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MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013
FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351
Hahahahahahahahahaha Kentucky.
If you don't pretend the red brick outside the union is lava, you've lost your childhood.
Just bought my La Salle shirt!
January, you weren't invited to this spring break party.
My girlfriend just asked me if I'd still love her if she failed her midterms so hard that she became a gas station.
Many athletes bring millions of dollars in revenue to their schools. So yeah, tuition and board seems like a cheap buyout.
You know it's actually Hell Week when you dread leaving the safety of a lecture hall.
What's all this nonsense about more "free printing?" Where do you think KU gets the money that allows us $8 of printing?
Maybe it's just me but doesn't full range wifi make sense for the Underground? It's silly to not get signal in such a popular area.
Inquiring minds want to know what size shoe Jeff Withey wears.
Forget the drummers. I suggest the baritones.
K-State isn't our big brother. They may have been founded two years before KU but they were not an accredited univer
Editor's note: According to both university's websites KU was accredited in 1913, and K-State in 1916.
Oh man, all the things I could tell you about that drummer that you don't want to hear...
Good news - your student fees don't buy sidewalk chalk for coalitions!
Little brother "joke?" It's not a joke.
I feel myself coming out of my winter hibernation model!!!
Who else wants to take a nap outside?
I get that it's sunny outside, but is it really that sunny in the Budg lecture hall? Take the sunglasses off...
Editor's note: These last four FFs were before spring break.
Can somebody let the writers at the LWorld know that it's the University of Kansas and not Kansas University.
The ESPN commentators were talking about how cute our drummer was during the championship game. Anyone else notice this?
Just saw a bro in a tree. Are the Greeks joining forces with the squirrels?
Can I put bracketology in my education apps category?... That's acceptable, right?
Synchronized with the start of March Madness is the disappearance of my concentration in class.
CAMPUS
Student senate is about to make your life hell
Dear KU Student Senate Election Coalitions, I do not want to!
I do not want to be chased across campus. I refuse to wear a button. I refuse to take a flyer. If I frown, look away and walk faster when I see you see me, it's a hint that I don't want to talk to you. I hereby promise to take one flyer from each coalition and consider them carefully. I promise to read the platforms and Facebook pages of both groups. But in return I expect to have my personal space respected. I expect to be able to walk to my class in peace.
Fellow students, in the next few weeks, the active tabling will begin, and with it, your biggest worry. You might think "Sure, I can avoid a few tablers," but you are wrong. It's not a "few," it's an army, and they are trained to not be avoided.
For those who weren't here previous years for this nightmare, here's a quick explanation. There
are very specific rules for senate elections about how the coalitions can campaign and when they can use different methods. Right now chalking and passive tabling—the people handing out free stuff to those who approach them—are allowed, but soon the real fun begins. Soon coalitions can begin active tabling.
Active tabling basically means that the coalition members eat, sleep and breathe their mission. Every moment they aren't in class or work, they are out there holding flyers, flashing smiles and trying to shove as many buttons on you as they possibly can. You'd think you could just walk around them, but it's not that simple. They don't take no for an answer. They chase you, sometimes across campus, sometimes across Lawrence (OK, maybe the second one is a slight exaggeration) until you take their flyer. The only way to avoid taking a flyer is by wearing their button, and even that
doesn't always save you.
It is because of that I propose the following methods to avoid (or reciprocate the annoyance) of active tabulers.
1) "I can't hear you!" Put your head phones in, hum loudly and walk fast. Avoid direct eye contact and never let them sense your fear. Remember, the tablers are more scared of you than you are of them (this might be a lie).
2) Blend in. See a tabler approaching you? Don't panic, just have a notebook ready. Tear out pages from your notebook, or use pieces of homework and start holding them out to everyone
you walk by. Smile at these people and pretend you're also a tabler with a very important message to get across. The real tablers will think you're one of them and will let you pass.
3) Wear all the buttons! If you have one of the buttons, they let you pass, right? Therefore, it only makes sense to wear one from each coalition. That way you don't have to advertise your vote to the entire campus, and supposedly the tablels will let you pass unscathed.
4) Take the flyer, then give it back. Take the first flyer that someone hands you and read it. When the next tabler tries to shove a flyer on you, hand them their own coalition's flyer back. It's like recycling, but the recycle bins come to you.
you a flyer. You can't be entirely sure, though. They might just see it as an audience who can't escape.
5) Play dead. If all else fails and a tabler does catch you, fake a heart attack and fall to the ground. With luck they'll call an ambulance instead of handing
Before I close, I would like to pause here and be serious. As a student it is your duty to make an informed decision and vote, and it is very important that you do so. It is your money Senate spends, and this is your chance to make a difference. If you need the above methods to stay sane long enough to vote, so be it. But my hope is this: the KU coalitions consider a balance between active and hyper-active tabling, and that they productively spread their message rather than wasting their, and our, time.
Wenner is a sophomore English and History major from Topeka.
RELATIONSHIPS
We can't expect our significant others to change
Within the past month, people far and wide have been experiencing change—change in seasons, time and temperature. Likewise, students who are graduating this semester are likely experiencing change in finding jobs or graduate schools and beginning to make mental calculations of how much they'll be able to mooch off their parents for how long come August.
