Opinion
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27, 2010
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--a million dollars or more for each case.
I just want a sandwich. A big delicious sandwich on that perfect soft bread.
Dear men: Some girls don't like to make the first move.
Ask her out
--a million dollars or more for each case.
Just saw a Facebook status that said, "Muck Mizzoul!" I think they missed the point.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
Don't go to bars to meet women. It's a rigged game. Hit on girls in the hallways instead.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
I'm out of ramen.The world is over.
Dear Facebook ad: I'm not sure how adopting a sad cartoon baby will help me "build out" a jungle camp.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
Ballsack attack!
Why are guys so obsessed with casual sex? What's wrong with having sex with someone you love? Or at least kind of know a little bit?
--a million dollars or more for each case.
Nothing like Facebook stalking your old GTA.
Yeah, I think I'm just going to build a little campfire in the cracks.
I want to have a one-night stand with Taylor Swift and not be written about in a song.
Thank you adult mittens for allowing me to give people the finger without them knowing it.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
I told my six-year-old brother that Santa wasn't real; he was just created by Coca-Cola to sell more soda.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
Missouri got pounded like a five-dollar hooker.
Why stand in line for booze and dancing when I have booze and dancing in my very own living room?
--a million dollars or more for each case.
"I think I'm a sex-addict. What makes it worse is that I'm a single lady.
You have the finest belly button I've ever seen.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
"Channing Tatum is my baby daddy.
--a million dollars or more for each case.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kansas needs to repeal the death penalty law
With the majority of the nation looking to save even a few dollars, it is not a surprise that the state of Kansas is trying to economize a budget that is becoming more and more of a problem.
On Friday, a Senate committee will review a proposal to repeal the death penalty in Kansas. The Senate should vote in favor of the repeal, not only because it is a human rights issue, but because it will save the state a substantial amount of money.
During a budget crisis, even a traditionally conservative state should see the benefits of saving money from the proposed bill.
Today, The Kansan reported that Sen. Marci Francisco (D-Lawrence) said she thought the primary reason this topic was being discussed was because of the status of the budget. A death penalty prosecution can cost as much as a million dollars, she said, while a life sentence without parole could save taxpayers half
According to Senate Bill 208 the average cost of a murder case without the death penalty sentence costs approximately 70 percent less than the average cost of a case that does have a death sentence. The misinformed argument that it is too expensive to impose life sentences without parole is false.
Kansas is one of 35 states that have a death penalty sentence for certain crimes. In Kansas, capital punishment has not been used once since its re-enactment 16 years ago. This lack of use is yet another reason to eliminate an unnecessary, money draining procedure.
Aside from monetary reasons, the death penalty also raises human rights questions. Capital punishment has a history of racism and execution of the innocent. These problems, along with fiscal motivations, establish
a firm argument against the death penalty law.
The Senate committee will be making a fiscally responsible decision, as well as voting in favor of human rights, if it passes this bill to the full Senate. Students at the University, who are affected by the state budget, should contact their senators to support repealing the death penalty law.
—Caitlin Thornbrugh for the Editorial Board
EDITORIAL CARTOON
To find your senator's contact information, including email address, visit:
www.kslegislature.org
AROOJ KHAN
POLITICS
Obama deserves an objective report
Amid double-digit unemployment, the president's approval rating plummet to near-Nixonian lows. Two years after coasting to big wins, his party is repudiated in mid-term elections. The man looks like a one-termer.
Hard to believe? That's forgivable; Reagan is etched in the public memory as a great president. A 2009 USA Today/Gallup poll found that Americans gave him even higher marks than Lincoln or Washington.
Though this sounds eerily similar to prognosticators' predictions for President Barack Obama's dismal 2010, it was actually the situation confronted by another president: Ronald Reagan.
All presidents are prisoners of events. They campaign on a laundry list of promises, but the circumstances they confront after taking the oath dictate their agendas. Obama's first task was to right the course of the economy. The much-maligned $787-billion stimulus package has helped stave off further disaster. That's not White House spin. It's the conclusion of a recent study by the
PAGE 5A
So, a rough start need not translate into a failed presidency. Although Obama's approval ratings have nosedived since he assumed office, it's ridiculous to conclude that his presidency has been a dud.
The Observer
Sure, the administration's forecast that unemployment would peak at 8 percent without a stimulus, when it now stands at a stomach-churning 10 percent, was boneheaded. And though priming the economic pump is priority one, our generation must hold Obama accountable on his pledge to reduce the nation's jaw-dropping structural deficits.
conservative American Enterprise Institute.
BY LUKE BRINKER
lbrinker@kansan.com
Yes, there were demagogic warnings about death panels and creeping socialism, but the president isn't blameless. Presidents command the bully pulpit. In ceding too much control to Congress and never settling on a narrative — reform's necessity for reasons of cost control or moral obligations — Obama lost his grip.
