FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2002
4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER 6,2002
TALKTOUS
Jay Krall
editor
864-4854 or kralk@kanis.com
Brooke Hasler and Kyle Ramsey
managing editors
864-4854 or bhealer@kanis.com and
kramsey@kanis.com
Laurel Burchfield
readers' representative
864-4810 or lburchfield@kanis.com
Maggie Koerth and Amy Potter
opinion editors
864-4924 or opinion@kanis.com
Amber Agee business manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Eric Ketting retail sales manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson general manager and news adviser 864-7667 or mglbson@kansan.com
Matt Fisher sales and marketing adviser 864-7668 or mflsher@kansan.com
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Administrators must listen act on students' input
Last year the Board of Regents decided that they could fix all of KUs budget woes with a sudden and drastic tuition hike.
Administrators argued that it was needed to keep KU in competition with its peer institutions, especially in the face of state budget cuts. Students argued that it was grounded in what our neighbors were doing without consideration for what the University really needed. What was even more offensive to the students than the stretching of their pocketbooks was how this decision completely ignored student input.
Students petitioned, spoke with administrators and even went to Topeka to try to make those in power understand how much a tuition increase would hurt us. The increase passed anyway.
In early June, between spring and summer semesters when few students were on campus, it was announced that the anthropology museum was going to close to the public.
All of this seems to show a trend. The administration is uninterested in the student body. When they announced the tuition hike students were irate that such a drastic decision had been made without them. There were protests, rallies and petitions. Did the administration learn their lesson? Absolutely! They learned to announce controversial decisions at the very beginning of the summer and fall semesters before students had a chance to get their bearings and organize. This sounds to me like the wrong lesson.
Then, right as the fall semester began, it was announced that our beloved KU Info was a candidate for the budget cut axe. Even though students seem to be in favor of keeping the system as it is, the current news is that it will likely be replaced with an automated phone system and a redundant Yahoo.com rip-off.
sources to the market.
The purpose of a public school seems to be to serve the public, so the first obligation of a state university should be the people it serves. That is a group which primarily consists of the school's students.
How can KU serve the students well if it doesn't involve them in any of the decisions that affect them? Can students not be trusted to have any concept of what is good for them?
The act of the administrator making policy without input from the people governed runs contrary to the democratic principles this nation was founded on, and should not be reenforced in its schools.
As the university exists for students, hardly any decision the administration makes can seriously be said not to affect students in some way. The past year has hammered home the point that KU only has so much money to go around, and everything costs some amount of money that might otherwise be spent somewhere else wisely or foolishly.
This university's administration should notavoid the students or listen to them only after the fact. Let us decide whether it is wise or foolish because we are the ones who have to live with it.
Sam Lane for the editorial board.
Call 864-0500
Free for All
for more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
If the university decides to get rid of KU Info the phone line, then why waste money on a website? Ever heard of Yahoo.com? Hello?
--to be talked about.
I've got a question: would Jesus ever microwave a burnit so hot that even he wouldn't eat it?
□
Alright guys, I thought this topic would've been brought up by now in the Free for All, but it hasn't, so I guess I'll start it. The Girls Gone Wild commercial for the furniture company. What the ...? Seriously. That's it. Let's get people calling on this, it needs
help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
A web service replacing KU Info? That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. What if you don't have internet at home because your tuition raised this semester?
help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
I just called KU Info, and not only did the guy give me information about where I needed to go, he also gave me directions. You can't get that on the internet
图
I had no idea that KU was closing down the anthropology museum. What the...? C'mon, we need the anthropology museum. Do not close it down.
I'd like to thank MTV for allowing Shakira to give me a virtual lapdance over the TV tonight.
help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
Wooo-hoool! Yay for Polyandry! All those in favor of polyandry, say yay. Yay!
(sung) I want chicken, I want liver.
Meowmix, Meowmix, please deliver.
help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
--help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
Jimmy Fallon's right. Mary Kate isn't even half as hot as Ashley Olsen.
I've got a grand solution for the parking problem: walk.
help KU become one of U.S. News and World Report's top 25 public research universities by 2010.
GERTKEN'S VIEW
KANSAN REPORT CARD
Pass:
2002 Disorientation Guide. Every freshman should check out this collection of great Lawrence info you won't learn at Traditions Night.
Do-it-yourself music shows. Lawrence owes a lot of its coolness to home-grown venues like the Pink House and the Halfway House. Long may they live.
HARRINGTON HOUSE. Long may they stay.
Oread decision. Whether you agree or not with the tearing down of houses on the 1300 block of Ohio Street, a decision has finally been reached by Governor Graves. Maybe now we can find something new to report about.
Fail:
The new KU switchboard. More news from the budget cut front: no more live operators. Now you have to wade through an annoying automated system to get a phone number. We hope this isn't what's in store for KU Info.
GHB drugging. It's wrong and people should know that. Enough said.
Granada Renovation. Call us crazy, but isn't the point of a renovation to make a place look different? Let's hope the Ladies' Night DJ has at least improved.
PERSPECTIVES
Top 25 research university goal deserves students' scrutiny
COMMENTARY
Metaphors for the way KU officials are allocating money raised through the tuition increase are becoming as numerous as the programs and services facing cuts because of the state's cash crunch.
Jay Krall
jkrall@kansan.com
Some say the University of Kansas is building a mansion on quicksand. We're buying the gem but not the ring in which to set it.
Cliched as they are, for many students and faculty members, they aptly describe KU's financial situation, which raises more questions the more we learn about the administration's long-range plans for improvement. It's becoming clearer that those plans stand in stark contrast to the budget woes facing many schools and departments.
The University Daily Kansan's top story on Page 1A today explains the dichotomy. If you care about how your tuition money is being spent, I encourage you to read it. Then, let the Kansan
— and Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Provost David Shulenburger know what you think.
Deans and department heads are in a tough spot right now. Many have had to let faculty contracts expire and cut back on money for lab materials and even copying. Meanwhile, administrators are working on proposals for how they would use an increase in faculty to
Wouldn't that be nice? But here's a fact worthy of The Weekly World News: only 4 percent, about $3.3 million, of the tuition-increase money is being put toward keeping services that otherwise would have been cut because of the decrease in state funding. Schools and departments are competing for a big chunk of the rest and they won't be able to spend it where they need it most. Instead, they'll have to show how their plan would help KU move up the list.
Admittedly, the issue is complex. Some of the money allocated for enhancements will benefit students directly, such as money for classroom improvements and instructional support. But if you're a student paying higher tuition this semester, the plan is worth examining closely. Many students and faculty are wondering, why force
schools and departments to present competing plans on how to help KU reach a long-term goal when some schools are already cutting back on course offerings because of budget cuts?
Few question that becoming a top25 research university is a worthy pursuit, even if it is just a spot on a list compiled by a bunch of editors at a stodgy weekly news magazine. What's starting to irk people on this campus is that administrators have agreed with the Board of Regents to spend most of the new money on "enhancements" while the University's basic infrastructure goes down the tubes.
As we have for the first two weeks of class, the Kansan will continue to bring you stories about how budget cuts are affecting KU. But we want to know what you think. Drop off a letter to the editor at 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall, or e-mail it to Kansan opinion editors Maggie Koerth or Amy Potter, mkoerth@kansan.com or aepotter @kansan.com.
Decide for yourself whether KU administrators are demonstrating exceptional foresight or neglecting students' pressing needs. And let your thoughts be known.
Krall is a Bartlett, III., senior in journalism. He is editor of the Kansan.
Take advantage of KU's wealth of diversity and differences
For many people, the University of Kansas can seem a pretty big and intimidating place. I know I felt that way when I first got here, and I know that is how many new students feel these first few weeks.
It's true that there are thousands of students here, but that is no reason to feel lost or alone on campus.
One of the most important things I realized after living on campus for a little over a month was there are plenty of people who share my views on everything from homework to world issues.
I had to make the effort to get out of my dorm, where although the people were great, it was not always easy to talk to them.
I just had to find them.
I went to a very small high school, where it was hard to find anyone who cared about social responsibility, world politics, and saving the civil rights of people everywhere. I soon realized that KU is not my small, sheltered high school, but a vast wealth of people, ideas and perspectives.
about the things I cared about.
GUEST COMMENTARY
Finally, I could talk to people who think like I do, and take some real action toward the issues I care about so much.
I happen to have views that are not the majority in most cases, so finding not just a few, but many people who hold the same basic values that I do was a comfort and a confidence builder for me.
Sara Zalar
opinion@kansan.com
In the past, I might have been afraid to get out there and start meeting people and
sharing myself and my thoughts with everyone, but I now know that although my opinions might not be accepted by everyone I meet, I am not alone in my ideas.
Before I let this go any farther,I should tell the point of all this.
I am no longer hesitant about expressing myself to anyone. Granted, this has gotten me into some tricky situations, but all in all, I am better off because of it.
Basically, all I am saying is this: there are a lot of people out there, who know what it is like to feel alone in their beliefs and opinions, but, like me, you are not alone. College is all about learning, and not just out of textbooks.
My time here, along with that of (almost) every other KU student, will be spent in classes, jobs, parties and clubs, meeting
Learning how to live life is one of the most valuable lessons most people take away from their time on a college campus. Life is best lived when in the company of others, especially when those people support your ideas, and help you open your mind to new ones.
new people, and constantly having new experiences.
I look at everything with eyes opened just a little wider; looking for something new and exciting to be gained from every turn my life may take. I can thank the people I have met so far for that perspective.
I don't have any more experience than the next girl, but on a personal level, my life has changed because of the many relationships I have formed here, on campus and off.
I don't spend my time worrying about how I fit in anymore, but am satisfied that I do, somewhere.
Zatar is a Wichita sophomore who is unde- cided.