Opinion
United States 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.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010
t
Follow Opinion on Twitter. @kansanopinion
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
FREE FOR ALL
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
I love Lawrence. That is all!
Losing my virginity was so anti-climactic.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
I'm on a horse.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
A horse is on me.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
Dear freshmen, I'm feeling particularly compassionate so here is my blessing for you. By the grace of the college life gods, may you get drunk, get laid and get decent grades this coming semester.
My boyfriend said his bisexual friend thinks I'm attractive. I hope this is a hint of things to
Friends keep leaving their beer in my fridge. Don't they know the rule? My fridge, my beer.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
If peeing in your pants is cool, consider me to be Miles Davis
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
FFA is picking up. The start of the semester is getting closer! Editor's note: Oh, it's here. It's
Land Before Time is on Netflix instant streaming!
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
I currently have no party for Friday. Unacceptable.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
If you have to study to pass your freshman classes,it's probably time to move back home and work at the gas station.
I am using my financial aid money to throw a kegger this weekend. I love college.
I'm using my financial aid on ... college. Can I at least come to your keeger?
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
The town is back to normal!
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
Where is the vending machine in Anschutz?
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
I'm still sitting in my pee pants.
Fun fact: Scott Pilgrim is a series of graphic novels! So if the movie doesn't make that much sense to you ... read the graphic novels. They're
I am not happy they completely re-did Blackboard
I'm still missin' you.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
--es and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chalking restrictions strike at free speech
Earlier this month, the University implemented a policy that will no longer allow local businesses or individuals that are not registered with the Student Involvement and Leadership Center to advertise by chalking on campus sidewalks.
Sadly, the long-standing tradition of anyone having the ability to promote events in the area by sidewalk chalking has come to halt and the consequences for doing so without being registered seem at odds with the spirit of the First Amendment.
As the policy statement reads, "Any other individual or group wishing to chalk on the property of the University or its affiliated organizations must obtain permission in advance from the University Events Committee." Consequently, only those who are registered with the SILC are permitted to use chalking as a venue to publicize their organization.
In the process of creating a significant divide among those registered organizations and the rest of the world, the policy also unsettlingly restricts free speech on state property. And while the terms tend to focus more on specific businesses and unaffiliated campus groups, the guidelines act as a limitation on speech that should leave all with a considerable amount of uneasiness.
According to the consequences listed in the policy statement, in the event that an unauthorized group or individual decides to violate the new policy, the said offender would be subject to immediate removal, charges valued at the cost of cleanup and members of the University community may be subject to disciplinary action and non-members of the University community may be charged with violation of a criminal offence under state law for criminal damage to state property.
With these new restrictions, it seems as though individual students can conceivably be targeted for partaking in this tradition. For example, if a lone student chooses to chalk his or her phone number or a Bible verse, under these guidelines, unless they're registered, he or she could run the risk of prosecution. Senior Vice Provost Don Steeples put those fears to rest and assured that individual prosecution is not the goal.
"We do not have any plan to spe cificly target individuals. We do hope to deter commercial entities
from free advertising on University facilities." Steeled said.
There also has been speculation that the University's Alcohol Task Force played a hand in the development of this policy in an effort to cut down the number of chalk ads for drink specials.
When asked, Steeples dispelled this allegation by saying that this policy was in the works before the alcohol task force was appointed
Now with these new guidelines in place, students should feel uneasy about how the policy restricts our freedom of speech on campus property.
—Stefanie Penn for The Kansan Editorial Board
SPEAK OUT
To make your voice heard, contact:
Senior Vice Provest
Don Steeples at
don@ku.edu
(785) 864-4904
Room 250 Strong Hall
CULTURE
Judge produces victory for marriage equality supporters
O over the past few weeks as students have enjoyed the last days of summer, over in California things are natural.
Thousands of Californians' lives changed for the better after a judge overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
Gay marriage must eventually win out because of the United States' devotion to the principles of equality and the separation of church and state.
This was a major victory for the LGBT community and it certainly won't be the last.
Full marriage rights are still out of reach for nearly all gay and lesbian couples, and this is simply an inequality. A long-term interdependent couple is a long-term interdependent couple, no matter what the gender or sexuality of the people in it. Judge Vaughn Walker, who struck down Proposition 8, argued for the equality of all couples in his ruling.
It's so obvious it may be trie, but in this country everyone is theoretically born equal. I know as well as anyone else that this doesn't exactly pan out in practice but there's no reason we can't continue to work for the ideal.
"Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital unions," Walker wrote.
Progressive Perspective
As it stands, the law denies just some of those couples the social security benefits, next-of-kin rights, automatic inheritance rights and a myriad of other things that go hand-in-hand with marriage. This is both actively discriminatory and directly harmful to individual people.
Every civil rights movement is a corrective, a realignment between what the Constitution says and what the public practices. Right now, there is still a massive disparity between the treatment of gays and lesbians and the idea of equal protection under the law found in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Some cities and states have a domestic partner registry, including Lawrence. However, this provides only recognition by the city that two people are in a domestic partnership, and absolutely none of the legal rights that are associated with marriage.
BY ALI FREE
afree@kansan.com
When you hear opponents of same-sex marriage articulating their position, often you will
discern that they are vehemently against marriage equality because of their belief system. Now, I don't want to knock religion, at least not all of it and not right now, but I strongly question the validity of such opinions as they regard public policy.
Fortunately, one of the foundational concepts of this country is the separation of church and state. This means the government can't oppose something just because it doesn't jive with a prevailing belief system, and it can't legislate morality.
Relying on a book or a gut feeling is simply not enough to oppose equality. There have to be reasons and facts and studies and evidence (you know, science), to support something. Judge Walker understood this, and acted on it. With his precedent courts across the nation should eventually recognize the right to marry for same-sex couples right along with opposite-sex couples.
