4A the university daily kansan
opinion
tuesday, april 27, 2004
EDITORIAL BOARD
Commissioners correct smoking-ban vote
Lawrence residents will have their say on the proposed smoking ban in Lawrence bars and restaurants.
After city commissioners voted 3-2 rejecting the ban, another 3-2
OURVIEW
City commissioners made the right decision to give Lawrence residents a vote on the proposed smoking ban.
plan to a vote.
If proponents of the ban collect 3,800 signatures on a petition, then they will get a opportunity to put their
vote allowed proponents of the ban to put it to a vote.
Even though Lawrence residents elected the commissoners to the job of deciding what is best for the city, the commissoners made the right decision to allow the voters of Lawrence to decide on an issue as important as smoking in public.
While the commissioners have
the mandate to make the decisions about how the city is run, everyone has an opinion on the proposed smoking ban and should get a say.
Commissioner Sue Hack was opposed to the ban but voted for allowing the residents of Lawrence to decide.
"I would rather see us work to some kind of compromise, but it was apparent that the majority of the commission wasn't going in that direction. I felt it was at least better than an all-out ban," Hack said.
Hack said that the entire issue just became confusing to the commission.
When an issue causes indecision in the commission chamber, putting it to a public vote is a good solution.
The commissioners' decision to allow the people to decide should give Lawrence residents security that they made the right decision in electing these five commissioners.
These city commissioners have earned the votes in the next election.
Paul Whittemore for The University Daily Kansan
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A comment in yesterday's Free for All warrants an apology.
The comment — "I just walked to the Union and smell watermelon. Is that weird?" — should not have been printed. Its racially insensitive nature (early caricatures of African Americans often pictured them with watermelon) does not meet the standards for publication in the Free for All. The Kansan apologizes for the publication of the comment.
Every day, the Free for All is reviewed by at least two people either the editor or the managing editor and an opinion editor after it is typed by a news clerk.
By increasing the number of people who read the Free for All before it is published, we should be able to more effectively eliminate errors and offensive comments.
The nature of Free for All requires more editing than this. Starting now, the feature will be read by both top editors, an opinion editor and a different random staff member every day.
Kansaneditor
- Michelle Rombeck,
Kansan editor
Bush, Kerry disappoint as peas in political pod
ON POLITICS
COMMENTARY
Matt Pirotte
opinion@kansan.com
when I voted for Bush in 2000, I thought I was voting for a conservative and a leader. He has proven to be anything but.
I'm going to say something that I thought I would never say. I am considering voting for neither president this year.
President Bush has lost my confidence in a way I never thought he would, and presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry is such a bad choice as to be laughable.
His fiscal irresponsibility is staggering; as much as I dislike the idea of a "tax-and-spend Democrat," I would have to say that a "cut-taxes-and-spend-anyway Republican" is much worse. Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it, too.
Bush did an excellent job in the months following Sept. 11. He rallied the country and did what he had to in Afghanistan to root out the perpetrators of the terrible attack. He has been good on national security all along.
Kerry's nomination is a symptom of the fact that a lot of people in this country hate George W. Bush. A ventriloquist dummy with a "Dump Bush" bumper
Look, if Bush is so stupid and incompetent, and you let him hoodwink you into supporting his war, what does that sav about you?
Kerry's campaign so far has been nothing but politics as usual; it has consisted mostly of one-liners about Bush losing his job or about how much Kerry knows about aircraft carriers. He has presented no actual vision.
Iraq, well . I really think the reasons to go in were solid. People who
sticker on its forehead would get 40 percent of the votes this year. Such is the intelligence level of the "anyone but Bush" crowd.
deaths, will anyone in the White House admit that the situation is "tough." Iraq was a just war, but it was not done right. God be with the brave soldiers over there doing the dirty work.
John Kerry: What can you say about this guy? I am still stunned that he is about to be nominated. He lacks any shred of true charisma, and accusations that he is a flip-flower are spot-on. John, buddy, you can't run a campaign on brave military service. You can't vote for a war and then claim you were misled.
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I said it before and I will repeat it here. How ironic that we get to watch two Ivy League millionaires vie for the hearts and minds of middle America.
TALK TO US
I recently read an interview with William F. Buckley Jr. in Newsweek. The question posed to Buckley was: Because both candidates are Yalies and members of Skull and Bones, is the presidency getting more elitist? Buckley's brilliant response, "No, Skull and Bones is getting less elitist." Both of these guys are duds.
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The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Meghan Brune or Johanna M. Maska at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@kansan.com.
For general questions or comments, e-mail the editor, Michelle Rombeck, at mburhenn@kansan.com.
E-mail:
opinion@kansan.com
A thinking person would not be enthusiastic about either of these two. Can you write-in candidates on a presidential ballot? Maybe those of us disgusted by both choices can get together and SpongeBob SquarePants could pull 8 percent this November.
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However, there was no reason to alienate parts of the international community in the way that Bush did. Especially disturbing is the manner in which our coalition (and it was a coalition, folks — "unilateralism" is a buzzword) is beginning to fracture.
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LETTER GUIDELINES
Bush and Donald Rumsfeld mishandled the situation, end of story. Only now, after more than 700 American
Piratte is a Joplin, Mo., senior in history.
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**Also:** The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack another columnist.
think that Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction are fooling themselves. Anyone who thinks Hussein didn't need to be dealt with needs to wake up.
PERSPECTIVE
Albums provide soundtrack for summer
Shortly after school ended last May, I was sitting on my deck with some friends enjoying a pristine summer Saturday afternoon.
COMMENTARY
We were drinking some beers, having a swell time, when one friend asked if he could put a CD on. I told him fine. Next thing I know, Good Charlotte is blaring at levels that would offend Good Charlotte. It just about ruined the afternoon.
After promptly telling my friend who supplied said disc to remove it from my house and never, ever bring it back, I tried to impart to him what a powerful force music actually is. After all, there's nothing better than the right album at the right time.
Kevin Kampwirth
opinion@kansan.com
To assure that something like that would never happen again, I sat down and compiled a list of albums that would perfectly complement any given summer situation. I took many things into account before finalizing the list. But be sure of this—it won't disappoint. Without further ado (drum roll please), the best summer albums:
Just edging out Born To Run, Anodyne, the final record from the seminal alt-country band, may as well come with road maps. If you can't enjoy this album in your car, shades on, windows down as
Best Summer Road Trip Album:
Anodyne (1993) — Uncle Tupelo
Best Saturday Afternoon Drinking With Friends in Your Back yard Albums:
the landscape slowly disappears under your wheels, something's not right.
The disjointed且 painfully catchy melodies and wry lyrics that construct many of the songs on Slanted and Enchanted make this record play like some commencement of only good things to come. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album's opening track, "Summer Babe."
Slanted and Enchanted (1992) — Pavement, The Low End Theory (1991)
- A Tribe Called Quest
(1991)
THE LOW END THEORY (1991)
In the mood for a little more bass? Look no further than Low End. The winding, heavy bass lines that sprawl across this album coupled with the
inspired rhymes of Q-Tip and Fife Dog make it near essential.
Best Lazy Summer Night With Nothing to Do Albums:
Birth of the Cool (1949)—Miles Davis, Damn Right, I Got the Blues (1991)—Buddy Guy
Davis wasn't trying to be ironic when naming this album. Released in 1949, it's as cool today as it was then. Just try to listen to tracks such as "Jen!" and "Darn That Dream" and not feel like melting. Damn Right offers a similar sense of dislocation by simply substituting an electric guitar for a trumpet. Check out Guy here in his finest form.
Best Sitting Up Drinking Until 4 a.m.
Album:
The Meadowlands (2003) — The Wrens
The third release by the best band that nobody has ever heard of, The Wrens, delves into a world where nothing is how it used to be in slightly more than 56 minutes. The album's standout track, "She Sends Kisses," is almost too much to take without tears.
Best Lying in the Hammock on a Sunday Afternoon Albums:
I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (1997) — Yo La Tengo, Oh, Inverted World (2001) — The Shins
These two sonic, lo-fi masterpieces by
two of the best bands making music today are about as chill as a coma. Although both have their more cacophonous moments, the melodic, tonal quality on each carries consistently throughout. Just try not to drift off and dissolve with them.
Best Summer Night "Sleepover"
Albums:
Her Best (1987) - Etta James, Summerteeth (1999) - Wilco
So you got that girl who you've been talking to at the bar all night to come home with you. Congrats! Now don't get home and spoil the mood by putting on something as cliché as "Crash." Trust me, she's heard it before and in the same situation. Try something a bit classier.
I'm hard pressed to find an aphrodisiac more effective than hearing James' sultry voice croon, "At last my love has come along."
For something with a bit more rock sensibility, try Summerteeth. "In the beginning/we closed our eyes/wheenever we kissed/you were surprised/to find so much inside," Jeff Tweedy sings in "Pieholden Suite," your hearts breaking in unison.
Enjoy.
Kampwirth is a Chicago senior in journalism.
KANSAN
Michelle Rombeck
editor
884-4854 or mburhenn@kansen.com
Andrew Vaupel
managing editor
864-4854 or vaupel@kansan.com
Meghan Brune and Johanna M. Maska opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Danielle Bose business manager 864-4358 or addrector@kansan.com
Stephanie Graham
retail sales manager
884-4368 or adalesa@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
884-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Mett Fisher sales and marketing adviser 884-7686 or mfiser@kansan.com
Editorial Board Members
(UNIVERSITY) Kandal Dína Ford *Laura Francoviglia*
Amy Hammontre *Kelly Hollowell* *Teresa Lo*
*Mindy Osborne* *Ryan Scarrow* *Elizabeth Willy* *Paul Whitmoremore* *Zach Stinson* *Zech Newton* *Wes Benson* *Sabehunek* *Kevin Flaherty* *Brandon Gay* *Zack Hemerwien* *Alex Hoffman* *Kampwirth* *Amy Kelly*
Cameron Koelling *Courtney Kuhlan* *Brandi*
Kathleen Teaves
Jonathan Reshef Riffley Ales Smith
Zimmermann