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daily kansan
wednesday ◄
6.17.98 ▲
one.b ▲
Center offers ways to cope with summer class stresses
Kansan staff writer
By Darrin Peschko
Students who are overwhelmed by summer classes can find tutoring services and academic advice at the Student Development Center.
Located in 22 Strong Hall, the center offers free services to students experiencing academic or personal problems.
One of those services is tutoring, which can be beneficial to those who need help with coursework.
The center offers two tutoring options. The first is a campus-wide
Betty Kao, Tulsa, Okla, sophomore, right, and Cori Jones, full-time instructor, play with toddlers in the basement of the Hilltop Child Development Center, 1314 Jayhawk Blvd. The center suffers from a lack of space. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
tutor resource book in which tutors advertise their services. Students can browse through the book to locate a tutor that meets their specific needs Mary Ann Rasnak, director of the Student Development Center, said that fewer tutors were available in the summer but that some still offered their services.
TIPS
Set priorities and understand time commitments.
Be aware of the fast pace of courses Don't put homework off
■ Block off time
every day to study.
■ Study early in
the morning.
■ Go to class
every day.
■ Don't be afraid
to approach faculty
for help.
"We also encourage students to go to their department office," Rasnak said. "Often they can find talented graduate and undergraduate students who are able to tutor."
A second option for students is one-one consultation with a staff member. Depending on the amount of information the student provides, the staff member can offer academic advice.
Because the summer semester is shorter and more intense, students can easily become overwhelmed by the rapid pace of courses. Nasnak said.
"The upside to summer school is that you can complete a whole course in one month, but it essentially requires work and persistence. There is no room for procrastination."
Associate Director Marshall Jackson said it was especially important for students to keep pace with summer coursework.
"Missing one day of class in the summer is the same as missing one or two days of class in the regular semester," Jackson said.
Problems also can arise when students try to balance school, work and leisure activities. Jackson said that students should set a daily study time, preferably early in the morning when energy is high and distractions are few.
The Student Development Center is open every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students are welcome on a walk-in basis but may need to make an appointment. For more information about services offered by the center, call 864-4064.
Parents need patience and a little luck to place their children in Hilltop's Center, and it is all because of...
OVERCROWDING
By Jennifer Roush Special to the Kansan
Stacy Robarle was delighted when her daughter was accepted into the Hilltop Child Development Center in the fall of 1997. She also was delighted to be off Hilltop's waiting list.
Robarge, University of Kansas graduate, had placed Hana's name on the list when she was 18 months old, but there was no room for her at Hilltop until after her third birthday.
Daycare has always been at a premium in Lawrence,but placement at KU's Hilltop center is difficult compared to most centers. It is the first choice for many students and faculty. Obtaining one of the coveted slots in the center takes patience, timing and often luck.
Currently, Hilltop, located behind Smith Hall, serves between 150 and 160 children, with 200 more on a waiting list. The list gets longer every day.
Pat Pisani, program director for Hilltop, said that her office received between three and five calls every day from people who wanted to know if their children were eligible to attend Hilltop. The center also receives between three and five applications every week from people whose children are eligible for care at Hilltop.
The demand for available slots will only increase when the center moves to its new location near Stouffer Place apartments at the end of the fall semester of 1999. Pisani said.
"We have huge demand right now, where we have a great program and a less than ideal little building. With the new facility, we're going to have a great program and a great building," she said.
That reputation for high quality child care has, to some extent, been a mixed blessing for Hilltop. In 1987, it was accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In
fact, so many families in Lawrence have been attracted to its reputation that as of the spring 1997 semester, Hilltop no longer accepted applications from families who had no current affiliation with the University.
Phil Wedge, English lecturer, wanted his youngest son to go to Hilltop because of the quality of care. He said that he and his wife waited for two
years to get their son Roy into the center. Roy is now in kindergarten, and his 19-month-old brother George has been on the waiting list for 16 months even though siblings of enrolled children get priority.
Wedge said that Hilltop deserved the reputation it has.
"Roy was better prepared socially and intellectually than his peers when he got to kindergarten because of Hilltop," he said.
was so hard to completely fill spots with part-time students, and the largest demand was for full-day care.
Stan Loeb also is in for a long wait. Loeb, acting director of the environmental studies program, put his two youngest children on the list when they were three months old. Loeb isn't waiting for just one slot. He needs two, because his youngest children are twins.
Instructors, Wendy Swartz, foreground, and Cainy Cain, background, work with children in the toddler room at Hilltop Child Development Center. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
Nina Limesand's youngest daughter, Claire, 3 1/2, has been on the waiting list for 2 1/2 years, longer than the average, two-year wait. Limesand blames that in part on Hilltop's bias toward children who need full-time, five-day-a-week care.
