OPINION
Coming Wednesday, October 10...
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
**Editorial:** A Colorado State University editorial prompts questions on students press right.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Gentry: Fancy pre-schools don't necessarily equal better education for your children.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY,OCTOBER 9,2007
PAGE 5A
BITS.O'WISDOM
Constitution Day deserves more recognition
It celebrates the most important document in American history, yet no one knows about it
quick, when is National Talk Like a Pirate Day?
19 GOING ON 40
Sept. 19, of course. The Underground gave people discounts that day if they threw in an "avast" or "yar" while paying for their food. How about Halloween? Oct. 31, the day we used to put on cheap costumes and not only received candy from strangers, but in fact demanded it. Now how about this one: Constitution Day. I admit, I didn't know before this year that it was Sept. 17, let alone that it even existed. Of all the things we celebrate, the document that basically lays out everything that distinguishes America from the rest of the world should be
at or around the top of the list. So why, if it has its own federal holiday, do so few people know about it? The Dole Center did a decent job of publicizing various Constitution Day-related events this year, which helped a bit, but that was all. No "Happy Constitution Day" cards, no massive clearance sales down at the nearest strip mall, nothing like that.
Let's look at the Constitution for a moment, shall we? It's an old, but still popular, document essentially saying the government either can't do something to people, or must do something. The First Amendment grants a number of things that we sometimes take for granted. Freedom of speech lets us criticize our government in ways many civilizations throughout history would consider absurd, making this democracy that much more legitimate, even if it does also allow everyone from Ann Coulter to Ward Churchill to spew out verbal garbage day-in and day-out. That one amendment also gives us a free press,
so that thoughtful, intelligent columnists can try to convince everyone that what they think is important on a biweekly basis. It also lets us freely exercise religion, but doesn't say which one we have to practice. Flying Spaghetti Monster enthusiasts, this one is for you.
Continue perusing the document, and look what else you'll find. Need to feel more manly? The Second Amendment lets you own a gun! Got a skeleton in your closet? The Fifth Amendment makes it awfully difficult for people to make you let it out. In fact, thanks to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, finding out that closer even exists is a real chore. The Constitution guarantees that women and minorities can vote, and that the people they vote for can't overstay their welcome.
People do still argue over some aspects of the document. Should common decency take precedence over freedom of speech, for instance? Or is the Second Amendment even necessary anymore, with citizen militias basically being a thing of the past? One amendment, the 18th, which prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol, was negated by the 21st. The fact that this happened over 70 years ago and there haven't been subsequent changes like it suggests that most of the Constitution is acceptable, but questions will probably linger for years about its fluidity, and how literally much of it can be interpreted.
Now that this rejected "School House Rock" sketch is coming to a close, let's take another look at the question. What more convincing do people need to recognize a day dedicated to the thing that has shaped American society as it has developed over the last 219 years? Increased publicity? Getting the day off from work? Jerry Bruckheimer movies? Maybe tell kids that the Preamble will slide down their chinneys at night and put freedom in their stockings. Well, no matter. After all, there's almost a year to figure something out.
Cohen is a Topeka junior in journalism and English.
DRAWING BOARD
Campus bus system in need of improvement Clustered vehicles and missed stops both contribute to an inefficient KU on Wheels
MAX RINKEL
FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
Despite the University's effort to fix last school year's inadequate bus system by merging it with the Parking and Transit department, the system is still flawed.
I know that there were several students and faculty who devoted their summer to trying to perfect the system by changing the company that they contract the buses through, and I am not trying to take anything away from that achievement. The University needed more control of the bus system, and it's nice to see that a new bus, one that goes behind the Union, in front of Spencer Art Museum, and to the Student Recreation and Fitness Center was added to the system. But it was the means of improving the bus system, not the end.
One of the major problems students had with the bus system last year was the buses got so off-schedule that they clumped together and all going the same direction at the same time. This was perceived as a problem of not enough buses, and that if we had more buses then we would have enough to go both directions. This year, KU on Wheels has blamed accidents and route changes caused by the longer buses for the scheduling problems.
But those problems are clearly not the sole cause of the bus clusters, considering the problem was occurring last year before the University bought the new buses and it is still occurring. And adding more buses to the already crowded system does not make sense and would be a bad financial decision. Spacing out the buses the University already has would solve problem.
It's understandable that a bus driver will drive by a stop if there is no one there; riders appreciate this—we are trying to make it to class on time. But it is because of that the buses get off schedule and end up in a cluster, and very few drivers make the effort to move away from the pack of other buses.
