Opinion
ED BOARD: INTERIM PROVOST BENEFITS UNIVERSITY, STUDENTS
United States First Amendment
TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009
COMING WEDNESDAY
United States First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
Fifty-some-odd days until summer!
My bed at home is an old twin-sized one, because I brought my ginormous bed to school with me. The springs kill me a little more each night I sleep at home.
I miss my bed at home.
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
First rule of life: People are idiots.
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
My queen Tempur-Pedic was so nice to go home to. I hate dorms; they remind me of how I am not on my queen Tempur-Pedic.
OMG. That photo of Sherron Collins on the front page of the UDK. have mercy...
I don't actually want you. I have a boyfriend. I just like seeing you try to impress me. It's cute.
Tyrel Reed, please share your neck-beard. Sincerely, Society Against Akward Facial Hair.
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
Hey Missouri, at least we won without cheating.
Tyrel Reed, please hit those threes. Sincerely, Society Against Air Balls and Bricks. (But we still love you!)
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
I actually missed Free for All and The Daily Kansan during spring break. I know. Pathetic.
Who pissed off the wind?
I'm skipping all my classes and having a personal day.
I would watch "SafeRide Confessions."
My cat peed on me this morning. Isn't it enough that I let him sleep on my head?
The wind outside is brutal ... almost as brutal as Titanic on repeat in my living room.
PAGE 5A
To the kid who likes Journey's "Don't Stop Believing": You forgot to put your phone on vibrate.
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
Ah. I want to go to the Silverstein concert, but I have too much homework!
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
I just moved to the fifth floor of Mac, and there are two boy wings. I think I'll like the last two months of school.
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
--for four years. The Board of Regents has now approved a measure that would freeze tuition increases, a measure
EDITORIAL BOARD
Proposed tuition freeze bests four-year compact
In June 2007, the Kansas Board of Regents gave the University of Kansas permission to implement a tuition compact. The compact, which is now in its second year, gives incoming freshmen a locked-in tuition rate
The tuition compact gives freshman students a guaranteed tuition cost by charging them the
increases, a measure that would provide immediate financial relief to all KU students. However, the University administration contends that its Tuition Compact would not be sustainable if such a freeze were implemented. If the tradeoff is indeed unavoidable, the University should scrap the compact, which benefits only traditional four-year students, and implement the freeze, which benefits KU students.
If the legislature approves the freeze in tuition, it will provide financial relief for students and their families that is not provided by the tuition compact.
KANSAN'S
OPINION
average estimated tuition cost for the first four years of their studies. Essentially, the tuition compact does not save students and their families money. It is beneficial because it helps them plan their projected college
"The compact doesn't help transfer students at all." Spears said. "We don't get to plan the cost of tuition."
expenses.
Anna Spears,
Dorrance sophomore
and a transfer student,
says the tuition
compact is not fair to
compete is not fair to the students who do not qualify
While the tuition compact was created to encourage students to come to the University for four years, it does not provide financial relief to students, or their families. The Regents proposal would provide material assistance to in-state students, including transfers.
TO VOICE YOUR
SUPPORT OF THE
TUITION FREEZE:
In a press release from the Kansas Board of Regents on March 12, Donna Shank, chair of the board, said the plan "would help to keep higher education affordable in these tough economic times." Shank said the
Call the Board of Regents at (785) 296-3421 or visit www.kansasregents.org.
tuition freeze would help students and their families keep more money in their pockets.
According to the Office of the University Registrar's 20th Day Report for Spring 2009, 69 percent of KU students are Kansas residents. If the Legislature passes the Regents' proposal, these students should have the opportunity to pay the standard tuition rate for the 2008-2009 academic year. Because the tuition compact assumes a 6 percent tuition rate increase per year, students would benefit much more from paying the standard tuition rate if the tuition freeze was implemented.
— Samantha Foster for The Kansan Editorial Board
NOTES FROM ABROAD
Students overseas find U.S still 'king of convenience'
BY HELEN MUBARAK and MICHAEL HOLTZ hmubarak@kansan.com and mholtz@kansan.com
Helen Makrobavisks the Torre de Hércules in A Coruna, Spain, on a day trip to Galicia from her apartment in Santiago de Compostela.
Courtesy photo
Michael Holz stands outside the Hauptgebäude, the main school building at the University of Born in Germany.
Courtesy photo
The United States is a country famous for convenience. We Americans live our lives with ease, a fact made apparent by our experiences in Spain and Germany. These first-world countries may be among the richest on earth, but in terms of convenience, the U.S. remains king.
Helen:
My first task upon arriving in Santiago de Compostela was to find an apartment to rent for the upcoming semester. This assignment — to negotiate housing in a foreign country and language — was my first clue into the nature of student life in Spain.
When apartment searching in Lawrence, considerations are usually limited to location and price. Apartment-searching in Santiago includes many more factors. Unlike in Lawrence, Internet access is not available in the majority of locations. Like many students, I live in an apartment without Wifi. This means a grand reduction in the time I spend on the Internet. I used to check my e-mail and Facebook more than five times a day and watch my favorite television shows online in the comfort of my dorm room. I took for granted being able to check the news and weather when I woke up in the mornings. Now, I'm lucky to send important e-mails once per day at a nearby café.
