Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
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Ladies, what's the best way of picking you up? What do you want?
I want Cocoa Puffs.
I can't wait until I never have to speak to you again. It will be the best day of my life, for real.
I'm going to start calling my girl "Little Caesars," because she's always Hot-N-Ready.
They should rename MTV to the "24-Hour 16 and Pregnant Marathon Channel."
I'm so glad I'm over you because you are just different.
3oom shakalaka!
I don't get drunk... I get awesome!
I once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt.
Oreo Cakesters might as well be called Oreo Bakesters.
A Rubiks Cube is so shallow: too many people are concerned with making the outside conform to what is expected. How many people have ever taken apart one to understand the complexity beneath the lavers?
I'm fighting the system!
Dear bio professor, what is the point of taking notes in your class when you insist on shuffling through the slides like a deck of cards?
I leanin' so hard I'm-a need kickstand to stay on my feet!
Ughhh peer pressure...
Does anyone "talk to the hand" anymore?
Craaaaaazy! But it feels all right. Baby, thinkin' of you keeps me up all night!
--quart of water per flush. But "going green" doesn't have to be glamorous.
Rednecks are the most fun to argue with.
My hungover self just slept through all my classes. Great start to the weekend.
--quart of water per flush. But "going green" doesn't have to be glamorous.
--quart of water per flush. But "going green" doesn't have to be glamorous.
To that one generic girl doing that one thing at someplace on campus, I'm making a comment related to you, as if you would even know it's your.
Insult, woah.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Save energy: small steps, big effects
Although energy-generating elliptical machines, a LEED platinum certified house and a solar-powered Volkswagen Beetle exemplify the University's strong commitment to green energy, the energy-saving contract signed last month also deserves attention.
What the contract lacks in extravagance, it makes up for in numbers. At a cost of $25 million, the University will save $2 million annually in utility costs. The savings will come from improvements to energy efficiency in 56 campus buildings.
Due Recognition: The University entered into a contract with Energy Solutions Professionals (ESP) of Overland Park after the company completed a campuswide energy audit in December. The project will focus on improving heating, lighting, ventilation and water usage. It's scheduled for completion in summer 2011.
ESP also designed an energy awareness program expected to save University $200,000 a year. The program will provide departments with energy evaluations and advice on energy conservation.
Although many of the improvements will likely go unnoticed by students — 32-watt light bulbs changed to 28-watt light bulbs, for example — their contributions to energy efficiency on campus is considerable and deserves praise.
Few energy conservation projects are less appealing than low-flow toilets —replacing three or four gallons of water with one
Projects labeled as "revolutionary" or "state-of-the-art" frequently earn immediate and widespread attention. What they rarely achieve is practical, real world application.
We acknowledge the merits of every green project, program and initiative at the University and we appreciate the dedication and hard work of those involved.
Lesson Learned: The $25 million needed to fund the project may seem startling in contrast with the $37.3 million in University budget cuts and unfunded mandates. Despite these concerns, funding for the project is designed not to interfere with the University's budget.
Yet the University's collaborative effort with ESP reminds us that sometimes the best green projects are the ones that go unnoticed.
With the contract signed, we hope University officials learned from six years of strained negotiations with Chevron Energy Solutions involving a similar energy-savings deal.
The Kansas Board of Regents approved $25.6 million in bonds that will be secured through the $2 million in savings each year. In addition, ESP will track and guarantee the $2 million in annual energy savings for 15 years. The company agreed to pay the difference if the savings are not realized
In 2003, the University signed an $18-million contract with a company soon after it was acquired
by Chevron. Under the contact, the company guaranteed one million dollars in annual savings to pay off the bonds acquired to fund the project — similar to the University's agreement with ESP.
Once the project was completed, the University was saving about half that. Lengthy disputes over the remaining $500,000 soon followed. Negotiations finally ended with a settlement made just last month in which Chevron agreed to pay the University $400,000 a year for the next 12 years.
Under the new energy-savings deal, if the $2 million in annual savings weren't realized or if ESP were to fail, the University would likely face an even scarier situation. ESP has only been in business since 2006 and presumably has far less financial backing than Chevron, a multi-billion dollar corporation. $400,000 is pocket change for a company the size of Chevron. The same cannot be said for the much smaller ESP.
Donald W. Steeples, senior vice provost for scholarly support, referenced the company's lack of experience with universities as a primary problem contributing to the failed deal in a "Chronicle of High Education" article.
After the Chevron experience, we hope University officials were more diligent in their decision to work with ESP. Without the backing of a multi-billion dollar corporation, the University won't be so lucky if things don't go as planned.
-Michael Holtz for the Kansan
EDITORIAL CARTOON
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
RELIGION
Mr. Phelps, all you need is love
Recently some members of Westboro Baptist Church made another appearance on our campus, this time to protest Pride Week. In opposition to the Westboro Baptist's signs of hatred toward homosexuals, students came out in full force with signs of their own. Although there were varying degrees of creativity, the message the students sent was clear: We will not put up with that disrespect in Lawrence.
Not only did the students help bring attention to the Brown Bag Drag show, which was going on simultaneously with the protest, but they also raised $1,161 for Planned Parenthood. These are both wonderful accomplishments and I applaud the students involved. However, with all of the achievements aside, I can't help but have a feeling of ambivalence.
