4 Wednesday, September 28, 1977 University Daily Kansan UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Comment Unsigned editors' represent the opinion of the Kanaan editorial staff, signed columns represent only the views of the writers. Watson aid imperative Gov. Robert Bennett came to the University of Kansas Monday to find out what was on students' minds. The message he left with should be clear: The problems at Watson Library are near the top of any list of student grievances. Watson is teetering on the edge of losing its accreditation from the North Central Association. It is an acknowledged fire hazard and is overcrowded, understaffed and unsafe. Members of the Board of Regents admitted as much after touring Watson last spring. Yet the Regents recently pared to $100,000 a $1 million request for funds for improved services at Watson. Now, KU students must continue to endure substandard library conditions while awaiting the Kansas Legislature's final approval of a proposed $6 million renovation of the library. In light of the Regents' recent actions, it was refreshing to see Bennett bend a sympathetic ear toward students' complaints about the library. Bennett began an open forum with KU students by answering a question about the library situation; the questions and comments kept coming. THE GOVERNOR should have gleaned an understanding of the grimness of the situation when one student asked whether the legislature would be jarred by a petition from KU students asking that the librarya accreditation be removed. Bennett said he did not think the legislature would take kindly to such extreme action, but the point was made. Although the governor was sympathetic about the immediate problems at Watson, all he realistically could do was pledge his support of this year's budget request for $550,000 to plan the overdue renovation of Watson. The Regents have sliced away the other requests for improvement and, if the concern over the library situation, Bennett's lonely lies will not carry much weight with the Legislature. YET IF THE governor is sensitive to students' complaints about the libraries at KU — and he got an earful of complaints Monday — the situation can only improve. For today's students, a renovation that is years off is hardly a panacea for a library system with the chronic problems that riddle KU's libraries. If the governor is as sympathetic as he sounded Monday, perhaps he, the Regents and the legislature can find a way to give KU's libraries a shot in the arm now and a cure in the future. there is no question about the need for improvement. There is some question about whether the state will wait until the situation deteriorates to alarming levels or until disaster strikes in old, unsafe Watson before acting. Giving blood helps The Red Cross blood drive that ends tomorrow at the Kansas Union is a good chance for KU students to help themselves, their families and their fellow students. For most regular donors, the thought of helping nameless patients in a hospital somewhere is state is enough To them. To them, blood is a simple, direct act of charity. But those who have never given blood — those who have thought themselves too busy to be bothered or have been wary of the slight discomfort — should stop to consider what donating blood can do for those closer to home. Donors and their families are entitled to free Red Cross blood, although they have to nav a handling charge. And because KU blood drives traditionally have been fairly productive, every KU student and his family are entitled to free Red Cross blood. The whole student body benefits from the efforts of fewer than five per cent of the students. The regular donors will continue to give their blood, but Crack barely has an overabundance of blood. Nondonors should realize the benefits to themselves and to their community and give blood. White House officials recently put aside the windy problems of Middle East negotiations and Soviet-American SALT talks to snuff out another kind of enemy — mice in the White House. Rodent solution elicits squeaks According to White House spokesman, special devices that trap, rather than kill, mice have been installed near President Jimmy Carter's private office. They also aid in conventional mousetests are discouraged by humane societies. The furor and repercussions over such a decision are Rick Thaemert Editorial Writer predictable. In a few weeks, expect to read these reactions: A spokesman for the National Humane Society denied his organization's opposition to the idea of keeping a dog said the society was above protecting such mundane animals as rodents. Anything more than that is quickly, but humanely, is appropriate, he said. Maiming mice, however, would be frowned on. THE CATCH-EM-ALIVE traps, which hold 30 mice, also brought reactions from budget officials, who envisioned extra force on the mass mouse execution chamber that met a humane society's moral standards. One possibility, stainless steel tapes laid in the river, not only would be expensive but also messy. The environmentalists were quick to leap on such a suggestive claim that carats from the coast could barn fish and plant life downstream. