WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2011 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN PAGE 5A opinion apps.facebook.com/dailykansan My cat's name is Bernadette. I'm going to rename her if the Chancellor doesn't call off school. I need to find a decent-looking girl to be hooking up with while I'm stuck at home drinking for the next couple days ... You ARE annoying us. FFA isn't your personal ad agency. KU needs to seal the deal on raising the academic standards for acceptance. Every year I walk on campus and gradually see KU's student body IQ level dropping. I will be damned if I stand by and let that happen. Snocaine's one hell of a weather phenomenon. In the last 48 hours I think "Snowmaggedon" got more hype than Selby. The only thing is so far Selby's lived up to it! There's snow place like home. Can you claim partial credit for a FFA? Just because I buy a pack, some zig zags, and stratcheers at the gas station doesn't make me trashy ... right? Got some KU chapstick. That's boss. Wikileaks KU: Snow Day Today. The ice in front of the union could legally be sanctioned as a skating rink. Fireplace+romantic movie+wine+snowy night = HOT SEX tonight. I want. WHAT?!?! Within the next few weeks Brother's will be opening up for Taco Tuesdays? Cheap cover and taco bar! Loves it! Blizzard + weed + The.Shining = YES I just used the last of my flour. How am I supposed to make tasty homemade bread now? DAMN YOU SNOWPOCALYPSE. Milk and Oreos on a snow day. College rocks. Arcticuno used blizzard.It's super effective! Jayhawk faints! I'm in a desperate need for attention, so I'm going to write on here saying I really wanna cuddle today. Don't lose hope. I thought the same thing, then met my boyfriend through FFA. The seed of revolution is repression. These wise words spoken by former President Woodrow Wilson are especially relevant right now. Last time we had a snow day, we also won the National Championship ... US must fully support democracy in North Africa It wasn't a snow day. They just canceled class. Right now, this seed would refer to the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, a dictator who has ruled his people with a clenched fist for the past 30 years. a clenched hat that三十年的 of Egyptians living under oppressive control, exercising violence against opposition and being denied the most basic living necessities. pass few weeks later. Inspired by a revolution in nearby Tunisia earlier this month, tens of thousands of Egyptians — fed up with decades of debilitating unemployment, widespread poverty and government corruption — have taken to the streets of Egypt, demanding an end to Mubarak's tyrannical reign. In case you haven't been following the events occurring in North Africa in the past few weeks, here's a summary: These protests were originally organized by Egyptian youth online via sites like Twitter and Facebook, dubbing this as "the social network revolution." Mubarak quickly ordered a media blackout across Egypt, shutting down all BY SARA JAWHARI sjawhari@kansan.com Don't be a buzzkill. Internet, phone and other communication services hoping to prevent any further organization of protests. After several failed attempts, he's still trying to shut down news channels, such as Al Jazeera, that have been televising the protests around the clock. Despite all this, the U.S. continues to back Mubarak's regime, politically and economically. To put it in numbers, according to the U.S. Department of State, Mubarak's government is given about $1.3 billion in aid every year. That's $1.3 billion of taxpayer's money playing a key role in funding this oppression and the military machinery he uses to maintain his power. Mubarak has been hell-bent on maintaining his dictatorship throughout the uprising, firing his cabinet, replacing key positions and making empty promises to his people who have finally stood up and said, "Enough." As Obama said during his famous speech in Cairo in 2009, "Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people." When addressing democracy in his speech, Obama stressed his belief "that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed, confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice... and the freedom to live as you choose." Obama declared that those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and America will support them everywhere. As the situation in Egypt escalates, we must stand in unity with those who strive for the most basic human rights. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that the U.S. would support an "orderly transition" to a new government, though she did not explicitly call for Mubarak to step down. That won't do any good. In order for Egypt to have any hope for a transition into a peaceful democratic state, the U.S. must cut all ties with the Mubarak regime. If funding were cut off, Mubarak would have no choice but to give in to the demands of his people and finally step down. with that promise. It is time to turn rhetoric into action. In his public address about the issue, President Obama said, "The United States will continue to stand up for the rights of the Egyptian people and work with their government in pursuit of a future that is more just, more free and more hopeful." This is our time to follow through It's time for the U.S. to promote the democracy and the rights Obama spoke of in his historic speech, ironically given in Egypt, just two years ago. So here's our chance. It's time for the U.S. to formally withdraw its support of Mubarak and his crippling rule. Jawhari is a junior from Kansas City in journalism and anthropology. CARTOON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE OF 30 YEARS OF US CALLS FOR GREATER POLITICAL FREEDOM IN EGYPT NICHOLAS SAMBALUK Social media serves large role in Egyptian revolt Feeling the power of Facebook and Twitter, the Egypt government has resorted to cutting off Internet and mobile service in most of the