4A the university daily kansan opinion EDITORIAL BOARD monday, april 26, 2004 Pothole issue out of control Lawrence has a pothole issue. Driving down almost any street requires all passengers to grit their teeth and hang onto their seats. The problem isn't getting better. The city usually OUR VIEW To prevent unexpected car damages, the city should find a way to cover the expense of repairing roads. ing better. The city usually repairs the potholes during the summer but because of budget shortfalls the potholes aren't going anywhere has $2.6 million to spend on maintenance projects but the money won't cover half of the repairs. Maintenance crews will still be hard at work this summer, though. The city This year the city is dealing with a budget reduced by $200,000 and street damage that is worse due to an icy winter. If the city does not make all of the needed street repairs,the cost will come from car repair bills.The city would be better off to find a way to increase its funds. The city's best bet to foot the bill—unfortunately for people in Lawrence—is to raise taxes. As a preventative measure, the taxes will ensure the cost won't come with an unexpected car repair bill. No matter what the city decides to do to increase its street maintenance budget, Lawrence can't have any more people getting stuck in potholes on Kasold Drive or other similar torn up streets. And most of all, it would be an embarrassment if Lawrence was known as the Missouri of Kansas. Ephedra: Not the worst vice to have PERSPECTIVE COMMENTARY U. S. District Judge Joel Pisano allowed the Food and Drug Administration to ban products containing the dietary supplement ephedra earlier this month. The herb, which has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years to help with weight loss, came into a negative light when former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler collapsed and died during spring training last year. His family contended that ephedra was responsible for his death. Mike Norris opinion@kansan.com To someone who is unfamiliar with the supplement, the ruling seems like a reasonable attempt to save the lives of people who use ephedra to compete in sports or work out. But to those who understand the supplement, this decision makes no sense. snow makes no snow. "Ephedra has killed more than 100 individuals and injured thousands of others," said Bruce Silverglade, legal director of the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest. "The only problem is, it took the FDA almost 10 years to ban the substance." Actually, ephedra has never been proven to have caused any deaths. It has only been linked. And a 1999 study at the University of Kansas Medical Center showed that more than 12 million Americans use products containing the dietary supplement. Meanwhile cigarettes have been proven to have killed millions of people in the United States, but are still legal. legal. Ann Chapman, a registered dietitian at Watkins Health Center, said she thought there was enough evidence to say ephedra may have contributed to deaths, but said it still had not been proven. John Alvarez, a Lawrence resident who has been a body builder for almost four years, does not agree with the court's decision. He used ephedra before the ban and had to pass random drug tests to compete in body-building contests. "It's amazing to me they will ban something like that, but the FDA does nothing about a quarter-pounder that will kill you." Alvarez said the only reason he could think of that the FDA would ban ephedra was because it is hard to regulate the substance. Dietary supplements do not have to be approved by the FDA to be legal. And Alvarez said the majority of Americans were not educated enough to use these types of products correctly, resulting in abuse of the supplement. As long as people follow the directions and stay hydrated, they have nothing to worry about. According to an article on www.minorleaguenews.com, the herb can be safe. As long as it is used properly there is no problem, said Richard Price, spokesman for the Ephedra Education Council. Council. Price said more than 55 medical studies showed that dietary supplements were safe. were all. In the cases of Bechler and former Minnesota Viking offensive lineman Corey Stringer, who also died after taking ephedra, there was evidence of abuse. Bechler had taken three pills containing ephedra on an empty stomach, but it's recommended to take no more than two per day. than two per day. Douglas S. Kalman, spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine, said taking Ephedra with hardly any food or water was not a good idea. Had Bechler taken the pills correctly, the situation probably could have been avoided, Kalman said. Stringer also took more than the recommended amount during a football practice while not staying hydrated enough. These cases from prominent athletes brought ephedra to the public's attention and caused the government to overreact. Walter Timpone, a lawyer representing ephedra in the case, noted there were 104 deaths last year in America caused by aspirin abuse. by aspirin abuse. "Are we going to ban aspirin now?" Timpone asked. Thippee