THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2006
OUROPINION
Legislature looks to aid low-income families
With good reason, our society should celebrate people of various ethnicities, races and cultures receiving higher education in increasing numbers. Nonetheless, we cannot neglect another marginalized demographic that hasn't made gains in this area — those from low-income backgrounds.
Historically, this population has not attended college as much as their middle-or upper-class counterparts, but has been able to secure low-skill, well-paying jobs. Now, the labor force has changed and having a college degree is practically required to secure any sort of high-paying employment. Unfortunately, not having a degree remains the norm for people from low-income backgrounds with one of the biggest deterrents being — what else — not enough money.
PAGE 7A
Fortunately for low-income families in Kansas, the state legislature is considering House Bill 2722, a measure that would establish a three-year pilot program that would give an incentive for lower-class families to establish higher education savings accounts. Those who qualify, meaning Kansas residents that do not have a household income that exceeds 200 percent of the federal poverty level, could start to apply for the program beginning fiscal year 2007. The families can invest as much as they want, but each year the government will only match a maximum of $600 a year with $100 as the minimum. In the first year the program would allow no more than 400 applications. As of the end of March, the bill was in the Ways and Means committee of the state legislature.
Already, 35 states have enacted
Issue: A House bill designed to help lowincome families save money for education
Stance: We commend the legislature for aiding this demographic
some similar form of legislation, according to the Center for Social Development. This is a proven, viable solution for low-income families because it helps reinforce the importance of higher education for these families, which might not have been the case otherwise especially when their children might be the first in the family to attend college. This program also promotes financial responsibility and gives low-income families aid where it is most desperately needed. If these people are willing enough to dedicate portions of their income to helping their children have a promising future, then they should be supported in that endeavor.
In the end, everyone benefits from this because after the kids graduate from college, they can contribute to a potential rise in new jobs, increased earnings, new or improved homes and reduced reliance on welfare.
The Kansas legislature should be commended for considering this bill and encouraged to pass it into law as soon as possible. Support it for the improvements it could make for the local economy, if not for the benefit to others, as well.
Malinda Osborne for the editorial board
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Free-for-All, we have a question. Since Kana question. Since Kansas has passed this conceal and carry thing, we're wondering if we're licensed for conceal and carry, can we have our gun on campus? Please
--a question. Since Kansas has passed this conceal and carry thing, we're wondering if we're licensed for conceal and carry, can we have our gun on campus? Please
let us know
I think I just saw Yoko Ono, but I wasn't sure, but just in case, I gave her the finger anwavs.
that was over back then.
To the guy that was wearing jean shorts and rollerblades inside of Wescoe, 1992 called. Even they're ripping on you.
Did anyone else see the woman stopping traffic on Iowa because she was rolling a huge boulder across the street yesterday? Yeah, what was going on with that?
that was over back then.
Did you know Bush declared victory in the war in Iraq three years ago today? Wow, well I'm glad
boring really fast.
Is it just me or do the workers at the Underground with black aprons look like killers from the movie Hostel?
boring really fast.
I was really excited when I was making the KU origami bird. Then, once I finished, I threw it away because it got really
number of guest workers.
Yeah, to the total d-bag that called in a noise complaint at the Crossing, seriously man, get a life.
All right, all right, all right. Three samurai ninja warrior monkeys with samurai ninja warrior swords versus one genetically-enhanced tiger. Huh, huh, huh, huh? You be the
--number of guest workers.
judge
President Bush is proof that God has a sense of humor, and it is sick and
One, one drunken KU student. Two, two drunken KU students. Three, three drunken KU students.
Four, four drunken KU students. A red hat.
"10,000 Days" is here!
I just saw a group of, like, 10 streakers run across Jayhawk Boulevard. Great.
number of guest workers.
Illegal immigration needs revision, then enforcement
COMMENTARY
The problem of illegal immigration is once again in the news. Demonstrations on Monday showed that this isn't a problem that will go away anytime soon. But there seems to be no clear-cut way to solve it. One side of the debate advocates such severe measures as building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border and making it a felony to illegally enter this country. The other side seems to advocate total amnesty and a complete disregard for our laws. For most people, neither of these two extremes seems attractive. However, there's no reason why these two views can't be combined to create a fair and comprehensive immigration plan that is amenable to both sides.
First, we must recognize that immigrants who are here already are important to our economy. We can't just go on a crusade to round up all illegal immigrants and bus them back home. Instead, we need to give illegal immigrants the chance to become documented as guest workers and to get on the path to citizenship. Because they've already broken the law, they should be put at the back of the line for citizenship so that people who have already applied to immigrate legally aren't penalized for following the rules.
Second, we must make it easier for people to immigrate legally to our country. Right now, quotas for legal immigrants are very low, and this is in part because the huge numbers of illegal immigrants who come to this country everyday. Once we get tough on the border, it will be easier, and probably necessary, to increase the
The other thing that we will need to do to curtail illegal immigration is to make it unattractive to come to this country illegally. This will have to involve getting tough on employers who break the law by hiring illegal immigrants. After years of lax enforcement, the Bush administration seems to have gotten the message across that employers are as much at fault as illegal immigrants. The administration recently announced a tough stance on rogue emplovers.
