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.
ERICKSON: Am I the only one concerned to be entering the age of the "Txt Zone," in which the rules of grammar and punctuation no longer matter? See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 7A
OUR VIEW
Coca-Cola crosses line with 25-cent price hike
The caffeine rush needed for students between classes is going to get a little more expensive. As if it isn't enough for Coca-Cola to have a monopoly on beverage products on campus, it will increase its price from $1 to $1.25 by next semester.
A quarter may not seem like a lot of money, but if you multiply that by the number of big, bright red machines sprinkled across campus, you are talking big bucks.
The price increase isn't designed to help curb the rise in tuition or fund much-needed improvements to University buildings, but rather to help Coca-Cola remain consistent with its prices. The trick of buying a bottle of Coke in the vending machine for less than at a
campus convenience store — which charges $1.19 per bottle, plus tax — will no longer work.
Students have also been shortchanged when it comes to juice, as juice bottles have shrunk down to just 10 ounces for $1. Coca-Cola's tactics of providing unhealthy, carbonated beverages at bigger sizes and shrinking the size of its healthy drinks isn't going to help the growing issue of obesity in the United States.
This Coke's for you, Coke Partnership Committee and officials at the company, for raising prices on an addicting drink that has ruked our nutritional habits.
Louis Mora for the editorial board
LOL! Txt Zone leads to demise of language
"I (heart) Bills Boys!"
This is the message I've seen displayed across several T-shirts at men's basketball games this season.
At first, I could not understand what it meant. What's a Bills Boy? Is it a mixed drink?
What are the "Bills" the shirts refer to? Dollar bills? Cell phone bills? Immigration reform bills?
The shirts are blue and red — oh,
those are the colors of the Buffalo
Bills, an NFI team. That must be it.
All these people are just huge fans of
the Bills' players — the Bills Boys
But that didn't make sense; the Bills are only 5-6 this year, last in their division.
I told my friends "Thx" for explaining things to me. "LOL," they replied insincerely. But inside, I was anything but ROTFL. I was worried.
Here in the Ext Zone, where punctuation is no longer worth your time, "Bills Boys" obviously meant "Bill's Boys" as in Bill Self, the basketball coach. Never mind that removing the apostrophe from the phrase completely changes its meaning, changing "Bills", a possessive adjective, into "Bills", a plural noun. There's no time for such trifles in the Ext Zone.
Sure, it's fine to slip into the Txt Zone when we're confined to the 160-character world of text messages. But sometimes I worry that people spend so much time in the Txt Zone that they become careless with the rules and customs that make our language a language.
Punctuation and spelling errors are nearly the norm for many businesses and organizations today, from downtown T-shirt retailers to the University itself.
I asked some friends for guidance, and they explained to me: I had slipped into the Txt Zone, another dimension where the rules of grammar and language no longer apply, where the only rule governing our communication is to punch as few keypad buttons with our thumbs as possible.
box on a University instructor evaluation form earlier this week, the box said, "I am a...," followed by a bubble for each grade level.
But the word next to the first bubble was "freshmen". If someone were to mark this bubble, he or she would be saying, "I am a freshman", which makes as much sense as saying "I am a man," "I am a children" or "I am a girls."
An innocent plural/singular mixup? Perhaps. But it's also evidence of laziness with the English language.
Such consequences in just one punctuation mark are strangely reassuring to people who still believe in the need for some sanity and order in our language.
Erickson is an Olathe sophomore in journalism and political science.
Here's a piece of evidence that grammar and punctuation are still more important than those living in the Txt Zone would like to think. An extra comma placed in a contract may cost Canadian cable company Rogers Communications about $1.75 million, according to National Public Radio.
Maybe I have a psychological condition that causes me to wince more at obvious misuses of the English language. Sometimes I feel like the kid from "The Sixth Sense," like I'm the only one who can see all of these dangling modifiers and subject-verb disagreements floating around like dead people. But I think that a watering-down of our language won't help anyone.
The misused comma caused one sentence to change meanings, allowing a telephone company to pull out of the contract several years earlier than it otherwise could have.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Cherish Everytown Days
Scarlet shades conspicuously illuminate the night through windows of stores-turned-makeshift-art-galleries.
This past October, multitudes of translucent red balloons crowded the ceilings of galleries, creating a crimson chandelier. Balloons tied to patrons' wrists mingled with the ones above, resembling a moving kaleidoscope.
Local artists created the Red Balloon To Do festival to applaud the strong artistic fabric of Lawrence. Businesses and residents open their spaces to local artists to show off, and maybe sell, their creations.
