Studies Ignored Bleary Eyes Facing Finals
Final examinations begin Monday. But the snowstorm has given KU students the chance to live it up and put studying off until the last minute. Mount Oread looks more like a winter resort than a campus.
Bleary Eyes—Symbolic of Final Week
Ski trails and sled tracks crisscross the white hills and the branches of evergreens are snow-laden. Students dressed in slacks, ski sweaters and sunlasses tread along snow-nacked paths.
No one plans a get-together to mull ever history notes or memorize French verb conjugations.
Instead an ice skating party is proposed.
And the students trek down to Potter Lake where the bonfire light flickers on the weaving, swaving figures as steel blades carve lace in the night-blackened ice.
The talk is all about the snow and its afterfeeds.
One girl approaches chairs gingerly and winces when she sits down.
"I was at the bottom of a whole stack of kids on a tray when we wrecked sliding down a hill," she explains.
Another girl laughed as her date lurchingly made his way down an ice-slated hill. A smile still lingered on her lips as she turned to enter the dormitory and fell flat on her face.
A young man dourfully watched the sled owners frolicking in the
snow with college women as his new car stood snowbound.
"You'd never believe a $5,000 car would take second place to a sled," he marveled.
Ice coated steps and sidewalks slowed campus traffic all week as students clutched railings, hobbled down steps and slid carefully along the walks.
The women clung to many arms,
but often, Voom! — a couple went
down with skidding feet and flailing
arms. They laughed or whimpered
as they scrambled to their feet, depending upon the bruise.
Probably the only person in the KU community who is bruiseless today is a young journalism professor who turned down all invitations to walks in the snow, snowball fights, bobsled rides and ice skating parties.
"I'm too old for that stuff," he fibbed cheerfully.
But beneath the gaiety and bruises, students recognize the impending danger of final examinations.
Many living groups have begun continuous quiet hours.
Bloodshot, drooping eyes herald the sleepless nights of cram study sessions.
Everybody knows that nerves will be stretched taut next week as students run the gamut of emotions from heartbreak to elation as they flunk or "ace" tests.
But today nobody admits that next week is going to be academic chaos.
Bring out the skates . . . the ice is smooth and the snow sparkles like diamonds in the sun.
Let's have a party! We'll study tomorrow.
LAWRENCE. KANSAS
57th Year, No. 76
Friday, Jan. 22, 1963
Senate Passes Bill to Raise Faculty Pay by 7 Per Cent
TOPEKA — (UPI) — The Kansas Senate approved and sent to the House today a bill appropriating enough money to give a 7 per cent salary raise to the faculty and administrators of state universities and colleges.
The state Board of Regents recommended this salary hike.
The bill appropriates $29,310,489 operating expenses.
The salary raises have been a subject of controversy. Gov George Docking recommended that faculty be given 3 per cent raises and administrators none.
One amendment was tacked onto the bill. An appropriation of $50,000 was added for Kansas University for a ground water survey.
The Senate vote was 34 to v. sem.
Owen E. Root (D-Parker) passed.
The bill went beyond Docking's proposal by a total of $1,577,487.
The Senate approved two other bills by votes of 35 to 0. One would appropriate $201,391 for operation of 11 state agencies and the other would permit gas tax refunds to persons who fail to file for them by the deadline.
Aid Asked for City Colleges
TOPEKA —(UII) — Rep. Curtis R. McClinton (R-Wichita) introduced a bill in the Kansas house today to appropriate state funds to the two municipal colleges.
Similar bills failed to get approval in other sessions.
The bill would give the University of Wichita $200,000 annually and Washburn University at Topeka $100,000.
Another new bill, by the House Assessment and Taxation Committee, would require the state forestry, fish and game commission to supply county assessors with names of boat owners in their counties.
The assessors would check the lists against their tax rolls to learn whether or not the owners are paying personal property tax on the boats.
Longer Library Hours Effective Tomorrow
Watson Library will extend its closing hours for the oncoming week of finals.
ASC Answers Professor Griffin
The library will be open from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. tomorrow through Tuesday evening. Wednesday, the library will return to its regular schedule of closing at 10:00 p.m. Saturday, January 30, it will be open from 8 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. for those with Saturday finals.
Prof. Griffin, in a Daily Kansan interview yesterday, said that the opinioinaires are, in effect, being forced upon him and are a "rank effort to build conformity."
The president of the All Student Council said last night that Clifford S. Griffin, assistant professor of history, based his criticism of course evaluation sheets on a misconception.
Rudy J. Vondracek, Timken junior and president of the ASC, says:
"The evaluation sheets are strictly a service extended to the educators and in turn benefit the students. The service is operated at the student level and is by no means compulsory."
"I would suggest, however, that failure to utilize the service may constitute loss of valuable confidential communication between faculty members and students."
Want Pleasant Relations
Vondracek explained that the opinionaires are designed to have a positive aspect, rather than a negative one, and to provide harmonious relationships between students and teachers.
He said that if faculty members object to the construction of the opinionnaires, the ASC would be glad to hear their suggestions for improving the wording.
Prof. Griffin said;
"I have no confidence in the capa-
Library Staff Snowed Under
SWAMPED—Grace Thomas, Lawrence high school senior, tries to dig her way out of a stack of returned books in the circulation department at Watson Library.
In a Daily Kansan interview, three library assistants, Grace Thomas, Lawrence high school senior, Jane Perry, Lawrence junior and Judy Hinz, Abilene sophomore, told of stacks of books, inadequate help, harassed graduate students and a sometimes irate faculty.
The ground is not all that is snowed under at this time of the year.
While the three agreed that the students and faculty are generally very congenial and understanding, there are those who make them wonder if their salary is really worth it all.
"This is a very busy time of the year, and at times we are unable to keep pace with the amount of book transactions we handle," Miss Perry said.
People. People Everywhere
"Though most of the students are very reasonable, there are always those who become impatient. These are often the same persons who leave off a decimal on the call slip."
Miss Hinz said that an inadequate library staff added to the problem.
"If the library budget is not increased, we will not be able to hire new staff members to cope with the present problems. In addition, we need more persons in various clerical positions.
"There is even a rumor that if the
budget is not altered, student employees of the library may have to take a salary cut. Although the salary is adequate now, if it goes any lower, we may be paying them."
Where's My Book?
On a somewhat different note. Miss Thomas told about some of the exasperating habits they encounter.
"Everybody wants the same book and when you tell them the book isn't on the shelf, they don't believe you. Others don't believe a thing you say.
"Many exasperating students can be classed by types. Some of these types are;
1. The "wolf" type who is more interested in the girl getting the book than the book.
2. The "exhausted" type who holds to the counter for support until the book requested arrives and then takes five minutes to pre-date the call card two weeks.
3. The "sweet-girl" type who says, "Say, dearie, if it is not too much trouble, would you mind getting me..."
The girls agreed that the library is being operated in an efficient manner, considering the facilities and the final week crowd. They also agreed that the aforementioned personalities are luckily in the minority and that most KU people are extremely cooperative.
bility of the students to judge what is characteristic of a good teacher "
Vondracek said that this is not he function of the onionnaires.
Vondracek said that since the teacher ultimately decides the validity of the opinionnaires, he does not see how the teacher can believe he is being forced to conform.
"Students do not sit as judge and jury, but merely present opinions, good and bad. The instructor is the judge. He determines his own 'guilt' or "innocence" and ultimately establishes the remedies he thinks necessary," he said.
Vondracek said that the whole system of opinionnaires should not be condemned because of irresponsibility and adverse response on the part of some students. The teacher should sift the opinionnaires and determine whether the suggestions and criticism of his teaching methods are valid.
The faculty member is the judge if he feels himself on "trial" by his students,"he said.
Vondracek said the ASC does not seek a negative response to its opinionnaires, but only wishes to benefit the teacher and the student.
"I have no doubt that many instructors can and will improve without our opinionnaires. It would seem, however, that instructors, who possess the talent of self appraisal, could certainly subject themselves to the appraisals of others without fear of conforming," he said.
"We are in constant search for improvement in education. The scope of the scholarship committee (which distributes the sheets) is not just to pass out these opinionnaires, but also to attempt to improve education.
Teacher Decides Validity
"The ASC will happily relieve the instructors of an unpleasant exposure of their student's sentiment, when the instructor's response to our service is negative."
Freezing Weather To Continue Here
Cold weather continued today as a new Canadian cold front invaded the Lawrence area.
A bitter zero was recorded this morning at the KU observation station. The United States Weather Bureau forecasted temperatures no higher than the low to middle 29s today with the low near zero tonight.
Seven deaths were reported in Kansas due to traffic accidents on ice-skied roads, exposure, cold weather, fires or heart attacks.
In Lawrence the weather will remain generally fair and cold tonight with increasing cloudiness accompanied by a warming trend tomorrow. The low tonight will be 7 to 15 and the high tomorrow will be in the 30's.