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokesman asked for custody of captured mice, saying that they need to impact cancer-causing substances. The spokesman said the FDA was kissing-closed to naming beef and poultry as potential victims in cancer-causing substances. THE CENTRAL Intelligence Agency thought its request more worthy of consideration. Should current investigations in the CIA's experimental use of nuclear weapons on humans go on, the organization would need non-human guinea pigs to continue valuable research. And, it added, rats are ideal to observe. They don't drive cars off cliffs when they break out on LSD. Carter aide Hamilton Jordan was concerned about intrinsic problems accompanying the traps. Although he was the most buff and honey would be the ideal bait food, he was undecided on what to call the traps. A "rodentation center" phrase in John Paulson "was" another. He saw that the latter would look and sound better. Mrs. Carter suggested leaving the mice alone. The pitter-patter of scurrying feet adds an air of homeiness to an overgrown plantation. She said bourgeois mice added to the "good Carter image," she seemed at a loss for chasing a mouse, broom in hand, around the White House. AMY CARTER seemed to agree with her mother. In fact, she saw the mice as a pet possibility. Press secretary Powell not only scolded her but Amy scampering through the mansion, screaming "Dibbles on that one" every time she saw a mouse. Powell said she caught two but let them go. Powell said she had an pure white one. Or three blind ones for good luck. At any rate, White House residents seem to be adapting to the new trans. Carter's secretary, Susan Clough, has abandoned her padded serval chair for one that is designed to allow escape, should a live mouse逃 Although President Carter has been too busy to notice the new traps, he did concede that the war is not being negotiating with the Soviet Union. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.” Powell's trap sits near his desk. He likes to hear the mice snaleal when the phone rings. State architect misrepresented, maligned University research important but teaching should come first To the editor: Through research allows for accurate reporting, while incomplete research creates misunderstandings and The shouts for more and better research are loud and frequent this year. But we also need to urge greater efforts in Henry Snyder, dean of research administration, says it's becoming harder to get money for research. Chancellor Archie Dykes spoke long and fervently at convocation. He beamed "the antiscientific attitude and a growing distrust of scientific research." Both the University and American society need research but they also need teaching. And with limited resources, which we certainly have to has come before the other. A recent report by a subcommittee of the Faculty Senate Research Committee echoed and expanded the administration's call for more emphasis on research. THE TRUTH is that teaching is more important than research. Apparently, some members of the faculty and administration disagree. The Ross McIlvain Editorial Writer subcommittee report began with the premise that research is "a major (if not the central) component of the mission of the University." It certainly is a major concern, but if it is central concern the university, teaching is going to suffer. Students risk being saddled with professors who may be brilliant researchers with a steel-trap grasp of their subjects—but poor or indifferent teachers. BUT IT IS more common that a professor will be much better As the report says, there is no knife-edge line between research and teaching: they form a "seamless whole." Research and its discoveries keep professors' minds growing and keep their course materials in tune with current developments. The same person may have a flair for both teaching and research. at one than the other. And time spent on research will not be spent preparing for classes. Neither will money budgeted for research be spent on instruction. The research committee's report recommended that "the research sector of the University play a more substantial role in decisions concerning the allocation of faculty positions and the appointment and retention of faculty." The committee was also "concerned with an apparent tendency to overemphasize" teaching at the expense of research in granting or refusing tenure and promotion. THE RESEARCH committee's report reflects the sentiments of faculty who put higher priority on research than instruction. They want to be more involved in their pet research projects. They want to be free to research without having to spend too much time But some professors say that research already is given more emphasis than teaching in a school setting, firing, promotion and tenure. The University should put people to work where their talents and interests intersect, instead of hiring a professor with a fine research record but little skill in teaching. THE RESEARCH sector of the University likes to point out the society's need to keep extenuated the boundaries of knowledge. There's nothing wrong with having people whose main talents are in research, but they should be hired as researchers, not instructors. And a professor who spends time resulting in a limited amount of research—shouldn't have to worry about his job. That is true. We need research. But if research is emphasized above teaching, it might not be enough to carry on that research? What good is good? How much is good? We learned enough to understand it. teaching and worrying about promotions and tenure. There is no quarrel about the University's goal: knowledge. The question is how to get there. Our first priority must be teaching. We have to pass on what we already know, or it will be lost in dust archives that no one knows about. We will rot away unopened because no one understands or cares about what is in them "SMITHERS IN BOOKKEEPING, SIR...GUESSE WHO, JUST BOUNCED IN?" The Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be type and include the writer's name, address and telephone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include the writer's name, address or faculty or staff position. Letters should not exceed 500 words in length. The Kansan reserves the right to edit letters for publication. Research must be our second priority. Letters Policy miscenceceptions. The staff editorial of Sept. 20 did a disservice to Louis J. Krueger, erroneously referred to as Robert Krueger, by giving a one-dimensional accounting of problems intrinsic to the position of state architect. Several misconceptions in the editorial were astonishing. Apparently, the UDK staff has never seen, let alone read, a set of contract documents between the law enforcement contractor if they had, the implication of wrongdoing by Mr. Krueger in granting Casson Construction an extension of the completion date for the Law School building, due to bad weather conditions. Another extension are necessary allowances granted through contract documents. Another incident cited on the KU campus as a Kruger "foul-up" was a steam line leak in the building, but no real instance is a quirk in itself. The legal obligations are still being decided, as a material commonly used in construction, and have been faulty. It is impossible to inspect each and every piece of material that goes into a project. The state inspectors are not ubiquitous. The assumption that Mr. Krueger "passed the buck" concerning Wescoe Hall was sophomoric. The Wescoe project was a first spanning several administrative periods. The truth of the matter is that Mr. Krueger was not the state architect during the design of Wescoe. Many of the problems stated can be traced to areas where Mr. Krueger carried through, and functions did not fit the original design. Last spring the UDK printed a story concerning an interior masonry partition that collapsed during the construction of a law prairie. A boulder tried to generate a hysteria that implied the building was structurally unsound because of this one failure. The much-puzzled incident can be explained by failing to follow the architectural drawings and specifications. Debating the entire editorial would be lengthy but possible. We will leave the research, contesting each point of the editorial, to those who are genuinely interested in knowing the facts. Pandora's eye is only slightly opened as the problems of politics and economics have only begun to show their faces. Our biggest hope is that those who read the editorial did not file away, in the back of their minds, a misconception of Mr. Krueger. As a member of his years of his professional life trying to serve the state, and his resignation was intended to highlight the work he did, he would indeed be a disservice for such a professional man in public service to be maligned by the misinformed, weekend warriors on the UDK editorial Ray Kramer Lawrence junior Steve McDowell Lawrence senior Chris Roberts Lawrence junior Jeannie Blaufluss Lawrence senior Dan Yount Lawrence graduate student State architect wrongly blamed To the editor: I question the intent of the staff editorial of Sept. 20 concerning the recently resigned state governor "Foster" and question end does such irresponsible and inaccurate journalism service? Obviously your concern is crumbling buildings and wasted dollars. How will you editorial of the 20th solve this problem? A modicum of research will expose the problem to be not Louis Kruger but an entirely new development, a majeur of discovering problems before they manifest themselves in concrete and steel (similar to the inadequate method you employ to arrest erroneous editorials before they manifest themselves in print), compounding limitations of the construction industry and the political limitations of the state bureaucracy. The issue I address is the motive and freedom to print incorrect accusations about any individual regardless of his position or conduct. The issue that you address is diaphanous. Greg Shanklin Lawrence special student It functions; you function; neither serve anyone, particularly the people, with the desired degree of success. Watkins waste of student time To the editor: I visited the KU student health center today as an outpatient. The hustle and liveliness of the student population on the campus of UM engaged life, was obvious to me as I walked the crowded campus sidewalks. It would seem that Mount Ouse is a beehive of activity. However, a visit to the health center stiffed the student's hurried educational schedule. A betw Pubn natu Blae City rate othe yest The long, slow process of waiting and waiting your turn to see a physician takes up too much of the KU student's time and has happened to appointments? Doesn't the health center's administrative staff realize the bind that waiting puts on a student's schedule? If you have the student enough to give him the chance to visit the health center on an appointment schedule? Why, even the health center staff might be irritated by a smiling student showing up on time for his or her scheduled appointment. And pity the poor student who enters the health center during the two-hour lunch break when only a few students remain to serve the students. Won't the health center consider giving the KU population triple treatment for medical problems? Serve us, please. If the health center becomes quick and easy under an appointment schedule, maybe we can be the beech of campus activity. Robert Holmes Elmira,N.Y., junior Owls nominated for pigs' feet To the Editor: Owl Society should be nominated for the first annual Preservation of Tradition Award for excluding women from membership (Kansan, 1918; Kansan, 1920), the award consists of a gold plated, Mason canning jar, filled with pickled pig's feet. The inscription on the award reads: "For uncommonly dull leadership and unserving faith among our students standing in for Richard Nixon, has agreed to make the award and speech afterwards." Dennis Embry Lawrence graduate student THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Published at the University of Kansas daily August 30, 2015 Subscriptions to the journal and July except Saturday. Sunday and holiday. and July except Saturday. Sunday and holiday. 66445. Subscriptions by mail are $ a semester or $18 year outside the county. 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