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The University Daily Kansan emphasizes the First Amendment:
of religion, freedom of speech assemble
press; petition
BROWER: Many students are content to behave like popular college stereotypes, but everyone has the choice to do something better with their lives See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 5A
OPINION
》 OUR VIEW
In an imperfect world, America has problems, too
We have seen a significant spike lately in the amount of attention and coverage devoted to the Darfur crisis in Africa. The atrocities committed there, genocide among them, have sparked outrage in the global community, including on our own campus. Our ignorance of the Rwanda crisis in the early 1990s has made us much more sensitive to such humanitarian crises, perhaps the only positive result of that ter-
tribe tragedy,
Our awareness of global problems, and our subsequent outrage,
is at a heightened state.
This is encouraging,
but we must
be careful
not to allow
our attention
to international incidents completely overwhelm our knowledge of domestic problems. Our nation, thankfully, has no problems on par with genocide, but that does not mean it is a perfect place. Millions of Americans sit in squallid poverty, and millions more lack health insurance, any means of accruing savings, or equal opportunity education. The so-called "high cost of being poor" shows itself in higher insurance rates, costlier groceries and prescriptions, and exorbitant utility rates.
world history. But the problem in America is that our problems are often hidden, especially to members of an isolated campus community. Many poor people are relegated to extreme rural or urban areas, places rarely frequented by the average student. Thus, we do not often get to see poverty at its worst, and we certainly don't see systemic but hidden problems such as the lack of health insurance.
Our awareness of the crisis in Darfur and other problems around the world is encouraging, but we must be careful not to forget about our own struggles here at home.
Even the least perspicacious mind can see that these problems are nowhere near the level of severity we see in genocide, torture and rape. And yes, the lives of Americans are predominantly better than any citizens'in
As students, we often become victims of our own environment of success. We look around and see many people just like us - wealthy enough to attend a university, largely unaffected by
the aforementioned class problems, and mostly beset by the semi-humorous "poor student" lifestyle. With this setting as our frame of reference, it becomes easy for us to forget that just outside our campus people sit in abject poverty, people for whom an apartment in the "student ghetto" is an impossible dream.
Our nation has been lucky enough to avoid the problems endured by too many third world countries, and by no means should we ignore the ills that plague those countries. But let us be careful, in our rush to ease the global misery, to not forget that we have plenty of problems right here at home.
McKay Stangler for the editorial board.
Grant Snider/KANSAN
Take a chance and avoid becoming a college stereotype
COMMENTARY
When I tell people I am a college student, I get questions like,
"Oh wow! Do you drink a lot?"
Or when I tell people I like to get assignments done early, they look at me as if I'm crazy: "You mean you don't wait until the last night to get something done?"
And sadly, these people aren't way off when describing the way a lot people at the University of Kansas live their lives. The stereotypical college student is one who drinks a lot, procrastinates, and is lazy. Movies like Animal House, PCU and Van Wilder have perpetuated this stereotype and sadly a large portion of students at the University are becoming exactly like characters in these movies.
In a sea of 29,000 students,it's sad to see so many people doing exactly what a typical college student does. They don't appear to
BY CHRIS BROWER
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
have any real goals in mind.
Being from Johnson County, I've had my fair share of stereotypes placed upon me. Supposedly I drive an SUV, am really rich, and stuck-up.' I've done all I can to fight against these stereotypes. Since I was 16, I've driven my mom's 1993 Nissan Quest minivan and would be happy driving that for the rest of my life.
But strangely enough, a lot of people are content with acting just like everyone else. They're content
with getting drunk on Thursday nights and revving their engines to show some sort of power over others. Why is this?
When I look around the University, I see so much potential. I see some people who are truly doing something special with their lives. But at the same time I see people who don't seem to have any aspirations in life other than partying and getting laid.
This problem doesn't necessarily stop after college, either. Many people look at their post-college life and think, "After graduating, I want to get a high-paying job, get married, have kids, and retire." It's not to say there's anything wrong with these things, but to me it's exciting to see someone who's trying a little harder to get something more out of life, such as traveling overseas, writing a book, doing social work in
As a creative writing major, I'm told on a frequent basis, "That's not a practical major." But maybe there's more to life than a hefty paycheck. Maybe I don't want to graduate and wear a suit and tie for the next 45 years. Maybe I'm just a dreamer, but people without dreams or aspirations are boring.
