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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUR OPINION
Landlords should leave University out
Local landlord Serina Hearn said in a Lawrence Journal-World article that the University should intervene when students get rowdy outside of class and off campus. When it comes to frequent noise violations for parties and other inappropriate behavior, she said the University should step in and even levy punishment. That would be, to say the least, a bad idea.
It's all about checks and balances.
The KU Public Safety Office already has jurisdiction over parts of the city near campus. If a PSO officer witnesses a crime off campus, he or she has the authority to investigate and make an arrest. This includes noise ordinance violations and other crimes.
The Office of Student Financial Aid already monitors a student's commitment to academics. If a student starts to fall behind or withdraws from too many classes, be that from partying too hard or otherwise, he or she can lose money needed to pay tuition. By federal statute, students can lose financial aid if convicted of a felony, which includes drug possession, and a criminal record can affect the awarding of future scholarships. Academic probation is also a tool the University uses when dealing with bad students.
But to what end would it benefit the University to further intervene and act as a parent or baby sitter when students are off campus? Nearly all students are legal adults and responsible for their own actions. Corporations
Issue: Landlords want University discipline.
don't keep tabs on the private lives of their employees and there is no reason the University should do the same with those who study daily on its campus.
Stance: Student tenants don't need sitters.
Landlords have complete control over whom they lease to. If they don't think a prospective tenant will be respectful to the property or if they believe leseses will cause problems, they have every right to deny approval. They have numerous methods by which to screen applicants: Credit checks, references from former landlords, verification of employment or a working bank account.
It is not the University's job to do a landlord's dirty work
If the landlords want the University to police their tenants, then the University should police the landlords in exchange. It's not uncommon to hear students complain about long-needed repairs to their apartments, ignored phone calls to a landlord's office and suspiciously un-refunded security deposits.
If the landlords want a check on student behavior, students need one on landlord negligence and exploitation.
Ty Beaver for the editorial board
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The kiosk is dead sexy.
People who double park in yellow lots should either be ticketed or charged for another parking pass. Don't double park.
OK, so I went to try to go get some hot water so I could make my omeal that I brought on campus with me, and I find out that hot water has gone from 10 cents to 27 cents, so now not only am I still hungry and still poor, but I'm pissed off.
This is isn't who it would be, if it wasn't who it is.
You know it's a good day when you can sneak out of Cici's without the "Bye! Thanks for coming to Cici's!"
Shopping kicks sports' ass! Woo woo!
Hey Free-for-All, we just played this drinking game and this thing was called the Free-for-All and everyone drinks on it and so I thought of you and I just wanted to let you know that you're my Valentine. Love you lots! Byel
Nothing made me more depressed than the photo spread that you guys had in the Jayplay. Man, come on.
I just wanted to add a top eleven places to sleep on campus.The eleventh should be Allen Fieldhouse. I walk in there every day and there are always people sleeping, so it definitely should be on the top ten places to sleep on campus.
PAGE 5A
why is the Free-for-All shrinking? It's the only reason I grab the newspaper in the morning, and today there was only three.
(Editor's note: The Freefor-All has been sad lately because it doesn't have a Valentine)
The Kansan seriously needs to put in some better comics because the comics in there right now absolutely suck.
To the Coke employee who put the Diet Cherry Coke in the Sprite slot, I would like to challenge you to a duel in front of Wescoe.
What's funnier than a kid in a three piece suit hurtling over a frickin' banister? That's funny.
All right, out with it, who stole the Free-for-All? Because it's freaking missing, man. Aw, this sucks.
Wow, no one can drive today. Wait, it's Lawrence, Kansas. No one can ever drive.
Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor 864-4924 or pross@kansan.com
Congratulations it's your 22nd Birthday. You and your two roommates throw a small party to celebrate your approach to the next milestone of car rental age. A few friends who smoke come over to join in the festivities, so they sit on the porch much like people at the other three or four parties on the block. A cranky neighbor one block away complains about some other house and everyone on the street with music and joy is suddenly being written up without warning. You and your roommates are each given a separate ticket. Not only are you fined for disturbing the peace but you're going to be evicted and stopped from graduation. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday!
Patrick Hoss, associate opinion advisor
864-4924 or prox at kansan.com
Ari Ben, business manager
864-4462 or addirector at kansan.com
Sarah Connellly, sales manager
864-4462 or adales at kansan.com
Melcolm Gibson, general manager, news adviser
864-7864 or mgbsl at kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864/7864 or lweavers at kansan.com
Undefined noise limits should worry students
Sounds ridiculous? The above scenario actually happened until the eviction part. This new punishment became law last Tuesday, KU preventing graduation could become a reality unless we decide that it's time to fight back for a sensible and equitable law.
The city council's actions in recent months are treating students like second-class citizens. Last year the noise ordinance was modified by the Lawrence City Commission allowing officers to cite people without any complaint and based solely on their own opinion. In other words, any anonymous person, whether they're a neighbor or an officer having a bad night, can lead to you being ticketed
COMMENTARY
JUSTIN LAMORT opinion@kansan.com
without warning on standards that don't exist.
Last Tuesday the problem became even worse. On your second charge the city now has permission to fine you $1,100 and turn off your utilities. Apparently being innocent before proven guilty no longer applies to students. The mere presence of an unsubstantiated charge can lead you to no longer having electricity, gas or water.
It gets worse. Members of our community, including my landlord Serena Hearns in a recent interview with The Lawrence Journal-World, want the University to start acting as a parent and to discipline students for off-campus behavior such as stopping them from graduating. I wish I were making this up but they actually think adults who pay thousands of dollars to live in a house that has a hole in the door should now be babysat by school officials.
turn off a person's gas during winter
be completely subjective? No.
Do students need to be good neighbors? Yes. Should they keep the noise down and clean up their yards afterwards? Unquestionably. Should a law that includes jail time significant fines and the ability to
Benefits lie in stats, not price
The lack of standards gives crackpots an institutional tool for harassment. They can drive around and anonymously report any house with people outside. Officers not knowing which house on a block is the particular problem instead punish the entire block with no warning for an opportunity to quiet things down, ergo the citation on your birthday.
It is apparent in the Jan. 20 story on textbook prices, "Student Senate Urges Publishers to Unbundle Textbooks," that the University of Kansas Student Senate intends to take a serious examination of the issue.
How loud is too loud and why don't we have standards? David Corliss, assistant city manager for legal services in a Journal-World article last June said, "Some communities use them because it's a less arbitrary system. We haven't gotten to that point vet."
We reached that point long ago. The number of citations is escalating and the city is not going to risk a lucrative policy, politically or financially, unless we fight for a better law.
An officer doesn't estimate you were speeding. He uses a radar gun and measures to see if you exceeded a predetermined limit. Cities such as Austin, Texas have a reasonable 80 decibel limit. Instead of vague regulations from nameless individuals let us create a fair and sensible system that treats us all justly.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
- LaMort is a Cherryvale senior in psychology and political science.
One senator noted that the investment in supplemental material has contributed to the rise in textbook prices. The reasons cited were off-base, however. There was no discussion about precisely what these materials represent. Students now enter college with varying levels of preparedness and skill sets; diverse learning styles and
changes in technology demand a response from instructors. In response, publishers have refined textbooks and developed new tools to help teachers meet these pressures.
The dean of social sciences at the University of Washington, said last fall in the Seattle Post-Intelligence, "Web-based tutorials and quizzes combined with classroom instruction make a very nice improvement over anything we have done before." In one semester last year, 700,000 students used an online homework system through Pearson Higher Education to help
them master the material covered in their math courses. More than 10 million assignments were completed and more than 250 million problems were worked. These kinds of success are often not included in the discussion of benefits of bundled material.
Regardless, we offer all of our textbooks and learning material in a variety of formats and combinations. When a student invests in this material, we want them to use it to succeed.
Jonathan Keeling, editor
684-4854 or jkealing@kansan.edu
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
684-4854 or jbicke@kansan.edu
Nate Kartin, managing editor
684-4854 or nkarlin@kansan.edu
Jason Shad, opinion editor
684-4924 or jehadsh@kansan.edu
Daniel Bartell Vice President - Campus Relations Pearson Higher Education
Embrace others to relieve tension
TALK TO US
Do you need a hug? Embracing another person can be a show of pride, sympathy, encouragement or romance. This seemingly simple act has more benefits than you may realize.
Psychologically, hugging satisfies part of the social desires of human nature. William Fry, clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said in an article in The Saturday Evening Post, "Hugging, cuddling and touching expresses attraction, comradeship, affection. Hugging is especially helpful to those who are depressed."
According to USA Today, the American Psychosomatic Society reported that a brief hug at the beginning of a day reduces the stress that tends to build throughout the rest of the day.
"The need to touch, kiss and caress one another is as vital as your need for food, clothing and shelter," said James Hardison, human behaviorist and author of "Let's Touch: How and Why to Do It."
Embracing has physical benefits as well. According to an article in "Critical Care Nurse", two scientists in the department of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared heart health among 100 couples, half of whom embraced four or more times a day and half of whom did not embrace at all. Those who hugged had both a lower resting heart rate and a lower blood pressure.
Even weight loss can be affected by hugging. Dr. Leo Wollman, a New York City psychiatrist and weight-loss expert, told The Saturday Evening Post that women may gain weight when their significant other does not show enough affection. His studies also concluded that hugging and cuddling resulted in weight loss in overweight women.
Aside from the hard facts and studies, hugging costs nothing, is fat free, and nobody minds if it's returned. A simple embrace is a physical sign that you care about someone.
COMMENTARY
These benefits can only be received if one hugs properly. Half hugs and little pats on the back just don't count. Full frontal, chest to chest, both arms wrapped around each other and lightly squeezing the other person is the best way to hug. Actually drawing the person into you and feeling an energy transfer is the only way to do it. A wimpy hug is just as bad as a wimpy handshake.
If you aren't touchy feely, learn to be. Hugging is advantageous on many levels. Hug your neighbor, hug your friends, hug your teacher or your RA, your parents, your significant other or your dog. If you see me on campus, just ask and I'll give you a hug.
- Erica Prather is a Wichita junior in English and dance.
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Jonathan Kealing, Joahua Bicket, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross, Ty Beaver, John
Jordan, Malinda Lebeda
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