THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009
NEWS
3A
HONORS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
requirements for admission, so all applications were at least looked over. According to the honors program's Web site, applicants with an ACT score of 30 or better and an unweighted GPA of 3.75 "are more likely to be considered favorably."
Megan Gust, Overland Park freshman, said she came to the University because of the honors program after considering Duke University and Northwestern University. She said the honors program made feel like she was part of
a small liberal arts college. Gust said she thought some people in the honors program might not have deserved to be admitted.
"I think some people are in it for the wrong reasons," Gust said. "So maybe raising the standards might be a good idea."
BY THE NUMBERS
Students in KU Honors Program: 1,321
Sam Anderson, Olathe freshman, said the honors program was her reason for coming to the University after looking at smaller colleges.
Anderson said she thought changing admission standards
Number of high school senior applicants to the Honors Program for Fall 2009, to date: 2,601
might deserve to get in."
would be a tough choice to make.
"If you let everyone in, it kind of takes away the luster," Anderson said. "But then again, if you worked really hard in high school, you
Mathew Shepard, Norton sophomore, said he thought it might be beneficial to make the application process tougher.
"The application process isn't that difficult," Shepard said. "It's just an application, transcript and an essay."
Sandra Wick, associate director of the honors program, said the honors program had not been asked to make cuts in its budget. Wick said if they were asked, they would probably be forced to cut the number and size of honors classes.
She said honors courses traditionally had smaller class sizes throughout varying areas of study.
"It's going to be hard to find honors classes in the sizes we want." Wick said.
Shepard said losing honors classes would be a step backwards for the program.
"I think having the honors classes is the best part of the honors program," Shepard said. "And losing those smaller classes would definitely hurt the program."
In addition to smaller honors classes, Nunemaker Hall is available for honors students to meet, study or just hang out. Daly said. The honors program also offers lectures, honors advising and workshops for its students. Daly said some small scholarships from KU Endowment were offered to honors students for books, study abroad and unpaid internships.
Wick and Daly said the committee of academic standards would review any recommended changes, which wouldn't be enacted until Fall 2010.
Edited by Justin Leverett
SUSHI (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
menus, is given a green ranking on the guide. Mackerel produce a lot of offspring, allowing for an abundant population of the fish.
Spanish mackerel, called Sawara on menus, has the same positive points as Saba. But Spanish mackerel has shown to have levels of mercury or PCBs that could be dangerous according to the sushi guide.
MORE OF THE WORST
Red snapper, which is served at Wa, Yokohama, Kokoro and Kobe, 2907 W. 6th St., received a red rating on the guide. These fish grow and reproduce slowly and have long life spans, making it easy for populations to be overfished. Freshwater eel, called Unagi on merus, is served at Wa, Yokohama, Kokoro, Kobe, the Union and the Underground. Eel was given a red ranking on the guide for the way it is farm-raised. Eels are usually farmed in pens that can cause serious environmental damage because of the untreated eel waste. Eels are also carnivorous, and require a diet of many other fish. Populations of wild eel are declining because eels are often caught while young and put into farming pens.
— Edited by Susan Melgren
FINE ARTS
KU graduate puts English degree to work
BY MICOLE ARONOWITZ maronowitz@kansan.com
Polly Rolston has the ability to take a questionnaire and transform it into a 14-line Shakespearian sonnet.
Rolston, a 2007 graduate, is a professional poet and the creator of Polly Poetic Press, a business she started her sophomore year of college. She currently operates her business from Hawaii, where her fiancé, Sam MacRoberts, a graduate of the KU School of Law, is a practicing attorney.
Rolston, MacRoberts and Ann Hartley, associate director of the University Career Center, discuss jobs for English graduates and staying true to individual talents.
What was the inspiration for starting your business?
Rolston: I always liked poetry. I was kind of a poetry nerd in high school. I won awards for it. In college, I was looking for a way to make extra money and my mom suggested that since I was so good at writing poetry, it would be perfect if I could write poems for people. It kind of seemed natural that I would make a company out of it.
What is the creative process like?
Rolston: The form that they give me has a place for their loved one's name and information, including physical appearance, nicknames
and inside jokes — anything they want to tell me about the person. Then I take that information and I go through and find really good bits of it. When I am reading them, sometimes, there will be one really good line that I love. I have just about every Shakespeare sonnet that's ever been written. I have a lot of poetry collected so I just go through and find words that are interesting words to rhyme so that the poem is unique to them.
How did you develop your talent for writing sonnets?
Rolston: You just get a feel for the rhythm of a sentence. I was an English major at KU and we talked about this all the time. You just know how a sentence is going to sound before you even know the words you are going to put in it. It's kind of like there's music behind language. You know the sound you want that line to make or you know the feeling behind it.
MacRoberts: She writes sonnets fairly often for me. Sometimes they are very sweet and other times they
How long does it take to write one sonnet?
Rolston: It takes me usually about 30 to 45 minutes to write a sonnet. Sometimes I will get started on it and then I have to step away for a little bit because it is just not working or making sense. When I come back to it, it just clicks — this sounds good, this is what I should be saying.
are fun and playful. The first sonnet she wrote me was when she was studying for finals at 8 a.m. She had written it at 5 a.m. She sat down and wrote a fun little sonnet.
Are you living your dream?
Why is there a stigma for English graduates to be able to use their degree?
Rolston: Yes, actually, it's funny because being an English major there is always a joke about what you're going to do with that degree
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
— starving artist and that kind of thing. It's just really nice to say that I am pursuing what I love to do. I'm doing it in a way that other people are able to benefit from my talents and my passion. It's a good thing to know that I am not just wasting any talents that I might have on a job that doesn't have to do with my degree.
Polly Rolston, professional poet, writes poems for customers based on their loved one's name, appearance, nicknames and other information. Rolston spends about 30 to 45 minutes on each poem or sonnet. She started her poetry business during her sophomore year of college.
Why do you think there a stigma for English graduates to be able to use their degree?
Hartley: That's true not only with English majors, but a lot of liberal arts majors. Of course, you are studying in that field, but you are not being trained for a particular profession, like in professional schools, such as business and education. It takes some more personal effort to do that exploration and find the niche and what you want to do.
Do English majors have a lot of job opportunities? What field are English majors going into?
very marketable skill to have. I do see English alums going into the publishing field. Some of them go and get jobs in business. It really varies a lot.
— Edited by Susan Melgren