OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
CRAIG LANG, Editor MARK OZIMEK, Business manager
SUSANNA LOOP, Managing editor DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
KIMBERLY CRAPTREE, Editorial editor JUSTIN KNUPP, Technology coordinator
TOM EBLEN, Manager, news adviser JAY STEINER, Sales and marketing adviser
4A
Friday, April 4, 1997
Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Editorials
Scholarships may ease situation, but only for those who apply
Being a student is tough.
Students work grueling hours, their stress levels are sky high — life becomes madness.
Contributing to this stress is the fact that many students are financially troubled.
The idea of getting scholarships seems like more of a hassle than a help to some students. No one likes a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy. And most scholarship money gets eaten up by ifcoming freshmen.
But students who have been at the University for a few semesters should not lose all hope. There are still plenty of avenues that can be taken in the search for financial assistance.
The Office of Student Financial Aid and the University Scholarship Center offer services that can remedy financial strife.
The search for scholarships will pay off,some of the stress will be alleviated.
There are scholarships and grants that allocate money to students in accordance with the fields they study. For example, there is a Kansas Teacher Scholarship available for students seeking teaching certification, and a Federal Health Professions Student Loan is given to students who study pharmacy.
The KU Endowment Loan is an easy way for any student, except graduating seniors, to pick up a maximum of $1250. All that is needed is a parent's co-signature. And payments on the loan don't need to begin until four years after graduation.
Minority students are eligible for the Kansas Minority Scholarship, which requires minority students to take 12 credit hours.
There also is a computer scholarship search available at the Office of Student Financial Aid. The search, called CASHE, lists a number of private scholarships for which students may be eligible.
Finding money for financial assistance may not be easy. Many scholarships and grants require that students maintain better than average grades and that they stay enrolled in a certain number of credit hours.
These resources aren't going to look for students though. Students need to go out and find them, possibly spending a good deal of frustrating time to satisfy their needs.
IAN RITTER T FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Slow walkers impede other traffic
As sunshine and warm weather finally reach Kansas, students are slowing down, and not just in class.
Students who stop to chat with friends block the sidewalks and create traffic jams and a huge hassle for those people actually trying to reach class on time.
This may not seem like a genuine concern. But these little annoyances are what make attending a big university a hassle. If students did their part, life would be easier for everyone.
Walking to class should not be a hassle. After all, there is plenty of room on the sidewalk for everyone, if all of us keep moving.
Unfortunately, some students think that they have the right to block traffic by occupying half of the sidewalk to chat with friends. On cold, rainy days,
Students who stop, talk with friends block sidewalks and create problems.
this problem is nonexistent. But let the sun shine, and students take the nice weather as a ticket to be annoying.
Students who wish to chat with friends need to find another place to do it. There is plenty of room on Wescoe Beach or the grass to sit and chat.
At least when people stop on the sidewalk, there is generally a way to get around them. But maneuvering around a sidewalk army, walking side by side no less, is a harder battle to win. These people should speed up or split up.
And they can get to class by themselves if they tried. Sacrificing the great conversation of eight people for one or two hours would probably not end your life. In fact, it may improve the conversation.
But people who stop and chat on the sidewalk are not the only annoyance. People who slowly amble to class in groups of 10 are even more obnoxious.
And don't forget about the telephone, which allows you to communicate with your peers without causing a holdup for someone on his or her way to class.
Do the speed walkers of the University of Kansas a favor, and stay out of their way. Save the snail's pace for the summer when it is less likely to annoy stressed-out students trying to reach class.
Sunshine and warm weather are on their way and summer is right around the corner.
NICOLE SKALLA FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
LA TINA SULLIVAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASI . . . News
NOVELDA SOMMERS . . . News
LESLIE TAYLOR . . . News
AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . . News
TARA TRENARY . . . News
DAVID TESKA . . . Online
SPENCER DUNCAN . . Sports
GINA THORNBURG . . Associate Sports
BRADLEY BROOKS . . Campus
LINDESE HENRY . . Campus
DAVE BRIETENSTEIN . Features
PAM DISHMAN . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . Design
ANDY ROHRBACK . Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT . Wire
LZ MUSSER . Special sections
AERICA VEAZEY . News clerk
NEWS EDITORS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLER . . . . .
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TV may prove to be opium of the people
Column
Karl Marx once said, "Religion is the opium of the people," but I think that in today's age it should be changed to "Television is the opium of the people."
Watching television is ritualistic voyeurism at its best. Almost everyone enjoys peeping into someone else's life. And that is why television has become a member of the family, just like the family dog.
Let's face it, we have lost the war with television. Instead of it being a source of entertainment, it has become a vital lifeline to the outside world. And if you watch shows like Jerry Springer, the lifeline is out of this world.
