UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
22
5
Cutbacks hurt ROTC enrollment
By Kari Van Hoof
Military cutbacks and a decrease in open pilot slots have spurred a decline in Air Force ROTC enrollment at KU and other campuses.
Special to the Kansan
KU's Air Force ROTC program has seen its enrollment drop from 104 cadets in 1988 to just 50 in 1992.
Sambrad Gentry, assistant professor of aerospace studies, said the backacks are forcing the Air Force to put more restrictions on scholarships and to reduce the number of pilot-training slots.
"The technical expertise required of the support is high." Gentry said.
Gentry said the Air Force gave scholarships only to students planning to major in science and technical areas, such as engineering, computer science, mathematics and meteorology. The Navy and the Army set fewer restrictions concerning students' majors.
The Air Force consists of 20,000 pilots and 410,000 people in support positions.
Gentry also said the current needs of the military played a role in the number and type of scholarships the Air Force offered. Some fields have all the personnel they need.
Friday, March 19, 1993
The reason for these tight restrictions, Gentry said, is the structure of the Air Force.
"Right now, we're not offering scholarships for aerospace engineers." Gentry said. "There are too many out there. We don't need them."
Darcy Richard, Omaha, Neb.
sophomore and Air Force cadet, said
she had wanted a scholarship for aerospace engineering but ended up in another engineering field.
"I wanted aerospace, and they gave me one in civil," Richard said. "They said the field was full in the Air Force."
Richard changed her scholarship to mechanical engineering and worked with the engineering department to devise a course of study combining mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Prospective Air Force cadets also are discouraged by the news that the Air Force is experiencing a surplus of pilots.
"Right now, we're in a pilot glut." Gentry said. "We have more people wanting to be pilots than we have slots."
Gentry said that each year, 150 pilots were selected from ROTC programs and 200 were selected from the Air Force Academy.
But during the past two years, about 50 percent of these pilot candidates have been "banked" after flight school, he said, meaning that the trained pilots work at a desk job for two to three years before they get a pilot assignment.
"The number of available cockpits has gone down in recent years," he said.
The lack of pilot slots also is affecting other universities' Air Force ROTC programs.
Maj. David Kipfer, assistant professor of aerospace studies at the University of Missouri, said the Air Force ROTC unit there had experienced a drop in enrolled cadets.
Enrollment in KU's Air Force ROTC program has been in decline during the last few years.
ROTC enrollment
1988
Andrew Hodges / KANSAN
"Our enrollment has decreased about as much as KU's over the same time period," Kipfer said.
Kipfer cited the decreased amount of pilot slots as a major hurdle in recruiting new cadets out of high school.
"The pilot allocations that are available are down significantly," he said. "High school students want to fly. Right now, it's difficult to get into flying."
A main reason pilot slots are so difficult to get is simply because there are fewer cockpits available, Kipfer sai<sup>14</sup>
"The problem with the Air Force is they're cutting back one-third to one-half of the airplanes that they're going to have," he said.
The cutbacks also have created a public relations dilemma that is making the problem worse, Kipfer said. The Air Force is battling a false perception that the military isn't hiring anymore.
"The military is getting smaller and we need fewer recruits," Kipfer said, "but we're still looking for people."
Numbers are down at Kansas State University's Air Force ROTC detachment as well.
"We've dropped just like everybody else," said Tech. Sgt. Carl Soap, who is in charge of Air Force ROTC information management at Kansas State. The program there also is down to about 50 cadets.
Soap cited the lack of money for scholarships as a reason for the drop.
The Air Force has "cut way back on scholarships," Soap said. "It basically comes down the curtains."
He said the Air Force was introducing different types of scholarships, which were aimed at recruiting college juniors and seniors rather than incoming freshmen. Also, more pilot slots are expected for the near future. In fact, by 1995, he said, the Air Force is predicting that there will be more slots than pilots.
No matter what the numbers look like now, though, KU's Gentry said he was optimistic that the number of Air Force recruits would increase.
"By the time people now entering the program get commissioned, slots will be plentiful," Gentry said.
ment.
Group seeks money to finance second experiment
The group can't afford a camera because one of the group's biggest problems is money. It costs $3,000 to purchase a 60-pound canister.
About half of the club's financing comes from the School of Engineering. The rest comes from interested corporations, the Kansas Space Grant Consortium and club members.
In the past, Student Senate has not
Story continued from. Page 1.
granted the group's requests for money, Miller said, because the club is defined as an academic organization, which precludes it from receiving Senate money. Recently, the Senate did offer $300.
"We do this instead of going out and playing Frisbee, and the Frisbee club has no problem getting money." Miller said.
All of the members are engineering majors, but Miller said anyone was welcome.
welcome
"If someone from the art school
wanted to come along and contribute to the design aesthetically, we would welcome it," he said. "It doesn't take an engineering.background to do these experiments and assemble the canisters. Grade schools and Boy Scout groups have had canisters on the shuttle."
For now, the group is trying to get the present canister completed so it can be launched next year. The canister will contain seeds again, along with the Taylor vortex experiment.
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to get a successful canister or two in space and possibly attract the interest of companies, for whom the club could perform experiments in space and receive payment.
In the near future, KUSP would like
the space Program had a slow start — it took six years for the first canister to be launched — but the pace is pickup.
"For a while, things were getting shaky," Lowe said. "Now, we've seen some interest in KUSP. I'm seeing good things."
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Because of dark lighting and scary noises, this production is recommended for children ages five and older.
regardless of age to change
tickets by phone using VSA or
MasterCard call 913/864-3902.
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Saturday, March 20, 1993
Crafton-Preyer Theatre/Murphy Hall
SUA Office, Kansas Union; all
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Graduate Mentor Award
Spring1993
Nominations are now being taken for the newly created advising and mentoring award within CLAS. This will be awarded to an outstanding graduate educator. Nominations for the award will be solicited from graduate students within the College. Criteria may include the following: outstanding mentoring, outstanding educator, and outstanding research and scholarship guidance.
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A monetary award will be given, in addition to the name of the recipient affixed on a plaque outside the College Office.
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Faculty members eligible must be current members of the graduate faculty of the College. If you have questions as to availability, call the CLA Graduate Division Office.
Send your nominations to: Committee on Graduate Studies, 209 Strong Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence 60404. Deadline is April 2, 1993
eligibility, call the CLAS Graduate Division office,
864-4898. Please keep your nomination letter to
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