One must also consider heating and hot water — or, rather, the lack of heating and hot water. My room is the only one in my apartment with a non-functioning heater. This means I'm cold while wearing long underwear, pajamas and six blankets. A friend of mine who has no heating either can sometimes see his breath in his bedroom
While my roommates and I are lucky enough to have automatic heating for water, others must deal with bombonas, gas canisters that heat barbeque grills in the United States and apartments and water in Spain. Changing bombonas is an ordeal in and of itself, and if someone forgets to order the next one, all residents of the apartment must live without heat until the next one arrives. Showering in freezing water is certainly not the
most pleasant of experiences, but it does encourage the limited use of natural resources.
For example, Mrs. Ex offers countless dinner combinations.
Want a bowl of Coco Puffs and a chicken wrap for dinner? Go right ahead!
Michael:
Once arrived in Bonn,
Germany, it didn't take long for me
to discover that convenience and
variety may only go hand-in-hand
in America.
The Local QuikTrip provides dozens of soft drinks. And if a Diet Coke with Lime isn't quite right, why not add a vanilla "flavor shot" to top it off?
An over-abundant selection is even a point of pride for some. Consider the "ultimate drink stop" — Sonic. It's more then 168,000 drink combinations means "you could have a new drink every day for the next 462 years," according to its advertisement. Never mind that no one in his or her right mind
In Germany, variety is exchanged for simplicity. Menus rarely exceed tep pages, Pepsi is non-existent and the student cafeteria has two options — vegetarian or meat.
would ever order a blue coconut and chocolate root beer.
As for Sonic — McDonalds, Subway and the occasional Burger King are the only American fastfood restaurants I've found here. I guess my cravings for a vanilla Dr. Pepper will have to wait another five months.
America — home of one-hour photos, self-checkout lines and drive-thru restaurants, banks and even marriages — remains unmatched by two of the world's most prominent countries in terms of convenience.
Mubarak is a Shawnee sophomore in journalism and Spanish. Holtz is a Topeka sophomore in journalism and German.
CRIME
Time to modify our image of'Pleasantville'Lawrence
Spate of assaults should concern students
It's not uncommon to have a distorted image of the town you grew up in or the one in which you currently reside. I have discovered that I viewed Lawrence in a very picturesque way.
Part of my naivete could be because Lawrence is nestled between Topeka and Kansas City, two metropolises with very noticeable crime rates. Perhaps this allowed the crime rates in our own city to seem minor in contrast.
I thought of it as a friendly town, where neighbors stroll by walking their dogs, and sometimes I didn't even lock my car at night. Unfortunately, my comfort and that picturesque image have been shattered.
But the truth is that we need to shed some light on these darker criminal acts that occur in and around our city.
Beginning March 1, the Lawrence Journal-World did a 3-day spread on sexual assaults in Lawrence. According to its numbers, there have been more than 600 reported assaults since 2005. Not only did that number surprise me, but quite frankly, as a 22-year-old female, I was scared.
I grew up fearing the dark
I'm not trying to shatter anyone's "Pleasantville" image of Lawrence but I was surprised by the numbers and frequency of physical assaults.
In light of these articles and certain events that have occurred over the past couple years around our campus, it is important to know the reality of our city and to realize that no place is sheltered from the unforeseeable situations that can forever alter a life.
McNaughton is a Topeka senior in English and journalism.
alleys and streets. But, as the article reminded me, a common theme amongst these occurrences is that the victims tend to be acquainted with their attacker and the assaults often occur in well-populated areas. We don't need to be petrified by our apartment complexes or our friends, but we do need to be wary.
Cuts are hard, but Student Senate will not increase student fees
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The University is facing tough times. Our academic departments are facing record budget shortfalls. Our professors are losing their jobs and more and more students are having trouble paying for their tuition.
In light of these economic struggles, I am asking the student body to rally behind my proposal for a zero-percent fee increase for next year.
Let me be clear, I do not believe that any of our fees are unimportant, that any of them are being wasted, or that any should be cut under normal economic conditions. But these are not normal times.
As your president, I am not willing to increase your fees.
Students are struggling to pay their rent, their utilities and their tuition. They cannot find jobs and some cannot afford to continue their college education if the price keeps rising.
For this reason, I recently recommended a series of fee reductions to help offset the increased maintenance and operations costs at Watkins hospital. I have aimed these reductions in areas that would least affect employment and
at departments that have the ability to generate their own additional revenue. Rest assured, no cuts will be made in either media or safety that will cripple the operations of any campus department.
Even so, I know that these cuts will hurt. Like every academic department on campus, departments operated by student fees will be asked to do more with less. If a fee is reduced, it's not because we don't value their contribution to the University, it's because we simply can't ask struggling students to give more.
Student Senate has led by example. A pending bill would reduce executive staff salaries to the university minimum wage and cut our office budget in half. These cuts will hurt our operations - but we can do it.
Jayhawks are resilient. We have seen tougher days and come out better from them. We have tough decisions to make, but I am confident we will come out with a more fiscally responsible and economically sensitive fee proposal that won't increase your fees. I won't have it any other way.
Adam McGonigle, Student Body President
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