friday, October 10, 2003
news
the university daily kansan 3A
3A
Concerns remain regarding failed Student Senate bill
By Paul Kramer
pkramer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A bill that would have changed the way Student Senate allocated advertising dollars was introduced Wednesday night at Student Senate committee meetings.
The bill failed, but it addressed a growing concern that advertisements funded by Senate are ineffective and a waste of money.
Currently, student groups looking to the Senate for advertising funding receive $224 for ads in The University Daily Kansan. The individual student groups then decide when they wish to run the ads. The money allows for
two advertisements in the Kansan,
The new proposal would have taken the money usually given to groups and put it into one large fund used to purchase a weekly, page-long color ad open to all student groups.
Kyle Johnson, Student Executive chairman, wrote and sponsored the bill, but Ryan Faulconer, Finance Committee chairman, introduced it. Faulconer said the current ads were not worth the money.
"The standard $224 gives small ads in black and white," Faulconer said. "We just want to give groups more bang for their buck."
Last year, the Senate allocated
about $29,000 for Kansan advertising,
$21,000 of which was spent. The new program would have run the Senate about
$35,000.
The new color ad would have run on Mondays and been open to all campus groups to have their ad placed somewhere on the page. Student groups would have been required to inform the Senate communications director a week before they wanted their ad in the Kansan.
Both argued that the proposed system would take away a
Faulconer faced opposition from Patrick Ross, president of Queers and Allies, and Travis Weller, Student Rights Committee member.
group's right to place an ad when they thought it was most beneficial.
Additional opposition came from Amber Agee, University Daily Kansan business manager.
"The ad club is avidly against this." Aees said.
However, Agee said that the idea of making ads more effective is a good idea, but more work needs to be done to iron out details.
Sarah Napientek, psychology club president, said she thought the bill was a good idea, but that it was pushed through too quickly.
"They should have had a meeting with group leaders to see if this is what we wanted," Napientek said.
Paulconer said that decisions on ads and the future of the program would be made by an ad hoc committee composed of the StudEx Chairman, the Senate Communications director, the Finance Committee chairman and two members of the Student Senate. Paulconer also said that the bill was pushed through so that the ad hoc group could be assembled to work out potential problems.
Weller said that this was a good idea for the committee to further study the idea, but that it was a bad idea to pass the bill and give the new ad hoc committee the power to enact policy when there are still uncertainties.
Weller and Ross also noted
that none of the groups receiving advertising funding this year have been notified about the change.
Faulconer said groups that have already received Senate funding would have had one week to write a letter signed by the president, vice president and treasurer of a group saying they did not want to participate in the new program or their funding would be rescinded.
The rescinding of funds was something Napientek said she wasn't happy with.
"I didn't like the fact that if we didn't respond they will just take our money back," Napientek said.
Sweepstakes awards money for college
— Edited by Dave Nobles
By Maggie Newcomer
mnewcomer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Anne Wempe is a typical college student. She studies hard, works after school and is involved in campus activities. And, like many college students, she sometimes has trouble stretching her money to cover all her expenses.
The Topeka junior is also saving up for nursing school at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
"If I got an extra $10,000, my parents would totally love me. Not that they don't already."
For Wempe and hundreds of other KU students planning to continue studying after graduation, the Kansas division of Learning Quest, a national program designed to help financially strapped students pay for college, is sponsoring a $10,000 sweepstakes.
Lynn Jenkins, Kansas state treasurer, announced the sweepstakes last week to help generate
"If I got an extra $10,000, my parents would totally love me," Wempe said. "Not that they don't already."
Anne Wempe
Topeka junior
awareness of the importance of saving for college.
The sweepstakes winner, who must be 21 or older, will get a $10,000 Learning Quest account. The winner can make qualified withdrawals from the account for tuition only.
Beth Randolph Taylor, a representative of American Century Investments, said Learning Quest isn't just for parents saving for their children.
Lawrence is in Leawood.
Current students can open short-term accounts to save for graduate or medical school, she said. American Century partnered with Jenkins to oversee the accounts. The closest branch to
"Learning Quest is hands down the most useful tool in paying for college," Taylor said.
The only requirements for opening a Learning Quest account are to be a United States citizen and to have a bank account.
Stephanie Covington, assistant director of the office of financial aid, said Learning Quest was a good option because parents or other family members could contribute to the account.
"Planning ahead always makes it easier." Covington said.
Covington warned that unless a student was sure graduate school was their next step, they shouldn't open a Learning Quest account because there were penalties for early withdrawals. If graduate school is a sure thing, though, Covington said Learning Quest was a better choice than borrowing money.
"There aren't any federal grants available for graduate school anywav." she said.
And Learning Quest is the students' own money so there are no
loans to repay.
Learning Quest is a national program, but Kansas residents get some special perks, Taylor said.
"The trick is you have to have the money to open an account," Taylor said.
The minimum to open a Learning Quest account is $500 and $25 a month for Kansas residents. Non-Kansas residents must pay $2,500 initially and $50 a month.
Investors get a tax deduction for opening an account and the money they withdraw is tax-free.
Students can put their money from Learning Quest toward tuition at any public or private university, community college or vocational school in the country.
The sweepstakes is open for entries from now until Nov. 30. Entries can be submitted at www.learningquest.com. The winner will be selected at random from the entries.
-Edited by Ashley Marriott
No resolution yet on ticket allocation
By Danielle Hillix
dhillix@kansan.com
dhillix staff writer
The fate of faculty and staff basketball tickets remains undecided.
The University Council did not accept or reject responsibility for the allocation of faculty and staff tickets, a proposal offered by Athletics Director Lew Perkins.
Instead, the council voted to continue looking into the issue. The group plans to develop a list of possible allocation policies and procedures, if it decides to accept responsibility, before bringing the issue up for another vote.
"There were a number of concerns raised that we need to resolve before moving on," said Ray Davis, senate executive committee chairman.
The committee was concerned it would be taking the heat for an unpopular decision. Some members said the allocation process should be the Athletics Department's responsibility and not the council's. No Athletics Depart
ment officials attended the meeting.
The Athletics Department did not impose a strict deadline, but Davis said it asked the council to "move quickly."
"We don't have a specific time frame, but I'd hope to have something done in four to five weeks," he said.
Perkins approached the Senate Executive Committee and asked it to take responsibility for giving out the tickets. The policy would not take effect until the 2004-2005 basketball season. Davis said that no matter what group allocated the basketball tickets, faculty and staff members would likely have to move seats.
If the council does not take on the seat allocation, Davis does not know how many tickets it would have or where the tickets would be.
"We don't know where we'd end up," he said. "We do know the tickets wouldn't be as good."
- Edited by Ehren Meditz
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