We should also begin to tax remittances sent to foreign countries by people who can't prove their citizenship. This will make it less attractive for illegal immigrants to earn a living in the United States and will also help to pay for the huge burden that they put on social services in this country.
In sum, we should give illegal immigrants another chance to do the right thing and to become documented. We should also make it more attractive for immigrants to take the legal route to coming here. But we can't go on forever without enforcing our laws. Once we've given illegal immigrants the opportunity to make things right, we should start to make illegal immigration unattractive to those who wish to come here and also to those in this country that want to see illegal immigrants come here. In this way, we may not solve the problem entirely, but it will definitely be a good start.
Goetting is a Leavenworth senior in political science and East Asian languages and culture.
Free-for-All caller misinformed
Someone keeps calling the Free-for-All complaining about not being able to access the Mrs. E's Menu online. The last message was "Will somebody fix the effing Mrs. E's menu Web page, please?"
JOSHUA GOETTING opinion@kansan.com
We should also begin to deport illegal immigrants. This doesn't mean that police should go out looking for them, but we should start to deport those illegal immigrants whom we find because they were pulled over for speeding, turned in by their neighbors, or otherwise come to the attention of law enforcement.
Arl Ben, business manager
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
Patrick Ross; associate opinion editor
884-4924 or prox@kansan.com
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
One of the first things that we should do to crack down illegal immigration is to make it more difficult to cross into America. This doesn't have to include a giant barrier stretching from coast to coast, but it should involve a "virtual wall" that uses technology and increased law enforcement.
After a period of time, though, say a year, we should start really cracking down on illegal immigration. By then, we will have acted in good faith with illegal immigrants and given them a chance, after they've already broken the law, to make things right by becoming documented. If they decide to continue to disregard the law after that, then it will be very difficult to have sympathy for them because there's only so much that can be done to help them if they refuse to play by the rules and obey the laws of our country.
Sarah Connelly, sales manager
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I called in and left a response on Free-for-All to tell people that the menus are there, but it wasn't printed.
Meloim Gibson, general manager, news adviser
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Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
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understand that he is trying to go to the wrong URL? His constant Free-for-All comments with misinformation imply that we are not maintaining the menus.
How can I contact this individual who doesn't quite
The Mrs. E's menus are posted, and have been visited by 500 people each of the past two days. The site is working fine.
switched out some time ago.
switched out some time ago. If the student would just go to the right URL, he or she could see that.
The user is most likely trying to use an old, incorrect bookmark pointing to a server that is no longer in operation and was
If they would just start at the Union Web site, union.ku.edu, or the dining Web site, kudining com, he would get the menus.
Mike Reid
Mike Reid Director of Marketing KU Memorial Unions
The Constitution can and should be changed to include this much-needed improvement. The benefits are calculable. The Founding Fathers would be proud, because we would have taken this great document — and government — into our own hands.
Jonathan Kealing, editor
864-4854 or jealelling@kansan.com
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jjckiel@kansan.com
Nate Karlin, managing editor
864-4854 or nkarlin@kansan.com
Jason Shad, opinion editor
864-4924 or jshad@kansan.com
Rework republic's governance
So why not use this enlightened electoral process? I have no doubt the Founding Fathers would have included it in the Constitution — had they known about it. It wasn't until the 19th century that proportional representation was refined for European nations. Several U.S. cities have used PR, but the politicians have such a stranglehold on the elections that they refuse to cede any power to minor parties or even — gas! — the voters.
TALK TO US
Scarrow is a Humboldt senior in history.
RYAN SCARROW opinion@kansan.com
On the surface, it would appear the Constitution is still serving us well. Absent a few episodes, the Constitution still seems the product of minds far ahead of their time. We figure the Founding Fathers got it right the first time, and that there is no better system of governance and we shouldn't think there might be.
This is not what the Founding Fathers wanted. Thomas Jefferson called for a "permanent revolution," that each generation reconnect with the Constitution and breathe new life into it as deemed necessary by modern life. Case in point: proportional representation.
Which is where proportional representation comes in. It's focused on apportioning legislative seats based on how many votes a party gets. If 60 percent of people vote for the Democrats, they should get 60 percent of the seats. If 10 percent vote Libertarian, then that tenth must be represented.
▼ COMMENTARY
Proportional representation opens up the political spectrum. It forces accountability. It allows for constituencies of ideas rather than geographic space. It reduces negative campaigning as voters would have multiple choices who could win. As Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker wrote, "If Americans hate politicians, maybe it because our chaotic pile of political systems offers so many perverse incentives for politicians to behave badly."
To put it in real numbers, Republican representatives in 2004 got a 55 million to 52 million margin over Democrats, yet carried a 230-200 majority to completely shut out the minority party and their respective voters. In the Senate, Democrats actually got 44 million votes to the GOP's 39 million, yet not only did they not win the Senate, they lost seats. Consider that 98 percent of congressional incumbents are re-elected, despite stagnant approval ratings, and we see an electoral system that is woefully out of touch with its citizens.
If you recall, our Congressmen and women are elected from single member districts based simply on getting a plurality of votes. This system works great for representing your city or region, but that's it. If 49 percent of the electorate votes for the other guy, they might as well have not even voted at all.
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Jonathan Kealing, Joaquin Bickel, Nate Karlin,
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