4A
Wednesday, October 9, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Robinson Center is not meeting students'needs
When students voted down a proposed multimillion dollar recreation center last spring, their vote was a refusal to pay for a new recreation center, not an endorsement of Robinson Center. Understandably upperclassmen and graduate students saw little reason to pay for a recreation center they would never use. The problems of Robinson Center, its inadequate hours and size, continue to bring complaints from KU students.
In addition to inconvenient hours, the center does not have enough equipment for students. The burgeoning memberships of KU students at private health clubs in Lawrence are a testament to the center's inadequacy. Students do not pay hundreds of dollars for a service they could use for free. If the center met their needs, students would use it. The center should be more than a place where students have to go if they cannot afford a private club.
Students frequently cite annoyance with the center's hours as the reason for joining a private club. Students often have free time in the morning and afternoon during which they could work out, and private clubs are able to accommodate them. The center also closes during academic breaks, which forces students and staff who follow consistent workout schedules to make alternative arrangements for several weeks of the year. Options for increasing Robinson's hours during breaks should be explored.
Robinson staff suggest that students should enroll in physical education classes to avoid the crowded conditions at night. However, many students who are serious about health and fitness require longer than 50 minutes to complete a workout. Considering there are 16 sections of physical conditioning classes offered this semester, one might wonder whether classes are the most efficient use of a recreation facility in constant demand.
BRENT SUTTER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Lawrence City Commission should get bike lanes rolling
KU Environs should be commended for trying to get bike lanes added to the streets of Lawrence. Despite Environs' attempts, the Lawrence City Commission has not made necessary improvements.
Perhaps the commission should consider it. If there is no feasible solution, the commission should communicate that to KU students and members of KU Environs.
John Nalbandian, Lawrence mayor, said that putting bike lanes on new streets would be easier than placing them on existing streets and that the commission had not considered putting bike lanes on existing streets.
Even though the commission has been slow to examine the issue, KU Environs does not have bitter feelings toward the commission, said Matt Caldwell, a coordinator for Environs. Before the group meets with the commission, Environs is working to establish a concrete plan for bike lanes, Caldwell said.
During the past few months, Environs has met with the parks and recreation director, the city planner and the city manager. In addition to those meetings, the group has been trying to raise awareness by passing out fliers. After Environs thinks it has aroused enough awareness and created a valid request, the group will take it to the commission.
The biggest disappointment with the bike lane issue is that concerned students are doing their part by trying to improve the Lawrence community, but they seem to be working alone. The efforts of KU Environs and other students who have showed their support deserve recognition and results.
SARAH PRESTON FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
AMANDA TRAUGHBER
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There should be an addition to the list of core courses required of most KU students — Walking 101.
Walking seems to be such a simple skill. However, during my year at the University, I have noticed that it's difficult for many students.
Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Campus sidewalks need common courtesy rules
In terms of etiquette, good walking is like good driving. Pay attention to others, move at an acceptable speed, don't congregate in the middle of the road, keep right and look behind you before changing directions.
Walking on campus, I often feel as if I'm driving down a road with senile old ladies; there is no speed or skill.
First order of business: the speed issue. People mosey on the sidewalk as if we had an hour between classes. I understand this is the Midwest, and life is more relaxed. But if people want to take a leisurely stroll, can't they pick a better place than campus?
There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a snail-walker when you are trying desperately to get to a class with a professor that accepts absolutely no excuses for tardiness or when you are about to miss the last bus that would take you home in the pouring rain.
The annoying thing is that there is no getting past those people. You can try to pass, but someone will step in your way. Or, worse yet, you could run into an obnoxious sidewalk chat session, which
STAFF COLUMNIST
Why is it necessary to talk to a group of friends in the middle of the sidewalk? Just think about the word "sidewalk." Sidewalk, not sidetalk, and the operative word is "walk." Apparently, some people
brings me to my second point.
have not pondered the purpose of this strip of cement and think it's the designated campus social gathering place, the hot spot for meeting singles.