As Dr. King said half a century ago, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
With this hopeful sentiment we must continue to support equality for everyone, and not stop fighting until all discrimination is ended.
Free is a sophomore from Blue Springs, Mo., in women's studies.
FASHION
Find the look for your level of Jayhawk pride
living on campus or around Lawrence, it's easy for our students
easy for our wardrobes get taken over by KU apparel. With amazing deals at various sidewalk sales, and frequent T-shirt giveaways on campus, it's nearly impossible to avoid it. While many students love the feeling of falling into a sea of blue at Allen Fieldhouse, some students' case of layhawk fever is a bit more extreme. To what degree do you express your layhawk pride?
Jayhawk chic
You would never let showing your school spirit make you miss a day of dressing high fashion. You prefer spirit gear from brands such as Pink by Victoria Secret. The key to looking Jayhawk chic is choosing pieces where spirit is visible, but subtle. A KU T-shirt isn't fabulous enough for you. You prefer KU dresses and sweaters with great crimson and blue accessories. A great game day look for you is a nice pair of dark wash skinny jeans paired with a crisp, long sleeved oxford blouse in a red or blue gingham print. Dress it up in the wintertime with a blue blazer and riding boots, and don't for get your Jayhawk scarf and earmuffs. Mix it up by wearing a KU v-neck tee and a navy cardigan. These gender-neutral looks are classic, yet fun and spirited.
Blended wardrobe
Your KU gear is just a part of your everyday wardrobe. Your spirit gear consists of simple, understated pieces such as T-shirts and baseball caps. Choosing to wear a KU sweatshirt to class is just like choosing any other part of your wardrobe, it's there, so you wear it. However, you never fail to
BY ALEX ESPOSITO
aesposito@kansan.com
Die-Hard fan
Skipping a day of showing off your school spirit isn't even an option because your entire wardrobe is from places like the KU Bookstore. Yes, you're one of those students that buys KU shoes and even undergarments. But even though you wear crimson and blue daily, you still manage to look unique at games. Your game day gear includes body paint, jayhawk head hats, and of course, Spirit Fingers (the knit gloves with a pom-pon on each finger) to help you cheer on the team. Some may call you over the top, but you know that your game day look helps keep the crowd pumped up, and makes the thrill of the game even more entertaining.
wear your game day shirt and cap when the Jayhawks play. The best KU pieces for you are spirited essentials such as T-shirts, hoodies, jackets and hats, which are easy to integrate into your wardrobe.
Whether you go all out on game day or every day, the key to a fabulous spirit outfit is anything that makes you cheer louder and have a blast at games or any day just because you're a Jayhawk. There's only one rule to showing off your Jayhawk pride: you must wear a KU-blue shirt game day.
Esposito is a junior from Leawood in journalism and film.
Ruling helps phone users
Once you buy a smart phone, it is yours. There is no reason not to download any legally purchased applications or use that phone with a different carrier. Manufacturers should have no right to completely control how consumers use their devices.
Thanks to a new ruling passed by the Copyright Office, it is now legal for owners to use their "wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications" by circumventing the built-in security measures designed by the manufacturer. It is also legal to use wireless telephone handsets on other cell phone carriers, as long as the owner makes that change himself. Tech savvy friends, competing cell phone carriers and outside companies cannot jailbreak your phone for you; the jailbreak has to be commercial and nonprofit.
It may not sound like a big deal, but for owners of iPhones it is. Since the first generation of the iPhone, users have been altering the phones to allow them to use applications not sold through Apple's App Store. Many have also unlocked their phones in order to keep their existing provider instead of AT&T.
Until last week, iPhone owners could only legally use AT&T and applications purchased through Apple's iTunes. There is no reason
Admittedly, this ruling is unlikely to change anything significant right away. There will be no surge of current smart phone owners jailbreaking their devices, since most people who want to do so already have. The people who have already jailbroken their phones will not have to deal with legal action. It also means that people who buy smart phones in the future will not have to be limited to just the phones their cell phone company offers. Every smart phone on the market that is applicable to being unlocked is open to legal jailbreaking.
Apple should be able to force that much control.
Despite the fact that it is legal, jail breaking still voids the i-Phone's warranty and the warranties of many other smart phones. Because of this undeniable downside, it is unlikely that more than a small, technologically-savvy fraction of smart phone users will take immediate advantage of the new ruling. As time passes and the computer-wise smart phone users refine the jailbreaking process into something simple, elegant and basic, there is a good chance that many smart phone users will leave their phones untouched.
—Casey Goodwin for The Daily Cougar at the University of Houston.
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER GUIDELINES
Send letters to kansanopdesk@email.com.
write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line.
Length: 300 words
The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown.
Find our full letter to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters.
CONTACT US
Alex Garrison, editor
864-4810 or agarrison@kansan.com
Nick Gerik, managing editor 864-4810 or ngerik@kansan.com
Erin Brown, managing editor
864-4810 or ebrown@kansan.com
David Cawthon, kansan.com managing editor
864-4810 or dcawthon@kansan.com
Jonathan Shorman, opinion editor
864-4924 or ishmanakansam.com
Emily McCoy, Kansan TV managing editor 864-4810 or emccoy@kansan.com
Joe Garvey, business manager 864-4358 or jgarvey@kansan.com
Amy O'Brien, sales manager
864-4477 or aobrien@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news
Shauna Blackmon, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or sblackmon@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson, general manager and news
adviser
864-7667 or malcolmikansan.com
daviser
864-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Jon Schittl, sales and marketing adviser
864-7666 or jschittl@kansan.com
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kanan Editorial Board are Alex Garrison, Nick Gerik, Brown David, Jonathan Shorman and Shauna Blackman.