Hilltop called Limesand and informed
"We've got lots of people on the list, and it's just going to get longer once we get into our new building."
her of an available slot when Claire was just one year old. However, that slot was full-time with no option for any other arrangements. Limesand turned it down and went back to the bottom of the list. She did not want to leave such a young child in the care of strangers full time, she said, especially when it wasn't necessary to her schedule.
Pisani said that Hilltop's bias toward full-time care existed only because it
Pat Pisani Hilltop Program Director
"It's harder to get them into a center, because the twins are a package deal," Loeb said.
Even though Loeb and his wife have a baby-sitter who cares for the twins in their home, they remain on waiting lists with nearly every center in town.
The solution to Hill-
top's ever-expanding waiting list is extra space. That space won't be free, though. The second phase of construction on Hilltop's new center would cost $1.2 million, but Pisani doesn't foresee that happening any time soon.
"If we could get Phase II of the new building approved, we could probably just eliminate the current waiting list," Robarge said. "The increase in space would just take care of all of it at once."
Couple finds positions in same department
University hires new professors for next year
By Graham K. Johnson
Kansan staff writer
In academia, Ruth Ann and Paul Atchely are a rare commodity: a two-professor couple able to work at the
same department.
"A senior colleague that I talked with at a recent conference said that he'd never heard of it happen ing
same University and even in the same department.
before," said Paul Atchely, who, along with his wife Ruth Ann, was recently hired as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kansas.
The Atchleys are two of 23 confirmed College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty that have been hired for the upcom
ing academic year, according to a list provided by the college. All of the new faculty hold doctorates, many from institutions such as Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley.
Sally Frost Mason, dean of the college, said that she was pleased with the new crop of faculty because of their high qualifications. She said the new faculty reflected the University's ability to attract highly qualified professors.
That was the case with the Atchelys. Paul Atchely said that they chose the University despite offers from Colorado State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where they currently are finishing post-doctoral fellowships. He said they felt that when the University offered both of them tenured-track positions, it was a sign that high-quality faculty were desired and appreciated.
"We compete with all the other major universities," Frost Mason said. "And most of the people that we interview for jobs have multiple offers from other universities. So they actively choose to come here."
He said that the opportunities for pursuing his research on aging and the opportunity for his wife to work with top
people in her field of language and neuroscience, were keys to their decision. There were other factors, such as the city of Lawrence.
There were other factors, such as the city of Lawrence.
"I'm a native Californian, and I was really surprised," Atchely said. "We really liked Lawrence."
Frost Mason said that Lawrence often made the University an easy sell to new faculty but that the University has problems retaining faculty. Other universities, such as the universities of Michigan and Nebraska, are able to offer better raises to retain their faculty and hire away from other institutions, Frost Mason said.
"In terms of retention, we've got to improve the faculty salary structure," Frost Mason said.
The Atchelys plan to move to Lawrence in mid-July. All of the faculty on the list begin their employment on August 18, said Erin Spiridigliozzi, assistant dean of the college.
Spirigidlozzi said that there were one or two offers still unconfirmed and that those individuals may have to begin their employment in January.
The college typically hires about 30 new faculty a year, but the number fluctuates depending upon the college's needs and budgetary restraints, Spiridiglozzi said.
Name and Department Position Institution
African Studies
Chauncey C. Herbison Asst. Professor University of Kansas
Biological Sciences
Hiroshi Akashi Asst. Professor University of Chicago
John K. Kelly Asst. Professor University of Chicago
Sandra Quackenbush Asst. Professor Colorado State University
Christopher Raxworthy Asst. Professor/Curator The Open University
Economics
Elizabeth Asiedu Asst. Professor University of Illinois
English
Giselle Liza Anatol Asst. Professor University of Penn.
Kirk Branch Asst. Professor University of Washington
Kenneth Irby Associate Professor University of Calif.-Berkley
Geography
David A. Bennett Asst. Professor University of Iowa
Johannes J. Feddema Asst. Professor University of Delaware
Barbara G. Shortridge Asst. Professor University of Kansas
Geology
Bruce Lieberman Asst. Professor Columbia University
Government
Lorraine Bayard de Volo Asst. Professor University of Michigan
O. Fiona Yap Asst. Professor University of Rochester
Military / National Nations
Donald L. Fixico Professor/Director University of Oklahoma
History
Jeffrey P. Moran Asst. Professor Harvard University
History of Art
Patrick Frank Asst. Professor George Washington University
Business
Bangere Purnaprajna Asst. Professor Brandeis University
Psychology
Paul Acthley Asst. Professor University of Calif.-Riverside
Ruth Ann Atchley Asst. Professor University of Calif.-Riverside
Physics
John Staniunas Asst. Professor University of Arizona-Tucson
M. D. Bradshaw/KANSAN
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