country. As President Mubarak declared he would dissolve the current government but also appoint the next cabinet, campaigners have achieved some positive while not completely satisfying results. The fall of a regime seems to be inevitable as the government officials said the protesters "have nothing to lose." Social media have served such an important role in the revolt. Here is how everything started: inspired by the uprising in Tunisia, thousands of protesters joined a Facebook anti-government campaign. The Facebook group is still active, with more than 30,600 people. According to a BBC report on Jan. 25, demonstrators remained in the city center around Tahrir Square late into that night, and there were appeals on Facebook for food and blankets for those staying put. ABOUT During Mubarak's 30-year regime, government officials controlled the media and little dissent was tolerated. According to Internet monitoring firm Renesys, all routes to Egyptian networks were simultaneously withdrawn from the Internet's global routing table, which means that no websites are accessible within Egypt at this point. Under Egypt legislature, the government holds the right to do so. However, this has not prevented the demonstrators from taking further actions. Until now, the death toll has passed 100, and about 2,000 Social Media Club at KU (SMKCU) aims to create public awareness of social media outlets, to provide a networking platform and career opportunities, and to create a learning environment for members to gain real world experience of social media marketing. people have been injured. Egypt in addition to that, pan-Arabic news stations Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, as well as other media outlets around the world, have been getting and encouraging real-time updates from citizen journalists using their cell phones to report what they have seen. As we monitor closely to the development of the revolt, please send your comments to socialmediaclu.ku@gmail.com. people have been seen. Editors from mashable.com gathered social media usage statistics using the real-time analytics tool Trendr. Bypassing the government's ban on Facebook and Twitter, an angry Egyptian public has contributed approximately 8 percent of all the tweets with the keywords #egypt, #cairo, #mubarak, #jan28 and #censorship. In addition to tweets, Google has indexed millions of new blog posts and thousands of news results citing Egypt in the past week. Tao is a senior in journalism and international studies from Shanghai. She is the president of SMCKU. How do you feel about the Black Eyed Peas performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show? Vote now at KANSAN.COM/POLLS FASHION Everyday life is no place for hair feather extensions Over the weekend at a party, I saw a girl with something in her hair. At first, I thought that she had just crimped a few strands, and decided she didn't like it and left the rest straight. Then I realized the oddly textured hair was a different color. I thought maybe she just had a few black streaks in her red hair. red hair. Later that night, a friend referred to her as "the girl with feathers in her hair" I thought that was kind of weird, but didn't dwell on it. Maybe she was trying to make a statement. The next day at breakfast, I saw another girl with feathers in her hair. But these weren't like the sleek straight feathers I'd seen the night before. These poofy feathers, much like the ones you buy at Hobby Lobby to glue onto art projects and Halloween costumes. They were awkwardly sticking out from each side of her head while the rest of her hair was pulled back. I had to do some research. And thus I met the new trend taking over our campus: feather hair extensions. I must admit, I was behind on this trend. But I'm not as ashamed. In my opinion, feather hair extensions are disgusting. They make me think of bird droppings or avian flu. I like feathers and birds a lot. I think they're can be pretty nostalgic-looking. But not in my hair. Or at least, not every day. Yes, I know you can wash, blow dry, straighten and curl these things, but they are so unnatural looking. Wearing feathers in your hair can be quite cute, like on a headband or hair clip. But to wear them as part of your hair every day is too BY ALEXANDR ESPOSITO aesposit@kansan.com much. The fact that extensions are made with real bird feathers grosses me out. You don't know where that bird has been, and now you're wearing it on your head. Ew. This trend will not last. Unless you're Ke$ha, you cannot wear feathers in your hair all the time and look sane. Imagine walking into a job or internship interview with these avian hairpieces. Or how about when you're just hanging out in your pajamas or going to the gym? If you want to experiment with feather extensions, don't buy the kind you actually attach to your hair. Try clip in feathers first and see how you like them. If you decide that you in fact do want to look like Pocahontas and end up wearing them every day, go ahead and get the real thing. This way you will know that you're ready to commit to bird hair before you glue it to your head. Do you really want to be remembered as the girl with feathers in her hair? Everyday life is not the place for hair feathers. Exposito is a junior from Leawood in journalism and film. weet of the week Tweet us your opinions to @kansanopinion LETTER GUIDELINES Send letters to kananskopdes@gmail.com. Write LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the e-mail subject line. If your tweet is particularly interesting, unique, clever, insightful and/or funny, it could be selected as the tweet of the week. You have 140 characters, good luck! HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR **Length:** 300 words The submission should include the author's name, grade and hometown. Find out all letters to the editor policy online at kansan.com/letters. 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