4 Wednesday, January 27, 1993 OPINION UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN IN OUR OPINION KU should give quality only to the qualified The University of Kansas needs qualified admissions. For years, KU has admitted any in-state high school graduate. Most schools across the nation did the same. But times changed. College enrollment increased dramatically. And as the class sizes grew, government financing of education did not. Why has Kansas been so slow to change? So while other states mandated qualified admissions, Kansas did not. In fact, Kansas is the only state in the nation that still offers open admissions. Opponents of qualified admissions argue that the state is obligated to offer a state university education to anyone who graduates from a Kansas high school. They point out that test scores and grades are not necessarily good indicators of performance in college. And they cite Kansas' populist tradition. But opponents neglect the most important point: The money simply isn't there anymore. As Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs, put it last year, "If we had unlimited resources, we could provide unlimited education. With our limited resources, we can't." The Board of Regents has an admissions plan that would still guarantee everyone a chance at higher education. The Regents proposal would require students to meet one of the following: Have an ACT score of 23 or higher Rank in the top one-third of their graduating class - Complete the following requirements with a minimum GPA of 2.0: Four years of English, three years of math, three years of social studies, three years of natural sciences and two years of foreign language. About 70 percent of KU students meet one of those requirements. Under the plan, students who do not meet the requirements for the four-year schools could still go to junior colleges and then qualify for admission. This plan would ensure that every high school graduate in Kansas would have an option. And it would help the state's two largest schools, KU and Kansas State, deal with overcrowding problems caused in part by open admissions. The benefits of qualified admissions have been proven in other states. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of KU's peer schools, 75 percent of freshmen graduate within five years. By contrast, only 48 percent of KU freshmen graduate within five years. In addition, a KU study has shown that 74 percent of students who complete the Regents core curriculum with a 2.0 GPA remain enrolled for four years. Half of the students who have not completed the curriculum drop out. This was the primary criticism of KU in U.S.News and World Report's annual college ratings issue. The magazine grades KU down because one of the criteria is selectivity in admissions. Qualified admissions could also save as much as $8 million each year in state money, or $3, 620 per drop out, according to the Regents. But most importantly, qualified admissions would improve the quality of education in Kansas. As state Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, often points out, qualified admissions would send the message to high school students that there is a course of study to be completed before entering college. The current system does exactly the opposite. It rewards students for being unprepared for college. The time has come for the Legislature to bring higher education in Kansas into the 20th century. Adopt qualified admissions. C CHRIS M OESEER FOR TBE EDITORIAL BOARD C CHRIS M OESEER FOR TBE EDITORIAL BOARD C World problems overlooked in all the inaugural hoopla On Jan. 19, there was a variety show to end all variety shows. Luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby performed for an excited crowd. Smiles were in abundance, laughs came cheaply and the music was unmatched. On Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, a battle was broadcast around the world as the U.N. forces, led by U.S. troops, bombed Iran again. In this week of gala events and parties, U.S. troops are in Iraq and Somalia; Bosnian men, women and children are fighting unaided for their existence; crime in the U.S. is an all-time high; and people literally are starving in our own streets. STAFF COLUMNIST It costs approximately $2,400 a yea- to abundantly feed one person. Thirty million dollars could feed 12,500 neo And then there is this huge party. A new president is definitely reason for celebration, especially after the last 12 years. But a $30 million party! I started wondering how many people that much money could feed. How many houses it could buy? And how much of the deficit could have paid? pile for a year. At $60,000 each, it could buy 500 houses. It would pay off less than 1 percent of the deficit. Or, it could buy a big party. Considering the clean-up job President Clinton has just walked into, it is understandable that he might want to begin on as high of a note as possible. But what would have been the nation's reaction if he had quietly declined to party, donating the money instead to a worthy cause? We, as a nation, have a history of enjoying a big bash. We like blowing up fireworks, eating outrageous amounts of food and taking the day off, if we can find a reason. But I wonder how many taxpayers would prefer to have their money spent on a hungry family than on a party. If President Clinton had chosen the more altruistic route, he would have met with opposition and rancor. Few people wishto look at the dismal picture that will be President Clinton's job for the next four years. We would rather sing songs of hope and of tomorrow's promises. The media, television in particular, treated last week's depressing events as if they were a nuisance, simply detracting from the main event, the inaugural gala. To give President Clinton some credit, he repeatedly tried to bring the people's attention back to the matters at hand, and well he should have. Last Wednesday, Bill Clinton took on not only a hard job, but an impossible one. In addition to the battles going on around the world, Clinton has promised to make domestic affairs his primary obligation. He has pledged to reduce the deficit, improve health care, take care of the environment without increasing the debt, save our failing education system and abolish the ban on gays in the military. How much can one man do? According to the *Kansas City Star*, our deficit has topped $4.1 trillion. It grows an average of $8 million every fifteen minutes, and if we were to pay off today, each taxpayer would have $333 million. The inaugural gala's $90 million would have covered the share of 833 only taxpayers. With this in mind, we are ready to begin a new generation of leadership? Can we, as a nation, begin to understand the mess we are in? President Clinton is only one man. It will take all of us and a huge effort to correct the ones of the past, and if we do not, our children and grandchildren will have to. Maybe we did, in fact, need the parties and the shows this past week. Thinking about tomorrow, as Fleetwood Mac and President Clinton would have us do, may be just a little too depressing. Lisa Cosmilo is a Lawrence graduate student majoring in journalism. Diehard fans should give athletes a break I recently attended a KU men's basketball game and was thoroughly disgusted by attitudes shown by so-called diehard KU fans. I'm embarrassed to say that an ignorant fellow student stood behind me yelling such words as "putz, dork, and idiot" when describing an athlete who had missed a basket. Within the next five minutes this same student was praising the same athlete for the basket he did make. Not only was this conditional fan sitting behind me, but he or she could have been found in any given seat in Allen Field House. While watching the Jayhawks strive for victory on the court or on the field, I am frequently surrounded by conditional fans. Fellow students who mock, snicker, downgrade and abuse athletes who do not perform to the fans' expectations are everywhere. This display of negative behavior has occurred not only at men's basement but also on the balcony. well. After a winning streak, KU fans can be found at Memorial Stadium in support of the Jayhawks. After alosa, many fans seem to develop a pessimistic attitude about the rest of the season. I am a student athlete and am around other student athletes from other varsity sports. I know how hard all the athletes work on and off the playing field. Believe me, lots of sweat, blood and tears are a part of each athlete's day. There are many sports at KU that go unrecognized by fans and support is minimal. However, hard work is exhibited by all athletes regardless of the sport. No one has the right to ridicule another's performance. Student athletes on this campus are not only heroes and heroines to some, but we are human beings too. We can make mistakes: miss a basket, fumble a ball, strike out, double fault on a match point or even knock a hurdle over. "To err is human," but student athletes try not to. Give athletes respect for just being on the field or court. Why is it that the athlete you ridicule is on the court, while you're in the stands? If the conditional fan received a scholarship to a Division I university it's hard to believe that he or she would ever insult a fellow athlete. This is an unspoken rule among athletes. This sort of behavior just isn't done. No one has the right, not even students who are not athletes. So keep your negative comments to yourself and make life a little more pleasant for the person sitting next to you. Furthermore, jumping on the bandwagon and rooting for a winning team is not enough. Be a loyal Jayhawk fan and support all teams regardless of winning or losing. Student athletes here at KU are first-class human beings. If this wasn't true, we would have lost ourselves, our teammates, our coaches and especially our diehard Jayhawk fans. Ask yourself this before you decide to yell at a player: If Coach Williams or Coach Mason were standing in front of your reticulous words? I think not! Joy Herrera is a Corona, Cal., sophomore majoring in human development and family life. KANSAN STAFF GREG FARMER Editor GAYLE OSTERBERG Managing editor TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser BILL SKEET. Technology coordinator Editors Asst. Managing Justin Knupp News Monique Gudalain David Mitchell Stephen Marthon Editorial KC Trauner Campus Sports David Mitchell Photo Manuel Enardo Features Lynne McKenzie Graphics Dan Schauser Wire Tiffany Lasha Hurt Assistant Editors Assoc. Editorial Chris Mooser Assoc. Campus Jon Harder Assoc. Aestat Christopher Lane Assoc. 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