Volume 124 Issue 138
kansan.com
Thursday, April 19, 2012
the student voice since 1904
STUDENT SENATE
Difference in budgets meant as a message
VIKAAS SHANKER
KUinited spent $6,233.57 on student elections this year while opposing coalition SPQR spent $50 total, according to expense reports filed with the Senate's election commission Monday night.
Brian Sultana, SPQR's campaign manager, said that the lack of spending was a part of the coalition's message.
vshanker@kansan.com
KUnited swept the elections, winning president, vice president and 53 of 54 senator seats. Specifically, the presidential election was a windfall with student body president-elect Hannah Bolton and vice president-elect Brandon Woodard taking 85 percent of the vote.
SPQR reportedly spent $50 on its campaign: $15 on chalk and $35 on cloth for six togas. The materials were personally paid for by individual coalition members.
"We wanted to highlight the influence of money at the student government level," Sultana said. "It was a very bare-bones message, but we think that the best way to go. You can see the parallels of spending in larger national campaigns. It's an issue even at our level."
KUnited's budget was more complex, containing expenses, sponsorships and individual contributions.
KUnited reportedly spent $2,633.96 for campaign materials including supplies, chalk, buttons, banners, posters, flyers, KUnited cups and sunglasses. It also spent $176.55 on food and water, $3,223.06 on T-shirts, and $200 on the venue cost for a party.
"We take every coalition seriously," Woodard said about the difference in spending between the coalitions. "We don't really look at the numbers other coalitions spent."
Woodard said KUnited spent less on this campaign than previous years and that the amount spent isn't the main issue.
"If we're not out spending that, students won't know who KUInstad is and they won't care," Woodard said. "It takes money, time and a lot of energy. It's very vital for a successful campaign."
While KUnited's spending may have contributed to the landslide victory, Woodard said listening to students during the five-week campaign was a major factor.
"We hear what they want," Woodard said about the impact active tabling had on the campaign. "It's one week we can go to students and tell them about the ideas we got from them."
Edited by Max Rothman
BY THE NUMBERS
KUnited spent 124 times the amount SPQR spent on its campaign.
KUnited spent 31¢ for each vote
KUnited spent $113.34 on each member elected into office
SPQR spent 10¢ for each vote
KUnited received 19.025 more votes than SPQR
- Numbers calculated with official election results and final expense reports
SPQR spent $12.50 on each member running for office
Decisions, Decisions Internal conflicts people face when dieting
SEE INSIDE
ENGINEERING
Additional expansion to help recruit students
VIRAJ AMIN
vamin@kansan.com
The University School of Engineering looks to recruit students through expansion.
The University Engineering Initiative Act was approved in order to reach goals established by Kansas Senate. These goals include increasing the number of engineering graduates to 1,365 per year by 2021. The current average among the three Kansas Regent schools is 875. To reach the goal there will need to be an annual increase of 490 graduates. The University of Kansas is looking to increase the number of Bachelor of Science graduates to 420 by 2021.
In March 2011 the Kansas Senate approved multi-year legislation that would expand the capacity of the engineering schools at the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Wichita State University.
first year cost to the state to start this effort will be $400,000 and after the fourth year the cost will be $15 million. This money will be used for expansion and operating expenses in order to accommodate the increase in enrollment. Kansas is looking use the funds to include new classrooms and lab space including research labs.
The School of Engineering wants to take advantage of the Act by expanding on to the north side of The Measurement, Materials and Sustainable Environment Center. It is scheduled to be completed sometime this year; however, the expansion is still in the preliminary stages.
Across the three universities, the
"We are just on a plain piece of
Gabe Bliss, a junior from Olathe, is an undergraduate representative on the expansion committee said the committee met for the first time two weeks ago. The committee is made up of faculty, staff, department chairs and graduate level students.
Associate Dean of the School of Engineering, JoAnn Browning, answers questions from students during a collaborative meeting at Eaton Hall Wednesday evening to discuss plans for a new building proposal for the School of Engineering. The new building would most likely be based on a more interactive, collaborative style of teaching as opposed to the traditional lecture hall model.
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN
Associate Dean JoAnn Browning said there is no current time table for the expansion to begin, but the committee is looking to have the design ready by the fall 2012.
"We are making a push right now to get as much input from students as we can because we will be losing a big part of our student population over the summer," Browning said, "We are going to have other forums once the design is in place, we are going to show sketches and mock ups of the building. We want comments and want to know what people think, there will be other phases on the wav."
The estimated expansion will be between 100,000-120,000 square feet.
CLASSIFIEDS 11
CROSSWORD 4
paper right now", said Bliss, "Right now I am facilitating conversation from the student's perspective and bringing all of their input to the committee."
Edited by Katie James
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
1 contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
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