If Obama manages to sign health care reform into law, he will have achieved a victory that eluded presidents for a century. Alas, it may prove a cursed victory.
On foreign affairs, Obama's
emphasis on dialogue and cooperation has improved America's international image. But in terms of tangible results, there's not much to brag about. It remains to be seen whether doubling down in Afghanistan was the right move. Moreover, Obama hasn't marshaled international goodwill to forge a united response to challenges from climate change to Iranian proliferation.
Finally, it's important to remember that Obama campaigned on a pledge to change the political tone in Washington. Remember the whole "Change We Can Believe In" thing? As the bitter debates over health care and bailouts have shown, the country remains as divided as ever. It was too much to expect one man to unite a country that seems perpetually polarized.
Clearly the president's work is incomplete. If he thought his first year was hard,he surely knows things are unlikely to get any easier.
But, looking at both the progress made and the catastrophe averted, it's clear that, though far from perfect, the first year has laid a solid foundation.
Brinker is a freshman from Topeka in history and political science.
INTERNATIONAL
When hearts quaked, generosity followed
watching the extensive media coverage of the earthquake.
Life in a Kaleidoscope
of the earthquake aftermath in Haiti, no one could deny that it was a horrible calamity. However, despite the heartbreak of the events, they do serve to emphasize the benefits brought by globalization and the powers of technology.
The Haitian government estimates the minimum death toll is 200,000. Approximately 80,000 victims still remain under rubble.
The damage caused by the earthquake was not limited to properties and infrastructures; thousands of lives were lost and survivors were left with traumatized souls.
Fortunately, though the destruction is immense, the international responses toward this earthquake are much better than similar disasters of the past
Even before the earthquake, Haiti was a dysfunctional country. Extreme poverty, corruption, violence, poor resources and deficits in the health care system put the nation in great crisis. Now, with the situation looking even more grim, the only thing Haitian citizens can do is pray for more foreign aid.
1
Take, for instance, a similarly devastating Haitian earthquake in 1842. Reporters in that pre- TV, Internet and cell phone era could only get the news to newspapers within the territory. Information was slow in leaking out of the island.
Americans on the East Coast were not informed of the Haitian earthquake until three months later. It was more than six months before people in the Midwest knew of the disaster.
The lack of global support meant that Haitians were on their own to heal their wounds. Two-thirds of the 10,000 person population of Le Cap was killed. The whole city was ruined. It was as if its once-glamorous days had never existed.
BY JOSIE HO jho@kansan.com
Well-wishers from all over the world have been soliciting funds and delivering supplies in an effort to pull Haitians out of the haze as soon as possible. Two weeks after the earthquake, worldwide donations have reached 470 million, according to an update in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
More than 160 years later, there have been leaps and bounds in technology. The world is connected to form a global village. Thanks to the power of social media, people can obtain first-hand information right away; relief effort is immediate.
Although most of the residents of Haiti do not have a chance to enjoy the convenience of technology, the media are able to bring their needs to the limelight. In this way, technology plays a large role in their lives.
Keep an eye on the latest updates and do whatever you can to support, sustain and improve lives of the survivors. Even the smallest efforts in our eyes are huge in the amounts of relief they bring.
With the lack of social media access in the case of the 1842 earthquake, aid was delayed and there were more deaths that could have been prevented.
Ho is a junior from Macau, China in journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Ticket pickup procedures
I didn't understand the regulations of the whole ticket pickup
Then he told me that "sold out" meant I could not get the ticket I paid for. My heart sunk, tears collected in my eyes, and I stood with a blank glare.
cause frustration, confusion went to pick up my basketball tickets last Friday. I was pumped to see my first game against Missouri that upcoming Monday and had finally found time to get the ticket. I knew the pickup date had passed, but I had picked up my tickets late before without any problems.
As I made my way up to the ticket counter I was greeted by a man stating, "The Missouri game is sold out." I responded nonchantly with a head nod. I understood that this was the biggest game of the season. I told him I bought the sports package and my ticket was reserved, so I wasn't worried about the tickets being sold out.
procedure. The one ticket I wanted out of both football and basketball seasons was essentially snatched from my hands and sold to another person.
I was so angry that I called the ticket office immediately to tell them my situation and beg for a ticket, or at the least a refund for the ticket's value. I was on the phone for fifteen minutes yelling at them, but unfortunately without any luck. I left the phone call feeling like the only one ever to go to KU who didn't the policies of ticket pickup.
And, yes, it was my fault; maybe I didn't read the fine print, stalk the ticket office's website, and walk past Allen Fieldhouse to check the pickup dates every day.
Does that mean that I should have lost my prepaid ticket to the biggest game of the year?
Apparently so.
— Grace Long is a junior from Overland Park.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Member of the Karsian Editorial Board are
Stephen McNaughton, Anastasia Bancennett,
Jennifer Tolraine, Lauren Cunningham, Lydia
McYllie Tolaine and Kate Lairabe