4A
Tuesday, October 10, 1995
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
THE ISSUE: UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES
Students essential to process
The newly formed Task Force on Administration and Re-engineering appointed by Chancellor Robert Hemenway last month needs to have greater student representation.
In response to a $3 million cut to KU's budget, the task force will suggest ways to decrease waste and to help make the administration more effective.
Of the 20-member task force, only two student representatives were selected - one graduate student and the student body president.
According to the University Senate Code, if the committee has the power to make policies, "the number of students on each committee shall be no less than 20 percent of the number of faculty members who hold the rank of instructor or above..."
If basic math is used, one will find that two students of 20 committee members is only 10 percent.
The administration may not consider this a policy making group,but that does not change the lack of student representation.
Students should be more
Student representation on committees should be a priority if KU wants to make the campus more student friendly.
involved in decision-making at the University, especially on this task force.
Ironically, one of the group's functions is to help make the administration more student-focused, but with only 10 percent of the committee being students, it sounds like the group will make the administration more administration-focused.
Finding students to serve on these ad-hoc committees may not be an easy task, but more effort needs to be put forth to seek students out. The administration should not just fill a student quota by simply appointing the student body president to a committee. The student body president offers valuable input, but the voice of the average student also needs to be heard in the decision-making process.
Making the University more cost-effective and student-friendly is a difficult task, and student input is a necessity for making the best decisions.
IAN RITTER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
THE ISSUE: UNDERCLASSMEN EXPERIENCE
KU should consider report
Some students do not have the skills to succeed academically, according to the report. The lack of preparation affects both students and the faculty who teach introductory courses. Students also think that the quality of instruction varies tremendously, stated the report, which recommends improving academic support, communicating academic responsibilities and strengthening the teaching process. These suggestions have been sent to every department. The report should encourage dialogue and action by the
Committee studying freshman, sophomore experiences encourages stronger teaching process.
Since 1993, the Freshman-Sophomore Academic Experience Committee has studied underclass academic experiences at the University of Kansas. The University should act promptly to address issues raised by the committee's report.
administration and faculty.
Pilot projects such as the summer institute are steps in the right direction. The program offers a small group of incoming freshmen the chance to earn credits, live in the residence halls and learn how to interact successfully with professors and administrators.
Giving all freshmen and sophomores a quality experience at KU will require a commitment by the administration, faculty and students. The Freshman-Sophomore Academic Experience Committee's report should be used to make specific changes and reach this goal.
AIMEE WITTMAN FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Shawn Trimble/Kenear
With the works of local artists in conjunction with Harvest of the Arts invading the windows, the pause and stare is even harder to avoid. A powerful painting of a sad and sickly-looking couple caught us. We did our amateur appreciation and continued walking.
We lit cigarettes and began, my hard-soled shoes clicking on the pavement. But we didn't make it far — only one store — before we had to stop. Window-shopping on Mass Street is a drug only those late to work or a date can resist. The gleaming red Cannondales, the glistening gold dresses on disco-dancing dummies and the plethora of cool shoes call to you, saying, "Please, stop, look, just for a moment."
STAFF COLUMNIST
Mass Street can be lovely despite kids, chain stores
We stepped out of Paradise Cafe last Monday night after a delicious and sleep-inducing meal. Massachusetts Street stretched southward, free of the weekend lunacy that crowds it, almost deserted. The moon was a foggy crescent over the street, and the air was warm enough for you to wander around, cool enough to chill your nose. I stuck an arm through the arms of two close, male friends and anchored them to me.
A blaring horn and a truck varooming to the intersection at Eighth and Mass streets caught our attention quickly. It squealed its brakes in time to avoid rearending a small Pinto already
It was a perfect night for a walk on Mass Street.
stopped at the intersection.
The owner of the Pinto stuck his arm out of the window — and waved. They knew each other. This was just for fun.
and threatening, on Mass Street. My friend jokingly calls it the T-factor — T for Tonganoxie. The small-town kids pile into their souped-up cars to cruise and hang out on Mass Street. It's merely annoying until you have to walk past these kids hanging out on the trunks at 11 p.m. and listen to their "Hey baby" and "You think you're so high and mighty" when you don't respond.
Working our way down to Ninth Street, most of the stores glowed softly and with restraint, as is the style of Lawrence. One restaurant, however, yelled, regardless of its efforts to make it fit.
But the revving and squealing and boom-boxing has gotten a little obnoxious,
McDonald's can be found in any suburban mall. The twinkle of downtown Mass is the local restaurants and specialty stores that offer flavors and clothes and knickknacks that are difficult to find anywhere else. Once the chain stores and restaurants make their way to Massachusetts, the street
loses its twinkle — and its customers. Look at 23rd Street. It could happen again.
In front of Mercantile Bank, an older, somewhat craggy and unclean-looking man with a long ponytail was standing and talking vehemently to four college-aged men. My two friends and I, looking down, avoided eye contact and walked around them a little. The guys, all in baseball caps, were open to him, warm and talkative. Were they patronizing him, I wondered? Was he bothering them?
