4A the university daily kansan
opinion
EDITORIAL BOARD
friday, april 30, 2004
Summer spending: Rec center fees unjust
The advisory board and administrators for the Student Recreation Fitness Center have a
OUR VIEW
The Student
Recreation Fitness
Center is charging
for summer use.
This fee is just one
more unjustified
fee.
request of students.
After the $17 million facility has been funded by student fees, students are being told it's not enough. They should pay a summer fee.
For students who are not enrolled in summer classes,but want to use the center,the proposed fee is $51 for the entire summer. For students wanting to use the center for June only, the fee is $15.
Mary Chappell, director of recreational services, also said that sophomores, juniors and seniors could avoid the fee by trading a fall or spring semester for this summer.
Other fees don't work like this. Watkins Memorial Health Center is the one center that operates under this fee-based system. But the libraries, for which there is a fee, are still open to students in the summer.
The Student Recreation Fitness Center has money. It was
one of the budgets in which the Governor's analysis team found a surplus. As of Wednesday, Andy Knopp, Student Body President, secured another $6 million dollars for center renovations.
Chappell said the fee was proposed because students enrolled in summer classes will be paying student fees.
If the recreation center already has a surplus and will now be renovated, it's difficult to understand the need for additional fees.
Although this may be true, students at the University did not pay to use Robinson during the
summer. There are also many students who do not use the center although they pay the fee every semester.
Commuting students who have not and will not use the center, have still paid $62 each spring and fall semester since 2001.
Although there are benefits of the additional fee — the hours of operation for the center will not change — the overwhelming need of the facility is not apparent. In a time of budget crunch, tuition hikes and a dim economy, the last need of students is one more fee for something they already should have.
PERSPECTIVE
Zach Newton for The University Daily Kansas
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com
would make my purchases and to avoid cavity warnings from my parents, would sit with the old men and consume my Now & Laters.
Free for All Call 864-0500
Chuck, put all of the drugs down.
Girls, don't wait for a guy to call.
Why don't you call him? Why do you want to play the same gender roles as everyone else?
I really appreciate ResNet making us download Sophos that doesn't even protect against this worm that took away my Internet.
would make my purchases and to avoid cavity warnings from my parents, would sit with the old men and consume my Now & Laters.
Really windy day plus really short skirts equals happiness in my pants.
图
I am a student that lives on Daisy Hill and if ResNet can't get my Internet working in a month I want a refund check. Who's with me?
would make my purchases and to avoid cavity warnings from my parents, would sit with the old men and consume my Now & Laters.
I am pretty sure that I paid to be connected to the Internet. Now that I am not I want my money back, all of it.
Really, how do rocks get into your socks?
would make my purchases and to avoid cavity warnings from my parents, would sit with the old men and consume my Now & Laters.
居
图
Sophos is a condom with holes.
That was from John. Thanks, John.
To the guy in front of McCollum riding the scooter; Scotty don't.
Hey Baskin Robins, where's my free scoop?
图
Kill Bill Vol. 1 is the greatest movie ever.
The KU Web site is very inefficient and it has ruined my last week.
图
Guess what? I am graduating in 24 days.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
TALK TO US
would make my purchases and to avoid cavity warnings from my parents, would sit with the old men and consume my Now & Laters.
Clark H. Coa alumnus
Everybody complains about Microsoft, but you know who really has a monopoly. Crayola.
Wescoe needs to be remodeled
I think my Internet addiction has been replaced by a Free For All addiction.
Not only is there outstanding landscaping and open space, such as Marvin Grove and Potter Lake, but historic and architecturally significant buildings line Jayhawk Boulevard.
The sole blemish is Wescoe Hall. The fact is this modernist monstrosity does not blend in with any of the other buildings on Jayhawk Boulevard. That is why its exterior should be modified as soon as possible:
The University of Kansas campus has been described as one of the most beautiful in the nation.
A limestone facade and a red, pitched roof can be readily added. These two changes would substantially enhance the KU campus.
For any questions, call Meghan Brune or Johanna M. Maska at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@kansan.com. General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kansan.com.
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
MUSIC OF MY MIND
Dialogue vital for community lovin'
"I'm living in the present/ever praying to the past/Purpose/To bring my ancestors to the surface..."
— Taha (with Josh Powers), "Contrast (Bringin' it Back)" from the 2003 album, Scenebooster Soundsystem
Though I did not have the capacity to observe it at the time, as a kid in urban America post-Reganomics, there were few constants in my public life.
But among the few public certainties that I could observe, there was one that captivated me like no other. I knew from the first blossoms of spring until the last leaf dropped in the Georgia autumn that there would always be those old dudes who sat on the corner.
COMMENTARY
Those men would sit on milk crates, upside down buckets and on old lawn chairs at the brick-lined corner up the street from my house. Neighborhood legend had it that their sole responsibility was to hold down the bricks of the sidewalk.
Cornelius Minor opinion@hansan.com
Those men seemed to enjoy my company as much as I treasured theirs. And they always had music playing. It was there that I discovered Bill Withers and Miles Davis; and it was through that music that I learned of their joys and pains. I learned of "big people's issues" such as cancer and divorce in the same intervals that I learned about chess and fishing. In their sacred space, those men helped me to reinforce a love for myself and a love for community that I carry with me to this day.
For some of us, those moments
As we struggle to comprehend and to master the various political, social and economic dynamics of contemporary life, it is important to remember that cultivating community through honest dialogue helped us to understand and to love who we are.
were in the barbershop, in the residence hall, on the farm, at grandparents' houses or in church. For all of us, those moments were the ones that, though we may not remember them fully, made us who we are.
As we struggle to comprehend and to master the various political, social and economic dynamics of contemporary life, it is important to remember that cultivating community through honest dialogue helped us to
The only memory left of what used to be exists in our heads. Dialogue is incredibly important. I'm realizing that we, collectively, cannot afford to live without such a quest for understanding. Multicultural to multi-experiential. And if talking with one another ain't the way, it certainly is one of them.
Minor is an Atlanta graduate student in American studies. He is also the co-host of Voice Activated, 7:30 p.m., Thursdays on K.JHK.
KANSAN
As life gets more intense, segmented, competitive and stressful we spend a lot of time lamenting the erosion of the old ways. For me, the massive movement of the upper class back into the city has pushed the man off of the corner, and the sense of solidarity that we used to celebrate has been crushed under the weight of a failed attempt at multi-culturalism.
Michelle Rombeck
editor
864-4854 or mbuhn@kansen.com
Andrew Vaupel managing editor 864-4854 or vaupel@kansan.com
Meghan Brune and Johanna M. Maska opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
understand and to love who we are. As we face an uncertain and sometimes scary future, real learning from one another is the only way that we can even begin to understand and to love who we are to become.
Danielle Bose
business manager
864-4358 or adddirector@kansan.com
Stephanie Graham
retail sales manager
864-4358 or adsales@kansan.com
Melcolm Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Matt Fisher
sales and marketing adviser
864-7665 or mfaisher.kansan.com
Editorial Board Members
Editorial Board Members
Kendall Dix Larrys Ford Laura Francoviglia
amy Hammontree Kelly Hollowell Teresa Lo
Mindy Observe Ryan Elizabeth Scarabell
Newton Wes Benson Sara Behunek Kevin
Fliberty Brandon Gavack Zuck Hanewan
Flattery **Brandon Gay** Zack Hornway
Alex Hoffman **Kevin Kavmpich** Anny Kelly
Cameron Kapling **Countney Kuhln** **Brandi**
*Travis Moore* *Maria Narin*
Marthahead
Jonathan Reeder Erin Rifley Aile Smith
Kelzimmerman
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