4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
TUITION
MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2006
University proposes tuition plan
Board of Regents considering a guaranteed tuition plan for 2007 freshmen
BY KIM LYNCH
A guaranteed base tuition plan for all incoming 2007 freshmen was proposed to the Board of Regents by the University of Kansas at a meeting in May.
No decision was made regarding the proposal. The Regents wanted more details on how the guaranteed-tuition plan would work, said Kip Peterson, director of Government Relations & Communications. The Regents must approve the proposal before the guaranteed base tuition plan can go into effect.
Student body president Jason Boots said the proposal, which was first brought to the administration by 2004 student body president Steve Munch, would continue to be advocated.
Under the proposal, the four year guaranteed tuition would only be available for incoming freshmen. Other students, including graduate students and transfer students, would pay the nonguaranteed tuition
rate for that year, Boots said.
Ben Cartwright, Spokane. Wash, graduate student, said the guaranteed tuition proposal sounded reasonable because students affected by the plan would be able to budget for their college careers.
Under the proposal, freshmen would pay more during the first two years of the plan than the students paying the nonguaranteed tuition. During the last two years, those students would be paying less than the nonguaranteed tuition payees.
It is supposed to balance out, Boots said.
Jenna McMillen, Wichita sophomore, said as long as it was balanced and students were charged equally, then she was for it.
The nonguarante:d tuition rate would be mainly determined by inflationary rates, Boots said.
Lindy Eakin, vice provost for administration and finance, said the proposal would give the University a recruiting advantage,
predictability and stability it will offer incoming freshmen when planning their finances for the next four years, Eakin said.
A key part of the proposal is the
If a student does not graduate in four years, he or she will lose the guaranteed tuition rate and go back to the nonguaranteed tuition rate, Boots said.
The guaranteed tuition plan would not be optional for incoming freshmen, Eakin said.
Kansan staff writer Kim Lynch can be contacted at klynch@kansan. com.
— Edited by Aly Barland
SCIENCE
Naming of space discovery calls definition of 'planet' into question
BY ALICIA CHANG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Our solar system is suffering an identity crisis.
ed? And what is a planet, anyway?
For decades, it has consisted of nine planets, even as scientists debated whether Pluto really belonged. Then the recent discovery of an object larger and farther away than Pluto threatened to throw this slice of the cosmos into chaos.
Should this newly found icy rock known as "2003 UB313" become the 10th planet? Should Pluto be demot-
Ancient cultures regularly revised their answer to the la't question and present-day scientists aren't much better off. There still is no universal definition of "planet."
That all could soon change, and with it science textbooks around this planet.
At a 12-day conference beginning Monday, scientists will conduct a galactic census of sorts. Among the possibilities at the meeting of the International Astronomical Union in the Czech Republic capital of
Prague: Subtract Pluto or christen one more planet, and possibly dozens more.
"It's time we have a definition," said Alan Stern, who heads the space science division of the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio. "It's embarrassing to the public that we as astronomers don't have one."
The debate intensified last summer when astronomer Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology announced the discovery of a celestial object larger than Pluto. Like Pluto, it is a member of the Kuiper Belt, a mysterious disc-shaped zone beyond Neptune containing thousands of comets and planetary objects. (Brown nicknamed his find "Xena" after a warrior heroine in a cheesy TV series; pending a formal name, it remains 2003 UB313.)
The Hubble Space Telescope measured the bright, rocky object at about 1,490 miles in diameter, roughly 70 miles longer than Pluto. At 9 billion miles from the sun, it is the farthest known object in the solar system.
CONSTRUCTION
Renovations at Wescoe include infill, violations
BY DANNY LUPPINO
Amid concerns about air circulation and possible fire code violations in its lecture halls, Wescoe Hall continues to undergo renovations on its south side.
The $3.7 million project, which got underway in June, is expected to continue throughout the fall semester
attractive atmosphere for faculty and for students to meet with faculty," Wilson said. "I think the principal benefit will be for the department to be coherent in a way that has not been possible."
and conclude in March or April 2007. In the meantime, students can expect to deal with minor distractions during classes in the building.
"That being said, when you put lipstick on a pig, you still have a pig."
Steeples agreed that the renovations would make things more comfortable for faculty in Wescoe. He said although the University
"There will
Don Steeples Vice provost for scholarly support
undoubtedly be noise from time to time that will be noticeable in classrooms in Wescoe," Don Steeples, vice provost for scholarly support, said.
He said he was confident, however, that the noise would not be enough to disrupt classes. He added that the entrances and exits to the building would not be affected by the construction.
"Most of the jackhammer work was done in the summer, and the contractor has been instructed to perform the noisiest activities during hours or days when classes are not in session," Steeples said.
The renovations will lead to the construction of 70 new offices for faculty and staff, primarily from the history and Spanish departments.
Ted Wilson, chairman of the history department, said members of his staff were excited by the opportunity for new office space in a building that hasn't been a pleasant place to work. He said they also looked forward to having the faculty consolidated in the same office area.
'We will have created a more
of Kansas had added 100 faculty members in the past five years, it had not added a building for housing those faculty members on the main campus.
"The infill project will help alleviate, but not
eliminate, overcrowding;" Steeples said.
As for the fire code violation, which was not related to the construction. Steeples said the fire department ordered the closure of rooms 3139 and 3140 — the two large lecture halls in the building — on Aug. 7 because of concerns about safe exit routes. He said the closure was temporary and he expected the rooms would be available for the first day of classes on Thursday.
With the air circulation problem and fire code violation being addressed, administrators and faculty are free to look forward to the results of the renovations, which could make the so-called ugliest building on campus a little more attractive.
"That being said," Steeples said,
"when you put lipstick on a pig, you still have a pig."
Kansan staff writer Danny Luppino can be contacted at dluppino@kansan.com.
Edited by Kristen Jarboe