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Kansan
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4A
Tuesday, November 3, 1998
Editorials
Increased financing will provide more opportunities for Dole center
A warm "thank you" is in order for the Kansas Legislature, the United States Congress and private donors who are helping the Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Service and Public Policy become a reality at the University of Kansas.
Last week, Congress voted to allocate $6 million to the Institute as a provision of President Clinton's $520 billion spending bill. This brings the Institute's available funds to $12 million; the remainder of the money came from a $3 million allocation from the Legislature and matching funds provided by private donors.
Rather than just financing the Institute building, which is to be on West Campus, the money will help
The institute has $12 million in funds that it will use for various projects.
bring lectures and seminars to KU. Furthermore, it will help finance internships in Topeka and Washington, D.C. It also will finance the organization of documents that if laid end-to-end would be more than 4,000 feet and other materials Dole donated to the University.
The increased funding will surely benefit what is already a promising project. Instead of being a memorial to one of our state's and University's most famous sons, the Institute has the opportunity to benefit the entire
community by fostering academic development and interest in participating in government.
Visitors will have the opportunity to examine Dole's huge collection of papers, photos and campaign paraphernalia. They will have the rare chance to peer into the life of one of this century's most influential Americans. Those thinking about a political career can draw inspiration from Dole's accomplishments and insight from his works.
With a larger budget, the Dole Institute can do some wonderful things for the University community. Students should be thankful that their representatives in government are generously helping these possibilities come into fruition.
Chris Borniger for the editorial board
Community praised for successful event
Animal lovers in the Lawrence community should be proud of what they have done for the Lawrence Humane Society.
Last month, the Pawsible Dream fundraiser outidid itself. About 300 people brought in $14,000 from an auction of various items. Only 100 attended last year, but they raised $10,039. The year before only $5,400 was raised.
The Liberty Hall event brought together various aspects of the community. Many people, from local veterinarians to Team Target to Gould Evans Associates, put the event together.
Items auctioned were largely donated from downtown Lawrence businesses, but also from Topeka,
An auction to raise money for the humane society earned $14.000.
Tongonoxie and Kansas City businesses.
Ron Johnson, of Johnson Furniture, 722 Massachusetts St., started the auction four years ago when he was on the Lawrence Humane Society board. Since then, the event has been continuously more successful.
ment because of the time conflict with Late Night with Roy Williams which the same night as the auction. She said they were not aware of Late Night when planing the Pawsible Dream.
Unfortunately, no University groups were involved in the event. Midge Grinstead, executive director, attributes the lack of involve-
"We'd have never competed with Roy," she said. She, however, said that students from Baker, Haskell and KU were consistently involved with the Humane Society.
Although no organized University involvement was represented at the auction, the Lawrence community and Humane Society did an excellent job of raising money for the animals. Next year, university groups should make involvement in the successful auction a goal.
Kansan staff
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Perspective
GRA/GTA health plan excludes many students
The new GTA/GRA health-insurance plan was lauded as a victory for graduate students at the University of Kansas. There is no doubt the plan provides an essential serv
ice for students who work for the University and otherwise would not be able to afford health insurance. However, the plan has not pleased everyone, and it is exclusionary for a group of students.
The new health plan's first requirement is that the student must be enrolled as a degree-seeking graduate student in a University/ Lawrence-based program.
Andrew Gawron
Guest Columnist
I am most familiar with the pharmaceutical chemistry department, so I will
limit my discussion to this department. In our department, there are 47 full-time, degree-seeking graduate students. These students are pursuing their doctoral degrees and are enrolled full-time, year-round taking classes and conducting pharmaceutical research. So it seems they should all qualify for the new GTA/GRA health insurance.
This brings us to the second stipulation of the plan that mandates that the student hold an "appointment to at least a 50 percent GTA or GRA position during the academic year." This means the University must provide a student with 50 percent of his or her support either as a teaching assistant or research assistant. The problem lies in semantics and silly definitions. Under this definition of a GRA/GTA, out of the 47 students in the department only 16 are eligible for the health-insurance plan. Because, whether it was intentional or a simple oversight, the plan did not take into consideration those students who apply for fellowships or training grants from government organizations and/or companies.
During my first two years in graduate school, I was considered to have 50 percent GRA status because my support came directly from University/departmental funds. Last year, my research advisor encouraged me and two other students to apply for a government research fellowship.
The irony of this situation is that any graduate student who has made an effort receive a fellowship or training grant is not considered a GRA.
'These awards are an honor and a testament to the students' abilities. The fellowships provide the University with additional funds for research and education. Now my advisor has more money freed up for research that she would have otherwise had to use to pay our stipends.
All three of us received a fellowship. The fellowshins provided $45,000 to our department.
we are now considered fellows or trainees. This is simply an issue of semantics because our responsibilities have not changed. We are still full-time graduate students working toward a degree, conducting research and taking classes. Our compensation amount has not changed — only the source of that compensation. In fact, all students in the pharmaceutical chemistry department are compensated equally. The new GRA/GTA health plan is promoting inequality. Those students who have actually provided money for the University by receiving fellowships are the very people the GRA/GTA plan neglects.
