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Wednesday, January 27, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Installation of traffic lights would help end congestion
Traffic light at these intersections would greatly facilitate traffic flow and prevent a few gray hairs for Lawrence drivers
It's rush hour, and Lawrence drivers are zipping home on the city's well-planned street system. But when they get to the intersection at 19th and Louisiana streets or the one at 19th Street and Naismith Drive, they stop zipping.
Most often, drivers will stop at the same time and then look at each other. They will then inch ahead at the same time and stop again. This brake-pedal toe dance continues until one of the drivers gets angry enough to stomp on the gas.
... prevent a few gray hairs of Lawrence drivers.
As it is now, rush-hour drivers can expect to spend anywhere from one and a half to two minutes creeping toward the 19th street stop signs at Naismith Drive and Louisiana Street. It doesn't sound like an eternity, but it's time that needn't be wasted.
Traffic lights would stop this nonsense while relieving rush-hour congestion at these intersections.
Stop lights, on the other hand, would halt traffic for only 30 to 50 seconds, and green lights would last about the same length of time. The lights also could be fitted with sensors that would prevent drivers from waiting when streets were clear. Thus, traffic flow would be enhanced.
These two intersections are just too busy to be served by four-way stops. When two people pull up to a stop sign at right angles, the person on the right is supposed to go first. It works well in theory but not on the street.
City officials should consider and approve a plan to install these lights. The intersections would have consistent traffic flow, and they would also be safer.
It is the same song, fourth verse for enrollment at the University of Kansas.
It's time for the toe dance to end
It's time for the toe dance to end. Alan Player for the editorial board
And the problems will not go as long as the present system of admissions continues.
KU must curb enrollment
Juniors and seniors should be able to expect their classes to be open. Competing with 818 students attempting to get into closed communication studies classes is ridiculous.
Formulating committees to solve the problem has yet to produce results. Talking about the problem for four years has resulted in nothing but four years of closed classes, long enrollment lines and crowded classrooms.
The University does not have the resources to accommodate an unlimited number of students. Imposing and enforcing qualified admissions for all students would ensure that students who were serious about receiving a good education would prepare themselves for admission to KU.
This problem demands more than talk.
Jody Dickson for the editorial board
This problem demands more than talk.
Jody Dickson for the editorial board
The selective admissions proposal has the unanimous support of the Board of Regents but will face a stern test in the Legislature.
Editorials in this column are the opinions of the editorial board.
Regents proposal needs changes
Other Voices
It is making a student achieve the standards outlined by the Regents, it puts undue pressure on both the students and teachers to ensure they successfully comply with the guidelines. Not only must they pass all tests, but also have to take certain mandatory classes to comply with the proposal.
This, in turn, cuts down on electives that the high school student might want to take. Rather than taking classes that could possibly prepare him for his eventual career choice, he now must take foreign language, mathematics and science for a selected amount of years.
So, the Legislature now has a tough decision before it. The future of a college education for an average high-school student in Kansas rests on the president's judgment.
Let's just hope they keep the best interests of the youth in the state in mind and force the Regents to make some modifications in this proposal.
The University Leader Fort Hays State University
News staff
Alison Young...Editor
Todd Cohen...Managing editor
Rob Knapp...News editor
Alan Player...Editors office
Joseph Rebello...Campus editor
Jennifer Rowland...Planning editor
Anne Luscombe...Sports editor
Stephen Wade...Photo editor
Richard Stewart...Graphics editor
Tom Eben...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Kelly Scherer...Business manager
Clark Massad...Retail sales manager
Brad Lenhart...Campus sales manager
Robert Hughes...Marketing manager
Kurt Messersmith...Production manager
Greg Knipp...National manager
Kelsey Schroemm...Traffice
Jannie Brown...Classified manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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ST. LOUIS FOOTBALL FANS DO THE WAVE
Brain jocks also have problems
A simple breathing test can end a computer athlete's promising career
It doesn't seem fair.
I'm a big fan of that well-discussed team that competes this time of year in that famous building on the edge of campus, and when a top player is declared invisible because of some silly rule, fans can't help but be disappointed.
