4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 2001
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CLAY MCCUISTION/KANSAN
EDITORIAL
Let your voice shape process of tuition raise
Students often complain that they have no voice in University administration, but students have an opportunity to let the administration know how they feel about proposed tuition increases.
Furthermore, it is the responsibility of students to express their opinions to the administration and have some input on a decision that will affect all students in some way — the impending tuition increase.
Because of budget shortages, the state of Kansas is not likely to increase funding to its universities. The Board of Regents requested that its schools think about increasing tuition to make up the difference.
The University of Kansas has in turn proposed six tuition increase proposals. Under four of the six proposals tuition would be more than $100 a credit hour for in-state students.
Provost David Shulenburger is meeting with each professional school and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to try to get as much student feedback as possible before the University makes its recommendations to the Board of Regents in January.
At this time, Shulenburger has met with faculty and students at all but five schools. So far, the turnout for the meetings has been inconsistent.
While the decision to raise tuition seems almost a certain outcome, students have the opportunity to help determine how much the tuition increase will be and how quickly the increases would affect all students.
Students should attend these meetings. Attending a meeting, finding out what the options are and expressing your opinion helps each school and each student on campus.
If your school's meeting has passed, attend a different school's or contact the provost's office with questions, comments and suggestions. Reach Provost Shulenburger at 864-4904 or write to dshulenburger@ku.edu.
Go straight to the top. Let the Board of Regents know what you want. Reach the Topeka Regents office at 785-296-342120 find contact information at kansasregents.org/contact.html.
Don't leave out the Kansas Legislature. It is time to let our representatives in Topeka know that people in Kansas value quality, competitive higher education and expect their leaders to support education as much as possible.
Contact Senator David Kerr, President of the Senate and chairman of the Ways and Means committee. Reach him at 785-296-2419. or by e-mail at kerrg@senate.state.ks.us.
Royal Dairies for the educational board.
A tuition increase looks like a sure thing. However, by working with University administrators and contacting the Board of Regents and Kansas Legislature, KU students can shape the increase to be a help to the University that still works for students.
PERSPECTIVE
Western Civ does no justice to history or the University
All right, I'll admit it. My column about Western Civ class was really an assignment I had been given to talk about the appropriateness of teaching the Quran in the class. I thought it would be a good thing to share with the half dozen people that still read my columns. It wasn't really the Quran itself that got me worked up, it just happened that the Quran was the impetus for the article.
But while the religious text was the vehicle for my critique of Western Civ, my complaint could apply to any of the other works we read as well. The fundamental issue is this: By failing to look closely at carefully selected works, Western Civ fails to educate.
Advocates desperately defend Western Civ's importance in two ways. They try to compare it to introductory courses in other disciplines and they try to claim that it is an introductory course for all disciplines. Both of these claims are patently absurd.
In any other discipline at the University, there are two types of introductory courses. The first type is a broad course that imparts the essence of the discipline and provides an analytical framework for non-majors, the second type imparts knowledge that is required for later classes in that major. Western Civ is neither.
Western Civ's ridiculously broad focus requires that no more than a fleeting moment can be spent on any one topic. A conservative estimate shows the works covered in one semester in Western Civ are collectively covered in
Commentary
Robert Chamberlain Columnist opinionansan.com
at least 24 credit hours worth of work elsewhere in the University. Either the HWC folks have a secret ultra-efficient teaching technique they're not sharing (if they do, they should develop an infomercial "Understand Cicero in 3 short hours, or your money back!") , or else they're skimming over most of the relevant information.
Western Civ also doesn't impart any knowledge required by later classes. This is shown in a number of ways. First, Western Civ is unlike MATH 115, PHSX 114, or any other Intro to the Major course because in math and physics, failure to understand the basic material will render a student completely incapable of understanding more advanced material. You can't do calculus without knowing how to add, you can't do mechanics without understanding force, but you can do anything you want without ever having set foot in a Western Civ lecture.
The University must believe this Western Civ isn't a prerequisite for anything but graduation. You don't even need to take Western Civ to take advanced courses in the Humanities and Western Civilization Department,
for crying out loud. Even if Western Civ does impart some knowledge required for later work, it seems the students and departments are doing just fine without it.
So Western Civ isn't really an introduction for any one course at KU. But Western Civ advocates aren't ready to give up yet. Perhaps Western Civ is an introduction to college itself — an "important foundation" upon which all coursework is based.
If Western Civ really was essential to understanding college, why is it a "sophomore-level course?" It would seem that if Western Civ is so important, it should be the first thing students take. Otherwise they waste their whole freshman year because they lack the necessary framework that only six hours of Western Civ can provide.
Rather than speculate, why doesn't the HWC department do a study and show that Western Civ causes some sort of improvement in later course work?
Western Civ isn't necessary to understand any one course at the University. It takes an approach more appropriate for Cliff's Notes than for the classroom. So in the spirit of the 2030 columns, I imagine a University where students are allowed to explore their own intellectual interests at a much deeper and more profound level than they do in Western Civ. It's a nice dream — let's hope one day it becomes reality.
Chamberlain is a Topeka senior in political science.
PERSPECTIVE
Deny Bush fast-track power of trade
For the last few days I have been trying to educate myself on the issues involved with Fast Track legislation, or Trade Promotion Authority. In its present incarnation, H.R. 3005, the legislation is up for a vote today.
Under this bill, Congress would have to vote yes or no on all trade agreements made by the President. No amendments would be possible. In addition, Congress would have only 60 days to consider these enormous, complex contracts, and then would have less than 20 hours of floor time with which to debate their vote.
Free trade issues are, to say the least, extremely complicated. The issues range from child labor laws to border tariffs to the amount of pesticide residues that are acceptable in the food we eat.
George W. Bush would dearly love Fast Track powers so that he can negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas. This would be similar to NAFTA, although much broader in scope, encompassing most all of the western hemisphere.
The trade agreements come about through extensive bargaining and rewriting of domestic legislation and
Lucas Miller
Guest columnist
opinioniansan.com
Commentary
These are concerns of the Congress and we the People. The constitution of the United States specifically invests in Congress the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign Nations." It would be unwise and irresponsible to give up this power completely to the executive branch. Our system of checks and balances depends on Congress overseeing and amending trade deals negotiated by the president.
will set the tone for years of international commerce.
Fasttrack.org argues that "In giving Presidents Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Bush [Senior] fast track negotiating authority, previous Congresses recognized that foreign governments will not negotiate with the United States if we do not have Fast Track."
Still, Fast Track authority is an unacceptable sacrifice of legislative due
process and deliberation and it is only in exchange for unsupervised profit and expediency. Fast track legislation disembodies the working citizen from his or her own economic future.
At this time, U.S. congressman Dennis Moore, D-Kan., has not decided his vote for the fast track legislation, and his constituency can make a difference.
It takes about two minutes to call and say NO (oryes, I suppose...to Fast Track. Either of the following numbers will connect you to the offices of your representatives: 1-800-393-1082 (courtesy of the AFL-CIO) and 1-888-832-4246 (courtesy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce).
An office representative will register your yea or nay, your name, and your contact information, if you so chose, in order to send you developments on the issue.
President Clinton asked for Fast Track twice during his presidency, and was denied both times. Make your voice heard and we will continue to share in the decisions that shape the fate of our lives and our economy.
Miller is a Lawrence senior in physics.
FREE for ALL 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
What's up with the University van illegally parked outside my hall again?
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Lalalalala.
I wish somebody would tell the person trying to get me to take a picture with Santa that I'm Jewish.
I don't know who sold their soul for this beautiful weather, but I just wanted to say thanks for being a team player.
I just slept through my first class, which started at 11. But, hey, who needs class when I have Nintendo games on my computer.
I like trolls. I wish I had my own troll.
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Hey, if it wasn't for the Kansan, my dog would have nothing to poop on.
I'm looking for a girl who will iron my clothes in order to have sex with me.
Do not blame the tuition increases on anybody but the administrators who are imposing them.
You know it's bad when I go to the doctor and he tells me that I need to pee once before sex and once after sex. I don't think I can pee twice in 10 minutes.
Where'd you learn to drive, cooking school?
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If you plan to take a trip to gain interpersonal understanding, may I recommend Las Vegas?
one really grows up thinking. "Gee, I want to be a proctologist."
one really grows up thinking. "Gee, I want to be a proctologist."
Dude, the Free for All is shorter than I am.
We've been teepee by fraternity boys!
I'm camping out at the basketball game, and Al Bohl just ordered us 60 pizzas. I just wanted to say that we have the coolest athletic director in the country.
What time does Mrs. E's open for dinner?
I wanted to thank the sorority girls for finding my wallet and returning it to me.
My roommate thinks Rob Lowe is hot.
I swear, if I hear one girl say that Chris Zarbe needs to play tonight because he's hot. I might snap.
I'm at the basketball game, and I have hot girls on both sides of me. I can't wait until we sing the alma matter.
I'd drive down Kentucky, and I just saw a raccoon dive into a storm drain.
Nevermind the red-headed cheerleader, what about the red-headed Crimson Girl? She's hot!
Hi.I'm Laurel.
1.
Word to your mother.___
To those people who don't wash their hands: Please wash your hands. It makes me gag when you don't.
Why the hell is Missouri No.2 in the nation?
Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?
mg
My "to do" list is doing me.
My puppy could sell a ketchup pouchie to a woman wearing white gloves.
Our teacher was going to give us 10 extra credit points if we got in the Free for All, so please put this in.
The only time I ever touched my brother is when I jacked him upside the head with my brush.
Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there
Guess what, I got a fever, and the only cure is more cowbell.
Viva Vas Deferens!
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Why don't you make like bread and loaf?
Let's make like sheep and get the flock out of here.
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I'm the skinny bald guy. If you see me on campus, please, for the love of God, offer me some weed. Seriously.
The basketball team must be better, because they're on a roll.
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Tampons are not a gift from God, they're a gift from man. Your period is punishment from God. Get a hold of yourself.
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