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September 6, 2002
Vol. 113. Issue No. 13
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KANSAN
Jayhawks' defense hopes to beat the odds against Rebels p.10A
Financial upheavals
Plan creates controversy
By Molly Gise and Kyle Ramsey Kansan staff writers
One of the first mentions of Chancellor Robert Hemenway's new goal for the University of Kansas came two years ago during Faculty Convocation.
Hemenway told the audience about his dream of seeing KU become a top-25 public university in the U.S. News and World Report's ranking of the nation's higher-education institutions. The magazine ranked the University No.39 in its 2002 analysis.
Hemenway's plan is now more than a dream. The administration is pumping millions of tuition increase dollars into achieving the chancellor's goal, hoping to meet it by 2010.
"If the tuition just goes into a hole that's been created by the Legislature's inability to fund the University at a level they would like to, then it just sort of gets negated." Hemenway said.
But some students and faculty members question whether Hemenway's plan neglects KU's budget crisis.
The recent state budget cuts and the threat of more to come push Hemenway's dream further from reality, said off-campus senator Drew Thomas, Hays senior. "They're going to have to deal with the short-term problems
because of the funding issues of the state," he said.
Budget cuts and grand plans
Amid deep cuts in the state budget, the University has been asked to do a lot with a little. Programs across campus are facing hardship, maybe even elimination. The University's Museum of Anthropology and some programs under the direction of the Kansas Geological Survey fell victim to the cuts. KU Info's call-in line may face the same fate.
At the same time, this year's tuition increase brought the University $8.6 million that the Board of Regents earmarked for improvements, not for plugging holes in the budget. In contrast, the tuition-increase deal allocated $3.3 million to replace the more than $6 million cut the state made in KU's allowance. That left a $2.7 million deficit.
Provost David Shulenburger released an outline last week of how the University would spend the $8.6 million in campuswide improvements, including classroom repairs and increased salaries for graduate teaching assistants.
Shulenburger asked the deans to prepare proposals outlining how they would use a 15 percent increase in faculty to help bring the University closer to the chancellor's goal of top-25 status.
Those schools with the best plans likely will get the most money.
Kim Wilcox, dean of liberal arts and sciences, said the competition for tuition dollars would improve the overall quality of the University.
"This is not so much about any one of us doing well," Wilcox said, "but how do we collectively move ahead by supporting the best among us."
A watchful Student Senate
Despite the administration's optimistic outlook of the University's chances to join the elite by 2010, some student senators have their doubts.
Student Body President Jonathan Ng formed a seven-student committee to keep tabs on how the University spends tuition money and to educate students about the budget process.
Thomas said being a top-25 school would help the University attract better faculty and would shine the image of the state.
"it's a good goal," he said, "but it's kind of hard to say how we get there."
A goal of this magnitude should have been started during rosiere economy times, said gradu-
SEE TOP25 ON PAGE 5A
Cuts concern taxpayers
Kansan staff writer
By Caleb Nothwehr
Kanson staff writer
When dealing with the current budget crisis, University of Kansas administrators and state legislators are expecting another difficult year.
Some Kansans are concerned with the threat of higher taxes, said Karl Peterjohn, executive director of the Kansas Taxpayers Association based in Wichita.
Peterjohn said spending money on higher education was not a sound investment for taxpayers because college graduates were leaving the state in pursuit of better economic opportunities.
"Universities are an investment in human capital, but the capital is leaving the state," Peterjohn said. "People are
"People are voting with their feet."
Karl Peterjohn
Kansas Taxpayers Association executive director
voting with their feet."
Education is an easy target for cuts because it makes up 67 percent of the state's budget, said State Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence and assistant vice provost for student support. K-12 will receive 54 percent of that, and 13 percent will go toward higher education.
"A lot of people say 'You guys get a lot of money and you're always asking for more.'" Ballard said.
As both a legislator and a University administrator, Ballard said she saw the
importance of higher education but understood that, during a budget crisis, funds had to be cut to provide for other state needs, such as prisons and senior citizens.
Some legislators who have tried to push education funding in the past have run into a roadblock put up by the voters.
When Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson and president of the Kansas senate, ran for the republican gubernatorial seat, he listed the protection of education funding as a campaign promise, a message Kerr said wasn't well-received.
"I wasn't elected," he said.
Legislators have a hard time pleasing voters without raising taxes when state revenues are dropping each year, Kerr
SEE CUTS ON PAGE 5A
Student funds won't pay for landscaping
By Jenna Goepfert
Kansan staff writer
Officials at the University of Kansas want to spend $23 million on their Campus Landscape Master Plan, but they say students shouldn't worry about the price tag.
John Scarffe, communications director for the Kansas University Endowment Association, said people upset about the funding of the plan had sent several letters to the editor of the Lawrence Journal-World. They assumed that increased tuition and
state dollars were going to finance the master plan. Scarffe said neither increased tuition nor state dollars would be used toward the landscaping project.
Scarffe and University Architect Warren Corman said private donations would cover the cost of the project.
The Endowment Association, a nonprofit foundation separate from both the University and the state of Kansas, handles all private dona-
SEE MASTER PLAN ON PAGE 5A
UNITY dance team brings hip-hop, diversity to KU
The UNITY Hip Hop Dance Treupe rehearses for its Sept. 11 show at Wescoe Beach. The KU dance group will perform "Ten Minutes of Funk" in memory of the Sept. 11 victims.
Zach Straus/KANSAN
By Katie Nelson
Kansan staff writer
Oblivious to the tangerine-colored sunset pouring through the windows of Hashinger Hall's dance studio, UNITY goes over the steps of its newest routine.
The members of the University of Kansas' only hip-hop dance group meet twice a week for two hours.
The one male and 11 female members gather each week to prepare for upcoming performances, grooving their way through their own spunky choreography on the studio's scarred wood floors.
This week, the troupe is getting ready for a Wesco Beach performance at 12:20 p.m. on September 11.
Dancing in memory of 9/11 victims is fitting, they say, considering UNITY's
"Hip-hop is primarily African-American, but we're here, a little family on KU's big campus." said Ashley Love, the group's lead member.
mission: embracing diversity through a common interest of hip-hop dance.
Love, a Kansas City, Kan. seniary, has been in UNITY since her freshman year.
During rehearsal Tuesday evening, they exchanged worried looks in the studio's cracked mirrors when things weren't always coming together the way they wanted.
Molly Smith has been a UNITY member for three years. The Great Bend senior is a dance major whose self-proclaimed strength is hip-hop, but the University doesn't offer any classes on that dance style.
The members of the 7-year-old group said UNITY had a lot of fun.
"The only way you are going to be hyped is to practice hyped!" one of the girls shouted across the room to the four newer dancers who were practicing a routine of their own.
"I took hip-hop at a studio at home, so I was really excited when I came across a flier for UNITY try-outs," Smith said. "I think it's one of the best experiences I've had at KU."
And dancing together offers challenges of its own.
"At first, I was like, 'Is my style going to match everyone else's?' Some people use a lot of popping, or use a lot of hops or flowy movements or are stiff."
It's well worth it though, she said.
"It's not just drill, drill, drill." Jenks said of UNITY rehearsals. "It's more about dancing and doing it for fun."
Contact Nelson at knelson@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jessica Hood.
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