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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 5A
▼ OUR OPINION: FACE-OFF
Limit doesn't limit options
Enough is enough.
Graduate teaching assistants should not be able to hold on to their positions indefinitely. A 10-semester limit on GTA positions makes sense.
Ten semesters, that's five years. If a graduate student can't get their degree in that amount of time, maybe giving up their positions would help them focus on school.
GTA positions are a way to help graduate students get their degrees. The job offers money and aid for school but still keeps students in their departments. But the positions are means to an end: Getting a graduate degree.
The limit tells students, "Hey, we want you to get a degree
It's that simple.
and we know it's expensive to do so. Here's a job that will help you pay for school and let you work at school. Unfortunately, you can only keep it for 10 semesters, an amount of time we think is reasonable for you to get your degree."
The limit is necessary to allow for positions to open up for incoming graduate students.
There are other options for students after having a GTA position. They can work as a graduate research assistant, a lecturer or take out student loans. These might not be as appealing as a GTA job, but they will get students through school.
This is how school works. A student can't get an unlimited
Issue: The 10-semester GTA limit
Stance: Ten semesters is adequate time. Other options are available for students in need.
scholarship, a student athlete can't play for unlimited years and a student can't have an unlimited amount of time on a test.
So why should GTAs be able to work for an unlimited amount of time?
Ten semesters is enough
John Jordan for the editorial board
Limit makes GTAs statistics
Undergraduates are pushed to complete degrees in four years. Graduate students are limited to 10 semesters of GTA salary and tuition benefits. The limits are in place to increase the number of degrees the University cranks out every year. This serves to improve our standing in national rankings.
The University of Kansas sends one clear message to all of its students: "Hurry up and finish."
Unfortunately, such pressure to complete degrees only makes students unhappy, which also figures into national rankings.
The national average time to complete a Ph.D-level program after attaining an undergraduate degree is seven years, according to
the National Center for Education Statistics. The University offers ten semesters — five years — to its graduate teaching assistants. This limit was imposed only after the Graduate Teaching Assistant Coalition won its first contract. It seems retaliatory — rather than beneficial — in nature.
This arbitrary limit not withstanding, graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are afforded 20 semesters —10 years — to complete their degrees. After a GTAs eligibility to teach expires, he or she is forced to pay tuition, take a pay cut to teach as a lecturer and find alternate sources of income. The University is telling GTAs — students who take classes to learn how to teach in addition to their normal
Issue: The 10-semester GTA limit
Stance: The limit is arbitrary. The University needs GTAs more than they need it.
course loads, students who grade papers, plan lessons and mentor undergraduates because the University doesn't have enough professors to do so, students who have twice the responsibility and contribute immensely to under-staffed departments — that they are only important as statistics in a national study.
Patrick Ross, dissenting
COMMENTARY
Lawrence is what you make of it
This is the last column of my collegiate career so to celebrate in a manner that is as self-serving as it is true, I give you this one final sentiment.
JUSTIN LAMORT opinion@kansan.com
act of passing on a few tidbits of advice to those few who will remain at KU and purposely read the opinion page.
Explore. Lawrence is more than the Bull, the Hawk and the Wheel. It is even more than Massachusetts Street. The town is full of festivities and quirky places waiting for some brave adventurer to discover.
Every night there are events, lectures and parties of new people. Seek out fresh experiences instead of reliving the same continuous cycle with the same circle of friends. In the last month I've seen a man juggle fire in a parking lot, saved a parrot from a hail storm and been in awe at some of the amazing people who live in our community. Just because you're in college doesn't mean you should stop taking field trips.
Create. Lawrence is in the top 12 cities of artists per capita according to the National Endowment of the Arts. The New York Times called us, "the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver." Don't take for granted the opportunities that living here affords us. Gallery openings, slam poetry and local bands help make this city what it is.
More importantly we can be a part of it. Do you take pictures? Then have an exhibition at a downtown coffee shop. Play a guitar? Form a band, get on KJHK's rotation and become part of the Lawrence tradition. Like writing? The Kansan, Kiosk, Comma Splice and a
host of others could get you published before you decide being an author is impractical.
Make the world a better place. "They always say time
changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself," claimed Andy Warhol. He was right. Problems abound in our world but so do solutions. While some issues are complex with no clear answer in sight, there are many where the answer is right in front of us.
