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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Check out more Free-for-All at kansan.com
OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2006
OUR OPINION
New station provides safety, shorter wait
PAGE
Residents of McCollum Hall, rejoice. Your relentless efforts to make the University safer have paid off. All those fire alarms have finally been heard by city hall.
The city of Lawrence is opening a new fire station at 19th Street and Stewart Avenue, across the street from your residence hall. Think of the benefits.
Now, when one of you decides to pull the fire alarm, the beleaguered firefighters will only be a stone's throw away. No more waiting in the cold for firefighters to make the 1.7 mile trek. Your friends will be right across the street.
No doubt that, besides improving campus safety as well as the efficiency of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical, fire fighters will respond faster to the alarms in residence halls.
All those students standing in their sweatpants at 2:17 a.m. on a Thursday should get some relief from the antics of some freshman coming home from the bars for the first time
Fire fighters will also spend less time trucking between
Issue: The new fire station at 19th and Iowa streets
Stance: Not only does this mean improved student safety, it will also means less time spent waiting after false alarms.
the station and the residence halls.
But why not take it one step further?
But an even better idea would be to quit pulling so many fire alarms.
John Jordan for the editorial board
Not only would this cut down waiting time, it would build rapport between the two competing groups and could give an intimidating presence to would-be alarmists.
A fire station could be set up inside of McCollum Hall. A small crew and ladder could be maintained during peak hours of fire alarms.
It's a great idea.
Semester time limit short shrifts GTAs
OUR OPINION
One of the most common worries facing Americans today is job security — workers are wondering whether they will be able to continue working and supporting themselves.
According to The University Daily Kansan, the university considers this a "non-monetary issue." The need to have a steady paycheck for the duration of study is a non-monetary issue? Nonsense.
Here at the University, where students come to learn how to navigate the job market, a similar situation presents itself. The University has declared that GTAs should not be able to hold onto positions long enough to complete a degree, capping appointments at 10 semesters. After this, students must find their own sources of funding.
in the world don't amount to anything if graduate students aren't allowed to keep working until their degree is finished.
Keeping their jobs is a central monetary issue for GTAs. All the salary changes
The University knows 10 semesters isn't sufficient because six credit hours is considered full time for teaching graduate students. We shouldn't need to send this down to the math department to figure out that nine semesters would be spent before even reaching the dissertation phase in most areas of study. One semester to write a dissertation? That doesn't exactly sound like a way to promote academic excellence.
Follow your own logic KU clearly the 10 semester rule has got to go.
Ryan C. McCarty Master's student and graduate teaching assistant Bay City, Mich.
Non-revenue sports deserve fans, not just voter support
COMMENTARI
The University of Kansas is nationally known as a men's basketball school. 16,300 fans pack Allen Fieldhouse whenever there is a home game to cheer on the Jayhawks. The University is also creating a buzz about its improving football program. Back in October, 54,109 fans made the trek to Arrowhead Stadium to watch Kansas play the Oklahoma Sooners. That is a lot of fan support for two teams who definitely deserve it, but what about the non-revenue sports? They deserve just as much attention, especially since the student body of the University recently voted to give them extra money.
ERIN WILEY opinion@kansan.com
I'm not knocking the men's basketball team or football team and the support they get. I went to every home football game and traveled to Manhattan and Arrowhead Stadium and attended every home men's basketball game but one. You may call me a
Last week in the Student Senate elections, voters approved Referendum No. 2, which increases the student fee by $20 each semester to support non revenue sports everything but men's basketball and football. If the student body is not against increasing fees each semester to support these teams, there is no reason not to go out and actually support these events in person.
hypocrite for not attending all the women's basketball games, but I did go to a couple and had a fun time. It's fun to be a sports fan and to support all sports.
Now that both of those seasons are over, sports fans need something to fill the sports voids in their lives until Sept. 2, when the football team kicks off its season against Northwestern State.
This weekend is the perfect time to start supporting some of the sports that the increased fee will support next fall.
The headlining event for the weekend is the Kansas Relays, which will be held through Saturday and include Goldzone II. This is a chance to pack Memorial Stadium and watch not only world-class athletes like Olympic champion Maurice Greene, but also competitors in high school and college, including athletes from the University.
This event should draw crowds like the basketball or football games. It's too bad that it doesn't. Just more than
24,000 people attended Goldzone last spring. The average attendance at each home football game this season was more than 43,000.
Any student here who is a sports fan should be more than happy to trek over to Memorial Stadium and watch world-class athletes perform free with a student ID. If a vote can pass to increase student fees, and if students are willing to pay this amount each semester, then people should support the events, too.
If you're not interested in track and field, there are a couple of other non revenue sports taking the field this weekend. Baseball starts a three-game series with Kansas State tonight at Hoglund Park. Nothing beats a baseball game against an in-state rival. With an increase in fan support, baseball games are becoming just as fun to attend as basketball or football games. The softball team also takes on Texas this weekend at home.
