PAGE 4
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013
FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351
Leggings are pajamas! Put real pants on.
Whenever I walk by Stauffer-Flint, I sneak a glance at my reflection in the windows.
It shouldn't be called the walk of shame. It should be called the walk of awesome.
It's really nice when the wind no longer feels awful on my face as I walk to class.
This is college. You don't need to ask to go to the restroom... SMH.
Can we make KU Compliments popular again? It's like the classy @KUSecretAdmirer.
Fellow Jayhawks. Stop whining how full the bus is. There is always room to make to help the last few get on!
Jayhawks love Jayhawks. :)
To be fair, the original Wescoe design had a parking garage big enough for 150.
KU (students) when it comes to recycling. I have become very disappointed in you. We have the bins, now all you have to do is use them, please and thanks.)
V This guy sucks.
^ This guy blows.
Always remember. don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.
You'd be surprised at how proud some people are of the decisions they make at the Hawk.
I just saw two squirrel couples chasing each other. Love is in the air.
Frat boys have ruined wearing sunglasses for the rest of us.
To the person complaining about parking on campus. You don't get to have a beautiful campus when it's filled with parking lots. You'll be OK.
How about everyone stop worrying about what everyone else is doing, what they're wearing, how they're wearing it and focus on your own life? Editor's note: But then how will I feel better about my own awful decisions?
Only 1 of 4 18-25 year olds have used marijuana in the last year? That seems low. Well, at least around my friends it does.
SOCIETY
The closer we get to stop day, the more I start skipping my morning classes to eat breakfast and lunch at home.
420 in Lawrence is the equivalent to Fake Patty's in Manhattan.
May God bless Boston and all the heroes who risked their lives. America rocks!
Wescoe was supposed to be a tower with a parking garage below. Check the website if you don't believe me.
Really? You are going to put your bag, holding thousands of dollars worth of books and computer in it, over your head to keep your hair dry?
Reddit and Boston cause mass delusion
As soon as the Boston tragedy happened, pictures and videos of it began to pop up all over the Internet. With the ubiquity of smartphones and easy Internet access, pictures from the event became pretty much public domain. The free information flow for everyone has reached the criminal realm. The police do not hold exclusivity rights over crime evidences anymore, and it seems like everyone with an iPhone can be an investigator now. Although open access to information is usually positive, it is definitely not in this case. As demonstrated by Reddit's "FindBostonBombers" thread, investigation crowdsourcing might be the easiest path to modern-day witch hunt.
Not long after the bomb went off, Reddit users mobilized on the task of finding the responsible parties. They collected and went through pictures of the event, pointing out supposedly
suspicious behavior, such as not watching the marathon or going through your backpack. Many suspects were identified, some down to the name and Facebook profile. The well-intentioned online investigators seemed to be onto something.
As it turned out, they were wrong.
The thread, now taken down by Reddit editors, did not identify the real suspects arrested by the FBI. Their online "suspects" were actually innocent and completely guiltless people, and their families were hassled and persecuted. The online investigators were wrong, but even if they had been right, crowdsourcing investigation sails into very dangerous waters.
The advocates of investigation crowdsourcing argue that it has the potential to mobilize more people to investigate a crime than the official investigation could ever pay for. That is true. But they overlook potential mass
delusions, one of most dangerous features of social behavior in situations like these.
Mass delusion is not a new phenomenon. The human mind will usually find patterns when it is looking for them. Many cases have been reported, among them the Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic.
In April 1954, citizens in the Seattle metro area began to notice previously undetected windshield holes in their cars after a reported vandalism incident. The police got close to 3,000 reported cases in a couple of weeks, and many of the city's residents believed
Although public help could have been useful when processing images, the same group that is passively looking at pictures online could easily be out on the streets searching for the "terrorists," and we have seen that kind of witch hunt before.
it was caused by the action of a gang with a particular fixation for windshields. As it turns out, the holes were actually always there, and there was nothing suspicious about them. But because people were looking for patterns and suspicious holes in their cars, they invariably found them. Online investigators looking at pictures and marking regular bystanders as criminals is nothing but another facet of mass delusion.
In the Boston tragedy case, some of the victims of collective delusion included, among others, the missing Brown University student Sunil Tripathi, a man who became known online as the "Blue Robe Guy," as well as a Saudi man tackled by bystanders and persecuted by the media. Even though all of them turned out innocent, they had already been judged guilty by a deluded section of the public, sure about their suspicions.
There are more Reddit users than investigators in the Boston police, no doubt, and they can process a lot more information. Although investigation crowdsourcing increases speed of processing, the accuracy costs are way too expensive. We ought to be careful! The line between a watchful crowd and a vigilante bias is a thin one. Unfortunately, we have crossed it. Let's hope and work so that we do not cross it again in the future.
Morelix is a junior majoring in business and economics from Belo Horizonte, Brazil
TRANSPORTATION
Confidence and knowledge are key when buying a car
If you're anything like me, you're perpetually in the market for a new car. I'm constantly browsing the classifieds, daydreaming about how much fun it would be to roll in a stylish new ride. I quickly tire of whatever car I currently own, wondering if there's something affordable out there that'd be more exciting to drive.
OK, it's a really weird obsession, so hopefully you're not like me.
Either way, my automotive attention deficit disorder leads me down more than a few adventures with used car dealers, and I've picked up a few useful bits of advice along the way. If you've tooyed with the idea of buying a new (or used) car, read on.
Before you even think about visiting a dealer, you must identify the car you want and do your research. If you go into a test drive knowing less about the car than the salesman, then you don't know enough. Know that car inside and out, and peruse online forums to determine any common problems with the model you're interested in. Check out car value guides, like Kelley Blue Book and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) to find out exactly what you should pay for your car. A salesman will know if you are unprepared, and many will stretch the truth when they notice your shortcoming.
