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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Check out more Free-For-All at kansan.com
OPINION
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▼ OUR OPINION
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2006
Gambling pays well but not in our town
gers
Kansas does have four casinos in northeast Kansas but these casinos are owned by Native Americans and the state doesn't receive any revenue from them. Currently Senate leaders have been working on a bill that would allow state-owned casinos and slot machines, and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius supports the idea. According to the Kansas City Star, the plan would call for casinos in Kansas City, Kan., and southeast Kansas.
In celebration of National Awareness Week for Problem Gambling (March 6-12), your Kansas Legislature is currently exploring the option of making gambling legal in the state.
The Kansas Legislature is stuck trying to find a proposal that would not cause serious budget problems but still fund public schools. The effectiveness of funding for public schools provided by casinos can be seen in other states. The Kansas Wins Coalition, a gambling lobbyist group, said 20 percent of casino revenue collected in Missouri went to school children there. In January alone Missouri's casinos paid $36.4 million in state and local government gambling taxes, most of which went to public schools.
At this point, state-owned casinos appear to provide a realistic solution to the school-funding dilemma. Kansans already gamble in surrounding states so they might as well spend their money at home. However, the
Issue: Legalized gambling to fund public schools
Stance: Use casinos to pay for public education, but keep them out of Lawrence.
Legislature should think twice if they ever consider building a casino in Lawrence.
Imagine — if you will — what this city would look like if it were allowed to have gambling: The flashing lights of the Granada would advertise loose nickel slots instead of touring bands; Abe & Jakes could add a casino boat on the Kaw River and KU students would be there throwing away their money on Blackjack and Texas Hold'em.
We agree with the Legislature's attempts to fund schools through legal gambling, but we hope it does not try to establish a casino in Lawrence. Giving students the option to gamble in-state is one thing, but putting it in our backyard is another. That would provide instant access to gambling and an easier incentive for those who wouldn't normally gamble in the first place.
So leave the casinos to the slot jockeys and those with nothing better to do with their free time. They can afford it.
Malinda Osborne for the editorial board
Below are some comments from kansan.com readers regarding the current Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate:
(Editor's note: The comments below appear unedited and altered. These comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The University Dalry Kaenan.)
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"Evolution is appropriately criticized by proposing and testing alternatives.To date the only proposed alternatives are untestable (often flaky) and hence nonscientific."
"If you wish to know the identity of that man who constitutes the seed, 'designer', or input and output of the universe, read what Christ tells us in Revelation 21:13: '1 am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.' Also Paul in Colossians identifies Christ as our creator: '3y Him all'
things were created: things in heaven and on earth ...; He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Immigrant children deserve rights we take for granted
"Scientists are skeptical automatically and have been carefully examining the evidence for evolution non stop since 1859. Moreover, scientists are beyond skeptical that mutation and selection *alone*
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tion and selection "alone account for everything. We know there are other factors."
PAGE 7A
"Letters to campus newspapers always change national discourse. But keep fighting the fight, like the democrats, one of these days you're bound to write something."
"I, on the other hand, was forced by my 5th grade teacher to listen to jim read Genesis in class at a public school... Religion is not science, and if you don't have the faith to keep the two separate, then that's your
one of these days you're bound to win something."
--problem, not mine."
COMMENTARY
In 2004, the legislature passed a law allowing undocumented immigrants to attend college in Kansas for an in-state rate if they graduated or received a GED after attending a Kansas high school for at least three years and were in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship.
I am grateful to live in America, though I realize that I haven't done anything to earn my spot here. It is by mere chance that I was not born in Haiti, the Congo or another place much less favorable. Some citizens of this country forget that it is luck that enabled them to be Americans. Take, for instance, many members of our state legislature. They apparently have made it a top priority to limit the opportunities of less fortunate citizens of other nations who move here and try to gain access to the opportunities we've had thrust upon us, just because we happened to be born here.
This seems fair. These youth, who probably made no conscious decision of their own to immigrate illegally, are given he same chance other Kansas residents are given: To attend college at a reduced rate.
This can make a big difference. At the University of Kansas, for instance, in-state tuition is about $8,000 cheaper each year than out-of-state tuition. Last fall the law affected 211 students in
Kansas, mostly at community colleges, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
Last week, a bill that would repeal the 2004 law passed in a Kansas House of Representatives committee. Soon, the House will vote on it. Many of those 211 students are likely a few "yeas" away from toiling away at minimum-wage jobs or heading back to their home countries.
MATT ERICKSON
opinion@kansan.com
Some representatives have argued that allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition is unfair because it is giving them a right that out-of-state students, legal citizens, don't have.
This, however, is inaccurate; because it's missing a key detail: the immigrants have to live in Kansas for at least three years before going to college. If any other student were to do the same, he or she would also receive in-state tuition.
Students in Missouri, Nebraska and other states have institutions in their home states where they can also receive in-state tuition. In no way do out-of-state
students have fewer rights or opportunities than the immigrants that this law concerns.
According to the Journal World, Governor Kathleen Sebelius and President Bush both support helping the children of undocumented immigrants receive higher education.
By attending college, these students will become productive citizens who contribute to the economy of Kansas and the United States for years to come.
Put yourself in the shoes of these students. They escaped from poverty in their home countries at a young age. Their families probably still live in below-average economic conditions. They cannot receive federal financial aid. They are doing all they can to become legal citizens.
