Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010
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Why are K-State fans rejoicing that UNI beat KU? Because UNI accomplished something K-State has failed to do countless times?
I just wanted to miss class the day after winning the championship game.
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I'm living in a van down by the river next year.
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Nothing in life is guaranteed, even if it should
At least the debaters can win
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Happy spring?
Wow, Cornell made it further than we did in the tournament.
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If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "Bad day to be wearing a Kansas shirt" when I was at the airport, I would be in the Forbes "Top 100."
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I guess this was Obama's fault.
You know what? It's a good thing I came to KU for the education and not the sports. Or else losing the game would have really sucked for me.
The two aren't mutually exclusive, you know.
I got so fat over break. Ugh.
So, New-Years-resolution-weight-watchers, how's that diet/exercise working out for
Health care reform is go! Good ending to an overall crappy weekend.
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I have a major Boehner for the Republican Party!
This is a dumb move by the government.
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Is Google down for anyone else? I had to think for ten seconds about what other search engines exist.
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I proudly wore my KU sweatshirt out to the bars at home last night. I'll support Kansas until the day I die!
EDITORIAL BOARD
Budget freeze raises issues
Gov. Mark Parkinson promised to not cut any more funding to higher education next year, but because state revenue is hundreds of millions of dollars short, of meeting that budget, students could potentially see a substantial rise in tuition. Affordable higher education is incredibly important for the state and its citizens, especially in this economy. Parkinson should do his absolute best to keep his promise
Facing the Statehouse Education Budget Committee on February 15, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little gave a commendable testimony, bringing to light the critical importance of higher education if Kansas is to come out of the recession as a prosperous state.
Parkinson backed this testimony when he stressed the importance of building great universities in Kansas and that it would result in the development of economic success.
But if the state lacks $400 million in funding for education across the board, it needs to find a new way to replace that funding.
It's likely there could be a significant rise in tuition because of this budget freeze. An increase that could hurt the reputation of the University.
Not including fees, tuition is $3,670.50 per semester for undergraduate residents and $9,663.76 for undergraduate nonresidents enrolled in fifteen credit hours, according to the University's website. These rates attract students from states such as Illinois and Colorado, where in-state tuition rates are close to or more than the amount of the University's out-of-state tuition.
The University is known nationwide for providing a quality education at an affordable price. The University can tout highly competitive tuition rates, successful sports programs and outstanding curriculum and research, all of which serve to attract strong students.
With or without additional budget cuts, future students will most likely still have to take some of the burden that already faces administrations at universities and professional schools across the state. But, the rise in costs shouldn't deter people from pursuing a degree: degrees are proven to be financially beneficial in the long run.
Parkinson has said that his career was made possible because he didn't have to be rich to have the opportunity to attend a great university in the state of Kansas.
Many career fields requiring college degrees are in high demand, as Gray-Little pointed out. These careers, which include nursing and engineering, are essential to state growth through technology development and medical care.
Despite the lack of necessary funds, Parkinson should take every action to avoid additional budget cuts. This will show his support to higher education and a more advanced state. The economy has put strain on finances, but more cuts to higher education is not the solution.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
James Castle, for The Kansan Editorial Board
NICHOLAS SAMBULAK
POLITICS
Democrats fail to heed past lessons
The year is still young, but 2010 is already feeling a lot like 2006.
None of this has prevented a recent onslaught of Democratic scandals. New York Rep. Charles Rangel, embroiled in investigations into his personal taxes and corporate-sponsored trips, gave up his post as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. (Fun fact: Rangel, who underreported his income by as much as $1.3 million, was, until his resignation, in charge of the House's tax-writing panel.)
Four years ago, Democrats reclaimed control of Congress by promising to "drain the swamp." Scandals surrounding top Republicans in Congress and GOP lobbyists fostered the perception that Republicans were presiding over a culture of corruption. The narrative worked: Voters were more likely to cite corruption than the deteriorating situation in Iraq as their prime motive for booting incumbents.
Rangel siepped down amid increasing calls for accountability from within his own party. But this came only after two years of ethics allegations and investigative reporting by the New York Times. Many prominent Democrats had defended Rangel as an American patriot of the first order. He had, after all, served heroically in
But, once in power, Democrats did pass important ethics reforms. Among other things, they established an independent ethics watchdog agency, improved transparency on campaign fundraising, and made a few half-hearted attempts to rein in lobbyist-lawmaker ties.
Were Democrats engaged in nothing more than a cynical exploitation of Republican malfeasance? Not entirely. To be sure, there were political points to be scored in denouncing the Tom DeLays and Jack Abramoffs.
The Observer
BY LUKE BRINKER
lbrinker@kansan.com
The White House had urged him as early as last year not to seek election. Once the latest bombshell was dropped, it was only a matter of time before leading party figures called for the governor to resign.
Korea. Case closed.
Note the contrast between the Rangel case and that of another disgraced New York politician, Gov David A. Paterson. Even before revelations of his revolting witness tampering in a domestic abuse case, Paterson had lost the support of virtually the entire Democratic establishment.
Did the Democrats find religion, learning from the Rangel brouhaha the perils of stubbornly defending an unassurable character? Not quite. You don't need to be a full-blown cynic to understand why members of his own party abandoned Paterson so early. His poll numbers had been in the tank for more than a year. Politically, there was nothing to gain from standing by the governor. His presence on the ballot — in the unlikely event he would even have won his party's nomination — would have dragged down other Democrats.
For the party in power, it may all be too late. Mixing an already unfavorable political climate with scandals like those plaguing Rangel, Paterson, and former Rep. Eric Massa is not exactly a formula for retaining a strong majority. If the Democratic Party wants to maintain its grip on power, it must heed the lessons of Rangel's ethical lapses.
It's a lot easier to act high-minded when it ultimately serves one's self-interest.
Democrats' Bad Apples
A party worthy of public support must demonstrate loyalty to principles, not powerful personalities.
Here are some of the most prominent scandals to engulf congressional Democrats since the party regained power in 2006:
Luke Brinker is a freshman from Topeka history and political science.
- Rep. Charles Rangel (New York): Gave up his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee amid investigations into his corporate-sponsored travel and alleged underreporting of personal income.
- Former Rep. Eric Massa (New York): Resigned from Congress in the face of allegations of sexually harassing male staffers.
- Rep. John Murtha (Pennsylvania): Before his death last month, the long-serving congressman was under an ethical cloud for allegedly steering government contracts to a lobbying firm with which he had close fundraising ties.
- Former Rep. William Jefferson (Louisiana): Currently serving a 13-year sentence after his 2009 conviction on charges of accepting bribes from companies seeking his support to conduct business in Africa.
SEXUAL HEALTH
Recognize holiday
March 8 marked the 99th annual International Women's Day, which is a day not just for women to celebrate themselves, but an opportunity for all of society to learn and grow together. This year's celebration brought advances in the entertainment industry as Kathyrn Bigelow became the first female director to win an Oscar for her movie "The Hurt Locker." Several countries, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, make International Women's Day a national holiday. But the U.S. is yet to make the leap.
The U.S. does mark March as Women's History Month. Still, most people I talked to hadn't heard of International Women's Day. In fact, until this year, I hadn't even heard of International Women's Day. The day is a noble cause, but is highly under-marketed.
Many people in our generation operate under the false assumption that the fight to gain women's rights is a done deal. I'm a big supporter of other civil rights movements, such as equality for minorities and alternative sexual orientations. But sometimes it's easy to focus on "the next big movement" and forget about less in-your-face injustices. Although women's rights have come a long way, we still haven't reached full equality when it comes to things such as employment and pay-grades.
The University can do its part by promoting the centennial International Women's Day next year. But, aside from that, the University already does a good job of marketing when it comes to the women on campus. The University has been celebrating female faculty, staff, alumni and students with the "Women of Distinction" calendar since 2004. The Women's Recognition Program has been in place since 2001 and the Women's Hall of Fame dates back to the 1970s.
Sex and Sensibility
All of these programs — and the Men of Merit Award, not to
leave out students with a Y chromosome — are sponsored by the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center. The fact that our University even has such a thing as the Resource Center, not to mention all of its programs, sets us apart when it comes to acknowledging female achievement. Add in the various women's studies classes and literature classes focused on female authors outside the traditional white male cannon, and the University has a lot to offer in the way of women's history throughout the year.
As far as Women's History Month goes, the University has plenty of events planned, including guest speakers, documentary viewings, happy vagina crafts and a showing of the Vagina Monologues. These events are a wonderful way for women to celebrate their femininity, but the issue has never really been women failing to acknowledge themselves.
BY MELISSA LYTTON mlytton@kansan.com
I urge male students and faculty to attend as many of this month's events as possible. After this month, branch out and take some women's studies classes. It's important for this time to be about women, but it shouldn't be exclusive to women. Just as it's important for women to learn about all the important male figures in our history and to try to understand male culture, it's important for men to return the sentiment. If the men on campus really show some interest now, maybe the International Women's Day centennial can bring a huge celebration by both genders.
Melissa Lytton a senior from Kodiak, Alaska, in creative writing.
Healthcare: From the perspective of a Libertarian
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
glean from other people's money distresses me to no end. There is something so much greater, so much more shocking, more tyrannical and more inhumane than all these things.
It isn't only that Americans will now be forced to possess insurance; it isn't merely that the government is coercing us to buy something we may or may not want to have, and it isn't simply that rich bureaucrats are robbing the well-off to give to the richer. I'm not just upset that drug companies will now have more power than ever before, that the government is finishing its coup of confiscating the medical market away from private citizens; that Americans have been duped to believe that this bill would actually stop the "special interests" instead of strengthening them is frustrating. We now live in a basically socialist country has long since numbed my mind to the feeling that the government is too controlling; that we Americans have become clients of political demagogues who promise us the benefits they
Because there may well be hypocrisy in promising healthcare for all by forcing people to attain it in the way that you prescribe; there could be some audacious ignorance in wearing laurels for bringing healthcare to everyone while destroying what remains of the free market, that very foundation upon which good healthcare has been built.
But even these marvels cannot begin to describe my horror that we are being compelled by the government to pay money that will aid women to abort their unborn children.
I am ashamed of my country.
My heart is at half-mast and my mind is broken as to how I could be proud to be an American, where I don't even know that I am free to live and let live.
Mark Preus is a graduate student from Minneapolis
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Stephen Montenayor, Brianne Pnistenstel, Jennifer Toutline, Lara Cunningham, Vicky Lau, James Castle, Stephanie Penna and Kate Lareeah.