MONDAY,AUGUST 18.2003
ONTHEHILL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • 11C
LAUNDRY: Price increased for scholarship halls CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1C
issues, not on saving the department money, Stoner said. The money earned from the machines would not go to the department, but rather to the contract vendor for machine upkeep.
Compared to the current residential washers in the halls, the new industrial washers are more environmentally friendly. Existing scholarship hall washers use 31.5 gallons of water per cycle, but industrial washers use only 25.5.
However, Overstreet said the convenience of free laundry outweighed any other benefits. As resident of Watkins Scholarship Hall, Overstreet said that she rarely experienced machine maintenance problems.
Vicente Avila, associate director of maintenance for student housing, said maintenance on scholarship hall washers and dryers consumed a small percentage of the department's workload.
"It's not a big savings," Avila said. "We're saving on the fact that we don't have to furnish the machines."
"I appreciate that the department has listened to complaints they don't have to."
Jennifer Overstreet Maize senior
The department bought two machines for the scholarship halls last year. The machines occupying scholarship halls now will be used by the department to wash uniforms, mops and maintenance materials.
The department would determine the cost per load for the machines, said Katherine Stockbauer, Coinmach regional manager. She said the department worked to keep costs low. She looked into other laundromats near the scholarship halls and found that the closest laundromat charged $1.25 per wash load and 25 cents for eight minutes of drying time.
ing time.
"Students should really consider that," Stockbauer said.
"KU goes out of their way for
students."
The department received phone calls and e-mails from students upset with the loss of free laundry services. So far, Stoner has answered all student concerns personally.
Stoner said in reply to an email from a scholarship hall resident that some operational details need to be resolved. Stoner plans to meet with Overstreet and other members of the All Scholarship Hall Council executive board to discuss proposals. He anticipated all negotiations would wrap up at the end of this month.
"I appreciate that the department has listened to complaints — they don't have to," Overstreet said. "They are willing to listen."
Despite her mixed feelings. Overstreet understood the department's reasoning. However, Overstreet said, from a student viewpoint it appeared the change made things easier for the department at the expense of students.
Edited by Ehren Meditz
EDUCATION
Business degrees rise in worth
By Spencer Willig
Daily Pennsylvanian via U-WIRE
University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA — Even in times of a less-than-stellar economy, a business degree is seen as a valuable pursuit, according to the results of a recent study.
Sem study Kaplan, the largest provider of test preparation and admission consulting services, released the results of its "2003 Pre-MBA Snapshot," survey last month.
Based on the responses of 654 students nationwide who
prepared for the Graduate Management Admission Test with Kaplan in 2002, the survey found a continued — if not increased — respect for MBAs as a valuable credential, despite a less-than ideal job market.
Fully 55 percent of those surveyed said they believed the MBA was more valuable than it was 20 years ago.
"In every economic down cycle, in every downturn, people go back to school," said Albert Chen, Kaplan Executive Director of Graduate Programs.
"It makes sense—you don't have a job, you want to better yourself and be more competitive."
Chen traced a pattern of credential-building from the '70s to the present, noting that, three decades ago, "you could have a high school diploma, work at Boeing, and work at a job for $80,000."
Recession then forced so many job-seekers into college that, according to Chen, "In the '80s and '90s, the college degree was the status quo degree."
Texas A&M dean won't spare ailing journalism department
EDUCATION
By Melissa Sullivan
The Battalion via U-WIRE
Texas A&M University
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Charles Johnson, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said he would not reconsider his recommendation to close the Texas A&M University journalism department, despite meeting with former journalism students and members of the journalism industry in July.
Members of the Former Journalists Students Association, The Associated Press, the Dallas Morning News, Bloomberg News, the San Antonio Express-News, Texas Aggie Magazine and other media organizations met with Johnson in hopes that he would reconsider his decision and find a department head or merge journalism with the department of communication.
"It is true not everyone is a journalism major; in fact, I advised students who asked me if it is crucial to be a journalism major and said it is not crucial at all," said Stu Wilk, vice president and managing editor for the Dallas Morning News. "However, it is one thing to not major in journalism and another thing to go to a university that doesn't have a journalism department."
"I did have a fair amount of input from the external review team." he said.
Johnson said when he made his decision he did not consult people in the journalism industry to see how they recruit graduates and what experience they are looking for.
A consulting team evaluated the journalism program in 2001 to suggest possibilities for the
"However, it is one thing to not major in journalism and another thing to go to a university that doesn't have a journalism department."
Stu Wilk
Vice president and managing editor for the Dallas Morning News
department.
Johnson said he consulted other universities, but did not reach out to those who taught on the high school level to see what they looked for when recommending a journalism program.
Sue Smith, deputy managing editor and recruiter for the Dallas Morning News, said she employed graduates with a variety of degrees, but that they come from schools that have journalism programs.
"I think there is a lot you can learn through the journalism department, even if it is not your major," she said.
John Lumpkin, Dallas bureau chief for The Associated Press, said he went to the University of Virginia, a school that did not have a journalism program, and has been successful, but that he would not be hired by the AP in today's competitive market.
"How I am is a fluke," he said.
Lumpkin said other schools were moving forward because the journalism industry is getting broader.
He said the students in the next generation needed to have special skills, and that the schools that offer training for
those skills are the ones that are building new media labs.
"Those are the schools who will produce the talent for the industry's needs," he said.
Johnson acknowledged the importance of internships and said he wanted the journalism industry to provide a pathway to provide them to students.
Loren Steffy, FISA president, said media outlets received hundreds of internship applications, and a student without a journalism degree is at a disadvantage because of the fierce competition each year.
"I'm not saying a student will not get the internship," he said. "But it sure makes it tougher."
Smith said students had to be encouraged to go and find an internship, something that the Texas A&M journalism department does not do very well. It is crucial for a journalism department to emphasize the importance of an internship at the freshman level, she said.
"They are going to have to have had experience in a professional setting, by that I mean a newsroom. That is what we are looking for," she said. "I had one student last year who did not have professional experience, and it did not work out well."
Johnson said he was too far along in the decision process to consider any additional discussions.
He is looking forward to the transition process to take place over the next few years and said he wanted former journalists to assist him.
The Texas Board of Regents will make a final vote on the issue, but it is unclear when that will be.