Volume 126 Issue 20
kansan.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
KANSAN
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DUST ON DISPLAY
AGRICULTURE
Spencer Museum shows Dust Bowl art created by students
Kate Meyer, assistant curator of Works on Paper at the Spencer, speaks about the "1 Kansas Farmer" exhibition. The exhibition displays art about the Dust Bowl until Dec. 15.
TOM QUINLAN
tguinlan@kansan.com
The Spencer Museum of Art is exhibiting six posters designed by students at the University. The exhibit, "I Kansas Farmer," illustrates the scale of the Dust Bowl, current issues and future challenges Kansas agriculture will face. The students applied design concepts learned in class at the University to create the exhibition.
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe drought and dust storms during the 1930s and was the largest agricultural disaster in Kansas' history. The "I Kansas Farmer" exhibit illustrates the scale of the Dust Bowl, as well as challenges that will affect farmers in the future. The posters highlight the importance of agriculture in Kansas.
The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Patrick Dooley, a professor of visual communication at the University, and Kate Meyer, assistant curator of Works on Paper at the Spencer.
the posters are meant to inform in a way that is as engaging as possible," Meyer said. The posters depict issues such as water conservation, biofuels and climate change.
Meyers said that cooperation among the scientific and farming communities is essential to solving these challenges. "We have discord, how do we move forward when all of our parties aren't on the same page?" Meyers questioned. The posters balance themselves between elements of design, science and art, according to the Spencer's website. The "1 Kansas Farmer" exhibition coincides with the University's 2013 Common Book, Timothy Egan's "The Worst Hard Time." The "1 Kansas Farmer exhibition will
Edited by Chas Strobel
Financial aid provides better support for the wealthy
CODY KUIPER
ckuiper@kansan.com
According to new federal data, states and universities have been decreasing aid they provide to lower-income students and increasing the money going to more affluent ones.
An analysis of federal data by ProPublica found that since 1996, the portion of grants given to the poorest college students has shrunk from 34 percent to 25 percent, and the portion going to the wealthiest has increased from 16 percent to 23 percent.
Director of the KU News Service Jill Jess said this trend could be a result of universities trying to bring a certain diversity to their campus.
for higher-income students comes primarily from an increase in merit-aid, which is money granted to students regardless of their financial need. In 1995, state universities provided merit-aid to eight percent of undergraduates and need-based aid to 13 percent, but now 18 percent of undergraduates are granted merit-aid and only 16 percent receive need-based aid.
According to a study conducted by the think tank New America Foundation in May entitled, "Undermining Pell: How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-Income Behind," the increase in money
CARSON LEVINE
Senior
"There is a focused effort within higher education to strategically use available funds to support institutional goals, such as a high- ability and diverse student body," she said.
"There's a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of stuff you have to do to get the aid."
component, which does take into consideration the student's family income and ability to pay," she said. "In other words, when awarding scholarships, the University adheres to the donor's criteria."
Jess added that the University offers the KU Pell Advantage grant, which is determined both by a family's ability to pay their student's expenses as well as the student's high school GPA and test scores.
THE DECLINE IN GRANTS TO LOW-INCOME STUDENTS Portion of institutional grants given to students in lowest and highest income quartiles
"Some scholarship donors do include a financial-need
The New America Foundation study also found that lower-income students are facing higher net prices because of a strategy called "high tuition, high aid" in which universities greatly increase tuition and offer more financial aid to low-income students at the time. However, the study found that low-income students at universities that take this approach are facing net prices that are twice as much as those at "low-tuition" universities.
The majority of University scholarships are merit-based and not based on students' family income, but Jess said this does not necessarily mean students' financial needs are not considered when it comes to aid and scholarships.
Senior Carson Levine pays for all her expenses herself, but because she is under the age of 25, she is still considered a dependent and does not receive as much financial aid. She did not receive her usual Pell Grant for her final semester.
Because of this, Levine says she can empathize with the difficulties lower-income students face when trying to pay for school.
"It is frustrating," she said. "There's a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of stuff you have to do to get the aid. I mean, I applied for financial aid my freshman year, but they thought my dad made too much money,
which I felt wasn't true at all, but I didn't get it."
Garrett Fugete, a graduate student from St. Louis, says universities need to find a way to get more aid to lower income students, but also avoid punishing those who earned scholarships.
"I don't see anything wrong with basing things on merit." Fugete said. "I mean if you're a good
student, I think people should be able to be rewarded for that. Maybe they should find a balance, where if there's a person with good grades and in need, they should come first, rather than a person who does have merit but doesn't really have that need."
Edited by Kayla Overbey
CLASSIFIEDS 9
CROSSWORD 5
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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