NEWS / FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"A typical day in the life of a heavy metal musician consists of a round of golf and an AA meeting."
Billy Joel
Weather forecast
FACT OF THE DAY
The first round of golf in England is more than one hundred years older than its appearance in Scotland.
High: 67, Showers end before noon. Skies will clear as the day progresses. Winds will be out of the north between 5 and 10 mph.
FRIDAY:
FRIDAY NIGHT:
qi.com
Low:45, Winds will turn to the northwest as clouds return. Winds could gust to 25 mph.
High: 62, Low: 46. Slight chance of showers. Winds out of the north at 5 to 10 mph.
SATURDAY:
SATURDAY NIGHT:
Low:45, Cloudy with a chance of storms. Winds will be out of the northeast between 5 and 10 mph.
SUNDAY:
High: 62, Low: 53. Showers and thunderstorms possible. Winds will be out of the southeast at 10 to 15 mph.
MONDAY:
High: 60, Low: 53. High chance of thunderstorms. Skies will clear as the day progresses.
Forecasters Adam Smith, Yuka Honzawa and Garrett Black Atmospheric science students
Call the KU Weather Line anytime:
(785) 864-3300
FRIDAY
As an Earth Day celebration, there will be an earth dance — which will incorporate environmental, primitive and Native American choreography at the outside area between the Art and Design Building and Lindley Hall. The dance begins at 1:45 p.m. and is free.
April 22
What's going on?
SATURDAY
April 23
Mutatis Mutandis explores the perception of time and its relationship to changes in glaciers in an art installation at Spooner Hall. Visitors will experience the movement of glaciers through sound and visual imagery between 7 and 9 p.m.
TUESDAY
SUNDAY April 24
April 26
- Provost Jeff Vitter will hold a discussion about the role of staff members at the University from noon to 1 p.m. at the Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union on level four.
- Free cosmic bowling at the Kansas Union Jaybowl from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
WEDNESDAY
April 27
- Watkins Memorial Health Center is hosting a Spring Smokeout inviting the public to bring their cigarettes and kick the butt. The event will take place on the health center's lawn area from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and is free.
MONDAY
April 25
There will be a carillon recital from 5 to 5:30 p.m. at the Campanile.
THURSDAY
KU Careers Services Alliance is hosting the Just in Time Career Fair in the Kansas Union Ballroom, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Explore current job and internship openings offered by a variety of employers. For a list of attending employers, go to www.KUCareerHawk.com/JIT2011.
April 28
NATIONAL
Government hopes to curb debt with ceiling
BY PAT MUELLER mueller@kansan.com
Every day, the government spends more money than it takes in. To compensate, it borrows money from both local and overseas investors. However, in mid-May, the government will have to stop incurring debt.
A debt ceiling is set at $14,294 trillion, and the U.S. Treasury Department estimates the United States will reach that limit by May 16. Congress first capped the national debt in 1917 to control spending. Since then, Congress has changed the cap more than 75 times, including ten times since 2001, according to the Congressional Research Service.
"It's a political means to express outrage at deficits," said John Keating, associate professor of economics. "The same legislative body that votes for the deficits gets to vote, 'Oh, we're so against it.'"
Keating said he was not aware of any other major economy having a debt ceiling.
"How much we can tax, of course, we decide," Wu said. "We vote. But rule number one of democracy is you cannot vote if you are not born yet."
The fundamental reason to have a ceiling is to control the amount of debt future generations would inherit, said Shu Wu, associate professor in economics.
If the government does not
raise the limit before mid-May, it will have few options to balance the budget.
According to Wu, the government can either default on its debt, sell the majority of its assets, print off the money needed to repay investors, grow the economy to increase tax base, or raise tax rates. However, most of these options come with negative consequences ranging from high interest rates to extremely high inflation, or require more than one month to complete, when the nation's debt will have already surpassed the ceiling.
According to both Keating and Wu, the solution would be to raise the debt ceiling in the short run and increase government rev-
Tune in to KUJH for more information on this story.
venue in the future. But increasing revenue means increasing taxes.
"We have a lot of congressmen that don't want to raise taxes because that upsets constituencies and voters," Keating said. "So, deficits are easy to run; hard to fix."
Many members of Congress do not want to raise the debt limit without limiting spending as well.
"The bigger economic threat that confronts our country, are
the consequences of allowing our country's pattern of spending and borrowing to continue without a serious plan to reduce that debt," said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., in a speech to Congress on March 30.
Moran has said he would not vote for a bill that did not include limits on government spending.
Congress is debating a bill to raise the debt limit.
- Edited by Helen Mubarak
- On April 18, in the Mississippi parking garage in the 1200 block of Oread Avenue a person yelled obscenities at a parking employee during a dispute. The case is open.
ON THE RECORD
- On April 19, five people were arrested in the 1800 block of
- On April 20, at Ambler Recreation Center someone stole a wallet for a loss of $22.
Naismith Drive for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
—Jonathan Shorman
GRANT (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
of students."
Smith, who is a 26-year-old non-traditional student paying for school without parental aid, said he has about $30,000 of debt from student and KU Endowment loans. Smith said that without the Pell grants he would have had to pick up a full-time job instead of the part-time job he now works as a medical receptionist at Lawrence Therapy Services.
While the traditional Pell grants survived, the supplemental Pell grants — which President Obama had championed — fell to the chopping block. The program existed for only a year and
"It would have made it very difficult to do well in school," he said. "Things are difficult enough as they are."
"Even with Pell grants I have a substantial amount I have to pay off," he said.
Smith is just thankful.
"We are still waiting for guidance on what's going to happen for the Pell grants," she
ROBIN BENNETTS SMITH Senior from Lawrence
"The Pell grant program is especially generous," he said. "I have had
provided Pell grants from the government to those students taking college courses outside the regular academic school year.
For now, the Pell grants program will allow Smith to continue his studies. He expects to graduate in May 2012 with an English degree. After that, he will pursue his doctorate in English with the hopes of someday becom-
received
$526,970 last
summer from
the supplemental Pell
program.
According to University Relations, 650 KU students
ing a professor of fiction and poetry. He realizes he couldn't have done it without help.
such a broad learning experience that ultimately I will be especially fit to contribute to society. I think there are a lot of people in a similar position."
said. Jess said the University did not know yet if those who applied for supplemental Pell grants for the 2011 summer would actually receive them. The University is awaiting word from federal officials.
Edited by Sarah Gregory
"The Pell grant program is especially generous."
"We spend less than just about any campus around, and we have less people to do it," Harding said.
The national average cost for
FLOWERS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
landscaping in public institutions is about $4,500 per acre, and the University only spends about $700 per acre, according the University
of Kansas Landscape Master Plan of 2002.
"A lot of it has to do with promoting stewardship of campus land," Severin said. "We want to maintain our landscape with responsible practices and keep the campus community and culture in mind."
Edited by Caroline Bledowski
As soon as the shipment or new plants comes in, the crew will be filling the now vacant flowerbeds with flowers like begonias, impatiens and potato vine. The tulips come back in late fall.
CORRECTION
1234567890
A Tuesday article about local hazardous materials teams incorrectly referred to fire station 4 as station 5.
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