THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Check out more Free-for-All at kansan.com
OPINION
THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2006
1980-1985 1986-1987 1988-1989 1990-1991 1992-1993 1994-1995 1996-1997 1998-1999 1999-2000 2001-2002 2003-2004 2005-2006 2007-2008 2009-2010 2011-2012 2013-2014 2015-2016 2017-2018 2019-2020 2021-2022
WWW.KANSAN.COM
OUR OPINION
Revised education bill does little to curb costs
PAGE 5A
Finally, the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, a bill that took three years to even reach the House floor, was passed, along party lines, by Congress. The act awaits passage of a version by the Senate and signing by President Bush.
The act was supposed to be reauthorized two years ago.
What do we college students get from the partisan, bickering-laced vote that passed the bill? Not much. The changes seem OK on their face, but don't add up to much.
Currently, students and their family must fill out an eight page Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) that asks tough questions like are you married, how much money do you have and what was your income last year?
Republicans passed a bill that makes it easier for families to apply for federal aid.
There is now more money in Pell Grant loans to students.
These grants go to undergraduates with need and don't need to be repaid. Yet, according to an Associated Press article, Congress doesn't give away all the money that it now allots for those grants.
The bill also has a provision
Issue: The Higher Education Reauthorization Act
Stance; The cost of education has changed a lot in the past eight years, but this bill hasn't.
that requires colleges that raise tuition more than twice the rate of inflation (i.e., the University of Kansas) to explain why. Republicans hope this will make these schools more accountable about rising costs.
Students and future students got a lot of arguing and election-year campaigning with this act instead of a plan to deal with the rising costs of higher education. At the University, the cost of tuition and fees for one semester has gone up 119 percent since this bill was last reauthorized in 1998.
Maybe it will. But students will still be paying the higher rates.
This is no time for bickering, it's a time to make some changes. Changes that make a real difference in the cost of education.
- John Jordan for the editorial board
Vote 'yes' for initiative
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
One dollar and fifty cents. Six quarters. Fifteen dimes. A buck-fifty. That's it.
Every year, literally hundreds of students organize and put on amazing multicultural events
amazing multicultural events
— everything from Taste of Asia to Black Love Week to the Ramadan Fast-a-thon to Pride Week to the Paw Wow. These events are open to any student who chooses to come. They offer the opportunity to learn more about the people we interact with every day, issues that our fellow students face, personal prejudices, and the diversity that exists at the University.
During Student Senate elections on Tuesday and Wednesday, students will be asked to vote on Multicultural Education Enhancement, a project that the Multi-cultural Affairs Committee has been working on all semester. We are proposing an increase in the Student Activity Fee of $1.50 per semester to increase the funding available to these types of events. This will generate about $70,000, all of which will go to empower students who desire to explore cultural topics and share that with the rest of the community. The best part is that ANY student organization whose event falls under Multicultural Education (the exploration of sex, color, race, ethnicity, national origin and
sexual orientation) will be able to use these funds. This means that ANY student group that wants to host a seminar, speaker, attend a conference or plan an event will be allowed to ask for 25 percent — or more — of the cost of the event than they currently receive.
Why are these events so important? KU's community is diverse, but statistically speaking we are a white, straight university. If we want to graduate and be prepared to engage and interact with anyone we might meet in life, we need to leave ready to be citizens of the world.
The simplest way to ensure every student has the opportunity to explore multicultural issues is to provide more free events and to publicize these events better.
And when it comes down to it, $1.50 won't buy you a beer at most bars, will barely buy you a coke at Sonic and it won't get you a gallon of gas. But it will empower hundreds of students and create a better atmosphere for discussing and learning about multicultural issues — issues that affect every interaction you have with another person every day for the rest of your life.
Stephanie Craig Multicultural affairs committee chair & holdover senator
The silent disposal of minority scholarships
COMMENTARY
Legal terrorism has struck colleges across the nation during the past three years. Since 2003, the Center for Equal Opportunity, an anti-Affirmative Action group, has sent 200 letters to colleges warning them of legal action if they didn't open race and gender based scholarships to everyone, according to a New York Times article last month. An executive of the group claimed that 150 had complied.
