Volume 124 Issue 106
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
LAWDENGE
100 YEARS
CARVED IN STONE
Words by Morgan Said Photo by Travis Young
George Knotts, a 1955 graduate and Lawrence native, may have taken his final steps on campus in the 50s, but the Jayhawks he created
while attending the University have staved put.
Knotts, an art major, made the first known stone Jayhawk for Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy in 1953. Knotts accepted the challenge of creating the stone Jayhawk, even though at the time he had yet to take his first college-level art class.
"The chancellor called me down to his office and asked what it would take to get a big Jayhawk," Knotts says. "They had been trying to get a large Jayhawk on campus, and no one had ever swung it, but the chancellor wanted it, so he
swung it."
Since its creation, the stone Jayhawk has been stolen and recovered twice. Knotts savs.
"I think MU was first and K-State was the other, but I wouldn't swear by that," Knottts says.
After the second retrieval of the Jayhawk, the graduating class of 1988 gave it a safer resting spot in a permanent display on the second floor of the Kansas Union, where the Jayhawk still perches today.
In addition to the stone Jayhawk, Knotts also created a revolutionary bronze Jayhawk. The project began during the summer of 1954 and took a year to complete.
Knotts says that he was asked to create this bronze Jayhawk so that alumni could purchase a Jayhawk to place on their desks. Since then he has sculpted hundreds of two-inch bronze Jayhawk replicas, using more than eight and a half tons of bronze.
However, the most important aspect about this version of the Jayhawk is the significant change Knotts made to its appearance, he says.
"The Jayhawk smiles on one side and frowns on the other," Knotts says. "It's the only one that does that. It's novel, but I was kind of creative."
In a watercolor version of his Jayhawk, Knotts made three additional changes that he has kept in his more recent versions of the
Jayhawk.
"When you see my watercolor Jayhawk, it has a frowning eye and a smiling mouth that makes him look mischievous," Knotts says. "Also, I have a twinkle in his eye. The colors of the Jayhawk used to be yellow and red, but those are conflicting colors, so I mixed in a little yellow-orange from the bill to make it more interesting."
The Kansas Union sells a coloring book that features different versions of Knotts. Javhawk.
Although he isn't working on creating any artwork for the University at the moment, Knotts still has an appreciation for the Jayhawk.
"The Jayhawk has been good to me," he says.
19
infuse
estrians
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
HAWK signals have created confu-
place to cross," Woosley said. er times it's pedestrian res, but we look at the number vehicles on the road to see if it's ole."
nucky and Tennessee streets between 7,000 and 10,000 day, a number not surprising by Benson, a nearby resident former University student. We were excited when we saw were putting them in at first use there are so many cars, they just fly by," Benson said. I guess I don't understand they couldn't put up a sign what each signal means."ough puzzling at first, Gaines we would rather the signals be sing than unsafe.
lo like having them there just se it does slow down traffic, see so many people using walking to campus," Gaines "It's definitely better than g someone get run over or thing."
Edited by Max Lush
Changes to MCAT will affect incoming students
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
meeshmidt@kanson.com
mschmidt@kansan.com
Freshmen pursuing pre-medical education at the University of Kansas will face a significantly different MCAT on their road to medical school this fall. Although recently announced changes to the MCAT will not affect current pre-medical or medical students, they do reflect a shift in the medical community to emphasize a more holistic approach to treating patients.
"Doctors need to be effectively trained in working with real people and the complex factors they face," said Dr. Jeff Koejtie, the Kaplan national director for pre-health programs. "Historically, doctors have been criticized with dealing with patients as organ systems or diseases."
Changes to the MCAT will include more upper-level biology and chemistry to the biosciences, elimination of the writing portion and a new section covering behavior and social sciences, Kojeet said. The added section intends to convey the complexity of factors affecting patients' health, including language, culture, economics, value systems and ethics.
While Koetje cited that 73 percent of surveyed medical school admission officers approve of the change, only 50 percent believe that undergraduate programs will have enough time to make the necessary curriculum changes.
Paul Crosby, pre-medical advisor for the University, is excited for the coming changes but is concerned about the changes to pre-medical
All sections will be longer, lengthening the test from five-and-a-half to seven hours.
Heidi Chumley, senior associate dean for medical education at KU Medical Center, sees the changes as long awaited. While medical school admissions will have to recalibrate the weight MCAT scores have on admission standards, Chumley sees other aspects of admission, such as grades, the in-person interview and written answers, as continuing
"Having custom courses sounds great," Crosby said. "However, it's very expensive, and this would place a great burden on small colleges. Overly specialized courses would not prepare students as well for further learning and other career possibilities."
The MCAT has been part of the medical school admission process for 73 years, and this is the fifth revision of the test. The last changes were made in 1991.
course work.
Last year, 173 KU students applied for medical school. Koetje encourages pre-medical students to keep up to date with changes, which are slated to go into effect in 2015.
"I would encourage students at the University of Kansas to stay tuned and follow along," Koetje said.
Koetje said students can find additional information at kaplan-cat.com, or by following @kaplan on twitter and "liking" Kaplan on facebook.
- Edited by Taylor Lewis
"I hope the changes in the MCAT is an opportunity for all institutions to look at more holistic measures for admissions," Chumley said.
to be relevant.
The Kaplan Test Prep surveyed admissions officers at 69 universities with Association of American Medical Colleges accreditation about how the new MCAT format will affect test and medical school preparation. Some of the highlighted results to questions of the survey are given below.
Based on what you know, do you support the recommended changes to the MCAT set for 2015?
- Completely yes: 18%
- Generally yes: 52%
- Generally no: 3%
- Completely no: 0%
- Not sure: 27%
Don't forget
Do you think the changes to the test will better prepare students for medical school?
- Completely yes: 11%
- Generally yes: 62%
Should pre-med programs revise their curricula in order to sufficiently prepare students for the new MCAT?
Generally no: 9%
Completely no: 0%
Not sure: 17%
— Yes: 67%
— No: 5%
— Not sure: 29%
— Refused to answer: 8%
Which would you say is the most important admissions factor?
— MCAT score: 43%
— Undergraduate GPA: 28%
— Relevant experience: 19%
— Interview: 9%
— Letters of recommendation: 2%
— Personal statement: 0%
CLASSIFIEDS 11 CRYPTOQUIPS 4 SPORTS 12
CROSSWORD 4 OPINION 5 SUDOKU 4
Today is National Pancake Day.
Indulge in a few pancake stacks.
(On stacks, on stacks, on stacks...)
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Today's Weather
Source: Kaptan Test Prep's 2011 Survey of Medical School Admissions Officers
Overcast skies, 70% chance of showers. South winds 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph
12
Don't rain on our parade
D