tuesday, october 21, 2003
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Economy affects prepaid tuition
By Maggie Newcomer
mnewcomer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Rising costs and falling investments have forced several states to suspend their prepaid tuition plans, but Kansans are still in the clear.
Beth Randolph Taylor, representative of American Century Investments, said Kansas had never had a prepaid tuition plan because it locked students into a certain school.
"Learning Quest was a better option," Taylor said, "because it allows students to choose the college."
Learning Quest is a national campaign that Kansas has adopted. With Learning Quest, families can invest in state selected mutual funds for college tuition with the option of choosing any public, private, community or technical college tax free.
Prepaid tuition plans were designed to protect families from skyrocketing tuition costs by allowing parents to buy tuition credits at current rates.
The state then deposits the money in long-term investments, thinking that by the time the
child is ready to go to college the earnings will match tuition prices.
"A couple has a baby today." Taylor said, "and they can pay KU's current tuition."
The problem then is the child must attend the University of Kansas to use that money, Taylor said.
only, Taylor said. "It's like comparing apples and oranges," Taylor said.
Learning Quest, unlike prepaid tuition plans, is not at all affected by the struggling economy, Taylor said.
The states that have been affected so far are Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Texas and Colorado. The problem is tuition is rising faster than investment earnings.
For Kansas students wanting to go out of state, they might have to rethink their savings. Stephanie Covington, assistant director of financial aid, said.
Covington said she didn't think the University had any plans to implement a prepaid tuition program.
Starting to save early, Covington said, was the best way to avoid tuition problems.
—Edited by Abby Sidesinger
Deadline for College Bowl approaches
By Paul Kramer
pkramer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Armchair Jeopardy! contestants have an opportunity to get off the couch and show their skills.
The annual University of Kansas College Bowl team tournament, sponsored by Student Union Activities, has a registration deadline of Friday, Oct.29, at 4 p.m in the Student Union Activities office.
Jamie Labrier, SUA recreation and travel coordinator, said that College Bowl was popular for serious as well as casual teams.
"It can be pretty competitive,"
Labrier said. "But its also a fun way for students to show their general knowledge."
Although all teams are invited to participate, don't think that any group of your friends would be able to come in and win the tournament.
Scott McKenzie, vice-president of membership development for SUA and member of last year's team "Bungalows and the Shackers," said his team was beaten soundly.
"We got stomped," McKenzie said. "It gets pretty intense and some people take it really seriously."
Among those who take the event seriously are the defending
University champions, a team of students from Edmund, Okla.
Jessica Moore, Edmund Okla., junior, said her team was made up of people she had competed with in high school.
"We were all on a quiz bowl team in high school, so we already had different areas of expertise," Moore said.
Look for Moore and the rest of the Edmund team to compete for the third year in a row this year.
"I hope we compete again." Moore said. "We finished second two years ago and first last year."
Team captains must attend an orientation meeting Nov. 6 at 8:00 p.m.at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union.
Teams must have four participants and an alternate along with a $30 registration fee.
The tournament is set up in a round robin style, then brackets are made based on that performance.
The winning team of the competition in the union will go to regional at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.
The tournament will take place Nov. 14 and 15. Only 32 teams will be allowed in the bowl. Priority will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Edited by Joey Berlin
Trial begins in D.C.-area sniper case
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad won the right to serve as his own lawyer yesterday in a surprise, last-minute request at his murder trial. He broke a year of stony silence by proclaiming his innocence in a rambling opening statement and asking a witness: "Have you ever seen me shoot anyone?"
It was not clear why Muhammad decided to fire his lawyers, who will serve as standby counsel
The Associated Press
in the first trial to come out of last year's sniper spree. Last week, Muhammad told the judge that he was satisfied with his attorneys.
Muhammad's decision to represent himself in the death penalty case means he could end up cross-examining his accusers, perhaps survivors of the shootings.
In his 20-minute opening statement, Muhammad said nothing about the shootings except to deny involvement.
deny involvement "I know what happened. I know what didn't happen.
They're basing what they said about me on a theory. If we monitor (the evidence) step by step, it will all show I had nothing to do with these crimes," he told the jury.
Muhammad, 42, is charged in the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers, a 53-year-old Vietnam veteran who was gunned down outside a northern Virginia gas station last October. He was the seventh victim in a three-week shooting spree that left 10 people dead in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, were arrested last Oct. 24 at a highway rest stop in Maryland. Prosecutors have said the shootings were part of a plot to extort $10 million from the government.
Prosecutors say Malvo has made several statements to police and jail guards in which he confessed involvement in many of the attacks. But Muhammad barely spoke to investigators, and offered only terse, one-word answers to questions in many pretrial hearings.
Librarian recalls 'Brown v. Board'
By Johanna M. Maska
imaska@kansan.com
maska@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Three houses and a legacy of segregation stood between one African-American family and Parkdale Elementary School.
In 1954 Deborah Dandridge was in the second grade and had a choice: to keep walking or to stop short.
If she kept walking, Dandridge would remain at the all African-American Washington Elementary School, four blocks from her house. If she stopped short in her four-block walk, Dandridge would be just three houses away from home at the all-white Parkdale Elementary School.
Dandridge's parents made the call:Dandridge walked.
The little girl, once bundled up for the walk to her school, knew the controversy around the landmark desegregation court case, Brown v. Board of Education. Fifty years later, Dandridge, Spencer Research librarian, is the newest appointee to the case's 50-year commemorative commission, which arranges seminars about the case across the nation.
After Brown v. Board of Education gave Dandridge the right to attend previously all-white schools, Dandridge walked for the next five years. In seventh grade, Dandridge started school at an integrated Topeka middle school. Although Dandridge's parents were concerned that teachers would underestimate their daughter if she were at the traditionally white school, she spent the majority of her schooling at integrated schools. She said that, at the time, she benefited from her few years at Washington. Teachers there, she said, prepared her for integrated schools by telling her racial prejudice would
be a lifelong battle.
"People didn't like being segregated, but they certainly made lemons into lemonade," Dandridge said.
Post-desegregation. Dandridge embraced her battle against racial prejudice and found integrated schools weren't as hard for her as she thought. Dandridge was often the only African American in a classroom, she said, she had teachers who believed in her.
As a Washburn University undergraduate student, Dandridge took interest in American history, which continued at Atlanta University, now Clark Atlanta University.
Moving back to her roots in Kansas, Dandridge returned to the University of Kansas to explore a graduate degree in American studies. Before she finished, Dandridge was recruited to the University faculty. At Spencer Research Library, as the field archivist for a grant studying African-American life in Kansas, Dandridge has worked with African-American materials in library's Kansas Collection since 1986.
lection since 1980. The library plays a large roll in organizing Brown v. Board of Education material, Dandridge said. Receiving the grant was quite an honor, she said, because the University was the first traditionally white school given a grant to research African-American life.
came me." "This indicates a unique roll Kansas has played in race relations," Dandridge said.
Dandridge is on sabbatical this semester to develop tactics to teach using primary sources in research.
She also takes regular flights to Washington, D.C., as she works with the committee for the Brown v.Board of Education series to commemorate the 50th anniversary.
sary. The series will culminate at the University in a four-day seminar, March 14 to March 17, 2004.
Edited by Cate Batchelder
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2003 Flu Immunization Clinics Starting Next Week
Date
GET'EM ROUNDED UP FROM:
• under the bed
• off the shelf
• out of the car
Got Books? Need Cash?
Time
Mon., October 27 3:00pm-6:00pm
Thurs., October 30 10:00am-2:00pm
Location
Tues., October 28 10:00am-2:00pm
WMHC, 1 $ ^{1st} $ floor conference room*
Kansas Union, Traditions Area
Wescoe Terrace
Wed., November 5 3:00pm-6:00pm WMHC, $ 1^{\mathrm{st}} $ floor conference room*
WMHC, $ 1^{\mathrm{st}} $ floor conference room $ ^{*} $
Wed., October 29 3:00pm-6:00pm
Tues., November 4 10:00am-2:00pm Strong Hall, Rotunda
Thurs., November 6 10:00am-2:00pm Burge Union, Level 2 Mall
Student Health Services at Watkins Main: 864.9500
New Option!
Dislike Shots?! Nasal mist vaccine will be offered at the Watkins clinics* and by appointment. Cost is $51.
Flu immunization clinics are open to all students, faculty and staff. Cost for the flu shot is $14 and is payable by cash or check.
Can't make it to a clinic? Call 864-9507 and schedule an appointment to get your flu shot at a time convenient for you.
Watch for more flu clinics in November!!
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