4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY, AUG. 24, 2001
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STARTTIBUNE
TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
EDITORIAL Triumph of democracy Faculty made right decision in passing course retake policy
The course retake policy that went into effect this summer was not a recent development. Enactment of the new policy represents the culmination of five years of work by student senators, and the faculty should be commended for allowing student government to work.
First introduced as a bill in Student Senate in 1996, the course retake policy will allow students who receive a D or F in a class taken in their first 60 hours to retake the class and replace the lower grade entirely, instead of averaging the two grades. The idea is to assist students who have a difficult time adjusting to their first few college classes, thereby improving the freshman retention rate.
Students, faculty, and administrators have argued the merits and drawbacks to this policy extensively, sometimes passionately. The bill died on the desks of the Provest David Shulenburger and Chancellor Robert Hemenway in early 2000 because of minor disagreements with the wording of the bill, such as the possibility of students retaking a class they had flunked for cheating.
When the bill was introduced anew in Student Senate last spring, those concerns had been addressed. A vast majority of students favored the bill, as evidenced by its overwhelming support in Senate. The bill passed smoothly through various committees and levels of University government, until a faculty petition was circulated, requiring the legislation to go to a vote in University Senate.
University Senate is made up of 80 students, and approximately 1,300 faculty, staff, and administrators. When the Senate assembled, so few faculty were present that a vote could not be taken, and the vote had to be conducted by mail-in ballot.
At that point, the faculty easily could have ignored the voices of students who had worked for five years to make this policy a reality. They could have ignored all the University committees who had reviewed and approved the change.
They could have, but they didn't. This summer, the bill passed the University Senate with a vote of 248-228. Having narrowly survived its final challenge, the course retake policy will go into effect for the incoming freshmen of 2001.
Thanks should go to many people, including the student senators who revived the issue and shepherded it through the process. But the highest thanks are due to the faculty who allowed student self-governance to beat the odds and become a reality.
PERSPECTIVE
Students help plan campus activities
Andy Knopp for the Editorial Board
SUA is completely student driven, and the ideas and events that take place on campus are entirely student run. The movies are brought by students. Speakers that are brought to campus, such as Ralph Nader last year, are brought by students. We
I want to emphasize the student in Student Union Activities. SUA is a student organization that organizes events for the entire KU community to enjoy. How do we know what the KU community enjoys? Well, that is where you come in.
Welcome to – or back to – the University of Kansas. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Hawk Week. My name is Marlon Marshall, and I am the President of Student Union Activities. This week, you may have had the chance to attend SUA events such as UnionFest or Beach-N-Boulevard.
Marlon Marshall
Guest Columnist
opinionkansan.com
Commentary
want to continue to provide excellent programs that KU students will enjoy.
To do so, we need you. We need students who are interested in getting involved and sharing their ideas about programs and events should come to campus. I hope that now you are asking, "Wait, I can have an impact on what events come to campus? That sounds great, but what type of events do you bring?"
SUA has committees for live music,
feature films, special events, political forums and speakers, recreation and travel, the arts and public relations.
Love music? Join our live music committee. Interested in films? Join our forums committee and help bring nationally and internationally recognized speakers to our campus. Love the arts? Explore our fine arts committee and help plan events that take place in our Kansas Union gallery.
Any and all students at the University are welcome to be a part of SUA committees. Just fill out an application and join. Stop by a table at Wescoe for the next two weeks and ask us questions. We are here for you. You can also apply online at www.ku.edu/-sua.
Marlon Marsshall is a senior in engineering from St. Louis, Mo.
PERSPECTIVE
Reflections on parking add/drop and communism
Welcome Freshmen! As you will discover over the coming years, every Fall some smarmy idiot tries to do everybody a favor by dispensing the lessons learned during four years of college. This year, I am that idiot. So, at the risk of sounding condescending, here is what I wish I knew in the fall of '98.
- Some of the best teachers on campus are graduate teaching assistants. So are some of the worst. Assess quickly whether or not your GTA is pushing a particular ideological agenda, or whether they appreciate constructive conflict. If they're firmly entrenched on the other side of your ideological fence, switch sections. Life will be a lot better.
Commentary
- Gauge your professors carefully, and make sure that your learning style and their teaching style mesh. Some are big on attendance and get quite upset if you are chronically absent. Others couldn't care less and only grade a few major evaluations. Most try to strike a balance. If you can tell that you are only going to attend your 8:30 every fifth session, switch sections.
- If you haven't been able to tell by now, I'm a huge fan of add/drop. Your current schedule is nothing more than an educated guess. Visit other classes you were looking at, and pick up a syllabus. Then make your scheduling decisions based on the new information.
