THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 7A
EDITORIAL
New logo a no-go
The University of Kansas is in the midst of a visual face-lift. At the helm of this revamping is the University's integrated marketing plan, which aims to better-tell the success story of the University and unify the visual message presented to outside sources. The most noticeable change resulting from the campaign is the new KU logo in the Trajan typeface.
According to the integrated marketing plan's Web site, one of the overall goals of the new logo and marketing campaign is "to do a better job sharing with our best college-bound students the strength and value of KU." The question then becomes, how effective can a symbol be at changing the identity of an academic institution? Also, if the goal is to show the strength of a KU education, what better way to showcase this than to have a KU student design the new logo?
The samples provided to the University by design firm LandreyMorrow Inc. as part of the new marketing plan were the initials "KU" in four different typefaces, a design that essentially could have been done on a personal computer. While it is true that the $88,900 cost of the design was paid for using private funds, the opportunity for KU students to have an opportunity to design a new logo is forever lost to the student body.
Our University's most recognizable symbol, the Jayhawk, was itself independently designed by KU student Harold "Hal" Sandy in 1946 who sold the logo to the University when he graduated. If the University had given KU students the opportunity to design the new logo, the University would not only have gained an enduring new symbol, but would have been able to use the new logo in the integrated marketing campaign as an example of the excellent work students can do at a top-notch university.
From the onset of the new integrated marketing plan, the University has been careful to address people's concerns about what the new logo would actually entail. Knowing people would be worried the famous Jayhawk would be in danger, David Johnston, director of marketing for the University, was quoted as saying in a July 6 article in the Kansan, "The new logo is to fill in the gap between the fun and informal Jayhawk and the formal and official seal." The integrated marketing Web site echoes this same idea stating "KU is best known visually through our ubiquitous Jayhawk mascot. This WILI
NOT CHANGE" (emphasis added by the Web site).
However, in a Sept. 15 article in the Kansan, plans were announced to add the new KU design in the Trajan typeface to the existing 1946 Jayhawk. This decision was surprising because of the lengths the University had gone through to assure the public the new logo would be just what the name implies, a new separate logo.
So, one might argue that the combination of these two symbols is necessary as part of the unified visual identity the University wants to present, but we look at this as overwriting the commitment the University made to maintain the sanctity and tradition of the existing Jayhawk. The University has a challenge ahead of itself in getting people to accept a change in such a prominent symbol.
Altering the Jayhawk is basically the same as altering 60 years of history. If the purpose of the new logo in the Trajan typeface was to be a new logo then it should do just that, stand alone as the sole representation of the University as part of the new visual identity.
Nate McGinnis for the editorial board
▼ KILLS VAMPIRES DEAD
Here are some ride-lines
You step out of your class, tired from the night before, and all of a sudden you hear a "zzzIIIIIPPP" and feel a breeze across your face as someone rides rudely past you on the sidewalk while they yell at you to get out of their way.
The Kansas Department of Transportation says that bicycles are legal vehicles allowed on roadways, but restricted on highways. KDOT states within its side path law that, "if there is a usable pathway dedicated to bikes, then it must be used."
The controversy with this is what stipulates as "usable." KDOT said the meaning of "usable" is up to the local authorities.
Some bikers might think it's funny to almost clip pedestrians, but it's not. For starters, those actions are illegal, and second, it just isn't nice. I guess we need a cyclists' education class. It has definitely not occurred to many bikers to know the laws of cycling, and that sidewalks should be safe pathways for people walking to and from class, not another extension of the road.
Unfortunately, the University of Kansas campus and the city of Lawrence have a liberal (used as "loose," not the political definition) policy for what "usable" means.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said, "We follow the same city ordinances for traffic." The receptionist for the Lawrence Police Department informed me, "It is not illegal to cycle on the sidewalk except for downtown Mass[assusetts] Street."
SARA GARLICK opinion@kansan.com
This should not be the case. If you have ever been on campus, then you've obviously seen some cyclists who do not yield to a pedestrian, which is against laws for cyclists. If it is illegal to walk in the street when a sidewalk is provided, (a law the KDOT mandates for pedestrians) then it should be illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk.
I'm glad to know that my out-of-state tuition that should go toward the making of the campus "a beautiful and safer place" instead goes toward only those programs the administration sees fit.
I guess the safety of the majority of students who walk on the sidewalks along Jayhawk Blvd. does not matter to the local authorities and the administration.
Maybe if Chancellor Robert Hemenway, student body President Nick Sterner or Gov Kathleen Sebelius were on campus and had a cyclist run into them, they might think about changing the cycling
laws.
Reckless cyclists give fellow cyclists who ride properly and the KU Cyclists Club a bad wrap. They clearly need to get off the roads and sidewalks. Take the bus instead. That way you can't run over anyone unless you become a bus driver.
I'm certainly not the only one fed up by this issue. I've observed several people get upset at nearly getting hit on Wescoe Beach and in front of Stauffer-Flint.
Christian Beer, sophomore and vice president of the KU Cycling Club, said, "They [reckless cyclists] shouldn't ride on the sidewalks because they are designed for pedestrians.
"If you know how to ride safely, then the road is nothing to be afraid of. If you can't ride safely, then you shouldn't be riding at all."
I definitely miss the East Coast and visiting New York City where it is illegal to ride on the side-walk-except for the police. I'm glad to know that KSDOT is looking out for the welfare of all KU students when they allow cyclists to zip on by on sidewalks. That breaks another law saying that cyclists on a usable path should not go any faster then the pedestrians walking. Seriously, why have laws if no one enforces them?
- Garlick is a Sanford, Maine, senior in international studies and history
Austin Caster, editor
864-4854 or acaster@kansan.com
Jonathan Kealing, managing editor
884-4854 or i.kealing@kansan.com
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Elis Ford, Yanting Wang, Julia Melia Coetho,
Dan Hoyt, Anne Waltner, Julie Paris, Nathan
McGinnis, Josh Goetting, Sara Gartick,
Chase Edgerton, Ray Wittlinger, David Archer
SUBMIT TO
Kansas newsroom
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1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 68048
(786) 864-4810 opinion@karsan.com
HANG OUT WITH YOUR LANG OUT
If you are unable to donate blood, but would still like to help with the drive, we have spots open for volunteers. These spots are reserved for people who cannot donate.
No one should ever make you feel like you have to donate. If you are sick, have been to countries on the list of high-risk areas, have recently gotten a tattoo or piercing, or are just not comfortable with donating in general, please do not. If anyone ever tries to force you to give blood, please notify me or the university at once.
Any remaining spots can be filled with current donors. To sign up, go to our Web site at www.kublooddrive.com.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
rooms have to be shut down. It is very important that everyone who is eligible and willing to give their blood as often as they can, which is usually about every 56 days. We, however, want this to be done in a safe manner.
President calls for blood
We would love for this blood drive to be one of the most successful yet! It will be held the week of Sept. 26, and our goal is to collect more than 1,000 units.
Greetings fellow KU students.
It can easily be done with all of the awesome people we have here at the University! Just make sure everything is done in a safe manner so that every unit of blood counts. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the blood drive this semester.
The reason I am writing you is to address some concerns that have recently been brought before the blood drive committee.
It is possible some people may have been pressured into donating, which is a very serious problem. According to laws put in place by the American Red Cross and Community Blood Centers; if anyone reports being forced to donate, all pints of blood collected up to that point will have to be thrown out and the drive will be shut down. The reasoning for this is the possible risk of someone receiving contaminated blood.
A person forced to donate may lie about having a blood-borne illness that could easily be passed on to others. If one person reports being pressured into donating blood, there is no way to know who else may have been pressured.
So, to keep recipients from becoming sick, every single unit of blood collected must be discarded.
I am sure donors don't want their blood to go to waste, and neither do the people who so desperately need it. The blood that gets collected at the University's week-long drive goes out to many hospitals across this whole region. Without blood, hospitals and emergency
Arblev Crain
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for all callers will have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish, Kansan editors reserve the right to息 comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
♦ Ashley Crain
President of the KU Blood Drive
vment I read an article by Eric Jorgensen.
I get happy in my pants.
(Whispered) Oh my God. Kevin and Miguel are hooking up in the Watson library right now!
I was just wondering if that was the biggest arm
you could find for the steroid article.
I was on campus today, and I saw a really fat man with a really small umbrella. I was hilarious!
Dear Wal-Mart: It's not Halloween season. Take all that stuff down. And dear Hobby Lobby: It's not Halloween season, and it certainly isn't Christmas season. Take all that stuff down too.
To the girl who moved off the 4th floor: We didn't like you anyway! (hums Justin Timelake song)
If you left your Jeep keys at Wescoe, they're at Corbin hall.
This is to the girl who sat by herself at Mrs. E's with the giant blue purse. I just want to say that I should have sat with you, because I have a giant crush on you, and you're super cute. That's all.
Can you take me higher?
To a place where blind man see?
Yah, we just saw the campus mountain lion behind the Union! Thought we should report the sighting.
I had a really good one but I forgot what I was going to say.
We're goin' streakin' in the fountain!
I just totally walked in on my roommate looking up gay sex porn on the computer. But then it turn out to be Phish guitar tablature.
To the T.A. with the blue shirt and blue hair:
I think you're really hot.
There were less than 2,000 deaths in Iraq, not 25,000 like that moron said. (Editor's note: They were referring to the deaths of Iraqis and Americans.)
Apparently, Pi Phi girls are the hottest girls on campus. Who knew?
Hello, Free for All. It is exactly 12:38.
No! No! No! 12:39.
It's a new trend! Evv everybody buy boxed wine! Let's get drunk!
No! No! It's 12:42.
No! No! It's 12:42
My roommate is blazing at her computer.
Put up, Donnie. You are so far out of your element.
"Oh my God! I'm getting married. He put the ring in key lime pie!" Yeah, that marriage ain't goin' anywhere.
To the guys who wrote 'Gross Lesbo's on me and my roommate's door, was it the Angelina Jolie posters that tipped you off that we were gay?'
Hey, Free for All. True or False? I'm drunk
It's all fun and games until someone writes a letter to the editor. So no more Rhombus jokes. In fact, no more jokes of any kind in college. Ever!
What? A Rhombus joke! I can't believe they'r
print such a Rhombus日报! Daily Kansas
George W. Bush doesn't care about Rhombus House.
The guy who wrote the letter to the editor about Rhombus House needs to lighten up.
---
It has been decided. I am now a lesbian.
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