So when you think about your life, truly think about what you're doing. "Am I doing exactly what everyone else is doing or am I trying to do something greater?" Perhaps your career goal isn't safe. Maybe you'll fail over and over again, but at least you tried. Because the only thing worse than a failure is the people who didn't try at all.
Brower is an Overland Park junior in creative writing.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Galactica' explores Iraq war, offers insight
A furious woman skulks into the factory with a satchel cradled in her hands. The security guard calls for her to stop and asks to look in her bag. She freezes. The guard moves toward her and she pulls a small pistol from the satchel. She shoots the guard and vaults over a railing just in time to detonate the bomb she has strapped to herself under her clothing before the other guards can reach her.
No, this isn't a scene from war-
born Iraq. It's a scene from the Oct.
13 season premiere of Battlestar
Galactica.
Galactica, the SciFi network's most popular show, began in 2003 as a metaphor for 9/11 and its ratings were outstanding for a cable show. Then, at the beginning of the third season, the show's writers went in a new direction. The show became a metaphor for the U.S. occupation of Iraq and it lost viewers in droves.
Fans liked the show's original 9/11 metaphor. Man-made robots called Cylons carried out a surprise
attack and destroyed civilization on humanity's 12 planetary colonies. This sent the last humans — about 50,000 people — running toward a distant safe haven. And this was good. The Cylons were al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The humans were the noble Americans who struggled to make sense of the tragedy that happened so close to home.
As fans followed the human Colonial Fleet in its flight from certain destruction, they recognized parallels between the government of United States and the fictional government on the show. Both had a president who did "not negotiate with terrorists." Both had rival factions, each of which thought it knew what was best for the people. Both dealt with dissension from within.
Eventually, though, the villainous, human-looking Cylons became characters in and of themselves. The show's writers revealed them as discerning individuals with complex codes of morality that couldn't easily be dismissed as "evil," much like
the Iraqi people. Fans were taken aback but gave the show some lee way because it was engaging and thoughtful.
Then the timbre of the show changed at the end of the second season. Humanity settled a new planet, not its original destination, but one capable of supporting life and providing shelter, with the investment of some hard work. And the Cylons found them.
Eight online-only, between-season "webisodes" at scifi.com and the first five episodes of season three chronicled a human "insurgency" against the Cylon force occupying the new planet. Suicide bombings, a human-staffed police force working for the Cylons and storing weapons in a religious temple topped the list of issues touched upon during the episodes.
If this sounds familiar, it should.
The premiere episode of season three lost about one million viewers compared to the premier of season two, according to tw.com. In comments in response to the Web site's
If this sounds familiar, it should.
article, users repeatedly criticized Galactica's tendency to "preach." Season three has continued to see falling ratings.
Unfortunately, viewers are turned off by the idea that the Cylons, once the show's terrorists and villains, are now obviously meant to represent the U.S. troops in Iraq. The humans working with the Cylons are meant to be the Iraqis seen as collaborators by their fellow citizens.
The show reminded some viewers of unpleasant realities they would rather not think about on a Friday evening. OK, there's a rising death toll in Iraq, composed of both Iraqi citizens and U.S. troops, but surely there's no place for that in what is supposed to be an enjoyable hour of television.
The majority of American young adults — those composing the largest portion of Galactica's audience — are overwhelmingly apathetic about the war in Iraq, according to abc.com. They would rather not be reminded of the "Iraq problem." For every Iraqi who wants the United
States' help in Iraq, there are two who are willing to support violent opposition to the troops, according to a Sept. 27 poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes. The show's fans would rather ignore this fact, and they certainly don't need their television shows reminding them.
Americans shouldn't shy away from difficult themes in fiction. These themes should be embraced and Galactica's writers should be praised for exploring a real-world dilemma through a fictional medium. In fiction, situations can be analyzed in ways that aren't possible in the real world. Fiction can give insight into the Iraqi mind, for instance, and that shouldn't be offputting or seem preach to anyone who cares about understanding humanity.
Patrick Ross is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is a Kansan copy chief.
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I just saw a ribbon on a car that said "Support magnetic ribbons."
Someone just got down in the Budig hallway and did pushups. That is kind of weird.
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I just saw the SafeRide guy outside the education building at 2:30 in the afternoon. I've decided to change my major to education.
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Giles is an idiot.
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Jonathan Kealing, Erick R. Schmidt, Gabrielle Souza, Frank Tau kand, Dave Ruigh, Steve Lynn, McKay Stangler and Loairsora
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