4A the university daily kansan opinion thursday, april 29, 2004 EDITORIAL BOARD City's look needs preservation City planners want to keep the feel of Lawrence shopping centers in the future. OUR VIEW Design guides for new builders will preserve the unique feel and look of Lawrence buildings. They have proposed a plan to have new buildings in Lawrence be constructed to a certain standard that will be more appealing to the eye and more congruent with Lawrence's current look. Lawrence is growing at an inconceivable speed. In 1997 Lawrence was ranked seventh in the fastest-growing cities in the nation. Every day there seems to be a new building or restaurant popping up. Lawrence needs to retain the quality of shopping centers and can do so by not adapting to other commercial stores' looks. Lawrence has been known not only statewide but nationally as a unique shopping experience. People come from all over to shop on Massachusetts street shops. ing all the way around. The proposed plan will require buildings to make and equally attractive building focusing on all four sides and making it appeal- The plan also encourages parking in the back of the buildings, which will be more appealing to the eye. And finally, the plan encourages more pedestrian walkways encouraging biking and walking, which will reduce traffic. Lawrence planners are still working on a draft but seem to be looking in the right direction to continue Lawrence's tradition. The editorial board commends the forward thinking of the Lawrence planners for trying to make the city less commercial and giving it the individuality it deserves. Free for All Call 864-0500 Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded. For more comments, go to www.kansan.com Remind me why I paid ResNet all of that money at the beginning of the year to get my Internet access. --deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. Matt Pirotte's article on Tuesday was the pinnacle of ignorance and he called just about everyone else in the country ignorant. That makes a lot of sense. deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. 图 deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. Tuesday's edition of the Kansan had more half-naked boys than we know what to do with. Thank you. I sure am glad Sophos prevented Daisy Hill from getting infected by that worm. Shirtless ambassador, why don't you ambassador yourself into a shirt? deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. I am a K-State student and calling the KU Free for All is 10 times funner than calling the K-State Forum. PERSPECTIVE I'm stressed. I'm tired. I'm depressed. I'm angry. I am so fed up, and it is only Wednesday. Photo ban protects Bush's image, not troops' families Do you weep, Britney Spears? Do you weep? --deaths occurring every day for the past month in the Middle East, the flag-draped coffins of American soldiers return to the United States in relative obscurity. Seven-hundred-fourteen American casualties. One-hundred-fifteen in April alone. Yet with an average of four military Courtney Kuhlen opinion@kansan.com The lack of public response and media coverage is because of a ban from the Bush administration — a ban on publishing any photographs of military coffins. The specific restriction has been in place since 1991, although it has not always been strictly enforced. The issue erupted after The Seattle Times published a photograph on April 15 showing coffins being prepared for a flight back to the United States. The photo was taken by Tami Silicio, who worked for an American cargo contractor. She was subsequently fired because of the pictures. said she was unhappy with the government's ban. A few days later, 361 images of military coffins were released to Russ Kick, a First Amendment activist, for his Web site www.memoryhole.org. The Air Force released the photos to Kick under a Freedom of Information Act request. As a result, the government has decided that no more images will be released. Bush has reaffirmed his position that he wants to protect the privacy of the families involved. What Bush is actually protecting, however, is his own public image. June Jacobson, an Associated Press photographer who has completed two stints photographing the conflict in Iraq. "They are powerful photographs that show the toll of war without showing carnage," jacobson said. Courtney Kublen for The University Daily Kansan She said during the war and its aftermath, journalists were asked not to publish any photos that had identifying marks of casualties. This was to prevent relatives from finding out about the death of a loved one by opening up the morning paper or turning on the television. The photos Bush has forbidden do not fall into this category. Jacobson said she thought the government wanted to keep the photos from the public because it didn't reflect well politically on the current administration. Rick Musser, a professor of journalism who teaches a history of media class, said there was nothing new about those in power withholding casualty pictures from the American public. Although the photos in question do not picture charred bodies or mangled soldiers, they still have an impact on the public. Musser said this impact was realized during the Vietnam War when the photos of coffins represented casualty after casualty to the American people. The government claims it does not want an attention paid to the remains of American soldiers that might be undignified. Pictures of military coffins are not grisly images of soldiers dying in foreign lands, and they are far from the salacious photo-ops the administration fears. Instead they show the great deal of honor and respect bestowed upon those who have sacrificed their lives for their country. For the administration to claim that the ban is for any reason other than one that is strictly self-serving is