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Friday, February 3, 1995
OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: UNIVERSITY SPEAKERS
Wanted: Graduation speaker
The University of Kansas hasn't had a commencement speaker for graduation in the past, and it won't have a commencement speaker this year. Prospects for a speaker in the future remain questionable at best. The reason, surprisingly enough, is because certain KU officials want it that way.
A little more than a year ago a grass roots student movement, the Committee for a Speaker at Commencement, drafted and sent a letter to the KU Commencement Committee requesting that a keynote speaker be made part of the graduation tradition.
However, this letter, which was signed by several prominent student leaders and campus organizations, didn't even merit a reply from the KU Commencement Committee. It was clear to the students involved that the KU administration was content with the status quo and not open to change.
Jim Scally, chairman of the KU Commencement Committee, said it was because of time constraints. He said it would be too much for the weary audience to bear.
Furthermore, he said it
KU Commencement Committee fails to reply to a letter from students requesting a graduation speaker.
The students on this campus have called for change in the graduation program, but rather than acknowledging these claims, the KU Commencement Committee has dismissed them with little more than a thought. That high-handed attitude has no place on this campus.
was a concern for the reputation of this institution and for the reputation of the commencement speaker that a speaker might be "booed" by the students and audience in Memorial Stadium. But the letter specifically said that "there would be a 10-15 minute time restriction for the address." The letter also lists Dean Smith and David Letterman as potential keynote speakers, names that hardly spark resentment in the hearts of KU students.
It's time for the University to understand that commencement ceremonies were designed for the graduating students, and these students' wishes should be heeded.
LANCE HAMBY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Women get deserved respect
THE ISSUE: BASKETBALL EQUALITY
last weekend, many KU students and Lawrence residents—as well as much of the nation—had their eyes on the Kansas women's basketball team, and the attention was rightfully deserved.
The network coverage of the Jayhawks was long overdue and was a wellearned chance for players like senior forward Angela Aycock, a preseason All-American, to exhibit their talent on a national scale. And although the Jayhawks lost, they certainly gave top-ranked Connecticut a run for the money.
Not only was the coverage good for the players, but it was a good chance to get more students excited about women's basketball.
It is easy to believe that there is nationwide respect for the men's program at KU, but the women's program often has taken a back seat. As national publicity and programs like "Fill the Gym" continue, students will discover that women's
With equalization of the head coaches' salaries, the men's and women's basketball teams move toward equal ground.
basketball is exciting.
"Fill the Gym II" did not have as good a showing as "Fill the Gym I," for which the fieldhouse was almost filled to capacity last season. Part II took place during the winter break, when most students were gone.
The Athletic Corporation deserves credit for trying to put both programs on equal ground. By equalizing the base salaries of Marian Washington, women's basketball coach, and Roy Williams, men's basketball coach, the corporation is acknowledging that the two contribute equally to their respective programs.
But without fans, the women's basketball team may lose more games, and even recruits, than a 19th-rated program in the nation should.
HEATHER LAWRENZ FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
DENISE NEIL
Managing editor
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
News...Carlos Tejada
Planning...Mark Martin
Editorial...Matt Gowen
Associate Editorial...Heather Lawrenz
Campus...David Wilson
Colleen McCain
Sports...Gerry Fey
Associate Sports...Ashley Miller
Photo...Jarrett Lane
Features...Nathan Olson
Design...Brian James
Freelance...Susan White
Robert Tapley / KANSAN
Rise in tuition would result in increase of poor students
The numbers of the situation don't lie. They don't even fudge a little: Lawrence campus enrollment dropped by 1,041 students this spring. And although you may not have noticed the recent drop, you won't be able to miss the coming increase, especially if the Legislature doesn't allow qualified admissions soon.
Nationwide, The Wall Street Journal reports, the number of high school graduates will increase by 33 percent between now and 2008. While I haven't seen anything that drastic for Kansas, even more modest estimates would yield startling increases in enrollment. An increase of just 12 percent would mean another 2,500 KU students in Lawrence; 20 percent would bring 4,300 to town.
This is a problem, and Regents Universities' options are limited.
They can tighten admissions standards (presently not an option). They can get more state funds and build more classrooms (an unlikely event). Or they can grin and bear it as salaries, services and the quality of instruction plummet at state universities.
The Board of Regents budget for 1996 totals $1.17 billion, and $448 million of that money comes from tax dollars. The other $722 million comes from tuition and other forms of revenue, including University of Kansas Medical Center revenues and miscellaneous grants.
STAFF COLUMNIST
In other words,
our tuition pays
very little of the
cost of our education,
and we should
realize that.
its many benefits
But neither should lawmakers ignore the social consequences of raising the costs of a Regents education. Students now pay 5 percent more (up to 34 percent) of the total costs of the Regents system, through tuition, than six years ago. That rise, too, has influenced KU's dropping enrollment; one semester of full-time undergrad enrollment is now more than $1,000.
