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by Lauren Simmons
Sale and possession of K2 could soon be banned in Kansas with bill number 2411.
The ban would take effect within two weeks of Gov. Mark Parkinson signing it, according to cjonline.com, Topeka Capital-Journal.
The Drug is an herb drug that “mimics” the high of marijuana.
K2 is a name for a mixture of plant materials with added synthetic chemicals.
There really isn’t any difference between K2 and marijuana. They both have the same side affects. However, marijuna is a weed and K2 is a synsteic herb.
An anonymous junior believes “K2 is a (plant) natural herb. If the animal kingdom has ways of alternating ways of reality, then it’s just natural.”
K2 has become very popular among students in Lawrence; the substance was sold in natural herb stores and sell for about $10-$15 a bag.
“We need to keep K2 legal because it will hold us over until weed is legalized,” Katie Thompson, sophomore, said.
People are now protesting against it becoming illegal. They believe it should stay legal because it’s a “natural” herb.
“The drug became so popular over time that the drug made over $6 billion in taxes”, according to Kansan.com, a web site that has the voice and opinion of the student body of the University of Kansas.
Another reason K2 should stay legal is because it can keep people out of trouble.
According to Josi Still, junior, “keeping K2 legal will help people from disobeying the law, because even though they made it illegal people are still going to do it anyways.”
Some students mention that they don’t really care what the drug administration does with this synthetic drug.
“I don’t care if they keep K2 legal or not as long as I’m not pressured/forced to do so,” Ian Leverich, sophomore, said.
K2, however, can harm your body.
Researchers are concerned about the drug because it is toxic to the body and has long-term effects; like marijuana, it causes you to suffer short-term memory loss, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Penny Fenning, English teacher said that ”nobody should be taking any toxins in their bodies. Why would you want to do that to yourself?”
Still, some students say they want to keep this herb legal, and why not?
If a drug is not killing the body, then what is the problem with using it?
It’s not like most of the other drugs that are fatal if used. If it were then it would be another story.
Any drug that can cause extreme harm to the body like heroin and methamphetamine should be banned.
They can alter a person’s life and damage someone’s future.
That’s why there have been many controversies with marijuana.
Making K2 illegal might reduce the number of people from using it, but it’s not going to stop people from doing it.
People are going to do what they want with there bodies.
So, there shouldn’t be such a controversy on making a drug like K2 legal or not.
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by Ethan Beals
A new trend has popped up on the Internet as of late.
Chatroulette is a website that randomly matches you and a complete stranger from anywhere around the world together on webcam paired with an instant messenger.
After hearing about Chatroulette from my friends, I decided that I was going to check it out and see for myself.
What commenced is what I can only describe as, well, total chaos. From the guy that immediately flipped me off to the guy that sang me a song about a pickle, it was just total insanity.
When I chatted with people, they just acted natural, like it was normal for me to see into their home and their world, and I suppose that’s how I acted too. It didn’t actually feel like they were intruding into my personal little world.
This site represents a movement within the Internet from being impersonal and centered around the individual to being focused more on community. Other social websites, such as Facebook, are all directed towards the individual and don’t place much focus on actual interaction with other people.
The way I see it the Internet is like the subconscious of actual society; maybe people breaking the routine on the Internet is an indicator of what may come.
But the real question is what the change will be? Will there be a movement towards a more open society and acceptance in general? One can only hopes. Hopefully the realization that on the other side of your screen is a real person with real emotions will make people be more considerate in real life.
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Budget (n):
1. Something that has become reality for the average American.
2. Something an average heiress would have to ask ChaCha.com to define.
During our current economic down turn, we continue to pay entertainers excessive sums of money while teachers and other public servants are becoming victims to pay cuts and foreclosures.
We can all see the disparity between the have and have nots of America, but what can we do about it?
Whenever equality is even suggested, the average person has flashbacks to “Fahrenheit 451” and all those late night sci-fi movies that relate equality to his worst nightmare.
Most people don’t desire total equality. But are we, as Americans, capable of achieving equality as it relates to something like income?
We are so used to putting those with higher incomes on a pedestal that it may be impossible for us to share any common views on change.
Everybody gets so caught up in the negative aspects of being equal that they are unable to see the good possibilities of sharing the same opportunities at life.
Now don’t get us wrong.
We love the capitalist country that we live in and don’t desire any form of communism or socialism. All we want to see is some fairness that might lead to a better tomorrow, a tomorrow where schools don’t have such a burden on their budget and families across the country could survive on their incomes.
As a country, we are already setting a foundation for this kind of change. All we have to do is build the structure.
