Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010
PAGE 5A
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Stop expecting hotties to ask you out. This is the 21st century. You do the asking.
The only time I wasn't high this weekend was when I was sleeping.
I want to robo-rock around the world with you one more time
My roommate's girlfriend came over about four months ago. She is yet to leave. Just
The good news: In hell, they play NPR. The bad news: It's always pledge week.
I have a high enough GPA that I should know how to make pot brownies.
I was complimented on my pepper spray. Thanks for making me a guy magnet,
Okay.
Is it possible to juggle three women? I'm going to try...
I brushed my teeth with a bottle of Jack before I went out tonight. I didn't wake up feeling like P. Diddy. I felt a lot more like Flavor Flav.
Am I the only person to ever notice that Ramen noodles kind of look like brains?
I wish I was Meryl Streep so I could snoq Sandra Bullock.
Vegan Jello, I don't know if I can trust you.
If I win this week's lottery,
I will hand out $50 bills to
random people on campus.
Everyone wish me luck!
--cents. The alcohol tax has also not been increased since 1977.
Hmm, a text from her would be nice
To the guy I out-drank last night at Free State: Losing to a girl drinking Stout is rather
What's sad is you think that out drinking somebody is an accomplishment!
"Re-tweeting" does not count as journalistic integrity.
I was pissed when you didn't show up. Thanks, douchebag.
EDITORIAL BOARD
The benefits of proposed alcohol tax outweigh costs
The House Taxation Committee is considering a fair piece of state legislation that would increase taxes on alcohol and redistribute the revenue toward more funding for services catering to the mentally ill and disabled.
With substantial budget cuts being made within the state, the Committee proposed doubling the gallon tax on alcoholic beverages in order to offset the growing deficit.
The bill would change the tax on alcohol from $0.18 per gallon to $0.36 per gallon for beer, $0.75 per gallon to $1.50 per gallon for wine with 14% alcohol or more and $2.50 per gallon to $5.00 per gallon for hard alcohol. That would result in about an extra $0.55 for a 30-pack of beer and $0.75 for a handle of hard alcohol.
The tax would first be imposed upon those who manufacture, sell purchase or receive the liquor; the tax has already been paid by the time consumers are ready to buy. Therefore, as long as wholesalers do not increase prices, the tax hike wouldn't be too significant for the individual consumer.
According to the bill, the Disabilities Supplemental Programs Fund and the Community Mental Health Centers Supplemental Programs Fund would each gain $10.9 million from the alcohol per gallon tax. The Department of
Social and Rehabilitation Services would distribute these funds in providing services to the developmentally disabled and the mentally ill.
In considering the bill, the Taxation Committee is generating ideas that benefit programs for those with mental health issues and disabilities. But, it is also fair to ask that they look to ways other than just increasing taxes on alcohol to help generate more profit.
Philip Bradley, CEO of the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, said the alcohol industry gives the state of Kansas more of its income for every dollar that is spent in alcohol service establishments than any other business. Bradley said it seems to be arbitrary to ask for any more.
Although the Taxation Committee should expand its plans to boost revenue, the programs they have chosen to develop and benefit are worthy of the extra
Rep. Pat Colloton said that community mental health centers have seen a $20 million cut in the last year and a half and that, because of layoffs, more than 4,000 of Kansas' developmentally disabled patients are on waiting lists to receive care.
A potential increase in taxes on alcohol isn't bad when the benefit for the mentally ill is considered. A few extra cents for alcohol is not too much to ask, especially when the money is going towards programs that provide people with aid who are in desperate need for it.
However, it is imperative that grocery, liquor and convenience stores don't take advantage of this potential piece of legislation and raises their prices unfairly for consumers.
Stefanie Penn for The Kansan Editorial Board
Change in alcohol tax:
EDITORIAL CARTOON
- $0.18 per gallon to $0.36 per gallon for beer.
- $0.75 per gallon to $1.50 per gallon for wine with 14% alcohol or more.
- $2.50 per gallon to $5.00 per gallon for hard alcohol.
- That results in about an extra $0.55 for a 30-pack of beer and $0.75 for a handle of hard alcohol.
THE ROBERT J. DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: ONE MORE REASON
Study Groups Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Last week: Journalist Amy Walters
& Senate Historian
Richard Baker
Tomorrow evening at 5:30
former Missouri Senator
Jack Danforth
Nagarhole
TO BE PROUD TO BE A JAYHAWK
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
HUMAN RIGHTS
The media should value ethics, not just ratings
Several weeks ago, I was watching the NBC nightly news when I saw a story about the problems with and possible recall of Toyota vehicles.
NBC recently went even further in distastefully airing a tragic event by showing video of the fatal luge crash of Georgian Olympian Nodar Kumaratshivi.
I was horrified to hear a 911 tape immediately preceding the death of a family of three broadcast for all of America. I doubted they would have wanted millions of viewers to hear their final exclamations of horror as the driver couldn't control the car.
NBC certainly is not the only network that has bought in to sensationalist journalism at the expense of respectability.
Including the video in the coverage was downright disrespectful and unnecessary for any purpose other than hoping to reel in viewers.
