kansan.com
Thursday, March 29, 2012
UNIVERSITY
Interest rises regardless of lower ranking
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kcpolla@kansan.com
For the third year in a row, the University School of Law has dropped in national rankings.
Issued every year by U.S. News and World Report, the rankings were released earlier this month and placed the law school in a seven-way tie at 89. Last year, it was ranked 79 and 67 in 2010.
Rankings are based on a combination of factors, including tuition cost, class size and graduate employment rates. The University's lower ranking was largely due to employment data. In 2010, the year used to formulate the rankings, 46.4 percent of students were employed at graduation and 78 percent were employed nine months after graduation. Employment rates were lower than in past years for most schools because of the recession.
Law school communications director Mindie Paget issued a statement saying that the ranking system does not provide an accurate comparison of law schools and that the University's reputational score, based on the opinions of other law schools, lawyers and judges, is higher than any other school in the region and higher than some schools that were ranked in the top 50.
"The good news is that national predictors and preliminary numbers for KU Law students in the Class of 2011 indicate that we've reached the bottom of our employment dip," the statement said.
The law school made changes in light of the rankings, including reducing the class size from 165
students to 131. They also hire a new assistant dean of career services last fall and are working to make the career center more helpful to students.
Alyssa Boone, a third year law student from Wichita, serves as an executive member of the KU Law student ambassadors program, which works to recruit applicants. Despite the ranking, Boone said students continue to apply.
"This year, we have been one of two schools in the country that have actually seen an increase in interest," Boone said.
When she was choosing where to apply, Boone said she based her decision partly on rankings. When it came down to where she actually wanted to go, other factors lead her to the University, including the financial aid offered and the cost compared to the quality of the education, she said.
Michelle Fuchs, a senior from Leawood, is currently trying to decide where to attend law school next year. She is considering the national rankings of schools and their reputation, but most importantly the employment statistics of graduates.
"I would say that of all my factors, rankings were probably the least important, because rankings can always fluctuate from year to year," Fuchs said.
Although she hasn't made a decision, the University is still one of her top choices.
Edited by Jeff Karr
Ranking according to U.S. News and World Report
Ranked 89...2012
Ranked 79...2011
Ranked 67...2010
Source. U.S. News and World Report
Determining factors in Rank
Total Number of Students in Class
...168
Employment Status Known
...165 (98%)
Employed/Graduated School
...141 (85%)
Seeking Employment
...16 (10%)
Not Seeking Employment
...8 (5%)
Graphic by Ryan Benedick
TUESDAYS WITH BERNIE
Students petition Chancellor's decision
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
Classes will be held as scheduled next Tuesday, even if the Jayhawks win the national championship Monday night, Chancellor Gray-Little announced in a press release Wednesday.
"A national title would be worthy of celebration, but we are confident those celebrations can take place without disrupting KU's academic mission," said Gray-Little in the press release.
Gray-Little also announced a watch party held at Allen Fieldhouse Saturday evening with doors opening at 6 p.m.
A petition against the decision has already been made at gopetition.com. The petition formally disagrees with the chancellor's decision and said,
"we, the undersigned wish to state that we would like the chancellor to reconsider the decision and allow KU students to celebrate a University tradition of welcoming home the team, spending time with fellow Jayhawks, and celebrating a landmark that happens very
rarely."
Ellen Frizzell, a junior from Prairie Village hoped that classes would be canceled in the event of a national championship win
"I agree that academics and athletics should be equal," Frizzell said. "But going to the Final Four is rare, and if we win, the championship game should be
celebrated."
Frizzell did not believe many students would show up for class Tuesday regardless of the chancellor's decision. She thought more students might show up for afternoon classes, but many people would stay out too late
celebrating to make it in the morning.
Bachelani
morning.
"If classes were canceled,
there wouldn't be a hassle for professors to decide to have
Amir Bachelani, junior from Olathe, thought the prospect of a national championship and
of topics to be covered, or consequences for those who don't show up," Frizzell said.
subsequent low class attendance were likely, given the Jayhawks' winning streak.
"I agree with the Chancellor in keeping academics a top priority," Bachelani said. "However, I feel that attendance in classes Tuesday will be minimal."
Bachelani plans to watch the game at Allen Fieldhouse and head down to Mass Street Monday night if the Jayhawks are victorious. He said students, as adults, always have the choice on whether they go to class or not.
As for himself, Bachelani was still not sure if he would be in class Tuesday.
"It's still up in the air," Bachelani said. "I will make a game time decision."
Edited by Pat Strathman
KUB KU BS TRENDS ON TWITTER
LUKE RANKER
Iranker@kansan.com
RACHEL SALYER
rsalver@kansan.com
It doesn't take Mardi Gras beads to get female fans' cameras flashing.
In preparation for the Final Four game Saturday, Jayhawk fans are participating in a new social media trend originating on Twitter. "KU Boobs" has fans boasting their favorite KU shirt and their chests hashtagging photos with #kuboobs. The popularity has led to its own twitter account, and now a Facebook page.
A former University student, who said he only wanted to be identified as Kevin, created the @ KUboobs Twitter account during the North Carolina State game and now has more than 2,400 followers. Kevin wants the trend to promote school spirit by wearing their favorite game day shirts, but the trend became controversial when tweeters weren't wearing shirts at all, or displaying too much skin.
"I don't support nudity at all," he said. "That's not what this is about."
Other Twitter followers and fans like Ken Soap, @djsoap, who has more than 14,000 followers, wanted to grow the trend to promote school spirit. Soap began tweening and retweeting the hashtag. He also started a Facebook page called KUboobs.
Kevin said the trend began when Twitter user Tiffany Kent, @mommyloveswine, tweeted the first picture of her chest wearing a KU t-shirt before the men's basketball game against Mizzou for good luck, hashtagging it #kuboobs. When the team came back from a 19 point deficit to win, it started catching on.
"I thought it'd be great to see
"I'm all for causes like that, but I think the meaning is lost when people aren't being classy about it," Canterbury said. "It makes it harder for people to support it and want to be involved."
Kylee Canterbury, a senior from Omaha, Neb. posted her own "kuboobs" picture and supports furthering the cause, but thinks the nudity may hamper the idea.
He said held like to use the popularity to promote a charity event or organization.
Kevin said the KUboobs trend was a good platform for the future because it's eye catching.
According to the KU Boobs Twitter, fans can by "KU Boobs" shirts from wavingthewheat. com with $5 going to the Willow Domestic Violence Center in Lawrence.
Because the trend gained so much popularity, all three of the promoters want to use it for more than only encouraging school spirit.
Canterbury said she gained more than 40 followers after posting her picture, which she said did not display nudity.
"With the great response we got with just one school, we wanted to see if we could get it going around the world," Kevin said. "If it was national or worldwide, it could do a lot of good."
"Boobs get people's attention," he said.
Despite some negative comments and reactions to the trend, Canterbury believes it is ultimately about fun.
more of it," Soap said.
"It's definitely fun," Canterbury said. "I don't think I'll post any more pictures, but if people don't like it or don't want to hear about it, then they don't have to."
Edited by Katie James
These are examples of the photos that appear on the @KUboobs Twitter account. People submit photos of their chests wearing KU T-Shirts with the hashtag #kuboobs
Unusual support for the Jayhawks
Index CLASSIFIEDS 2D CRYPTOQUIPS 4A SPORTS 1B CROSSWORD 4A OPINION 5A SUDOKU 4A
Don't forget
Sherlock Holmes is being shown in the Kansas Union from 8 to 10 pm.
Sunny with a 41% chance of showers.
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
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