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Thursday, September 8, 2011
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011
LEGISLATION
GI Bill gets complicated for vets
BOBBY BURCH
bburch@kansan.com
The Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act was intended to simplify the application process for and delivery of the GI Bill's benefits, according to the US Department of Veteran Affairs' website.
However, for the University's Office of Veteran Services, the new bill only further complicates its job, forcing some student veterans at the University of Kansas to wait for their financial support.
"Generally they would have already paid my tuition and given the refund by now," said Jake Robinson, senior from Oberlin and an Army veteran of the war in Iraq.
The bill, signed into law by President Obama in January 2010, amends the original post-9/11 GI Bill and expands the pool of eligible recipients. The bill now allows for: National Guard members, students of non-college degree programs and those involved in on-the-job training to receive benefits.
Additionally, the bill protrates a student's GI Bill benefits according to any additional grants or scholarships designated for tuition and fees.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN President Obama signed the Gl bill into law in January 2010, amending the original post-9/11 bill. This change expanded the pool of eligible recipients.
While the bill is more inclusive, its conditions are troublesome for both students and the University's Office of Veteran Services, according to Betty Colbert, the University's Veteran Affairs certifying official.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
"It has not gotten better — it's gotten worse;" Colbert said.
Cobert said that because of the bins' stipulations must review her work with other University offices, such as the advising center, which lengthens the amount of time to process each student's application.
She said that before the bill's changes a student's application would take about 30 to 45 minutes to process, but now the procedure can take up to two hours.
And for some of the bill's 463 beneficiaries at the University, Colbert said, the added processing time can add up to significant delays.
"It gets so convoluted." Colbert said.
Felix Zacharias, a graduate student from Wichita and Marine veteran of the war in Iraq, said he's concerned with the new bill's delays.
Edited by Ben Chipman
"It's irritating for me personally," Zacharias said. "That my fellow veterans are getting mistreated — intentionally or not."
While some veterans feel the VA could improve its handling of the bill, others are pleased that more people can benefit from its changes.
"It's a little bit of a hassle," Robinson said. "But it's a small price to pay to make sure that a lot of people that wouldn't have got the benefits before are going to get them."
KU tweets memories of 9/11
R Tho
R Tho
@UDK_NEWS I was in my 7th grade English class & my teacher was freaking out because she had friends who worked near the World Trade Center.
E E T H E P a t i o n
GEImer125
@UDK_NEWS
Walking into weight
lifting class my
Sophomore year in
high school.
Aaron Berlin
@UDK_NEWS I was sitting in my math class in 6th grade when my principal came over the intercom crying saying how a plane hit the 1st tower.
@UDK_N_EWS I was sitting in my *k*chen in the same chair I was sitting in when I saw the OKC bombing on the news.
murphykav6
jocilyn_rae
@URK_NEWS
Getting ready for 4th grade picture day. Sat on my mom's bed and watched the second plane hit. Towers fell on the bust to school!
@UDK_NEWS |
was in 4th grade in the principal's office getting in trouble, and I saw the footage and thought he was watching a movie.
Aboio
nis1407
@UDK. NEWS in
7th grade World History
class. The principal
came by to tell us what
happened but didn't
allow us to watch the
news all day.
Humanitarian Bowl. Last week in their opener, they put up 49 points against Army, a touchdown more than Kansas scored against FCS opponent McNeese State. Its top two running backs each averaged 9.9 and 7.3 yards per carry, and their quarterback, senior Chandler Harnish, threw for five touchdowns. So yeah, Northern Illinois is good. Good enough for Vegas oddsmakers to make them nearly a touchdown favorite in Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Kansas football is still a year or two away from doing any kind of damage in whatever conference it will be in, but a 2-0 start that includes an early upset could do wonders for a young team looking to firmly remove that rearview mirror from its perch.
Edited by Lindsey Deiter
sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb averaged more than 20 yards a completion, including three touchdown passes that were all more than 25 yards.
Coach Turner Gill and his staff would like to see a similar effort from their team this Saturday against Northern Illinois.
"I think the other thing that's going to be important for us is making sure that we have a 2-to-1 ratio when it comes to big plays," Gill said. "I'm talking about 20 yards or more that we need to be 2-to-1 ratio as far as our big plays in our favor versus them with the plus 20 yards."
Kansas ran the same amount of plays as McNeese State on Saturday, had the ball for nearly ten minutes less, and scored 18 more points than its opponent.
Offensive coordinator Chuck Long said the big plays that were present Saturday were missing from the offense last season.
JORDAN WEBB
Sophomore quarterback
"Big plays are huge in college football," Long said. "It's very
opened the second possession with a 30-yard run. The freshmen running backs added playmaking capabilities as well. Darrin Miller averaged 4.8 yards a carry and Tony Pierson averaged 14.6 yards a carry.
"We feel like we have a running game that is built for explosive plays." Webb said. "We can get the 70 and 60 yarders out of the running game just as easy as the passing game."
Even though the run-game is full of playmakers, the receivers are without one of their top players. Senior Daymond
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Freshman receiver JaCorey Shepherd, who caught three passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns in his Kansas debut, will replace Patterson with his 4.5 speed.
The newfound, ground-heavy attack is far away from the spread offense Mark Mangino ran, but that doesn't mean that a more balanced style won't provide just as many opposing defense-killing, scoring opportunities.
"When you look at steady offenses like that in the past, they are traditionally run-play action pass teams and a lot of times they get open," receivers coach David Beaty said. "They don't have a whole lot of passes in the game, but a lot of times they count for big points. That's the direction our offense is headed in."
- Edited by Jennifer DiDonato
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb hands the ball to freshman running back Derrian Miller. "We did exactly what we wanted to do. We ran the ball and as quabarbacks and receivers we made the plays that we needed to and that's the team we need to be," Webb said.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Legends of the Phog game
That familiar Max Falkenstein draw will return before college basketball season even begins.
Falkenstein to announce
Falkenstein and his iconic voice will join Dave Armstrong in broadcasting the Legends of the Phog alumni game at 4 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Allen Fieldhouse. The
A
game is now officially sold out, according to Kansas Athletics.
Brian Hanni and Bud Stallworth will announce for the Jayhawk Radio Network, which will broadcast the game to the state — KCSP (610 Sports) in Kansas City. WIBW (580 AM) in Topeka and KLWN (1320 AM) in Lawrence.
1
Max Rothman