- Never buy a book before you have the syllabus. There's no incentive to buy early (if the bookstore runs out, they'll order more). Often, you'll find
Robert Chamberlain Columnist opinionkanansan.com
And now we come the most controversial part of my missives - the part that many fail to ever learn, even after decades here at KU.
I know this seems pretty simple for folks brought up in Western society, but the fact of the matter is that some people get angry at the KU Parking Department for (horror of horrors) regulating parking at KU.
that you've bought a 300 page book for $80 that you don't need to read for the class.
- You are not entitled to park anywhere you want.
The system is relatively straightforward. Your parking pass is a particular color. If you park in a parking lot not of that color, you may incur a $20 fine. If you park at an expired meter, you may incur a $5 fine. While it may, for some indiscernible reason, strike you as unfair that you are only allowed to park in lots that you have paid to park in, consider the alternative.
In everyone drove and parked anywhere they wanted there would be chaos. Faculty couldn't get on and off campus easily. People in the dorms would be driving to class, creating massive congestion. People living off-campus would drive around aimlessly waiting for spaces to open up without having any idea when and where that might happen. If you ask me, we're all pretty lucky the Parking Department is around.
Some people disagree with me. They believe that the Parking Department oppresses them by enforcing regulations a kindergartner could understand. They believe that the limited number of parking spaces must be distributed equally amongst the KU populace without regard to merit or purchased rights. These people are communists, which brings me to my final point.
- Don't listen to communists.
In the next four years a lot of people will advance a lot of stupid, impractical theories. Some of these people will be your peers. Some of them will be your instructors. Be polite. Smile. Nod. If the mood strikes you, agitate and shock your parents by becoming a post-modern vegan Reaganite with a nose ring and Newt Gingrich tattooed on your ass. But remember, someday you will be a newly minted graduate and will have to leave the weird and wonderful alternate universe we call college. Until then, enjoy your time here at KU. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU!
Robert Chamberlain is a senior in Political Science from Topeka (and is not and has never been an employee of the KU Parking Department).
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What if this planet is another world's hell?
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LETTERSTOTHE EDITORS
Hey, you know,
I go to the KU
Bookstore
every time I
want to get
books and they
always give me
the wrong
ones. I have to
go to the other
book store on
campus to get
the right books.
What's with that?
RECYCLING
Dear Editors:
I entirely agree with Lindsey Hodel when she advocates for making recycling a top priority for the administration and students (editorial, Aug. 23). I would add that one impediment to growth of the KU recycling program has been the lack of space for the KU Recycling Office. KU Recycling handles an enormous amount materials, coordinates a large number of drivers and staff people, and runs their entire program out of a tiny office in Burt Hall. More space for KU Recycling would allow the program to expand even more and be a positive step for the environment at KU.
Kyle Browning Student Body Vice-President Lawrence senior
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UNIVERSITY PRIORITIES
Dear Editors:
Summer is almost over and another semester of school has started. If you're like me, most of you have been working during the summer to save some money. A lot of that money will go to KU. Ever wonder where it goes? A few summer developments might pique your curiosity.
In a state where the average K-12 teacher earns $34,981 each year, public salaries past the quarter million mark are both disgusting and shameful. Hemenway and Bohl will earn around seven times the salary of a public school teacher. Are either doing seven times the work?
The same day Hemenway received a raise, he hired Allen Bohl as KU's new athletics director. Bohl's salary is $255,000 a year. Just one year ago, KU paid former Athletics Director Bob Frederick $166,000 a year for the same job. That's more than a 50 percent raise. To put things in perspective, Frederick had given 14 years of his life to KU - Bohl is a newcomer. But, maybe I'm being too harsh. The good news is that when it really counts, the Athletics Department can scrounge up another $89,000 each year. Too bad the men's tennis and swimming teams aren't around to hear the good news.
One day this past June, the Kansas Board of Regents met to adjust the salaries for the heads of Kansas's public universities. The Regents raised Chancellor Robert Hemenway's salary by 5.75 percent to $219.420.
And the worst part is that KU's excesses pale in comparison to KU's priorities. Astute readers may have noticed that Bohl makes about $35,000 more than Hemenway. Let me repeat. We pay the head of our Athletics Department more than the head of our entire university. And everyone is surprised when we drop in ranking in the U.S. News and World Report colleges guide? KU's priorities are loud and clear: athletics over academics.
With a raise like that, you'd think his salary had been frozen for years. Not so. This was the third year in a row that the Regents gave Hemenway a raise. Accounting for these three raises, the chancellor now earns slightly more than 120 percent of his base 1998 salary.
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So next time you pay your tuition or your taxes, just be comforted that at least you know where your money's going.
Joe Jarvis
Lenexa junior
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