Other universities have opened minority based financial aid without the legal threats.
Colleges have not suddenly realized that such aid may be a form of discrimination; nor have they successfully achieved equality on their campuses. Fear drives this movement.
Then the Court struck down Michigan's undergraduate admissions policy that awarded applicants points based on race. Some have interpreted that ruling as a wedge to use against race- and gender-based financial aid at public universities.
The argument against these scholarships stems from two Supreme Court decisions. In 2003, the Court upheld race-based admissions at the University of Michigan law school, describing the process as "holistic" because it examined cases on an individual basis.
For 18 to 24-year-olds, 41.6 percent of the white population had enrolled in college in 2003, according to the Department of Education. For blacks, enrollment was 32.3 percent. Only 23.5 percent of Hispanics attended some level of higher education. These
Justifiably, colleges worry that such scholarships will be the next legal battleground for Affirmative Action.
COURTNEY FARR opinion@kansan.com
statistics include two and four year institutions.
Although the percent of each racial population in college has grown virtually every year since 1972, the disparity between them has stayed relatively stable. Most years, the white population sends roughly 9 percent more of its kids to school than the black population. The difference between Hispanics and whites has averaged about 15 percent during the last three decades.
The classic anti-Affirmative Action argument says that race-based preference is a form of discrimination. Others argue that when a policy's first criterion is race, the goal of true diversity may be missed.
Lisa Kress, director of Admissions and Scholarships, said the University of Kansas offers Endowment Meritorious scholarships that aim to enhance the diversity of the student body. She said a committee evaluates applicants based on academic criteria and looks for ethnic diversity along with other factors, such as the region a student is from, whether he or she is the first student in the family to attend college or if the student would bring unique experience to the University that would add to its diversity.
Nobody wants to be the first test subject for the next lawsuit. Lawsuits cost money, can scare endowment donors and generate
potentially bad publicity.
The Times reported, "Firm data on how many institutions have modified their policies is elusive because colleges and institutions are not eager to trumpet the changes."
Affirmative Action has been a divisive policy since JFK inserted the term into public awareness in 1961. That divisiveness is all the more reason that colleges need to make these decisions in the open and announce them to the public. Equal education for all and the disbursement of millions of dollars of financial aid are matters of the highest public concern.
Those colleges that made changes in the shadows robbed the public of a chance to weigh in on this matter. Quiet changes made at the threat of a legal sword offend not only the spirit of the Constitution, but also the purpose for which our colleges and universities exist. As college students, we learn not only in our classrooms, but from the actions of our institutions.
If race-based scholarships are fair and serve a purpose, then colleges need to defend them. Although lawyers guess Supreme Court outcomes, no one can truly predict what the inhabitants of that bench will do. The ethical path cannot always be the popular and lawsuit-free path.
If colleges believe they have better ways to increase diversity and remedy the inequities of higher education, then they should trumpet their changes to the land. Educate the masses on how you have improved the system. If, that is, you truly believe you have.
Farr is a Scott City senior in journalism.
Free All for Call 864-0500
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.
OK Cryptoquote, let's try again. H equals L, H equals L, H equals L. Thank you.
I sit down to do the Cryptoquip, and it says the letter C equals the letter O.There
Um, Johnny Cash did not write "Ring of Fire" Didn't you guys see "Walk the Line?
To the girl in the red sweater I saw sitting alone at E's: I think you're beautiful.
Hey Alpha Gamma, thanks for writing on the benches in front of Bailey Hall with chalk. Now I have chalk all over my jeans. You guys are
are no Cs within the puzzle Thank you, Cryptoquip.
really cool.
--really cool.
So I just walked by a girl on campus talking about her roommate moaning when
Who the hell is Ryne Price?
you put a radio on. Weird!
Jason Shaad, opinion editor
864-4924 or jshaed@kansan.com
No ignite, I do not want to be stopped. I do not want to vote for you. I don't care.
