4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2002
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Jay Krall editor
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KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Matt Fisher
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Statehouse project spent tax money unnecessarily
The Kansas legislature added a new 6,000-pound statue of a Kansa Indian a couple of weeks ago to the top of the dome of the State capitol building in Topeka.
According to the Associated Press, the legislature spent about $160,000 of taxpaver money doing it.
The 22-foot bronze statue, named "Ad Astra," after the state motto, was commissioned in 1988 and cost about $1 million to create, though all of this was privately funded. It was then determined that the dome would have to be reinforced to support the weight of the statue.
Thanks to a donation of $500,000 from the Topeka Community Foundation, the state's share of the cost was cut. About $160,000 was then taken from public funds set aside for a much-needed renovation of the capitol building.
This was possible only after Gov. Bill Graves vetoed language in a bill that prohibited spending state money on the project.
In a time when Graves has said he may have to make more cuts in education and social services, it is questionable that the money needed to reinforce the dome should have been taken from state funds, which is taxpayer money.
Rep. Lana Gorden, R-Topeka, even requested that the state attorney general investigate whether Graves acted within his rights when he vetoed only the language prohibiting the spending of state
money on the project.
The capitol's designers had intended that there be a statue on top of the Statehouse. Kansas and Oklahoma are the only states that have an American Indian statue on top of their capitol buildings.
However, when taxes have been raised $252 million and the state has finished the previous fiscal year with $190 million less than expected in revenues, tax-payer money should not have been spent on the project.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Graves allowed state money to be spent on the project even before the Topeka Community Foundation's donation had been made, when the project would have cost considerably more.
Although the money spent on the project came from public money meant for the renovation of the capitol building, it was not needed to keep the building from crumbling to pieces.
The state should make the renovations saving every penny possible, not spend the money on unnecessary projects.
If the statue's supporters had been able to raise $500,000 for the project and had 14 years to plan for this, the placement of the statue could have been delayed another year to raise the rest of the money.
Caroline Boyer for the Editorial Board
Free for All
Call 864-0500
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图
don't need no water, let the blue Grand Am burn.
I was sitting here thinking, and, if you ate your own poop, and you really, really liked it and thought it was the best thing you'd ever eaten, it'd kinda suck because that means it still tastes like crap.
You know, I think Jesus would have disliked George Bush. Jesus was very nonviolent. Bush is very violent.
This is to Audrey Snyder. You go ahead and buy your $17 Nelly CD, and leave the rest of us alone.
don't need no water, let the blue Grand Am burn.
The car, the car, the car is on fire. We
don't need no water, let the blue Grand Am burn.
I was just looking at the picture of Happy Thursday, and I noticed that there were eight guys and one girl there. And some of the guys were wearing Viking helmets, so I was wondering what kind of Happy Thursday they were having.
help address the funding issue.
Every time we flush our toilet, it makes this weird, groaning noise. So we named Chewbacca, but you can call it Chewy if you want.
Making funnel cakes is a lot harder than it looks like on TV. We just set the wall on fire.
If you were a hot dog, would you eat yourself? I know I would. I'd smother myself in brown mustard and pickle relish. I'd be sooo delicious.
Friends don't let friends drink and take home udlv men.
The other day, my roommate's puppy got into a pack of cigarettes and went on this little nicotine rampage around our house. Last night he could've gotten into some more cigarettes, but instead he got into my nug jar and ate all my weed.
help address the funding issue.
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help address the funding issue.
BEELER'S VIEW
BY THE NUMBERS
7,198 Number of female students enrolled at KU in 1970.
13,815
Number of female students enrolled at KU in 2002.
10,749 Number of male students enrolledat KU in 1970.
12,643 Number of male students enrolled at KU in 2002.
1. 5 to 1 Ratio of male students to female students enrolled at KU in 1970
1 to 1.1
Ratio of male students to female students enrolled at KU in 2002
Source: Office of Institutional Research and Planning
PERSPECTIVES
"Top 25" goal worth the effort benefits will reach all students
I believe the University of Kansas should aspire to become one of the 25 best public universities in America. What does that mean and how do we get there?
"Top 25" means that KU would be considered one of the best public members of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
KU has been a member since 1909, one of 34 public members, including the University of California-Berkeley and North Carolina. There are also 27 private and two Canadian universities in the AAU.
