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EDITORIAL: There is now a male dancer on the traditionally all-female Rock Chalk Dance Team. If you don't like it, that's your problem. It's time to move on See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 7A
》 OUR VIEW
Time to move past narrow gender roles
When you attend football and basketball games this year you may notice something a little different during halftime. The traditionally all-female Rock Chalk Dance Team now has a new male member.
Freshman Tim Flattery made history when he made the team. Since then he has been ridiculed, laughed at and mocked by local and national media.
It's unfortunate that so much ridicule has been directed at this freshman. It is sad that stringent social lines exist and that people who breach them become outcasts. So to those who continue to write on message boards or shout humiliating messages at games, get off his back.
Certainly, Flattery's presence on the Rock Chalk Dance Team is different, but it's something we will have to get used to as the season continues. It's obvious others have not taken too kindly to Flattery's presence.
The move has driven people out of their comfort zone.
People are accustomed to seeing the female dancers with tight, short-cut clothes. The thought of a man on an all-female team threatens the beliefs of many.
The only thing that those who find it offensive can do is mock and humiliate. Even after all these years, many people still have a narrowly constructed view of the roles of men and women.
When a woman competes with men, people say she doesn't belong on the same level. When a man competes in a sport that is "feminine", he's labeled as less of a man. These socially constructed barriers still plague our society.
You've got to applaud Flattery for having the guts to step up and do something he enjoys. He hasn't let the criticism of others stop him from participating.
Let's get over this situation and put the attention back where it belongs — on the playing field.
Louis Mora for the editorial board.
COMMENTARY
Understand the issues
November is coming and it will soon be time to vote again. Campaign flyers are starting to appear in yards, and television, newspapers and radios will soon be chock full of ads supporting this or that candidate.
Many of these ads are little more than ad hominem attacks. An ad hominem is a fallacious argument that attacks the character of a person, rather than focusing on their opinion about an issue. An example of this type of argument is as follows:
However, despite all of the hullabaloo, does anyone really know where the candidates stand on the issues? Sure, you have lots of pretty pictures of smiling faces and loads of slanderous ads filling the airwaves, but where is the substance?
A) Bob says tomatoes taste good.
C) Therefore tomatoes do not taste good.
This is a fallacy of logic, and it is a huge part of the modern day campaigning process.
As college students we are not known for a high voter turnout rate. Many older adults believe we are apathetic and don't care about the wider world. This is probably true of some, but what most adults of a certain age do not seem to consider is how busy college students really are.
We all have classes, homework, jobs, friends and, if we are very lucky, a few extracurricular activities that take up all of our time. We do not have hours on end to watch the news or go to political Web sites to find out what each and every candidate thinks about the issues.
BY BETH RUHL
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
In the end, it is very easy for the few of us who do actually vote to make our decisions based upon
So you know what my final words are? Don't vote if you are not going to think. Take some time out of your busy day to find out what is truly going on. If you do, it will make all the difference.
Ruhl is a Lawrence sophomore in journalism and creative writing studies.
the slanderous ads that defame the character of candidates from opposite parties. It is so easy to see an ad that says Candidate A is a Republican and therefore is evil, or that Candidate B is a Democrat and therefore is evil. This process does not take any thought, people.
You allow these campaign malingers to lead you around like a bunch of blind kindergarteners at snack time. It is time to stop boxing people in and making generalizations. Start listening to what the candidates have to say about hot button issues, rather than what their ads say about their opponents.
I have no sympathy for people who vote for someone simply because of an ad hominem argument and then complain about the idiots who are running the system. I also find it ridiculous when people vote for candidates just because they share a similar background. It makes no difference what race or gender you are, or what religion you practice. What are you going to do for this country? I don't care about the habits of your opponents.
COMMENTARY
Church and state a dangerous duo
If there's one thing that the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has proven, it's how dangerous religious groups are, particularly when they have political power and interfere with matters that should be left to the state. The danger is even greater if the state fails to provide basic services, such as education, healthcare and security, to the population.
That's what is happening in Lebanon right now. Why does Hezbollah have so much support? Because in many areas it has replaced the role of the government. Hezbollah offers cheap medical care and schooling, and has already begun building southern Lebanon. In many ways Hezbollah is the de facto government of Lebanon.