Nate Karlin, managing editor
864-4854 or nkarlin@kansan.com
Joshua Bickel, managing editor
864-4854 or jbickel@kansan.com
Hey Free-for-All, I got an opinion for you to answer. In a fight with each other, who
would win: Rambo or Arnold Schwarzenegger from Preda-
图
图
Hey Free-For-All, here's a little discussion for you. If an asteroid was about to hit the earth, who would be more likely to save us: Chuck Norris or MacGyver?
Jonathan Kealing, editor
884-4854 or jkealing@kansan.com
TALK TO US
Ignorant fool, if you're gonna make a joke, at least get it right. June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire." Johnny Cash sang it.
Patrick Ross, associate opinion editor
864-4924 or proas@kansan.com
Melcom Gibson, game manager, news adviser 864-7887 or mmitabu.kaanean.com
Wow, sorority girls on cell phones should not be allowed to drive near cross walks
Arl Ben, business manager
864-4462 or adddirector@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver, sales and marketing adviser
854-7666 or jweavar@kansan.com
Sarah Connelly, sales manager
864-4462 or adsales@kansan.com
walks
GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 500 word limit
Include: Author's name; class, home-
town (student); position (faculty mem-
ber/stat); phone number (will not be
mobiload)
Also: The Kansas will not print guest columns that attack a reporter or another columnist.
EDITORIAL BOARD
SUBMIT TO
111 Stauffer-Flint Hall
1435 Jayhawk blvd.
Lawrence, KS 60045
(785) 864-4810, opinion@kensan.com
Jonathan Kealing, Joshua Bickel, Nate Karlin,
Jason Shaad, Patrick Ross,Ty Beaver, John
Jordain, Malinda Jordan, Oborne
The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students; faculty and alumni.
The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Jason Shaad or Patrick Ross at 864-4810 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com.
There's been a lot of talk lately about censure President Bush. However, when it comes to Congress, it seems that anything goes.
SUBMISSIONS
COMMENTARY
Take, for instance, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), who is alleged to have assaulted a member of the U.S. Capitol Police. She will probably skate, despite the fact that her only defense basically equates to the explanation that the officer deserved it because he was obviously a bigot.
Evaluate facts before judgment
JOSHUA GOETTING opinion@kansan.com
Last week, a Capitol Police officer physically halted McKinney because she walked around a metal detector and refused to stop. Her response was to attack him with her cell phone so badly that a U.S. Attorney is now considering charging her with assault and aggravated battery. Now, it is her right as a congresswoman to bypass security, but the rub lies in the fact that she was not wearing a lapel pin identifying her as congresswoman. In fact, Slate, in 2002, made references to other run-ins that McKinney has had with guards when she's attempted to bypass security without identification.
Rather than praise the officer for doing his job by maintaining tight security at the Capitol building, McKinney has already labeled the officer involved as racist and sexist. In a press conference last Friday, McKinney said, "Let me be clear, this whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me; a female, black, congresswoman."
I believe that this incident is a great illustration of how far discourse has devolved in our country. Rather than beginning with the merits of the event and claiming that the officer was acting outside of his authority or that his use of force was inappropriate, McKinney began her press conference with claims that the officer was racist and sexist. It seems to have escaped McKinney that she violated the established and well-known security procedures.
Incidents like this are all too common today. Instead of defending ourselves against others based on our merits, too many people are willing to assume the worst about anyone whom they feel has slightened them, even when the facts don't seem to support such suppositions. When even a congresswoman is adamant about faulting a police officer for doing his job and then proceeds to slander him with unsupported allegations that he is a racist, people must realize that things have gotten out of hand.
So, the next time you hear someone labeled as a bigot because they have qualms about illegal immigration or a homophobe because they don't think drag queens in front of the Union create a positive image for the University, step back and look at the facts before condemning someone for something that they're probably not.
Goetting is a Leavenworth senior in political science and East Asian language and culture.
General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kanan.com.
LETTER GUIDELINES
Maximum Length: 200 word limit
Include: Author's name and telephone number; class, hometown (student); position (faculty member/staff); phone number (will not be published)
---
O