Opinion
United States First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
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--promise it gets better.
Is it acceptable to revisit my childhood and watch 'Barney sing-alongs'
--promise it gets better.
I don't understand my dentist's need to schedule appointments three months out. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing three months away from now, but chances are it's more important than going to the dentist
--promise it gets better.
Using the word "bestie" makes you sound like a 13-year-old
--promise it gets better.
Since we're paying about $4,000 a semester here, I don't think it's too much to ask for to have bathroom tissue that's thicker than won ton paper. I am far too old to worry about getting poop on my hand.
--promise it gets better.
I think it's safe to say I have at least four cavities right now .. Sad panda.
--promise it gets better.
Anything unrelated to elephants is irrelephant.
--promise it gets better.
I can't tell you how satisfying it is to cheat your way through your last year of law school.
--promise it gets better.
Smoke a J and Silly Bandz will be for you too.
My teacher pulled out a BOX of rectal dilators in class that were bought on eBay and "previously loved..."
--promise it gets better.
I realized that I do not have any strong friendships with people who use Macs. That is proof Macs appeal to a specific range of people that I tend to dislike
--promise it gets better.
I could eat this entire bowl of confetti cake batter. Oh wait, I am
--promise it gets better.
I'm tired of people saying,
"Sorry for partying." You shouldn't be sorry for partying.
You should be sorry for being a drunk idiot.
--promise it gets better.
Why did I choose to take an early class again?
--promise it gets better.
My dad owes me $600. Lap dances don't come cheap anymore
--promise it gets better.
It's not academic misconduct, it's called academic teamwork
Wear a Jimmy hat and save the big cat condoms? Yes please!
--promise it gets better.
ON CAMPUS MEDIA
Feedback on campus media welcome and encouraged
Here's your first warning: I'm going to make a lot of sweeping generalizations in this column
I suspect that first statement might entice some of the contrary (I mean this in a flattering way — including myself in that audience) among you to read further, so here's my second warning: I'm going to be talking about my sweeping generalizations — good and bad — about journalists.
Journalists like to talk. Journalists also like to listen. Good journalists learn eventually to listen more than they talk. This very rarely comes naturally.
Journalists like conflict. Journalists like controversy, scandal, downfall; indeed, the rush of news coverage is almost always related to the challenge of quickly processing information about someone else's hardship. Journalists enjoy knowing things other people do not.
As someone interested and involved in media, I have always had an amused fascination with the way the collective media conscience perpetuates stereotypes of itself. The archetypal image of the prodding busybody stirring up trouble shows up not just in countless movies and the like, but also in various forms of news media itself. I think this is because
— here's one last possibly negative generality — we journalists like this reputation.
But here's where I get to the good part. Bear with me, I
BY ALEX GARRISON agarrison@kansan.com
Journalists are all these things listed above because we really like people. And because we really like people, we really care deeply for people.
The Kansas campus media staff this semester, as a selection of budding journalists, is likely the most diverse of any of the many semesters I have worked with. We come from many different parts of the country (with many of us having lived across the world), from many different socioeconomic backgrounds, from different religions, different ethnicities, even, despite our college setting, many different ages.
But — and forgive me now if this is too fundamentally hokey and sentimental — what really brings us together is that we're all journalists. And as journalists, we're bound by a common care for our communities. We're gossipy newshounds, believe it or not, because we love people and we want to serve them.
Unfortunately, though, what frequently stands in the way of us
better serving our communities through information is the difficulty of getting constructive feedback from the people we serve. In short, we need you to help us serve you better.
I'm proud to say that I have gotten a lot of this feedback so far this semester, and I want to make an open and public commitment to working hard to respond to this feedback. I want to thank our readers for making their voices heard, and I want to encourage even more readers to come forward with their suggestions. In short, I want to listen more than I talk.
To get in touch with me, you can always e-mail me at editor@ kansan.com or through my personal e-mail, agarrison@ kansan.com. You can also find me in the newsroom — 2000 Dole Human Development Center — for open office hours from noon to 5 p.m. every Friday.
I think journalists are good people. The journalists I get the extreme pleasure of working with on the Kansan are, at least. Expressing your views on our journalism with us can help us become better journalists and, together as a community of KU students, we can all become better people.
Garrison is the editor-in-chief of The Kansan and a senior from Kansas City, Kan., in journalism and Arabic and Islamic studies.
CARTOON
MARIAM SAIFAN
GUEST COLUMN
Animal products in goods not limited to usual suspects
Making the switch to being a vegan — someone who does not consume or use any products that contain animal products — is undoubtedly a huge lifestyle change, and an admirable one at that. Walking by those big tubs of ice cream, leaving the gooey cheese off your sandwich and skipping the omelet bar line can be difficult, and making the change takes some extreme dedication.
Ever heard of Amino L-cysteine? Me neither, but it's creeping into your baked goods. It's a product derived from animal hair and feathers, and it can be found in the ingredient lists of bread and crackers. Breads enriched with whey protein or omega-3 fatty acids also don't fall into the vegan-friendly category
Even all these measures may not be enough. Animal products are lurking in the most obscure places, sneaking their way into your foods, your beauty products, and your clothing, even when you thought you had escaped them completely.
since whey is a milk product and omega-3's can contain fish oil. Scan your bread labels carefully for these ingredients, but chances are a bread with a laundry list of chemicals shouldn't be entering your stomach anyway.
