Thursday, February 20, 2014
FUNDING
Questions remain in Athletics Fee conversation
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
A fundamental question stands at the forefront of an ongoing conversation for Student Senate: should students help finance Kansas Athletics — an integral part of the University that brought in $93.6 million in revenue in 2013?
The debate resurfaced in Monday's recommendation from the Women's and Non-Revenue Intercollegiate Sports Fee Advisory Board to lower or eliminate the fee. The Advisory Board consists entirely of students, including chairman David Catt — a former student-athlete.
Students currently pay a required $25 semesterly fee to the Kansas Athletics Department. This year, the fee will result in between $1.2 and $1.3 million going from
students to athletics. If the fee is lowered or eliminated, the money could be used by Student Senate elsewhere.
"This is Jayhawks helping Jayhawks," Associate Athletic Director Jim Marchiony said, echoing a statement from an Advisory Board member in Monday's meeting.
Catt, who compiled a comprehensive report detailing financial information from Student Senate and Kansas Athletics, questioned the fee's possible benefits for the student body.
"I think, if anything, it's the job of Student Senate to definitely critically think about which fees are absolutely necessary and which generate the greatest return for the student body," Catt said. "I see a very minimal return on investment for the entire student body."
WHAT IS THE FEE?
Every University student, knowingly or unknowingly, pays 18 required campus fees. Student Senate is in charge of distributing these fees.
Some of the University's other required campus fees include a $134.70 Student Health Fee funding operations of Student Health Services, a $4.45 Newspaper Readership Program Fee providing USA Today, The New York Times and The Kansan across campus and a $16.30 SafeRide Fee to fund car and bus services running from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
In 1979, when universities were required to enforce Title IX regulations, a $1.50 Women's and Non-Revenue Intercollegiate Sports Fee was introduced. Adjusted for inflation, that fee would equal $4.81 today.
The fee directly funds travel
for women's and men's nonrevenue sports, in part keeping travel equitable between men's and women's sports.
The fee has increased over time, peaking at $40 from 2006-2011 when students helped fund a new $6 million, 14,000-square-foot rowing team boathouse next to the Kansas River near Burcham Park. It was lowered to $25 in 2012.
"Travel costs have increased while the student fee has not," Marchiony said. "Have you bought a gallon of gas lately? The cost of travel has increased dramatically."
From 2005-2012, Athletics travel costs rose from $2.8 million to $8.5 million. A women's golf team trip to Ireland in the summer of 2013 raised questions within Student Senate.
"Are we funding that?" Student Body President
HOW DOES KU COMPARE?
Four schools in the Big 12 conference have a required student fee and an optional student ticket package. Here's how KU stacks up against the others.
BIG 12 SCHOOLS STUDENT FEES STUDENT TICKET PACKAGES
University of Kansas $25.00 $150.00
Kansas State $13.09 $295.00, $235.00, $150.00
premium basic combo football
Iowa State $31.50 $249.00
Oklahoma State $60.00 $250.00 — KIL Athletics
Marcus Tetwiler asked earlier in the year. "Are the 25,000 students at KU subsidizing lavish expenses?"
HOW DOES KANSAS COMPARE?
According to information provided by Kansas Athletics for Catt's report, "A Summary of
information Pertinent to the Women's and Non-Revenue Intercollegiate Sports Fee" only four universities in the Big 12 bring in revenue from both student fees and optional student ticket sales.
SEE FUNDS PAGE 9A
CAMPUS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo taken on Jan. 31, HoneyLove.org founder, and beekeeper Rob McFarland inspects his beehive, which he has kept on the roof of his Los Angeles house for the past three years.
Bees to be replaced after hive loss
DARCEY ALTSCHWAGER
news@kansan.com
After the death of all honey bees in the KU Natural History Museum exhibit on Feb. 6 due to the same extreme cold that shut down campus, the museum has announced plans to introduce new bees this spring. A new colony and queen will be purchased from a bee supplier in order to restock the popular exhibit that often times attracts repeat visitors to the museum.
"It's a unique way to give access to something that
people are usually a bit fearful of", said Bruce Scherting, KU Natural History Museum director of exhibits. "Check back in the spring. Hopefully things will be buzzing."
"They were all at the end of the tube which makes us think they were trying to block the cold easterly wind that had been blowing for those two days from entering into the colony," Scherting said.
The observational colony housed in the museum lives in a structure that allows the bees to leave the hive via a tube in order to go out and get food.
"It's a unique way to give access to something that people are usually a bit fearful of."
when the colony first started off in the museum it had about 20,000 bees. It during the
BRUCE SCHERTING Director of exhibits
fall the population had been reduced to a couple hundred bees because of a parasite
problem. The bees were being nursed back to health in order to make it through the winter months. However, Scherting believes that there were just not enough bees in the hive at the time in order to keep the colony warm.
The slope of the tube going from the bee tree, where the
"We have lost bees before in the past due to disease or parasites. We have never lost them to this type of a weather situation," Scherting said.
SEE BEES PAGE 9A
LAWRENCE
'I'm Shmacked' comes to campus
The group's YouTube channel features videos of party scenes at different colleges across America. Four minute videos feature clips of women grinding, stacks of books at a library ground weed being loaded onto joint paper, students walking across campus, abandoned beer pong tables full of toppled red Solo cups, campus buildings' facades and men throwing peace signs to the camera at a dark dance club to the tune of hip-hop music and students explaining their work-play balance.
EMILY DONOVAN
AMELIA ARVESEN
news@kansan.com
KU college life is about to go viral.
I'm Shmacked arrived in Lawrence yesterday while on a tour of college campuses.
Don't Forget
CLASSIFIEDS 2B CRYPTOQUIPS 5A SPORTS 1B
CROSSWORD 5A OPINION 4A SUDOKU 5A
Maggie Young, Panhellenic Association president, met with sorority chapter presidents about I'm Shmacked's scheduled visit. "The ramifications of negative social media can, as we all know, have a very lasting effect on any individual's life," Young wrote in an email. "Women in the Panhellenic community are free to make their own choices at all times, we just want to ensure that they consider how certain choices could come back to haunt them in the future, beyond the scope of
"Unfortunately, an outside group is making money by exploiting the bad decisions of a small minority of the University population," Phythyon said in an email. "Glorification of dangerous drinking and irresponsible partying paints an unrealistic picture of what college life means for the majority of our student body. Clearly, universities nationwide need to have conversations to remind students that college fun doesn't need to involve stupid choices."
The account holders of @ ImShmacked declined to comment before this article was published.
The scenes the account portrays are not representative of the majority of students, said Jill Jess Phhyton, director of KU News Service.
their college careers."
"Our message was that we should always be doing our best to positively represent our various Greek organizations and the University of Kansas as a whole, regardless of whether or not cameras are around," Simpson wrote in an email.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
Kevin Simpson, KU Interfraternity Council president, contacted fraternity chapter leaders.
It's Love Your Pet Day. Smooch your pooch.
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