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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006
OUR OPINION
PAGE 5A
Cancer center goal shows initiative
More than 12,000 Kansans were living with cancer in 2002. Even more Kansans have had family members and friends live with the disease and maybe die as a result of it after months or years of treatment. Travel to distant treatment centers was the only choice for those diagnosed, but thanks to Gov Kathleen Sebelius, that may change.
The governor's pledge to provide $5 million in state funds to jump-start the drive to designate the KU Cancer Center at the KU Medical Center as part of the National Cancer Institute is something that has been a long time coming. The need for such an institution — for treatment, for medical advancement and for education — is immediate.
Iowa City, Iowa; Omaha,
Neb. and St. Louis are the
closest cities to Kansans living
in the eastern half of the state
containing NCI centers. If treat-
ment required regular visits,
those Kansans had to move
to those locations, straining
their budgets and families. If
they were unable to make that
commitment, they had to seek
treatment here by methods that
Issue: Governor Sebelius and Cancer research.
may not have been as effective as those being tested at an NCI center.
Stance: We applaud the governor's goal for the KU Cancer Center.
Local cancer patients aren't the only ones who would gain from a designated center at the KU Medical Center. The University would gain from the research funds, students would gain from the faculty such a site would attract and the state would gain a reputation for sponsoring medical research. But those interests pale to the benefits that cancer sufferers would receive.
Millions more will be needed to make the KU Cancer Center part of the NCI network. The governor's offer of state support may entice others to see the importance of this initiative and bring in the rest of the necessary funds.
Ty Beaver for the editorial board
Free All for Call 864-0500
Is it friends with benefits if the benefit is you don't have to sleep with them?
Free for all callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to comment statements and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Darnell Jackson's nickname is not Baby Shaq, it is The Hammer!
to come and get it.
So my roommate saw the front of the paper where it said the custodian had seen it all. Has the custodian seen a grown man pleasure a goat? 'I'll bet he hasn't.'
If anybody left or lost their US Bank ATM card at the Union ATM, it's at the Hawk Shop in the lost and found and you're welcome to come and get it.
I just saw an elderly Amish lady listening to headphones. I'll bet she was listening to the Black Eyed Peas or something like that.
I can't wait for Fred Phelps to die so I can go to his funeral and call him gay.
No one in my family seems to get excited about this, but University of Kansas was just mentioned on "Will and Grace". Even though it's a stupid show and it's a bad joke, I still got really excited.
got really e
What's the point in getting a fortune cookie with no fortune in it?
Has anybody ever noticed how Wescoe sparkles? No? Me neither.
I refuse to read Free-for-All comments about Chuck Norris.
My teacher just referenced boiling points and making a cup of tea during Hurricane Katrina. I don't really know what to do with that.
I just rode the bus back from Mrs. E's and I don't care who knows it.
Uh yeah, I think our school newspaper needs to recognize one of our best players ever and learn how to spell Hinrich correctly, because there's no E at the beginning of Hinrich. Stuuid free-for All
Stupid Free-for-All.
OK, all you Facebook idiots, all you have to do is go to your Facebook home, click My Privacy and change your privacy level to reserved so no one but people you know
can see your profile
I called in multiple times a week bashing Christian Moody, yet in the Free-for-All, all you do is print good things about him. That's realism
This is to the guy that let me get in front of him in the student records center at Strong Hall. I still owe you dinner, you going to pick me up on it?
That's racism
So I'm going to Rock Chalk Reve practice and I'm wasted. Is that bad?
No Scott, the painting was a gift. I'm taking it with
Watkins closes at 8:30 You're always open Free-for-All.
Materialism, wealth preclude appreciation of natural life
COMMENTARY
Sherman Tolbert is a chess fanatic.
Jonathan Kealling, editor
864-4854 or jealing@kansan.com
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbicke@kansan.com
Nate Kartin, managing editor
864-4854 or nkartin@kansan.com
Jason Shaad, opinion editor
864-4854 or jeishad@kansan.com
"I was really bad for a long time," he said. "Then all of a sudden, it hit me, and now, I don't really play chess — I use the term 'I cut people's heads off.'"
Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor 864-4924 or pross@kansan.com
Sarah Connelly, sales manager 864-4462 or adsales@kansan.com
Arl Ben, business manager
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
He also considers himself an expert on current issues, a community leader, a counselor and a sometimes mentor for children.
Malcot Gibson, general manager, news advisor
844-7697 mk@malcotgibson.com
He's also homeless.
Or, excuse me, "houseless."
Jeanifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
Tolbert, better known as "Sly Dog" around these parts, corrected me on that issue right away.
TALK TO US
He says he has a home, that he likes his current position, so he's definitely not "homeless."
This is because of a revelation he had after he squandered away a $65,000 workman's compensation settlement he won in 1997 after hurting his back.
There are occurrences places and people that I, a sheltered, fairly well-off Johnson county kid will never know or understand.
"It taught me that material things are of no value," Tolbert said. "What is of value is, I sleep on that sidewalk, and when I wake up at 1:30 in the morning on a beautiful day, the big dipper's right there. And I look down at the ground level, and there's a rabbit nibbling, right over here. And I can't see anything I'd rather do — like be able to watch a big-screen TV like [people] got at their house — than to watch that picture, I see out here that's natural, made by God."
legislative branch was pretty mean to the homeless,but he said that there were so many organizations and individuals around the city who provided services that Lawrence was a great place for those without homes.
I was talking to Tolbert at the Lawrence Community Shelter, 115 W. 11th St., where he and lots of other
"This is one of the best places you could ever live if you are homeless, or houseless," he said.
Our discussion soon turned to chess, religion and the meaning of life, among other things, so I gave up on my dreams of a hard-hitting exposé and decided to just let the man talk.
"I've been out here for so long — not just here, but in California, out in the streets, and I got places I could go to, but I just feel an obligation," Tolbert said. "A lot of people come to me, and talk to me, you know, about their girlfriend, or about their drug situation, or alcohol, or their momma died, and they know right where to find me. I'm always there."
That was Tolbert's usual hangout, until a couple of weeks ago when the police informed them that doing so violated city codes. They told them they had to leave. Thankfully, the shelter opened its doors for them.
He told me about how he plays chess with junior high school students during the summer and watches proudly as they improve.
MATT ERICKSON
opinion@kansan.com
After hearing about their encounter with the police, I was reminded of Lawrence's recent ranking of second on the National Coalition for the Homeless' list of "meanest" cities to the homeless.
"houseless" people were eating a breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes. My friend Cooper Arnold, Olathe freshman, and a group of others were feeding them at 8 a.m. on a Saturday.
He told me about how he sometimes felt like "the mayor of 10th Street." He told me
Arnold, along with a group of other students goes out every Saturday to feed the homeless.
about how he refused to take government money, and how he tried to repay those who have helped him.
They used to do it on the sidewalk at 10th and Massachusetts streets.
"I don't understand why people have a problem with people feeding people," he said. "But they did it to Jesus. He said, 'if they did it to me, they'll do it to you.'"
"I stay at Trinity [Episcopal Church], and they allow me to keep all my stuff there," Tolbert said, "but in return — nobody asks me to — I go clean the office and pick up all the trash every morning, make sure the drunks aren't there throwin' bottles."
I decided to investigate the issue, going straight to those affected by it.
I asked Tolbert his opinion on the matter.
Tolbert agreed that the city's
Tolbert pointed me to another man, Robin Larson. I wondered if he could offer more insight on what it was like to be without a home.
"You want to find out what it's like to be homeless in Lawrence?" he asked.
"If you don't experience it yourself, you'll never know what it's like. Throw a backpack on, get rid of your checkbook, get rid of your credit card, don't touch a damn bit of money. Come on down here and walk the walk. Until that point in time, anybody that comes down here ain't gonna know what it's like," he said.
All I could say was, "Yeah,
that's a good idea. I'll have to
think about that sometime."
I thought about that on the way home, and I knew that Robin Larson was right. There are occurrences, places and people that I, a sheltered, fairly well-off Johnson County kid, will never know or understand.
I guess the best I can offer is my respect and admiration.
- Erickson is an Olathe freshman In journalism and political science
Beauty always depends on confidence; anyone feels beautiful through realization
While patiently standing in the checkout line at Target, a package of note cards, and box of detergent in hand, my eye causally glanced over to the carefully positioned magazine rack.
I intently studied the beautiful Josh Hartnett, Jessica Simpson and other sexy models striking poses in all the latest issues of People, Vogue and every other magazine on the rack.
They are all categorized as nothing short of "beautiful" by the American eye.
COMMENTARY
Each of these cultural icons, as well as countless others, share one common feature: their looks.
Not to devalue that esteemed opinion, but I cannot help but question the overconfident definition of beauty.
Is it possible that they are beautiful because their name brand jeans and trendy accessories allow them to feel that way?
Are these people beautiful because of their fake tans, botox, bleached teeth, dyed hair and façade of makeup?
Or are they beautiful because
If the girl with Seven jeans and a full face of makeup feels just as beautiful as the girl wearing sweats and her hair in a messy bun — if in the end they both feel that they are internally secure and adequately portray their self image — then they have unlocked the mystery to finding what they need to be comfortable and "beautiful."
YALENA PAVLIK
opinion@kansan.com
It is not difficult for either sex to get caught up in the search for the best abs, whitest smile or most realistic fake tan.
The famed icons and corporate duos then team up to further persuade a public that is more than willing to follow suit into what they hope will bring them an internal state of self confidence
In fact, for many it is no longer a search, but a 'to-do' list that must be checked off in order to match their unrealistic celebrity role models.
People often overlook the dollar amount that these idolized personalities and their corporate partners exchange in order to present the image the stars so easily seem to display.
Surprisingly, the seemingly ungraspable quest for "beauty" is in fact a cyclical pattern produced through ourselves and it is anything but unattainable. The emotional and internal state that one must deal with on a daily basis is often ignored in our search for the perfect self image.
and beauty.
The question, therefore, does not lie in how we look.
It lies in how we feel about ourselves and, as a result, how we express ourselves to the world.
Surprisingly, the seemingly ungraspable quest for "beauty" is in fact a cyclical pattern produced through ourselves, and it is anything but unattainable.
The emotional and internal state that one must deal with on a daily basis is often ignored in our search for the perfect self image.
Pavlik is a Plano, Texas, freshman in Journalism.
The self that we choose to present at any given moment reflects who we truly are and how we feel about ourselves at that point in time.
Walking down the street later that same afternoon, I passed several people: A girl proudly sporting her Louis Vuitton handbag and Ug boots, a couple with trendy winter coats, a guy displaying his favorite band on his wrinkled blue T-shirt and several others content in their comfy sweatshirts and jeans.
In the end it all cycles back to a single truth: The level of comfort with one's identity and self-image.
GUEST COLUMN
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EDITORIAL BOARD
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4
Jonathan Kealing, Joelhua Bicket, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross,Ty Beaver, John
Jordan, Malinda Daibo
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