Music, film, live theater and art festivals such as the Red Balloon To Do take up a large portion of Lawrence's events calendar. Walking from gallery to gallery, experiencing the variety of art, Lawrence residents swell with a sense of community pride.
Lawrence isn't the only American town or small city with community esteem. Such festivals bring visitors and give the residents of nearly every small town in the U.S.A.
something to look forward to. Towns and small cities have a knack for inspiring pride in the citizenry.
These festivals teach us about our identity within society. If we lose them, we lose who we are. The world is closely knit out in this America; connected, but removed.
Kansas and Missouri towns such as Parsons, Garden City, Junction City, Ioplin, Sharon Springs, Baldwin City, Forsyth and smaller towns and cities in general get smaller and further removed from mainstream America.
Small-town children grow up and leave, many opting to stay away. Whether leaving because of damaged reputations or just for a change, the effects are the same: Schools consolidate, jobs leave town along with the festivals and we forget that sense of ourselves. Until recently this has been the increasing trend, but with global warming a looming threat, population is expected to flood the Midwest again in a matter of years.
The United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicts a shrinking of rural America
in favor of urban settings — specifically, a 1.64 percent expected average annual decrease in rural population and growth from 2000 to 2015, compared with a .373 percent annual increase in urban areas during the same time.
Trends show America's youth migrating toward larger cities and metropolitan areas. My age group seems to not appreciate small town benefits. We want high-rises and powerful corporations, city nightlife and swanky cafes.
But let's not forget why people live in towns or small cities to begin with. Everybody knows everybody, safety is a lesser concern, housing costs less and community involvement is easy.
A small-town festival reminds a county or town of its history, helps citizens boast their cultural and artistic heritage, and emphasizes the best characteristics of that town. Cole Younger Days of Lee's Summit, Mo., and the Rattlesnake Roundup of Sharon Springs were created to pride in their communities' roots. The Rattlesnake Roundup hearkens back to the untamed, wild
heritage of Sharon Springs and the rest of the Midwest — pick a state and it will probably have a roundup. Cole Younger Days reminds Lee's Summit residents of their patriotic and rebel heritage.
Music and local art are the main calling to outsiders of Lawrence. Evidence is in the number and variety of music festivals, gallery openings and concerts in town. The Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, Bleeding Kansas, the Red Balloon To Do and the Kansas International Film Festival stand as smiling instances of Lawrence's community involvement and pride.
Everyone is welcome to call Kansas a fly-over state. But I take pride in my community, our accomplishments and our way of life. Small towns are important, and on festival nights they're vital to the fabric of the Midwest. For those nights, every resident is proud to live here.
Chad Simmons is a Lee's Summit, Mo., senior 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.
back and forth for no reason.
There isn't really a good comeback to being called a tool in the paper. So thanks, I guess.
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
There are two kinds of people in this world: Those that can walk straight, and those that weave
To the guy who just stole a sandwich from The Underground:
You made me laugh.
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
The guy working the ticket office on Tuesday: This is the redhead. You are really hot. Thank you
Why would anyone attempt to read the paper outside when it is
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
windy:
I enjoyed reading Patrick's col- umn. Well put.
To the jerk that questioned the chancellor: Go ahead and leave
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
Ellswor
Julian Wright, will you marry
To the girl who commented on sorority girls and their fluffy boots. Not all sorority girls own those
Boot
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
the right-of-way.
Kansas beat Florida and we are No. 5 and Florida is No. 4. What the hell is wrong with all these people?
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
Bikers: When you are on the road you don't automatically get
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
All the Free for All comments are ridiculous. Stop posting that crap.
Kerry Meier: You are my boy.
Facebook is ruining my life. I try to study and do my homework but Facebook is always tempting me.
Tearing down goal posts after beating a team we are better than, and chanting "airball" when we are up by 50 points - classic KU fans.
Dartmouth should stick to the academics. Their athletics suck.
Matt Kleinmann's hair could stop traffic.
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
Did you hear? Sixth-floor Templin has crabs.
to our apartment because of the basketball game.
Me and my roommate are so pissed off because we can't get
To the guy in my campaign group: My friend wants to drunken make-out with you again.
I love Free for All.
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Fourth floor of Ellsworth is the best floor.
What is the point of SafeRide if no one answers?
There is no such thing as endangered species.
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Jeremy Case needs to put it up every time he has the ball.
Free for All: I'm dry. The mixture of drunk and high.
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My butt itches and I took a shower today.
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Jonathan Kealing, Erick R. Schmidt, Gabriella Souza, Frank Tankard, Dave Ruigh, Steve Lynn, McKay Stangler and Lois Mora
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