I can't even escape the problem when I finish classes. Daisy Hill, especially Ekdahl Dining Commons, is a prime location for walking violations.
One sidewalk extends the length of the residence halls, and there are a lot of residents. Therefore, we all should try to share the sidewalk like the mature college students we are supposed to be.
A friend of mine said those social butterflies were lucky that concealed weapons weren't allowed in Kansas. Otherwise, she would solve the congestion problem very quickly.
I am not a violent person, but I am inclined to agree with her. I find it increasingly difficult to retain sanity and deal with walking novices each day.
Unfortunately, many residents missed the lesson on sharing in kindergarten. Those people walk with their friends in a straight line across the sidewalk, forcing anyone attempting to go the opposite way into the grass or the street. I'm beginning to think someone should paint a solid, yellow line down the middle of the sidewalk, so we can all handle two-lane traffic.
Life becomes even more difficult at the entrance to the cafeteria. Mrs.E's is a full-fledged traffic jam. If I ever do have a violent outburst, that would most likely be the scene of the crime.
People seem to lose all regard for others when they step through the doors for dinner. The concepts of looking before swinging around with a full tray of food and walking around others instead of into them are completely lost. I have resorted to snarling at people to clear a path to the seating area.
I doubt the University would spend money to add Walking 101 to the core curriculum, although I think it would be a good investment.
My advice to those who are guilty of walking violations is simple: Pretend you're driving, and remember you're not the only car on the road. Follow the simple rules of the sidewalk, and we can all traverse the campus in peace and harmony.
Steph Brower is a Chester, Comm., sophomore in French and French.
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Student Senate panel needs to re-evaluate its goals, methods
Everyone in Student Senate suddenly is in an uproar about the finance committee.
And it's about time.
The committee has usurped so much authority within the Senate that not only are committee members busy with questions they shouldn't be concerned with, but also the other committees and often Senate itself seem to be left out of the legislative process.
As the committee's senior nay sayer, I admit that for the three years I served on the committee, I and other committee members overstepped our bounds, sticking our noses where they didn't belong.
STAFF COLUMNIST
THE AVENGING VARMINT
The committee's job is to review spending legislation and
ensure that bills conform to spending rules and guidelines.
But instead of just determining whether groups are eligible to spend money, the committee often burdens itself with the question of whether it deserves to.
Chairperson Kelly Huffman and concerned senators are trying to reduce the committee to its original scope. A wise student would watch the leaders who are making these changes.
On Oct. 2, a senator brought up a bill that requested $550 to finance a speaker for the Center for Community Outreach. The bill failed on its first try but passed after reconsideration.
Guidelines are the sticking point because groups often exceed the spending norm for a line item, such as requesting $100 for postage when the guideline is $32. But the guideline is just what its name implies: It is not a rule. The committee doesn't need to check whether a group's reason to exceed the guideline is good; it just needs to make sure a reason exists.
However, upon reconsideration, I realized my line of thinking was off. The group had done all the committee could ask. It had gone to the honorariums subcommittee, and the bill was passed; there were no spending guidelines to apply. Even though I personally didn't feel the group needed the money, as a committee member I felt obligated to pass the bill because it met the letter of the law. The spirit is debated in Senate.
Nay sayers such as me — that is, members who almost always vote against everything — are bad for the committee. It needs members who make only value-based judgments in two instances. The first is the decision to suspend Rules and Regulations for a group that wants to break them; the second is to give the bill a favorable recommendation.
The bills' merit should be discussed in Senate; the bills' rules and guidelines should be discussed in committees. The finance committee should be scaled back to its original scope, which is along the lines of a rules committee rather than a miniature Senate.
I first voted against the bill because I didn't, and still don't, think the money would be well spent.
It is that type of leadership, not nay saying, that the student body needs.
The job boils down to asking a mundane yes-or-no question: Do the bills adhere to Senate spending rules?
Andy Obuermuller is a Liberal, Kan., Junior in Journallum.
By Lili Barrientos