FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
RAs, recruitment counselors work together to find balance
By Todd Rapp
Kansan staff writer
Dealing with residents going through sorority recruitment was easier this year for resident assistants in Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall.
Shelly Roben-Loijka, complex director for GSP-Corbin said that in past years it used to be a challenge to find a balance between recruitment needs and residence hall events and needs. She said that was not a problem this year and the balance was coming together.
More than 700 women reside at GSP-Corbin, and more than 450 of those women took part in Panhellenic recruitment this year. Recruitment officially began Aug. 22 and ended Aug. 27.
Resident assistants and recruitment counselors worked together to have the women in
recruitment attend events for their residence halls and recruitment.
To help accommodate the RAs, the counselors organized luncheons at GSP-Corbin to allow RAs to eat with their residents and joined RAs during Hawk Week events to allow the women to attend the week's events as a floor.
"The recruitment counselors were awesome," Michelle Wright, GSP resident assistant, said. "They took care of everything—if they wanted to put up a sign, or remind the women of something, they asked me or did it themselves. I never had any extra duties."
Amy Poland, Chapman freshman, is a GSP-Corbin resident who did not go through recruitment.
"The first week was really segregated, but the girls on my floor
Wright said the girls settled into the residence hall routine once recruitment week was over
were really cool; and now that rush is over, it's not segregated at all," Poland said.
"The separation between greek and nongreek has gone away. Those in the greek system have actually been reaching out to those nongreek," Wright said.
those long, sororites and residence hall staff had similar goals, said Roben-Lojka.
"The goal for greeks and housing is to get women involved help them to find a community, to make connections," she said. "The more they are engaged involved, the more likely they are to stay and graduate. That's what we want."
Contact Rapp at trapp@kansan.com. This story was edited by Andrew Vaupel.
Contact Rapp at
By Aaron Passman
Kansan staff writer
Fasting marks Yom Kippur
Adam Rich, Omaha, Neb., senior, knows how it feels to go hungry for a day.
Rich, along with many other Jewish students on campus, will fast Monday for Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
Many Jews consider Yom Kippur to be the holiest day of the year, and the holiday's solemnity is marked with a day of fasting Jay Lewis, executive director of KU Hillel, said Yom Kippur allowed Jews a day to make amends not only with God, but also with other people. He said the holiday was about prayer and reflection and examining how people had lived their lives in the past year. "Fasting allows concentration on the job at hand; prayer and contemplation." Lewis said.
The holiday begins with Kol Nidre services at 7:30 p.m. at
Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union, Kol Nidre, translated from Hebrew, literally means "all vows". Yom Kippur is a holiday about forgiveness and absolution of all vows between people and God.
"For me it's a wonderful recognition in Judaism of striving to be the best person we can be, but knowing we can't always be perfect," Lewis said.
lews. Lewis said he had fasted, at least partially, every Yom Kippur since he could remember. "It definitely serves as a reminder of all the things I've done in my life in the past year and all the things I need to do better," Rich said.
Rich said he did not have a problem fasting in a college environment. For this year he said he would cook a light meal the night before Yom Kippur and spend the following day at services, napping and finally attending a "break the fast," a meal that marks the end of fasting.
"Fasting allows concentration on the job at hand; prayer and contemplation."
Jay Lewis executive director of KU Hillel
Lewis said Hillel would host at 8:00 p.m. Monday three different "break the fast" activities: a light meal at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Dr.; a pizza pool party at Naismith Hall; and a traditional Japanese dinner at Kokoro, 601 Kasold Dr.
"All together we're expecting a few hundred people at all three 'break the fasts,' Lewis said.
For more information on any Yom Kippur activities, contact Hillel at 749-5397
Universities criticize 'U.S. News' college rating system
Contact Passman at apassman@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jessica Hood.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON- The managing editor of U.S. News & World Report defended his magazine's use of SAT scores, alumni donations and administrators' opinions to rate American colleges and universities. But as new rankings came out Friday, critics still said the system was flawed.
said the system For the third consecutive year, Princeton University topped the magazine's list. Harvard and Yale tied for second place.
Brian Kelly, U.S.News managing editor, said he regretted the
emphasis placed on the rankings each year by schools and the media. However, he also maintained the rankings helped parents and high school students make an objective choice in the college selection process.
"The point of the critics is that this is not a valid way to look at colleges." Kelly said.
"They say you have to look at what kids are actually learning and what their experiences are on campus, how much time are they spending with professors and so forth.
Well, that's a nice notion, but to
actually quantify that is very difficult, if not impossible."
cut. I don't imply Kelly conceded the system's not perfect. "But is it better than anything else out there? "We think so," he said.
Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., said the role played by college presidents in the overall rankings tainted the magazine's findings. Presidents assign ratings to other institutions, accounting for 25 percent of each school's total score.
Other education experts agreed.
"That element is most subject to gamesmanship among the schools," said Donald Honeman, director of admissions at the University of Vermont.
"There is a tendency for any college president to low-ball the competitor. If the Yankees and the Mets are playing one another in the World Series, and you ask the manager of one what they think of the other, do you expect terribly objective answer?"
But Paula Compton, vice president of enrollment at the University of Toledo, said debate about the rankings' objectivity was off set by many students and parents using the rankings — to be published next week — only as a starting point.
"It's part of a process; it is one source of information," about a school, Compton said.
school, Computer said. "There are other sources of information out there — like the Web site, visiting the campus or talking to alumni."
Reindl also said the importance of the rankings decreases for individual students as they get closer to submitting applications
"There is a tendency for any college president to low-ball the competitor."
Donald Honeman director of admissions at the University of Vermont
to schools.
"At the end of the day, there are a lot of similarities between grocery stores and higher education," he said. "Word of mouth still carries a lot of weight."
Dannie M. Thompson Jr. Owner Jack Flanigan's Bar & Grill shows off the largest burger in town (12 oz.) which is 1/2 price every Tues.
"The University of Kansas student population is a very important part of the demographic of my patrons. That is why I choose the Kansan to target that audience Every time I run my Half Price Big Burger ad in the Kansan I sell twice as many burgers as I would on any other Tuesday. I know my advertising dollars with the Kansan are well spent!"
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