uses the FDA got its way last week and ephedra is gone for now. Let's buy them a cigarette and a cheeseburger. Norris is a Overland Park senior in journalism. PERSPECTIVE Chatroom talk welcomes illiteracy, creeps My original goal was to prove that the Internet had become a festering stinkhole. note. Well, it has, but upon further reflection, a cavalcade of good points leapt into my mind and stomped the original theme into disconnected thoughts and random phrases. "Chat" appeared in significant number of those phrases. Chat is just so damned annoying. Is it possible to have a meaningful conversation when every verbal volley is six to eight words long? Go to a chat room and try to follow a single conversation for 10 minutes. Wait a minute, don't do that, you might be hooked. Chat has spawned its own language, its lexicon filled with an amalgam of acronyms, misspellings and slang. The conventions are just awful. U no vut 1 m33n?! If you didn't, you do now. This doesn't bode well for the future, folks. Imagine an entire generation of children using Internet chat as a primer. It's a scary thought, but it does have a COMMENTARY Jonathan Reeder opinion@kansan.com English is the predominant language used on the Web. It's been adopted by Web designers who want to reach the broadest possible audience. They can't be faulted for wanting more visibility, but we can be faulted for not taking the time to learn adequate grammar and bright side. When we're sitting around in our rocking chairs asking, "Why can't Johnny read?" we'll have a good answer: he doesn't recognize any of the words. spelling. room. One Web site, Perverted Justice, has volunteers who visit chat rooms and pretend to be minors, complete with childlike screen names and picture profiles. They chat until someone sexually propositions them. Language can be altered, but another problem will haunt chat rooms until they become out of date; the common pervert, The anonymity of chat brings out the worst in some people. The creep who lacks the courage to loiter near the playground can spend unlimited time pretending to be someone else in a chat room. Next, the volunteer works to get a name and telephone number, which another volunteer verifies by calling. Finally, the want-to-be pedophile's screen name, e-mail address, telephone number and picture are posted on the site, in addition to the full text of the conversation. sation. This organization appears to have the best of intentions, but the lengths to which some of its volunteers go to are questionable. One chat log introduction said the volunteer had chatted with the other person for almost six hours. Pedophiles aren't the only Web bogeymen that go 'click' in the night; dangers abound for post-pubescent chatters. John Robinson was convicted of killing three women in Kansas and admitted to killing five more in Missouri. He met several of his victims in chat rooms where he used the screen name "Slavemaster." Plenty of other deviants cruise chat rooms for victims. No one could ever list them all so let this suffice: there are people willing to chat with anyone and chat rooms devoted to anything. There's a sure-fire way to avoid all the hazards of Internet chat. Don't use it, don't let children use it and discourage its use among others. Roeder is an tola senior in journalism. Call 864-0500 For more comments, go to www.kansan.com Free for All 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. Potholes suck. - The beauty of the culinary arts. I am sitting here looking at a nine inch curly fry. Beautiful. Bravo, man. - - How big of a bribe did Sophos have to pay the University to use their crappy program? Does anyone have $200,000 I could borrow? I promise I will pay you back. I need to buy Bubbas. You just never know when you are going to need a bar. - That's not very George Foreman of you. - I hate when my phone meows. Free For All is just like the hot girl in class. I call them all of the time neither of them ever call me back. If you are going to come in Steak and Shake at three in the morning with eight people, please be nice and leave your waitress more than one dollar. Come on, really. - Yes, I want the shark that ran through Biology 150 on Tuesday. I love him very much. I was just going through my friends phone book and it is really sad that he has this number; in there. I just walked to the Union and smell watermelon. Is that weird? 图 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 884-4358 or addirecto@kansan.com Stephanie Graham retail sales manager 864-4356 or adsales@kansan.com Makcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 884-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7686 or mfisher@kansan.com Editorial Board Members Editorial Board Members Kendall Dix Ilex Lynzee Ford Laura Francovigliola Amy Hammonttee Katy Hollowell Teresa Lea Mindy Oborne Ryan Scarrow Elizabeth Willy Paul Whitmorete Zach Stinson Zach Newton Wes Benson Sara Behnek Kevin Fleherty Brandon Gay Zack Hemenway Alex Hoffman Kevin Kampwirth Amy Kelly Alexeron Koelling Courtney Kuhlen Brandi Mathieeen Travis Matcalf Mike Norris Jonathan Reeder Erin Rifley Ales Smith Kai Zimmerman > Kari Zimmerman 2