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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
CAMPUS
Conversation groups help students practice English
BY KELLY MORGAN
kmorgan@kansan.com
More than 11,000 miles away from his hometown of Maoming, China, senior Xiaowu Li recalls how difficult it was for him to communicate with his peers when he first arrived on campus.
he first arrived.
"At first it was hard to say what I meant." Li said. "My English has improved a lot since I got here."
Li attributes much of his improved speaking ability to conversation groups he attends that are held by the Applied English Center.
"After class I can study English by watching a movie or reading a book," Li said. "But I like to come here and talk about topics. It's very fun."
The groups, which are open to non-native English speakers, meet five days a week in the Hawk's Nest at the Kansas Union. The groups are run by different discussion
leaders who talk to the students about topics ranging in everything from the definition of "booty call" to political tensions around the world.
"We talked about Tiananmen Square last time," said Arica Maurer, a junior from Overland Park who helps out with the groups. "It was really interesting hearing the Chinese perspective on it. It's so different."
In addition to helping international students practice their English-speaking skills, the program seeks to help acclimate its participants to American culture.
"A lot of students will come here after seeing a movie and have a really romanticized version of what the U.S. should be," said Chris Armstrong, a senior from Lawrence. "They'll come to Kansas expecting it to be like New York, and that's obviously not the case."
The program helps students
understand their surroundings more by taking them on weekend field trips to places like Worlds of Fun or, more recently, a tour of farms in areas around Lawrence.
The farm tour was very popular," said Rachel Crist, a program administrator with AEC. "A lot of the students will go into the city for the weekend and not really get the opportunity to experience what farm life is like."
As a whole, the program hopes to help students reach their English speaking goals. International students make up four percent of the University's undergraduate enrollment and 7.5 percent of the graduate enrollment.
are enthusiastic.
"I think students are just really attracted to all that we are offering to them," Crist said. "We had one student who was able to jump three levels in English just by coming and practicing every day."
Edited by Clark Goble
ELECTION
Moran cruises to Senate seat over first-time Democratic candidate
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas voters sent U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran to the Senate with a huge victory margin Tuesday night, something his fellow Republicans had expected in arace against an articulate but little-known, first-time Democratic candidate.
Moran
Moran's win over Democrat Lisa Johnston, a college administrator.
fit with the Republican nominee's status in the GOP-leaning state. Kansas hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932.
Also, Moran easily tapped into many voters' discontent with President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats over the economy and the new federal health care law.
"I'm humbled," Moran told The Associated Press by phone from Hays, where he and his supporters were celebrating his victory. "With success tonight comes great responsibility as we try to turn this country around."
Moran, 56, also has a folksy; approachable image built with hundreds of town hall meetings as a congressman. He's represented the sprawling 1st Congressional District of central and western Kansas since 1997.
"Jerry's been around for a long time, so you see what he's saying, and his town halls, they've been around for a long time," Michelle Hoferer, a 51-year-old Topeka resident and project manager for a company that fabricates limestone, said after voting at a Topeka nursing home.
Moran will replace U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican who opted to give up the seat and run for governor.
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POLITICS
Governor-elect Sam Brownback gives a victory speech for Kansas republicans Tuesday night at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka. Brownback has said he considers higher education a key part of Kansas' economic recovery but does not want to raise taxes to increase state funding of education.
Ben Pirotte/KANSAN
Educators voice concerns on Brownback,higher ed.
The governor-elect declined to endorse Regents' plan
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story was first published on the Midwest Democracy Project's website on Oct. 29.
Kansas educators generally support Sam Brownback's broad higher education goals. But some question whether the newly elected governor will be willing to spend the money needed to meet those goals.
Brownback won Tuesday's election, becoming the state's first Republican governor in eight years. He defeated Tom Holland, the Democratic candidate, by 27 percentage points (62 percent to 35 percent.) During his campaign, Brownback emphasized higher education's role in the state economy. In his platform, "Road Map for Kansas," he outlined goals that are in line with those previously articulated by colleges and universities across the state.
These goals include achieving National Cancer Institute designation at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, supporting the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State University and working with community and technical colleges to better meet workforce demands.
Holland also focused on the economic contributions of higher education in his campaign. He called education one of the best investments Kansas could make to ensure economic development and said he wanted to increase spending for higher education. Holland endorsed the "Kansas Commitment," a proposal by the state Board of Regents to boost state funding by $50.4 million.
