Opinion The University Daily Kansan
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--not enforce.
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I've noticed that the letters on my grade transcript have slowly started moving down the alphabet over the last 4
--not enforce.
I'm a Christian. Even I avoid the creepy old guys handing out Bibles on Wescoe.
--not enforce.
I love the Bible guys!
--not enforce.
I purposefully give myself a hangover, and then go to all my classes. It's like having cake, and eating it too.
--not enforce.
By the choices I make now, I think it's obvious that I played with Legos as a kid.
--not enforce.
How will I ever know if I am as bi as I think I am if I can't get the courage to approach a woman?
--not enforce.
Awesome job, girlfriend,and established life with new friends. Yup, it's about time to move again
--not enforce.
I secretly love watching people run for their bus and miss it anyways.
--not enforce.
--not enforce.
--not enforce.
So we've now had three different quarterbacks tapped to start a game — this bodes
--not enforce.
If you want to find love,just stop looking.
--not enforce.
I really wish that KU had a sorting hat that told students which dorm they belong in...
Is it bad that my roommates and I are the best stalkers ever ... really ... we see you.
--not enforce.
You say you're fun-sized. Well, nobody likes fun size candy.
--not enforce.
Dear boys of KU, fair warning. If you do No-Shave November, so will we.
--not enforce.
First time wearing those yoga/dancer pants things. I am never wearing jeans
--not enforce.
College: where what I want to eat matters less than what I have to eat.
--not enforce.
I have no respect for anyone who has Justin Bieber's face on their shirt or wall.
--not enforce.
EDITORIAL
Equality achieved, lost as struggle continues
For a brief moment recently, gay men and women were granted equality in the United States armed forces. On Oct.12, a federal judge ordered an immediate halt to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy. On the following day, enforcement stopped.
The opportunity that the end of the ban provided was most acutely illustrated by Dan Choi, a lieutenant in the army and an Iraq war veteran. Choi was discharged after saying he was gay. On Oct 13, however, Choi walked into a Times Square recruiting station and started the process of re-enlisting.
That moment of opportunity was quickly dashed, however, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an injunction against the policy last Wednesday, reinstating the ban, at least temporarily, during the appeals process.
It's unfortunate that the ban could not remain suspended while the judicial process moved forward. Although brief, the few days without DADT did not produce any of the nightmare scenarios that its supporters sometimes claim would occur if the ban was lifted. The military continued to function. "Unit cohesion" was not threatened.
More unfortunate, albeit somewhat understandable, was the Justice Department's decision to appeal the end of DADT. It is customary for the government to defend existing laws in court, which meant that ending DADT was quickly appealed. The executive branch of the government is charged with enforcing and carrying out laws passed by Congress and defending DADT is part of that process. Administrations should not be able to decide which laws it will or will
Nevertheless, this puts President Obama's government in the politically-awkward position of defending a law while simultaneously opposing it. Welcome steps, however, have been taken in minimizing the impact of DADT. Going forward only five military officials will now be responsible for discharging service members who violate the policy.
DADT may not truly end, though, until Congress repeals the law. Students must continue to pressure their representatives and senators to support repeal. The chance for legislative repeal may look slim, but it still represents the single best and effective way to end the discriminatory policy once and for all.
-Jonathan Shorman for The Kansan Editorial Board.
CARTOON
"ECONOMY SIZE" CANDYBARS SURE ARE SEEMING SMALL...
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
GUEST COLUMN
Race doesn't exempt from responsibility
I am brown, Muslim and Pakistani.
You'd think those credentials would normally make me immune from terrorist attacks, considering it is widely believed that most terrorists are also brown, Muslim and Pakistani.
Unfortunately, the war on terror, and terror itself, is all but normal. This is the story of a Pakistani struggling with that abnormality. The more we try to simplify the situation, the less we have in our arsenal against extremist ideology. The best I can do in this column is complicate things for you, since grappling with confusion is better than settling for simplification.
As much as most modern Pakistanis distance themselves from an extremist ideology, it only takes a trip to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to remind me that we will remain connected to the so-called "fundamentalist tendencies" back home. After all the time I've spent there, the secondary inspection room is no longer something that I need to get used to. It has already become a place to catch up on reading and meet other people who are also perhaps missing their connecting flights and have a headache. The poor pilots aren't even spared.
"Did you go anywhere but Pakistan?" an officer asked me last December. "No," I said. "Have you ever been in a military?" "Have you ever owned a firearm?" Similar replies. This September, the whole charade lost its drama. The wait, much longer, was now quite anticlimatic. All they wanted to know was whether I lived on
We Pakistanis make jokes about everything. We learn ways to tune out all that goes on around us. Does that make me an innocent bystander? Or does that make me guilty of ignorance?
I've lived in Pakistan for 20 years now. The last few have been turbulent, perhaps dangerous. But I've never witnessed an attack first-hand. Does that mean I'm not from the Pakistan most people imagine? Does that mean I'm elite (or elitist) or just plain lucky?
campus. "All that waiting for nothing?" I thought. "At least give me some credit for the hippie garb I'm trying to pull off. Heck, even the Pakistani authorities send me to anti-narcotics until they realize I'm going to New York."
What do I make of the fact that these fighters, criminals (although heinous ones), are not granted the same rights that prisoners or combatants must be in all other situations? What are we to say about the people who are unfortunate enough to live in the same village as one of these "terrorists" and are killed in an unsactioned drone strike that was meant to eliminate the "threat"?
