Volume 125 Issue 76
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
kansan.com
ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS
The Kansas Historical Society's Historic Sites Board of Review that took place on Feb. 9 voted to make the university's campus a historic district. KU's campus is now listed in the Register of Historic Kansas Places and covers the period of 1863-1951.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
d of 1863-1951
REID EGGELSTON
reggelston@kansan.com
Joining the ranks of institutions such as the University of California-Berkley and Harvard, the University entered new realms of historical prestige Feb. 9 as certain buildings and areas along Jayhawk Boulevard gained acceptance into the prestigious National Register of Historic Places.
The triumph comes after four years of devising a nomination for the University that would appease local, state and national assemblies in an attempt to preserve the buildings on campus that give the University its historical pride.
Student groups affiliated with the Historic Mount Oread Fund, which is an extension of the KU Endowment Association dedicated to the preservation of KU's buildings and landscapes, were monumental in the approval of the bid.
Along with protection from being razed, the buildings now offer the University access to government funds, such as grants and tax breaks, associated with a spot on the national register.
Brenna Buchanan Young, a
former student associated with HMOF and currently a part-time planner for the City of Lawrence, remembers how her role on the HMOF board has allowed the history associated with the campus to be sustained for years ahead.
"The historical landmark grant gives the University a tool to help finance the maintenance of their buildings," Buchanan Young said. "It helps maintain the sense of pride in being a Jayhawk. Generations after can experience that pride. It gives you that comfort knowing that things can change but they won't be so drastic."
The nomination includes the Spencer Museum of Art and the Campanile. Spooner Hall, built in 1891, is the oldest building included on the registry. The highly competitive application process requires that buildings and landscapes be recognized on historical registers at the local and state level before they become eligible as a national landmark.
KU faculty invested in the preservation of the campus, and contractors who added their expertise to assess which structures would most likely earn approval, determined which boundaries to include in the registry application.
"The process takes a lot of time," Buchanan Young said. "Since our nominating committee met only twice a year, it took a while to get the actual district we would nominate planned out. After we
figured what buildings would be actually included, that's when people really got involved."
HMOF donated $21,000 to contract consultants to push the proposal through all the hoops required to land the University on the National Register of Historic Places.
"What we did was
What we did was we provided expertise to the groups involved," said Edward Martinko, President of HMOF. "There's lots of history tied in to campus and, in the same way, the Historic Mount Oread Fund has a lot of history tied in with the university."
the Getty Report, which signals the initial intent of the University to seek historical registration, to assuring that architecture and engineering experts along with the Provost Office would turn the proposal into a successful endeavor.
Buchanan Young is also proud of the role HMOF played, from filing
"HMOF is really a strong group
"It's not so much about the Rock Chalk chant and waving the wheat. It's about preserving our tradition from the buildings to the bird baths."
BRENNA BUCHANAN YOUNG
Former HMOF boat member
a strong group that students aren't aware of "Buchanan Young said. "Fifty years from now, you can be proud to say this is where I went to school. It's not so much about the Rock Chalk chant and waving the wheat. It's
about preserving our tradition from the buildings to, the bird baths."
While at many times the demands of the application process required the brains of contracting experts, Buchanan Young felt that the student impact of this initiative was undoubtedly present.
"Different members of our
student chapter were observers," Buchanan Young said. "If the HMOF board did want a student perspective, we were in room to ask."
It was Buchanan Young's work on this project that has inspired her to become the secretary of the Historical Mount Oread Friends. She will also take a leadership role in the University's second historical registry proposal, which includes the scholarship halls and the Chancellor's house.
"HMOF does a book series about the history of buildings that are landmarks to the University of Kansas," Buchanan Young said. "The next book is about Watkins Scholarship Hall, which ties into our next nomination. There will be a second nomination coming out pretty quick."
Beyond this, the Fund is also working on an initiative to restore the campus's greener elements.
"We currently have a tree advisory group called Replant Mount Oread," Martinko said. "This was set up to replant trees that are ageing or deceased, and it was launched last year. HMOF with the chancellor, HMOF is working with
many groups, including pretty active student involvement."