KU CHANCELLOR
Some AAU members are our peers, while others, by virtue of their size or wealth, are in a league of their own. Still, we want always to be perceived as a leading public member of that select group of 63 of the best universities in the United States and Canada.
We're working on the recognition by strengthening programs. Tuition enhancement, the KU First campaign, and a redoubling of our efforts with the Legislature
Robert Hemenway opinion@kansan.com
For such a perception to mean anything, it has to be based on inspired teaching, high-quality academic programs, excellent facilities, strong research, sound planning and bright students. KU has all that. What's often been missing is national recognition to match the local reality, plus adequate funding to improve upon our success.
Students at top 25 institutions receive more graduate fellowships and job offers. Alumni and donors are more generous and involved. Government agencies and foundations are more likely to support peerreviewed grant proposals and research projects. The media are more likely to report on your achievements. The general public is more likely to stand up for you when Congress and the Legislature debate the budget.
What makes achieving top 25 status worth the effort? It goes back to the perception of quality and its solid basis in fact. If you're regarded as one of the nation's leading universities — by alumni and donors, by government agencies and foundations, by the media and by the general public — the outcomes are positive and considerable.
These are all pragmatic reasons to become a "top 25" university. They are
outcomes that translate into benefits for individuals, resources for the University, and pride for the state of Kansas, KU students and alumni. But that pride has meaning only if KU fulfills its mission of teaching, research and service.
No single ranking measures top 25 status. Not U.S. News & World Report, not Kiplinger's, not the Fiske Guide or the National Science Foundation, though they are all part of the mix.
Objective comparisons, added together, will eventually indicate where we stand among the nation's best universities. When our goal is achieved, the sun won't shine more brightly on campus, nor will a choir of cherubs burst into song above Mount Oread.
Rising in the rankings is hard work. Staying there is even harder. Setting worthwhile goals helps everyone focus – not just on rankings but on the commitment to excellence that gives meaning to being "top 25." I invite everyone to reach toward that goal.
Most likely, we'll simply nod in appreciation and say that the University is a great place regardless of its ranking. But we will also know something about ourselves, and the discipline and ingenuity that got us there will become part of the culture.
Hemenway is chancellor
Students should provide feedback about tuition increase
Tuition increased by 25.2 percent this year.Based on 30 credit hours for the entire year,this translates into a $600 increase for resident undergraduates and $876 for nonresident undergraduates.
Normally, tuition cannot be pinpointed to certain expenditures within the University budget since it goes into a larger pot, making up one of three major sources of funding for the University with state and private allocations being the other two.
With the state continuously cutting back on allocations, and KU Endowment's KU First campaign already working to bring in more private donations, this leaves tuition as the only source of funding left to increase.
However, with a tuition increase of this size, the Board of Regents specified that it should be used for enhancements to the University and not as a means to fill in holes that the state normally funds.
After talking to students during my weekly office hour on Wescoe Beach in conjunction with the Dean of Students, Richard Johnson, most students said they would like to see a more detailed breakdown of where and how tuition dollars from the increase were being used.
The first step to make this happen is to provide students with information about where tuition increase dollars are being used currently.
STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
The University has tuition information available at www.ku.edu/tuition.
Jonathan Ng
opinion@kansan.com
A Student Senate committee that was formed to work with the University administration has taken all the tuition information and simplified it down to a one-page handout.
This handout is designed to provide you with the details about where uses of the tuition increase are being spent for this
This handout can be found on the Student Senate Web site at www.ku.edu/~senate.
Additionally, over the next month, Loren Malone, student body vice president, and I will be visiting student organizations, living groups and classes to provide information about tuition as well as provide you with any updates about any other University issue.
year and what the overall investment strategy will be over the next five years with future tuition increases.
There will be more tuition increases planned over the next four years, but the Regents will need to review and approve each one every year, which is why your input is necessary.
There are many benefits students will see in the short term such as increased salaries for GTA's, increased student hourly salaries, general classroom improvements and increased funding to the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center.
Some benefits will be more long-term and ones that students will not see directly.
Visit the Student Senate Web site, review the tuition information and provide us with feedback. The bottom line: ask yourself if you feel this investment strategy is the best way to enhance the overall quality of your education.
Ng is a Lewood senior in journalism and Spanish. He is student body president.