A the university daily kansan
news
thursday, march 11, 2004
CROSSWORD: Challenge lures students
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The New York Times crossword. She said clues such as "John's Yoko" and "wind dir." are often repeated.
Whittier agreed that the crossword was not difficult. Whittier said he usually got 90 percent of the puzzle completed.
the Kansas gets its crossword puzzle from Knight Ridder Newspapers—the same puzzle used in The Kansas City Star and many other daily newspapers. The puzzle generally follows the trend of being early in the week, progressing toward a more difficult puzzle by Friday.
The placement of the crossword is among the controversies encountered when including the puzzle in the paper, said Jeff Browne, Rocky Mountain College newsroom adviser.
"If it's in the bottom of the page towards the center,it's easier to fold and keep hidden," Browne said.
The Collegian, the student newspaper of Colorado State University, includes a crossword.
Browne said many of the same crossword complaints arose at Colorado State as did here, such as whether the puzzle is too hard or too easy, too big or too small, and its placement in the paper.
Browne said CSU students were as interested in the puzzle as anything else in the paper, and
perhaps more than the news itself.
Yesterday's Collegian featured a front page story about a possible 40 percent increase in tuition, but Browne said he would guess most students probably looked at page 13 for the crossword instead.
Clifton Pye, KU professor of linguistics, said people were easily drawn to the crossword because of its entertaining word puzzle format.
"It's a problem that has a neat solution to it, like other puzzles and various card tricks," Pye said.
Pye said that some studies have even shown that doing crosswords taps into deeper thinking and has shown a link to preventing Alzheimer's Disease. The key to crossword success is having a larger vocabulary, Pye said.
Because of the following the crossword gets,it is an easy decision for any newspaper to include it.
Kansan general manager and news adviser Malcolm Gibson said newspapers traditionally included crosswords as another offering to readers.
The nature of newspapers is that only a small number of readers look at each segment, such as the sports or comics pages. Even front page stories are not read by the majority of readers, Gibson said.
"Newspapers put a smorgasbord in front of you, and readers pick from what they have in front of them. Crosswords are part of the smorgasbord." Gibson said. "People want a mixture of things."
Gibson said he actually liked when students showed interest in the puzzle because it got them thinking about and using words. He said he didn't worry so much about students working on them in class and was incredulous about professors who complain about the puzzles.
"My response to that professor is, make your lecture more compelling," Gibson said.
Browne agreed that the responsibility of keeping students focused on the lecture rather than the crossword rests upon the professor.
Brown said he would blame himself if he lectured "in a fatigued manner" (clue for 44-across) and caused students to "tirely" (solution for 44-across) look at crosswords instead.
Despite the distraction that the crossword might be for either students or professors, the Kansan crossword isn't likely to go anytime soon.
"Newspapers serve so many different purposes to so many different people," Browne said. "It's another way to reach out to another market."
Edited by Stephanie Lovett
DROPPED: Budget priorities cause cuts
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music programs, said Katy Buck, facilitator of health services for Lawrence schools.
Buch said that in times of tight budgets, schools have to prioritize their spending. The teachers first need their students to do well on standardized tests in reading, writing and arithmetic, she said.
Physical education plays a role in elementary schools, though, Buck said.
"They need exercise," Buck said. "It helps them think better."
"They need exercise,it helps them think better."
Katy Buck
Facilitator of health services for Lawrence schools
Parents also share the responsibility to teach their children good physical education by decreasing the amount of time spent watching television, she said.
Not all Lawrence schools face
cuts. Nilhas said he didn't have any plans to cut back on spending in physical education programs at Lawrence High School. The school employs three physical education teachers.
Though he declined to comment on the School of Education's program cut, he said it was a shame to see it go.
"I hate to see any program that benefits students that's cut, but I am sure they have their reasons," Nilhas said.
Edited by Abby Mills
Kerry slams 'lying' Republicans, courts endorsement from Dean
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called for deeper tax cuts for the middle class than proposed by President Bush yesterday and described his Republican critics as a crooked, lying group.
After urging labor leaders to support his campaign to oust the president, Kerry met with one-time rival Howard Dean to discuss an endorsement and what role the former Vermont governor might play in his campaign.
After the 45-minute meeting, officials close to the talks said Dean will endorse Kerry, with only timing in question. The officials said the best time might be March 25, when the presidential candidates join former Presidents Clinton and Carter for a Democratic Party fund-raiser.
Kerry was scheduled to meet with another key rival, John Edwards, today.
"I will work closely with John Kerry to make sure we beat George Bush in November and turn our country around," Dean said in a statement.
Anticipating their meeting, the Bush campaign issued "Howard Dean's Greatest Hits on John Kerry," a 10-item recounting of Dean criticism of his rival for the nomination.
Earlier yesterday in Chicago, Kerry toughened his comments about his GOP critics after a supporter urged him to take on Bush. "Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight," Kerry said. "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary."
AMENDMENT: Senate debates gay marriage ban
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constitutional amendment on the grounds of a university code.
"Do you honestly think George Bush would open this letter and say, 'Well shoot, the KU Student Senate doesn't agree with this amendment based on it's code of rights and responsibilities?'" Brainard said.
Longpine said it was important to stand behind University code, even if Student Senate didn't have much influence on a gay marriage amendment.
Schafar said it was important for Senate to support of gays and lesbians at the University.
"I admit that it's beyond our direct power, but I still think we have a responsibility to fight," Longpine said. "This is something we need to look at because it directly relates to the University code."
"It's an issue that directly affects a lot of students, especially older students who want to get married," Schafer said.
The Federal Marriage Amendment was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) on May 21, 2003.
Since then, gay marriage advocates have had a number of victories, including gay marriages in San Francisco and a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that stated it would be unconstitutional to deny gay couples anything less than full, equal marriage rights.
President Bush responded on Feb.24 with a speech in favor of the amendment banning gay marriage.
For the ban on gay marriage to become a reality it must pass both houses of Congress by a two-thirds majority vote. It then must be ratified by at least three-fourths of the state legislatures.
Longpine encouraged senators to put aside their personal feelings on gay marriage and support the university code.
But the resolution had broad support and passed both the University Affairs Committee and the Student Rights Committee.
EVERY WEEK THE KANSAN
PROFILES A STUDENT SENATOR
Jessica Wicks, University Affairs committee member, spoke against the resolution. She said that Longpine and Schafer hadn't done enough research to determine that the resolution really reflected the opinions of the student body.
Name: Brooke Robinson
Year: Graduate (2nd year law student).
Hometown: Morgan-field, KY.
Position: campus senator
Years in Student Senate: One
Goals: Examine more relevant issues, encouraging every student to be informed about Student Senate.
Senate accomplishment she's most proud of: Senate's work to build and operate the student recreation center. She says it's a tremendous addition to campus and a testament to the way Senate can affect the daily lives of students.
What she would be doing on Wednesday night if she wasn't Senate meetings. Studying, well, probably drinking wine and watching bad reality TV with her roommates.
Andy Marso
This isn't the first time Senate has discussed national political issues. Last October a resolution to oppose unjust military action in Iraq was brought to the University Affairs committee but failed by a vote of 21-4.
—Edited by Michelle Rodick