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.
GUEST: Sixty-five years ago American forces were attacked at Pearl Harbor. Today, take the time to remember all our veterans, past and present See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 11A
》 OUR VIEW
First Amendment protects student's sign
As the Jayhawks ripped the Trojans Monday evening, a student's right to tree speech was abrogated when he used a different double entendre in the student section of Allen Fieldhouse.
An usher seized a student's sign that read "Cream the Trojans" at the Kansas-USC men's basketball game. That student — and others who care to freely express themselves in public — should know that the usher violated the student's right to free speech.
Legal experts say that the First Amendment protects one's right to hold these types of signs at sporting events. Howard M. Wasserman, assistant professor of law at Florida International University, writes on firstamentmentcenter.org that universities continually attempt to limit profanity and other forms of offensive expression at sporting events to protect civility and personal sensitivity. Courts continue to strike down these policies because they violate the First Amendment, he writes.
The court precedent allowing this type of speech comes from the 1971 landmark case Cohen v. California. Paul Cohen wore a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" in a Los Angeles courthouse and was convicted of violating a California law that prohibited "disturbing the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person ... by ... offensive conduct." The Court of Appeals
posited that "offensive conduct" meant "behavior which has a tendency to provoke others to acts of violence or to in turn disturb the peace."
The Supreme Court struck down the Court of Appeals ruling. Writing for the court's majority, Justice John Marshall Harlan argued that the state had denied Cohen's right of free speech. The state could not prosecute "unless that its use is inherently likely to cause violent reaction."
Harlan famously wrote that the Constitution leaves "matters of taste and style" to the individual.
"For, while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it is nevertheless often true that one man's vulgarity is another's lyric," he wrote.
The "Cream the Trojans" sign may have contributed to low morale among USC players, but
it did not have the potential to incite violence among students.
As a public institution, the University of Kansas must comply with the First Amendment. Someone at KU Athletics should tell its ushers that though they may find students' signs vulgar and offensive, they cannot censor our clever, lyrical wit.
Steve Lynn for the editorial board.
COMMENTARY
America should abandon quest for cosmic justice
I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine named Jose. Jose came to America illegally to find the American Dream. Now he works 90 hours per week and makes minimum wage, which is nowhere near high enough to support his family. In addition, as Al Gore might point out, he has no health insurance and must sometimes choose between paying his rent and treating his leprosy. Yesterday, Jose was arrested for selling drugs to feed his family, and now he's going to prison. And through it all, he's remained so optimistic and hopeful!
BY VINCE MYERS
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINIONOOKANSAN.COM
Every day, I read another one of these stories in any number of different publications. Now I'm supposed to support opening the borders, raising the minimum wage, enacting universal health insurance and legalizing drugs.
It's important to think critically about these stories. Bad luck befalls everyone. Sometimes it's self-inflicted, sometimes it's random chance, and sometimes it has to do with America's social or legal structures. We can't possibly enact laws to keep everyone free of bad luck, nor should we make an attempt.
Let's also not forget that most major changes the government attempts lead to unintended consequences, and they're often worse than the problems the government is trying to solve in the first place.
Open the borders? Despite the obvious terrorism concerns, America's welfare system would col-
apse. The tax increases needed to support the millions of immigrants who might qualify for welfare would make life for everyone else miserable and probably drive business (to which America owes its prosperity) to other parts of the world. Not only that, but wages would plummet because of the increase in the size of the work force. To open the borders would be to economically crush our country. Not a good idea.
A universal health care system is another road towards disaster. When the demand for health care skyrocks, prices will do the same. The only way the government can afford to provide health care in that situation is if it puts a price cap on health care. And, as you'll learn in any introductory economics class, price caps create shortages. This is why, in countries with socialized health care, people must wait months for surgery. In Canada's socialized health care system, there is a limit on how much money doctors can make. The incentives to be successful, or to treat more patients (mitigating the shortage), or to give better care, go out the window
when income is capped, leading to a decline in the quality of health care
One sad consequence of socialized health care (there are many) is the creation of a black market health care industry. Patients tired of waiting for care or wanting higher quality of care will find doctors who wants to make some extra income, and a private health care market is created. In Canada this is illegal because allowing a private health care market would take doctors away from those waiting for care in the government queue, not to mention creating the inequality in health care that the socialized system was designed to prevent in the first place. So the private health care market becomes illegal, which means that doctors can be arrested for giving assistance to patients. Sounds like a small step towards totalitarianism to me.
