On the mild side
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Details page 6
Thursday September 17,1987 Vol.98,No.19
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
(USPS 650-640)
Med workers are more wary of infections
By AMBER STENGER Staff writer
More health care employees at the University of Kansas Medical Center are making an effort to protect themselves from contracting infectious diseases, especially AIDS, employees say.
The Med Center has not changed its infection control policy because of AIDS, said Marcia A. Gillain, infection control coordinator. It's just that more employees are complying with its recommendations.
"Our philosophy really hasn't changed in regards to precautions." Gilliland said. "We've always taught that all blood and body fluids can be potentially infectious. What has happened is that people because of AIDS are more careful. And so somebody who used to be very lackadaisical when they got a little blood on their hands, is using gloves now more."
The AIDS virus can not be contracted through casual contact. The virus is transmitted through blood and body fluids.
The national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta recommend that health care employees wear gloves whenever they may be in contact with a patient's blood or body fluids. When health care employees are in a situation where blood could splatter, such as treating a serious injury, they also are urged to wear protective gowns, masks and goggles. Blood, body fluids, mucous membranes and unattached skin are potentially infectious.
Jim Mathes, left, of Baldwin City, and Bill Medlen, Lawrence resident, apply Bird/X to the ledge above the Natural History Museum's main entrance. The chemical, which creates a sticky surface, is designed to prevent pigeons from landing on building ledges.
Students favor tougher policy for admissions
KU tries
By NOEL GERDES
Staff writer
A student advisory committee today will recommend to the Board of Regents that Kansas high school students be required to complete certain courses to be guaranteed admission at the six state universities.
The student advisory committee consists of the student body presidents of the Regents schools.
The recommendation would require freshmen, in addition to graduating, to have taken four years of English and three years each of science, social studies and math from an accredited Kansas high school.
The Regents will meet at 9 a.m. today in Topeka to discuss tightening admissions requirements. Their own proposed requirements include a high school curriculum similar to the students' recommendation, with two years of foreign language. The Regents proposal also includes an ACT score of 23 or better, and ranking in the top third of a class.
The advisory committee considered the Regents proposal before making its own. Jason Krakow, KU student body president, opposed part of the Regents proposal
e students' recommendation, to be e university in fall 1991, freshmen
"I think to say a student has 16 have on the AC 1 to be successful is ridiculous." he said.
The Open Admissions Question
"The system of open admissions has served the state of Kansas well over the years. It must be continued." Chancellor Gene A: Budig
High school diploma: Yes
Minimum test score: None
Class rank: No
High School GPA: No
Chancellor Gene A. Budig
High School Courses:
None required
The University of Kansas
"We are the most prestigious university in the state and I think students work harder to get into our school." Millard Storey, director of admissions
High School Courses:
4 English, 3 Math, 3 Science,
3 Social Science, 3 Foreign Language
High school diploma: Yes
Min. score: 23 ACT/1000 SAT
Class rank: Top 30%
High School GPA: No
The University of Colorado
B y
N O E L
S tephen Tonkin admits he was a marginal student in high school.
G E R D E S
Classes were difficult, especially math and English. Tonklin, Roeland Park freshman, said he made it through high school without reading a whole book.
Tomorrow, the Regents will meet in Topeka to discuss raising admissions standards at KU and other Regents schools. Stanleykopil, executive director of the board, said last week that he would recommend stricter instate requirements for some schools.
Since 1975, KU's enrollment has increased steadily. Last
Legislators, Regents, and some KU administrators and faculty members say the situation warrants a look at stricter requirements for admitting Kansas students. But KU, following the strong stand taken by Chancellor Gene A. Budig, is steadfastly against restricting admission of in-state students.
He graduated from high school in May, but said he was academically unprepared to come to KU. The University had to accept him anyway.
Since 1915, any graduate of an accredited Kansas high school, regardless of academic competency, is entitled to attend any state college or university and be enrolled in education philosophy has been to give Kansans the opportunity to go to the college of their choice.
But more people are beginning to question that philosophy.
