4a
Opinion
Thursday, January 18, 2001
Perspective
For comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com.
Stop whining about housing ordinance
Of all the parties involved in the debate about the proposed cap on non-related living arrangements, KU students seem to be the most self- righteous and the least legitimate.
The objections raised by most students seem to be threefold: One, the University is an integral part of the community; two, KU students contribute economically to Lawrence by working and consuming; and three, the proposal is not enforceable.
Initially, all of these objections might seem legitimate. However, when examined closely, these objections are much less compelling than they appear.
The first objection, that KU is an integral part of Lawrence, confuses the institution of the University with the individual KU student. While the University may be an integral part of Lawrence, KU students have certainly not integrated themselves into the Lawrence community. Few of us intend to stay here after our education is complete, and even fewer of us pay attention to the community except when it directly affects our lives.
over Christmas, they aren't registered to vote in Douglas County, and they probably haven't lived in their four-person dwellings for more than a year or two.
Most KU students don't stay in Lawrence
The second objection, that KU students deserve special treatment because of their status as economic factors, is simply ludicrous. KU students either have income from outside the community (i.e., parents), which would seem to indicate that they aren't really Lawrence denizens, or they work in Lawrence, in which case they have already been compensated for their labor. Saying that students deserve to live in a particular neighborhood because they are important to the economy is akin to saying that students deserve to park in blue lots because they are important to the University.
Robert Chamberlain columnist gorenjian@kansan.com
The third objection, that the policy is unenforceable, is the most valid of the three, but is far from a sure thing. Besides, if caps are inherently unworkable, why is there such vociferous protest of the two-person cap? It seems that if opponents of the cap who use this argument actually believed their own rhetoric, they wouldn't care what the cap was, and the whole issue would fade into obscurity.
So if KU students don't really have a legitimate position, then who does? The homeowners do. They complain, rightly, that their schools are closing, their neighborhoods are deteriorating and their property values are declining. These people are paying taxes, raising families and making a life for themselves here in Lawrence. They ought not be held hostage by the caprices of landlords who do the minimum essential maintenance on neighboring properties or vagaries of college students who have no vested interest in changing the wallpaper, painting the house or landscaping the yard. They have expressed their will through the democratic government of Lawrence, a government led by candidates whom you and I have chosen not to contribute to, support or elect.
That Mayor Jim Henry does not give priority to student concerns is the fault of no one but the students themselves. We are not his constituents because we have chosen not to be.
So as we debate the merits of this proposal, we must take care to remember the homeowners. Although we will be gone in four years (or five or six), they have to live with the consequences of the City Commission's ordinances. We must be sensitive to their concerns, understanding of their positions, and accepting of their decisions. We are only passers-by. They are the true residents of Lawrence.
unberlain is a Topela junior in political science.
Tribune Media Services
Kansan report card
Pass:
University research. Money for research climbed to $190 million last year, up 13 percent from the year before. A suggestion: Use some of that money to find a way to e-mail grades. To everyone.
Dog park. City commissioners explore creating a dog park near Clinton Lake. We'll spare you any puns involving "Who Let the Dogs Out?"
The T. City bus system finally becomes a reality, and the cost is half what KU on Wheels charges. And the buses are much, much less ugly.
Fail:
The World Company. Owner of Lawrence Journal-World, Channel 6 and Sunflower Cablevision enters the phone business. Can it own anything else in this town?
Petition blockers. Union administrators and KU Public Safety Officers forced a student petitioning against long financial aid refund lines to move — out of the sight of students receiving checks. Ever hear of the First Amendment?
E-mail grades. Some people got 'em, some didn't. At this rate of technological progress, we'll have online enrollment in, oh, about 80 years.
Perspective
Here's my resolution: A picture with penguin
Now that 2001 is here, I wrote down my list of New Year's resolutions. Most people have only one resolution, but after reading this, you will realize quickly that I'm not most people.
Stop driving dangerously.
In 2000, A wreck cost me $175, and a ticket cost me $330. That adds up to ... well, I don't know, but a lot. If I keep all that money away from the police, I will
have a nestegg that I can use toward the new hobby I plan to start in 2001 — smoking.
■ Avoid Allen
Iverson's music.
The word "music" is giving Iverson too much credit. As far as being explicit, I've heard worse, but as far as his rapping talents, nothing has ever been more painful to my ears.
Ryan Wood
guest columnist
oionim@kansan.com
Laugh at Britney Spears' downfall.
She's only 19, but her voice is raspier than my grandmother's, who has smoked a pack a day since 1974. She's had two successful albums, but her target audience is hitting puberty. If Britney were a stock, I'd sell right now.
Yeah, it could happen. (Note: I've made this resolution every year since I was 14. But THIS is the year.)
