MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015
PAGE 4
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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opinion
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FFA OF THE DAY That moment when you realize you could be so rich if you didn't like to consume alcohol.
Does the NCAA have a rule banning the visiting schools mascot from attending the game? It would be cool to see Big Jay cheering them on at away games.
Tempura shrimp tacos are like nectar sent down by the gods for humans to enjoy.
If you lost a picture of two girls on a roller coaster from your keychain, Watkins Pharmacy has it!!
Ate so much Italian food.
Why am I single? Oh yeah,
I like calculus and listen to
NPR for fun. *engineering*
Still trying to finish House of Cards season 3 but school is taking over my life...
Early bird... gets the giant, white, fluffy towels at the Rec
"How's homework coming along?" "Well I haven't done it but let me tell you about the best two hour nap i just took."
Thank you, amazon prime,
for letting me listen to whole
albums for free
Wake me up when it's spring break.
So The Oread is watering its artificial turf...
My walking to class face is a lot mearar than I really am.
Can I just have a massage therapist with me 24/7?
Fuzzy's atmosphere is so inviting. They have the best tacos in Kansas by far.
My life is 50% wondering if it too late to drink coffee and 50% wondering if it's too early to drink alcohol.
Good thing I have two papers due this week and no motivation
Why does everything interfere with nap time??
This weather has got me feelin some type of way! <3
I need to go buy a new ward-
robe for this weather!!! ugh
College is about more than the degree
Mid-semester: the time of year when class attendance drops, midterms make their unwelcome appearance and all eyes turn toward spring break. During this time, the semester seems to have no end. However, we should instead use this time to reflect on the college experience, why we're here and what our hard work is accomplishing.
For many Americans, college is primarily an economic investment. According to a 2011 Gallup poll, 53 percent of Americans said they believe the main reason to attend college is to earn more money, while a third think it is important for finding a good job. Expected income is clearly important to those seeking a college degree, but are we here just to get a job and make more money? I don't think so.
College is about finding yourself and expanding your mind. It's possibly the only time in your life that you will be liberated from the pressures of the outside world and intimately connected to your peers. College is not about maximizing your
potential income; it's about becoming a better person
It appears that very few people actually believe this to be true. The same Gallup poll reports that only 5 percent believed college is about becoming a well-rounded person, 3 percent said it is to learn more about the world and 1 percent said it is to learn how to think critically. Only 3 percent answered with "all of the above."
Many people take economic concerns a step further by deciding on their major based on projected incomes. For instance, the proportion of college graduates majoring in business - a field typically viewed as lucrative - has ballooned to 21 percent of all graduates in 2011, up from
14 percent in 1970, according to the Digest of Educational Statistics.
This concern with the marketability of one's major is misplaced. Evidence suggests that one's undergraduate major has little effect on the ability to get a good job in most career fields after graduation. Indeed, the U.S.Census Bureau states that only 27 percent of the workforce occupies a job that directly matches their major.
In all likelihood, you'll be here for four or more years. You should fill your time with something you are passionate about.
Strive to get deeper meaning out of your college experience and let new ideas
ignite your curiosity.Get excited about learning and expanding your knowledge of humanity.Don't cheapen this time of your life by solely expanding your earning potential. College is much more than that.
It's important to remember that the college experience should not be primarily an economic investment. It's about questioning, answering, pursuing one's passions and gaining experience for later in life. College is investing your time and effort into building a better person. It's about pursuing "all of the above."
Jesse Burbank is a sophomore from Quinter studying history and political science
KANSAN SPECIAL
My girlfriend wants us to get a dog, but I think that's too much of a commitment. How can I get this through to her without hurting her feelings?
Anissa Fritz
@anissafritz
Dogs can bring an immense amount of joy into an individual's life, end so do relationships.
But mixing dogs and relationships together can sometimes bring the opposite. Both require commitment and time, and let's be honest that's not something that most college students are in a high supply of.
I'm glad you already see that getting a dog with your girlfriend is a poor idea, but now you need to convince your girlfriend. Maybe it's because the idea of seriously committing to someone in college is scarier to me than the boom boom room when the lights come on, but a pet seems to be a sign of serious commitment. Just getting a dog isn't a huge deal, but getting it with your significant other brings the relationship to a whole new level.
