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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SCHOLARSHIP
Renewable energy grant funds open
LAURA SATHER
lsather@kansan.com
Thanks to a $552,000 grant given to the University by the National Science Foundation last month, students working with renewable energy can receive $10,000 scholarships.
Sixteen to 20 students will be selected each year for the scholarships, which are renewable for up to three years. Half of the available scholarships will be given to transfer students from Haskell Indian Nations University or Johnson County Community College.
Qualifying students must be full-time sophomores or juniors working toward a degree in science, technology, engineering or
math, or one of the STEM disciplines. They also must meet U.S. immigration requirements and demonstrate financial need.
Recipients will take renewable energy and nanotechnology courses while receiving faculty mentoring and opportunities to participate in seminars, field trips and outreach projects. Students will work on renewable energy research projects with one of 40 University faculty members.
The deadline for scholarship applications is Aug. 31. An online application can be found on KU's solar energy website at http://solenergyku.edu/system.
— Edited by Marla Daniels
THE KU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WELCOMES NEW DEAN NEELI BENDAPUDI
The upcoming semester brings a new face to the dean's office. Neeli Bendapdi will become the Dean of the University of Kansas School of Business.
Already a Jawahire, Neill returns to the School where she earned her doctorate in marketing in 1994. She has been a professor of marketing at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business since 2008, where she began as an
assistant professor in 1996. Neel earned an MBA from Andhra University in India in 1985, where she also did her undergraduate work.
"As a new dean, I am so pleased to return to Lawrence, a place I called during my years as a graduate student. I am eager to meet tomorrow's business leaders and to share my enthusiasm for the KU School of Business."
MEET NEELI AT THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WELCOME AND SOCIAL
Sunday,Aug.21
2-3 p.m.
Lawn area north of Summerfield Hall
We're not business as usual business.ku.edu
Students to pay loans right away
DEBT
ALEXA RUSH
arush@kansan.com
Undergraduates don't worry, the federal debt limit bill passed doesn't affect you, but it does affect graduate and professional students.
The Budget Control Act of 2011, which would allow the debt ceiling to be raised up to $2.4 trillion in two stages, requires all graduate and professional students receiving federal loans to pay interest. However, this change won't go into effect until July 1, 2012.
Subsidized interest on Stafford Loans will be eliminated. Unsubsidized loans are still available, but students should be aware that interest will start to accumulate while they are busy hitting the books.
Under the previous system, interest did not accrue as long as the borrower was at least a half-time student. It also offered a six month grace period immediately following graduation.
"About 35 percent of Lawrence/ Edwards graduate and professional students receive need-based loans each year, with an average annual loan amount of about $7,700," KU spokeswoman Jill less said.
forces. The changes do not affect existing loans. Additionally, students will no longer be rewarded for making payments on time.
With this new bill in place, there will no longer be a grace period and students are expected to begin paying the interest that has gathered on their loans promptly after being handed their diploma unless a student returns to school or enters the armed
Brandon Gillette, vice president of the Graduate Association of Students in Philosophy, has concerns about the new financial stress students will face.
"The graduate students who do not have another source of funding will either have to choose between unsubsidized or private loans, both of which have higher interest rates and thus higher cost," Gillette said.
The Congressional Budget Office states that by removing the subsidized loan program for graduate and professional students and eliminating certain loan repayment incentives, direct spending will be reduced by about $21.6 billion from 2012 to 2021. From this amount gathered, $17 billion will be put toward the funding of the Pell Grant program, which should prove to be good news for an estimated 4,175 Lawrence and Edwards students and 106 Medical Center undergraduates who receive federal Pell Grants each year.
"This act should not have a direct impact on the amount of financial aid awarded to students," Jess said. "Students may minimize federal student loan interest by borrowing responsibly — borrowing only what is needed for educational expenses.
Edited by Mike Lavieri
BY THE NUMBERS
Federal debt ceiling increase:
$14.4 trillion to $16.2 trillion
Rule change effective: July 1, 2012
Average aid to graduate students in 2010 $22,687
Federal spending on aid reduced by: $21.6 billion
KU students receiving Pell Grants each year 4.281
"Graduate students who do not have another source of funding will either have to choose between unsubsidized or private loans, both of which have higher interests rates, and thus higher cost."
BRANDON GILLETTE.
Vice president of the Graduate Association of Students in Philosophy
SOURCE: SIMPLETUITION, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
MONDAY CONTINUED | 1
remain the same.
Additionally, the new schedule will reduce the total number of instructional days from 150 to 146 each year, allowing 73 class days per semester.
George Bittlingmayer, former chairman of the University Senate calendar committee, said the shortened academic school year will liken Kansas to other universities around the country.
"When you look at the number of class days at other universities you'll see that the number is less," Bittlingmayer said. "We were at 150 and that was longer than anybody else."
adjustments for the new schedule, as enrollment will remain open until the day before classes begin.
University offices such as New Student Orientation, Admissions and Study Abroad have also made
The new Monday start will also cause changes for events during Hawk Week, which used to begin before classes started. Hawk Week will begin today and will continue through Aug. 27.
After more than two years of deliberation, the calendar committee decided to maintain the same scheduling for Stop Day, commencement and the summer semester.
A PDF version of the academic calendar, including the changes, is available on the registrar's website at www.registrar.ku.edu/calendar/ .
Edited by Lisa Curran
NATIONAL
Ohio statehouse could allow bar
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After spending their days serving the public, Ohio lawmakers soon might be able to head to the basement and get served at the pub.
State officials are debating a proposal to establish the nation's only statehouse bar — a venue where lawmakers and even members of the public could tip a few back after hours if they reserve the space.
Opponents say it would be inappropriate to open a bar in a government building frequented by schoolchildren, while others note that alcohol already flows freely at Statehouse events.
"My point of view is Prohibition ended in the 1930s, so what's the big deal?" said Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican. "We're not talking about putting George Jones and Willie Nelson on the jukebox and having people spending all their waking hours in the Capitol Cafe, drowning their sorrows. But the idea that there's alcohol in the Statehouse should be completely unsurprising to anyone."
Republican Rep. Rex Dammschroder, an advocate of tough anti-drinking laws, said the Statehouse is a place where adults and children go to learn
history and see government in action — not lawmakers bellying up to the bar.
"At this point, I am aware of no valid reason for a bar to be located in the center of Ohio's government operations," he wrote in a recent letter to a Statehouse operations committee. "There are plenty of bars in downtown Columbus, and the Statehouse is the last place that should be added to the list."
The caterer who conceived the idea for installing the granite counter that would serve beer, wine and liquor for reserved events like wedding rehearsal dinners says he was simply trying to attract new customers to an underused basement cafeteria. The Capitol Cafe opened this month, without alcohol. It doesn't include taps or other permanent bar-like fixtures; the spirits must be carried in.
The panel that oversees Statehouse operations has slowed the project's pace, assigning it to a study committee that will sort out what the business should offer.
The venue was never intended to be a traditional bar, Louie Pappas says—and he acknowledges that a PR blitz last month, touting a full-service bar for after-hours "private happy hours" with specialty bistro menus and flat-screen televisions, went onboard.
REX'S DOWNTOWN STADIUM BARBERSHOP $6.99 FIRST TIME CUSTOMER SPECIAL
1033 MASS (785) 855-5565 OPEN MON-FRL 7am 5-30pm SAT 7am 2pm