4A
Tuesday, April 30, 1996
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIEWPOINT
Shuttle service could solve parking problems for KU
The KU Relays are an important part of the University of Kansas traditions. The relays give high school athletes the opportunity to participate in the events and tour the campus and also are an important tool for recruiting high school athletes.
But the event created a parking problem. Many students came to campus last week expecting to park in the lots near Memorial Stadium. By the time they arrived, there was no parking. The lots were closed to students.
The parking department had signs saying that parking would be reserved for the Relays. But many students rely on those lots when they drive to campus.
The University should have incorporated a shuttle service from the parking lots on West Campus. This service could have been used for the Relays participants or KU students.
It also could have been a good trial run for the proposed park-and-ride system.
THE ISSUE:
Parking
The University should have used the parking situation at the Kansas Relays to test out a park-n-ride system.
Early advertising or explaining the situation directly to students could have encouraged them to park on West Campus and take a shuttle bus to their classes. Also, the University could offer an incentive, such as letting those students ride the buses free that day.
When the KU football team practices at the the stadium instead of Anschutz Sports Pavilion, the players and coaches receive transportation to and from the stadium. The University should provide a similar system for other students when they have to park elsewhere because of special events on campus.
SARBPAL HUNDAL FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Civil engineers' concrete canoe holds water at championship
Last weekend the KU chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers won the ASCE Concrete Canoe Regional Championship. The team will take its canoe to the national competition in Madison, Wis., in June.
This unique competition required a small legion of volunteer students to spend nearly 900 hours preparing for this event. Teams from around the Midwest were judged on an oral presentation, a constructed display, an academic paper, speed races, endurance races and performance tests.
The many months of preparation culminated in the recent two-day competition here at the University of Kansas. Presentations were given on Friday at the Lied Center, and the races were held Saturday at Lone Star Lake.
This feat particularly is admirable when the participants are examined more closely. The civil engineering students were led by academic
THE ISSUE:
Engineer contest
Engineering group's recent victory in concrete canoe building is commendable considering tough schedules.
adviser Raymond Moore and team leader Ryan Lynch, and they prepared for this event while also continuing their rigorous academic schedules.
The University has done well in this event in the past, and members of the team hope to conclude the year with a victory at nationals. Last year's team suffered the not-suncommon fate of cracking its canoe in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., at the national competition. Kansas State University students suffered the same fate this year here in Lawrence.
Congratulations to the concrete canoe team, and good luck at the national competition.
CHRIS VINE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Shawn Trimble/KANSAN
Fast-food contests can fill American minds with trivia
It only takes a free bag of fries to get people to use their resources.
As anyone who has been to McDonald's in the past month would know, the fast-food chain joined forces with the Walt Disney Co. to offer the Disney Video Masterpiece Collection Trivia Challenge, which lasted from March 29 to April 25.
Customers were given game pieces attached to their drinks and fries that featured multiple-choice questions about Disney cartoons and feature films. By scratching off the box above the right answer, the customer could win anything from McDonald's food items to the grand prize, a Dodge Viper.
However, patrons of the Golden Arches didn't realize how much brainpower they would have to use to answer any of the 6,000 questions. Most people playing the game probably didn't realize how specific the questions would be. For example, right off the top of their heads, who would know the answer to questions such as, "In the 'Dance of the Hours' sequence of Disney's Fantasia, whose dance represents 'Afternoon'"?
Unless they happened to make a lucky guess like I did, most people probably wouldn't remember that the correct answer is "The Hippos," and thus they would lose their chance to receive a free small drink or coffee.
Of course, tough questions such as these aren't going to keep determined Americans from receiving the free
ASSOCIATE EDITORIAL EDITOR
fried food items that they believe they deserve
An article in last week's Entertainment Weekly pointed out that library research lines across the country have been jammed with calls pertaining to Disney trivia. The New York Public Library reports that it has received about 50 calls each week
on Disney subjects.
The article also said that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' library had to make a recording saying it won't answer Disney queries during the contest.
■ Even here at the University of Kansas, the University Information Center employees received an average of four calls each three- or four-hour shift regarding Disney trivia. The staff even compiled a list of answers to the questions they have fielded in case anyone comes across the same question more than once.
Unfortunately, these facts display the greed of many Americans. On the very slight chance that they could win the grand prize, several people are doing whatever it takes to find the correct answers. Too many people are looking for shortcuts to happiness. The idea of working hard to earn the proper rewards is not appealing any more. It takes the opportunity to win a luxury item by scratching off a box to get some people motivated.
On the other hand, McDonald's has proven that it has found a way to get people to use their resources to gain access to information.
Now that the Disney contest has ended, maybe McDonald's can find a way to collaborate with CNN or Time magazine to get people interested in the real-life events of our lives.
With questions such as, "Whose manifesto was published in the Washington Post and the New York Times?" people may take the time to keep up with current events.
A contest like this also might get more people to use resources like the libraries to learn about things — such as what kind of legislation recently has been passed in Congress — that have more of an effect on their lives than movie trivia.