A few days ago, one of my father's colleagues was gunned down because of his continued public criticism of the extremist philosophy. He had been under threat, he knew what was coming, but he kept going, trying to get his word across. This was a great loss to the moderate cause and to humanity in general.
Does that episode make me more of a bystander? Or perhaps more of a victim?
Sure, our president is far enough from the reality of things to say that collateral damage does not worry him, but should that prompt us to forget the values that our country holds and apply separate standards to some segment of our citizenry?
What used to be sacred places are now battlegrounds. Every Thursday night, Sufi worshippers will worry whether they will come out alive from their shrines. The army, the police and the government are threatened, as are foreigners at times, but the individual citizen now bears the brunt of the threat. Every Friday, we no longer hug each other as we go to prayer; we pat each other down. Who knows where that suicide vest is hiding?
Dialogue in the United States about Pakistan, and about the Muslim world in general, is oversimplified. There are no dichotomies. Muslims are often the "other" in most discussions in this part of the world. Every now and then I hear how many Americans have never met a Muslim or a Pakistani but would like to meet one. And every now and then I hear a Pakistani saying that there's only so much they can do — of course a Pakistani will try to present the other side of Pakistan, but everyone's sick of that story.
I am brown, Muslim and Pakistani, and I'm confused. I hope you are too.
-From UWire, Zeerak Ahmed for The Daily Princetonian at Princeton University.
HUMOR
Sunday isn't fun day
This year Halloween again falls on a Sunday And if I remember
again fans on a Sunday And if I remember correctly what happened the last time Halloween was on a Sunday and I was of trick-or-treating age (1999, the year we had it all — "All That" that is) we ended up trick-or-treating in the town next to ours on Saturday and our town on Sunday.
In all honesty, I'm pretty sure my Mom got tired and we ended up only going on Saturday. I was raised an atheist, so I wasn't quite sure what was going on.
This year Halloween is on a Sunday again. Since The University of Kansas did not have the decency to give us a day off on Nov. 1 (also known as Christmas Commercial Day), most Halloween parties this weekend will take place on the 30th and 31st.
However, it's not just us. Many children around the United States will be trick-or-treating on Saturday the 30th instead of the 31st. That's right Sunday has won again.
When will Sunday stop its reign of terror? In history, Sunday has been evil for years. My mother told me the tale of one of Sunday's murders when I was only a child.
Wonderland, an amusement park on an island in Wichita, Kansas, may sound a lot like a farfetched fairy tale I mean, a place called "Wonderland" in Wichita, Kansas? But the story is true! Wonderland was built in 1905 and it featured a rollercoaster, a carousel, a theater, and other attractions. The theater showcased many popular vaudeville and musical acts like the Marx Brothers and John Philip Sousa.
In 1918, Sunday loomed over the horizon like the foggy, devil's day it was. Laws were put in place in Wichita in 1918 that disallowed businesses to
BY CHANCE CARMICHAEL
operate on Sundays. The Sunday theater performances were key to Wonderland's revenue, so it closed down. In other words, Sunday destroyed "Wonderland."
I shudder now when I think about the joy that Sunday smothered,but folks,it's not done there. There are still many businesses so terrified of Sunday they close early or all day.I've never been quite sure why Sunday hates us,the human race,so much.
With research I found that Sunday's only a day of the week that we created, and there's no way it could destroy the fun of others on its own. I also found a horror that may shock you all. A zombie named Jesus rose from his grave on Sunday nearly 2000 years ago! I can only assume that people lock up their shops and stay inside all day on Sunday because they fear he and his zombie friends will come for them as well.
So, maybe it is a good thing that kids aren't out this Halloween on Sunday. The last thing we'd want is Sunday and the great zombie Jesus to ruin Halloween for everyone! But, on the other hand, I think taking this sitting down isn't right. So if you have children, prepare them in case zombies rear their ugly heads this Halloween. We have to take Sunday back - like that band tried to so many years ago. Don't let Jesus ruin Halloween for you!
Carmichael is a junior from Mulvane in film and media studies and journalism.
Responses to the news of the week on Kansan.com
Chatterbox
"Contrary to popular belief, if you get run over by a bus on campus you do not get free tuition. You'll probably be dead."
The amount of carelessness that students on campus take when walking across Jayhawk Blvd, baffles me. I've seen so many close calls at work (either when I was driving, or someone else was) that it continues to baffle my mind that we don't have a serious accident every week on campus!
Safety is giving yourself enough time and space to compensate for others' mistakes. People on campus do not seem to understand that basic concept, even though we are an institution of higher learning. Remember when driving to stay alert and keep your focus on driving. Leave extra room for that text messenger in the lane next to you. When you are a pedestrian, pause your phone conversation or text message to listen for vehicles and look for bicyclists. Take extra time to look at your surroundings and be aware of vehicles that could be crossing your path. Take a few extra moments for safety-it could save your life or someone else's.
— "Sjschlag" in response to "Personal awareness, lighting both needed" on Oct. 27.
"Unfortunately both the KANSAN and LJW are writing a very narrow story about rentals in Lawrence and conflicts with ZONING. We all know that there are many violators."
— "Freestyle" in response to "Landlords, city in dispute" on Oct. 13.
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