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by Lisa Henderson
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, is worth an estimated $50 billion, obviously, more money than he can ever spend.
But what should he do with that wealth?
Although we live in the world’s wealthiest country, many people in our society are not satisfied with what they have even though they are living comfortably. At the same time, we hear about underprivileged countries that cannot even afford water or electricity, things we as Americans take for granted. But when was the last time we thought about the underprivileged here at home?
America is in the midst of a severe economic recession which has pushed unemployment to 10 percent and increased the number of homeless and undernourished.
Not far from Olathe, schools in Kansas City, Mo., are in danger of closing due to lack of funds, but here in Johnson County we would never expect any schools to shut down especially, for lack of funding. The estimated median household income for Kansas City, Kan., in 2008 was $36,691 while in the same year the median household income for Olathe was $77,505, according to City-data.com.
The percentage of residents living in poverty in Kansas City was also substantially larger, 20.9 percent, compared to Olathe’s 6 percent. Many wonder how there could be such a margin of difference and why the levels aren’t more equal. The truth is people who aren’t directly affected by poverty don’t always see the need to help others who are affected by it.
Some believe we could equalize our society with a more socialist government, making income levels the same no matter what the job.
Making income levels of all professions equal would not be beneficial to our economy. Most people who earn large incomes are receiving their wages through hard work that doesn’t always benefit just their personal pocketbooks.
Some work to get money for personal gain and power, but many give back, including Bill Gates.
Gates, and other wealthy individuals, recognize they can have a significant impact on people’s lives by spending their money wisely. Gates, through his charity, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has given hundreds of millions of dollars to health and food programs for some of the poorest people in the world. He also has recently announced a $120 million package of agriculture-related grants to nine institutions around the world to help growing food needs.
And so the wealthiest man in the world, Bill Gates, instead of keeping the wealth to himself, chooses to spend his money to help others in need through programs that will not only make a difference in today’s society, but also for many generations to come.
Obviously, there will never be enough donations to make the world a perfect famine-free place, but we could definitely make it more comfortable by giving and caring a little more.
Though many people want things to be more equal, that would change the reason we came to America in the first place: to be self-sufficient individuals and to create our own American dream. The best we can do to is to give what we can afford and to volunteer our time to those in need.
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by Joey Leoni
The lifestyle in Johnson County is by far above the norm from the rest of the world. We live in a culture that throws
away money on nonessential material possessions while people in other countries struggle to survive.
Countries like Zimbabwe, Liberia and Somalia are ranked as the poorest countries in the world. Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa, has a GDP per capita (production per person) of only $200 compared to the United States’ $46,000.
Haiti, the new earthquake disaster zone, doesn’t compare well either. They only have a GDP of $1,300 as compared to the U.S.A. As well, the average income in Haiti results in about $2 a day. That totals to only $730, which could hardly pay for one month’s rent in an Olathe apartment.
America is also the number one consumer of electricity in the world unlike Liberian people are lucky to be able to afford a candle. Most third world countries become a black abyss during the night while America looks like a disco ball.
Also, Americans have healthy, plump, satisfied newborn children.
In Somalia, the child mortality rate is 10 percent. Children have severe malnutrition and harsh diseases. The worst part is that most of these diseases are curable, but the country cannot afford to buy the vaccines.
As for Americans, we looked selfish with how we chose to waste our money last year. America spent $22 billion on cosmetics, $82 billion on clothing, and $110 billion on electronics.
According to the Johnson County website, our county is ranked highest in Kansas with an average annual income of $53,472. It would take a Haitian about 73 years to make that kind of money, and a Zimbabwean an unreachable 267 years.
It’s true we’re privileged to have such a vast amount of luxury in our culture. And, people feel that if they work hard for their money, they can spend it how they want.
However, look at all the things we buy that we end up throwing away, wearing once or stuffing in our over-crowded drawers never to be seen again.
We need to share the wealth with our brothers and sisters around the world. Most people don’t even live to see such “common” things to us like light bulbs and computers.
Charities like Heart-to-Heart and the American Red Cross are great ways for our fortunate community to give.
The American Red Cross reached its latest goal of $1.5 million to start building another response center in Santa Maria, Calif. They have educated and saved lives from diseases like measles and malaria.
Heart-to-Heart has similar accomplishments, such as sending millions of pounds of supplies to the disaster zone in Haiti.
If every person in Johnson County just gave $5, we could collect over $2.6 million for less fortunate countries.
Donations can be collected by means of phone, online, or in person.
So think twice before you buy the new video game, or the trendy jacket. Give a little and save a lot…. a life.
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