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.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
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--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Just wasted two hours of my night watching a lame movie.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
I am staying in tonight, take that Lawrence.
My favorite football team is Brett Favre.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
I was so happy you called last night, you don't even know.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Cookie Monster.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
I accidentally took my birth control in class and the kid next to me asked if he could have some my "Adderall." I should have said yes.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
You guys hate Gill when we lose and love him when we win. You guys are idiots. Either you like him or don't. Stop deciding every game.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Just deleted a bunch of numbers from my phone Feels good, man.
Dear roomie: I leave 15 minutes after you and get to class before you. Just admit it: Park and Ride sucks.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Microbiology: Where you go to get more confused by a teacher explaining an exam question then wondering why it was on there in the first place.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Gowalla or Foursquare?
ATTENTION: Please save PDFs and Blackboard documents to the desktop before trying to print them on campus. Thank! Editor's note: Thank you, mom.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Look ladies, I know you've been checkin me out lately but let me get into med school
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
This morning I hopped out of my bed, turned my swag on, took a look in the mirror and said, "What's up?"
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
I am WAY too immature for this library. Anschutz can't handle me today!
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
We're already friends. Let's just make it friends with benefits.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Powerpoint keeps trying to autocorrect everything to Canadian French. Wtf?
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
Well, I learned my lesson.
--respectable representative for our University, but recently Gray-Little has made herself scarce to the public eye.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chancellor must put forward strong image
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has solidified her role as a strong leader and a
Gray-Little's considerable efforts to help extinguish KU's recent athletic turmoil and do what is best for this University is commendable. On Friday, the Kansas Board of Regents spoke highly of Gray-Little, praising her handling of recent issues at the University.
But with a strong leader, we also need someone who can put forth a strong image.
The past several months have not been easy for the Athletics Department, nor for Gray-Little.
With the Big 12 conference realignment this past summer and
the embarrassing string of events involving out-going athletics director Lew Perkins, Gray-Little has accumulated a significant amount of responsibility, less than a year after her arrival to KU.
The challenges she has been faced with in the past several months seem overwhelming for a first-year chancellor, but because she is a fresh face, it is all the more important to establish a strong identity and image for the University.
While Gray-Little does comment to the public from time-to-time about the various happenings going on with the University, she tends to, unfortunately, not put her face out there and provide a distinct image of herself, in correlation with the University
Surely Gray-Little does not
enjoy reading negative headlines surrounding KU, therefore she should continue to speak up and distance the image of scandal and bad press far, far away from the actuality of KU.
Next on Gray-Little's to-do list is to hire a new athletics director who is as successful at raising money as Perkins, but also one that can run the department in an ethical way. And when Gray-Little updates the public on the University's plans and thoughts on the matter, we hope she displays a strong sense of Jayhawk self.
Stefanie Penn for The Kansan Editorial Board
CARTOON
NICK SAMBULAK
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Comic perpetuates stereotypes
This letter is in response to the "Little Scottie" comic for the Tuesday, September 14, 2010, edition of The University Daily Kansan.
Let me preface this letter by saying that I value the UDK's freedom of publication and first amendment rights; without it, I would not be able to have this response letter published. Furthermore, I value the uniqueness of the UDK in that allows me to learn about many different aspects of Lawrence, the University of Kansas, and the students. Also, I appreciate past articles and willingness to explore topics in the LGBT community. I, however, do not appreciate when the freedom of speech turns into comic slander.
I do not find it a coincidence at all that today a cartoon comic ran that featured a seemingly gay fraternity during Delta Lambda Phi's (a fraternity for Gay, Bisexual and Progressive Men) Rush Week. Opinions on LGBT culture and the fraternity are warranted and welcomed. That being said, they should not exemplify the misconceptions and stereotypes projected
Gay-friendly fraternities as well as other queer organizations on campus serve to give sexual minorities places to feel safe. The cartoon aims to strip the sanctity of these entities. Progressive
upon the queer community.
This cartoon pigeonholeed queer friendly fraternities as predatory by insinuating particular roles played by members of different pledge classes; i.e. the "Big Brothers" were older, hairy, and more muscular men while the pledges were portrayed as cuter, more child-like and effeminate boys. Also, the language being used by the characters makes the pledges (more broadly, gay men) seem unintelligent, unmasculine, and immature. The last box of the comic, especially, took it too far. In it, the plague process and fraternity system were completely undermined by the underlying sexual connotations. The heterosexual community often hypersexualizes the queer community in order to vilify them. Using these stereotypes, including the sexualization of the gay community, paralyzes social justice and progress.
fraternities provide a safe-haven for those who are marginalized and ostracized by the obstinate traditions of heteronormative fraternal beliefs. Overall, this cartoon unjustly turns the public against a gay fraternity. All fraternities stand upon the same pillars: service, philanthropy, recreation and brotherhood, and one that welcomes gay men is no different. This aspect of their membership does not mean that they run their organization by sexual urges and desires. The fact that this cartoon would reduce a fraternity to the stance of a brothel or some kind of sexual competition is absurd and offensive. I hope that in the future the University Daily Kansan will think twice before publishing a cartoon that uses comedy as a means of discrimination, perpetuation of negative stereotypes, and vilification an entire group of (minority) people.
