The University Daily Kansan emphasizes the 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.
COMMENTARY: Opponents of homosexuality can find biblical basis for their beliefs but so can proponents of the Golden Rule. See Kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 7A
》 OUR VIEW
University should waive fitness fee
With Americans constantly wanting and consuming more, it's predictable that they would begin to weigh more. The National Center for Health Statistics found that 64 percent of U.S. adults were overweight or obese. This number shouldn't be a shock because media have recently played up many feature stories about the dangers of obesity. What may be surprising, however, is that the NCHS also found that 59 percent of U.S. adults were not physically active at all.
The enjoyment and habit-forming benefits of physical activity are like anything else; they're easier to ingrain early in life rather than later. KU students are lucky to have the Robinson Recreation Center on campus to serve their fitness needs. Robinson recently offered a free week of KU Fit Classes, which ends on Sunday. While the free weights and cardio machines are open year-round and free of charge to current students, the Fit Classes require a fee of $45 per semester.
This fee should already be covered by student fees. Often that $45 does not guarantee a spot in the desired fitness class. When classes are limited to 30, people must be
turned away unless they get to the class up to 30 minutes prior to warming up. Students don't even try that hard to get signed into a full academic class.
With this high demand, many don't even break a sweat. College years include one of the biggest body image battles most will face. Lifestyle changes and poor eating choices are also rough on the body. An institution that wants to churn out healthy minds and bodies must re-evaluate this fee.
Some students cannot afford $45 per semester for Tae-Bo lessons. In fact, many students are eating Ramen noodles just scraping to get by. KU can offer free newspapers to the student body and $8 of printing per semester, surely it can cover the fitness fee. KU needs to reassess its student needs and demands and make those a priority. Students may not be pressuring the Administration for this fee to be covered, but the University must take notice of what its students are waiting in line for.
Tasha Riggins, for the editorial board
FREE FOR ALL
Call 804-0300
found to support almost any claim.
To the tiny fellow driving the huge truck that almost hit me today: Don't hate me because I have what you're trying to compensate for.
I will never vote for Hillary Clinton, because I refuse to vote for anyone with a bigger penis than I have.
I think Borat is teaching my physics class.
My answer to many thing I see on a daily basis is "evolution in action," people. Evolution in action.
Yeah, I just saw an armadillo do a back handspring in front of Haworth. I swear.
Let me give you advice:
Don't ever be driving you car on campus and fart, because you might see two girls that need a ride, and one of those girls you might have a crush on, and that whole idea might go right out the window.
found to support almost any claim.
So you would think that in the article talking about the proposed new plan for bars, the article would actually tell what that new plan is. I read it and I have no idea what it is talking about.
I just a priest wearing a North Face jacket over his robe.
Bye Kansas, I'm moving to Florida.
I'm sitting in Western Civ class and I notice the Freefor-All is rather small. Freefor-All, please take Viagra so you grow.
Grant Snider/KANSAN
Bible has basis for self-judgment too
COMMENTARY
Many people who are against homosexuality claim God's word as the basis for their convictions. However many of them don't apply God's other teachings to their own lives.
One of the most well known preachers of God's "zero tolerance for homosexuality" policy is Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka.
For anyone unfamiliar with Phelps, he has become famous worldwide for using phrases like "God Hates America," "God Hats Fags" and is known for rioting at the funerals of fallen homosexual soldiers.
While Westboro's Web site lists biblical reasons why homosexuals "will burn in hell for all eternity" unless they "listen to the preaching of Westboro Baptist Church," the site takes the claims too far by attacking homosexuals on personal levels disconnected with sexual orientation.
Among the malevolent claims are,"17 percent of fags eat and/or rub the feces of their partners on themselves" and "about 50 percent of the women on death row are dykes." The fact that the site gives sources for the claims is irrelevant; in today's technology-based society, statistics on the Internet can be
However, the current Pope gives a more appropriate solution to the issue while still taking a strong stance against the lifestyle. In a "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons" in 1986 then-cardinal Ratzinger preached, "Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed to those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."