Those bus drivers who are cognizant of the schedule usually park for a few minutes to try to get back on schedule, and put some space between themselves and the other buses. However, they rarely remember to mention to incoming or current riders where they are going to park, making students late for class.
Because the buses are mobile, the only reasonable solution is to train bus drivers how and when to separate themselves, where to park and the proper way to notify students of their decision. When there is more than one bus going to the same location on campus within one minute of each other when there is not a crowd of students waiting, drivers should be allowed to use their judgment and park to space themselves out.
Students' other main concern last year was that there were not enough buses going to places besides McCollum and GSP; more students live off-campus than at those dorms. KU on Wheels has tried to fix this problem by sending buses that usually stay on campus to other locations during peak times of day. But the problem is that apartment complexes like The Reserve house just as many students as the dormitories. However the dorms have more buses going back and forth to them no matter what time of day it is.
The large apartment complexes and other large off-campus bus stops need to either be given just as much priority as the dorms, considering those students paid just as much for their bus pass as those at the dorms did, or KU on Wheels should negotiate with apartment complexes to have more private buses like the Legends bus.
These bus issues may seem petty compared to other issues like Darfur, but students spend $140 on a year-round bus pass just so they can ride a bus a couple blocks twice a day. They deserve service at the same level.
It's October and midterms are on the horizon. And if I had to grade the new bus system at that time, I would give it a C+.
Chambers is a Paola sophomore in journalism and political science. She is Kansan special sections and correspondents editor.
FREE FOR ALL: 864-0500 OR KANSAN.COM/FACEBOOK
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.
I just saw a girl smack her face on the handicapped door at Mrs. E's. It was pretty bad, but really funny.
funny!
Free For All, the rate at which I get laid is directly impropor-tional to—wait, I'm not getting laid. Never mind.
realized that I forgot to change my paper's title from "Shit" to something, anything else.
Oh no. I just e-mailed my teacher my paper, and I just now
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Free for All, I will marry Todd Reeing.
Come tomorrow I will have had sex in two different states!
No, Jessica Alba expels her waste through movies like "Fantastic Four."
poop, I mean, come on, can Jessica Alba honestly poo?
Do you ever wish you could have your Blastoise? I sure do.
They aren't really brownies!
I just want to be happy, to be loved, to have someone to hold me and care about me, that's all.
I wish I were a duck.
Everyone knows that girls don't
I'm going to piss my pants waiting for who won the Nobel for Physics Tuesday.
I don't know about you Free for All, but I think working at Hy-Vee is terrible.
Oh KU football team, how I love you.
Dear Bus 315, can't we just get along?
So I just realized FFA stands for Free for All and not Future Farmers of America.
was allowed to print blasphemous quotes. Not like Dave Mathews or his band? Psh, hell just called, they just reserved you a soun!
I didn't know that Free for All
Jake Sharp is the man!
I'm tired.
TALK TO US
Free For All, do girls poop?
Erick R. Schmidt, editor
864-4810 or eschmidt@kansan.com
KU #20 in the nation!
Darla Slipke, managing editor
864-4810 or dslipke@kansan.com
Eric Jorgensen, managing editor 864-4810 or ejorgensen@kansan.com
NOW THAT YOU'VE READ THE OPINION PAGE, HAVE AN OPINION?
Kelsey Hayes, opinion editor 864-4924 or khayes@kansan.com
Bryan Dykman, associate opinion editor 864-4924 or dykman@kansan.com
Jackie Schaffer, advertising director 864-4358 or jschaffer@kansan.com
Katie Abrahamson, sales manager 864-4477 or katiea@kansan.com
Malcimol gbman, general manager, news adviser
864-7669 or mpbtman at kansan.com
Jon Schlitt, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jschlitt@kansan.com
SUBMISSIONS
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The Kansen reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Kelsay Hayes or Bryan Dykman at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
General questions should be directed
to the editor at editor@kansan.com.
LETTER GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 200 words
Include: Author's name and telephone number; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member/staff); phone number (will not be published)
GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 500 words
Include: Author's name and telephone number; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member/staff); phone number (will not be published)
Also: The Kanan will not print guest columns or letters that attack a reporter or another columnist.
The Editorial Board
Eric Rick S. Schmidt, Eric Jorgensen,
Darla Silek, Kelsey Hayes, Bryan
Dykman, Brandon T. Minister, Angelique
McNaughton and Benjamin R. Smith
1