Beyond God
The main reason the Westboro clan comes to events such as the Pride Week rally is with the simple goal of getting attention. So, unfortunately, the more people who come out — whether in opposition or support — the more people who see the hateful messages of the group. This is brought to an even higher degree when the media is attracted.
What then would happen if instead of feeding Westboro's desire for attention, we all just ignored the group? If it no longer got the press and the attention, would it bother wasting their time, money and effort to come out?
Although I don't want to say that people shouldn't voice their opinions or stand up for what they believe, I am not sure what other options there are. I can say I'm truly conflicted. It's wrong to dignify Westboro's presence by giving it attention, but it is also wrong to do nothing to counter the messages of hate put out by Westboro.
BY SHAUNA BLACKMON
sblackmon@kansan.com
Many members of Westboro are members of a family led by patriarch Fred Phelps. Many of them are lawyers and therefore extremely familiar with their First Amendment rights. This is why past attempts at suing them have done little to deter their efforts.
So if taking action — usually in the forms of anger or aggression —
against the Westboro group hasn't helped the situation, and it just feels wrong to sit and watch it all happen while doing nothing, what should we do?
Clearly another approach is necessary. So what if we responded to the hate expressed by the members of Westboro with our own expressions of love, tolerance and acceptance?
Imagine if the next time the Westboro group came to our campus, everyone got together and held signs reading messages such as, "We love Fred Phelps, even if he is a bigot," or "We love God, Fred Phelps and gays." Although I don't really believe it would cause them to pack their bags and never come back, I do think it would put a positive message on a negative situation.
I don't expect anyone — especially those directly hurt by the messages of Westboro — to welcome it with open arms. But, still, I think we can all agree that hate accomplishes nothing.
Maybe Phelps has taught us something after all.
Blackmon is a junior from Olathe in journalism.
POLITICS
Duped and drugged
At one point, the term "mental illness" was only heard in psychiatric wards. Now, we encounter it on television commercials, website advertisements and in the discourse of general practitioners.
Does your 10-year-old have trouble focusing in school? Well, he must have ADHD, and he needs a psychiatric drug to focus. Do you have times when you feel very sad that are followed by times when you are very happy? Well, you are bipolar and need to be prescribed an antidepressant.
Diagnoses for "mood disorders" such as these have skyrocketed over the years. Except, there seems to be something very strange about how they are diagnosed: evaluations are completely subjective.
Unlike other medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, there is no test to verify any of these disorders, which apparently affect nearly a fourth of the population.
Of course, mental problems such as depression and anxiety can be very disruptive in some cases. Nonetheless, there are other theories as to why we all seem to think that we have "mental illnesses."
According to Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a mental health watchdog, none of us are really sick. The organization believes that the billions of dollars spent by psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries to convince the public, legislators and press that conditions such as ADHD and depression are actual diseases is the cause for the U.S.'s new mental illnesses.
In the late 80's, industry fronted advocacy groups such as the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) redefined new mental conditions as a "treatable illness." This opened the doors to extremely profitable possibilities of being able to diagnose and medicate people for newly created mental "disorders."
In truth, these disorders seem to be much more like behaviors. At times, everyone gets depressed, happy, neutral
BY BRADEN KATZ bkatz@kansan.com
Yet, if you are told by your television, computer and doctor that you are sick, eventually you will believe it. The psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries have created an incubator for mental health issues, and the money is rolling in.
According to a study by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), doctors write prescriptions for more antidepressants than any other drug in the this country. Of the 2.5 billion drugs prescribed in 2005, 118 million were antidepressants.
Go to the doctor with stress-related symptoms that range from moderate to severe, and your doctor will happily prescribe Prozac or Zoloft to solve your "disorder." If symptoms continue, go back to the doctor to be prescribed an additional anti-depressant for the rather depressing side effects of your antidepressant. Wait... what?
In prescription augmentation, patients are actually prescribed an additional drug for the adverse side effects of their antidepressant. It seems that pharmaceutical companies have found a medication for everything.
The psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries' effort to diagnose all of us with mental illnesses is working. Children's moods are being altered by medication and we all seem to believe that we should always feel unnaturally happy. Once again, the Food and Drug Administration is failing to regulate destructive practices of a multi-billion dollar industry.
Katz is a junior from Overland Park in creative writing and political science.
Chatterbox The news of the day, through the words of someone else
— "Jartiv" in response to "Landslide victory for KUnited" on April 17.
"Here's a thought, senators: spend 2010-11 doing a freaking awesome job. And when it comes time to sign up for the ballot, sign up without a coalition. Run on your own merits. Don't let coalitions hold us back."
"So Obama didn't go to dinner with Sarkozy, France's self-deluded short man complex leader. Not exactly a big deal. When JFK is remembered, it is for that really fancy dinner he had in France? Man, that really made a big difference in the world."
—“PatrickEwing” in response to “Compton: Arrogance splits onto foreign policy” on April 13.
"There's about a thousand things the average student needs or will need that take precedence over expending the resources it takes to study abroad. Sounds nice in principle, impossible and impractical in execution."
— "WildHawk" in response to "Letter to the Editor: Requiring study abroad helps city, state, country" on April 14.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansai Editorial Board are Stephen Montemayer, Brianna Phannteniel, Jennitor Tennise, Lauer Cunningham, Vicky Sturgeon, Laura Gibson, Stefane Pennie, James Castle, Michael Holtz, Cattlin Thorbugh and Andrew Hammond.