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COMMENTARY: Don't become friends with benefits. Girl and guy friends should be wary of becoming more than that.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 5A
》 OUR VIEW
Black History needs more than a month
As another Black History Month kicks off, we have to ask, does it legitimately honor black Americans? Or
was the event, in the shortest month of the year, created in an attempt to bury past injustices, to suggest that racism is dead and that poor blacks can (legitimately, this time) pull themselves up by their bootstraps?
Black History Month is a shoddy excuse for recognition of the expansive history and accomplishments of African Americans.
As an opportunity to recognize black men and women who made significant contributions to American history, Black History Month is a positive concept. But it's also a trivial event that is insufficiently recognized February often passes with little discussion of black history.
Sparse celebration of Black History Month is unsurprising, because America is still a segregated nation. Many neighborhoods are racially homogeneous, and race-based prejudices are common.
In a country where people are all-too-aware of skin color, Black History Month is more an act of tokenism than a respectable celebration. Setting aside a month for a minority group does nothing to desegregate a country.
Some black Americans find the event disrespectful because it skims over the hardships of African Americans while creating disconnect between "black America" and "America." The original founder of Negro History Week, Carter Woodson, sought to educate young blacks
about
about their history because he believed it was a significant part of American history. He said,
"What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice." Today, Black History Month hardly represents an effort to rid the world of racial divisions.
Black History Month is a shoddy excuse for recompition of the expansive history and accomplishments of African Americans. For its ability to remind us of characters like George Washington Carver, famous for numerous inventions including peanut butter, the holiday shouldn't be ignored. However, it is neither reasonable nor fair to cram black history into a single short and cold month. Dedicating a specified amount of time to one race encourages us to focus on human differences in lieu of the commonality that we all have as American citizens.
African Americans are a significant part of American history, and they should be adequately represented - not just during one month, but throughout the year. More important than Black History Month, therefore, is adequate consideration of black Americans in American history.
— Alison Kieler for the editorial board.
>> COMMENTARY
Winter weather prompts winter wear
We're back from the break, and I'm happy to report that evidently Jackie Onassis's estate sold off all her sunglasses to you, the University of Kansas student body. Just about all of us got that North Face jacket we wanted for Christmas. As for those of you whose parents didn't get the memo and now you're stuck with a Columbia coat, I think it was nice of you to not hurt their feelings by exchanging it.
The coat I roll with looks like two rags staplied together with a zipper sewn on with fishing line. I could have stolen it from a bum who passed out in a bus station bathroom. My wife came home with a Members Only jacket she found in the gutter and tried to talk me into trying it on.
"I didn't think Members Only was cool any more," I said.
"it's not," she said. "But we're taking baby steps."
So, I don't have the North Face jacket, but
BY BRANDON MINSTER
I still like cold weather. It makes going outside more fun. I have to be committed to leaving the house. There are no more casual saunters outside. Now I've got the ritual of finding where my son stashed my hat and which of my daughter's dolls are using my gloves as sleeping bags.
With cold weather comes better entertainment. Rare is the summer day where someone carrying
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
a stack of papers inexplicably falls down while walking on the sidewalk.
it should freeze what's inside my nose, too. Why does not seem to have a freezing point slightly below absolute zero? Someone should do something about that. We've got hallways full of PhDs who don't look too busy. They should stop talking about why the men's basketball team lost (hint: they scored fewer points) and they should start bioengineering a more easily frozen snot.
My only gripe with cold weather is this: if it gets cold enough to freeze my nose.
Think of the rest my nose will get. No more blowing, no more snorting. And picking my nose would become a breeze. (If I were ever inclined to pick my nose, which I'm not, because only kids pick their noses, right?)
That no one else has thought of this yet is shocking. Science has failed us. What's the point of NASA if they aren't going to find out random crap in space and turn it into useful stuff in the grocery store? Why is there no over-the-counter nasal spray to render runny noses obsolete? These eggheads had better do something soon, because I don't want my nose to drip on my jacket. It's Members Only.
Minster is a Lawrence junior in economics.
>> COMMENTARY
Girl-guy friends, avoid complicated hook-up
Male-female friends of the world, stay that way!
I understand hooking up can be tempting. After all, you know each other well and don't have any of those awkward silent moments. But after a hook-up, friendships are never the same.