All they want is the same opportunity afforded their peers: The opportunity to affordably attend college and ensure a prosperous life for themselves.
And our legislators apparently want to take this opportunity away.
We Americans need to realize how lucky we are to be here, and we need to see that we have an obligation to share our freedom and our opportunity with those who aren't as fortunate.
Erickson is an Olathe freshman in journalism and political science.
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. Standerous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Our seniors might not be all-stars, but what they said on senior night about God
Does anyone think we should have a ski lift going from Allen Fieldhouse to the dorms? Because I do.
really inspired a lot of people. This campus definitely needs a lot more of that. Thank you seniors. Thank you God.
lina fans driving an El Camino just makes us look like ignorant trash. Clearly, Duke is not a school where you're gonna find a El Camino.
For everybody who left before the seniors' speeches, you are trash and you should
Yeah, we just read the Free-for-All in Rise of Greek class, and we want to know what kind of drug the guy that wrote the bear/koala bear thing was on, because we need some of that.
Brian Wacker's comment about Duke and North Caro
their speed
transfer to K-State.Those seniors played four years for us, you could at least stay for
I wonder if Joshua Goetting knew that the United Arab Emirates is one of the few countries in the world that recognize the Taliban, or did he just decide to leave that
out in his article?
find a lot of E
Free-for-All, how sad is it when you can't ask someone to be your friend on facebook because of their security settings? I think I'm going to cry now.
I was mentioned twice, and misquoted and mis-paraphrased. Way to uck, UDK.
right there. Yeah.
When I think back upon this week on Park and Ride, I remember the guy we almost demolished in front of the bookstore on a bike and the blonde deer-in-the-headlights girl we almost hit in front of Hashinger
I feel really,really safe.
Holy crap, I've been calling the wrong number for you guys for the last two months. I can believe it. I gotta stop
smoking
I just walked by a campus worker repainting a wall that had absolutely nothing wrong with it. This is where our tuition money is going. Wow.
right there. Yeah.
Damn you Kansan, how dare you put my Sudoku on the fold!
For all the Christians who like to force their beliefs on other people who choose not to believe it, remember there was the one guy who said "Do unto others as others would do unto you?" Who was that? Oh yeah, Jesus, and he'd be ashamed of you.
right there. Yeah.
OK, honestly, what is a Kiosk 34 and why is everyone so obsessed with it? (Editor's note: It is the University of Kansas' student-produced literary and artistic magazine.)
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Yeah, that anime convention article about the trend could increase stereotypes, uh, that picture just does it right there. Yeah.
TALK TO US
Nate Karlin, managing editor
864-4354 or nkarlin@kansan.com
Jonathan Kealing, editor
864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbickel@kansan.com
Jason Shaad, opinion editor
864-4924 or jshaad@kansan.com
Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or proxs@kansan.com
Arl Ben, business manager
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
Malecon Gilton, general manager, news adviser
844-7697 or mobilan@kansan.com
Sarah Connelly, sales manager
864-4462 or adales@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Cochran is a Mission sophomore in journalism.
Jonathan Kealing, Joshua Bickel, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross, Ty Beaver, John
Jordan, Malinda Osborne
KELLY COCHRAN opinion@kansan.com
The winding nighttime walk up the path from Potter's Lake to West Campus Road is lit by a streetlight in the parking lot and one at the top of the hill some 400 feet away. It's not a pleasant walk at night, especially for a young woman with a 20-pound backpack and sandals.
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
For any questions, call Jason Shaad or Patricia Rose at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
SUBMIT TO
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Lawrence, KS 66048
(785) 864-4810, opinion@kansan.com
SUBMISSIONS
▼ COMMENTARY
Parking 'problem' has simple solution
The Parking Department is placing the convenience of one group of students over the safety of another. It should make everyone uncomfortable that the parking ordinance was suggested and accepted when this is the end result. It suggests that other policies can slip into action at the risk of the safety of university students. It's worth thinking about. I should know, I've had a lot of time to think about it as I walk up from the stadium.
A new ordinance came into effect this past fall that prohibits parking in the lot east of JRP Hall from 4 to 6 a.m. This policy has its greatest affect on the group of students living on West Campus Road. Previously, students living in fraternities and sororites on West Campus Road were able to buy the corresponding parking pass and use the lot as overflow for their own too-crowded lots. The change in rules was meant to deter the students who live on campus from using the lot for long-term, overnight parking. The new parking ordinance simply opens up a few spaces closer to campus for those who commute and only use the lot during the day; safety issues do not apply to this group.
The new time restriction placed on the JRP lot requires students of West Campus Road to park their cars in the Memorial Stadium lot, which is zoned for the same parking pass as JRP. The lots are zoned for the same passes, moving the cars to another area does only that: it moves them. It doesn't open up additional parking because the two lots are meant for the same parking passes. It is merely dangerous and inconvenient.
The issue is time and not that the students parking in JRP overnight didn't have proper registration, so it doesn't add up that students aren't able to use the parking pass for the lot at times that they need it. In a Kansan article on Feb. 21, the chairman of the parking commission committee said the problem stems from students assuming it is a "right, not a privilege, to park at the university." It may be a privilege for a student to bring a car to school, but it is a right to be on equal status with all other students who have paid for the same parking pass and therefore the same parking accommodations.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor at kansan.com.
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