Friday
November 8, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 55
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
NSAN
The Jayhawks journey to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers p.1B
Task force seeks improvement for grad students
By Erin Beaty
ebantse@kansan.com
kantse staff writer
The provost's task force on graduate education recently completed the first draft of its final report and has made it available for public comment.
Task force members will be available to hear feedback about the report at a meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Sunflower Room in the Burge Union.
The task force, composed of faculty, staff and graduate students from throughout the University, has been meeting since January and has made 20 recommendations for actions across various levels at the University.
John Colombo, associate dean of the graduate school and chairman of the task force, said the "It's not about getting bigger but about improving graduate students' experience."
ations John Colombo
fell under three Associate dean of the graduate school handling
First, KU graduate education needs greater visibility and a higher position in the University.
Second, the link between the University's research mission and graduate education should be enhanced.
Last, graduate education needs to be better measured and evaluated, so administrators know why or why not graduate students apply to KU, whether they are satisfied, and what needs to be improved, he said.
"We hope that some of our recommendations will be followed," Colombo said. "It's not about getting bigger, but about improving graduate students' experience."
One area addressed by the task force's report is KU's ranking in the number of doctorates produced, which has dropped nine places in the last three years.
A recommendation made in the report was to increase graduate teaching assistant and graduate research assistant salaries and benefits.
"Pay is definitely a big issue," said Jennifer Ivie, Broken Arrow, Okla, graduate student in psychology.
Ivie said the facilities were crowded and not maintained. She said seven GTAs, including herself, shared one office in Fraser Hall.
Andrew Mitchell, Topeka graduate student in religious studies, said the religious studies department should have a doctorate program.
"If we had a Ph.D. program, our status would improve not only in the Midwest, but also in the country," Mitchell said.
SEE TASK FORCE ON PAGE 6A
Environs'tree theatrics
John Nowak/Kansan
Dressed as a tree, Maggie Beedles, Lawrence senior, eludes a Boise corporate lumberjack played by Scott McKenzie, Salina junior. Students put on the performance yesterday to protest the paper company's destruction of old-growth forests.
Group protests corporate paper policy
By George Schulz
gschulz@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Protesting deforestation caused by logging companies, members of the KU Environons simulated a clash between old-growth forests and executives of the Boise corporation on Wescoe Beach yesterday.
Two members of the group, dressed as businessmen, pretended to "tear down" another student dressed as a tree to highlight what they said was Boise's (formerly known as Boise Cascade) abuse and neglect of the environment.
Members of the group also
"We respect everyone's right to free speech, but with that right comes the responsibility to tell the truth."
Ralph Poore Boise senior communications associate
wielded a chainsaw, minus the chain, to symbolize a battle between clear-cutting machinery and endangered old-growth forests harvested for printing paper.
The Environs believed dramatizing the issue would attract the attention of students walking
along Jayhawk Boulevard.
"People who would normally walk by might stop and learn about the issue," said Trisha Shrum, Olathe sophomore. "It's also symbolic of CEOs beating up on nature."
A representative of Boise had a different opinion about the company's position on the environment.
"We respect everyone's right to free speech, but with that right comes the responsibility to tell the truth," said Ralph Poore, senior communications associate for Boise. "These types of groups have ignored information we've provided time and again."
For more on KU Environs
For more on KO Enrolls campaign against Boise Cascade, visit www.kansan.com and search the archives with the key term "Boise Cascade."
Poore said Boise was given the World Summit Business Award for sustainable development partnerships in 2002. He added that the company's forest stewardship had been certified by independent, third-party auditors.
According to the Boise corporation Web site, the company derived less than 1 percent of its wood supply from old-growth for-
SEE PROTEST ON PAGE 6A
Grads moving into a new life
By Matt Stumpff
mstumpff@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Being a first-time homeowner provides challenges for students
It is a rarity for students to own their homes. Kelly Bach, Grand Forks, N.D., graduate student, has owned her home for the past three years.
Jared Soares/Kansan
Interest rates, job status, the housing market and credit history affect how much homeowners dish out on a mortgage payment. All these factors vary with time, said Robert Baker, branch director for Housing and Credit Counseling in Lawrence.
Some University of Kansas graduates look to buy their first homes immediately after leaving the University, said Amy Cleavinger, vice president and loan manager for Capitol Federal Savings in Lawrence.
Timing is everything for first-time home buyers.
Patrick McCarty, Emporia senior, said he would move into a house immediately after graduation if he had secured a job that provided enough income.
"If I could do it, that would be great," McCarty said.
Bad credit history and lack of savings
are the main reasons banks turn away loan applicants, Cleavinger said.
Banks like to see first-time applicants who have stayed in a specific line of work for two years before applying for a loan, she said.
New graduates can be an exception to this rule by providing diplomas or transcripts for the bank to review, Cleavinger
said. By showing lenders that they are moving into a career they have prepared for during their college years, many of these students get approval right out of college.
But Housing and Credit Counseling suggests students wait longer to buy a
SEE HOMEOWNERS ON PAGE 6A
Web site encourages anorexics, bulimics
By Lindsay Hanson
ihanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Thirty-year-old Tita Griffen saw the Internet as a platform to testify anonymously about her struggle with anorexia and bulimia, which she has been battling since age 12.
Griffen, resident of Studio City, Calif., has sought help from 14 therapists. She said a lack of expertise on the professional level drove her to the Internet several years ago. But when she began her quest for recovery advice, Griffin stumbled upon several sites that aimed to propel her in the opposite direction.
"It's every anorexic or bulimic's worst nightmare," she said.
"It's something akin to the alcoholic inviting everyone to a round of drinks," Griffen said.
The Web sites, tagged as pro-ana or pro-anorexia, and pro-mia or probulimia, flaunt pictures of emaculated runway models and cater to those who already have eating disorders and don't want to recover. Several sites provide chat forums for visitors to exchange tips on fasting and purging.
Griffen said the sites aimed to pull people down who were already
entrenched in the illnesses.
"I love when I go out to eat with my friends and all of them are stuffing their faces but me," she wrote. "I'm just sitting there with my water. It's very satisfying."
A member of a chat site, "Kendra," wrote that the trick to becoming fully anorexic was passing the third day of fasting.
Some of the topics posted in one of the sites are titled, "I need an ana buddy!" and, "How do I cover up the smell?"
Griffen said society misperceived the origin of eating disorders in a person.
"Most people in society look at you like you have a food problem," she said. "It's no longer about food — it's how you interact."
The interaction that an online forum provides facilitates competition among those with eating disorders, posing great danger to the vulnerable, said Ed Bloch.
SEE ANOREXIA ON PAGE 6A
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