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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008
Fine Arts considers changes New name, organization could be in school's future; administrators assure students of a smooth transition
BY JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
The University will reorganize the School of Fine Arts and rename it the School of the Arts, pending the approval of the Kansas Board of Regents.
The School of Fine Arts currently includes the art, design,
music and dance departments. If the Regents passed the request, the new School of the Arts wou ld include the department of art and the department of dance. The department of theater and film would also become part of the school.
"This decision will benefit me and everyone else."
AMY VIRGINIA BUCHANAN Theater Major
Under the proposed plan, the music department would still be a part of the school but would be given greater autonomy, including having its own dean. The department of design would join the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, though some design classes would be part of the School of the Arts.
The school would still operate as part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
John Gronbeck-Tedesco, interim dean of the School of Fine Arts, said that, although classes would be changed, no student would have to take more courses and that every student had the right to be informed of the changes.
"Students who come in on a particular catalog are entitled to finish their degree on that catalog," Gronbeck-Tedesco said. "These new changes cannot affect students who came in on a previous catalog."
Amy Virginia Buchanan. Stillwater, Okla., senior and theater major, said she wasn't worried about the changes being made.
"As a whole, the faculty would never make a decision that wouldn't directly benefit students," Buchanan said. "They've always made it very clear that they want
to take care of us. This decision will benefit me and every one else"
Buchanan is on the Undergraduate Theatre Council, a student group that works with department administrators.
"Although we knew about it, I didn't realize it was going to happen so soon, so it shook me up a little bit," Buchanan said.
Gronbeck-Tedesco compared fine arts degrees with professional degrees like those offered
in law, engineering and pharmacy. He said that the specific area of the school that the students entered would affect how similar their degrees would be to professional ones.
to take additional classes if the Regents allowed the University to implement the proposed changes.
"I'm personally not concerned about being able to find a job either," Buchanan said. "What prospective jobs will be looking at will be my resume, not so much my college degree."
Andy Jackson, Overland Park sophomore and music education major, said he wasn't concerned about the proposed changes. Jackson said he received an e-mail from the School of Fine Arts last week informing him about the proposal.
"Instead of having one dean that does everything, the music department will have a dean just for us, which will allow us to do more things that apply specifically to music students," Jackson said.
Jackson said the high level of interaction between fine arts students and their advisers would also help make the transition smoother if the proposed changes took place. Students in the school are assigned a specific
"Instead of having one dean that does everything, the music department will have its own dean just for us..."
Buchanan said that she had been assured she wouldn't need
ANDY JACKSON Music Major
If a student entered into the arts curriculum and chose a bachelor's degree, he said, the student's degree would be considered a broader endeavor than a professional degree.
adviser whom they meet with regularly to ensure that they get all their required classes into their schedules, Jackson said.
game," Jackson said.
Gronbeck-Tedesco said the new plan was cost-effective and would require no additional funding or reductions in staff. If passed, the plan would go into effect in July 2009.
— Edited by Adam Mowder
Today's Homecoming Events Monday, Oct.20
- Medieval Monday, Wescoe, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
- Free food, Wescoe, Noon-1 p.m.
- Quest for the Homecoming Grail kickoff
- Basketball tournament, KU Rec Center
- Homecoming Murals. Wescoe. 10 a.m - 2 p.m
- Basketball Tournament, KU Rec Center
Tomorrow,Tuesday,Oct.21
Quest for the Homecoming Grail Clue Clue #1
This building is open from 8 a.m.to midnight. Good Luck!
This English gothic style building opened in 1924 and is the oldest and largest of ten.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Colin Powell, a Republican and retired general who was President Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party Sunday and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling him a "transformational figure" while criticizing the tone of John McCain's campaign.
www.homecoming.ku.edu
POLITICS
Republican Colin Powell announces Obama support
Former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell speaks during a taping of "Meet the Press" at NBC on Sunday in Washington. Powell, a Republican who was President Bush's first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president Sunday, and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain's campaign.
"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he announced the endorsement and delivered a serious blow to the aspirations of his longtime friend, Arizona Sen. McCain.
The former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman said either senator is qualified to be commander in chief. But after studying both, he concluded that Obama is better suited than McCain, the standard-bearer of Powell's own party, to handle the nation's economic problems and help improve its world standing.
The endorsement by Powell amounted to a stunning rejection of McCain, a 26-year veteran of Congress and a former Vietnam prisoner of war who has campaigned as the experienced, tested candidate who knows how to keep the country safe.
But, Powell added: "I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."
Powell's endorsement has been much anticipated because of his impressive foreign policy credentials, a subject on which Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is weak. Powell is a Republican centrist popular among moderate
voters.
At the same time, Powell is a black man and Obama would be the nation's first black president
— a goal Powell considered pursuing for himself in 1996, before deciding not to run. Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision.
Powell expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain's campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and their decision.
ming mate and focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical William Ayers, saying "it goes too far."
Aco-founder of the Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for nonfatal
"I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama."
COLIN POWELL Former Secretary of State
"Well, I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come
bombings in the United States during the Vietnam War-era, Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. He and Obama also served together on civic boards in Chicago.
United States, which is the job of the vice president," he said. "And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."
"This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign," Powell said. "But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him?"
Powell said McCain's choice of Palin raised questions about judgment.
McCain seemed dismissive of Powell's endorsement, saying he had support from four other former secretaries of state, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.
"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired. But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks. I don't believe she's ready to be president of the
as a surprise," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."
A sked whether the endorsement would undercut his campaign's assertion that Obama is not ready to lead, McCain said.
"Well, again, we have a very, we have a respectful disagreement, and I think the American people will pay close attention to our message for the future and keeping America secure."
Powell also said he was troubled that some Republicans — he excluded McCain — continue to say or allow others to say that Obama is a Muslim, when he is a Christian. Such rhetoric is polarizing, he said.
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"He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America," Powell said. "Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"
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Obama called Powell to thank him for the endorsement, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
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"I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell," Obama said at a rally in Fayetteville, N.C. "Gen. Powell has defended this nation bravely, and he has embodied our highest ideals through his long and distinguished public service.