These instances are more of a testament to the way our society has changed (and perhaps just what the media will do
Rights and the Law
Sometimes it is necessary to show violence or death in the news.
for attention).
BY KELLY COSBY
During times of war, citizens should be able to understand the great costs of violence. They should see that soldiers really are putting their lives at risk, and they should fully realize that civilians are killed during conflict.
One arresting video swept the airwaves and Internet in June. The video showed the gruesome death of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan, an innocent civilian shot and killed on the street near anti-government protests.
The footage immediately became ammunition for the anti-
government movement in Iran and for human rights advocates around the globe.
In this case, the video of such a personal tragedy became a symbol of advancing human rights protection and speaking out against oppressive governments.
Obviously, showing this video underlay the coverage of a political movement; it was not simply sensationalizing death.
The press should retain all the freedoms democracy promises. Sometimes, though, it is tactless to exploit a tragic moment for the sake of boosting ratings or adding "juice" to a story.
To its credit, NBC quickly made the decision to stop showing the video of Kumaritashvili's crash during the Olympics.
All news providers should remember to use basic ethical reasoning in evaluating what should and should not be put on the air.
Cosby is an Overland Park sophomore in political science.
LGBT ISSUES
Sexuality isn't simply about blowing smoke
Remember the story of the three little pigs? The wolf says, "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in." Blowing in a house takes a lot of lung power, and the wolf managed to blow down two of three houses. Impressive, and I think I know how he had all that lungpower: He didn't smoke.
Bet you know where this is going, but don't let that stop you from reading. A national study done by Monitoring the Future reports 26.7 percent of college students smoke. At the University, which has approximately 30,000 students, that means there are about 8,000 smokers.
I've mentioned before that more than 45 percent of females and 35 percent of males in the 18-24 age range who identify with same-sex attraction smoke. LGBT are 40-70 percent more likely to smoke than people not in the LGBT community. That is one of the highest smoking rates of any population.
That's a lot of people who probably can't blow down houses of straw and sticks. But it's not just those 8,000 students I'm concerned with; it's the people I identify within, the LGBT community.
Need proof? Go to the Chateau on Wednesday nights. The front porch, i.e. the "smoking porch," is nearly as crowded as the dance floor. Depending on the song playing, sometimes it's even more crowded.
Queerly Speaking
Part of this smoking problem comes from LGBT history. Not too long ago, we had zero laws protecting us, making being "out" dangerous. Actually, we had plenty of laws working against us. (Oh, wait ... we still do, but that's for another column).
So, if we wanted to find some one else who was attracted to the same sex, we needed a way to approach the same sex in a private manner. And what is more private and seductive than the attractive stranger offering you a smoke followed by some small talk and a possible hook up? Classic.
But that's not the real reason
BY LAUREN BORNSTEIN
the gay population has such a high smoking rate. Most of us are too young to remember this, but in the early 1990s, R.J. Reynold's, the maker of Camel cigarettes, launched Project SCUM, a plan to ramp up marketing to consumer subcultures in the San Francisco area.
Anyone who is familiar with LGBT history knows San Francisco is a bastion for the LGBT community; Harvey Milk and the Castro, the Tenderloin area. Copies of the reports for this deplorable project have handwritten notes with "Gay/Castro" and "Tenderloin" written next to consumer subcultures which also included "street people", people of "international influence"—basically, anyone considered substandard to the ideal, heterosexual American
Do you know the commercials put on by "TheTruth" where people stand outside tobacco companies and through megaphones or put on demonstrations? TheTruth came into existence when Project SCUM was discovered.
Tragically, Project SCUM succeeded with the "gays." People distributing free packs of Camel cigarettes can be found at gay clubs and events. The company hires college-age people, often former students, to hand out free packs of cigarettes. What college student turns down free stuff? Ingenius capitalist bastards.
So to my fellow KU students, my fellow gays: I implore you, put down your cigarettes. Instead, save your lungs and help blow down the house that is tobacco companies.
Bornstein is a senior from Lawrence in women's studies.
Responses to the news of the week on Kansan.com
Chatterbox
"It is not the bank's job to check on everyone's account to make sure that they don't overdraw their account. It's the account holder's job to know and understand the rights and responsibilities of having an account."
"Women need to stand up for whatever it is they want and not think that they have to settle. If you respect yourself, others will respect you. If they don't, you won't care, and you won't lower yourself to doing things you don't want to do."
—"Jhawkgirl" in response to "Katz: Debt-it cards" on Mar. 2.
— "KUjayhawk" in response to "Matney: What happened to chivalry in college?" on Mar. 3.
"Ask yourselves what you do to save the lives of your family, your friends, some associates or innocent people you don't know. Are you willing to let them die so you can feel good about standing on your principals? You may have that option, but the military does not. They have been ordered to save American lives anyway necessary."
— "Calvin" in response to "Politically Correct: The ethics of torture tactics" on Mar. 5.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Stephen Montezamor, Brianne Pnstenetell, Jennifer Toller, Lareen Cunningham, Vicky Lu, Emily McCoy, Kate Lareabee, Michael Holtz, Cattin Thornbrush, Stefanie Penn, James Castle and Andrew Hammond.