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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Check out more Free-for-All at kansan.com
OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUROPINION
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
Ignite leaders won; now demand results
Editor's note: Students really interested in holding their student leaders accountable should cut this out and fill in the blanks. Not only does it help make elections more fun, it lets us see what these leaders say and if they can do it. Turn in completed forms to The University Daily Kansan next December to grade the candidates.
Issue: Student Senate election results
Stance: The Ignite coalition has a long road ahead of it to turn platforms into reality.
Dear (insert name of candidates here).
Congratulations on winning this year's Student Senate elections. Voter turnout of (insert low percentage here) helped win your presidential and vice-presidential positions in Student Senate.
Now you are charged with implementing (insert platform issue here). Students — and not just the ones who voted for you hope that you will follow through on the ideas your coalition ran on.
Now that your party at (insert place of election party here) is over, the real work begins. You said you were going to (insert most important platform issue here). No longer is that goal a piece of paper that (insert name of campaigner here) was handling out, it is the stated policy of you, our student leaders.
We expect (insert interesting platform idea here) to happen, and if it doesn't it could be your fault.
Hopefully, (insert coalition name here) will be able to make this a better campus for students.
Good luck.
Sincerely, The University Daily Kansan.
— John Jordan for the editorial board
Free All for 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.
Next year, I'm gonna run for student body president, and if I get elected, my first act will be to abolish Student Senate so that everybody in student senate will have to get a life and stop bothering us.
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
to do.
PAGE 5A
Jeff Diesel does not over react. He does what he needs
Wait, wait, so you're telling me that part of my tuition dollars has gone to support the women's basketball team? Oh, I'm definitely voting now.
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
On Saturday I was driving around with my friend, and went by the Chi O fountain and we saw a car full of football players wearing their helmets and screaming like hooligans.
图
I am also in love with the Smoothie guy when I get smoothies on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I'm going to marry him first. Come find me, I'm in Olive Hall.
Oliver H
Drugs, not hugs. Oh wait, I think it's hugs, not drugs.
Oh man, I can't wait for the KU relays. They're gonna be
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
awesome
I think the cartoonists of Kid Spectacle and Twisted Circus should have a fight to the death and both lose. Then there would be more room
for Sudoku
Is it just me or is Sigma Kappa's Ignite sign ripped a little bit?
--ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
To the women of G-Dub house, we know where George Washington is. What kind of reward are we talking about?
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
Today is opening day for the Yankees. Go Yankees!
--ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
So I walked in on my boyfriend sleeping with another girl the other day. I don't think that's a good sign.
OK Free-For-All, I won the pie-eating contest, I see something in the paper about a pizza eating contest, but it doesn't say where. I need to know.
need to know.
Nothing's dumber than an uninformed voter. Know what you're voting for.
One, one red hat! Two, two red hats! Three, three red hats! Four, four red hats! A ladybug!
The guy in the red hat is a pimp and a people's champ. Trust me, I know.
Free-For-All, I feel like a fugitive, because I keep trying to find every possible way to stay away from these Ignite people. I can't wait until election
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
ties forbidding the placement of children ... with same-sex couples” — makes some pretty outrageous claims, even by San Francisco standards.
tions are over
TheTriple-A Royals... Yeah.
Condeming religious leader not the right of city officials
COMMENTARY
Recently, William Cardinal Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, made clear the Catholic Church's teaching on placing children up for adoption with homosexual couples. Referencing a 2003 document issued by the Vatican, he said in an e-mail correspondence with Maurice Healy, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, "Catholic agencies should not place children for adoption in homosexual households ... The reasons given in the document ... require that a Catholic bishop follow this clear guidance from the Holy See in his oversight of Catholic diocesan agencies."
ANDREW SOUKUP opinion@kansan.com
We could go round and round about the morality of such adoptions, and we would probably never agree on an answer. But this is not really about the Church's social, moral or ethical teaching. Instead, it is about Resolution No. 0168-06, unanimously passed on March 21 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The resolution — "urging Cardinal Levada to withdraw his directive to Catholic Chari-
Disregarding a church followed by more than one-sixth of the world's population, the resolution alleges the Vatican is a foreign power meddling in the "customs and traditions" of the city. Moreover, the resolution also calls the Church's teachings "hateful and discriminatory ... insulting and callous." The city's board of supervisors then goes on to insult a religious leader, calling Levada "decidedly unqualified as a representative of his former home city," as if he were elected for such a purpose.
