according to an article in USA Today.
After reading about Smith's inability to get a beer in Ocean City, Md., because his license was not American and the Romanian waitress blamed it on the "stooped" Americans, I wondered how other countries really looked at America.
I stopped by the German department to talk to Julia Trumpold and Michael Gruenbaum, both teaching assistants. Julia, a former roommate of mine, is from a small town near
Frankfurt, Germany. She said she felt Americans were ignorant about the world, but claimed they live in the greatest country in world. Michael, technically an American but raised in Germany, agreed and went on to say that Americans have a moral superiority they use to police the world.
Julia and Michael might be on to something: A 16-country survey from the Pew Global Attitudes project released in June 2005 showed that the world views China more favorably than the United States. The same study showed most countries have a dislike for America's foreign policy and think America doesn't take other countries into consideration.
The study showed that the world views Americans as rude and greedy. Watching The Amazing Race on CBS, I can see why. Getting a cab to drive the pairs is hard enough when travelers don't speak the language, but the pressure of trying to win brings out a nasty side in players. Every season, someone yells at taxi drivers and calls them "stupid" because they don't speak English. On Sunday's episodes, teams cut in line at the taxi station and stole taxis from Finnish passengers.
Americans should realize that not everyone in the world speaks English. Only nine percent of Americans speak a second language. Fifty-three percent of Europeans speak at least one second language, according to the National Virtual Translation Center's Web site. The State Department estimates only 27 percent of Americans have passports. Are Americans so stuck in the "My country is the greatest country" mentality that they won't visit other places?
Ignorance of the world shows on American soil, too. I worked with several people from different parts of Africa and they each told me something shocking — Americans asked them if they lived in trees back home, and not just once, but many times. Admittedly, I have
wondered how many children live in squail like those in the Feed the Children ads, but I have never assumed that everyone in Africa lives like that.
I also never realized Germany has 16 states or that not all Germans wear lederbosen until I lived with Julia. But I also never assumed it was Oktoberfest every day, either.
My greatest desire is to travel the world and see everything it has to offer, but knowing that when I get there the locals might think of me as ignorant or rude saddens me. Obviously, not all Americans are rude and ignorant, but that's not how the world sees it. Flip on the news, open a book, do something to broaden your knowledge of the world.
And don't drink beer out of a bucket on a curb in St. Louis. You can get arrested for that.
Vanessa Pearson is a Wichita senior in journalism. She is assistant editor of kansan.com.
FREE FOR ALL
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls
To all the smokers on campus:
Thanks for clogging my lungs
every time I walk to class.
today. I blame the Democrats.
are recorded.
I have been in the Free for All fives times more this semester than last semester. I must be getting
I just wanted to say "thanks" to the guy outside of Budig who held the door for me and asked me how I did on my test. You made my day.
coli Soup," underneath a picture of a vagina was not the best idea.
The bicyclists this year are more dangerous than the bus drivers, and that is saying something.
season nov
This is to the person who called in and said The Kansan supports Bush: Remember, it is actually a good thing we support our presi-
-
There is a new study out that shows research on lab rats causes
Usually after an election, we get to sit back and feel proud of ourselves for fulfilling our civic duty. But this year, there is so much more we can do.
Who puts an automatic starter on a moped?
I just got busted by two of the hottest girls I have ever seen while I was jamming in my car. Ouch.
cancer
Coal-fired power plants would be bad for Kansas
The Internet is slow as hell
Sunflower Electric Power Corp. is on the verge of being allowed to build three new coal fired power plants in Holcomb, Kans. Why is this important, you may ask?
To the girl I had sex with last night on the hill: All I have to say
dent
Someone just told me the world is flat. The world is round. The world is round. Get it right.
I've got to say, putting the recipe of the week," Cheesy Broc-
Kansas is 98 percent white.
-
Is Kansas football still going?
I forgot because it is basketball season now.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Chicks who wear stilettos at bars need to realize that they can't step on people's feet.
First of all, because it means that instead of pursuing clean, progressive energy technologies such as wind power, Kansas will continue to focus on a dirty, polluting energy source from the time of the dinosaurs. Lame.
Thursday: Tabling on Wescoe Beach from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and an information session at 4:30 p.m. in the Walnut room of the Kansas Union.
The new plants will emit an additional 14 million tons of carbon dioxide per year and the mercury emitted is expected to be transported by prevailing winds to the eastern part of the state, affecting our health. Only eight percent of the energy generated will benefit Kansas, but the plants will be using our water from the Ogallala Aquifer.
Most importantly, though, attend the hearing on Thursday. If they are permitted to be built, these coal-fired power plants will dominate the Kansas energy scene for the rest of our lives.
From what I hear, K-State fans are going to storm our fieldhouse if they win. We must protect our
My toy gun just freaked out some kid and now I am sitting in the back of a KU police department car. Thanks, freaked-out kid.
I think I just saw my RA in the back of a, police car.
As Kansans, we can have an influence on the decision whether not to allow these plants to be built.
Capitalize on the surge of pride you felt when you voted and do something about this issue. And if you didn't vote, you now have another chance to make your voice heard.
The decision maker, the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment, is having one last hearing to receive comments about the issue. It is this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in the Malott room of the Kansas Union.
Opportunities abound this week to learn more about the issue:
It is 2:20 a.m. and I just saw a community bus in the line for Taco Bell. I didn't know old people had cravings late at night.
Gianna Short Edmond, Okla. junior
Wednesday: Tabling in front of the Kansas Union from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a free showing of An Inconvenient Truth at 7:30 p.m. in the Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
is, wow.
house.
To the girl in the Free for All who said she loves Russell Robinson: I
love him more,and he is spoken for.
Here is the difference between KU and K-State. This week we had Ben Folds; K-State had Donald
This is to the person who wrote about Northern Arizona in the paper on Friday: They are a Division I school, not Division II. Maybe you should know what you are talking
图
abou
Jesus does not vote Republican.
Jesus does not vote Democrat. I know this because Jesus is not a
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