--- WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007 | OPINION | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN | 7 Opinion SPANISH Grant Snider/KANSAN 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. Presidents lie. That's their job. If the police men are lacking on tickets at the end of the month, they should just cruise down on Mass Street because the stupid people are crossing the double-yellow lines to park. It just pisses me off. It is against the law, people. Know the law.Don't do it. Ugh.Selfish. COMMENTARY When uniforms become too uniform If you didn't know the University of Kansas had an official font,you certainly will be reminded this fall. In case you hadn't heard, BY RYAN SCHNEIDER KANSAN EDITOR RSCHNEIDER@KANSAN.COM the Kansas Athletics Department has said that it will incorporate the University's Trajan font into more of its uniforms this fall. Most notably the change will affect the football and men's basketball teams. Whatever the reasons behind the move are, I have a hard time agreeing with the change. For nearly 20 years, fans across the country could identify Kansas basketball by its unique font with the swirls and curls at the ends of letters and numbers. That's a visual identity that the Athletics Department has plastered on t-shirts, posters and numerous other items sold and given away at basketball games. Kansas men's basketball is the department's and the University's most well-known commodity. Why the University would want to alter a carefully constructed brand is confusing to me. So why the change to Trajan? The University has made a concerted effort in the two years since adopting its new identity to plaster it across campus. From buses, to construction signs, to the Jayhawk logo, the Trajan font is everywhere. Now, the Athletics Department is following suit. The problem is that symbols, or in this case logos and fonts, evoke certain feelings in people. In sports, logos and identities should invoke different feelings than in the world of academia. The block font that the football program had used on helmets and jerseys in the past five years invoked feelings of strength and power. The font unique to the men's basketball team gave off feelings of history and tradition, appropriate considering the program's past accomplishments. The KU logo in the Trajan font certainly invokes a distinguished, academic feel, but those same feelings don't easily translate to sports. The Trajan font? Personally, that invokes feelings of corporate, sterile conditions. That's not exactly the feeling students and alumni should have toward their University. At some point, the University's desire to unite the school under one color and font goes too far. This is that point. I understand the desire, from a marketing standpoint, to present a united brand for the University of Kansas. However, the need to change an established brand and image to a relatively unknown one could backfire in the end. Will fans snatch up the new jerseys featuring the Trajan font? It's hard to tell, but that's a question that can be answered in a few months. THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN RYAN SCHNEIDER, EDITOR 864-4854 OR RSCHNEIDER@KANSAN.COM ERICK R. SCHMIDT, MANAGING EDITOR 864-4854 OR ESCHMIDT@KANSAN.COM ASHLEE KIELER, CAMPUS EDITOR 864-4810 OR AKIELER@KANSAN.COM DREW BERGMAN, DESIGN EDITOR 864-4810 OR DBERGMAN@KANSAN.COM JON GOERING, PHOTO EDITOR 864-4821 OR JGOERING@KANSAN.COM CHRIS PUMPELLY, BUSINESS MANAGER 864-4014 OR CPUMPELLY@KANSAN.COM MALCOLM GIBSON, GENERAL MANAGER, NEWS ADVISOR 864-7667 OR MIGBSON@KANSAN.COM JENNIFER WEAVER SALES AND MARKETING ADVISOR 864-7540 OR JWEANER@WANSLAN.com The Kansan welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Ryan Schneider or Erick R. Schmidt at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com. LETTER GUIDELINES MAXIMUM LENGTH: 200 words INCLUDE: Author's name; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member/staff); phone number (will not be published) SUBMIT LETTERS TO 111 Stauffer Flint Hall 1435 Jayhawk Bld. rd. Lawrence, KS 60045 (785) 854-8410, editor@kansan.com GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES MAXIMUM LENGTH: 500 WORDS **INCLUDE:** Author's name; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member/staff); phone number (will not be published) **Also:** The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack a reporter or another columnist. .