The state's financing of higher education is a noble act of government for the improvement of the state and its people. Despite the system's failures, we shouldn't forget
If tuition continues to rise, more good but relatively poor students — many of whom are children of noncollege-educated parents — will choose
Sure, grants and student loan programs can help to pay for tuition, whatever it may be.
But paying for education is always a financial tradeoff between the present and future.
the short-term security of the job force against the rising costs and debts of a college education.
In addition, lawmakers should realize the significant costs of remedial education at the college level, costs that could be reduced even by the most modest admissions standards. Also, the lamented "brain drain" — the exodus of the Kansas brightest high school seniors — would only be exacerbated by a decrease in the quality or increase in costs of a Regenss education, the two most likely results of an enrollment boom under the current system.
So the question is not if admissions should be selective in the near future, but how they are selective. In the face of coming increases in applicants, Kansas must choose to select students on merit. If not, students will be chosen by their ability to pay the resulting higher tuition or their willingness to pay for an inferior education.
most students who drop out of KU come here less by choice than by circumstance. That is, they (or their parents) could pay and expected them to go — so why not? On the other hand, the more successful students have greater responsibility, and better preparation, for their education.
Chris Reedy is a Topeka junior In English and philosophy.
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR
Protecting children a nation's concern
A letter to the editor in the Jan. 25 Kansan reminded us of the anniversary of women's rights. This week also marks the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious Nazi death camp.
Death camps have been responsible for the execution of an estimated 5,750,000 Jews. Ironically, these anniversaries have something in common, both include crimes against humanity. How far have we come? Germany failed to acknowledge Jews as human beings. Those who did, turned away.
Today, we turn away. In the United States, one in five babies is aborted, 4,500 each day, totaling more
than 32 million in 20 years.
Kaesler wants us to believe a fetus is not human. Sound familiar? Is birth the magical rite of passage to humanity? When will we recognize our own?
Jeretlyn Kaesler's disingenuous characterizations of abortion as a "private decision regarding reproduction," challenges us to seek truth. Reproduction is not whether a fetus lives or dies. Reproduction includes sex, growth and birth. The right she seeks to preserve is the right to have sex, without the responsibilities that follow.
This is not a women's issue. Protecting our children is a concern for all of us. Senate Bill 16 is a beginning by recognizing vehicular homicide of fetuses. Let us not turn away from these children, our future and our
David J. Barry
Shawnee graduate student
Column about racism welcomed by reader
I really appreciated reading Rufus Coleman's column on Jan. 24 about race and stereotyping. Coleman's message was honest and heartening.
I thank him for his courage to write about his experiences, and I look forward to more dialogue in the campus paper and elsewhere about how we can work together to heal racism.
Christine M. Robinson Lawrence graduate student
I had to grab a groundhog.
So yesterday I celebrated Groundhog Day with my cat, Mateese, the next best thing. After all, getting rabies from "Punxutawney Phil" is not my idea of a good time.
In memory of all groundhogs mold a rodent out of cheese
ASSOC.
EDIT. EDITOR
I got up early, just before the sun rose, and surveyed the beer cans that littered my ward.
Then I shoved her furry dissenting butt into the pet carrier. The plan was to spring at her just the right moment to see if she would notice her shadow. So at the appropriate moment, I let her loose. She leapt from the carrier like "Hard Copy" after a scandal. I waited for some
Communication lines were down, apparently. Oh, well.
grand meteorological sign. She paused at the concept of freedom, looked disgustedly at me and proceeded to take care of her business, or less politely, she licked her croch.
Someone once told me that on Groundhog Day you should remember all the opossums and raccoons that have died on the highways. This enlightened individual told me that I should mold an opossum statue out of Velveeta cheese and sit it beside a highway. After the statue melts, or gets hit, I should do a ceremonial dance to commemorate the lost lives of the poor creatures. I thought that the symbolism was nice but wasn't sure I wanted to get Velveeta all over my hands and under my nails.
By the way, my other favorite holiday is National Hoo-Da-Hoo Day. On this day, everyone is supposed to go outside and yell, Hoo-Da-Hoo, in celebration of the upcoming season.
Seriously.
This day screams the perfect opportunity to skip class and go on a road trip. I would first recommend a trip to the zoo. There nothing like a little viewing of tiger sex to get spring off to a roaring start.
Secondly, a trip to the Bass Pro Shop is warranted. Viewing fish paraphernalia is always a good way to spend the day. Plus if you're sneaky, they let you sit in the Tracker boats and make motor noises while you're friend pretends to pull a beer from the live well.
If all else fails or you can't motivate yourself to hit the road, Hoo-Da-Hoo Day is the perfect day to offer to buy beer for 10 or more of your best friends. After they are all liquored up, convince them to streak Wescoe Beach screaming, of course, Hoo-Da-Hoo.
Heather Lawrenz is a Wellsville senior in lawmass.
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HUBIE
By Greg Hardin