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COMMENTARY: Old-school celebrities like KISS and Indiana Jones are best as glorious icons of the past.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 7A
》 OUR VIEW
Soaring campaign funds obscene
Recent news from the escalating 2008 presidential campaign foretold what many frustrated citizens have long suspected: the 2004 contest may have been the swan song of publicly financed campaigns. When Sen. Hillary Clinton announced that she was forging public financing for both primaries and the general election, we may have witnessed the last gasp of the campaign finance reform movement. Even Sen. John McCain, that stalwart of "straight talk," moved to remove his name from pending legislation of same subject, perhaps the symbolic fatal blow to his own efforts.
The drive to keep private money out of public elections predates the births of most University of Kansas students and has encountered significant free speech questions; namely, to what extent does a contribution constitute expression? But the most recent developments point to concerns of a more ethical nature: how can a candidate ignore the lure of private money without succumbing to the corruption of influence-buying and favor-currying?
The public financing system would have given Sen. Clinton about $150 million to spend, and by rejecting the money and its accompanying restrictions she is betting that she can raise and spend much more than that. With the proliferation of wealthy individual donors,
corporations hedging their bets with apportioned donations, and private groups spending copious amounts on a candidate's behalf, she is almost certainly correct. The Federal Election Commission says it expects spending by eventual 2008 candidates to exceed $1 billion.
Ours is a nation that prides itself on staging free and fair elections, but also on the free market principles that dictate many of our economic decisions. The suggestion that strict spending limits should be enforced, or that all campaigns should be funded only by public dollars, often seems like a suspicious affront to our libertarian core. In our media-saturated society, it would be nearly impossible to enforce any ban on privately funded campaign messages.
We face in the coming years the difficult task of bridging the divide between free speech and free spending, a dilemma complicated by the Maginot Line that is campaign finance law, a set of regulations that is easy to avoid and defeat. The total demise of campaign finance regulation is hardly a fait accompli, but Congress must act quickly to construct a fair and tempered system that preserves free speech but ferrets out corruption.
McKay Stangler for the editorial board.
Call 864-0500
FREE FOR ALL
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kanans editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slumberless and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Will somebody please help me?
don't know whether the second
word in the Cryptoquip is "emu"
To the kid that left the gigantic turd in the Wescoe toilet: Wow.
Constipated mathematicians work it out with a pencil.
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Why is a college student so fascinated with the carousel in front of the antique mall on Mass Street? That's really all I want to
ing to class? .
Can we please stop talking about Ugg boots? It is getting extremely old.
So I was reading "Damaged Circus" in the paper today, and realized I totally gave that guy a beer on Saturday night at a party. You are so welcome, Greg.
Ugly people go to K-State
》 TALK TO US
Heck yes I know it's a $5 off coupon for Planned Parenthood in the College Campus coupons, because it's awesome!
To the person who was wondering why everyone is looking down, walking through campus. It's because they don't want to look at your uddy face!
I don't appreciate the ESPN commentators' sarcastic remarks about the Kansas bowling team. I love bowling.
I'm a lean, mean, chicken-eating machine
ing to class? .
ing to class? .
All right. It's clear. Now it's time for all you horrible parkers to go move your car.
All I gotta say is hugs, not Uggs.
Courtney Hagen, opinion editor
864-4924 or chagen@kansan.com
Dear Darrell Arthur, please change your nickname so that the announcers on the TV games will stop calling you "Shady" Arthur. Thanks. Love everybody.
ing to class? .
Gabriella Souza, editor
845-4854 or guoza@kansan.com
Nicole Kelley, managing editor
864-4854 or niekley@kansan.com
Patrick Ross, managing editor
864-4854 or prosss@kansan.com
Courtney Hagen, opinion editor
845-4854
Does anyone ever just stop and look at the squirrel, or the trees, or the campus while they're walking to class? Me neither.
Free-for-All, you ve been really lame the last, like entire week. If you put this comment in, it'll be
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really far
have happened if the U.S. wasn't involved, but history has made America an accomplice.
Natalie Johnson, associate opinion editor 864-4924 or niohnsonilikans.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager, news adviser 864-7667 or malbison@ansan.com
Jackie Schaffer, sales manager
864-4462 or ischaffer@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
Lindsey Shirack, business manager 864-4014 or lshirack@kansan.com
Both the imperialistic nature and the political hypocrisy relate to the U.S. as an institution. It would be wrong to blame individual Americans for the result of foreign policy and events passed, but theoretically people are responsible for government, especially in a democracy.
》 COMMENTARY
Resentment towards the U.S. is justified, but it's the U.S. who holds the key to diminish this attitude. Mistakes will happen, and those in power will always be under more scrutiny.
U.S. can reduce bully reputation
The United States' image around the world has been deteriorating the past few years. According to a poll by the BBC conducted in 18 countries, only 29 percent of people interviewed believed the U.S. had a positive influence in the world. That's not really surprising considering Americas current foreign policy, but resentment against America has always existed. Is this resentment justified? The short answer is yes.
To understand why a group of people has a certain point of view you can't examine the situation only from your historical context. You need to attempt to understand what led to the development of that perspective.
The U.S. is an economic,political,cultural and military empire. The world's economy and the U.N. are subordinate to American interests. The invasion of American culture in other countries is undeniable. Around the world,American movies and songs are played,people are buying Big Macs and English is being learned.
The same way colonial Americans resented Britain in the 18th century, people from other countries hold a grudge toward America and the power it exerts over the world.