After that, bring up the point that if your relationship were to fail, who would get the dog? In my mind, a dog is kind of like a practice round for having a kid. If you two break up, this will be a dog from a broken home. You may think my wording is humorous, but dogs actually do notice when people
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For starters, dogs cost money. With shots, food, grooming and supplies, it adds up fast. You need to sit her down and go through how much money that cute little puppy with the big brown eyes will drain from the bank account, and then say, "You're paying half of that."
"REMIND HER THAT WHILE DOGS ARE CUTE AND FUN, SHE IS ALL THE CUTE AND FUN YOU WANT IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW."
don't come around as often and it takes a toll on them, especially if it were one of their owners.
These are probably the reasons that you don't want to get a dog, but when you tell her, "I don't think we should get a dog," she's probably not thinking about these things. What will run through her mind will be, "He's not committed to me." I know it sounds crazy, but that's just how our minds tend to work (#sorrynotsorry). You need to emphasize that your reluctance to get a dog does not run any deeper than your concerns about the expense and stress it could cause on your relationship. Remind her that while dogs are cute and fun, she is all the cute and fun you want in your life right now. And if that doesn't seal the deal, get a fish.
AP curriculum should be protected from patriotic bias
Victoria Calderon
@WriterVictoriaC
Many University students benefit from taking Advanced Placement classes in high school, and about 60 percent of all high schools in the United States offer them, according to the College Foundation of North Carolina. These classes can be transferred for college credits at a significantly cheaper cost, while also preparing students for the rigor of college. Unfortunately, if Kansas and other state legislatures get their way, younger generations of Americans may not be able to reap the benefits of this program if the AP U.S. history (APUSH) curriculum is deemed "unpatriotic."
According to the Wichita Eagle, House Bill 2292 has been designed to repeal the Common Core standards that Kansas legislators had adopted themselves. They are hoping that this law will allow education standards to go back to what they were before 2010. These standards will force the AP curriculum to fit within specific standards designed by Kansas for these classes. The article reports that, "Educators say that directive would be difficult, if not impossible, because such courses are modeled on national or international frameworks."
It appears the attack on AP classes is only part of a bigger debate about the amount of sovereignty a state has over its own educational programs. Nevertheless, there is still a strong disagreement amongst those who represent the anti-
Common Core movement in Kansas about how AP classes are taught, particularly APUSH. The Wichita Eagle continues, "Lisa Huesers, a member of Kansans Against Common Core... and others in her group don't agree with recent changes to the course framework for APUSH, which has been the focus of debate in several states."
Kansas isn't the only state that feels this way. Conservative lawmakers in Oklahoma, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have introduced proposals regarding APUSH curriculum, "to revise the framework to include specific facts, and to make sure it promotes American exceptionalism;" if those conditions aren't met, the state would withdraw funding from the College Board in that state, CNN reported. Oklahoma took drastic measures where Republican Rep. Dan Fisher originally proposed a bill that would strip funding from APUSH classes across the state. His justification for this bill was that the current framework for APUSH "emphasizes 'what is bad about America' and characterizes the United States as a 'nation of oppressors and exploiters';" the Washington Post reported.
These conservative politicians have changed their solution to simply review the framework instead of automatically removing funding. Unfortunately, their bias on what side of America should be emphasized in education would cause the state legislators to eliminate an incredibly beneficial program in exchange for an extremely costly, state-led alternative, as the Washington Post reports.
The benefits of AP classes extend beyond providing students with cheaper college
credits; they also cultivate the minds of students for the critical-thinking skills they will need in college courses allowing them to see all perspectives and aspects of U.S. history and subsequently form their own opinions about our society, according to the US News.
"THE CURRICULUM OF THESE CLASSES SHOULD ALSO BE PROTECTED FROM THOSE POLITICIANS WHO WANT TO REWRITE OUR NATION'S HISTORY IN FAVOR OF THEIR OWN OPINIONS."
I agree with the Washington Post's article that "setting politically motivated ceilings on what students are allowed to learn will ultimately make them less informed citizens, likely dooming them to support passing equally dumb public policies as adults." AP classes are structured by professors and historians, who are better qualified to set standards than the state legislators or local school board members. Not only should AP classes be allowed to continue being funded in high schools, but the curriculum of these classes should also be protected from those politicians who want to rewrite our nation's history in favor of their own opinions.
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Victoria Calderon is a sophomore from Liberal studying English and political science
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