Thursday, January 20, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Alternative Break broadens horizons
By BriAnne Hess
by BRANTE Hess
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Hilary Bailey, Wichita junior,
did not want to spend another
month-long winter break on the
couch. She wanted to be productive.
She wanted to go somewhere
she'd never gone before.
So Bailey, along with 40 other KU students, signed up for the Alternative Winter Break program that sent students to four southern locales to serve in needy communities. Students paid $165 a piece, to cover the cost of transportation, lodging and most meals.
The break enabled students to serve others, but the students said the experiences gave them perspective as well.
"The trip is designed to help others, but you end up helping yourself more than anyone else because you get a better understanding of people." Bailey said.
Bailey and nine colleagues went to Florida City, Fla., to help at a center aiding migrant farm workers. Students worked on the construction of a community center. Bailey also maneuvered a jackhammer for the first time to disas
semble a curb.
"I gained a better understanding of the hardships of immigrants in America," Bailey said. "It's hard to say we're not all immigrants. Everyone deserves a chance to make it because that's what America is all about."
Sarah Yannaccone, Sterling junior, traveled to San Antonio, Texas, and spent the better part of the week painting a 91-year-old woman's house. Seeing joy on the woman's face after they finished painting made the labor worthwhile. Yannaccone said.
"Any kind of situation like that, you realize how lucky we are to be college students and how our worries don't really compare as much," she said.
Maggie Beedles, Lawrence freshman, hauls lumber at her work site in Florida City, Fla. Beedles was one of 40 students participating in Alternative Winter Break. Contributed photo
The San Antonio team worked with the AmeriCorps program called City Year. They also painted on top of graffiti and picked up trash. The team spent another day working at the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
Olivia Stockman, St. Louis junior, said she might take a new career path after mentoring third graders in inner-city Los Angeles. The third group worked with the Teach for America in Los Angeles. This organization places teachers in under-resourced areas for two years.
"It was very intense," Yannacone said. "We did general labor stuff but also got to interact with the patients and talk to them."
"I gained some kind of direction as to where I want to take my future," Stockman said. "I might want to dedicate part of my life to teaching and helping low-income students."
Stockman said she had helped a girl learn her multiplication tables and planned to keep in touch with some of the students she mentored.
"I consider some of the kids pen pals," Stockman said. "They were a lot of fun to be around."
The program also placed some students in a national project, Millennium Break, in New Orleans. These students painted and cleaned up an inner-city elementary school.
Matthew Skinta, Andover junior,
said he had heard of the problems
in the New Orleans school system
and wanted to help. He said he had
also wanted the chance to see the French Quarter and walk down Bourbon Street. Skinta said he valued the insights he had gained about the culture of New Orleans.
"Iate alligator for the first time," Skinta said. "I'm a vegetarian, but I made an exception. I was like, 'It's an alligator, it's not like it wouldn't eat me.'"
Scholars quantify value of education, director says
By Doug Pacey
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
With tuition costs rising, college students want to know that they are getting the most for their dollar. And for University of Kansas administrators, the success the University has had recruiting quality students is a reflection of the quality of education at KU.
"We're in an age where everybody's interested in rankings, statistics and evaluations that will give them a feeling that they're making a good decision — whether it is for an automobile or a college education," said Alan Cerveny, director of admissions. "A lot of schools in this region say they are great, so people look for a way to quantify what they're getting."
But not all students think that the number of National Merit Scholars is a correct indicator of the quality of education at the University.
"The number of National Merit Scholars at KU didn't affect my decision at all to come here," said Eric Rush, Topeka junior. "I don't think it is a viable ranking. Since
the University has started recruiting National Merit Scholars heavily, its ranking hasn't gone up in *Barrons* or U.S. News & World Report. The increase in National Merit Scholars hasn't shown a correlation to a better education at the University."
Rush is not a National Merit Scholar but he receives a merit scholarship from the University.
"Evidently, the University thinks it is important to play up the number of National Merit Scholars here because of rising tuition," he said. "Two of my friends who are National Merit Scholars are now doing commercials for the University to boast the University. It doesn't seem right for it to give all the money to them when there are poor people that could be using it."
But students do want to justify the cost of their education. And, as Cerveny contends, the number of National Merit Scholars is one way to do so.
KU had 101 new merit scholars last fall, while all other public institutions in the state totaled fewer than 30. All public universities in the states of Missouri and Kansas — besides the University — add up
to only 81 new merit scholars, Cerveny said. However, administrators also emphasize that plenty of scholarships also exist for those students who aren't National Merit Scholars.
In the Fall 1998 semester, more than 700
students, not including student athletes, received a merit or achievement scholarship from the University other than a National Merit Scholarship.
"The National Merit Scholars get a lot of attention, and rightfully so," said Chancellor Robert Hemenway. "But there are many more students at Kansas who are receiving grants in merit-based scholarships. It says the very best students want to come here and study."
Though the office of admissions does not grant scholarships to students after they are accepted to the University, departmental
scholarships and grants still can be earned by students.
Cerveny: says merit scholars used as benchmark for KU
Some schools and departments already have made applications available, while others reported that applications would be released later this spring.
Scholarship applications for next year are due as early as February but vary depending on the school and department.
But, the National Merit Scholars do bring attention to the University, just like McDonald's All-Americans in basketball, Cerveny said.
"It may be a bad analogy." Cerveny said. "But people talk about the number of McDonald's All-Americans and the number of National Merit Scholars, and they're both from the same kind of pool — everybody wants them."
"If people see that Roy's got a bunch of McDonald's All-Americans, they're probably going to say, 'Hey, Roy's recruited a hell of a class.'" Cerveny said. "That tells people that Kansas is a great basketball school. We have the top students coming to Kansas, and that says you can get a serious top-flight education here."
Chicken man brightens up business class
By Ryan Devlin
By Ryan Devlin
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Why did the chicken come to class?
To get students to talk, of course.
Enter the chicken.
Every semester, professors try a number of techniques to make students comfortable with participating in class. Often, their efforts are in vain.
Students in lecturer Brian Russell's Organizational Behavior class were surprised when they walked into class yesterday and saw a man wearing a rubber chicken mask casually seated in the classroom.
"I did not know who he was," said Kari Miller, Clarinda, Iowa, junior. "I thought he were someone in the class just trying to show off."
Russell and his friend, Steven Bromert, a 1999 KU graduate, decided that they would try something unusual to help break the first-day-of-class silence.
"The class is almost totally discussion based," Russell said. "It's important to get people talking and sharing their ideas in class. We thought if we could do something that was more off the wall and humiliating than anything the students would ever do in class, it might make things easier."
Russell said that the purpose of the class, offered by the school of business, is to help students learn how to more effectively communicate and work within a group.
Lindsay Puett, Shawnee junior,
said that no one in the class mentioned anything about the mysterious chicken man until Russell revealed the joke.
"Everyone was looking and laughing at him. We weren't sure what was going on." Puett said.
Russell said that Bromert, who was wearing the chicken mask, began to dance and peck around while Russell read the syllabus. Finally, after about ten minutes, Russell told the class the purpose of the experiment.
Both Miller and Puett said they thought the experiment was effective.
"It was a good intro to the class," Miller said. "It definitely made things more comfortable."
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