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Tuesday
February 2, 1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 85
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Greek GPA higher than University grade total
Sorority finishes top of the Hill
By Jamie Knodel
Kansan staff writer
KU fraternity and sorority members had higher grade point averages last semester than non-greeks, with one sorority posting an average of better than 3.30.
The grade point average for all KU students from last semester was 2.870. The Greek student average was 2.976, according to figures provided by Wes Simons, associate director of greek programs.
Mary Ann Rasnak, director of the Student Development Center, said that living in greek communities was beneficial to students' academic performances.
"People learn better in groups," she said. "When people live together, they have built in opportunities to work together."
Brendan Woodbury, Interfraternity Council vice president for education and scholarship, said that certain fraternities and sororities had a tradition for promoting academic excellence, which put pressure on new members to maintain that tradition.
"One of the reasons fraternities and sororites exist is to help their members improve their grade point averages," said Woodbury, Prairie Village sophomore.
He said that fraternities and sororities had programs set up within the chapters that helped members develop study skills.
Included in these programs is requiring new members to study a specific number of hours each week.
Rasnak said that the higher greek grade point average also was because members had access to more resources and in-house tutoring.
Woodbury said that many chapters had older members monitor newer members to ensure that they were studying in the correct way.
Members of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority had the highest overall scholarship ranking. The group's 149 members earned a 3.309 overall grade point average.
Alpha Delta Pi sorority members were in second place again this semester. They were just 0.028 short of the top spot. The chapter's overall average was 3.281.
While the overall chapter average for Chi Omega sorority increased from its Fall 1997 first-place average, it fell to third place this semester.
beta Theta Pi fraternity led the 23 fraternities at the University again this semester with a chapter grade point average of 3.267. The fraternity also had the highest grade point average for Fall 1997 semester.
Phi Gamma Delta fraternity improved its overall chapter grade point average by 0.39 points and moved from 16th place, to second from Fall 1997 to Fall 1998.
Sigma Chi fraternity placed third with a 3.017 chapter average.
Woodbury said that many chapters had incentive programs set up to recognize members' academic performances.
These programs include banquets, prizes and scholarships.
Events to recognize minority students
Office of Minority Affairs chancellor to hold receptions
By Dan Curry
Kansan staff writer
The chancellor will be the host of a reception for Asian-American students at his home tonight so the students can put faces with the names of KU administrators and fellow Asian-American students.
this is an effort on the part of the chancellor's office and the Office of Minority Affairs to acknowledge students of different ethnic minorities and the value
they have to this institution," said Gloria Flores, associate director in the Office of Minority Affairs and one of the organizers of the reception.
During the next two weeks, the chancellor will hold formal receptions with members of First Nations, the Black Student Union and the Hispanic Leadership Organization.
Flores said the University of Kansas recruited minorities well, but it needed to improve minority
student retention
"We are also trying to address the issue of attrition and what kinds of ways we can keep our ethical grounds at KU." Flores said.
Universities work to retain students by funding academic support programs, mentoring programs and scholarships, she said.
The McNair Scholars Program, the Minority Business Scholars and the Dean's Scholars Program are some of the methods the various colleges used to retain minorities. Flores said.
She said that the deans of all schools would be invited to attend the receptions to hear students' input.
The Office of Minority Affairs
and the Office of the Chancellor are the sponsors of the receptions. James Kitchen, dean of student life, helped arrange the receptions.
"We want to encourage them to keep students coming back to school and also give them a chance to interact with us and voice their concerns," Kitchen said. "It's just an opportunity for them to come together and meet people they haven't met before, to nut faces with names."
"My part is basically to advertise our organization. Invitations were sent out to 700 people. It's a chance for us to meet those people," she said.
Minority attrition rates were not a problem, and they were not the reason for having the receptions, Kitchen said.
Topeka senior Nellie Kim, president of the Asian American Student
dent Union, said that she had never been to the chancellor's residence and that she was excited to attend.
Kim said that she did not think that there was a problem with Asian-American students leaving the University.
"They decided to try to honor Asian Americans and to let us know that they are aware of us," she said. "It's not retention as maybe you might think. I think they're just trying to be generous. It's remaining in an indirect way."
Shadows of superstition
Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his hole to shed light on spring weather
By Ezra Sykes
By Ezra Sykes
Kansan staff writer
The day of the shadow has arrived.
The day of the shadow has a rive. Once again, Groundhog Day has popped out of its hole and will promote extra chatter about the weather.
