OPINION
4A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
CRAG LANG, Editor
SUSANNA LOOP, Managing editor
KIMBELY CRRAFTER, Editorial editor
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news editor
MARK OZMEK, Business manager
DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
JUSTIN KNUPPE, Technology coordinator
JAY STEINER, Sales and marketing adviser
Friday, April 25, 1997
Matt Breidenthal / KANSAN
Editorials
Online enrollment would ease students' lives, modernize KU
In the early 1990s, even before the boom of the Internet, the University of Kansas aggressively researched online enrollment.
Faculty and staff in the Registrar's Office and the computer center spent a great deal of time trying to create a program that would fit the University student information database, which would have stored enrollment information.
The project members eventually realized that the database was not large enough to handle the complicated programming required by online enrollment. After advertising and promising the student body, Bob Turvey, assistant registrar, said that the idea of online enrollment at the University was postponed.
Although using the current database to provide online services is practically impossible, University officials have
Staying up with technology is difficult, and it can't be put off for too long.
not scrapped the idea altogether. Turvey said the University had speculated about buying a new database and that the University Medical Center has supported such a purchase. So far, only one product has been named. The same corporation that produces the University's payroll system, PeopleSoft.
This system would cost the University between $3 million and $5 million, Turvey said, and it would take at least a year to purchase. Beyond that, the computer staff will soon be tackling the computer glitch of changing the millennium and would not be able to program the database immediately.
The University is interested in this project, which has advantages for students. They want a system that would allow enrollment via modems at home, at University computer labs, and even through a voice-mail telephone call-in system.
Imagine being able to enroll from home without waiting in line. Imagine being able to add or drop classes from the computer center at anytime during the add/drop period.
Not only do these conveniences seem incredible, achieving them would force the administration to modernize the University even further. Staying up with technology is difficult, yet if modernization is put off too long it will be even more difficult to catch up. The University should find a way to achieve these goals quickly.
CODY SIMMS FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Read parking signs to avoid tickets
Nearly everyone would agree that parking at the University of Kansas is a problem.
There's never enough of it, and it often takes longer to find a parking space than it does to drive to campus. In addition, this situation feeds another more expensive problem parking tickets.
Almost every day on campus, several drivers find little pink envelopes tucked under their windshield wiper. Some students have a large collection of those little envelopes. For some of them, too many of those tickets will result in their car being towed and an additional $20 fee.
However, there is a way to avoid that hassle — read the signs. Most of us have probably been on campus in the middle of the afternoon and seen a car with a student tag parked right
If students don't park in restricted areas, they can avoid tickets, towing.
next to the sign that reads: "Red permit parking only."
Granted, parking is tight on campus, but having your car towed can be avoided by simply not parking in restricted areas. At the worst, students can park in the parking garage next to Allen Field House.
However, there are several areas on campus where sign markings are not clear. During the winter, some cars were towed even though the signs marking the restricted areas were covered with snow. In situations like this, there is an appeals process. It can be lengthy, but, in the meantime, the ticket will not put a hold on enrollment forms. Students may also be able to get an undeserved ticket stricken.
Of course, this is not desirable for students who have paid for a yellow permit because they should have the right to a spot on campus. Parking in the garage and paying a few bucks is still cheaper than paying to retrieve a car from a towing company and facing an additional fine.
Most college students don't have a lot of money, but giving it away because you don't read the signs is stupid.
At the same time, perhaps the parking department may recognize a problem area and fix it so that other drivers won't go through the same trouble.
Taking care to park in appropriate areas would save everyone some hassle.
V. MEREDITH TOENJES FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NEWS EDITORS
KANSAN STAFF
LATINA SULLIVAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASI . . . News
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AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . . News
TARA TRENARY . . . News
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GINA THORNBURG . . Associate Sports
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PAM DISIMMAN . . Photo
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Columns
Caffeine addict tries to fight coffee demon
Before you read the heart-breaking account of what follows, a word of caution: The story about to be related is not for the weak of heart, the overtly sentimental or my
Even Sally Struthers wept buckets when she heard my traffic story.
the demons I hope to exorcise for some time, and my battles have thus far been unsuccessful. Perhaps, now that I have gathered enough courage and bravery to admit my problem in public, I will be able to get rid of this weighty monkey on my back.
Hello. My name is Robert and I am addict.
"Hey," he said. "I have the very weapon you need to conquer this dastardly enemy." He then produced a steaming mug of coffee, black as the night that I was trying in vain to fend. Powdered nondairy creamer and two cubes of sugar were added to this mystical elixir, and I drank it, feeling the heavy dose of caffeine through my body, filling me with new life.
It all started innocently enough, about this time in the semester when I was a freshman living in the residence halls. Late one blustery night, I found myself awake at some ungody hour studying, fighting back sleep with the cold steely blade of my rapidly decreasing will. With every forceful advance sleep made, it gained ground, lulling me towards its seductive slumber. And then a friend, or so I thought, walked by my open door, catching me engaged in this heated battle out of the corner of his eye.
From that point on, I was a changed man.
Close friends began to notice what was happening to me and began to talk. They were all in complete agreement that it was time to stage an intervention. My girlfriend was elected to be the spokesperson for this posse.
Soon, I wasn't only drinking coffee when I needed to stay awake late, but also to give me
My addiction began to branch out: cappuccinos, lattes, espresso - my craving for coffee knew no bounds. I was dropping somewhere close to five or six dollars every time I went in the wretched coffee shop.