But passing near the ATM machine, a sound rose to us, slowing the click of my shoes, then stopping us. We turned around.
The four guys were singing. A perfectly-harmonized four-part acapela was rising out of them and filling the Mercantile Bank plaza. They were in the shadows, not in the bright lights that would have spotlighted them. Their soulful voices floated out to us a song I didn't recognize but one that made me want to sit in front of them and listen.
The man had been thanking them.
They had been thankning him back.
We continued walking home. Past 11th Street, a boy in a truck driving past us yelled, "Get 'er, get 'er," to my friends.
Mass Street is changing. But it still can be beautiful on a deserted autumn night.
Angela Lopez is a Tulsa, Okla. senior in Journalism.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
'Feminist' is not a frightening word
This letter is in response to the Oct. 5 article on the Student Senate finance committee's decision not to finance the Feminist Collective Force based on the word feminist in the group's name.
potential members."
Obviously, there is not enough information circulating this campus about what feminism is. Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. The reasoning behind the committee's rejection was because the word feminist in the name would "scare away
Feminism is not something to be scared of. It is the pursuit of equality. It means that women and men should be paid the same for the same work. It means that women should be elected to congress if they possess better qualifications than their male counterparts. It means women have the right to say no to sex. Yet because many people are not properly informed of this fact, this intellectual and powerful group of women and men cannot receive basic funding to make copies for fliers.
It is rather frightening to me that women on this campus are not considered equal in the eyes of some
members of our Senate.
As a message to the finance committee, I would encourage you to think long and hard about who you finance and why. What gives you the right to try to alter a group's name because it might alarm some uninformed people?
Not only is it your responsibility to provide basic funding to the Feminist Collective Force and any other well deserving group on this campus, it is the responsibility of the group members to educate others of the importance of feminism, or less threatening, women's rights.
Christine L. Roney
St. Louis, Mo sophomore
Approaching holiday season is a cynic's time to shine
A Cynic's Guide to the Holidays (or, What Happens to the Kids Who Don't Get Ponies for Christmas).
Well, the Halloween festivities are in full swing at all the local merchants. You know what that means. Just a few more weeks before that
season is upon us.
You know what
I'm talking about.
Beer guts drape in fuzzy, red flanel;
synthetic beard fibers clinging to clothes; and "Jingle Bells"
playing at the grocery store, the mall and psycho people's doorbells. I can't talk to smell the peppermint candy canes, the pine needles, my vomit
after the sixth glass of eggnog in less than an hour. I'm feeling festive. Maybe I'll go to Toys 'R' Us now and stock up on Power Rangers to scalp later.
O. K., wait, it's only October. We should all get pumpkins and carve them in the image of our favorite talk-show host. Does Geraldo have any teeth left? You'll need a separate pumpkin, or perhaps a colorful squash if you do Donahue — you know, the hair, Oprah's easy. You can use any size pumpkin, and it should correspond to some point in her life.
When the pumpkin stuff is done, pick the stringy crud out from under your fingernails (or toenails). Settle down with some candy corn and orange Crush and watch that "Charlie Brown You're A Loser Great Pumpkin Patch" thing. If you haven't vomited by the time it's over, put some of those sugar-jitters to use planning your Thanksgiving strategy. Turkey first or stuffing first? Both in one bite? What about pumpkin pie? (This is not a good time to look outside for the Halloween pumpkin.)
And before you know it, the day of
gluttony is upon us. Break loose
Next stop: the time of giving. I'm not sending out holiday cards this year. I'll just give 32 cents to everyone I would have sent a card to and tell them to buy themselves something swell. If I start feeling lonely looking at my empty mantelpiece, I'll line up some pocket change on it. O.K., like I really have a fireplace, let alone a mantelpiece. The spirit came over me. I even had an urge to make eggnog. I have egg substitute, skim milk and artificial vanilla flavoring. The crud behind the fridge should work for the brown specks.
All right, now it's Dec. 24, and you ain't got nothing for your sweetie. Claiming atheism probably will not save your sorry hide. You are a schmuck; wallow in it. If you don't, someone else will see to it that you do. You could get creative. Maybe now is the time to refresh those long-dormant papier-marie skills. Everyone needs a flammable ashtray. You might as well try. It can't be worse than the Smurf Pez dispenser you'll be contemplating at the QuikTrip.
Uh oh, I'm feeling dizzy all of the sudden. A voice in my head keeps murmuring, "And peace to men of good will." What' going on? I'm seeing bright lights, and my chest feels all fuzzy and warm. I have an urge to bake sugar cookies with green and red sprinkles and give them to underprivileged children. What's happening to me?
The mall. I need to go to the mall to make the voices stop. Where's my credit card? Dillards, Abercrombie, save me!
Allaha Aorra is an Overland Park junior in human biology.
KANSAN STAFF
COLLEEN MCCAIN
Editor
DAVID WILSON
Managing editor, news
ASHLEY MILLER
Managing editor, planning & design
TOM EBLEN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
STEPHANIE UTLEY
Business manager
MATT SHAW
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH
Technology coordinator
Business Staff
Campus mgr . . . . .
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin