Dropouts are cause of parental anguish
By BETSY WRIGHT
Only an event of the magnitude of Chicken Little's "sky is falling" proclamation could reap the cries of anguish which fall upon a college dropout's initial declaration of intent. Parents view the statement as the death sentence for all their hopes and plans, friends sadly judge the dropout as "serewed up" and the withdrawing student himself may secretly question his own sanity.
College teachers and administrators, however, do not seem to look upon the decision so somberly.
E. GORDON COLLISTER, director of the KU Guidance Bureau, views the decision process as entirely normal.
"There are a few people who want to excel in everything, and all their lives keep at it," Collister said. "These people never think of dropping out."
"But most people, whether it's for a job or college, come to the point where they have to determine if something would be better for them," he said.
James K. Hitt, registrar, said: "Around here there is some concern about whether dropping out
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is bad. A lot of us don't think it is always particularly awful. Many people may benefit from a year or so away from school to think out an identity problem."
HITT ALSO SAID that there has been some legislative confusion over the practical aspects of student withdrawals.
"There is a lot of talk each year in the Kansas legislature about the institutional waste that comes from all those unused positions created by dropouts each year," Hitt said. "Actually the pattern of dropouts has been with us for so long that it is allowed for each semester."
Emily Taylor, dean of women, also said that a student's withdrawal should not always be regarded as a catastrophe.
"Sometimes the proper time to educate a person isn't the same for everyone." Miss Taylor said. "Therefore, different people may benefit from education received at different times in their lives."
DENNIS QUINN, associate professor of English and an academic advisor, said: "I think at the college level it is not a bad thing to drop out. Some people who are very intelligent, just find that college is not the right thing for them."
Quinn cited a former student as one who has succeeded without a degree.
"I had a fine student who dropped out and is now having his first novel published by a very reputable firm," Quinn said. "I think that for him to have stayed in school just to receive a degree wouldn't have profitted him at all."
A number of former KU dropouts also felt that the experience had been profitable for them. Several said they returned after finding that the kind of jobs they wanted could not be secured without a degree. Others, however, found during their "sabbaticals" a more concrete idea of what they wanted to do or be.
ONE WOMAN STUDENT, who returned after a year's absence, said: "I don't regret the year I spent out at all. In working I met a number of people who I could never have come into contact with at school. Away from the somewhat single-minded academic world I was able to see more clearly what I really wanted to do."
A man who dropped out after his sophomore year and gave himself to the army for the next three years, said: "I've seen the experience mess some people up, but for myself it was the best thing I could have done. Before I went in, I was just sort of in school because it was the thing to do. I didn't really have any idea of what I wanted. The years in the service gave me time to think."
Collister, for instance, questioned the idea that a potential writer could not, by remaining in school, gain additional insight which would make him a better writer.
The general lack of sorrow over dropoutism, however, does not indicate a feeling that school is a defunct institution.
HITT, TOO, believes in a "the more you are here the more you
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Wednesday, January 18, 1967
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learn" principle, which could apply to both dropouts and those who stay.
"I feel that every day a person has in college changes him a little more than if he had not been here. And I think the change is almost always for the better," Hitt said.
But ideological reasons do not always satisfy those who would like to see their children graduate from college—especially those who fear their offspring will not have a chance to partake of the "good life" without the economic benefits of a college education.
Some persons have succeeded in modern society without benefit of a degree. Edwin Land dropped out of Harvara, invented the Polaroid, and made about $40 million. College dropouts Sandy Koufax, Woody Allen and Bobby Darin also found lucrative trades.
KU dropout, William Allen White, left because he disagreed with the college's math requirements, and had the school of journalism named for him.
BUT THESE and most other dropout successes of today, are persons with innate talents
which permitted them to rise above arbitrary employment standards now often set. Even White could not receive a government Civil Service position as a writer, without a college degree.
And for the bulk of the potential working force, those who do not have or have not discovered that fantastic talent, the college degree remains and gives all appearances of continuing to be the quickest, all purpose guarantee of acceptance in today's social and economic society.
TRAPPED BY TRASH
-UDK Photo by Earl Haehl
This automobile parked behind Flint Hall at an inopportune time Tuesday afternoon. When the Liftainer truck came to return the trash container, he found the car in his way and just dumped the big trash can behind the car, almost blocking the car's path of retreat.
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