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WWW.KANSAN.COM
SARA'S WORDS
Youth lessons reinvent selves
Youth is a universal time of discovery and learning, regardless of where we grow up. As mostly twenty-
SARA ZAFAR
opinion@kansan.com
somethings, most of us have forgotten the simple lessons of childhood.
However, college is like a second childhood, and sometimes we need to remember the lessons we learned so we can grow up and take our place in the "real world." Some of the lessons are timeless, like these four;
2. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Gossip and rumors are just as common in college as they were in grade school, if not more so.
Discussions and conversations are much better when everyone involved shares what they think. Inviting people over for dinner is a good way for people to share their homes and their culinary skills or lack thereof. It may sound cheesy, but so was handing valentines to everyone in the class. Everyone still ended up with something to smile about.
Only now they can be much more damaging, as the consequences for a ruined reputation might be a job or an office, not just what your classmates think.
1. Sharing is caring. This seems like common sense, but people sometimes forget how important sharing is. As children, we are taught to share our toys and candy, and to bring enough for everyone in the class. Of course, we can't bring enough of anything to share with everyone in all our classes, but we can share in other ways.
Gossip and talking behind people's backs is still as useless as it was when we were kids. You don't have to like a person, and venting is all right as long as what you say is not harmful, but "idle chatter" and talking badly about someone is not worth the time or the oxygen.
Count to ten. The stress of college is enough to drive even the most stable person crazy.
Around finals, or any important deadline, tempers are short and sparks fly. As children, whenever we got angry, we were told to count to ten before saying or doing anything, to stop us from making bad decisions. As adults, the technique still works.
Taking a moment to step back, count to ten, and reevaluate the situation with a clearer head usually helps to avoid a potentially explosive situation.
4. Too much candy gives you a stomachache. Most of us remember Halloween nights, coming home with pounds of candy, and eating most of it that night, and suffering an upset stomach later. College students are known for their lack of moderation.
While not true for everyone, most people have indulged in a night of drinking and partying, or staying up late studying or just because, and woken up the next morning to say "never again," only to repeat the process the next weekend.
We are still learning some lessons, and college, as a second childhood, is often the last chance we have to make the mistakes of a child before becoming adults.
Anything can be bad for you in large doses, and the wisdom gained from the experience of eating a pound of candy in a single night should be enough to remind any college student that everything is better in moderation.
Overall, the lessons we learn as children are meant to serve us as adults, reminding us that there are some things that never change, no matter how old we get.
Remembering the lessons we learned the first time around makes the college experience much more fulfilling.
Zafar is a Wichita senior in history
MCKERNAN'S PERSPECTIVE
Kevin McKernan/KANSAN
'Big Religion' marginalizing free speech
GUEST COMMENTARY
"Hee who destroys a goode Book, kills reason it self." — Thomas Milton, Aareopagitica, 1644
This week, a small-town school board in rural Pennsylvania snatched The Buffalo Tree, by Adam Rapp, from the curriculum of the local high school.
America has a long history of arbitrarily banning books — hell, the whole world does, for that matter — and it's usually in the name of some rabid religious fervor fueled by a powerful, albeit brief, wave of conservative thought.
But these last few rounds of banned books feels different. The whole thing reeks of Big Politics in America --- and hiding just behind that, Big Religion.
This week's unfortunate incident in Pennsylvania is no different. The rural community there thought that Rapp's coming-of-age novel wasn't appropriate, just as rural communities here in Kansas thought the same of "We All Fall Down," "Annie On My Mind," The Giver" and countless others.
RON KNOX
opinion@kansan.com
But now, the attacks have a different perspective: that the words and, moreover, the ideas in these books are simply unnecessary parts of American life: That the speech in banned books is worthless, and not protected by the first amendment.
See, when books had been banned in the past, the banning body would list a few words they didn't like, gather a group to complain, and get the book pulled for a year or so, before the issue dried up and went away. In almost every notable case, books found their way back onto shelves in schools and libraries.
"If the parties' intention is to deny students access to ideas with which the party disagrees, it is a violation of the First Amendment," writes Claire Mullally, an intellectual-property lawyer who writes columns on book banning for the First
Amendment Center.
The Supreme Court agrees with Mullally, but conservative teachers, parents and librarians don't seem to care much. And as the gulf between liberalism and religious conservatism widens, those wanting to ban books because of their words and ideas suddenly have a voice—and a microphone.
"Parents who dare to speak up when their children are assaulted with sexually explicit and violent material are not 'censors'—and most definitely not [...]'threats to intellectual freedom'." Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy for Focus on the Family, a conservative watchdog group, said in a statement.
Focus on the Family has done a fine job, in both activism and advocacy, of likening any sentiment they don't want to hear or read to "hard-core pornography," something they claim national library associations feverishly support.
A powerful sentiment, to be certain. And their message is spreading, giving conservative parents and teachers the green light to pull books off of school library shelves at their whim, all while using the fear of pornography to justify their degradation of the First Amendment.
"If this type of book is in our school, then why not have Hustler and Penthouse in the school library?" Pennsylvania school board member Otto W. Voit III said to the AP about Rapp's book.