I don't understand the pressure there is for friendships to turn into relationships. Maybe it's subconscious, but it seems that most close friendships between members of the opposite sex end up screwed up by the need to take it "a step further"
After years and years of experience, I figured out that if menwomen friendships never go into the 'relationship spectrum', we could actually understand each other better.
In many cases the love connec
tion is inevitable and good friendship effortlessly becomes an actual relationship. Closeness and honesty are already established and both of you know what a
BY ALAIDE VILCHIS
weirdo the other one is. So chances are the relationship will last.
KANSAN.COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
There is a certain I don't have to impress her at all times feel to friendships that have no further pressures. This makes guys more willing to say what they really think...unless it involves weird sexual stuff.
I have a fair number of close guy friends and a lot of the common barriers in a men-women relationship have disappeared because we know each other well. They do not feel the need to lie to keep me happy. If I ask them a serious question, I know I will get a completely honest
answer.
This interaction puzzles other people. I can't count how many people ask us if 'we are banging yet.' There is only one other person I know who is as close as I am to my guy friends but doesn't care to turn it into something more.
Think about it: having a close friendship with someone of the opposite sex without taking it any further has benefits for both sexes.
For girls, there is nothing better than having guy advise given to you by someone who fully understands how dumb guys are.
For guys, lets be honest, someone needs to tell you why your girlfriend is acting so bitchy and what you can do about it.
Please don't put pressure in a friendship just because your friend happens to be from the opposite sex. Thanks to my guy friends I've gotten pretty good at understanding the guy's side in an argument.
I believe that men and women can understand each other well. We just need to stop jumping into relationships that should've just stayed friendships.
Vilchis is a Mexico City junior in journalism.
FREE FOR ALL
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Fritz, please leave the third floor of McCollum. Sincerely, the third floor.
Hey Free-for-All, it's me. I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to print this, because I am the funniest girl alive, and I'm about to say something really
图
The only thing worse than a GDI is a Sigma Chi.
Kristin and James, it's very important that you understand that your hook-up is still disgusting.
funny. Poop! See ya.
again.
You know it's cold outside when you can see the breath coming from your freaking shadow. Your shadow! That's ridiculous! I want it to be warm again
It's so cold outside that my computer froze.
it really is.
Jumblee in me num-nums.
it really is.
To the fool who opened all the windows in the sixth floor lobby of McCollum: no fart is that bad.
I think I'm going to tell my teachers I can't come to class because I have the 24-hour plaque.
I don't care if I graduate in four years, or if I never graduate, because I'm not graduating until I'm in a Spangles commercial.
It's snowing again. This blows.
it really is.
Hey, if you lost your keys in the JRP Parking lot, I just turned them in to the Learning Center at JRP.
Hey, Free-for-All, you messed up my quote. It's "Hugs not Bugs." You know, like a caterpillar or a
They really ought to mark the parking spots with something other than snow-colored paint.
katydid
You ever notice that cologne rhymes with alone?
it really is.
it really is.
it really is.
I just wanted to let everyone who saw me fall down outside the steps at Summerfield know that
I'm okay ___
We need to have another school break, so everyone can leave and come back and repark their cars.
Global Warming, my ass!
it really is.
Free-for-All, you're always dumb!
Some girls make Uggs look good. Most don't.
The state of Kansas is so backward. You drop salt on the ground, not sand.
Hey, Underground, don't complain about the garbage. Put a garbage can by the door, like every other fast food restaurant.
I think I'm gonna just put my Shop-Vac out on the driveway, turn it on, and see how powerful it is really.
To the guy who went to class on crutches today: I saw your picture in the dictionary, under the word "trooper."
it really is.
it really is.
>> TALK TO US
Gabriella Souza editor
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Nicole Kelley, managing editor 864-4854 or nkelley@kansan.com
Courtney Hagen, opinion editor
864-4924 or chagen@kansan.com
Grant Snider/KANSAN
Lindsey Shirak, business manager 864-4014 or lishirak@kansan.com
Natalie Johnson, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or njohnson@ikansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager, news adviser
864-7667 or mglibson@kansan.com
Jackie Schaffer, sales manager
864-4462 or jschaffer@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
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EDITORIAL BOARD
---
Gabriella Suzua, Nicole Kelley, Patrick Ross, Courtney Hagen,
Natalie Johnson, Alison Kieler, Tasha Riggs and McKay
Stangler