Opinion The University Daily Kansan
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I literally woke up this morning not knowing what day it was, what time of the year it was, and whether or not my dream was real. Can you say intense PEM cycle?
--there is always room for improvement.
I came here to cram ... not hear about your pathetic relationship drama.
--there is always room for improvement.
Hipster is just another word for dirty hippie.
--there is always room for improvement.
I swear to God if I have to hear my coworker espouse the opinions he gets from Fox News one more time, I'm not responsible for what I do.
Wait ... Wait ... Wait ... AHHH!! ...
and boom goes the dynamite.
--there is always room for improvement.
There are lions in Africa, but I don't think there are any in the Sahara. It's all sand duney.
--there is always room for improvement.
I just downloaded the Taylor Swift font; my world is complete!
--there is always room for improvement.
--there is always room for improvement.
I hate trains with a passion. I'm sure it's awesome having a horn that everyone can hear for miles around but having a big horn is like having a large penis. Keep it in your pants until the situation calls for it.
Why is it that half of the brand new computers in the Budig computer lab have "Out of Order" signs on them?
--there is always room for improvement.
Hot Diggity Dang! What are your alternative curse words?
--there is always room for improvement.
Organic Chemistry is not hard ... we just learn how to draw shapes
--there is always room for improvement.
I'm in love with Jon Stewart. I named my fish after him.
--there is always room for improvement.
FML ... that is all.
I always get so sad when I drop a purple or red skittle on the floor.
--there is always room for improvement.
I look hot today and saw both of my crushes. Yes!
I just saw a fratter with red, green, and yellow Sperries. I want you!
--there is always room for improvement.
My day's so awesome that I have a bottle of coke next to me and as the day goes on, the more I wish there was rum in
--there is always room for improvement.
--there is always room for improvement.
I'm makin' banana bread!!!
--there is always room for improvement.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Campus sales tax plan deserves student support
While the University of Kansas offers students many scholarships, there is always room for improve-
proposal circulating among
A proposal sent the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas legislature would allow sales tax money from items purchased on campus to return back to the University to be used for scholarships.
of sales tax every semester could be going back to students. That money could really make a difference for students struggling to make ends meet.
Contact the Kansas Board of Regents
Students have had an specially
University main campus enrollment is a little more than 25,000, and a conservative estimate on the cost of books and supplies is about $300 per student, per semester. State sales tax is 6.3 percent. That means about $472,500
785-296-3421
1000 SW Jackson
Suite 250
Topeka, KS 66612
hard time finding ways to pay for college in the past few years. Not only did the recession hurt the finances of both students and their families, but
state funding to state universities has been cut by approximately $100 million, or 13 percent.
To make sure our taxes are being spent the way we want, we have to be vocal about our position.
All it takes is a few minutes to write or call at least one government official. It would add up to a lot of letters and a lot of pressure to bring the money back home.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that two thirds of all college students have student loan debt after graduation, with an average of $19,237.
With the economy still lagging, there is a chance that many of us are still going to be waiting tables or working retail after graduation, and almost $20,000 in debt is hard to pay off when you make minimum wage.
CARTOON
If there is any way to reduce that number, students need to work on making affordability a priority and a reality.
Shauna Blackmon for The Kansan Editorial Board
MARIAM SAIFAN
SENSITIVITY
Cartoon causes reflection on right use of free speech
As journalists we must always consider our audience.
After a recent class field trip to Haskell Indian Nations University, I realized that there is still an audience that I or we are not always aware or concerned with: Native Americans.
The fight isn't over for them especially today. They fight for representation, equality and freedom from oppression and stereotypes.
In my diversity in the media class, we explore racial, gender and ethnic topics. We discuss the portrayals and presence of different groups in the media, as well as the effects of those portrayals and what they mean.
NICK SAMBULAK
The Sept. 3 cartoon included a picture of a teacher and some students. The teacher and students had feathers and long hair, along with the dialogue "And, last on the
When my class went to Haskell, we participated in a lecture/discussion with some of Haskell's students and faculty. Our main lecturer Rhonda LeValdo, Indian Country reporter and journalism school alumna, began the discussion by pointing out a recent cartoon from The Kansan.
Not so Angelic
3Y ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON
www.angelique.com
agenda: Tonight's rain dance has been canceled due to expectations of inclement weather."
LeValdo said that at Haskell they didn't understand what the point of the cartoon was. Therefore she felt it necessary to ask our class what it meant. The class responded with silence and possibly embarrassment. We felt we were on the defensive end. Not only did we not know what to say, we also didn't understand it either. We didn't understand the humor, but we also didn't understand the offense.
