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EDITORIAL: For far too long the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition and KU officials have been fighting. Who's right? Who cares anymore. Get it resolved See kansan.com for more opinions and Free for All comments
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
PAGE 6A
OUR VIEW
It's past time for GTA resolution
After more than a year, one large demonstration, countless meetings and a neutral arbitrator, negotiations between graduate teaching assistants and the University for higher wages and benefits have come to a standstill.
The bottom line: This has continued for far too long — since May 2005 — and must be resolved. At this point a resolution seems like an impossible goal.
Both sides need to analyze the situation and realize they need each other. The University could not man the classrooms without the dedication of GTAs. A University is only as good as its faculty and staff, and that includes all 900-plus GTAs.
On the other hand, the GTAs have an opportunity to gain an experience that can springboard their careers.
The University has offered raising the minimum salary
from $10,000-$11,000 to $12,000 by the 2008-2009 school year along with an 11.3 percent increase for merit raises.
This increase in wages is something the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition must accept. The numbers show they are not the only underpaid individuals at the University.
The University has continued to hover around the average mark in the Big 12 when it comes to salaries among professors, associate professors assistant professors and instructors. Currently the University sits sixth in average salary with a total of $77,993, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
Credit University officials for making an effort to reach an agreement. They have done their part, and now it's time for GTAC to make a few concessions to
reach a compromise.
GTAC says money is no longer an issue and it now boils down to other matters. This includes the ability for GTAC to use University property to attract new members to the union. The group also wants do change the 10-semester limit for GTAs, which the University claims pushes them to finish on time and provides open positions for incoming graduate students
A 10-semester limit seems reasonable. Certainly it can be difficult to grade papers on top of juggling classes, but that's what comes with the job.
Let us play neutral arbitrator and advise both sides, especially GTAC, to put down the boxing gloves and reach an agreement.
Louis Mora, for the editorial board.
FREE FOR ALL
Call 864-0500
Free for all, tomorrow starts my senior year. I'm scared. Will you hold my hand?
recipe back.
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded
Yes, I was just calling. I wanted to let you know I just got back into Lawrence and the first thing I knew why was because I saw the bumper stickers on the cars. Damn Democrats.
recipe back.
Free for All, I need you to go to Joe's and tell the new owners to get the old sugar-cookie
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I was just wondering if I could make it into the Free for All this year without mentioning Chuck Norris. Man, I just did. Stupid, stupid, stupid
Wayne and Larry's! Wayne and Larry's! Oh my god, Wayne and Larry's!
» LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Drug policy is irresponsible
As the Kansan reported, students convicted of any drug offense — including possession of just one marijuana joint — are automatically stripped of their financial aid ("Marijuana found on move-in day;" Aug. 17).
How many students do you know who could afford to stay in school after losing their aid? Probably not many. And how are they supposed to
clean up and make an honest living once they're kicked out of school?
It's not hard to see that this penalty causes more, not less, drug abuse.
Of course, the denial of aid is in addition to any other penalties the court decides to mete out, including fines or jail time.
Perhaps the most striking thing about this policy is that it does not apply to murderers, rapists, or arsonists. They're all free to receive aid and
live right next to you in the dorms, while students who occasionally smoke marijuana are kicked to the curb.
Tom Angell
Campaigns Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Washington D.C.
COMMENTARY
Ah, to be a freshman at KU
My grandma, who of course came to "help me move in," said it was just like my first day of kindergarten. Well, college hasn't made me cry yet, and chicken pox is already out of the way, but we'll see.
Maybe she meant that I came to college in a minivan. I needed the space of the family mini for all the wonderful college-y things that I'd been conned into buying, not to mention the six people who came to Lawrence with me to offer moral support. They were in the support car.
This is not the beginning of the story, however.
After spending three years frantically taking tests, making resumes
BY BEN ALEXANDER
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINIONOKANSAN.COM
Since then I have probably spent more than $100 on study books and thousands more on transfer credits and various standardized tests, all with one purpose in mind: to soften the eventual blow of the dreaded "college."
The beginning was sometime in my sophomore year of high school, when the guidance counselor came to give us a speech about college. Well, that and the ritual threats from my teachers: "You won't be able to get away with this in college!"
and writing essays, I took the time to relax a little bit and congratulate myself. A few minutes later, I got a mailing about another obstacle to overcome: extra-long beds. I was shocked. Such a thing existed? Fortunately, Target had a handy section, roughly the size of a football field, packed with hopeful college freshmen rushing around in a panic, overwhelmed by the same problems.