I'm referring, of course, to the sad situation regarding Melvin Blossom, the star player for the University of Kansas top-ranked computer programmer who recently was declared athletically inelegible.
For those who aren't keeping up with the computer programming team, here are the basic facts: Undefeated in their last 39.75 matches in the NCAA Tournament, Jayhawks were off to a shaky start this year.
To make up for the loss of several seniors, KU scouts tried recruiting players from schools like Southern Methodist, whose programming program was erased after reports about _sex and money being offered to high school seniors with high SAT scores were disclosed.
KU also looked at junior colleges like Bartles-
ville Technical Institute, where Blossom broke
school records in bytes scored and defensive
debugging.
Blossom played as well as expected after he signed with KU. He was a great programmer, and he helped KU remain undefeated at home with upsets over teams like Cal-Tech. With Blossom processing, KU had a shot at every team's dream, finishing in the final 4.0.
Michael Merschel
Then it happened
Staff Columnist
As with other intercollegiate competitions, computer programming has a giant rules-making organization overseeing competition. The National Computer Competition Association has strict guidelines regarding who can and can't program.
Among other things, the NCCA guidelines call for everyone competing in academic events to pass a simple physical. All a player really has to do is take a deep breath to be allowed to stay on the team.
The reasoning behind the rule is that in a college environment, where people are supposedly being trained to function in society, nobody should be able to get by on sheer academic ability. After all, in the real world, much more token amount of athletic ability is expected.
But the test isn't designed to weed anybody out. It's a token measure. And programmers are given extra-special attention during the year: they have tasks, etc. It takes a lot of effort to fail the physical.
That's why it was so shocking when Blossom did.
Oh, everybody expects smart people like Blossom to be physical wimps. But in big-time college academics, these guys usually squeak by. When they don't, as in Blossom's case, it seems like the system has failed.
That's what the team's coach says. He wants an exemption for Blossom, and he wants the University to start a special program for geeks on the computer that they need more help than other students.
But even though I'm a big fan of the team and the great coach, I have to disagree with him this time. I know it doesn't seem fair for our star student. It doesn't seem fair for our school's stars don't, but it is probably for the best.
Once he graduates, Blossom won't have much help. He'll have to function on his own. And in today's society, if he can't breathe, he's as good as dead
The coach needs to keep that in mind before he starts calling for special programs for academic students. And he needs to remember that, in spite of the challenges this school doesn't really rework around his team.
It may not seem fair to the coach or fans, but players need to function at least a marginal level in both the glorious world of academics and the more mundane world of athletics.
Michael Merschel is a Lakewood, Colo., junior majoring in journalism.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Letter was too harsh
Barbara Paris' letter in the Thursday issue of the Kansan struck me, as I am sure it did many others, as extremely harsh and unfair. Her belief that KU students expect things to go their way all of the time is nonsense. It is really too much, though, to ask for things to go our way every once in a while?
Of the four semesters that I have pre- enrolled, all have left me in the add-drop "party" lines because of closed courses or a University fax pas. Incoming freshmen should be told to expect five years at the University of Kansas instead of the traditional four to make up for unplanned six-credit semesters.
I guarantee that some of their apathetic attitudes toward students would change.
The fact that Paris is upset with the apparent rudeness of many students also shocked me. The only people that I have found rude are the numerous instructors and secretaries I have approached regarding necessary schedule changes. Maybe some of these impolite people ought to march back and forth across campus for two days in search of an open class
I have one final question for Paris. Have we met before? I seem to remember spending one morning in the English department last year being scolded for questioning a conflict that arose due to your very own department. The dialogue used in that brief exchange closely parallels that of your letter. By the way, Ms. Paris, I went to Burger King last night for a burger with the works. The girl gave me a plain hamburger, not what I ordered. Somewhat similar to life, isn't it?
Jeff Moriarty
Omaha, Neb., sophomore
Beerbower Hall
DON'T Worry, JOEL.
THEY LEFT MINORS IN
THIS BAR. THEY JUST
MARK YOUR HAND OR
SOMETHING So YOU CAN'T
B. Branit
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed