4A
Tuesday, September 6, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Students lack focus during the college years
CARSON ELROD Students need to start thinking about the real world instead of watching
thinking about the real world instead of watching it
on MTV.
I sure am glad that I know exactly what I am doing after college. Yup. When I get out, all of the Fortune 400 folks are going to be at my graduation party. "Carson, great party! Can I get another beer? Oh, and by the way, would you like a job and starting salary of $100,000?"
I would respond, "Gee, I don't know. That guy from Snapple said he'd hook me up with a new Acura Legend, like in the commercial, but I'm sure we can negotiate."
OK, the future isn't that certain for any of us. I believe that this lack of certainty comes from the fact that we don't really take college that seriously anymore. For many of us, the primary
focus of college is on anything but our education. What is our primary focus? (Party! Party! Party!) It is hard to ascertain. I think this lack of focus is derived from a plethora of sources.
A primary factor is that college has become merely a high school away from home and without the prom. The job trends in the United States are demanding more than an undergraduate degree. The devaluation of the college degree has employers saying, "OK, I see here that you have a degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in ancient languages. That's nice, but how many of these rocks can you carry from the pit to the quarry every day?" It is no wonder that most
Another aspect is that we don't take ourselves seriously as students. Do you think the average college student in 1950 came to class with spandex shorts, "Big Johnson—Touch the Big Johnson" T-shirt and a "Super Squirter 2000" Nope.
students think, "the hell with it. Why study? I want to know who is getting kicked out on 'The Real World.'"
Another dishheartening fact is that the number of classes taught by teaching assistants seems to be growing at a rate that even surpasses the proliferation of pizza places and record stores in town. I am not criticizing teaching assistants. I almost was one this year. However, I doubt
that people my age and older would take me seriously. There is something about the age and experience of a college professor that seems to validate a class. That age and experience is becoming conspicuously absent.
The final reason is that as we become more diversified, we don't think we need a well-rounded education. What Socrates leaned over and whispered to his cronies before he asked the bartender to fix him a double shot of hemlock has little to do with downloading the memory of a 386XS to the new pentium processor. The point is, as students we look at half of our classes that same way we look at a Barney and Ursal special;
really annoying now and of absolutely no use later.
The consequence is that if we don't at least try to retain what we are learning, then we don't take anything but those particularly fascinating episodes of "The Real World" into the real world. And in that world the only one getting kicked out of the house is you for not being intelligent. My advice is to continue to have fun. However, just for kicks, sit down and ask yourself what college is really about. You might surprise yourself with the answer.
Carson Eirod is a Topeka Junior in history and theater.
VIEWPOINT
University better off without dean's stamp
Enrollment is one of the most hectic and stressful times in the semester.
Fortunately, the University recently announced
that the College of Liberal Arts will no longer require students to obtain a dean's stamp before they enroll.
pointless, unnecessary and nothing more than red tape.
In the future, other schools in the University such as the School of
DEAN'S STAMP
The elimination of the Liberal Arts and Sciences stamp requirement should be followed by other schools.
Journalism the Law School and the School of Engineering
This long-overdue decision will save students and faculty valuable time and effort in the enrollment process. The dean's stamp has proven throughout the years to be
— also will follow this course and eliminate the dean's stamp
requirement.
A counselor's signature, to be checked at the time of enrollment, should be the only requirement necessary.
CRYSTAL BURGESS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
Cancelled class should not make students suffer
But mistakes happen, as
Students assume that if they enroll in a course, there will actually be a teacher to teach it.
more than 80 st udents learned when they showed up for a music appreciation course section that did not have an instructor.
time students. Furthermore, many students need at least 12 hours so that they will be eligible for any scholarships they might have received.
CANCELLED CLASS
CANCELED CLASS Students enrolled in courses that are cancelled without sufficient notice should be allowed an extra add/drop day.
By itself, this wouldn't present much of a problem, but some students count on having a specific number of hours so that they are considered full-
The solution is simple. Allow those students an additional add/drop day and ensure that the scholarship committee knows
that it is through no fault of the students that they are not currently enrolled in the required number of hours.
MARK YONALLY FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD.
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
JENCARR Business manager
CHRISTOPH FUHRMANS Managing editor
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
CAMERON DEATH Retail sales manager
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing/adviser
ENTRIES
News ... Sara Bennett
Editorial ... Donella Heame
Campus ... Mark Martin
Sports ... Brian James
Photo ... Daron Bennett
Melissa Lacey
Features ... Tracil Carson
Planning Editor ... Susan White
Design ... Noah Musser
Assistant to the editor .. Robbie Johnson
Business Staff
Editors
Business Center
Campus mgr    Todd Winters
Regional mgr    Laura Guth
National mgr    Mark Masto
Coop mgr     Emily Gibson
Special Sections mgr    Jen Perrier
Production mgrs    Holly Boren
                Regan Overy
Marketing director   Alan Stigle
Creative director   John Carton
Classified mgr    Heather Niehaus
**Letters** be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University are permitted to use this format.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
Brian Thompson / KANSAN
Corporate America is not all that hostile
To tell you the truth, I wasn't exactly thrilled with my job at the beginning of the summer.