Sometimes people are afraid of change. Sometimes a small group profits from the problem who'd rather not see it go away. This is where power becomes important. Most movements arise when one person decides to make a difference and is joined by others until an avalanche comes crashing down upon the status quo. Its one thing to complain about what is wrong in the world but it is much more important to go do something about it. When Mohandas Gandhi said, "be the change that you want to see in the world," it wasn't just idle speculation. It was a call to arms for activism over apathy that changed the world.
In the college classroom I learned how to learn. Outside the lecture is where my real education took place. Our time at the University is short so don't waste it being boring in front of a flickering screen. Don't limit yourself to doing only what you know. Get out and explore, create and make the world a better place. It sure beats the alternatives.
LaMort is a Cherryvale senior in psychology and political science.
COMMENTARY
Family crucial to successful college career
College has been a wild ride where a lot has happened. Just about everything that has taken place here will remain important to me forever. One thing, however, stands out more than any other.
It has taken four years for me to realize exactly how important family is in the life of a college student. I know that if my family were not there for me when I needed it, I would not be the person I am today. I know that I could not have handled coming to college by myself. While some people were excited about finally being free from their parents' rules, all I was thinking about was how was I going to do this on my own. It was very difficult for me and I am so thankful that I had people to talk me through this very difficult transition.
I love my family very much.
They provide me with the inspiration to do everything I am capable of. This is why it
hurts me to hear some people talk about the difficulties they might have with their families. I understand that people can get upset with one another
NEIL SPECTOR
opinion@hansan.com
about various things, but there is always room for forgiveness. People who can say that they hate certain members of their family need to take a closer look at what they have just said. They have expressed hate for the people that not only have brought them into the world, but possibly those people who helped keep them in it.
No matter what family members say to one another, no matter how horrible or mean, there is always love there. Family will always support each other through the tough times. Families also are there through
the good times. When you bring home an "A" paper or if Saturday's date was a great success, you want to share those good feelings with the ones
you love. It is rare to find people who can be a shoulder to cry on as well as people who you can simply shoot the breeze with. We are all so lucky to have a group of people whom we can rely on.
A family can consist of several different people, like a mother or father, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, grandparents or cousins. Family can also be your friends, or anyone else you meet that you feel you can trust. Only one constant is necessary, they all have to be people who care for you. My family consists of anyone who cares about me because I also care about them,
Think about how much your family gives you on a daily basis. How are we so lucky to have that? Family makes life interesting and worthwhile, they are the driving force behind a lot of what is done when a student is in school.
I trust them with my life and they trust me with theirs.
When I look to the future, can only hope that all students see that their families will always be there for them, no matter the grades they get or if they are accepted into a great graduate school.
I look back on my time here and see that the most important accomplishment is not my GPA or anything else academic. It is the realization that why I am here is because all of the people that care about me. They know who they are.
Families also are there through
Free for All
Spector is a Buffalo Grove, il., senior in political science.
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slenderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Call 864-0500
Dude. You ever been walking somewhere on campus and you just happen to look up and notice this random person going the other way? And then 10 minutes later right before you were going wherever you were going, you see the same person? Yeah it freaks me out too.
I just asked a girl if she wanted to go get ice cream
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with me, but she said no because she gave it up for Lent. I thought Lent was over, Free-for-All.
Hey, Free-for-All, what would you do? No, seriously, what would you do?
Deve Chappel is wrong.
Not everything is better in slow motion. Try watching Sumo wrestling some time.
Okay, so I just had to tell someone that two people seriously just had a honking fight over the space I just left.
To the girl at Pulse who looked emaciated: You're to beautiful to do that to yourself. You broke my heart
today.
My literacy teacher misspelled the word "lose" as
"loose" and doesn't know how to pronounce the word "share" when she reads it in a pop culture magazine.
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It's 1:45 in the morning and I just flipped to Channel 6. There's a guy doing push-ups in the middle of Mass street in front of Quinton's. Cool.
So I was at QuickTrip today
and I saw that their managers make $40,000 a year. I think I'm going to drop out of college.
There's a reference to "Labyrinth" in today's comic. I'm glad that David Bowie's crotch is finally getting the attention it deserves.
I was just driving around crashing into Jettas.
TALK TO US
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864-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
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Nate Karlin, managing editor
884-4854 or nkartlin@kansan.com
Jason Shead, opinion editor
684-4924 or jshad@kansan.com
Arl Ben, business manager
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GUEST COLUMN
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