Another component in this
BY PATRICK LUIZ SULLIVAN
DE OLIVEIRA
KANSAN COLUMNIST
CHRISTIAN COURTNEY
resentment is the constant hypocrisy in America's history. Ever since America established itself as an independent nation it has preached values that it considered essential — particularly liberty, justice and objecting totalitarianism. These values, although preached, have been consistently secondary to national interests.
America claims to despise totalitarian regimes, but in practice it's another story. If the U.S. is, and wants to be viewed as a bastion of freedom, why did it support coups detat in South America that replaced democratically elected governments with brutal dictatorships? During this traumatic period thousands of people were killed and the military regularly practiced torture methods taught by the U.S. Students and artists labeled as "subversive" were targeted. This explains the resentment the student movement in South America has against America. The coups might
America needs to be humble and avoid self-righteousness. Just because the U.S. is the only remaining superpower doesn't mean it should act irresponsibly or ignore mistakes from the past. To truly achieve an ethical coexistence on the international level the U.S. needs to practice what it preaches, and understand how its power affects people around the world. It should constructively use that power, avoid acting unilaterally, and respect other countries' cultures and interests.
Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira is a Belo Horizonte, Brazil sophomore in journalism and history
ANOTHER BUSH WITH NO IDEA
Grant Snider/KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Old celebrities shouldn't relive glory
"You wanted the best, and you've got it. The hottest band in the land..." For decades, the rock band KISS has introduced themselves onstage with this mantra. Even though they still toured last year, their two founding members, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, are both nearly 60.
HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAC
A few months after the KISS tour in Japan, the first previews of "Rocky Balboa" appeared. More recently, news of the new "Indiana Jones" and "Die Hard" movies was released. The original films in each of these series debuted more than 20 years ago, as blockbusters that turned the leading actors into superstars.
I'm a big KISS fan. I'm a member of the KISS Army, their fan club, but the band is "old school." Everywhere you look today aging superstars are trying to revive their most famed days.
The newest continuations of
》 SUBMISSIONS
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions.
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
BY ADAM SAVERINO
For any questions, call Courtney Hagen or Natalie
Johnson at 864-4810 or e-mail:nkanan.kansan.com.
General questions should be directed to the editor at
editor@kanan.kansan.com.
these epics appear cheap. They're hollow in comparison to the original series. Given the drop in quality in new installments, why do it?
It might be because producers can't think of anything better than Rocky versus geriatrics. Or maybe these performers love these roles.
Harrison Ford, star of the "Indiana Jones" series claimed it was one of his favorite roles and, if given the opportunity, the only one he would do again. Similarly, front man Paul Stanley performs with KISS because of his great love for performing and the band's hundreds of loyal fans.
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SURMIT LETTERS TO
It's important that new generations are introduced to these performers. They should be introduced to the roles that made them stars, but not in a revival of that role. As for the stars themselves, they should keep working, but on new projects, and remember when they were "King of the Nighttime World."
Just because a performer loves a role, doesn't mean he or she should do it. At a certain point you become too old to be an action star or a sex symbol, and should think about doing other things. Harrison Ford doesn’t need to go back and cheapen one of his most beloved characters. The same could be said for Paul Starley, who recently went on a successful tour to promote his new solo album.
SUBMIT LETTERSTO
Saverino is an Albuquerque, N.M., junior in aerospace engineering.
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GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES
》 COMMENTARY
Learning about art worthwhile
1
BY BRYAN DYKMAN
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
In the next two days, before the First Friday art galleries opening in downtown Kansas City, I am going to learn how to evaluate art.
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Usually the critique is handed to me in some textbook. I know that the "Mona Lisa" is good. I know about the grin and how it infuriated the men of the day because they couldn't figure out what she was smiling about.
This is where Luke Underwood, a freshman, comes in.
The problem is I'll be looking at pieces that are fresh off the easel. My sense of evaluation will need an artist to help sharpen it.
Luke was Shawnee Mission North's representative to the Shooting Star competition his senior year in high school, where he toured one of the sponsor's private galleries. He heard this persistent conversation there with a few "old guys" that sounded something like this: "This one is good. This one is bad. I just bought a new BMW."
I think I can do that.
This is the type of behavior I'm looking to correct. I lack a background that is rich in art history, but Luke thinks I can make up for this by creating a dialogue. Does the composition work? Is it pleasing to the eye? Does it feel intentional?
It would be great to get some dialogue going on Friday. Then I'm reminded that not all the people there are looking for a discussion on aesthetics. A lot of them are looking for a free glass of wine and a maybe a little bohemian tingle. Open forums on composition tend to be left in the doorway when free cocktails are involved.
"For every piece that is hung on the wall, you will find someone who is willing to defend it." Luke said. "You will also find someone who hates it. But it's the dialogue that counts. The goal is to try to reach some kind of consensus, so that each person can come to a more objective view."
Because I feel so compelled to evaluate this art, Luke thinks that I need to start working on some pieces of my own. It's only after I've been through the process that I'll be able to make any discussion-based sense out of it.
I feel like I am back to canvas one. I'll walk into that first gallery and still be unable to offer anything beyond "it's good or it's bad" I'm not even going to pretend I can afford a BMW.
I should give up and try some of that free wine, but Luke reminded me, "I think the reason that you find it so pressing to learn how to evaluate art is because you have some sort of emotional attachment to it."
I have less than two days.
Dykman is a Westwood freshman in English.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Gabriella Souca, Nicole Kelley, Patrick Ross, Courtney Hagen,
Natalie Johnson, Alison Kieler, Tasha Riggins and McKay
Stangler
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