Still, former volunteers who participated in the student Historic Mount Oread Fund committee hope that more students will get involved in future historical registry applications. While Buchanan Young admits that contract subject matter can be a bit dense, she and the rest of HMOF encourage students to get involved in the preservation of the University.
"There are student groups actively involved in preservation like the sustainability groups and museum studies groups," Becker Young said. "It would be nice if students did recognize this is a fun place to go to school and really own it—to maintain the integrity of the school and have other generations enjoy it as much as they did."
Advocates of university preservation are content to recognize the role they played in keeping the University's most iconic buildings around for a few more years.
"This is an outstanding step forward. All of us are very excited," Martinko said.
FINANCE
— Edited by Tara Bryant
As FAFSA priority date looms, students consider financial options
EMMA LEGAULT
elegualt@kansan.com
The priority date for filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), March 1, is rapidly approaching. And for any student hoping to receive financial aid, the earlier it's filed, the better.
Simply broken down, the FAFSA is the starting point to receiving any kind of financial aid. The results of the FAFSA determine a student's financial need, the gap between what his or her family can afford to pay and what the expected cost of attendance is at the University.
The FAFSA also determines a student's eligibility for federal, school and state assistance, which can be in the form of scholarships, federal loans, grants and work-study. However, there are a couple of common misconceptions about the FAFSA.
MYTH ONE: IT'S FREE MONEY
"People sometimes assume that if they fill it out, they'll automatically get free money, or something like that, which is not the case because it's all need-based," said Noah Quinn, a senior peer educator for the Money Management Center.
Although it isn't free money, filing the FAFSA can enter students into the pool for consideration for federal loans, such as the Federal Stafford Loans and the Parent PLUS Loans, which typically have low interest rates and a grace period after graduation before students must start paying them back.
In some cases, the government provides grants to students with significant financial aid, and that money doesn't need to be repaid.
Unfortunately, just because you fill out the FAFSA does not ensure that free funding will come your way.
"You always want to take as much federal loans as you need first," Quinn said. "You would only turn to something like [the KU Endowment loan] or other private loans if you don't have enough through the free money and then federal loans."
Quinn said federal loans should be the first place students turn to if they still have need. If scholarships and federal aid don't cover the costs, private loans, such as the KU Endowment loan, could be considered as a supplement.
For Alicia Croci, a sophomore from Ottawa, taking out a federal unsubsidized student loan has relieved a part of the financial burden of college.
"Basically I have taken out a loan with my parents, who are paying for my education from their loans," Croci said. "So when
MYTH TWO: NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO FILL IT OUT
I am done with college instead of owing a bank, I'll owe my parents the majority of my college tuition and one-third of it will be taken out in student loans."
However, Croci doesn't qualify for grants or work-study programs, and said the private loan interest rates are too high for her to afford. She believes the FAFSA isn't helpful for families in similar situations.
"I have not completed the FAFSA for this year yet, although it doesn't make a difference," Croci said. "My parents make too much money for me to qualify for any grants but they don't make enough money to actually pay for my college."
Although many students may find themselves in this bind, Quinn said it's still necessary to complete the FAFSA.
"Some people think that they just don't need to fill it out or think that maybe if their parents
make a certain amount, they won't get approved for anything at all so there's no point to it," Quinn said. "But it's actually really important to fill out, even if you're in that type of situation, just because you have to have it filled out to be eligible for KU scholarships."
To be eligible for some departmental and outside scholarships, financial need is taken into account, so the FAFSA is vital to be considered for them.
The FAFSA can be filed at any time between Jan. 1 and June 30, but it must be filed before the priority deadline of March 1 for a student to be considered for limited funding financial aid programs.
Kansas residents can also apply for state aid after filing the FAFSA through the Kansas Board of Regents website. The priority date for state aid is May 1.
THE DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR FASFA IS MARCH 1.
Index
Edited by Dylan Lysen
LEARN HOW TO FILE FAFSA ONLINE, HERE.
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
WANT TO APPLY FOR FAFSA?
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 'the University Daily Kansan
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