Get your 20 bucks worth of quality sporting events. It's as simple as if you voted 'yes' last week. Go support the teams who work hard and want fans to fill their stands just like the men's basketball and football teams do.
Wiley is a Silver Lake junior in journalism.
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.
I just want everybody to know that I won three tournaments tonight on Bomberman, and yes, I am proud.
the hot, single guys?
If Chuck Norris and Bomberman got in a fight, I got $10 on Bomberman.
I want to name my first kid Free-for-All
I do Sudoku like no man ever. Call me. Byel
This is to the girl who walked in on her boyfriend cheating on her, and I just have to know, where are all the hot, single guys?
Hey Free-for-All, Smoothie Man has a small twig and berries.
图
--did that new city ordinance, how about everybody call in fake noise complaints like 20 times a night, just overload
Go Yankees! If you have a problem with that, come and get me.
Hey Free-for-All, I just had a good idea. Since they
Supercalifragilisticexpiialdocious. Quote that, Free-for-All.
the system
know that it's easier to find a frat boy on campus than it is to find Waldo in a Where's Waldo book? Yeah, just thought I'd let you
Yeah, to the girl who shushed me in earthquakes class today, I just want to tell you to grow up.
All the Delta Force people are doing is proving that they're too childish to run the Student Senate by talking so much crap on ignite in the Free-for-All. Way to go. Why don't you
grow up?
I just heard an ice cream truck. Ah, summer is com-
know that it's easier to find a frat boy on campus than it is to find Waldo in a Where's Waldo book? Yeah, just thought I'd let you
ng.
Sometimes when I walk by parked UPS trucks, I have a strange urge to jump in and just start driving the truck, then I realize that's illegal, and the urge leaves
somev
know.
Have you ever noticed that SpongeBob, whose nose is quite erect, is always very cheerful, whereas Squidward, whose nose is flaccid, is always grumpy?
repairs? No?
My roommate's car just got hit by a KU lawn mower, but do my tuition dollars have to pay for the
Hey Free-for-All, did you
My kindergarten booster shot was the best medical experience I've ever had in
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idult
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Did I mention the music in the KU Bookstore is the worst music I have ever heard in my life? That's all.
TALK TO US
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EDITORIAL BOARD
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JEFF VINCENT opinion@kansan.com
111 Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jaybawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 68045
(785) 848-4810, opinion@kansean.com
Jonathan Kealing, Joseph Bickel, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross,Ty Beaver, John
Jordan, Malinda Osborne
The Kanas reserves the right to edits cut to length, or reject all submissions.
The city of Lawrence is considering a proposal that calls for a review of potential retail spaces over 50,000 square feet. The aim of this proposal is to protect the financial viability of downtown Lawrence as the town continues to expand westward.
SUBMISSIONS
The motivation behind this proposal is admirable. However, the approach seems too focused on one side of a fundamentally two-sided problem. Furthermore, without a diversification of effort, the proposed plan may do more harm than good.
For any questions, call Jason Shaad or Patrick Ross at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
COMMENTARY
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
Business solution is shortsighted
The proposed review process would consist of a tax-based assessment of Lawrence's ability to support another retailer without threatening existing stores that deal in a particular type of product — shoes, for example. If the review finds that the city cannot support another retail center, the city would have the power to deny that retailer the chance to operate.
I strongly advocate supporting local business, particularly those in the downtown area, because they contribute to one of my favorite parts of Lawrence. Nonetheless, Lawrence isn't a vacuum, and sometimes the affordability of retail goods from nearby metro areas can be just too attractive to walk away from.
Because of this, the approach outlined above may not be entirely wrong, but it seems short sighted. The fact that this proposal has been made implies the sense that downtown stores are, or soon will be, having trouble competing with other stores in town. This is likely, at least in part, the result of higher rent for space, which translates into higher costs for consumers. This phenomenon is even more pronounced when the cost of goods sold downtown is compared with that of goods sold in nearby metro areas.
■ Vincent is an Overland Park senior in English.
It seems very likely that if this existing proposal passes, the result will be an increased property value for the already existing retail centers — thus, an increase in rent and an increase in end costs to consumers. Following this, the downtown area will be even less competitive with stores in surrounding metro areas.
So here enters the second side of the problem, which is not being addressed adequately. Something needs to be done not only to lessen the competition for downtown retailers, but also to make the downtown retailers more competitive in their own right. Somehow, prices of goods need to be lowered to a more competitive range. An adjustment in property tax may be one means to a solution. Whatever the answer is, I genuinely believe that most people in Lawrence will pay a little extra to support a special part of Lawrence, but these people need to be met halfway.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor @kansan.com.
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