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NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2010 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAN.COM
CAMPUS
Law may save students money
BY ANNIE VANGSNES anniev@kansan.com
A new federal law mandates that professors turn in textbook and supplies information earlier could help students save money. It will also inform them of how much their books and supplies will cost when they enroll.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act doesn't take effect until July 1, but the University and the KU Bookstore have already implemented the new deadlines.
Estella McCollum, assistant director for KU Bookstores, said the act was meant to give students a better idea of all the additional costs that come with a class at the time of enrollment. That way, students have time to shop around for the best prices.
"It's really attacking the affordibility of education as a whole," McCollum said. "because it's not just textbooks, its required materials and supplies — they want anything associated with that class sooner."
While this could be helpful for some students, it may not affect students who don't have book requirements.
Jamie Padzensky, a senior from Andover, is in the graphics program and said the new require
ment wouldn't necessarily help her in knowing the cost of her supplies.
"It would be helpful, but most of the time projects are student to student, and it depends on what you want to do." Padzensky said. "I don't know what kind of paper I'm going to use for a project until I get to the project."
She said it would be helpful for professors to communicate with the bookstore throughout the semester to make sure it had enough of certain supplies when a project came up.
McCollum said that KU Bookstores was the collecting point for the textbook paperwork, which they refer to as adoptions, and that students would still be able to shop anywhere for their books.
Rachel Barnes, assistant course materials buyer, said she had definitely seen an increase in the number of textbook adoptions that have been turned in. At this time last spring, KU Bookstores had only received about 30 percent of summer adoptions and 7 percent of fall adoptions. This year, the bookstore has received about 65 percent of summer adoptions and 22 percent for fall.
Caitlin Davies, assistant course materials buyer for KU Bookstores, said getting adoptions in on time helped students save money.
"The earlier I get an adoption, the earlier I know what textbooks to get for a class, the more used copies I'm able to locate," Davies said. "It really passes on a huge savings to the student."
She also said that when the bookstore knows a professor is using a book the following semester, students receive more money when they sell their books back.
The law, which passed in August 2008, mandates universities turn in class information in a more timely manner, but it doesn't require any punishment for professors that don't turn in their adoptions.
McCollum said the law states that adoptions need to be turned in as soon as realistically possible.
One reason a department may not turn in adoptions on time is if it doesn't yet have its GTAs assigned to a section or if GTAs haven't accepted their positions in time for the deadline. She said it won't ever be realistic to expect 100 percent compliance.
"The whole point is to give a more accurate estimate as to what the cost of the class is going to be so they're prepared" McCollum said. "It also gives them time to look at their options and decide what other options they have for those same materials."
- Edited by Anna Archibald
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Amber Harley, a senior from Wichita, and Vinur Kaul, a senior from Mission, showcase their concrete mixture that allows water to pass through. They were part of group that won the National American混凝土Institute Pervious Concrete Competition in Chicago.
Students see success in sustainable concrete competition, place first
CAMPUS
BY BRENNA LONG
"That is the way Mother Nature intends for rain to come down and go straight into the ground." Harley said.
blong@kansan.com
As she passed through security at the airport, Regan Gangel, a senior from Leawood, thought the cylinder of concrete wrapped in her bath towel might raise some suspicions. After going through explosive checks and being questioned, she boarded the plane with a sigh of relief.
"I was paranoid that we wouldn't get them through," said Amber Harley, a senior from Wichita.
Not only did the KU engineering students make it through airport security, but they also went on to win first place and $300 at the National American Concrete Institute Pervious Concrete Competition in Chicago in March. The goal of the competition was to promote sustainability using concrete. The team was challenged to create a sample of pervious concrete that kept a strong resistance to force while maximizing permeability. The team won against 32 other schools.
"I was at the convention too, and people kept stopping me and saying 'Your team won. Your team won," said JoAnn Browning, associate professor of civil engineering.
The road to nationals consisted of studying, mixing, curing and testing. Because pervious concrete isn't a specific class for the students, they had to take their knowledge of regular concrete and apply it to the competition. The pores in the concrete allow water to seep into the soil instead of running into the sewers. This type of concrete is used for parking lots and large areas of surface concrete.
The pervious concrete was created by Harley; Gangel; Vinur Kaul, a senior from Mission, and Lucy Munz, a senior from Great Bend. The group also placed third at the Regional Pervious Concrete Competition Feb. 27.
To make the 4-by-6 inch cylinders for the competition, the group mixed limestone, cement, water and fibers by hand. The group made 10 different batches of the mix over the course of the year. Once in the molds, the samples cured in a bath of lime solution for at least 28 days.
The longer the samples sit in the solution, the stronger they get, Kaul said. The students also made their own testing tube but encountered some problems at first.
"Every time we would pour the water in, it would just gush out the side," Gangel said.
To test the tube, the group put its cylinder down inside of it, filled it with water, turned the valves and started a stopwatch to time how fast the water filtered through.
Because this is only the second year of KU's chapter of the American Concrete Institute, the University has competed only twice, and the competition last year was a trial run. Browning said the entire process was hard work, from getting the materials to conducting the tests that resulted in success.
"The first time we put it in and bubbles came up, I was just like yes, yes it worked." Kaul said.
The group received donations and support from Midwest Concrete Materials and Murry Decorative Concrete in Lawrence. The School of Engineering and the American Concrete Institute financed the rest of the competition.
Edited by Kate Larrabee
NATIONAL
Bald eagles in Penn. raise two young
PHILADELPHIA — A pair of Philadelphia eagles are caus-
abandon nests in urban environments, but this pair seem to not be bothered by the planes.
Associated Press
ing some excitement, but it has nothing to do with football.
Stolz says the eagles are looking good, stretching their wings and eating invasive carp. The eaglets could be flying in about a month.
These bald eagles have beaten high odds and are raising two eaglets near the Philadelphia airport. Officials say they're the first bald eagles ever to do so on the refuge.
Refuge manager Gary Stolz said eagles were sensitive to city noise and have been known to
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