If I've learned one thing from this trivia contest, it is that many people will go to great lengths to win a free Big Mac, especially if they also have a chance of winning a new car. We now have the knowledge of how to get Americans to use the resources they have to gain information that can make them more intelligent and informed individuals.
Craig Lung Is a Springfield, Mo., Junior In Journalism.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Department tries to uphold peoples' dignity
As faculty, staff and graduate students of the department of psychology at the University of Kansas, we were greatly concerned by the experiences of Steph Brewer and other students as reported in the April 22 University Daily Kansan column, Our society should address, not laugh at, mental illness. We recognize that sometimes in the "give and take" of classroom discussion misunderstandings may occur. Therefore, we wish to offer the following response clarifying our caring view and pointing out to the University community that to the best of our knowledge, this view is held by all
graduate students and faculty offering undergraduate course within the department, including the instructor of Brewer's course.
A basic principle we hold is the dignity and worth of every individual whether or not afflicted by mental illness. We are totally opposed to any bias or prejudice toward any person because of race, national origin, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or state of physical or psychological health.
Any demeaning communication about anyone suffering from schizophrenia, depression or any other mental illness is completely inappropriate.
chological functioning and behavior. We have given much effort to understanding the causes of mental illness, its effects on the persons suffering from such illnesses and their loved ones, and the treatments to alleviate such conditions. For more that 35 years our psychological clinic has offered services to individuals with any type of emotional, behavioral, interpersonal or psychological problem.
Many of us have spent our adult lives trying to understand both healthy and unhealthy human psy-
We would invite anyone with further concerns to visit with the chairman of the department or with any other faculty member. The worth and dignity of every individual is of utmost importance to us.
Dennis Karpowitz chairman, department of psychology
True learning being replaced by desire just to pass tests
I was sitting in class last week, preparing to be enlightened about the slightly interesting subject we were planning to study that day. Before the class began, the professor announced a lecture that she believed we all should attend. Her reason for wanting us to attend was simple: Although the lecture was not affiliated with the class,
STAFF COLUMNIST
the topic, she said, pertained to information that could appear on our final exam, so if we had a chance, we should go.
In all of the discussion about the final, she did not give any other reasons to attend the lecture. She did not mention that perhaps we could learn from
it or that there would be an interesting discussion following it. What was important was that, perhaps, it could help on our final.
This reminded me of another one of my classes where "learning" is facilitated by a series of exercises in which we duplicate the example in the book. For the most part, it is not necessary to understand the point it illustrates to complete the exercises. All that is needed is an ability to follow an example.
An unfortunate precedent is being set in our classes every day. We no longer are required to learn anything. Instead, we need to be able to recount information that most likely we soon will forget. In both of these classes, the most frustrating thing is that, typically, learning for the sake of learning is ignored. It seems that all that is important is doing well on the test, and taking time to actually learn the material becomes secondary.
This attitude extends itself to the coming final exams. It becomes far too easy to study enough to do well on any given exam, only to forget the information two days after finals end. Although we may have, at one time, had the material memorized, we may not actually ever have learned it, making it all too easy to forget.
The point of college for many, it seems, is not to learn. The goal, instead, is surviving until graduation. We spend thousands of dollars a year to get a piece of paper that may or may not help us get a job in the real world. Our final goal has become so displaced in the process of getting a diploma that many students don't even care anymore that we have stopped trying to actually learn anything.
One of my favorite classes this semester is in a subject that I generally am not at all interested in. However, the teacher facilitates learning so well that grades have become secondary to understanding the material and how it affects us. Suddenly, I found myself enjoying something that I previously hated, and I have begun to enjoy learning again.
We need to reclaim the original goal of attending class for the sake of learning. With all of the money that is being spent at our colleges and universities, it only makes sense to try to gain something worthwhile from it. And as ridiculous as it sounds, that something is knowledge. Information. Know-how. Whatever it is called, it is committed to memory, never be forgotten. And it is far more important than the little piece of paper we carry away.
Stacy Nagy is a Topeka sophomore in Russian.
KANSAN STAFF
ASHLEY MILLER
Editor
VIRGINIA MARGHEIM
Managing editor
ROBERT ALLEN
News editor
TOM EBLBN
General manager, news adviser
Editors
Campus ... Joann Birk
Phillip Brownlee
Editorial ... Paul Todd
Associate editorial ... Craig Lang
Features ... Mappwood
Spotlight ... Tom Erickson
Associate sports ... Bill Petulla
Photo ... Matt Flickerker
Graphics ... Noah Musser
Special sections ... Naval Summer
News Team
Illustration ... Micah Lauder
HEATHIER NIEHAUS
Business manager
KONAN HAUSER
Retail sales manager
JAY STEINER
Sales and marketing adviser
JUSTIN KNUPP
Technology coordinator
Campus mgr . Kuren Gerorch
Regional mgr . Kelly Comesley
National mgr . Mark Ozmek
Special sections mgr . Horm Blow
Production mgr . Rachel Gahli
Marketing director . Heather Vuller
Marketing director . Cary Breisslow
Public Relations dir . Amanda Kowalski
Creative director . Ed Kowskal
Cascaded mgr . Stacey Weygarten
Internship/co-op mgr . T.J. Clark
Business Staff
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin