4A the university daily kansan
opinion
EDITORIAL BOARD
monday, may 10,2004
Take last classes of year outdoors
Tara Welch never saw the problem with taking her students outside.
As a matter of fact, the assistant
As an active classics professor even built some class sessions around going outside.
Two years ago, Welch demonstrated the art of Roman military tac
OUR VIEW
One of the University of Kansas' famed qualities is its beautiful campus.
Take classes outside to appreciate it.
tics to her Roman Literature and Civilization class.
Realizing that simple drawings and diagrams probably wouldn't do the trick, she took her class to the Fraser Hall lawn. Designating students as different types of soldiers, the class was taught to march and fight as a Roman legion would.
The message stuck and the students were left with a better comprehension of the subject. The weather wasn't even that nice.
While Welch no longer teaches the subject, she still acknowledges the importance of taking a class outside. She still takes her Latin classes outside on occasion.
"Learning happens everywhere." Welch said.
And indeed it should.
As the spring weather starts to kick in, students often find schoolwork difficult to focus on. Attendance begins to dwindle and the students who do attend class regularly look longingly out the windows, concentrating less on the principles of Western Civilization and more on what to do when class ends.
How then, does the average teacher keep the attention of the class?
It sounds easy,but possibly the best solution would be to take the students outside on nice days.
The most common argument against going outside is that teachers say it is difficult for students to concentrate. This side of the debate has one flaw. Students want to go outside.
If, say their English teacher allows them to carry on discussion outside, the talk will be liveier than ever. The students will behave because they want have class outside again.
Allowing discussions to take place in the balmy weather will improve attendance and keep student morale high. This late in the school year, motivation is key.
The University of Kansas is renowned for many academic accomplishments, but perhaps the biggest source of pride is its beautiful campus.
Get your classes outside and enjoy the vibrant greens and luscious blooms while the weather is nice.
PERSPECTIVE
Zach Stinson for The University Daily Kansan
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The best part about the hot weather is the boys in shorts with their hot legs.
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graduate. "I worry about middle-income families," she said. "The expected family contribution associated with the FAFSA is not consistent with what families can actually give. Many families on paper make a decent amount of money, but are not in the position to give $2,000 to $4,000."
Campus really smells like pooh pooh.
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I don't know which is worse, not having the Internet or my roommate leaving her dishes in the sink for weeks. Wash your dishes, Rachel.
graduate. "I worry about middle-income families," she said. "The expected family contribution associated with the FAFSA is not consistent with what families can actually give. Many families on paper make a decent amount of money, but are not in the position to give $2,000 to $4,000."
Nothing speeds up my day like 500 high school kids and their parents at Mrs. E's.
Fertilizer happens.
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PERSPECTIVE
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Middle-income families bear burden
Campuses are getting richer. Slowly, but surely.
From the University of Michigan to Harvard, The New York Times reported, there has been an increase in enrollment of upper-income families and a decrease in attendance from middle-income families. Middle-income families were defined as those whose income is at or below the national median income, $53,000.
The University of Kansas has seen a slight version of this trend.
COMMENTARY
The Office of Institutional Research and Planning reported in the fall of 2000, 30 percent of the families of incoming freshman made less than $50,000. The percentage of students from these middle-income families dropped to 27 percent in 2001 and 2002, then increased slightly to 28 percent in 2003.
And in-terms of upper-income families, the University doesn't buck any trends. In 2000, families making more than $100,000 made up 24 percent of the student population. In 2001, it rose to
Brandi Mathiesen
opinion@hansan.com
27. 6 percent and in 2002 it rose to 29.7 percent. In the fall of 2003 it fell slightly to 28.5 percent, but that is still significantly higher than the fall of 2000.
Though this does not seem to be a major problem, it could be the calm before the storm.
"Part of the problem is that the state support cannot keep up with the rising tuition and students in-turn foot the bill," Marlesa Roney, vice provost of student success said. "Many families see the cost of college and self-select themselves out before they even get started."
Another factor is federal aid said Roney, who is a first generation college graduate.
One way to combat this problem is to re-evaluate the Pell Grant and make more money available to the middle-income students, Roney said.
Income students, Holiday According to The New York Times article, April 12, entitled "As Wealthy Fill Top Colleges, New Efforts to Level the Field," many universities are making efforts to confront the issue. The University of Maryland will not ask students to take out loans if they are from families that make less than $21,000 a year. Harvard, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia will have similar programs. The scholarships will cover the entire cost of tuition.
Stanford and Yale are working to revamp their early-admissions programs to allow for more low-income students' acceptance, the article said.
Each of these ideas is noble and deserve credit, but they do not solve the problem. The new programs are a good start. But, the statistics show a decrease in students from middle-income families, not a decrease in low-income families. Low-income families already have a good chance at receiving federal aid and scholarships, so designing programs that will only affect lower-income students will not alleviate the burden for middle-income families.
Families who make just over the cutoff income are continually forgotten.
This trend is beginning to take hold, and will be a detriment to higher education. Administrators, government officials and students themselves should consider options to help the ones in the middle.
Mathiesen is a Bonner Springs senior in journalism.
PERSPECTIVE
Kansas needs mandatory headlight laws
As spring showers continue to fall over the Midwest, the streets of Lawrence will become wetter and the skies will become darker. And as peaceful as these springtime showers may be to some people, the showers are no more peaceful than a torrential downpour of danger when those gray clouds impair drivers' vision on the roads.
I drive in Lawrence with great caution, not only to prevent myself from hydroplaning off slick roads, but also to watch for gray, white and light blue cars without their headlights on. Cars that appear almost invisible against the darkened sky.
There is a law in my home state of Georgia that forces drivers to use their cars' headlights during rain, fog, sleet and even the occasional snowfall. In other words: Windshield wipers and
GUEST COMMENTARY
Nate Karlin opinion@kansan.com
headlights go hand in hand. If you need to use your car's windshield wipers, then you might as well have your car's headlights turned on. Just the sight of headlights shining in front of me and behind me gives me an automatic sense of safety while driving down the Georgia roads.
I cannot say the same for Kansas. In
With some of these states doubling up on the two laws, a total of 33 states force their drivers to use their cars' headlights during inclement weather, leaving 17 states that have chosen to permit their drivers to drive more dangerously during this weather.
Kansas' defense, Melissa Savage, a National Conference of State Legislatures policy analyst, said only 14 states had issued a law that made driving without the proper use of a car's headlights in accordance with the necessary use of windshield wipers illegal and only 19 states had issued the same law as Georgia.
Kansas, unfortunately, places its name with those 17 states.
The last thing a Lawrence driver needs is to worry about rear-ending a car that is nearly invisible without its red taillights shining through the gray sky. I think it is ridiculous that the state of Kansas would not force a driver to use his or her car's headlights when the rain or snow forces the use of windshield wipers.
I want to feel the same amount of comfort as I do in Georgia when I'm driving on the roads in Kansas during a rainstorm. I would rather spend my time focusing on what's in front of me on the road rather than looking through the waterfall down my back window trying to depict whether that dark silhouette in the next lane is a moving vehicle or just another dark cloud.
With cars overpopulating the streets,
Lawrence drivers suffer day-in and day-
out with constant stop-and-go driving.
KANSAN
Karlin is a Marietta, Ga., sophomore in journalism.
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Editorial Board Members
Editorial Board Members
Kendall Dix Llynze Ford Laura Francoviglia Amy Hammontteen Kelly Hollowell Teresa Loa Mindy Osborne Ryan Scarrow Elizabeth Willy Paul Whitmoretem Zach Stinson Zach Newton Wes Benson Sara Behnek Kevin "Flaherty Brandon Gay Zack Homenway Alex Hoffman Kevin Kampwitt Amy Kelly Cameron Koelling Courtney Kuhlan Brandi Mathessen Travis Metcalf Mike Norris Jonathan Reeder Erin Riffley Alea Smith Kari Zimmerman