It is really hard to believe that this kind of "hateful and discriminatory rhetoric" would
come from such a supposedly tolerant and accepting city as San Francisco. As bad as they may feel the Vatican's directive is, the city nonetheless has no right to dictate how any particular religion administers its internal workings. That is, after all, what we in America like to call freedom of religion.
Even beyond the religious freedom aspect, there lies something much more immediate and to the point. In Boston, Catholic Charities is getting out of the adoption business altogether rather than compromise its ethical and moral principles by complying with new state anti-discrimination laws. Special interest groups in San Francisco and Boston may win political victories supporting their causes, but how many children will they hurt in the end by prolonging their stay in the foster-home system? Are the public adoption agencies ready to pick up the slack? That issue has yet to be addressed by the cities of San Francisco and Boston.
Soukup is a Lakin freshman in linguistics.
▼ LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sexual assault not dismissable
I am writing in response to the ill-informed, unabashed dismissal of sexual assault found in The University Daily Kansan on April 11 2006. Writers claimed that sexual assault was a "non-issue" here at the University of Kansas. Try telling the 36 victims of sexual assault for the years 2002-2004 that this is a "non-issue," or how about the silent victims that make up approximately $58\%$ of sexual assault cases, and the estimated $70\%$ of co-eds who will experience sexual assault in one form or another here at the University of Kansas. Or, how about the victim of a reported sexual assault the day after the commentary was printed?
We could even make it more personal and narrow it down to one victim who experienced sexual harassment from her professor for four months to receive
only a pathetic, mandatory letter of apology and nothing more because the Professor had tenure.
Tell these people that it is a "non-issue," that it is something only in their imaginations created out of "excessive fear and concern." That the comments of "whore" and sexual innuendos are nothing more then jokes that every collegiate coming into the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University should expect.
you can turn to as your defense, for both the accused and accuser?
Sexual assault is a serious issue that should be addressed even if only one person experiences it here at the University. Imagine if one of those 36 were your sister, your girlfriend, boyfriend (yes it happens to boys too) or yourself. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that it won't. If — and when — it does happen, wouldn't it be nice to know that you have specific guidelines that
Furthermore, creating a specific set of guidelines would not "limit the ability" to decide punishment. It would make punishment an objective process, which would make it more legitimate than what we have now. "The legitimacy of the process" is not "detracted" when it is limited, but rather when it does not fulfill its purpose. That purpose, as seen in the previous examples, has not been fulfilled. Therefore creating such a standard that would specify exactly what sexual assault is and what the consequences are — for both staff and student — is not only legitimate, but necessary for student's safety and well being.
Michelle Godrick Junior in psychology
Simple steps make noticeable differences
COMMENTARY
LIZ STUEWE
opinion@kansan.com
When I tell people that I am a political science major I get one of two reactions; the standard — if not completely sincere — "good for you," or a blank look, which is usually followed by a predictably bitter comment about all politicians being crooks and big corporations making all the important decisions. Politics has gained a bad reputation with the youth of America. And the reputation might be well deserved, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything about it.
The best thing we, as college students, can do to create change in America is wholeheartedly support those ideas and politicians and bills that strive to make America better and stronger.
I believe cooperation among people of all political persuasions is the key to overcoming those things that make college students bitter about politics today: Things such as the cost of education, whispers of a possible draft and lack of respect from politicians.
Therefore, I would like to wholeheartedly support the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics right here at the University of Kansas and applaud the institute for bringing speakers to campus who help us understand the problems facing our country and giving us practical advice we can use to help fix these problems.
Former U. S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) spoke Monday night at the Dole Institute of Politics' 2006 Dole Lecture. Former Senators Daschle and Bob Dole (R-Kan.) represent the bipartisan cooperation that is possible if we just try. Daschle's words were inspiring and challenging, but even more important is the example he set by agreeing to speak at the Dole Institute's flagship event. The two men occupied leadership positions in opposing parties for years, but still maintain a friendly and cooperative relationship. Politics does not naturally lend itself to powerful, personal, partisan bickering. Although by just viewing popular media sources, you would never know.
Do yourself a favor and expose yourself to the positive side of politics at the Dole Institute, and if you are still bitter and dissatisfied about the current state of American politics, make a change. Make a change by supporting the ideas, politicians, bills and everything else that is created in the spirit of cooperation.
Stuewe is a Lawrence sophomore in political science and American studies.
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