— Sara Thompson and Joshua Williams are president and vice-president, respectively, of Queers and Allies at KU
Your recent article "Employers discriminate against disabled" is a disappointing tribute to the University's attitude toward individuals with disabilities. Individuals who have disabilities are people first, not labels. They are not "the disabled." All of the helping professions stress people first language, which shows that the person is much more than just the disability they have. With much more of society participating in this shift of language, exemplified in KU students "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign last spring, the UDK's outdated vocabulary is disappointing. As a paper available
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Word choice in article disappoints
to such a large number of people, I would hope appropriate terminology is a priority. It is not just a matter of being politically correct as giving credit those employed by the University that have disabilities are more individuals and valued for their contributions more than having a focus on disability.
Also, the UDK's information about legislation in the United States is just plain wrong. Our country passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. In fact, Lawrence had a parade this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA. The Disabilities Discrimination Act was
legislation passed in the United Kingdom five years later.
While I applaud the UDK for bringing this important issue of disabilities and discrimination to the table, the inappropriate language and incorrect information is discouraging. It really is a testament to the University's attitude towards people in the disability community.
— Elizabeth Boresow is a junior from Leawood in music therapy.
GOVERNMENT
Idea of community needs reworking due to politics
When Jim Leach brought his National Civility Tour to
National Civility Tour to the University last week, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities waxed nostalgic for an era when people could disagree without being disagreeable.
Speaking to a sizable crowd at the Dole Institute of Politics, Leach cited the example of none other than former Sen. Bob Dole.
"Bob Dole was a partisan," Leach noted. "But he wasn't opposed to working across the aisle to get things done."
Dole may be remembered tor his role as the GOP standard-bearer against President Bill Clinton in 1996, but he also distinguished himself as a bipartisan conciliator. Among his most laudable efforts was his cooperation with Sen. George McGovern, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, to combat hunger in America.
One can only imagine what the Tea Party would make of Dole today. With the slightest inclination to compromise seen as grounds for a primary challenge, there's little incentive for GOP lawmakers to continue in the Dole tradition of committed, but pragmatic, Republicanism. As a result, issues like climate change, immigration reform, and further efforts to boost the national economy fester, unsolved.
Moreover, Leach lamented, the deep divisions that mark modern politics are expressed in the most vehement of terms. Every issue is now deemed a "moral" one. Conservative opponents of the health care law are evil Scrooges who, according to Rep. Alan Grayson (D.Fla.), want the sick to "die quickly." Meanwhile, that remarkably centrist law is cast by the right as a sinister, socialist plot to remake America.
What is to be done about the coarsening of the national dialogue? As Leach rightly pointed out, solutions must begin at the level of individuals. Legal scholar and Obama administration regulatory czar Cass Sunstein has argued that the
Politics on Campus
BY LUKE BRINKER
lbrinker@kansan.com
proliferation of electronic media may actually make the present polarization worse. People tend to gravitate toward sources of information that confirm their pre-existing biases. With the selective power of the World Wide Web, it's easier than ever to shut oneself off from contrary views.
What's urgently needed is a rethinking of what it means to live in an increasingly technocratic society. It's no mere coincidence that as new forms of digital media have become available, people have grown more and more isolated. In his book "Bowling Alone," sociologist Robert Putnam chronicles an America in which the concept of community is rapidly becoming a distant memory.
The University has a vital role in rekindling the communal spirit and leading society back toward civility. If problems are to be solved and differences are to be cordial, it's essential for people of various racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and sexual backgrounds to mix and mingle
backgrounds to mix and mingle. It's fitting that Leach heads an organization dedicated to the promotion of the humanities, as that aspect of the University experience is critical, too. The study of literature, history, philosophy, and the arts teach us, above all, that there is more than one way to look at any given phenomenon.
The University fulfills many roles. It cultivates students' minds, athletics, and yes, career prospects. But there perhaps no more important function than turning out well-rounded, thoughtful citizens.
Luke Brinker is a sophomore from Topeka in history.
Responses to the news of the week on Kansan.com
Chatterbox
"Being a veteran let me say this, we may have high minded ideals at one time but most of us were doing what we though was necessary to protect the United States. We probably felt a little stupid when we had to rise and stand at attention like so many young people but we did it out of respect. Now, years later when I stand at attention and salute (a recent change in the rules) I get very irritated with the disrespect of so many who may be American but never really earned it. When I was younger it sometimes took an older person, usually a veteran, to remind you to do the right thing. Which is to stand and show respect. Now I guess I'm that guy but there are so few veterans today than there were 30 years ago. If we were to allow free speech for the fools then it is also appropriate for us veterans to point out how boorish their behavior is and they must take it silently. After all, we are exercising our free speech rights. Maybe the next game they will stop the festivities and remind everyone of what is proper conduct."
—"Calvin" in response to "KU fans disrespect anthem" on Sept. 16.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansas Editorial Board are Alex Garrison, N gerek Nikir, Erin Brown, David Cawthon, Jonathan Shorman and Shauna Blackmon.