Next, hit up Craigslist,
AutoTrader, eBay and the like
until you find the right car. In
fact, find several cars that match
your criteria, because they won't
all be perfect. The online pictures
you see are infamous for
hiding blemishes like cracked
windshields and defective air conditioners.
Once you've found a suitable car and set up an appointment to see and drive it, approach the salesman confidently.
Understand your purpose and be ready to explain why you're looking at that certain car, especially if its price is steeper. Dress well for the test drive; I personally like the clean, professional look of jeans and a tucked-in polo shirt.
It says to the salesman, "I can afford this car, but I'm not going to pay more than it's worth."
While you're inspecting the car, ask critical questions. Who were the previous owners? Do they have receipts for the car's maintenance work? Has the car been in an accident? Offentimes, a small used car dealer won't be able to answer all of these questions because they bought the car from an auction, not the previous owner, but it's worth asking. Be sure to pay special attention to any problem areas you identified in your research, and (with the salesman's permission) bring the car to your trusted mechanic for a quick inspection during the test drive.
If the car lives up to your expectations, it's time to negotiate a deal with those fellas. Go into the negotiations with your walk-away price firmly in mind.
That means you must decide that if they won't give you the car for less than a certain dollar amount, then you'll walk away from the deal. Don't be afraid to say no to a subpar deal. Dealers sometimes scramble to meet their sales quotas during the last week of each month, so you can sometimes negotiate a deal more easily then simply because they need to move cars off the lot.
If you're trading in your current car, don't be fooled by the games they'll try to play. I was once told that a dealer couldn't give me more than $1,000 for my 1997 model car because it was too old to sell on their lot. I wasn't falling for that one, so he talked to his manager and somehow found $3,500 to offer me for the car. That's more like it, bud. Know your car's trade-in value and suggested retail value when you go in. The dealer needs to turn a profit, so he won't pay you retail, but don't settle with less than your car is worth. It's more work for you, but you'll always get more money for your car if you sell it yourself.
The most fatal mistake you can make during this process is getting emotionally attached to a car. As soon as you are emotionally attached, you're willing to pay anything for it, so make sure your head is speaking to you as much as your heart. Find something that's right for your needs, that's reliable and that's within your financial reach. And when you've made the rational choice on the deal, look back in several years knowing that you made a good decision.
Teiler is a junior majoring in mechanical engineering from Olathe.
CAMPUS
Don't waste your last few summers
It's April everyone, in case you didn't already know. The trees are getting their color back, the flowers are blooming, the weather is warming up and summer is right around the corner. Use this time wisely to get ready for the anticipated summer.
But what exactly is the best way to spend your summer vacation? As college students, we need to make the most out of our summers because before we know it, we will have full-time jobs and no summer vacation.
For us juniors, it could be our last summer to enjoy without having a job to report to everyday. So before we have to face those real-life situations, make the most of this summer.
It is going to be another hot and humid summer this year, so make sure you have plenty of time at the beach. There is no better way to stay cool during a hot summer day than a day at the beach. It is also a great way to stay relaxed and stress-free. I know it can be hard to get motivated to leave the comfort of your air-conditioned house, but if you are staying cool on a beach, it might make it worth it.
And if you don't live near a beach, take a vacation and make a trip out of it, either to a beach or a city you have never been to. We all have that one place in the country we have never been to and have always wanted to go, so why not take this trip
summer? If you're out of school and work, you have the time, so take advantage of it before you are busy again with school in the fall. Make memories, get out and be active.
Make the time to go to some music festivals or an outdoor concert. Wakarusa is a fun music festival. It is a three-day outdoor event that has music of all genres, so it is fun for everyone. Or if you're the type of person who doesn't like to camp and be away from their bed, then make the time to go to an outdoor concert and take advantage of the warm weather because it will be gone before we know it.
Who could forget to throw a barbecue with some day drinking on a lazy Sunday? This might be the most fun one could do during the summer. This is the best way to enjoy your summer and the weather.
Just remember it is important to get out and enjoy the summer before we are all back to the school grind in the fall.
Ben Carroll is a junior English major from Salem, Conn.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
@Princess_Mirr
@DOK_Opinion more snow days???
@kansaskid93
@UOK Opinion this is normal in
Kansas. If you don't like the weather
wait a day.
@King_Cole_316
@UDK Definition No0000000
@UDK_Opinion Noooooooo
@Kaydubbed
Follow us on twitter @UDK_Opinion. Tweet us our opinions, and we just might publish them.
@UDK_Opinion Oh Kansas weather and your Spring teasing. What's the saying… "the longer the waiting the sweeter the kiss"? Yeah, Bulls**
Rumors of possible snow. What has Kansas weather come to?
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to kansanopdesk@gmail.com.
Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line.
**Length:** 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown Find our *fuit letter* to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
Hannah Wise, editor-in-chief editor@kansan.com
Sarah McCabe, managing editor smtrabal@khanan.com
Nikki Wentling, managing editor nwentling@kansan.com
Dylan Lysen, opinion editor dlysen@kansan.com
Elise Farrington, business manager efarrington@kansan.com
Jacob Snider, sales manager
jsnider@kansan.com
A.
CONTACT US
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news adviser mgibson@kansan.com
Jon Schitt, sales and marketing adviser jschitt@kansan.com
办
1
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Nawan Editorial Board are Hannah Wise, Sarah McChaill, Niki Wentling, Dylan Lyon, Elise Farrington and Jasco Sander.
(