Next week, KU's University Council, a faculty governance group, will hold a special meeting to discuss the effects of selective admissions.
Increasing enrollment, crowded classrooms, overworked faculty and little financing fat to trim have heightened the debate.
It's a problem of balance. Administrators, legislators, faculty and students are asking, "Can KU balance opportunity and excellence, and still offer open admissions?"
year's growth was the largest in
the Big Eight. The fall 1986
enrollment jump of 1,048
students at the Lawrence campus was three times the growth of
the second-fastest growing Big Eight school. First-day enrollment figures for fall 1987 show the Lawrence campus has grown by 882 students. That figure is likely to increase when the University releases 20th day enrollment figures later this month.
Meanwhile, state financing has not kept pace with growth. The results, some faculty members complain, are larger classes and less time for individual student attention.
"By limiting the number of students that can get into KU, you are dealing with the symptom, not the problem," said David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs. "Funding is the problem."
The Regents plan, called Margin of Excellence, is a three-year proposal that will bring budgets of Regents schools to within 95 percent of their peers. KU's peer schools are the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of
Ambler and other administration officials are optimistic about better fiscal times. The Board of Regents recently unveiled a plan to increase the money Kansas spends on education to a level comparable to peer institutions.
"It cannot, over the long run, but erode the education of for every student that is here," he said.
"Faculty members are running faster to stay in the same place," said Robert Lineberry, dean of liberal arts and sciences.
Some faculty say the situation warrants a look at selective admissions, but top KU administrators prefer to look toward the state to match financing with growth.
Iowa, University of Oregon,
University of Oklahoma and
University of North Carolina —
Chapel Hill. KU's budget is at
86.5 percent of peer average.
Lineberry and other faculty members worry that without additional state money to make up for student increases, the quality of education will decline.
H O R A K
Even though administrators are optimistic about budget increases, they reluctantly say that, without a budget increase that parallels student growth, limiting enrollment becomes an option.
In an attempt to slow enrollment growth, KU already has raised admission standards for out-of-state freshmen, effective next spring. Under the new requirements, out-of-state students must have a 3.0 grade point average after six semesters in high school, or at least a 2.0 GPA with an ACT composite of 23, or at least a 2.0 GPA with completion of the Regents high school curriculum. Out-of-state students with a GPA under 2.0 are automatically denied entry. Those who have at least a 2.0 GPA but don't meet other requirements are admitted on a limited basis.
KU set admission application deadlines for all students for the first time last spring in an effort to control and predict enrollment growth. But if current efforts don't slow growth and the budget doesn't keep pace, in-state enrollment limits may be another option.
M I C H A E L
In KU were to go to selective admissions for in-state students, it would be following a national trend. Forty-seven out of 50 states have some type of selective admission policy for in-state students. KU is the only one of its peer schools with open admission for in-state freshmen.
"We will simply work harder and say, 'with a finite level of resources there is a finite number of students we can enroll and ensure the same quality of education,'" Ambler said.
Del Shankel, former acting executive vice chancellor and professor of microbiology, said, "You can only add so much water to the soup before it becomes less nutritious."
For example, the University of Colorado requires all prospective freshmen, regardless of residency, to have taken four years of English; three years each of math, science social science and foreign language; and have an ACT composite score of at least 23 and ranking in the top 30 percent of a high school class.
KU's other peer institutions have less stringent admission standards, but at minimum, each requires completion of certain high school courses. Four of the five require minimum ACT or SAT composite scores.
Vancrum and supporters of a required high school curriculum say such a policy would ensure that KU freshmen would have basic competency in core classes. That would mean, they say, fewer freshman would flunk out.
State Rep. Robert Vancrum, R-Overland Park, said the Regents schools should raise admission requirements.
"The university for many students is not a competitive experience . . . it's too available to some of them." Vancrum said. "I've got real doubts whether some of those kids belong in the undergraduate curriculum at KU."
During the last legislative session, Vancram introduced a bill that would have allowed the Regents to require their recommended high school curriculum. The recommended high school curriculum is: four years of English, three years each of science, math and social studies, and two years of foreign language.