I got the sheets, gave the study books to my little sister and now I'm here. College. Sort of. Hawk Week was really more like summer camp than school.
For a few days I had my doubts about this whole college thing. Volleyball on Wescoe beach, free food everywhere, crowds of sorority girls chanting to each other, it was all a little too much.
But as classes start, the University
of Kansas is feeling more and more like old times. Everywhere I look on campus I see someone I know from high school. But that isn't what really warms my insides and reminds me of old times.
That distinction would have to go to that wonderful smell that you can only get by following a bus on a hot day as it kicks up dust and exhaust in your face.
The most important thing about coming back to school, though, is the stress. I didn't know what to do with myself all summer, with nothing to do but work and hang out with friends. With classes starting again, I think I'll be glad to get back to staying up late writing papers, going to the library right before it closes and dragging myself to class after not sleeping.
For all the fuss made about moving in (seven people was a little excessive, and I get sick of hearing about poster sales), it's not that big of a deal. At least I won't have to make a colorful collage about myself on the first day of class. Nap time would be nice, though.
Alexander is a Lenoxa freshman in journalism.
COMMENTARY
Students should join in the new civic religion
As students at the University of Kansas, it is easy to feel alienated and disconnected from our government and the things it does. I know I do. But with a plan and a little hard work we can make ourselves the next great generation.
Our plan should be called the new civic religion. What is civic religion? The phrase has a long history. It started with Jean-jacques Rousseau in the 1700s, and the basic definition is (according to my trusty Encyclopedia Britannica) a "set of quasi-religious attitudes, beliefs, rituals, and symbols that tie members of a political community together." The phrase has been changed and adapted over the years by sociologists, politicians and political theorists. While the definitions created by those people might be helpful to some, I think that it is time our generation claimed the
BY LIZ STUEWE
KANSAN COLUMNIST
OPINION@KANSAN.COM
If we have a coherent set of shared values as a generation, we can force our government to be more responsive to our needs and build a stronger society. Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, "the only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government." A new civic religion would be a perfect tool to help us,
term as our own.
The first thing we should emphasize in our new civic religion is that any religion/idea/belief is respected; we don't all need to think or feel the same way. As Jayhawks, we are a positive example of this. At the Info Fair in front of Strong Hall Tuesday night there was a whole range of ideas represented. And if any student feels their ideas or beliefs are not represented within the university community, they have the ability to start their own organization.
as young Americans, to maintain control over our leadership.
Now that we've established that we are all in this together, we need to remember that the benefit of creating our new civic religion helps shape our country's future. Therefore, the second tenet of our new civic religion should be broad, consistent participation in
our government and other civic organizations. Election Day should be a national holiday. It should be a day where we take a break from our jobs and school to focus on doing what is best for our country. In conventional religions we take time off to focus on important events; we should do the same in our new civic religion.
We should also make staying informed about our government a national pastime; when you think baseball and apple pie you should also think news. Not news from any one source, but from as many different people, organizations and countries as possible. Writing letters to our leaders expressing our opinions should be a common activity, not just something our teachers force us to do. We should not only express our ideas when we have a problem or are upset,
but we should offer new ideas, new solutions and new methods of compromise. These goals should be the focus of communication with our political leaders.
The third and final mission of our new civic religion should be to keep the government honest. John Stewart can't do it alone. We must use the knowledge gained from our over-priced university educations to create greater public accountability. There are numerous tools at our disposal: voting, creating our own media, and participating in government on a local level, just to name a few.
You may feel lost or discouraged, but there are things you can do to fix that. First, attend a club meeting that represents a point of view with which you don't necessarily agree. Contact information about all clubs can be found in the Kyou
Portal on the KU Web site. Secondly, register to vote. You can get information on voter registration in any state at www.eac.gov. Finally, make it a point to send at least one letter to a political leader this semester. Don't wait until something makes you angry to write the letter; read the news regularly and try to share a new solution with our leaders. Contact information for most Kansas politicians can be found at www.kansas.gov.
These simple steps will make you a leader in our new civic religion and help to build a stronger country.
Stuewe is a Lawrence junior in political science and American studies.
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