"It is impossible to do more with less," said Gary Sherrer, chairman of the Board of Regents. "We think it's a relatively modest proposal considering the total amount we're asking for is half of what they cut from higher education."
Holland backed the plan after the student body presidents at the six regents universities sent him a letter encouraging him to do so.
Brownback received the same letter and declined to endorse the proposal. That decision has deepened educators' concerns about what steps Brownback will take as governor.
BUDGET WOES
The dismal state of Kansas' budget will no doubt complicate Brownback's ability to achieve his higher education goals, which include graduating more engineers and improving the biosciences. The recent recession proved to be Kansas' worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a three-year decline in state revenue has exacerbated higher education's financial woes.
The state has cut more than $100 million from its higher education budget during the last two year and state funding per student is at an all-time low.
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act provided temporary relief for the state general fund, which funds roughly a third of higher education's budget. Though state universities and colleges still suffered significant funding cuts, those cuts would have been much more severe had the state not received federal support.
Kansas' largest financial hurdle will be a $450 million gap in the upcoming fiscal year left by depleted federal Recovery Act money.
But Recovery Act money is soon to run out.
To avoid further cuts to higher education, Kansas lawmakers must find a way to fill that gap, said Duane Goossen, the state's budget director.
"It seems to me that the state may have to raise taxes," said Joshua Rosenbloom, a professor of economics at the University who is an expert on state and local economics. "Without raising taxes there's no other way to get around this."
Some educators have voiced support for raising taxes.
NO NEW TAXES
But Brownback said he opposes tax increases. His solution is to stabilize funding for higher education by increasing the amount of state tax revenue generated. He wants to grow the economy by creating a business environment that allows Kansas businesses to expand and that attracts new businesses to the state. He says that means reducing regulation and holding down taxes.
"Stabilizing funding means letting the regents know what they can expect," said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, a spokeswoman for Brownback's campaign.
In addition to his plan to increase tax revenue, Brownback said he would freeze the state general fund. After freezing state spending, Jones-Sontag said, Brownback will evaluate how state funds are being spent. Lawmakers could then shift additional funding to areas he considers the state's primary responsibilities: education, social services and public safety.
"In the good times, the state was able to afford more programs and provide more services," Jones-Sontag said. "Should the economy not recover, there will be some difficult decisions made."
The state's economic forecast isn't entirely bleak. Goosen told the annual Kansas Economic Policy Conference last week that Kansas had received slightly more federal money than expected, and state revenues in the past three months were higher than expected. He said the fate of higher education depended on two things; continued economic recovery and the resolve of policymakers to keep education budgets stable.
Brownback has called education the "primary function of the state." Jones-Sontag said Brownback considered universities "a tremendous industry for the state" and major partners in getting Kansas on the road to economic recovery.
However, some educators, such as Rosenbloom, worry Brownback will focus too much on higher education's short-term goals as governor.
The purpose of higher education is not simply to train people for jobs they'll do next year, Rosenbloom said. Rather it's to prepare them for a world that will look entirely different to them in 30 or 40 years.
"He's certainly not apathetical to higher education," Rosenbloom said. "But I also think we run the risk of becoming so focused on economic development issues that we lose sight of the broader purpose of higher education."
— Edited by Dana Meredith
LOCAL
Library expansion affirmed by voters
voters approved an $18 million bond Tuesday that will fund expansion of the Lawrence Public Library.
The measure passed with approximately 54 percent of votes.
Kathleen Morgan, development director for the Lawrence Public Library Foundation, said the campaign had benefited from the significant efforts of experienced volunteers. Morgan said
the campaign put out more than 1,000 yard signs.
Bruce Flanders, director of the library, thanked supporters.
"There's a lot of people in Law rence who really care about the community." Flanders said.
Flanders and Morgan both said work would begin sometime after architects complete a final design which could take eight to nine months.
Construction on the library, 707 Vermont St., would finish in late 2012 or early 2013. Flanders estimated. The project is split into phases, which will tackle parking
and building expansions separately. The phases are expected to allow the library to remain open throughout construction.
The project expands the library by 20,000 square feet, provides for a new parking structure with more than a hundred new spaces, adds 100 public access computers and doubles the size of the children's room, among other changes.
The bond is expected to be paid off during 20 years and will be supplemented by an additional $1 million that the Library Foundation hopes to raise privately.
---
Jonathan Shorman