A lot of people tend to tiptoe around topics and conversations when the subjects are racially, religiously or ethnically different from us. Unfortunately, a lot of people ignore an audience regardless of the difference or need for sensitivity.
As students, we have the youth and ability to change our perceptions to be better informed and aware of other cultures. More conversations and dialogues need to take place for a better understanding of these issues and how the other side feels about them.
I am not applauding or condemning the artist or saying he needs to be censored for sensitivity and awareness of his topics. I am a First Amendment supporter but more considerations need to be taken by authors regarding audience and ethics, even students.
Latoya Peterson, editor of the blog Racialicious.com, spoke to our class about the possible need for a Hippocratic Oath for journalists.
If journalists could learn to and fully consider each story and every angle of the story in its entirety, there would be no need for the oath.
Just because we have the freedom to say and write whatever we want doesn't necessarily mean we should.
McNaughton is a senior from Topeka in journalism and English.
GUEST COLUMN
Criminalizing gay sex common goal for Uganda, Montana parties
The Montana GOP and the Ugandan Parliament aren't usually known for seeing eye-to-eye on many policy ideas, but there is at least one instance where their priorities are shockingly in line: They would both make homosexuality a crime.
The situation in Uganda has been on the radar for almost a year. The Ugandan "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" was introduced last October by a member of its parliament, David Bahati. Due to wide-ranging international pressure, the bill's more draconian measures have been blunted, but it would still call for the execution of gays and lesbians who had sex while HIV positive, or who practiced homosexual acts more than once. The bill has yet to go to vote.
The Montanan side of the story came to light a little more than a week ago. The Associated Press reported that, in June, the Montana GOP adopted a party platform that included this statement: "We support the clear will of the people of Montana expressed by legislation to keep homosexual acts illegal."
The plank itself is a vestigial part of policy left over from 1997, when the state Supreme Court overturned a law that had made homosexual acts illegal. It's both amazing and troubling that the policy has persisted for so long.
As with any embarrassing revelation, members of the Montana GOP are split. Some are reacting with incredulous surprise, like Republican state Sen. John Brueggeman, who said, "I looked at that and said, 'You've got to be kidding me.'" He continued, "Should it get taken out? Absolutely. Does anybody think we should be arresting homosexual people? If you take that stand, you really probably shouldn't be in the Republican Party."
On the other side, some Montana Republicans are tacitly backing the plan, yet with
hedged answers all the same. "There had been at the time, and still is, a substantial portion of Republican legislators that believe it is more important for the Legislature to make the law instead of the Supreme Court," said Montana GOP Executive Director Bowen Greenwood.
If only there were two Brueggemans out there for every Greenwood. While Brueggeman unfilchingly calls an unjust measure exactly what it is, he continues on to explain how intellectually dishonest it is, in light of other Republican values. On the other hand, Greenwood seems to want to cover his ears and yell, 'Activist judges!' all the while propping up the abhorrent idea.
It's telling that the plank remained a part of the platform for 13 years. Greenwood states that no one has taken action to remove it, and in fact, it has never come up for discussion.
Legally speaking, the measure is a moot point. Constitutional specialist Jack Tubulske states that due to the previously mentioned Supreme Court ruling, "[it's against] the fundamental law of the land and the Legislature can't override the Constitution. It might express their view, but as far as a legal reality, it's a hollow view and can't come to pass."
As of right now, the plank is still a part of the official platform. While it does not advocate for the same cruelty that the Ugandan bill does, in essence, both statements mean the same thing: Homosexuals are second-class citizens.
The Ugandan bill has faltered, while the Montana GOP continues to support an unsupportable idea. Contact them at www.mtgop.org/contact.aspx and let them know what you think.
— From Uwire. Mike Munzenrider for the Minnesota Daily at the University of Minnesota
Chatterbox
"While a Vancouver chiropractor was adjusting my neck, I had a stroke. This does seem very dangerous. Nobody has ever been able to offer me an explanation. The chiropractic industry seems very scared of the idea of strokes being tied to its treatment. Although the doctors didn't seem suprised at all."
"Chirostroke" in response to "Chiropractors break the back of honest science" on Sept. 28.
"This has been a trend in the letters to the editor - taking a national, sometimes global problem, and using it as a personal attack against Lawrence as a community. "It is a true travesty to live in a community that would allow such disrespect." That's unnecessary character assassination; attack the problem, not the perpetrators. And don't play coy and act like only Lawrencians do this; I know the author of this letter isn't that naive."
Anyone who uses hyper-rhetoric like Islamphobia is boring me. Your lead said something about the military and free speech but I didn't see it in the story. General Petraeus is only one man and when it comes to constitutional rights he is still only one man and not the spokesman for the military."
— "Calvin" in response to "Security concerns a slippery slope" on Sept. 23.
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