Television should be controlled like an illegal substance. TV addicts make crack addicts look like they are addicted to vitamins. The last thing we need is a nation of children who think that the twins from Full House are role models.
Oh wait, we already have that.
But who knows, maybe in 10 years Full House will be a television classic, like the Brady Bunch. And eventually there will be a movie and trivia about all the characters.
"Yes Alex, I'll take the Uncle Jesse category for 200."
Can you believe that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have three albums? Can you believe that I know their names?
I myself have often wished my mother would have moved me from in front of the television during my childhood. To this day I can name the entire original cast of The Facts of Life, but I can't
learn simple algebra
Why do I remember catch phrases from Different Strokes such as "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis," or Fantasy Island's "Da plane, da plane?" All I have to show for my years of television viewing is a keen knowledge of pop culture, thus the answers to every entertainment question in Trivial Pursuit.
The key to watching television is moderation. It's not how much you watch, it's what you watch. Some good shows do exist on television. Well, actually they are on cable, but technically they are still on television.
But there are those who sometimes lose themselves in the mindless smorgasbord that is television. These are the people who refer to soap opera stars by their characters names and really do enjoy Regis and Kathie Lee.
For example, The Daily Show, on Comedy Central. It's funny, smart and makes fun of everything else. The Daily Show actually treats its viewers as if they had a brain.
Entertainment Tonight does not.
Dries them down. It's important not to.
Then there is *ER*. It's good, on network TV, and they say defibrillate a lot. And then there is the granddaddy of them all, the hardest working cast in show business, Seinfeld. It is still the best show on the boob tube, and I try not to miss it.
Shows with titles such as True Stories of Some Sort of Patrol or Rescue Anything, are just roadkill shows. Watching these shows ranks up there with rubbettecking at the scene of a wreck.
Although I still enjoy television, I have become more selective in my viewing choices. If only the networks could be a little more selective with their programming selections.
Ashlee Roll is a Raleigh, N.C., senior in journalism.
Guest column
A typical day in the life of a graduate student may consist of teaching classes, researching a dissertation or thesis and maintaining full- or part-time employment. It may include handling family matters, such as taking sick children to the doctor or maintaining a home
Graduate candidates need election support
Therefore, the question of what Student Senate can do for graduate students is not a pressing one in their lives. However, the student senators that you elect will address important issues during the year.
One issue is to devise a long term solution to overcrowding at Hilltop Child Development Center. Hilltop provides care for the children of KU students, faculty, staff and Lawrence residents.
Thirty-three graduate students have children enrolled at Hilltop, with numerous students having children on the waiting list. For example, typical Master's-degree candidates who attend the University of Kansas for two years will have little or no chance of being accepted into the program if their children are less than four years old.
Senate is reviewing options to relieve overcrowding such as building a new center, developing a satellite center and changing admissions guidelines. Students should cooperate with the administration to reach a mutually satisfying conclusion.
Because the graduate students' children make up a large proportion of those enrolled at Hilltop, there is little doubt that strong graduate representation on Senate is vital to developing a solution that can benefit the entire community.
Another issue that the Senate and Kansas legislature is reviewing concerns the development of a long-term plan to upgrade technology and computer centers at all of the Regents institutions. As we all know, many of the research facilities at this University are antiquated and inadequate. The Kansas Legislature is considering a long-term plan to upgrade technology, which would be funded by a combination of a student fees and state support.
As a graduate senator this year, I think that we need to elect students who are willing and motivated to tackle the difficult issues that will arise during the year. However, low voter turnout among graduate students during Senate elections in the past has diluted our ability to influence policy. For instance, there has not been a graduate student member of the Student Senate Executive staff in recent memory, yet graduate students make up about 20 percent of the University's student population.
Thirteen graduate students are running with the Unite coalition and four with the Delta Force coalition. It is important that we get out and show our support for these candidates on April 9 and 10. It takes only five minutes to vote, and the reward will be a Senate that will have a strong mandate from its constituency to make decisions that will affect us well into the 21st century.
Finally, this column would not be complete without addressing the inequitable pay and benefits that graduate teaching assistants receive. During the last several years, we have witnessed some progress in this area with the creation of a GTA union.
David Straas is a Wichita law student and a graduate student in business.
Strong support from Senate will be needed to convince the Legislature that this bill is an important educational initiative. Because updated technology is essential to proper research in many disciplines, graduate students need to have a strong voice in the formation of new technology policy.
However, GTAs still are not given an opportunity to be a part of the University health insurance program provided to other employees. Through its lobbying power and relationship with administrators, Senate provides a forum to initiate change on this issue. Furthermore, two graduate students are elected to serve on University Council and one of those students is on University Senate Executive Committee. These two policy making bodies composed of students and faculty make decisions that reach every member of the University community. Council and SenEx provide another forum to voice our concerns about GTAs' pay and benefits.
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Jeff MacNelly/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE