Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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WEDNESDAY MARCH 10,2010
FREE FOR ALL
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--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
If I was given the opportunity to be a "galaxy defender,"I would take it
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
I always thought dogs laid eggs.
I have a crush on Bill Self in his sweats and glasses. Sexy!
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
I have not seen my psycho roommate in almost two weeks. I don't know if I should be concerned or happy.
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
Since when is it OK for buses to turn right from the left lane?
Poetry is the most awkward class ever. I'm breaking the tension on Wednesday. Be ready for it
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
How do you know it's nearly spring? When the National Weather Service pulls its annual test tornado alarm. The worst part: I live 20 feet from
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
At least you'll never sleep through a real tornado!
Why couldn't I have met my boyfriend's hot musician friend whom I have so much in common with first? Lame!
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
My ninja skills came in handy today. I avoided every raindrop that came my way.
You are beautiful, but you don't mean a thing to me.
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
I checked out your butt the other day ... I approve.
Me: "What time does O'Zone close?" Roommate: "It closes? Isn't the opening of the ozone the problem?"
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
I have a friend-boy at work who I realized a few weeks ago likes me. On Saturday we exchanged numbers. Now he won't stop texting me. Sigh.
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
A guy likes her and shows interest. Quick! Someone call a wahmbulance!
Morgan Freeman, please be my grandfather.
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
An IKEA catalog came in the mail today. It makes me sad to know there is no Swedish furniture in my near future.
--to The Kansan would hurt most in terms of the exposure for a multitude of groups and organizations that we regularly cover, as a result of being forced to reduce employment and, therefore, coverage.
Are these condoms new or refurbished?
It's midnight. Do you know what your GTA is doing?
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Proposed cuts misguided, malicious
Consider this an open invitation to all readers of The University Daily Kansan and all groups and organizations The Kansan has covered during the years, to attend Wednesday's Senate Fee Review Subcommittee meeting at 6 p.m. in the Kansas room at the Kansas Union.
At issue will be a recommendation that includes a $1.70 cut to the student media fee and a stipulation that media fee funds cannot be allocated to The Kansan.
It is a shame that a University that prides itself on its journalism program must face an abuse of power such as this. Recall that the original student media fee was voted on and approved by students. Apparently that is not good enough for Senate.
This is not the first time a proposal of this nature has been brought forth and it is sad that we must again review the consequences such a measure would bring.
One argument in favor of refusing Media Board funds to The Kansan is that there is a conflicting relationship between the two entities. This is false. The funding The Kansan receives is a subscription fee for the service we provide to students each day. This is no different than what other newspapers charge — only The Kansan's fee amounts to less than 2 cents per day per student.
Likewise, to cease funding to the Kansan while still allocating funds to The Student Readership
**WHAT:** Senate Fee Review
**WHEN:** 6 p.m. today
**WHERE:** Kansas Room,
Kansas Union
STUDENT SENATE
Program — the program responsible for the bins of New York Times, Lawrence Journal-World, Kansas City Star, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal papers across campus — would send a poor message and be nothing short of hypocritical.
Why cite an improper relationship with a media entity while continuing to fund other newspapers — The Lawrence Journal-World and Kansas City Star — that also cover the University? Worse, funding the Student Readership Program while cutting funding to The Kansar would mean that the only thing changed in addressing a perceived improper relationship between the Media Board and media on campus would be a pay cut or reduction in student jobs at the hands of the Senate.
If funding would cease, this would not be the end of The Kansari's coverage of University affairs. We would still cover Student Senate — which begs the question of whether this is why we find ourselves in this discussion in the first place.
Regardless, cutting funding
Weekly staples to The Kansan such as Jayplay and The Wave would likely disappear.
A student readership survey conducted by The Kansan in 2008 found that 81 percent of students read The Kansan at least once per week in comparison to 44.2 percent for the Journal World, 30.2 percent for The Star and 28.4 percent for The Times. This makes the discrepancy between cuts to funding for the Kansan and the Student Readership Program — headed by Student Body President Mason Heilman — that much more curious.
In fact, student readership has been plenty strong without the program — 97.5 percent of students rated their news found in The Kansan as satisfactory.
For the 2009-10 budget cycle, The Kansan receives $83,200 in funding from student fees. This is compared to $303,152 for Kansas State, $320,097 for Texas, $270,553 for Texas Tech and $169,560 for Oklahoma.
EDITORIAL CARTOON
And so again, all of you are welcome at Wednesday night's deliberations over a misguided, if not malicious, proposal.
Stephen Montemayor, Editor in Chief
AROOJ KHALID
One of my friends recently ended a phone call with his mother by saying "I love you." His mother was astonished and nearly burst into tears. It was as if it was her first time to hear those words from her son.
INTERNATIONAL
Cultural barriers to showing love
The other day, my western civilization instructor came into the classroom with an unshaven, sick-looking face. He said it would be a short class because he had to deal with something terrible — a good friend had suddenly passed away.
Parents in the Western world tend to nourish their children
It doesn't mean that Chinese people are not compassionate. We are just emotionally implicit and have been taught to be so.
"I love you" is a common statement in the West. However, between the Chinese, it's rarely heard in conversation.
"If I knew it was going to happen, I would definitely have gone to see him the night before, as I promised," he mournfully said. "Life is just too unpredictable."
Our assignment for that class was to e-mail him who we would say "I love you" to.
My parents' image popped up in my mind without hesitation. However, I couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable at the idea of those three words.
Life in a Kaleidoscope
BY JOSIE HO
jho@anon.com
with passion and good words.
Despite the mistakes children inevitably make, parents will just talk to them and remind them not to do it again.