But this is where the lose stories lead us. Facts, consequences, economics and common sense fly out the window in favor of emotion-fueled reform. American society isn't perfect, but it's much better than the vast majority of the alternatives we dream up. We need to stop fretting so much about how to make one person feel better and instead appreciate that our current system created the prosperity we enjoy today.
Myers is an Olathe junior in economics.
COMMENTARY
Honor veterans on anniversary
December 7, 1941, was a calm Sunday morning as the sun rose over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. With the rising sun came a horrific day of carnage: The Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor with a vengeance, killing 2,403 American servicemen and women.
Several years ago, I was honored to talk with my grandfather, Bill Moreing, about that day. He was a Marine stationed at Pearl Harbor that awful morning and helped sound the alarm as kamikaze planes filled the sky, engulfed the base with gunfire, destroyed the Navy fleet, and killed many American troops defending their country. My grandfather
President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Pearl Harbor "a day that will live in infamy forever," as the United States entered World War II and the free peoples of the world faced down Nazi Germany and the Axis for the future of civilization. These men and women courageously fought for America and earned the title "the greatest generation" as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Allies to save the world. For them, failure was not an option as they fought for freedom's future. Our grandparents'
miraculously survived by jumping from a battleship tower during the attack, but his good friend from the service was not so fortunate.
This holiday season, remember the greatest generation's finest hour and thank our troops, past and present, for their valiant sacrifices that keep America the land of the free and the home of the brave. As the Marines proudly say, "Semper Fi" — always faithful.
generation did not flinch in the face of unspeakable evil — they saved the world for freedom and fought and died so we could enjoy our lives today. Winston Churchill called the greatest generations' World War II triumph "their finest hour."
Stephen M. Johnson Overland Park law student
ACHIEVING TWENTY-ONENESS
Grant Snider/KANSAN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Display at Rec Center promotes charity, not religion
Isn't it interesting that yesterday's letter to the editor berating Angel Tree, a charity on campus for needy children, ("Christian decoration inappropriate at Rec Center") was placed opposite from McKay Stangler's editorial on America's obligation to help the poor in the midst of holiday shopping? ("Holidays time to help others")
The writer was offended when he saw paper angels hanging from a Christmas tree in the Rec Center because he says they were "firing with the appearance of a state endorsement of a particular religion."
FREE FOR ALL
Instead of locusing on this paranola of religious infiltration across campus, think about the joy this program provides to hundreds of families in the area. It shouldn't matter why it's given if it is in the spirit of making a child happy.
Call 864-0500
donate gifts to families who can't afford them otherwise, why fight it on the grounds that symbols of the season offend you? It is voluntary, after all. The Ree Center isn't asking you to pick up an angel.
Kelly Heavey
Manhattan junior
The fact is, that, in America, December is a month full of shopping and gift giving. If people take their own time and money to
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls
Although angels and Christmas trees are rooted in certain religious fundamentals, no one can argue against the fact that, along with snowmen and jingle bells, they are symbols of this wintry season in America. Most people do not correlate an angel with Gabriel or a decorated Christmas tree with the birth of Jesus. The Angel Trees on campus are not meant to encourage certain religions, they're meant to help the less fortunate.
To the girl in the McCollum parking lot who just hit two cars: Nice driving. You just made my
day
I would just like to say the new soap in the Kansas Union is quite ungrade.
are recorded.
Wichita State is No.10 and KU is No. 12. I'm going to have a
3
To the fat kid who said Brandon Rush is overrated: Transfer now.
my reward for going to class, and now I realize they have it on the
Erick R. Schmidt managing editor
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Jonathan Kealing. editor
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We should substitute in Baby
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Jonathan Kealing, Erick R. S. Schmidt, Gabrielle Soura, Frank Tankard, Dave Ruilgh, Steve Lynn, McKay Stangler and Llois Mora