Consider a 25-year-old student in our department. If that person is classified as a GRA, he or she has the option of enrolling in a comprehensive health plan for $18.08 a month. A student classified as a fellow or trainee only can enroll in the KU student health plan for $48 a month. This works out to an extra $359.04 a year the fellow is paying. The numbers get worse with age.
For students in our department, who all receive equal stipends, inequality is especially apparent. Some students may be paying as much as $800 more for health insurance simply because the University has prioritized semantics above fairness. I write this letter only with the knowledge of how the pharmaceutical chemistry department works, but I have no doubt that there are many other graduate students who think they have been shortchanged by this plan. My hope is that the legislators and KU administration are aware of this problem and working to address it. The pharmaceutical chemistry faculty have expressed their support and willingness to find a solution.
Imagine the scenario when the time comes to apply for a renewal of my fellowship. Knowing that my compensation will remain the same no matter where the money comes from, should I consider that GRA status will at least save me $359 a year, even though it will cost the University an extra $15,000? For someone age 26-31, who is required to pay more for health insurance, the decision will probably be much easier when the figure is close to $800. The new plan punishes those students who provide the University with much-needed research funds.
The University is highly regarded as a research university, and one reason for this is the amount of research money allocated from outside sources. Students on fellowships and training grants are still full-time graduate students. The University and the providers of the health plan need to reevaluate their definitions. It is unjust to continue limiting the choices and finances of those students who work hard to secure money for their departments and the University.
Gawron is a Lawrence pharmaceutical chemistry graduate student.
Panic proves ultimate incentive to write paper
Nick Bartkoski opinion@kansan.com
Any more, it seems almost impossible to enter a mail bookstore without practically swimming in self-improvement books. More often than not, they'll offer some useful system of managing time to improve efficiency. "Read us" they seem to scream out, "Read us and you'll have time to enjoy life's finer pleasures." I generally ignore these pleas and instead head with all haste toward the pornographic magazines.
But how people get things done is something that merits further research. I personally have tried several methods of time management and productivity. In fact, I believe I've tried
Using time management to produce this productivity-enhancing state of mind isn't as easy as some would lead you to believe. I think the best way to explain this method is by example. Hypothetically, the situation is that it's 8 o'clock on a Sunday evening. You have a paper due at 4 o'clock tomorrow. You haven't written anything yet, so the first course of action is obvious: Sit down and watch the X-Files.
in fact, I believe every theory except "Plan ahead and get it done early." However, since no one has ever done well using that theory, I don't feel bad about skipping it. After careful consideration of the multitude of different methods, I've found that one thing motivates productive work better than anything else; wild-eyed panic.
As the previews for next week's $X-Files$ roll, it dawns on you that you've forgotten something of course, you haven't spoken to your dear friend Chris for a few hours. So you get up from your desk and go searching for Chris. This is a task that takes roughly 30 minutes because, as you learn later, he was also looking for you, so the two of you were circling the entire building in a vain attempt to find each other.
After talking to Chris for a few minutes, you learn that he has some errands to run and wanted you to join him. You think to yourself that these errands can't possibly take longer than an hour to complete and all you have is one small little paper to write, so you agree to go with him.
You return about three hours after you left
The errands included a trip to the Topeka Wal-Mart, getting lost three times, realizing that not only does the Topeka Wal-Mart not carry plutonium, but that it's difficult to find one that does, and finally a stop at Quik-Shop for insanely large beverages. As the two of you pull into your parking lot, you're mentally going over your schedule: it's 1 a.m., you can start your paper, then finish it up in the morning after classes.
The second after you reenter your building you run into your friend McGinty. McGinty suggests that the three of you watch this week's episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000: "Wait a second," you protest. "I've got a paper I really should write." This is of course a ruse. You know that within 10 minutes you'll be watching it, but some of your mother's work ethic has stuck with you, so you protest just so your nagging conscience believes you're concerned about the paper. You know it will get done ... eventually, so you aren't too concerned.
You wake up and go to class, which you're in until 11:30. "No worries," you tell yourself, "I'll get started when I get back." When you get back, notice you’re a bit tired, so you take a half-hour nap. Following that, you plan to wake up refreshed and write your paper.
The three of you finish watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 at about three in the morning. People who are new to the system might see this as the moment of ultimate panic, involving massive amounts of coffee and prayer to get the paper written, but those who know better will hop into bed, planning to write the paper in the morning.
You sleep for three hours, and when you wake up you grougly look up at the clock. "Holy crap," you exclaim. "I've only got an hour to write this thing." This is the moment you've been building to, the moment of absolute, wild-eyed panic. You write your paper, throwing in whatever comes to your panic added mind, even to the point of mentioning how Chaucer was profoundly influenced by Shakespeare's plays. You make promises to God that you'll never pull something like this again if He'll help you out this time. Eventually, your $A+$ paper is ready to be turned in.
I'd offer even more helpful suggestions for managing your life and time to get good results, but for the love of God, it's 3:45 and I've still got to prooofhead!
Bartkoski is a Basehor senior in journalism.