And I found myself drinking it constantly, a cup after lunch or maybe with a plateful of cookies in the afternoon. I called people I hadn't talked to in years, some of whom I thoroughly despised, to see if they wanted to get together "for coffee." Any excuse I could find to have another cup was good enough for me. By now, I was taking it black.
One rainy afternoon, halfway through my second cup, she looked at me and said, "Honey, that's decaf."
I was hurt and betrayed. All my love for her was instantly replaced with rage - mad, blind rage.
that added kick, that needed jump-start, in the morning when sleep, my old arch-enemy, wanted to retain its grasp on me. As soon as I had finished my second cup, I was ready to face whatever obstacles the new day would present me.
I told her to leave my house. Her tough love methods were unwelcome here and more than that, unwanted.
Right about then, I realized that I had a problem. Thank you for taking the time to hear my story and thank you again for all your support. It's been a week now, and I've almost kicked this habit that took over my life and laid it to rest in the gutter.
I still have a hard road ahead.
Prav forme.
Robert Bishop is a Wichita senior in English and film.
Moving to another state can be scary, but just do it
As the end of the semester approaches and I finish up my first year in Kansas, I have been reflecting on my move here and the changes it has brought to my life.
I think of my friend Lynn as she plans her move to Las Vegas this winter. She is in a similar position to the one I was in last year at this time.
Lynn is moving because her fiancée, Paul, has been stationed there. Like me, Lynn grew up in California, and the prospect of moving to a different state — one away from her family, friends, job and everything she has ever known — is frightening.
shaking and sad all at the same time.
Oh how I can relate.
At first, living in a new place, far from what you know, is strange.
It was strange getting used to different store names. Instead of Raleys, you have Hy-Vee. Instead of Longs you have Walgreens. Instead of Macv's you have Dillards.
It was strange driving on interstates I had never even heard of. It was strange to see signs for Des Moines and Kansas City when I was used to seeing signs for San Francisco and Los Angeles.
And while I'm used to dodging puddles in California, my fall on the ice last November was a rude awakening to the brutality of a Kansas winter.
It was strange to see different newscasters. Instead of Stan Atkinson, you watch Brian Curtis. Instead of Carol Bland, you watch Robin Wilson.
It was strange to watch the weather. The first time I saw a tornado watch on the television, I wasn't sure whether to take cover or just go about my business.
Of course I miss the nuances of Sacramento.
miss seeing familiar faces at familiar places.
miss the beauty of the McKinley Park rose garden. I miss the serenity of Tower Cafe.
But I've discovered that Kansas has its own nuances: the sign on K-10 that reads "Evening Star Road," the one that always makes me think of newspapers; the numerous hills Lawrence has to offer, hills that allow me to challenge myself, while running, hills that most nonnatives are unaware exist in Kansas; the view of the Campile from different parts of the campus and the peaceful sounds of its bells; the pleasurable addiction to milkshakes from the Glass Onion.
Had I not moved here, I would not have met the wonderful people that I have or made the close friends that I have. That now seems so strange. I now have ties to the Midwest.
Being away causes you to appreciate what you have much more. You learn not to take things for granted.
I realize more than ever the strength of my friendships back home, the love of my family and the support that I receive from both.
And I have vowed to visit places such as the ocean more this summer because I enjoy the ocean and I am lucky to have it so accessible to me.
Was the move difficult? Yes.
Were there days I questioned my decision?
Many
And so to Lynn and all others who are considering a move to a new, unfamiliar place: as my friend Anaclare said to me prior to my move last year, "Just do it!"
Would I trade my experience? Not for anything in the world.
I tell Lynn that she will come back more enriched for having lived somewhere unfamiliar. I can tell her this because I know it is true. I can tell her this because I have been there and I have done that.
Elena Maculao is a Sacramento, Calif., graduate student in Journalism.
Letters
many readers missed columnist's point
One of postmodernism's primary contributions to academia has been in the field of hermeneutics, which is examining the ways that people perceive, understand and interpret the world around them.
We find, repeatedly, that people from different backgrounds and walks of life see things differently. Such has been the case, in my opinion, of the various responses to Carson Elrod's April 8 column.
Many who responded apparently read his column as an anti-greek hatchet job.
I, on the other hand, read it as a satire of the lame attempts by the media and professional experts to explain the San Diego disaster by singling out superficial aspects of these "koooky cultist" lifestyles—
Susan McEintree
Portland, Ore.
graduate student
In the wake of Waco's Branch Davidians, it would help if certain people would mellow out and get a sense of perspective and realize that there's more to the world that we live in than KU social life and student's politics.
I am not worried that KU's house dwellers are likely to follow in the Nike-clad footsteps of Heaven's Gate.
aspects which do not differ significantly from those of college subculture, commonly stereotyped as a bastion of All-American normality.
However, the touchy, defensive nature of some responses to Elrod's column reminded me of another reported aspect of life inside the Heaven's Gate group—its sense of isolation, separation from outside world and paranoia.
Loose dogs are often a threat to children
We are glad to see the article in the Kansan about loose dogs on campus.
As preschool teachers on campus, groups of children are often frightened and upset by these dogs while we are on field trips or playing in grassy areas.
The average 5-year-old is 4 feet tall and weighs about 40 pounds.
Dogs of almost any size are a threat.
We hope your article will change the current situation.
We want to have access to public areas, but our first responsibility is to provide a safe atmosphere for the children.
★ GEPQ Golden
Jack Roed
Hilltop teachers