Exactly, Mr. Voit. I'm know parents all
over Muhlenberg are smitten that you made the connection between Rapp's book and porno. Because if you hadn't, they might be left with the mistaken idea that they were just words on a page...
just words on a page.
Now, assuredly, parents are scared silly. "Oh my," they must be thinking. "If we don't act, our kids will be reading Penthouse at school, during study hall!"
Okay, it seems foolish to think reasonable parents and teacher believe what Mr. Voit said. But it must be having some effect, or else Minney and his cronies wouldn't bother saying it.
If the effect is fear, it may not be the actual goal. For conservative morality to flourish in any society, children must build its foundation.
"Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's lives," wrote Judy Blume, a popular children's author, in an anti-censorship project for Random House. "This fear is often disguised as moral outrage."
And Minnery's outrage isn't just moral, it's social. How dare our society even have books with these words and ideas in them, his group seems to be saying.
But the fabric of the First Amendment is woven with the voices, words and ideas of a democracy. Unfortunately for Minnery and other conservatives, that means ideas that they might not like or find comfortable.
And if some parents don't want their child reading certain books, fine by me. But freedom of speech and expression are not choices one parent or teacher can make for everyone in a group.
Because that's not democracy. Maybe parents should spend a little less time on witch-hunts for books and more time teaching our kids what makes democracy work.
- Knox is a Kansas City, Mo., senior in journalism
Free All for
Call 864-0500
Punk-rock died the first time a kid said "Punk rock's not dead."
Free for all callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderpus and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com
Today I woke up at the crack of Dawn, and then I rolled her over.
Considering the fact that Spongebob Squarepants was a fish, when he says "Oh, tartar sauce," it's like us saying, "Oh, embalming fluid."
If you want to get down, down on the ground, cocaine.
Does anybody know of a good area outside to tan naked?
Why does JR look like a sad little emo kid? Maybe he should go join Dashboard.
comments, go to www.kansan.com.
It's rough to hear about the Student Voice coalition's $25 fine. It's scary to think that one of them might have to get a job and work for, like, three hours.
wonder if sports columnist Jack Weinstein secretly went to Mizzou.
This week at McDonald's, the JR meal: double cheeseburger and a milkshake.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Convict served time, should integrate
Registered sex offender Leroy Hendricks should be allowed to move into Lawrence. The widely known Hendricks has been the subject of debate in town recently, and with good reason. Who would want him? When he challenged a new sexual predator law in 1997, the Supreme Court called his case "chilling". He was once quoted as saying the only way he would stop molesting children was "if he died".
The legal system in the United States offers justice to all, including those who perform lewd acts which disgust the rest of us. Hendricks was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and he served that. Just as he was finishing his sentence, Kansas legislature passed a law that allowed criminals like Hendricks to be sentenced to more time in a psychological facility.
None of that should matter.
Now after 10 years in that system, he's being released under strict guidelines.
If Hendricks moves to Lawrence, he will be under constant surveillance that amounts essentially to the highest degree of house arrest. This measure will cost the state of Kansas an estimated $278,000 for the first 15 months alone. In short, he won't be roaming the streets.
Leroy Hendricks is 70 years old, and in declining health. It would be unjustified to say he is no longer a threat, but one fact is unmistakably clear: he has served his sentence. It's doubtful that the parents of his victims would agree that the 20 years spent in incarceration can make up for his crimes. But according to the legal system that we all depend on everyday, his time for release has come.
Why isn't there the same amount of outrage about citizens who have been
convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol time and again? Those people pose as much a risk to the public as sexual predators like Hendricks. It's because in our society, we reserve a special place in our minds for sex criminals. It's easier to watch a story on the news about a drunk driver killing a pedestrian than it is to imagine a child being raped. But that is not a reason to petition to keep Hendricks out of Lawrence.
keep Hendricks successful Is it a scary thought to know that someone with such a violent past is living across the street? Yes. But are citizens in the legal position to decline this man his right to live a somewhat normal life? So the answer, as hard as it may be to accept, is that Hendricks has served his time and deserves to be part of the community.
♦ Erick Schmidt writing for the editorial board
TALK TO US
Andrew Vaupel, editor
864-4810 or avaupel@kansan.com
Donovan Atkinson, Misty Huber,
Amanda Kim Stairrett and Marissa
Stephenson
managing editors
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Steve Vockrodt
Laura Francoviglia
opinion editor
884-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
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Danielle Bose, retail sales manager 884-435B or advertising@kansan.com
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Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser 884-7963 or jweaver@kansan.com
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
David Archer, Vive Bolova,
John Byerley, Chase Edgerton,
Wheaton Elkins, Palge Higgins,
Matt Hugen, John Jordan, Kyle Koch,
Doug Lang, Kevin McKernan, Mike
Mostaffa, Erica Prather,
Erick Schmidt, Devin Sikes, Gaby Souza
Sarach Satacy and Anne Weltmer.
▼ SUBMISSIONS
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors 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 Steve Vockord or Laura Francoviglia at 864-4924 or email opinion@ kansan.com. General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kansan.com.
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