Carter suggests Wilson outburst ‘based on racism’

Why are there more red stripes on the American flag than white stripes? Did Obama change this? Is he trying to eliminate the whites from this country? I'm just saying....

September 17, 2009 at 12:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

State audit says universities can reduce costs by cutting faculty, eliminating classes

I learned more in my classes with 10 students than I ever did in my class with 1000. You can consolidate all you want, but at the upper level of difficult programs (especially in the sciences and engineering programs), you're going to need small classes to graduate effective students who know what the hell they're doing. Consolidating everything into massive classes and picking off smaller majors that require extreme specialization will just dilute the quality of the education and university's prestige.

August 28, 2009 at 4:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Governor tells state universities they need to improve their national stature

In other news, a 35% cut to higher ed funds over the last 5 years....

August 25, 2009 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Highest-paid coaches in college football

Eric - I'd give Mad Men a chance. You can pick up the first two seasons on dvd/bluray for pretty cheap, and season 3 is about to start.

If you want to watch the Wire and can hold out a few months, HBO always has a 50% off DVD sale every December. I picked up the complete series of the Wire for $70 last year at Best Buy. Great series, kind of depressing though.

August 5, 2009 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Hosting law aims to curtail underage drinking

Psssh, Lawrence cops won't enforce this unless there is a medical emergency. When we had keggers in the student ghetto, the cop would get my roommates and I together, give us a verbal warning, and tell us he'd be driving by again in 20 minutes. You'd be amazed how fast you can clear people out of your house when given a deadline. Only time we ever got a real ticket was when they put that new noise ordinance in place a few years ago, and the Kansan and LJW photographers were at our party waiting for the cops. Good times.

Oh yeah, and booooo to the nanny state. College students are going to drink. No amount of finger wagging form the old foggies in that legislature or City Commission will change that. Best you can do it make sure they've got access to Saferide and have friends around to keep them safe.

June 20, 2009 at 12:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Anti-abortion groups fear Tiller's murder could influence Supreme Court justice's confirmation

What a frakking nutjob.

May 31, 2009 at 8:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The mayor of Providence, R.I., wants to tax students attending private colleges $150 per semester to help cover the city services they use. Should Lawrence consider a similar tax?

Go ahead and tax the private universities in Lawrence. Last time I counted, that amounts to $0.

May 13, 2009 at 6:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

In wake of recent deaths, KU adopts new alcohol policy, including parental notification

"• Mandatory online alcohol assessments will be required for incoming students, beginning in the fall. Those deemed to be high risk will be contacted by the university."

You've got to love it when adults make teenagers take online test. Word to the wise: they're smarter than that.

May 5, 2009 at 11:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

KU lends 2008 basketball championship trophy to speaker of Kansas House

thats a nice little reminder to the state legislature not not mess with KUAC

April 30, 2009 at 6:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Bicyclists' rights

Many cities such as Portland and Davis, CA have been changing their laws so that cyclists can treat 4 way stops and 2 way blinking red lights (i.e. late at night) as yields instead of stops. Portland did this because it was cheaper to change the law than to retrofit all their car sensors to be able to pick up cyclists in the middle of the night. Davis did it because they found it was more dangerous for cyclists to come to a stop and lose all their momentum, causing them to start slower, and thus cars try to "beat" them through intersections. It merits looking in to.

As for all the other kerfluffle, I'll say this. Most drivers I know drive safely. Most cyclists I know cycle safely. Does this mean they obey the law 100%? Hell no. Cyclists need to do some things that aren't 100% within the letter of the law to keep themselves safe, just like drivers need to do similar things in the flow of traffic (going over speed limit, passing too closely, rolling stops, etc, etc). The goal isn't to pass blame. It's to have everybody drive smartly and recognize there are multiple users on the roads, each with their own set of laws and best practices (cars, delivery trucks, buses, motorcycles, mopeds, bikes, pedestrians).

If as a cyclist I obeyed 100% of the driving laws, I would be dead. American road infrastructure and driver mentality are not as far along as Europe as far as integrating bikes into commuter traffic. When I first started commuting, I clung to the inside of the right lane as the law told me to do. Then people started to try to pass me within the lane instead of giving me the 5 ft the law requires. After getting brushed a few times, I started to cycle in the middle of the right lane (which most commuter cycling advocates agree is the safer option). It clearly states my intent to use the whole lane, and it forces drivers to safely go to the left lane to pass. We both live, and they're no more inconvenienced. 100% legal in all areas? No. Safer for everybody involved? Yes.

That being said, I know drivers and pedestrians hate it when bikes get too close or run stop signs. I'm sympathetic. I just hope you realize that they are the far majority of us. I get irritated when cars try to run me off the road (usually about once a week during my commute), and they are the most vivid images I have of cars in traffic, but the truth is that 99% of the cars that pass around me are perfectly safe and nice. I don't hold them accountable for the 1%.

April 24, 2009 at 10:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )