Section C · Page 16
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 21, 2000
University's unique niches
Events, people differ at the ten scholarship halls
By Keele Thurston and Brandy Straw.
Special to the Kansan
Scholarship halls at the University of Kansas are almost as unique as the Jayhawk. Only a few public universities have them.
The scholarship hall system at the University began in 1926 when Watkins Scholarship Hall opened its doors to women who wanted a higher education, but needed financial help.
Now there are 10 scholarship halls, five for women and five for men.
Academic achievement is also important. Residents have to take at least 28 credit hours during the academic year and maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.50.
Eligibility for scholarship halls is still based largely on financial need. They are about $1,000 cheaper per year than residence halls.
The scholarship halls promote community living. Each resident spends four to six hours a week helping with cooking and cleaning. Menus can be interesting when international students serve on the food board, said Josh Boots, Plano, Texas, junior and All Scholarship Hall President.
The scholarship halls provide a good environment for studying and relaxing, Boots said.
Each hall has a president and a committee that organizes activities. The hall presidents and two other representatives from each hall make up the All Scholarship Hall Council, which helps coordinate activities for the halls.
Each hall has an advisory board that punishes residents who have not worked their cleaning or cooking shifts or have missed hall meetings. They hand out demerits, called J-Boards, and once a resident has accumulated five, he or she could be asked to leave, but Boots said it rarely has happened.
The halls have annual awards banquets and movie nights, when residents can meet with people from other halls.
All the halls have laundry facilities, a TV and stereo, a piano and Ethernet connections. The floor plans vary, but all halles include sleeping, studying and dins
ing areas.
Boots said the chemistry of the halls changed from year to year.
"Personalities develop each year depending on the make up of the hall," said Jennifer Wamelink, assistant director of housing.
Watkins and Miller
Watkins and Miller halls have study areas shared by two to four residents and a communal sleeping area. Each student is assigned to one of seven kitchens in each hall, where they determine the grocery bill.
Watkins Hall has an annual spring tea, a winter informal and a "Heaven & Hell" party. Almee Cox, Rose Hill senior, said Miller residents have an annual Elizabeth Miller Watkins Appreciation Night and a candle-lighting ceremony, Elizabeth Miller Watkins donated the money that paid for construction of Miller and Watkins halls and that continues to pay for their unkeen.
Cox said she chose Miller because of its location on the Hill and set-up. The ability to prepare meals in her own kitchen appealed to her.
"You can't beat having to roll out of bed and down the stairs of the hall to get to class all the while watching people struggle up the hill from your windows." Cox said.
She said one drawback to living at Miller was that only the sleeping porches and two common rooms had air conditioning.
"The study rooms and kitchens are sweltering." Cox said.
Douthart and Sellards
Douthart Scholarship Hall and Sellars Scholarship Hall are two women's halls, that are divided into suites with two bedrooms and one study room shared by four residents. Each hall has one large kitchen and dining area.
Douthart has a winter formal in the fall and Sellards has an annual international dinner, a tropical party and an 80's party.
"There is so much of a community, we almost become like sisters," said Katie Bartkowski, Basehor senior, who lives in Douthki.
Battenfeld Scholarship Hall opened in 1940 and was the first men's scholarship hall. The hall has two TV rooms and two, three, and four-man suites that have a study room connecting each room. Each year the hall has a casino party.
Battenfeld, Pearson and Stephenson
Jason Murnane, Spring 2000 KU graduate, lived next to Pearson in Stephenson
Scholarship Hall. He said the men of Pearson Hall had the tradition of wishing their neighbors a "Happy Loopy Day" on Thursday nights.
When a Pearson resident celebrates his birthday, he usually is thrown into the Chancellor's fountain. Jake Davis, Bonner Springs senior, was able to avoid the trip on his birthday, but did not escape in the end.
"I was up there one day and they caught me." Davis said.
He said the best part about living in the scholarship halls was that they were close to three bars, The Hawk, Bull Winkles and The Wheel.
Pearson and Stephenson have rooms shared by two people. Stephenson men have a reputation for balancing their social activities with their studies. Many residents can be found camping out for seats at KU basketball games, and they are known for the pranks they play. Each semester they adopt a highway to keep clean, Murnane said.
Grace Pearson
The living arrangements at Grace Pearson Hall are the same as Sellards and Douthart, with suites that have two bedrooms and a living area. It has a traditional karaoke night once a year.
"Grace Pearson was a good place to begin my large college experience. It provided more of a family atmosphere and also created an environment that enabled me to remain focused academically," said Jared Comfort, Minneapolis, Kan., graduate student.
KK Amini Scholarship Hall, which opened in 1992, is the newest men's scholarship hall. Residents have a Cinco de Mayo party each year. The hall has fourperson suites with have adjoining baths and cable TV outlets.
KK Amini
"I loved the atmosphere," said Boots, who's an Amini resident. "It is one of the main reasons I stayed at KU. My favorite experience was the second semester my freshman year, when I helped start a program to recognize residents for their work once a month called Schol Hall Member of the Month."
Edited by Chris Fickett
The newest of scholarship halls is Margaret Amiini, which opens this fall. Like KK Amiini, it features four-person suites with adjoining bathrooms and cable in each room.
Margaret Amini
James Gunn, professor emeritus of English and science fiction author, discusses science fiction novels with students during class. Students in the summer course were expected to read 25 novels and write a paper or a short story. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Intensive science-fiction class tries to unravel genre's history
By Karen Lucas
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Twenty-five novels form the centerpiece of a two-week course on science fiction this summer.
"My interest is in providing a background of a genre so that people can read and understand it better when they're finished," said Gunn, who has offered the course since 1974. "In effect, the whole course is an exercise in definition because science fiction is very difficult to define and the best way to do it is to show how it has developed over the centuries."
The class began its study of the genre by examining a work by H.G. Wells, whom Gunn described as the founder of modern science fiction.
"Without him, science fiction wouldn't be what it is today," Gunn said. "At the heart of science fiction is H.G. Wells' focus on ideas like the time machine and evolution."
Another writer whose books were on the course syllabus was Hal Clement, who participated in this summer's John W. Campbell conference on science fiction, which students were expected to attend.
The class discussed Clement's novel, Mission of Gravity, which Gunn said depicted a world that was alien to Earth.
The course also focused on one of Gunn's works The Listeners, published in 1972. Gunn said he wanted to include his novel in the course because it would offer students a different experience.
"In your class work, you often don't get a chance to ask the author why they did that or what it meant or why they wrote that way." he said.
Christopher Dick, Hillsboro graduate student and instructor of English at Tabor College in Hillsboro, said that the opportunity to hear his professor talk about The Listeners. was one of the attractions of the course.
Another course requirement was the submission of either a paper or a short story.
"I think people ought to have the opportunity to be creative," Gunn said. "Most science-fiction readers want to write science fiction. That's one thing about science fiction, it tends to grab readers because it's a literature of ideas and people generally aren't intimidated by it. They want to write it."
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