Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
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I found out how to read FFA from my iPhone. Score!
I wish my parents were loaded so I could continue to go to college.
To the ugly guy with a smoking hot girlfriend: You give me hope.
Krabby Patties at GSP for dinner? Will the workers be dressed as yellow sponges,
We're gonna have to quit complaining to each other about our lives or I'm gonna do something really stupid and you're gonna enjoy it.
I want two guys to make out in front of a campus tour group. That would give them a great college experience!
WTF, Xavier?
I've never had good experiences with ugly people.
The only thing I enjoy more than seeing someone run for the bus is seeing someone run for and still miss the bus.
The only reason why I want a boyfriend is so I can have sex every night and have someone to carry heavy things
I love being a BAMF.
I am craving calamari.
I completed the census. I'm accounted for!
It's probably not a good night to get drunk...
Her laugh is a machine gun that shoots headache bullets.
Seriously. We're not in high school anymore, so everyone needs to get over the fact that there are gay people.
I can hear the deep voice of the man who lives next to me through the walls.
Sometimes I have nightmares that I forget to put on my deodorant. Thankfully they're only dreams!
The guy next to me at the urinal was listening to "The Final Countdown." That must be one epic piss.
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ORGANIC HEALTH
Slay vampire appliances to save money, energy
As I walked on a tree- shaded street the other day in Lawrence, I noticed something that I do not commonly see: clothes hanging to dry on a clothesline. At first, I was struck by how seemingly old-fashioned that was. Wasn't that how our grandparents used to dry their clothes? I thought everyone had drivers now
But, after a little more consideration, I began to see the appeal of line-drying clothes. Why waste energy and money when there are less expensive, eco-friendly options available?
A recent article in The New York Times by Alina Tugend addressed people's misuse and overuse of appliances. People are so caught up with the fast pace of American life that they often fail to read directions and do not take time to consider their options. A person shouldn't just do something the way his or her parents do because even parents are sometimes guilty of not reading directions.
If you aren't willing to live life as our ancestors did, there are still ways to be energy efficient while using appliances. For example, if you insist on using an electric dryer, clean out the lint after every couple of loads. If the lint builds up to the extreme, as my mom tells me, "the laundry machine could explode." The explosion of a dryer means no more dryer for the owner and the need to buy a new one. Although I don't think this is a common occurrence, clogged up lint does decrease a dryer's efficiency. And, with the busy lives of college students, there is little extra time to wait for dry t-shirts.
Hanging clothes, using fewer supplies and unplugging electronics when not using them saves energy. This, in turn, saves money. College students who are frustrated with sky-high utility bills could lessen both by unplugging items not in use. Line-drying clothes eliminates electric dryer use and lessens a person's electric bill by up to 20 percent, said executive director of Project Laundry List Alexander P. Lee.
Students who live in dorms and don't pay bills now may wonder how this applies to them. I hope, though, that these students still wash their clothes in a washing machine somewhere. In order to wash clothes, laundry detergent, which obviously costs money, is essential, but this is often used
Organically Speaking
inefficiently. One good way to save money is by actually reading the directions on the back of laundry detergent.
BY RACHEL SCHWARTZ
rschwartz@kansan.com
In her column in the Times, Tugend states, "The No.1 sin, according to repair people and appliance experts, seems to be adding too much soap to washing machines or dishwashers." By reading the directions, soaps will last longer and the user won't have to spend money to buy more as often.
Besides clothes washers and dryers, there are other appliances and electronics that take away energy. These include cell phones, computers, microwaves and more. After a phone or computer is charged, simply unplug the chargers. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, appliances and electronics continue to use energy when they are turned off and plugged in. These energy-sucking appliances are sometimes referred to as vampire appliances. The only way to stop their energy drainage is by unplugging them after use. However, I know that
does not always happen. On hectic days, I sometimes run away from my Mac while it is still turned on, draining its battery and wasting energy. Using "Energy Star" labeled electronics can also save energy. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, I could save up to 70 percent more energy if I had an Energy Star computer, even if I absent-mindedly left it plugged in. As if that isn't good enough, this would also improve the overall life of my computer, which would be helpful because I am not always at a place where I am able to charge it. I know this is a problem that many students are familiar with but, thanks to Energy Star and efficiency, the incidence of these problems can be reduced.
Although line-drying clothes and hand writing essays are ideally the most energy efficient, some don't have the time or they desire our technological society. That is why it is good to know that living an eco-friendly life doesn't have to be all-or-nothing. By making small adjustments, such as unplugging appliances and cleaning lint from the dryer, everyone can save energy and money.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Schwartz is a sophomore from Leawood in journalism and Spanish.
THE 13 WORST ENERGY SUCKERS
1. Set-top box for TV (such as a DVR, VCR or cable box)
2. Television – rear projection and plasma TV's are the worst offenders
(such as a DVR, VCR or cable box)
2. Television - rear projection and plasma TV's are the worst offenders
3. Desktop and laptop computers
4. Audio systems - powered subwoofers are the biggest energy suckers
5. Printers and scanners
6. CD and DVD players
7. Cordless telephone
8. Fax machine
9. Wireless router
10. Microwave oven
11. External USB hard drive
12. DSL modem
13. Computer monitors
AR00J KHALID
SUMMERFIELD
www.MrCheapStuff.com
HALL ...
POLITICS
Oil policy is compromise
last month, President Obama threw environmentalists for a curve when he announced plans to expand offshore drilling in the U.S. Then, he turned around that same week and announced new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions for automobiles. Is Obama toying with environmentalists' emotions, or is this a part of a smart strategy for improving our energy economy and security?
Certainly, the offshore drilling announcement was something of a disappointment for me, being something of an environmentalist. I would include myself among those who think the potential gains are not worth the environmental risks attached with drilling. However, I thought the proposal was worth a deeper look.
Nearly 167 million acres of ocean along the East Coast and 130 million acres near northern Alaska will be open for oil exploration under Obama's proposal. But, the environmentally-fragile Bristol Bay will fall under federal protections. Essentially, this is a compromised version of a similar plan from President G.W. Bush.
There exists a strong argument for expanding domestic production in the face of potential security threats posed by a reliance on foreign oil. The U.S. imports 58 percent of the oil it consumes annually. This weakens our global ability to project power.
Political scientist Hans Morgentau once said that the abundance of natural resources in the U.S. is the source of much of its power. He said, "Countries enjoying self-sufficiency, such as the United States and Russia, need not divert their national energies and foreign policies from their primary objectives in order to make sure their populations will not starve in war."
The standard environmentalist counter to this is that expanding domestic drilling in the proposed areas wouldn't come close to substantially decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. Although this holds some truth, Obama's announcement is more political maneuvering than compromising
Political Planet
BY DEVIN LOWELL
A closer look at the policy behind the announcement reveals that, in truth, no new drilling is guaranteed to occur. New leases would only be granted to oil companies after various geologic and environmental reviews of the given lease proposals. Although many people find it difficult to have much trust in public officials, I'd like to believe that the Obama Interior Department and EPA would not allow a lease sale if a great environmental risk were posed by new drilling.
core environmental values.
Combine this with other recent Obama energy-related announcements, including replacing the federal vehicle fleet with hybrids, fueling Department of Defense vehicles with biodiesel and the regulation on greenhouse gases for new automobiles, and a strong political strategy for a transformed energy economy emerges.
I hope that this stretch of new, energy-related policies will create bipartisan momentum for the energy and climate legislation about to be proposed by Senators Lindsey Graham, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.
Then again, I would've liked to believe in a similar bipartisan spirit around a health care plan that contained many proposals originating from conservatives.
Either way, I don't think Obama has betrayed the various environmental interests with this new drilling proposal. Instead, it represents smart political posturing to build support for environmental legislation Americans should get behind.
Lowell is a senior from Concordia in journalism and political science.
MISTAKE TO OVERSIMPLIFY SOCIALISM
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I would like to expand upon the analogy offered in an editorial comparing socialism and capitalism. The idea was that if student grades were averaged out, the best students would stop trying, thus proving socialism makes society lazy. But socialism isn't about taking away the rewards of the successful. Socialism is the allocation of public resources so that everybody will have a more fair chance to compete, or even survive.
To use the classroom analogy, socialism would be like giving every student a syllabus on the first day of class; and if a student misses that first day of class, they can still get a syllabus at another time. Capitalism would be giving the first three or four students who show up to class a syllabus and ignoring everyone else. Real world example: government funding for suburbs in the 1950s, which helped create property appreciation for homeowners. The funding ignored minorities who were red-lined out of home loans.
As a future millionaire myself, I'll have no problem paying more than my fair share of taxes for fire departments, libraries and health care because I know that having my neighbor's house burn down doesn't help me, having illiterate people doesn't help me and having sick people doesn't help me. Even if I'm a firefighter, librarian or doctor, these don't help because I could've used that time or money on something new (see: Broken Window Fallacy).
As a last note, America can implement socialist policies — and has for centuries — without being socialist; much in the way that I can drink a beer without being an alcoholic. So stop looking for the simplest answer, because more times than not, it's not simple.
— Nick Adams is a junior from Manhattan.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
WARD members of the Kansai Edison Board are Stephen Montemayar, Brinne Pfizer, Jennifer Torlain, Loreau Cunningham, Vicky Lu, Emily McCoy, Kate Larabee, Stephanie Penn, James Castle, Michael Holtz, Callin Thorbrugh and Andy Hammond.