thursday, january 29, 2004
news
the university daily kansan 3A
Men lacking distinction, Senate rejects calendar
By Andy Marso amaro@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Only days after the distribution KU Women of Distinction calendar, a men's version was shot down by Student Senate last night.
The University Affairs Committee voted against the bill to allocate $5,000 to fund the KU Men of Distinction calendar amid questions of financing.
A group of senators led by James Owen, law senator, formed the Muneer Ahmad Appreciation Society, which asked for the funding to produce the calendar. The group is named after one its members, Muneer Ahmad, law senator.
November to "enhance the distinctiveness of men on this campus." The calendar is the group's first project.
Owens started the group last
The calendar's purpose, according to the bill, was "to honor and salute the overwhelming quantity of men who serve and work for this campus at every level of its operation."
"Obviously the idea for the calendar was spawned from when
The bill's sponsors were group members Ahmad; Jayme Aschemeyer, off-campus senator; Chris Cardinal, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator; and Jeff Morrow, graduate senator.
STUDENT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SENATE
Aschemeyer and Owen said they voted against the KU Women of Distinction calendar, while Cardinal and Ahmad weren't present to vote on it.
the Women of Distinction calendar was going through Senate." Chris Cardinal, CLAS senator, said.
The bill also stated that the $5,000 fee would be reimbursed later through donations from local businesses interested in promoting the distinctive men of the University.
response to the Women of KU calendar. He changed his mind when found out about the depth of research that went into the calendar. He said he saw the need for it then, and thought a male version also would be worthwhile.
Cardinal said he originally was against the Women of Distinction calendar because he thought it was an unnecessary
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center produced and distributed the Women of Distinction calendar. Kathy Rose-Mockry, the center's associate director, said the calendar's purpose was to provide young girls with role models. A Men of Distinction calendar could have value, but wouldn't serve the same purpose for young men, she said.
"I don't think the same barriers that exist for women exist for men," she said.
"I believe it's important to recognize a certain demographic on campus that is prevalent among administration, faculty and staff and is overlooked and undervalued and that is, the male." Owen said in a speech in support of his bill.
Kristen Seibel, Association of University Residence Halls senator, argued against the bill. She said it was a risky investment for Senate given that the Muneer Ahmad Appreciation Society hadn't yet secured any funds toward reimbursing Senate.
Owen disagreed.
"This bill was written to reflect what's already been done for the Women of Distinction calendar, so I think it's fair to ask them to raise the majority of the funding first." Seibel said.
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center requested
$2,750 from Senate for its calendar after having already received $2,250 from University departments and private donors.
Aschemeyer said arguments against the bill were unfair and that the debate was limp.
"What they don't understand is that they funded the Women of Distinction calendar, so if they don't fund our calendar, they're obviously discriminating," Aschemever said.
Owen said he was angry with the University Affairs Committee's vote and would appeal to the Student Senate Executive Committee.
New software picks class locations, causes problems
"Actually, it was an arbitrary, capricious decision tonight," Owen said.
Location changes mean long walks and smaller-than-promised rooms for some teachers and their co-
By Rupal Gor rgor@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
—Edited by Kevin Flaherty
When Mohamad El-Hodiri found out his honors Western Civilization discussion class was in another building this semester, he was upset.
El-Hodiri, professor of economics, was one of the University of Kansas faculty members who complained that classrooms were assigned to different buildings than in previous semesters. This caused problems.
"You end up with a room that's too small or too big," El-Hodiri said.
Four of his students were dropped from his honors Western Civilization class because the size of the room was smaller than the number of students enrolled. His classroom was also
placed in Wescoe Hall instead of Nunemaker Hall on Daisy Hill, where he normally held discussions. He changed the rooms right away, but still holds a grudge against the new system that caused this problem.
"A human tendency is to simplify. You need to use your brain. Not everything can be automated or centralized. That's a general principal of life."
This spring her human nutrition class was assigned to JRP Hall. She said it was distressing because her students complained about the distance from main campus, and were late to class as well. Gray asked to have her room changed and the class is now in the Military Science Building.
Cindy Derritt, interim University Registrar, said that all over campus, faculty have been
Mohamad El-Hodiri Professor of Economics
Her human biology seminar was always in Fraser, but was moved this year. She said it was difficult to move around expen-
paced in classrooms that often don't work for them. For some, the changes were inconvenient, a farther walk than normal. For others, the switches were downright problematic. She said that many have complained to the registrar, but not all of them have found solutions.
It was already a long walk when Sandra Gray, associate professor of anthropology, normally had classes in Fraser Hall.
Derritt said the optimizer put information into the interface, which didn't work accordingly to each department's room preferences. The interface in Ad Astra reads and sends information back and forth between it and the Enroll and Pay Web site.
"It's really a mess." Gray said.
"An absolute nightmare."
sive fossil and lab materials.
Gray is a runner, but she said it was still hard to make the track to different buildings between her classes.
Before Ad Astra, people were assigned to classrooms by hand. Derritt said it was like a jigsaw puzzle.
The new system made it easier and faster for the staff to place rooms, Derritt said. She said she received many complaints about room reservations because of the system; however, she and her staff worked on changing the system so that these problems would not happen in the future.
"A human tendency is to simplify," he said. "You need to use your brain. Not everything can be automated or centralized. That's a general principal of life."
This semester, the University implemented Ad Astra, a new software that matched departments with classrooms on campus. Each department sent the University Registrar its classes and building preferences, which were plugged into the program. An optimizer—a tool within Ad Astra — scheduled rooms this semester instead of departments choosing rooms.
El-Hodiri said he did not like the new system at all. He said he was angry that students were dropped from his class because of the room location, and that he did not think a computer system could substitute for humans when it came to making his students happy.
Derritt said the University received the Ad Astra software a month before enrollment, instead of the intended four-and-a-half months. The delay, as well as the problems with the interface, left little time to set up the system.
"We had to train departments and test everything," she said. "My staff was working 85 hours a week sometimes."
She said Ad Astra was a good investment. Before Ad Astra, each department had to send in schedules almost a year in advance, but now they get more time.
Derritt said these problems came up at the beginning of the semester and would not happen again this spring. She said that by summer and fall enrollment, room reservations on Ad Astra would be fixed.
—Edited by Robert Perkins