Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
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--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
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--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I'm going to kiss you, even though I have a girlfriend.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
There are no beaches in Kansas, so trying to be a beach blonde makes no sense. Stop ruining your hair.
There's a girl in my class who has bleached white hair, and tans so often that she's vibrantly orange. Not attractive, ladies.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
Why does my body always make me poop on campus? It is the worst.
To those sitting around me when I coughed so hard I farted: I am truly sorry ... but not really. I rather enjoyed the awkwardness.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I had to beat up an old lady today for my Joe College shirt!
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
Using a Safe Ride koozie to drink beer always makes me feel more responsible.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
NBA, if you take my Jolly Green Giant and my All-Smiles Freshman, consider it on.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
Does anybody else feel like they're heading to work in the coal mines every time the whistle sounds?
I get to class this morning, sit down, take off my coat and a small chill comes over me. I look down ... Surprise! No brail!
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I can't help but smile at the thought of slashing his tires.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
Ricky Martin came out of the closet today. Big surprise.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I know we are both nervous, but let's just take a chance and see where it goes.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I will give someone a dollar to break into my room and steal my roommate's guitar.
You are 19. A baby is not the best Christmas gift in the world.
Today I realized I have more old man crushes than crushes on guys my own age.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
To the dark-haired boy in the hot tub on Monday night Meow
You will never read this, but I like you. Let's do this.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
If you have tried more than a few times to get in the FFA and haven't, you're doing it wrong.
--of their self-worth. That is a characteristic that any provost in charge of campuses located in three cities and a medical center should be familiar with.
I'll sell you my pickle for a nickel!
EDITORIAL
Provost a good fit for University
After months of searching, the student body should be proud of the University's recent hire of new executive vice chancellor and provost, Jeffrey S. Vitter.
Vitter is well qualified, and hiring him shows how meticulous the search for the University's No.2 in command was. Vitter's credentials and experience are a reflection of the effort that the faculty-composed committee went through in finding the best candidate for the job.
According to a KU news release March 22, Vitter has served as provost at another large state university, Texas A&M, as well as worked in both faculty and leadership positions at Duke and Brown universities. Vitter also has degrees from Notre Dame, Stanford and Duke.
On top of his resume, Vitter has a personal connection to the University, which will help guarantee he values the job. Vitter's wife is an alumna of the University, and Vitter and his family have been frequent visitors to the campus in the past. Because of his familiarity with the state, he understands what Kansans value and he has a sense
Vitter takes his post July 1. Even with a strong resume and indications that he will do well, Vitter still needs to remember to keep the wants and needs of the student body in mind.
1. Don't raise tuition. Kansas is known for being an affordable place for both in-state and out-of-state students to attend school, and it's important that the University continues to hold that objective during a time with such budget issues.
The top three issues the Provost should focus on include
2. Continue to strengthen curriculum. It's important to be sure that instructors in the University's colleges and professional schools are teaching material that will be relevant and useful to students in today's world of employment. A former student's performance in a job is in part a demonstration of the strength of a school's curriculum.
3. Keep emphasis on academics, not athletics. It is Vitter's responsibility as Provost to run
academics and he should work with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little as well as the Athletic Department to ensure that academics gets appropriate funding.
Students should be happy with the University's choice for provost and feel a sense of pride for attending a school with such competitive positions that attract top administrators.
— James Castle for The Kansan Editorial Board
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Jeffery S. Vitter's Work Background
• Faculty member at Brown University 1980-1993
• Department chair of computer science at Duke University 1993-2001
• Dean of science at Purdue University 2002-2008
• Provost at Texas A&M University 2008-2009
AROOJ KHALID
POLITICS
The value of ignorance
After spending the better part of the past two years bashing bankers whose recklessness caused the economy to collapse and denouncing the plant politicians who bailed them out, it seems we've found a new target of scorn of five minutes' hate. Down with the teachers!
It has become a political rite of passage to demonize the underpaid, overworked educators in U.S. classrooms. Democrats, long seen as more receptive to teachers' concerns, are particularly eager to get tough. To win the dubious approval of the Beltway chattering classes, it's now mandatory for politicians to denounce the evil teachers' unions. Their unreasonable qualms about unfunded mandates, unprepared students, and unprecedented expectations have no place in the debate among right-thinking Americans. Not surprisingly, President Obama earned media praise for his support of a Rhode Island school's decision to fire all of its teachers.
Critics of unions like the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers complain that their members seem more concerned about protecting incompetent teachers than educating their students. To be sure, the extraordinary hurdles that must be cleared to revoke tenure from bad teachers merit a closer look. But to pretend that teachers' unions are the root of all the woes in the education system is to engage in unadulterated fantasy.
The Observer
So are teachers at fault – or are there larger cultural forces at play?
For one thing, that belief
BY LUKE BRINKER
lbrinker@kansan.com
ignores the demonstrated willingness of union leaders like AFT's Randi Weingarten to accept the need for more accountability and sensible national standards. Moreover, it ignores the underlying social problems that have made the U.S. a nation of underachievers in math, science, history and literature.
The anti-intellectual inclination of American society is no recent development. In his biting satires, Sinclair Lewis exposed it in its utter absurdity. Historian Richard Hofstader analyzed the phenomenon in his writings on U.S. politics. With her ignorant attacks on valuable scientific research and those dreadful professors of constitutional law, Sarah Palin threw red meat at the sizable portion of the public that views the educated with suspicion or outright contempt.
