Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010
PAGE 5A
FOR
--of pee pals.
To contribute to Free for All, visit Kansan.com or call (785) 864-0500.
I wish I could do college over again
I made a blanket fort tonight. It was awesome.
--of pee pals.
Thanks for calling my roommate and me gay, then showing us your penis. Seems contradictory, doesn't it?
--of pee pals.
Somebody love me?
Our roommate turned the thermostat so high that we went over on utilities this month. So we are going to kill her and burn her body to stay warm this month.
Definitely redefines the term "burning calories," doesn't it?
--of pee pals.
I have one question: How is it possible to get poop in your eye?
After six and a half years of vegetarianism, eating vegan ramen is delicious; salty, but delicious
--of pee pals.
This pineapple juice tastes like soap. Fail.
When I said, "I don't want to talk about it tonight," I meant, "I don't want to talk about it right now, you moron."
--of pee pals.
I sent my father a birthday card containing pictures of his cat and the time I built a blanket fort.
Whoops. I think I hit a nerve with some K-State fans.
Wikimedia Commons
I really want banana pudding, but I don't have pudding mix or milk and I'm too broke to buy any. :(
Also, I'm pretty sure my man pass should be revoked for whining about pudding with emotions.
--of pee pals.
Vegetarians have no soul. It's been scientifically proven.
Thank you, ponytails, for making the back of a girl's head look like a horse's butt
Thank you guy who uses the urinal right next to me even though there are literally 10 open urinals. Why not put your arm around my shoulder we're at it? Maybe we can reach over and flush each other toilets. We'd be a couple
I feel like a sex goddess.
--when texting.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kansas legislature proposes much needed ban on texting while driving
Kansas officials met Tuesday to discuss the passing of an overdue and imperative state law to penalize Kansas drivers who choose to text while driving. This is an act that will keep streets safe from negligence.
According the "Hands Free Information" website, the law that took effect on the first of January and bans testing and e-mailing for drivers with a restricted license remains in full force.
Both the Kansas House and Senate proposed bills to extend the ban to all drivers, and failure to comply would result in a $100 fine. This bill, however, shouldn't be necessary for drivers to practice good streetsees.
Texting while driving may sound harmless at first, given that this generation has grown up with the development and mass-dispersal of technology. But it is only another impairment, an irresponsible habit that can cause damage. Kansas is not the first state to recognize this issue. Nineteen other states and the District of Columbia currently have similar laws in effect.
Strong supporters of a broader federal ban include Verizon Wireless and The Wireless Association—companies that agree drivers who text are substantially more likely to be involved in an accident
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers are four times more likely to be involved in harmful accidents
In Kansas, drivers without restricted licenses who get into accidents because of text messaging are only subject to being ticketed for reckless or careless driving.
However, ticketing the use of cell phones as being reckless would be more difficult for law enforcement to prove without an existing rule as a binding reference.
A law regarding the use of cell phones would prevent car accidents, saving the lives of not only the victims, but also the offenders.
Many accidents are the result of negligent driving, leading to injuries or fatal consequences to passengers and other drivers and making those negligent drivers responsible for the lives or damages to others.
Exclusively banning messaging for restricted drivers makes the
habit appear to be something that has to be practiced and only performed by experienced drivers, similar to driving on the freeway or operating a manual transmission.
Texting while driving is not a skill to be rehearsed; it is a hazardous behavior that should be habitually avoided.
Regardless of state statute, Kansas drivers, especially teenagers and college students, should have the self-discipline to ignore their cell phones while driving.
If the state legislators are looking out for the best interest of Kansas' citizens, they should pass this bill.
James Castle for The Kansan Editorial Board
If you see a restricted driver texting while driving, call: (785) 843-0250
EDITORIAL CARTOON
NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
MEDIA ISSUES
3-D eliminates quality, art of films
You may know that a certain James Cameron directed movie not named "Titanic" swept through movie theaters last month, becoming the second most-grossing movie of all time with more than $500 billion in total global revenue.
That movie, "Avatar," is the latest pop culture phenomenon (an honorable mention goes out to "Jersey Shore," a program that shouldn't even deserve quotation marks). It recently won a Golden Globe for "Best Drama."
As 3-D viewing experiments are becoming the norm, television and movies are changing forever. But does commonplace 3-D movie viewing translate into a progressive movie experience?
That Guy
Until the arrival of 3-D movies, one of the qualities of a good movie was whether or not it made viewers feel like they were in the movie. For me, the sign a movie was good was if when the credits started to roll they brought me back to reality.
Everyone has talked about the film's stunning visuals and special effects. But, little has been said about the story development and dialogue.
When watching "The Shawshank Redemption" for the first time, I forgot where
BY TRENT BOULTINGHOUSE
was. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were talking to me as if I was standing next to them in the prison courtyard—just another day. It was one of those movies where thinking was required for the full experience. In other words, I wasn't paying $10 to watch giant robots based on Hasbro toys blow up one another for two hours.
Most everyone has fond memories of the violent fight scenes in "Fight Club"; certainly the inclusion of these scenes is what makes the movie such a popular one. But, has anyone ever stopped to think why the fight scenes stick out? It's because of the art in the storytelling.