Straight As.
■ Write to Comedy Central.
OK, this is the top priority on my list.
Comedy Central needs to hear about what the normal 19-year-old considers comedy.
I don't think I'm alone when I say that Strangers With Candy and Battlebots are
Write to Comedy Central.
not funny. If it's not funny, it's not comedy. If it's not comedy, why on Earth is it on Comedy Central?
Sue Eminem for $10 million.
Sue Emmenh for $10 million. I am confident that he offended heterosexual middle-class white boys somewhere on his two albums. This resolution is actually quite sarcastic. I think the gay right activists should stop getting mad at Slim Shady and get even. Turn the tables. Record an album and rap about him. That's what I would do.
- Continue reading Free for All.
The Free for All is a great forum for the majority of us who are not uptight. The serious Free For Alls have got to go. It's the stupid ones that get my seal of approval. So all of you who call the Free for All line while intoxicated and deliver the most pointless junk you could think of, kudos. Keep up the good work.
Continue hating New York sports. The Yankees and the Mets played in the World Series. The Giants won the NFC and are heading to the Super Bowl. New York doesn't deserve this! They booed the Yankees' Jack McDowell until he gave his own fans the one-fingered salute. They had a snowball war during a Giants game that would make Saddam Hussein proud. And this is how they are punished? A Subway Series and a Super Bowl team?
This bird quickly has turned into KU's most loved celebrity. What an honor it would be to have a Kodak moment with him.
Get my picture taken with the penguin.
Wood is a Lee's Summit, Mo., sophomore in journalism.
Editorial
Ashcroft divides country
The Senate should reject George W. Bush's nominee for attorney general.
George W. Bush's appointment of former Sen. John Ashcroft as attorney General-designee calls into question his supposed reputation as "a uniter, not a divider." Ashcroff should not be confirmed.
Ashcroft has earned unprecedented scrutiny because of his fervent conservative ideology. His stance on issues such as gun control, abortion and civil rights have angered leaders of grassroots organizations who have united to campaign against Ashcroft's confirmation.
Ashcroft campaigned against school desegregation efforts in Kansas City and St. Louis. Ashcroft spoke at Bob Jones University while the school had a ban on interracial dating, although he claims he was unaware of the policy. And he trumped up charges to prevent an African-American justice from the Missouri Supreme Court from a seat on the federal bench.
Women's rights groups also are threatened by the Ashcroft nomination. Ashcroft is vehemently anti-abortion and believes that abortion should only be legal when the mother's life is in danger. He opposes abortion in all other instances, including rape and incest. While still a senator, he offered amendments and resolutions that would make abortion illegal. He also opposed insurance coverage for birth control pills and other forms of contraceptives.
The current confirmation battle is an unprecedented event. Cabinet nominations rarely come under fire. But the present divisive nature in Washington has made the process excessively arduous.
Even with the controversy, it appears unlikely that Ashcroft will not be confirmed. He has ties to many senators, and nominees have been rejected by the Senate only nine times in the entire history of the confirmation process.
Although the nomination is probable, the controversy surrounding this nomination has shown that Bush thus far has not lived up to his promise of uniting people.
Emily Haverkamp for the editorial board
free for all 864-0500 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed.
ney, I just heard on PBS that Bill Clinton doesn't know how to type. So I guess my chances of becoming a president are still alive.
I think it's pretty messed up when you buy a book for $90 at the bookstore, drop the class and then can't return it because it's not in the same plastic shrink wrap that you bought it in. Then you're out $90.
--ney, I just heard on PBS that Bill Clinton doesn't know how to type. So I guess my chances of becoming a president are still alive.
You know what three words make me cry? President-elect Bush.
Hey, if I have left five messages on the Free for All during the break, personally, how come there were only three printed yesterday, and none of them were mine?
--ney, I just heard on PBS that Bill Clinton doesn't know how to type. So I guess my chances of becoming a president are still alive.
--ney, I just heard on PBS that Bill Clinton doesn't know how to type. So I guess my chances of becoming a president are still alive.
Housing increase? Has anyone seen Jayhawker Towers recently? I can't believe humans live there. You've got to be kidding me.
ney, I just heard on PBS that Bill Clinton doesn't know how to type. So I guess my chances of becoming a president are still alive.
Jayhawker Towers — the faucet leaks, the carpet's filthy. It's not just an embarrassment; it's a slum. It's a disgrace.
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Mongoose chicken sausage. It's good.
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I love depressing music, and last night I used conditioner on my hair, and now it's not hanging in my eyes. Thanks.
I don't think any sports comments should be put in the Free for All because they already have a sports section. I mean, why don't they have a political section or something?
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I just wanted to say that the Free for All these first couple of days back has been a little disappointing.
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