Parents in China are more strict. They believe that compliments and too much protection will spoil children and hurt independence.
Rather than praising good grades, Chinese parents say things such as,"The test must be pretty easy" or "You got such a good grade because your classmates are not good enough"
There are some comical Chinese sayings describing child-parent relationships. For instance, when a mother is upset by her son, she would say, "I would rather give birth to a piece of barbecue pork than a naughty kid like you."
When adults talk about their kids in front of other parents, they would name their children as "beggar" son or daughter and
deny their accomplishments. This is because Chinese people are not used to showing superiority over others.
Although it sounds discouraging and harsh, Chinese children know their parents do not mean harm. Our parents just don't want us to feel smug, so they teach us to stay humble all the time.
Parents in China have soft hearts but hard mouths. They believe action speaks louder than words alone.
However, despite my upbringing, my professor's sadness reminded me that life is unpredictable and no one can accompany us forever.
As long as we trade true heart with those we care about and emphasize the quality of time spent together, nothing is ever too late.
After my initial hesitation I eventually completed my assignment.
I felt good saying. "I love you," but I think my parents know that I best demonstrate this feeling through the unspoken things I do: proving how well grown am and what a happy life I have led under their cultivation.
Ho is a junior from Macua, China, in journalism
POLITICS
Set example with diplomacy in Iran
Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country was now a "nuclear state," after its uranium enrichment program reached a small but significant milestone. The nuclear situation in Iran and the U.S.' handling of it present a crisis. But, as the cliche goes, it also presents an opportunity.
Political Planet
International relations scholars have argued that more nuclear weapons actually decreases the chance that one will be used, but in this already-fragile region, that's not a risk we should be willing to take.
It is imperative that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons. The problem would not be with the Iranian regime using them, but rather the destabilizing effect it might have on the region.
However, if Iran were to build a nuclear arsenal, it could trigger a regional arms race in the Middle East. States such as Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt would have more incentive to seek arms, thus disrupting the current nonproliferation norm.
For all his crazed speeches and overt hostility toward the Western world, Ahmadinejad is not the supreme ruler of Iran. That would be Ayatollah Khamenei. And while Khamenei is no friend to the U.S., and is often no less vitriol than Ahmadinejad, he isn't stupid. A leader such as Khamenei knows that the hostile use of a nuclear weapon by any state would trigger similar action against that state.
To deal with this problem, the U.S. needs to take the
To effectively deal with irans alleged quest for nuclear weapons, we must pursue negotiations with an open palm rather than a closed fist.
military strike approach off the table, both realistically and rhetorically. American politicians often talk tough about Iran, saying they "won't rule out" the use of force.
History shows that economic sanctions won't work either. Too often, sanctions hurt the people of a country rather than its regime. This happened in Iraq during the 1990s, when the U.S. implemented similar policies toward the Hussein regime. Stronger sanctions, such as those proposed in the Senate last year, could very well backfire and enflame Iranian nationalism.
But, to really deal with the problem, it does need to be ruled out. Recent war games conducted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy showed any conflict with Iran would be messy and costly for all those involved.
BY DEVIN LOWELL
Lowell is a senior from Concordia in journalism and political science.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I have a plan for what to do with the nuclear waste generated from Obama's generous federal guarantees for new reacrors. Let's store the waste in his basement and the basements of all his descendants for the next hundred-thousand years or so.
Problems with nuclear waste storage
The hazards and lifespan of nuclear radiation and waste are indisputable. Nuclear energy only seems clean if you are looking at its carbon output. "Low-carbon" is a political buzzword that has narrowed our discussion of the planet's health. The American people can't afford to lose sight of the larger picture.
The President and other supporters of nuclear energy say that it is clean and safer than it has been in the past. If they are so sure, then let them live near and work in the plants, and store the waste near their homes. Let them watch what happens to their children under the exposure of this radiation. If Obama is not willing to do this, it is wrong for him to ask other American families to. It is too easy to turn a blind eye to the hazards that are in someone else's backyard.
Climate change and sustainable living are enormous challenges.
— Lisa Neher is a graduate student from Covington, Washington.
No one with any sense wants radioactive waste near them. Leaping onto the nuclear bandwagon reflects the naive hope that we can continue to live the extravagant, consumption-based lives that we are used to in the West. The truth is that saving the planet (and ourselves) will require changing our lifestyles and making sacrifices so that we are using fewer resources and polluting less. Very few politicians have the guits to say this, which is why Obama is throwing money at a new spin on an old, failed method of energy production.
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTERTO THE EDITOR
It is tempting to believe that nuclear energy will be the magic bullet that will give us enough power to maintain our standard of living here in the West. But in the course of our daily lives of driving from suburbs to cities to schools to soccer games, we use a disproportionate amount of the world's resources and create too many pollutants. Switching from fossil fuels to nuclear energy won't change that. It is our lifestyle that have to change, and that will mean giving up things we feel entitled to, such as cars and big houses. These are not necessities, they are luxuries.
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CONTACT US
Stephen Montemayor, editor in chief 864-4810 or smontemayor@kansan.com
Brianne Pfannenstiel, managing editor 864-4810 or bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Jennifer Torline, managing editor 864-4810 or jtline@kansan.com
Lauren Cunningham, kansan.com managing editor 864-4810 or icunningham@kansan.com
Vicky Lu, KUJH-TV managing editor 864-4810 or vhk...
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864-4477 or cbattle@kansan.com
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Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news adviser
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864-7666 or jschltl@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Stephen Montemayer, Bjarnar Pantenestel, James Vickey, Emily McCoy Kate Lareafan, Marka Talmouth, Clint Thombush, James Castle, Stefanie Penna