disingenuous. To forbid a journalist from conveying the same story through pictures that is published in words is grossly manipulative. But beyond that, it is blatant politically motivated censorship. Kuhlen is an Albuquerque, N.M., junior in journalism. She is the Kansan photo editor. PERSPECTIVE Democratic candidate too wishy-washy to be president U. S. Sen.John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), excuse me, JFK, makes himself a pretty easy target to attack. He flip-flops on issues all of the time. Monday he feels this way and Wednesday he feels another way. Every politician lies and flip-flops, but Kerry's antics are ridiculous. The wanna-be president has to be one of the worst choices for a presidential candidate that I have ever seen. Kerry seems to be headed in the same direction as his predecessor Al Gore, also a career politician, who lost the presidential election in 2000. Gore ran a terrible campaign and lost to the inexperienced George W. Bush. Now, Bush is beating John Kerry in early polls. One might think it would be easy to beat Bush in this election. Everything is crumbling around Bush, from the war to an increasing failure in U.S. foreign policy. It is shocking that Kerry is not doing a better job of capitalizing on Bush's failure. COMMENTARY In actuality, Kerry would be better off not opening his mouth at all. The more Brandon Cobb opinion@kansan.com he speaks the more he sticks his foot in his mouth. This year's presidential election is shaping out to be a Bush v. a Massachusetts politician part two. Bush's father humiliated Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election and I think his son will do the same. What is even more ironic is that Kerry was Dukakis' lieutenant governor in the early '80s. Kerry wants everyone to know that he served and was wounded in the Vietnam War. Upon his arrival back to the United States, Kerry co-founded Vietnam Veterans Against the War, a group of individuals who served in Vietnam but opposed the war. Many of those brave soldiers threw away their medals and ribbons during a 1971 protest in Washington, D.C., to show their disgust of the American government, but not Kerry. As one of the leaders of the movement he only threw away his ribbons and not any of his medals of honor, which is contradiction in itself. Kerry wants to be a leader without accountability, which is something that the American people will not stand for. He held onto his medals to show patriotism and heroism while at the same time catered to those soldiers who felt passionately about opposing the war. opposing the military observation to anyone who may feel that my observation is not correct, then why is it that Kerry is parading his military service and medals from a war that he "opposed" in front of Americans during his Presidential campaign? As the next potential commander-in-chief he needs to be sure of his stances and stick with them. The threat of terrorism in this country is an ever-present danger that cannot be overlooked any longer. Intelligence gathering is vital in combating terrorism, but Kerry sponsored a bill to cut $1.5 billion from the CIA and likes to criticize the Bush administration for its intelligence failures. I would like to see the real John Kerry on terrorism. John Kerry on Tuesday. This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C., which dealt with issues ranging from women's rights, to gay rights, to abortion. There were hundreds of thousands of people who participated in the march. I could not believe all of the John Kerry supporters I saw at the event. I shook my head in amazement because Kerry is not any better than Bush on gay rights or abortion. Kerry is Catholic and the Catholic vote is important in presidential elections. So who will Kerry cater to on this issue, anti-abortion Catholics or members of the abortion-rights movement? In D.C., many abortion-rights advocates told me that they did not believe that the U.S. government should legislate morality. In a town hall meeting last month in Mississippi, Kerry said "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, but ... but ... but, I believe it's important in the United States of America that we recognize that we have a Constitution which has an equal-protection clause." So does that mean Kerry will legislate through his beliefs or through equality? I would like to end with one last John Kerry quote. In 1971, Morley Safer of 60 Minutes asked Kerry, "Do you want to be president?" Just a bit of advice to anyone who may believe that voting for Kerry is picking the lesser of two evils: Please take time to analyze Kerry's record and Bush's record. I have, and I am not voting for either one of them. I could write a novel about Kerry's inconsistencies. "Of the United States?" Kerry said "No." Cobb is a Kansas City, Kan., senior in political science. KANSAN Michelle Rombeck editor 864-4854 or mburhenn@kansan.com Andrew Vaupel managing editor 864-4854 or vaulpel.kansan.com Meghan Brune and Johanna M. Maska opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com Danielle Bose business manager 864-4358 or addirector@ansan.com Stephanie Graham retail sales manager 864-4359 or adsales@kansas.com Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864.7666 or mifler@kansan.com Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 864-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com Editorial Board Members A Editorial Board Members Kendall Dix Ilex Lynze Ford Laura Francoviglia AmyHMammontree Kelly Hollowell Teresa Loa Mindy Osborne Wyren Scarwan Elizabeth Willy Paul Whitmoretum Zach Stincon Zach Newton Wes Benson Sara Behunek Kevin Flaherty Brandon Gay Zack Hemenway Alex Hoffman Kawin Kampwirp Amy Kelly Cameron Koelling Courtney Kuhlen Brandi Mathiesen Travia Metcalf Mike Norris Jonathan Reeder Erin Riffey Ala Smith Karl Zimmerman A 10 1.