In suit, one dating philosophy that's as old as time is that partners should not expect their significant others to change, even as months, seasons, and enrollment at the University do. And a lot of the time, it's true, we shouldn't expect our boyfriends, girlfriends or whatever to change major aspects of themselves like their belief systems or their relationships with others.
But the philosophy overlooks the idea that not every element of a person is essential to his being and therefore shouldn't be a topic of discussion if an issue arises.
A few weeks ago I had pizza with someone with whom I'm somewhere between exes and
friends. After a lengthy discussion about whether his new crush was into him or not, somewhere the topic shifted to my frustration with his chronic unpunctuality during the relationship we shared three years prior. I expected a sheepish apology accompanied by a flirty grin typical of his fashion, but was instead asked. "Then why didn't you just break up with me?"
I put on a façade of being stumped but was internally screaming that I thought he would change. We may have dated three years ago and may have never been serious, but I couldn't get it out of my head: was I seriously at dinner with a guy who'd rather ditch a relationship than be on time?
In retrospect, I have to wonder if pop dating philosophy would make an exception here. It should.
People shouldn't expect their partners to willingly change any and everything at their significant others' whim. Elements of people's entire beings like music tastes and hobbies should not be expected to change for the sake
of a relationship because that change would undermine individuality and identity.
However, things that every couple should expect in relationships like respect and reliability are nonnegotiable, and can justifiably be a topic of conversation when those needs aren't being met. When the need is so basic and generally expected to be met in virtually every relationship, people are right in asking their partners to change in order to keep the bond afloat. If the problem isn't an essential aspect of the person being asked to change anyway, like being on time, what's the big deal?
Romantic relationships are a sort of social contract in which the people in them willingly enter
into a framework that demands certain things of them like being monogamous, for example. For that reason, some bloggers like Rich Santos of Marie Claire Magazine advocate that when you enter those relationships, you are effectively agreeing that everything about the other person is acceptable.
But contracts – either real or implied – can be and are broken, and people can bring unforeseen issues to the table, like punctuality for my ex and me. People always have the option to break up over these issues, but for those of us who would rather try to fix the problem than immediately abandon the relationship, a discussion about change is warranted. As long as we navigate it well and give the defendant a chance to give his input, change could be expected to be made, and the discussion would do the relationship good.
A week after I examined my ex-boyfriend's new crush's texts over pepperoni and mushroom pizza, I had an intense falling out with someone with whom I had become fairly close to over the
course of the past three months, who was coincidentally friends with that ex.
Maybe my ex will change sometime for his new girl. Maybe my ex's friend and I will recon- cile. But maybe not.
To my chagrin we got into an argument that left me reeling because it was all the proof I needed that he objectified me and wasn't about to take me seriously — issues I had with my ex too. After my conversation with my ex and my falling out with his friend, it dawned on me that sometimes change won't happen regardless of how much you want it to.
Regardless, though, sometimes you can justify trying to change another person, and we shouldn't have to suffer at a crossroads in relationships or friendships at the hands of pop philosophy. And when we don't, we may find ourselves happier and our relationships stronger.
Keith is a graduate student from Wichita in education. Follow her on Twitter @Rachel_UDeith.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
How's your bracket so far?
Follow us on Twitter @UDK_Opinion. Tweet us your opinions, and we just might publish them
@kalenbohalen
@UDK_Opinion Absolutely devastated.
I'm happy for Wichita, but they screwed me up!
@UDK_Opinion I had to call FEMA because MY BRACKET IS A DISASTER
@busychild424
The article was suggesting one way men can help combat violence against women. Nowhere does it call all men rapists; nowhere does it disregard violence against men. It is addressing one route men can take to help stop violence and nothing more.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Why is the first thing we ask a victim of sexual assault, "Was your dress too short?" or "Did you drink too much?" when we never ask a victim of robbery, "Was your suit too nice?" or "Did your watch look expensive?
This letter is in reference to the article "Men Need to Confront Sexual Violence," published Thursday March 14 by Katherine Gywyn. I thought the article had a great point, but based upon some readers' reactions, I believe some may have missed the point. So I want to help clarify a few things.
When a woman's claim of sexual assault is questioned because she was "drunk" or "dressed skimpy," then we are operating
Suggesting that men should help combat a culture that devalues the experiences and opinions of women is not a radical proposition — it is an appeal to equality. Real men help people, and one way you can help is to hold your male friends to a higher standard. Grow up and stop blaming women for the actions of rapists. Become involved and become a positive force in the world — not one behind a computer.
@hannzbanans
@UDK_Opinion God awful.
on the assumption that it is her responsibility to not to get raped
Jeffrey Hammons Senior from Valley Falls, Kan.
— it also assumes men obviously cannot stop themselves. As a man, I am honestly insulted by this mentality.
I believe that men are better than that. If you do too, then you should feel insulted when people question a victim's clothing choice or drink choice because it assumes men just can't stop themselves from raping.
@katiemo91
@UDK_Opinion In a strange turn of events, my "dream bracket" that I made for fun is 60% correct, while my "reality" bracket is at 30%. #Oops
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MEMBERS OF THE Kansan Editorial Board are Hannah Wise, Sarah McCabe, Nakel Wentling, Dylan Lysen, Elise Farrington and Jasco Snider.
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