I was a tad intimidated, not by what I would be doing — I was quite certain that I could handle anything they tossed my way — but by whom I would be doing it for.
It so happens that I was fortunate enough to work as an intern for the esteemed offices of Rollins, Hudig, Hall of Illinois, Inc. in Chicago. RHIH, as I affectionately call it, is one of the world's leading insurance brokerages.
Sounds kind of big and impressive doesn't it? Well, that's what I thought when I received a letter saying that I was now a member of the McLean Team, Risk Management division. Here I was, clueless as usual, jumping head first into corporate America, the world of hard-core businessmen and women. It's where no one ever cracks a smile or slows down. It's where cooperation, organization and efficiency are the status quo. I was expecting a huge mahogany boardroom table with water pitchers and rolling chairs, business at its finest.
Well, I wasn't wrong about the mahogany table, we had one of those.
Boy, was I wrong.
COLUMNIST
KATHY KIPP
Well, I can if it meets my standards of the well-oiled, downtown, corporate machine that still has the pizzazz of the McLean Team.
But I was wrong about corporate men and women. I expected to find paragons of business at every corner, people who could convincingly pull off a Chrysler commercial. What I got was normal people who happened to work downtown.
Once I started working, it didn't take me too long to realize that the people I worked for were surprisingly normal. My fear of being intimidated was irrational. In fact, I once believed that I could never have an office job because I would never fit the role.
They threw pizza parties in the
If I only would have known this at the beginning of the summer, things would have gone so much differently. Instead of worrying about spending the rest of my summer with 14 corporate gurus, I just would have stepped off the elevator without a worry about whom I would be working for.
boardroom. They smiled. They took off work early for a team outing to the Cubs game. They gossiped. They got excited about doughnuts and cookies. They procrastinated. They shot rubber bands at each other. They had sloppy handwriting. They showed you pictures of their grandkids. They worked hard. They took you out for a two-hour lunch your first week of work and had a pizza party the last.
They were disorganized. They complained about their husbands and their air conditioners. They really liked yellow sticky notes. They apologized for giving you work. And, on occasion, they threw a Nerf football around the office.
Basically, they knew how to have fun and get some work done at the same time.
Well, there is next summer.
Kathy Klipa is a Woodridge, Ill., sophomore in English.
COLUMNIST
Late husband out uncovering cop corruption
The phone rang at about 5 p.m. The operator said it was a collect call from O'Brien.
In Chicago,"she said. I accepted.
"My name's O'Brien," he said. "You want a big story?"
I wasn't expecting a call from anybody named O'Brien. So I asked her where the call was being placed.
What is it about?
"Bribes. Corruption. Payoffs." Who what, where, how?
Got it. How big was the payoff?
"What happened was this. He came in here and told the bartender he wanted two packs of Winstones. The bartender gave him the Winstons, but the cop didn't give him any money. I was watching. Not a cent."
"Awright, take this down. I just got off work. I'm sitting in a bar. And I just saw a cop take a payoff. I don't like it. I hug his badge number. It's "~"
"Yeah. two nacks."
Cigarettes?
Sorry. But two packs of smokes isn't really that shocking.
"What ya mean? I pay for my smokes, let him pay for his. Are you condoning it?"
Absolutely not. Thank you for the information.
Don't mention it.
An hour later, he called again.
More cigarettes?
"Listen," O'Brien said, "it happened again. I just saw it. Except it was worsh."
"An' cigars. This time it was two packs Kools and one pack Luckies and two cigars. He didn't pay anything. The dirty crook, I got his badge number. It's -"
Thanks, O'Brien. But why don't you call it a night? Go home to your wife.
"To hell with the wife. I'm on to this thing now. I'm not going to quit just' when it's gettin' good."
But you sound tired, O'Brien. Your speech is even slurred.
HUBIE
"Don't worry 'bout me. Jus' you sit tight. I'm on these guys."
The last call came a half hour later,
O'Brien was shouting.
"Take down these badge numbers!"
"O'Brian, go home. It's late."
"No, sir. I'm goin' back in there. I'm not takin' this from chiselers. I'll call you back when I'm done with 'em."
So I'm writing this because I want Mrs. O'Brien to know why he was out late. She should know that he was trying to root out corruption.
I mean, in case she thought he was just goofing around.
Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
CRASH HELMET
check!
By Greg Hardin