OPINION
Coming Wednesday, September 26...
Chambers: The bus system on and off campus leaves much to be desired.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25.2007 PAGE 5A
De Oliveira: The proposed Oread Hotel would detract greatly from the local atmosphere.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2001
PAGE 5A
EDITORIAL BOARD
Students petition for Israeli study abroad program University of Texas may be only chance for Middle Eastern travel opportunity
Last week, Hillel sponsored a petition to allow KU students to
sored a petition to allow KU students to study abroad in Israel without having to disenroll from the University. The petition advocates allowing students to study in Israel through the University of Texas. Currently, the University of Kansas has no programs in Israel due to travel advisory warnings from the State Department. While its decision to disallow KU-affiliated programs in Israel is unpopular among those wishing to study there, it is the University's right to sponsor study abroad programs where it sees fit.
Israel has been on the travel advisory list since 2000. According to the country's profile on the State Department's Web site, security concerns in Israel are only increasing. Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, has de facto control of the Gaza Strip. Kidnappings, shootings and terrorist attacks are regular occurrences in Gaza and the West Bank. While the travel warning is mostly directed at Gaza—Americans are encouraged to avoid all travel there—the warning also encompasses Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the two largest Israeli cities and incidentally the locations of two University of Texas programs.
It is obviously a person's right to travel where they wish. However, the University has its own responsibility to ensure the safety of students and faculty. Its decision to make judgments based on the State Department's recommendations is both fair and responsible. Every state on the list is present due to deep-seated and sustained social, military and/or political conflict.
The OSA already accepts credit from students who have enrolled in independent study abroad programs in Israel, an exception to their stated policy of not providing any financial or academic support for study in countries on the advisory list. This is a notable concession, and one that students who choose to study in Israel should appreciate.
The obvious conflict in allowing students to study in Israel is that it opens the door to other programs in designated unsafe nations. If students are allowed to study in Israel, should students who wish to do so be allowed to study in Sudan, Indonesia and Algeria? It is unjust to make Israel a special case, which the OSA is already skirting in allowing transfer credit from unaffiliated programs there.
Recognizing that students' wishes to study in Israel have a basis in genuine academic and cultural interest, the University of Texas compromise is, at this moment, the fairest way for KU to exercise its right to not directly sponsor Israeli study abroad programs, while allowing students to have a less-difficult time in pursuing their academic goals.
Just as it is KU's right to ban study abroad programs in Israel for the time being, it is also the University of Texas' right to allow for such programs and assume responsibility for the safety of their participants. Finally, it is the responsibility of all would be participants, before enrolling in any programs, to educate themselves on the political reality of Israel today.
THE LIBRARIAN YOUR PARENTS WARNED YOU ABOUT
Putting a cap on the weeknight parties
When we are having such a good time, sometimes it's easy to forget why we are here
Welcome to my Tuesday 2 a.m. wake-up call.
I don't know what classes my neighbors are taking but they must be easy. I do know that they are KU students and that they are, in fact, enrolled in classes. I have trudged up the hill on the way to campus behind them many a time. They carry backpacks; they talk about their classes. Yet they somehow manage to have a party nearly every night, and a fairly large one at that. During the week, I usually come home around nine after work to find that at least one of my three neighbors has
Woo! I love drunk chicks, dude!"
a party under way. This may entail any of the following: groups of people drinking on the porch, people stumbling into my yard, screaming and yelling into a bullhorn, guys running past in various stages of undress, or raucous games of beer pong.
Now I like parties, and I like having a few cosmopolitans with my friends. And if I had the time to party every weekend, I would. I don't mind waking up on Saturday morning to find the front yard full of such treasures as solitary shoes, empty beer cans, smashed plastic cups, various articles of clothing and passed-out neighbors sleeping off their hangovers in my front yard. All that is amusing to me—when it's on the weekend. I just can't understand these people that get stumbling drunk every night of the week. How can they possibly make it to class after a night like that? And even if they can, what kind of condition will they be in to participate and learn? I'm also unsure how they can afford the copious amounts
BITSO'WISDOM
of alcohol they always seem to have, since I have no idea how they would have time to go to a job.
I hear people in classes saying that they are "soo hungover, man" and they got "so effin' trashed last night." The tone they use is almost bragging, especially when they say things like, "Oh you're hungover? Well there's no way you could have been as drunk as me last night." I just don't understand when an unhealthy excess of drinking became a bragging point. It's not something to be proud of; it's called alcoholism. If students cannot confine their drinking to just a couple nights a week, then they have a problem.
I know we're young and this is the time we're supposed to be having fun. However, we all need to remember why we're here. Yes, part of it is to have fun and meet new people and if that for some people means partying a lot, then ok, do that. It is only one part, though. It shouldn't overshadow the real
reason we're attending college: to get a good education. And that means going to class—well, most of the time—and putting in an effort. There's no reason that we can't have our cake and eat it too; there is a way to be a good student and also "get your drink on," as my neighbors say. Students need to be able to balance fun time and study time. When drinking is affecting class attendance or grades, it's gotten out of hand.
I'll be the first to admit that it's great fun to hang out and drink with your friends, and I also firmly believe that's an important part of the college experience. The main thing is to know the limit and keep drinking under control. Don't let it overshadow schoolwork, and make sure to practice calculus as much as the keg stand, because—unfortunately for my neighbors—there is no way to major in beer pong.
Gentry is a Kansas City junior in English and pre-medicine.
DRAWING BOARD
...AND THAT'S MY HEALTHCARE PLAN.
ACTUALLY, THAT'S MINE TOO.
HMM. THAT DOES SOUND GOOD. I GUESS WE'LL GO WITH THAT, TOO.
Candidate preview continued Democratic front-runners highlighted
BEN COHEN
Two weeks ago, I discussed in this space the current crop of Republican hopefuls vying for the candidacy for President of the United States of America. They were a fun bunch, full of fresh perspective and buoyant energy. Or maybe that was the piece I'd scrapped about "High School Musical vs. Mothra." Well, either way, it's the other party's turn now.
The Democratic Party has had fun the last seven years. With President Bush in office, appointing cronies to every position short of White House toilet scrubber, authorizing vaguely justified military actions and generally looking like something even the most cynical political satirists would have a hard time dreaming up, Democrats have had the perfect target. He could be the focal point of all their malice, like Big Brother in reverse. This time around, they won't have that kind of luxury. As famous as some of the GOP candidates are, the Democrats still have to run somebody who can get by on their own merits. Besides, "Anyone but Ron Paul" just doesn't have any real ring to it.
The most famous of the Democratic candidates is Hillary Clinton. Six years ago, she catapulted from her husband's coattails into the United States Senate, admirably serving a part of the country she had never lived in before and doesn't seem to spend much time in today. So far, her main opposition has been Barack Obama, a relatively young senator from Illinois. Clinton frequently criticizes Obama for his perceived lack of experience. Fun fact: Obama first joined the Illinois state legislature in 1997, meaning he had been holding elected office for four years when Clinton became a Senator.
For his own part, Obama has risen to popularity by appealing to a variety of typically jaded voting blocks, such as students and minorities, by projecting himself as dedicated and sincere. He is also the most skilled orator in the vast field of candidates
from either party. Seriously, the man could run for city sanitation manager, and still find a way to convince people that electing him would create a brighter future for their grandchildren.
There are still others looking to run for president with a jackass as their logo. Former
vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, no longer confused with the guy who went on TV and claimed he could speak with the dead, is giving a run for the White House another go. Rumors that that he is seeking a special brand of hair gel given only to world leaders have yet to be confirmed. There is also Mike Gravel, who has not held an elected office since 1981, but recently rose out of his icy crypt in Alaska. Whether he is actually attempting to run for President or, as some have speculated, to warn us of the impending return of the dreaded Cthulhu is still being debated. Then there is Dennis Kucinich. The Ohio Representative and former mayor of Cleveland is making his second attempt at winning the Democratic nomination. It is also the second time members of the party have frantically begun questioning each other, wondering who let him in.
Perhaps the most enigmatic potential candidate so far is New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. A multi-ethnic, highly-experienced politician who handily defeated a Republican opponent in a perennial red state, Richardson has become a familiar name so far, but beyond that, most people know little about him. Perhaps he is not yet sure if his aforementioned success in New Mexico is strong enough to carry him, or if he needs to mention that he was at different times both a representative to the United Nations, and the U.S. Secretary of Energy. No, he probably needs to pad the ol' resume a bit more before he can really make his move.
And there you have it, most of the aspiring Democrats, each with their own reason to be made fun of. The election isn't for over a year, so there's plenty of time to study each of these people, and any others who may join the fray. Until then, stay informed. After all, if you don't know why somebody is funny, you probably shouldn't be voting for them.
Cohen is a Topeka junior in journalism and English.
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Is there such a thing as freaky Mormon sex?
Potter's Lakel
At this point, I don't know how many people know about ResNet's proposed five hundred dollars for internet for a year plan, but I would just like to say, "Everybody vote against it."
My boyfriend and I have to tally had sex on the hill. The hill by
Did you know KU has twenty-seven outdoor emergency phones and thirty-three indoor phones?
Pizza Street, you make me want to hang myself.
I just wanted to say that the Camp panile is the erection of KU.
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