When Edward Norton's character gives his famous "I am Jack..." narrations throughout the movie or Brad Pitt demonstrates the inner workings of movie reels, the scenarios are so bizarre that viewers can't help but think about the character, about the
The problem with standardizing 3-D in movies is that the one element of a good 2-D movie—when you find yourself "sitting" next to Morgan Freeman in the courtyard—is automatically commonplace. This is because, well, you really are in the movie.
story, about something. Thus, when you watch Pitt and Norton beat the hell out of each other, it means more to the movie.
The point here is not to call for the elimination of all genres except drama. I could talk about TPS Reports, Bond movies, or ask if anyone knows where Doug, from "The Hangover," is all day long; all genres have merit.
How will movies such as "Up in the Air", "Shawshank", or "Schindler's List" find a home in 3-D—a genre built for action—next to giant exploding robots? They can't.
The fact that the technology is even available to make a movie like "Avatar" is amazing in itself. But if 3-D, over-lade visual movies become the latest way to make money in Hollywood, expect to be stuck with less "Shawshank" and more "G-Force."
Boultinghouse is a sophomore from Girard in history and journalism.
POLITICS
Anti-abortion group aims at the Kansas Supreme Court
W what do you do when one of your icons doesn't have the law
doesn't have the law on his side? Apparently, you try and change who interprets the law. At least, that is the page in the playbook of an antiabortion group, Kansans for Life. While protesting Roe v. Wade at the Kansas Judicial Center recently, the group announced it would campaign against Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier in her retention election later this year.
Why is this? Apparently Kansans for Life didn't like some recent rulings she handed down in hearings involving former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. But, conservatives rallying against so-called "activist judges" are nothing new. People trying to oust judges in retention votes aren't new, either.
I spent a summer a few years ago interning at the Judicial Center. Occasionally, I got to read or hear stories when some fringe group or another had campaigned against a Supreme Court justice and failed miserably. I believe that none have succeeded at all in this state since the Supreme Court became an appointed, not elected, position.
We can argue all day about the merits of the rulings against Kline. What he did, regarding moving medical records subpoenaed from an abortion clinic in Wichita out of the possession of the Attorney General's office, did go against an order by the Supreme Court. This matter was settled about a year ago in the hearing that featured Beier's controversial ruling.
So, here we have the basis for the ruling, and why the majority opinion contained such harsh criticism. (Kline was described as showing "little, if any respect" for the court.) But, is this the way to fight for a cause? Coming to
BY BEN COHEN
bcbhus@lakesun.com
the defense of somebody who has been an awful spokesman for a cause, and who hasn't been able to win public election on either state and county levels for the better part of a decade?
The members of Kansans for Life think it is, sadly. The group will fail, as well they should; but, they will continue on in their inane efforts to fight against reproductive choice, and we will be forced to watch it all.
Why then, if the effort is almost guaranteed to fail, is this news annoying? Kansans for Life is crossing a line when they go after the Judicial Branch in this way. The one non-partisan branch of government is that way for a reason, to make sure that nobody interpreting the law is beholden to the ideology of a fickle electorate.
By targeting Justice Beier, and threatening similar campaigns against other judges, Kansans for Life is trying to inject a fear of its far-right beliefs into the justice system. The statement it makes is to rule the way we want, not the way the law dictates, or suffer the consequences.
We can take solace in the likelihood that the group will fail. But if this level of ambition continues past the upcoming election, it is a given that we will be subjected to more such campaigns, for equally shoddy reasons.
Cohen is a senior from Topeka in journalism
Defense for Alito is purely political
I don't believe that United States Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito's critical reaction to last week's State of the Union address was particularly offensive, although the defense of Alito has offended me. The majority of his conservative peers have jumped to Alito's defense, but perhaps they should reconsider.
Let us assume that one of the two liberal women had reacted to a conservative president the way Alto reacted to a liberal one. I can hear what she would be called now: an over-emotional and sassy drama queen. Had it been one of the two liberal men, there would be cries of childishness, immaturity or sophomoric behavior.
Or worse, let us imagine that Obama had made a similar gesture to Alito or fellow Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while they were presenting a law school lecture. Undoubtedly, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck would be fighting to be the first to prey on negative stereotypes to
account for his actions.
The point is that those who most frequently criticize actions like Alito's find no irony in their current opposition to a page taken from their very own playbook.
The partisan criticism of Alito was that he abandoned decorum in order to criticize the president. The partisan response was that he is entitled to his reaction to a president who shouldn't have criticized him in the first place. Lest we forget, this whole debacle resulted from a mention of a recent landmark decision on campaign financing.
Yet, in discussions of the Obama-Alito feud, those words rarely, if ever, appear.
The fact of the matter is that those jumping to the defense of Alito have done so, not out of genuine concern, but rather out of political motivations. Partisans have put aside a critical and profound issue, instead opting for a senseless response to a senseless criticism that they would claim, if given the chance. Unfortunately, it's our loss.
A. Bryce Myers is a graduate student from Overland Park.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Stephen Montemayer, Braunn Phantenstedt, Peter McBride, Brennan Vikey Lau, Emily McCoy and Kate Lareane.