If the people of Lebanon are so dependent on Hezbollah, how can they not support it? This situation poses a great risk to the rightful government of Lebanon and to the stability of the state. It also leaves the population stuck in the middle, not knowing who to trust or follow. In such a situation, the autonomy and sovereignty of the state is threatened.
BY PATRICK SULLIVAN
DE OLIVEIRA
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
Something similar is happening in Brazil. The social gap in Brazil is one of the largest in the world. On one side are the people with money, who can afford a good education, dignified healthcare, decent housing, and security. On the other are those who don't have any of these basic rights, and those people often don't have much to look forward to in life.
That is where religious groups, particularly Evangelicals, come in. Evangelicals are the fastest growing religious group in Brazil, and for good reason. In most of these churches the pastors are extremely charismatic, and they attract people from the lower classes by promising a better life. In many of these churches corruption runs rampant and the pastors exploit the people by coercing them to donate money.
They say the more you donate, the greater your chances of getting into heaven. It's ironic that the practice of selling indulgences that Luther criticized has infected some of his offspring
These churches also offer a degraded form of spirituality. Instead of trying to help people find some meaning in their lives, they play on people's fears by saying that whoever strays from what they say will not be saved.
separates the church from the State gets crossed.
The churches do offer some social services, and people turn to them because there is no one else they can turn to.
Of course, there are good churches out there. I'm just criticizing the ones that take advantage of the state's deficiencies and ignore the poverty of the people.
Another problem is that because these pastors hold so much control over their faithful they are often elected into office. In fact, a huge corruption scandal happened in Brazil, where the majority involved were from the so-called Evangelical Faction of Congress. Corruption is a huge problem, but an equal, if not larger, problem is that when these pastors get elected the thin line that
To solve these problems there's an absolute need for separation of church and state. The state needs to be lay; if it isn't there is no way to check any abuses of religious organizations. Also, the church's property should be taxed. There's no reason why it shouldn't be, and the money could be put to good use.
Lastly, the state needs to be fully functional and inclusive. People who don't have money should still be able to receive a good education and have access to healthcare and security. Conservatives may cringe at this, but for the state to maintain its sovereignty it has to justify why it deserves it. If people are excluded from basic needs they don't see any justification for the state's existence. When the State is inclusive it doesn't have any deficiencies that religious groups can exploit by offering social services. I have nothing against spirituality, but religious groups with political power scare me.
Sullivan de Oliveira is a Belo Horizonte, Brazil, sophomore in journalism and history.
FREE FOR ALL
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded
To the blonde girl wearing the Bucknell T-shirt this morning: I hope you get struck by lightning.
You want irony? I'll give you irony. Irony is a quit-smoking ad on the back of a bus that is coughing out thick black smoke.
Never buy Grade B eggs. It just isn't worth it.
To the guy who does the KU weather phone: you sound like Napolean Dynamite. It is ok to enunciate and speak up.
gross. Cover it up.
Free for All, about two years ago I got drunk and tried to make out with Miss Teen Kansas at a party.
I was just driving down 14th Street and there was a little two-year-old kid walking around his front porch picking up beer bottles. Only in the student ghetto.
--at all.
I'm still drunk from last night.
That is beside the point. We will tear down the goal posts after the K-State game. There are plenty of reasons to do it. Because K-State is purple and we don't like them
This is to the girl in my Shakespeare class with Elliott: you butt crack is exposed every day and it is
What's your position on oral sex?
I'm not sure, but I think the gnomes in my garden are incestu-
ous.
To the person who yelled "Why don't you have another beer?" while I was attempting to parallel park on Tennessee on Thursday night. I was sober, thank you. I just don't know how to parallel park.
Mangino better use some of that salary raise to hit up Jenny Craig, or he won't even make it to the end of the decade.
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I want to make out with somebody hot instead of my roommates. That is all.
Free for All I just want to let you know that I'm riding the bus. Have a nice day.
I just wanted to thank Mr. Alcohol for providing me my entertainment tonight because he got the Sigma Chi's drunk and they were annoying and funny.
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For any questions, call Frank Tankard or Dave Rulgh at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Jonathan Kealing, Erick R. Schmidt, Gabriella Souza, Frank Tankard, Dave Ruigh, Steve Lynn and Louis Mora
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