As Phelps claims that the term "gay Christian" is an oxymoron, the Pope reveals contradictory values in the term "violent Christian" by stating, "It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs."
I do not believe in the divine
right of the Pope, nor am I Catholic. Even so, it would do Phelps and other Americans good to follow the words of the Pope. If people are going to claim the Bible is the written word of God, then they cannot pick and choose which scriptures to live by.
Sure, there's biblical basis for opposing homosexuality. First Corinthians 6:9b-10 states, "Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
But there's biblical basis for violent judgment too. "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you," reads Matthew 7:1.
Americans have the right to believe in whatever or whomever they want. Their relationship with God, or lack of one, is no one's business but their own. People need to start being less concerned with the actions of others and more concerned about saving themselves from "eternal damnation."
Chambers is a freshman in journalism.
>> LETTER TO THE EDITOR
King's Christianity underreported
Despite Monday's chill I reluctantly climbed Mount Oread in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. My hesitation want due to the cold weather, but my skepticism. "They're going to strip his significance bare of all its Christian content," I thought.
But I was wrong. The Multicultural Resource Center and Office of Multicultural Affairs did a fantastic job honoring King, as well as highlighting the Christian message that he embodied. The exhortations of Walter Kimbrough were relevant, deep, and engaging.
He did not shy away from insisting that King's life emulated the life of Jesus; King knew that "the cross that we bear precedes the crown that we wear," Kimbrough said. The Inspirational Gospel Voices lived up to their name not simply by inspiring, but also by proclaiming the good news of a majestic God.
The write-up in the Kansan, however, disappointed me. It portrayed King's vision and the event in the denuded and glossy way that Kimb艰 warned against.
Though one might hope it an accident that "Rev" usually vanishes
from King's name in newsprint, it's hard to believe that the profound spiritual tone of the entire evening could have escaped the notice of the reporter.
The message was not just that all should be non-conformists and take a stand for his or her beliefs, but that they should be personally transformed and stand up for what is right. That is what Kimbrough said, and that is what King did.
Adam Lockridge Lawrence senior
>> COMMENTARY
Libraries maintain a treasury of untapped resources
I wouldn't date a man, who didn't enjoy reading, and I feel sorry for people who see reading as a chore and not a pleasure. After all, anything you really need to know can be found on the Internet, right?
Not right. You can't find the feeling of curling up, stepping outside time, and turning the worn pages of a well-loved book. A good book won't only keep you company, but will transport you to a whole new world.
When I was little, my mother would take us to the library every week. It was a magical and wondrous place to my childhood self. It housed a multitude of adventures that would become, at times, some of my closest friends. Of all the gifts that my parents have given to me, my love of reading is the one I treasure the most. Reading still remains one of my favorite escapes.
The campus libraries offer this pleasure at a price that even a college student can afford. free. As KU students, we have access to roughly 3.6 million volumes. The library grows by more than a mile of bookshelves each year. Students complaining about the rising cost of books should first look in the library, where they can check out things at no cost.
Beyond the seven libraries on campus, KU takes part in an interlibrary loan system. By filling out a simple online form, you can borrow books, movies and music from other large schools. If you still haven't found what you're looking for, you can request that the library order the book. Most of the books for classes can be found through one of these three options.
The library is much more than just a quiet place to study or a really hot place to have sex; it's an amazing resource that you should take advantage of before you graduate. Not sure what you're looking for? Campus libraries employ a veritable army of people — including me
— to help you figure out what the right resources are for you and to make sure you get access to them. These people work hard to keep the library functioning properly and things in order. Of all the things I am going to miss about being in college, having access to the campus library system is one of the big ones.
Use it while you can.
Rachael Huffman is a Kansas City, Mo., junior in anthropology.
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Courtney Hagen, opinion editor
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Gabriella Souza, Nicole Keiley, Patrick Ross, Courtney Hagen, Natalie Johnson, Alison Kieler, Tasha Riggs and McKay Stangler