Ever since Richard Nixon denounced Adlai Stevenson as an out-of-touch egghead, politicians have felt obligated to apologize for appearing any smarter than Joe the Plumber. Witness the Georgetown- and Yale Law-educated Bill Clinton's "aw-shucks, Bubba", routine replete with hog analogies and all. Such one-of-the-folks acts are more reflective of our anti-intellectual, anti-
American anti-intellectualism inevitably manifests itself in the education system. If students are raised in a culture in which the thoughtful are pilloried and marginalized, are we to blame teachers for their poor performance? When our education secretary has voiced support for paying students for receiving good grades, are we to expect students to value excellence for its own sake?
education climate than anything else.
Sky-high dropout rates in both secondary and postsecondary institutions show the pitfalls of a society in which the learned are denigrated and politicians prefer to blame convenient enemies like teachers' unions than to urge us to reflect on our own values.
The revisionist social studies standards recently endorsed by the Texas Board of Education represent merely the latest instance of modern Know-Nothingism. When the Board decided to give shorter shrift to Thomas Jefferson (who committed the mortal sin of supporting a "wall of separation" between church and state) and devote more attention to the Heritage Foundation and National Rifle Association, not a single historian had a vote. But to point out that the main supporters of the initiative were a dentist and a real-estate man was to take it a bit too far.
After all, what kind of elitist moron thinks experts ought to have a say?
Brinker is a freshman from Topeka in history and political science.
HUMOR
Defend your good name
Have you heard the news about Lindsay?
I almost feel silly for asking, because you probably have. After all, Lindsay is an icon of our generation, on par with Oprah, Madonna and Jesus. She has captivated us with her extensive work in film and taken us on magical journeys with her music. She is talented. She is legendary. She is, in a word, "lindsey"
Under Observation
When Lindsay saw the commercial featuring a "milkaholic" baby with her name, she probably thought she was hallucinating. But this time, everybody else saw it, too. I remember sitting on the couch, watching the Super Bowl, when I was blindsided by this obvious slander against Our Lady Lindsay. I remember thinking, "Lindsay should sue E-Trade over this awful misrepresentation of her and only her, because she is the one true Lindsay and who else could it possibly be based on!"
In recent years Lindsay has fallen on hard times. Her very public and volatile relationships with DJs, paparazzi and cocaine have greatly damaged her image. Her alcoholism has become particularly troubling. This is why the last thing she needs is E-Trade and its army of drunk talking babies defaming her.
And sue is exactly what she did. The reactions were varied: Some considered it to be yet another example of the ultra-litigious society we live in, where no lawsuits is too frivolous; others lamented the extreme self-absorption and egotism that has allegedly become the norm in our celebrity-bossed culture; still others reacted with a combination of the two. I, however, still believe in Lindsay. Her claim that she has the same first-name recognition as Cher or Elmo is not the deluded fantasy of a young celebrity who has
BY ALEX NICHOLS anichols@kansan.com
struggled desperately and mostly unsuccessfully to handle fame. It's the objective truth. I'd be willing to wager that 100 percent of you knew exactly who I was talking about from the very first sentence.
At the very least, consider this: Lindsay is probably as rare a name in Iceland as Björk is in America. If that ad were to ever run in Reykjavik, think of the irreparable damage that would be done to the reputation of the only Lindsay they know. Wed never let a screaming baby in a swan dress hit the airwaves here, so why should we let E-Trade do the same to Lindsay in Iceland? She should take them for all the kronur she can get.
Maybe the reason I support Lindsay so much is because I can sympathize. Once, on a road trip up north, I stopped at a gas station in Iowa. I noticed that somebody had written "Alex Sux" on the bathroom walls. I was horrified. I knew that this terrible vandal was talking about me, even though I had never been to that rest stop or that part of Iowa before. I got the same sense Lindsay got: That somebody, somewhere, wanted people to think that I sux. So, I sued the owner of the gas station, won and put that guy out of business.
It is the time for Lindsay to do the same.
Nichols is a junior from Stlwell in creative writing.
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? Inconsistencies among professors
BY RICHELLE BUSER
I love writing. But papers become more challenging than necessary when teachers insist on following different styles. This semester alone I have a professor who demands students use the "Chicago style," another who wants MLA and all my journalism classes rely on AP. Just to throw in a loop, I even have a professor who has no style guides, just has plenty of personal "irks" that will result in a plethora of red ink.
Professors have the right to want what they want when it comes to paper, but they forget how frustrating inconsistencies can be for students. I understand professors are looking for styles to create clarity, but I think it's the content of the paper, not which type of citation used, that deserves to be graded.
BY SAI FOLMSBEE
Professors' inconsistencies are destroying the fundamentals of education of the University as a whole and are dismantling our complex matrix of classes into a heap of contradictions.
I know what you're thinking; we learned in introductory neurobiology that chloride channels always provide an inhibitory response since the concentration is higher outside the cell! So what's with this discrepancy?
Take for example a recent experience I had, that I am sure everyone can relate to: I was sitting in my developmental neurobiology class learning that inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid gated chloride channels actually have an excitatory role in the developing nervous system! Ridiculous, right?
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