Small high school officials, mostly in western and southeast Kansas, say their students would have a hard time completing two years of foreign language. About 70 out of the state's 580 public high schools don't offer foreign
Vancrum's bill didn't pass. The key stumbling block, Vancrum said, was foreign language. He said legislators felt that small high schools could not meet that curriculum requirement.
language. The costs of bringing in a foreign language teacher are too great, they say.
One high school that might find it difficult to comply is Syracuse High School in Syracuse, a small western Kansas school with a graduating class last year of 45.
Ron Ewy, the school counselor,
said the school employed only one half-time Spanish teacher.
Requiring two years of foreign language would mean the school would have to hire additional help, which would cost the district additional money.
KU officials say foreign language, like all of the other Regents curriculum guidelines, should remain a recommendation, and not become a requirement.
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, said that the object of the Regents high school curriculum is to make sure students are prepared for college — not to limit their opportunity to study. She said she fears that if high school classes are required, many good students will be denied entry to KU.
instead, KU wants to emphasize the importance of taking the recommended classes when it sends recruiters to high schools.
"We are telling students that if they really want to go to KU, they should be properly prepared," Ramaley said.
She also opposes screening Kansas residents on the basis of standardized tests, class rankings and GPAs because they don't measure motivation and willingness to work.
"How do you tell the quality of a person and how they will develop within the institution?" she asked. "There is no test for that."
Still, some state legislators weigh the question and find open admissions wanting.
"I'm not for open admissions," said State Rep. James Lowther, R-Emporia. "All the testimony I've listened to is that open enrollment is a historic tradition and must be maintained at all
h school four years of English and science, social studies and math with aint average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale; or 2.0 GPA in nine hours of prescribed college-level work before their first or
made in make-up courses high school or subjects in the Regents reco-
m that were missed in high school.
ommendation also states that fresh- two years of foreign language in high hile attending the university.
could make exceptions for special exceptions could total no more than 10 or entering freshmen. Admissions for Kansas residents 21 or older with na, and admission requirements for i would be left to each university.
elegant director for Associated a student lobbying group, said he did students' recommendation to be a policy.
p courses that you can choose to take sessions." Tallman said. "It's still a
dent body president at Kansas State 'm concerned that the Regents are problems at KU.'
e were two schools of thought behind us standards. The first is that the sas needs to restrict admissions any students and not enough money. t some students who enter state prepared for college, so something elp them become more prepared. He immitte made its recommendation to me more prepared.
mack, student body president at Fort sity, said he was not opposed to for different schools.
House devise a strategy to "stonewall" by defending the principle of executive privilege.
1g Bork
"I never advised the White House how to meet, how to deal with the Watergate special prosecution force." Bork said. He said he did act in orders from then-Attorney General Richardson to seek a compromise between Cox and the White House over executive privilege.
"We never achieved an accommodation." Bork testified.
Watergate aside, Bork also sought o reassure Sen. Dennis Concini,-) Ariz., that he is not antagonistic to the rights of women." As solicitor general I argued positions for the protection of women broader than he Supreme Court would accept," lark said.
Concini, a key swing vote on the committee, also suggested Bork's ositions on poll taxes, integration of public accommodations and other sues over the years might cause lacks some alarm.
Bork responded, "If I were a black man but knew my record, I don't ink I'd be concerned because it's a civil rights record."
Still, Bork said he is troubled by the institutional rationale for a preamble Court ruling ordering the release of former President Donald Trump in the district of Columbia in 1954.
"I have not thought of a rationale r" the ruling, Bork said. But after a jief recess, he said he wanted to prevent it, and he hoped school segregation in the nation's palit and wouldn't "ever dream of zerruling" the 1984 decision.
18
Bork received kind words during hearing from Senate Republican bin Alan Simpson of Wyoming.
"It seems to be the extremist nomen in the rhetoric of opponents of idge Bork," Simpson said.
KANSAN MAGAZINE September 16, 1987