Opinion
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
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--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
I'm doing my good deed and reminding everyone to pick up their student tickets for basketball today or
It's so much easier just to do it online - $1 per ticket is totally worth it.
I just got rejected in my own dream.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
All the pounding maintenance people do in AFH makes it so annoying to camp!
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
I'm really okay with GSP staying single gender. It's more entertaining that way.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
I just got rejected in my own dream.
Imagine what Neal from "White Collar" and Michael from "Burn Notice" could accomplish if they ever got together
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
I hate Frank Martin but he wears the hell out of that suit
Pay attention before asking questions in class. I don't want to hear the professor explain simple things five times.
My dorm room smells like bad decisions.
It's weird how people are getting engaged, and having babies. I, on the other hand, have never even been in love.
The relation between having babies and being in love is not indicative of causation
The fog this week has made me feel like some creature from Stephen King's "The Mist" is going to come out and eat
The first and only time I was happy those tractor-driving sheep jockeys won!
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
Until this semester, I thought Blackboard was a
It's sad that teams like KSU have their seasons bent on beating a select few teams to feel like they've accomplished something.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
I think my betta fish is obsessed with me or something.
I forgot working out is hard.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
--what it feels like to have lost a son, many lost a friend with the death of Jason Wren nearly a year ago.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Lawsuit only brings more harm to students
Though it may be difficult for most students to imagine what it feels like to have lost
There's no doubt that more could have — and should have — been done the night that Jason lost his life to alcohol. But for Jason's parents to accuse 10 unidentified "John Does," all members of Jason's fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, as contributors to his death is not only offensive, but also flagrantly callous.
Soon after he heard word of his son's death, Jay Wren said he didn't blame the members of Jason's fraternity (The Kansan, March 11, 2009). The lawsuit filed last month reflects Wren's drastic change of heart and accuses 10 Sigma Alpha Epsilon members of negligence contributing to Jason's death.
Such an accusation stains the lives of 10 individuals who aren't so different from Wren in wondering what could have been done to prevent Jason's death.
Unless the Wrens accept an early
If the case makes it before a jury, the identities of the 10 Does will be revealed, permanently engraving their names in the public record as contributors to Jason's death. The guilt they must already feel weighs heavily enough without the added stress of a trial.
settlement, it could lead to a tense and emotional trial with unwarranted collateral damage.
Depending on the jury's verdict, some or all of the Does could be responsible for paying a percentage of the requested $75,000, a minimum amount that could dramatically increase by the end of the trial. Even if the jury rules in favor of the Does, the cost of lawyer fees could easily put anyone, let alone a student, in years of debt.
Even more disheartening is the thought of the trial itself. As defendants, the 10 Does will defend themselves by providing the strongest cases for why they're not at fault for Jason's death. Among the best arguments undoubtedly is to accuse lason of causing his own death. Forcing the 10 Does, presumably some of whom were
To avoid those unfortunate events, there should be an early settlement releasing the 10 Does entirely from the lawsuit — before it goes to trial and before their names are released — to ensure minimum damages.
Jason's close friends, to stand trial for his death is wrong.
Though the Wren's efforts in bringing attention to the dangers of alcohol are commendable, involving 10 Sigma Alpha Epsilon members appears excessive. Sparing them the embarrassment and burden of a trial is more than reasonable — it's the right thing to do.
Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, no amount of monetary compensation will ever be enough to replace Jason's life. The loss of one life has been bad enough. There's little to gain from harming the lives of others, especially those who were close to Jason.
—Michael Holtz for The Kansan Editorial Board
AROOJ KHALID
ECONOMICS
Still holding out for promised changes to financial structure
In January 2006, an ambitious Illinois senator, Barack Obama, stood at the podium of the Lobbying Reform Summit in Washington, D.C.
The flooding of federal money and the consequent 2009 surge in the stock market may prevent another outright depression.
He spoke of the revolutionary president Theodore Roosevelt's opposition to a political system dominated by robber barons, railroad tycoons and oil magnates.
"Today, we face a similar crisis of corruption," Obama said, "and I believe that we deserve similar leadership from those in power as well."
Now, more than a year after the world economy was first sent spiraling into a recession that left one in 10 U.S. citizens unemployed, there couldn't be a better time to increase shamefully lax financial regulations.
After eight years of tax cuts for the wealthy and a rising deficit, Obama was preaching to the choir. We were all ready for another Roosevelt; many of us thought Obama was going to fill this role.
However, this current condition may also be simply temporary if necessary legislative changes to discourage exploitive practices by Wall Street executives aren't passed
On the night Obama was elected president, I was walking down Massachusetts Street. Many people hung out the windows of their cars and yelled at the top of their lungs. I shared their enthusiasm for changes coming to Washington.
Yet, Obama's early ambitions to reverse legislations catering to corporate interests linger unfulfilled.
Recent exposures of abusive practices in an unregulated free-
Ultimately, Madoff's firm was responsible for $65 billion in missing investments and nearly $18 billion in losses for his investors.
Down and Out
PAGE 7A
Perhaps the most well known case involved Bernie Madoff, who pled guilty to 11 felonies after his massive Ponzi scheme was discovered.
Without proper market regulations, individuals such as Madoff will continue to stoop to astoundingly low levels to gain wealth.
BY BRADEN KATZ bkatz@kansan.com
for-all market have been shocking.
Issues such as investment firms growing too large, a prominent criticism by many economists who witnessed the domino-like demise of financial firms because each controlled astonishingly massive portions of the market, continue to go unanswered.
These fraudulent actions cannot be tolerated in a healthy market.
Yet, inherently, there are many systematic problems that can rise in trying to increase profits.
In addition to size, there have been few changes in the markets of derivative securities. Many believe the opaque and complex nature of these systems is a leading cause of the 2008 market crash.
With the largest drop in the stock market since the Great Depression, any government body interested in
protecting its citizens would act to control those responsible.
However, the very people who gambled with, and lost, billions of investors' dollars continue to conduct business as usual.
In fact, employee compensation on Wall Street firms rose during the past year.
In one example, during the first three quarters of 2009, Goldman Sachs set aside an astounding $16.7 billion for paychecks and bonuses, despite having received $10 billion in federal funds months earlier.
Banks continue to sit comfortably with federal money. Yet they refuse to approve loans for local development.
Just down the street from my home in Overland Park, a commercial shopping center that would have provided needed jobs to the local community has halted construction. Its unfinished structure sits on top of a massive man-made hill. Undoubtedly, this served as a million-dollar blow to developers
Millions of people's lives have been dramatically affected by economic recession. The idea that public opinion matters in U.S. government continues to be an illusion as financial firms enjoy record profits while the rest of us pay both in taxes and a poorly performing market.
Obama still has time to prove he is capable of making necessary changes to financial institutions; however, it does seem that time flies, even when you're down and out.
Katz is an Overland Park junior in political science and creative writing.
POLITICS
Failure to achieve a post-racial era
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was touted as a dazling unifier who transcended race. Fast-forward to today and the race issue has not been erased or even pushed to the back burner.
As evidenced by three quotes, that made news just last week, race is as big an issue as ever.
The Right Idea
Former Illinois Gov, Rod Blagiovich also said of Obama,
"This guy, he was catapulted in on hope and change, what we hope the guy is. What the f...?
Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes."
It was also revealed that when former President Bill Clinton went to solicit Sen. Ted Kennedy's endorsement for then Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential run that Bill Clinton told him in reference to Obama that, "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."
In the first example, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to apologize for his remarks published in a new book that called Obama a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."
Today, the story getting the most attention is of Sen. Reid's remarks. As a response, many Republicans have asked for him to step down as Senate majority leader just as Sen. Trent Lott had to step down in 2002 for much less severe words. On the face of it, calls for Reid to resign are over the top.
Had any one of these quotes come from Republicans, it would have destroyed their whole careers. Because the speakers are Democrats, Obama, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the Congressional Black Caucus, and their allies in the media stammered to be the first in line to forgive them and move on as if nothing ever happened.
But in order to highlight the obvious double standard that exists today, Republicans are doing
BY CHET COMPTON
the right thing.
Democrats have thrived on using racism as a political tool. As long as politicians stand to gain from throwing out accusations of racism, it will remain a popular way to incite one group against another.
The unrealistic nature of a post-racial era under the new administration was easily predictable by looking at Obama's past. As a community organizer, Obama spent his days learning how to rub raw the sores of discontent.
Obama took a page right out of the playbook of Saul Alinksy, a famous community organizer and author of the book, "Rules for Radicals." Obama built his political capital on bringing people to the "realization" that they are miserable and their unhappiness is the fault of unresponsive government, greedy corporations, and racism.
By promoting this idea, Obama inspired people to band together and "demand what they deserve." Voila, he had himself a fired-up base of support.
This country deserves better than a parade of politicians making public apologies for remarks some people find offensive. This all begins with realizing that cries of racism should never be used as a political tool. That's the right idea.
Compton is a Wichita senior in political science.
The news of the day, through the words of someone else
Chatterbox
"There is no new incentive for anyone to try to enter the United States illegally by sea."
—Coost Guard Lt. Cmdr, Chris O'Neil, spokesman for the Homeland Security Task Force Southeast said in response to the anticipated influx of Haitian refugees.
"Students and families have had to tighten their belts, so I bet they'll appreciate seeing some restraint among college presidents."
—Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in response to a new survey released by the Chronicle for Higher Education showing that pay for public education chief executives leveled off in 2008-2009.
"In a disaster of this magnitude there's no way that the government, which has other responsibilities as well, national security and other responsibilities — you just can't deal with this just with government money."
—Former President Bill Clinton said in a call for citizens to donate toward Haitian relief funds.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kanan Academy Board are Stephen Montenayor, Brianne Pflanssenet, Jennifer Tortline, Lauren Cunningham, Vicky Lau, Emily McCoy and Katie Lairie.