One of the most ambiguous categories of food where you would never expect to find animal products (with the exception of milk chocolate) is candy. Marshmallow and Jell-O both contain gelatin, a product made from animal bones. Any food or candy containing lard (pie crusts, many fried frozen foods, cookies, candy and everything else dangerously delicious) are a no-no; lard is pig fat and that's definitely not vegan.
Even some food coloring can slip onto the prohibited list. Red food coloring is generally made from cochineal. If being vegan doesn't defer you from eating this, learning what cochineal actually is will. Ready? It's a parasite native to South America and Mexico. Yes, it is made from insects and that should be a food group
strictly confined to "Fear Factor."
Hidden animal products don't just creep into what you eat — they can be around your house, too. First, any product that doesn't have a label that says something along the lines of, "This product was not tested on animals," most likely was. Many soap products are made with sodium tallowate, which is just a fancy name for animal fat.
If you're ever not sure of an ingredient in a product or a food, it never hurts to do a quick Google search before you buy anything. Do your homework if you commit yourself to the lifestyle of eliminating animal products from your life. Being a vegan isn't about depriving yourself of everything you once loved, but rather exploring new options and choices that suit you and your new lifestyle too.
— From UWIRE. The Daily Campus at The University of Connecticut
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment extentions important to help families
Imagine a time perhaps five years from now, when many of you will have careers and a family that depends on you for financial stability. You are living a comfortable life and working for the future, when a nasty recession hits and all of a sudden you lose your job. You go on unemployment, but it doesn't last. What do you do when it runs out?
As of June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Kansas' unemployment rate is 6.5 percent, which translates into about 183,000 residents. It seems that the state has it relatively easy when considering that just across the border, my home state of Missouri has a 9.2 percent rate, while for the United States as a whole it's 9.6 percent. That's a whole lot of unemployed people, and many of them must fight daily to keep food on the table and a sense of hope within themselves after the unemployment checks stop coming in the mail.
Many of your parents are in this position. If you haven't experienced it firsthand, you have at least likely known someone whose life has been altered, slightly or radically, by the loss of a job in your immediate family.
As a country, we need an extension of unemployment insurance benefits, and there is currently a solution waiting in the Senate. According to OpenCongress.org, the Americans Want to Work Act "would add a fifth tier of unemployment insurance benefits in states with unemployment rates above 7.5 percent", adding an additional 20 weeks of benefits payments. It would also create more incentives for businesses to hire unemployed workers.
If the thought of so many millions of American adults and children facing a daily struggle to exist, much less thrive, is not enough to make you pick up the phone and call your senators, then consider the economic implications of extending unemployment.
Progressive Perspective
BY ALI FREE
Extending unemployment benefits stimulates the economy in a disarmingly simple process. When a person is out of a job, his or her household experiences a considerable decline in the amount of money they have to spend in relation to their normal spending habits. Because of this, when unemployment benefits are offered the household is likely to spend a high percentage of this money, almost always on basic consumer necessities such as food and housing. The unemployment insurance benefits go directly back into the economy. This line of reasoning leads the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to conclude that "unemployment insurance is a particularly effective stimulus."
So call your senators, tell them you want a vote on this important bill. If you're from Kansas, tell Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback to get their acts together and begin prioritizing the needs of actual people, rather than playing political games and making a big fuss about the all of a sudden crucial national debt.
Calling your senators and representatives does make a difference. Even Lady Gaga knows this — that's why she's telling her considerable fan base to call up Washington and ask for a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (which, by the way, you should also do). You will probably not speak directly to your senator, but the staff member taking your call tabulates how many constituents call and what stance each has. You can help change the lives of millions for the better.
Free is a sophomore from Blue Springs, Mo., in women's studies.
Chatterbox Responses to the news of the week on Kansan.com
"I don't think using $2-5 of student fee money to expand a popular fast food eatery on campus is a "victory for students." Sounds kind of like a scam to me. With so many people visiting the Underground getting pizza hut pizzas, ho-hum sushi and Christ-fill-a sandwiches it really baffles me how the Memorial Union Board doesn't make enough money to fund this themselves. Is this the future of business? If you want to expand, you need to take out a government subsidy, even if you are making a healthy profit?"
— "Sischlag" in response to "Underground expansion a worthy project" on Sept. 15.
"Nice editorial idea, but this barely even describes what the actual issues at hand are, how much money is being taken away, etc. The decision to cut funding has already happened so what is the action you want taken? What do you expect to happen?"
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
—"Douglasco" in response to "Health of high school journalism important to campus media" on Sept. 21.
LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to Kananspodesk@gmail.
com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in
the e-mail subject line.
Length: 300 words
CONTACT US
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown. Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/cletters.
Alex Garrison, editor
864-4810 or agarrison@kansan.com
Nick Gerik, managing editor
864-4810 or ngerik@kansan.com
Erin Brown, managing editor 864-4810 or ebrown@kansan.com
David Cawthon, kansan.com managing editor
864-4810 or dcwthon@kansan.com
Emily McCoy, Kansan TV assignment editor 864-4810 or emccoyj@kansan.com
Jonathan Shorman, opinion editor 864-4924 or jshorman@kansan.com
Joe Garvey, business manager
864-4358 or jgarvey@kansan.com
Amy O'Brien, aales manager
864-4477 or aobrien@kansan.com
Shauna Blackmon, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or sblackmon@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news
adviser
664-7667 or mishon@lk.com
Jon Schilt, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jschilt@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Aigarrison Nigirk, Erin Brown, David Blackman, Jonathan Shaunah and Shauna Blackman.