According to the legend, if the grounddog is frightened back into his hole by his shadow today, six more weeks of cold and dreary weather can be expected. If there is no shadow, spring is near and the grounddog will leave his hole.
But it is,after all,just a legend.
David Braaten, professor of atmospheric science, said that Groundhog Day was nothing more than a myth.
"You could get the results by flipping a coin," he said. "We've spent billions of dollars on radars and satellites. It's a technological field that's not based on myths and Ouja boards."
Some students were apa-thetic toward the holiday.
Nate Geraci,
Syracuse, N.Y.
senior, said that
he usually only
related the holiday
to the Bill
Murray movie
Groundhog Day
but that he
hoped for better
weather.
"Hopefully, he won't see his s hadow because I'm ready for some warmer temperatures," he said.
Alexa
Wohlfort, Assaria sophomore, said she was a warm weather person and also was hoping for an early spring.
"All I know is that when Punxutawney Phil says it is going to be a cold, it's going to be cold forever," she said.
The rodent festivity can be traced to the German holiday Candlemas Day, which began during the 17th century. The Germans believed that a hedgehog frightened by his shadow on Candlemas Day would forecast six more weeks of winter.
Geraci and Wohlfort may be in luck.
Geraci and Womoff may be in attack. Scott Dergan, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Topeka, said that the Lawrence area would see sunshine tomorrow morning but that in Punxsutawney, Penn., where the official groundhog dwells, clouds probably would fill the sky.
The belief was transported to the United States and Canada by German settlers, and the hedgehog
figure was carried over to the grounddog.
After making claims that the groundhog, known as Punxsutawney Phil, could correctly predict the weather, the group held the first official forecast
During the 1880s, a group of residents from Punxsutawney, Penn., began celebrating Candlemas by going into the woods to search for groundhogs. By 1886, a local newspaper editor had dubbed the group the Punx-sutawney Groundhog Club.
The popularity of the event has grown ever since, and the town of Punx-sutawney has events and celebrations as visitors come to see Phil. the Nostradamus of groundhogs foretell the future.
held the first official forecast Feb.2, 1887.
A local liquor store employee places a keg into the trunk of a car. A new law has been proposed by Kansas officials that would require people buying keys to register their name, address and signature. The proposed law would aim to cut down underage drinking at house parties. Photo illustration by Eric Sahrmann/ Kansan
Proposed law aims to dry up drinking
City and university officials are not the only ones who want students who buy kegs to be responsible for underage drinkers. Kansas officials also have discussed imposing a state law requiring people who buy kegs to register them.
Kansan staff writer
By Heather Woodward
Attorney General Carla J. Stovall and members of her Far-Reaching Alteration of Traffic and Alcohol Laws Task Force announced their recommendations to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee last week.
FATAL'S recommendations included enacting a keeg registration law, which would aim to regulate house parties.
Jane Nohr, an assistant attorney general, said that if the law passed, people who bought a keg would have to register it when purchasing it at a liquor store or a bar. This process would make the purchaser liable for underage drinkers.
The retailer would record at the time of sale the keg number, the date of sale and the purchaser's name, address and signature," Nohr said.
Caleb Asher, Mound City, Mo,
senior, said he did not know
how effective a keg registration
law would be.
parties are still going to serve their friends even if they are underage."
hate it, Nohr said.
The person buying the key also would have to produce a form of ID with a photo and signature, and the retailer would record an ID number off it, Nohr said.
"It might make the people who are throwing the party think about it more." Asher said. "But I'm not sure it will really stop underage drinking or slow it down. Most people who throw
The law is based on a bill proposed in 1996, which would carry a B misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, Nohr said.
Shawn Smith, manager of Cork and Barrel Wine and Spirits, 1410 Kasold Drive, said that keg registration would benefit liquor stores.
A recommendation to implement a key registration law in Lawrence was made in the report to the city commission by the Joint City-Universities Task Force on Alcohol Abuse Prevention.
"The recommendation was made as a result of a lot of discussion about keg parties and kids getting drunk at them," Nohr said. "We're trying to pin those people down."
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"There's a misconception that we make a lot of money from keg sales," Smith said. "Actually, it would help us because a lot of times we don't get all of our equipment back."
Smith wasn't sure that key registration would have much effect on underage drinking.
"I think they need to make some attempt to stop it," Smith said. "But the simple fact is that some adults are always willing to buy for people who are underage."
Mary Horsch, director of communications for the attorney general, said it would be a long time before any of the recommendations became law.
"The task force just introduced them last week," Horsch said. "They will go to committee now. Then they will have to be passed by both houses before going onto the governor."
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