4a Opinion Monday, April 16, 2001 Perspective Outgoing student body president departs in shame Ben Walker wasn't running for any seat in last year's Student Senate elections, but he's certainly acting like a sore For comments, contact Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com loser. Last year, Walker ran the race of his life (so far) and claimed the highest leadership position available to any University of Kansas student: student body president. In fact, he never lost in any of his three bids for Senate during his time here. But last week, he lost the confidence of his colleagues and the students he was elected to represent. Walker went to the VOICE coalition party and retrieved defeated VOICE presidential candidate Jessica Bankston. So much for bankston's After hearing of Delta Force presidential can didate Justin Mills' victory Thursday night, Walker bolted from the official announcement ceremony at the Kansas Union and into a limousine. After briefly congratulating Mills, So much for Bankston's rhetoric about not being tied to United Students. Later, Walker went to his office in the Kansas Union to start packing but didn't stay long. All he took was a baseball (signed by former student body presidents) and a bat (signed by former vice presidents). A collection of buttons from Chris Borniger opinion editor @kenan.com years past also disappeared. Walker says he didn't take the buttons, but given that he admits to taking the other things, I find that hard to believe—and several student senators privately say they don't believe him, either. But hey, they're just silly traditions, right? So why should we care? The first two items customarily were passed down to incoming student body presidents and vice presidents. Walker clearly planned on passing those items down to Bankston and her running mate, Hunter Harris. When Walker heard Mills and running mate Kyle Browning had won by just 39 votes, his plans changed. Now he won't give up the ball, though he's letting student body vice president Marlon Marshall decide the fate of the bat. He claims they're his personal property. Senate is loaded with silly traditions, and Walker hasn't seen fit to break any of them — until now, shortly before his term is complete. Although Walker usually conducts himself with intelligence, wit and balance, he's now acting like a cranky kindergartner, throwing a fit because he didn't get what he wanted. Instead of being a graceful outgoing leader, Walker has chosen to worsen a particularly vigorous strain of election-season animosity. Holding hostage a ball, a bat and possibly a few buttons is behavior more deserving of an elementary school than a university. Walker is angry that he let down "the family" — the shadowy clan of current and former student leaders who carefully keep the power of the presidency in the hands they deem worthy. For the first time in 17 years, someone outside of the family grasped hold of that power. So Walker sabotaged the office, Bill Clinton style. When asked if he thought students might object, Walker said, "I don't care what they think." That's evidence enough that he never should have been elected. Walker exhibited the sort of juvenile, classless, backstabbing cowardice that fosters so much disenchantment with Student Senate. Time and again, our student leaders allow personal grudges to cloud their judgments. They block legislation, disrupt speeches or find new, innovative ways to screw their fellow senators. And as a result, we students get screwed, too. Every year, a leader emerges who promises to clean up the foul stench that permeates Student Senate. Walker made that promise; so did predecessors Korb Maxwell, Kevin Yoder, Scott Sullivan, Gray Montgomery ... the list goes on. At least Walker will have a signed baseball (with names on it) to remind him of that. It should also serve as a reminder that he failed. Partisan, greek-versus-nongreek rancor will continue to be a cancer on all that Senate does or attempts to do. We should demand better than Ben Walker. We should demand leaders who care what students think and who don't stoop to such petitness. Let's keep Justin Mills will do better. Walker always plays hardball; it's fitting that he refuses to give up one. For now, there is no peace in Senate. Mighty Walker has struck out. Borniger is a Wichita senior in journalism. Nate Beeler/TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES Kansan.com poll Last week's question: In any election, how much would a candidate's background affect your vote? A lot. I don't want to vote for people with serious crimes and midemeanors on their records. A little. A candidate's platform and experience matters more, however. Not at all. I don't think it would affect the candidate's performance if elected. Next week's question: How does knowing that student body president Ben Walker took a baseball and bat from the Student Senate office affect your opinion of Senate? This poll is not scientific. Numbers do not add up to 100 percent because of rounding. Total votes: 90 Perspective Retaking courses may get easier with Thursday vote Mark your calendar for 3:30 p.m. Thursday. That's when University So. That's when University Senate — comprising Student Senate and Faculty Senate — will hold a meeting at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union to consider a policy that would allow some students to retake courses and replace their original grades instead of having both grades averaged in their GPA. University Council — University Senate's executive group — passed the proposal over-whelmingly last month. If you are a tenured or tenure-track faculty member (or library staff member of equivalent rank) or a full-time instructor or lecturer, you are a member of University Senate and should come hear the arguments for and against the policy and vote on it. Students can retake any course now, but only if they first petition the dean and department chairperson. But the original grade and new grade appear on the transcript and are used in calculating GPA. The new policy would keep the current rules for students who received an A, B or C, but would allow students with a D or F to retake a course without petitioning and to replace the original grade with the new one in the GPA calculation. It would apply only to courses taken in the first 60 hours and could be used for up to five courses. The transcript would still have both grades. Freshmen and sophomores often do not succeed initially when they come to the University. Many are good students who had no trouble in high school earning As without studying. When they come to college, they find a different story. Certainly sometimes, after their GPA bar J.D. Jenkins guest columnist readeron001@kansan.com many average students may not be able to master course material the first time. For example, someone earning a D in organic chemistry has passed the course yet clearly has not mastered the material. Rather than taking the next course and struggling, students can retake the course and earn a higher grade and an improved GPA. — unfortunately, sometimes, after their GPA has been irreparably harmed by mistakes they made at age 18. In addition to these good students, This policy would even the playing field with other schools that have similar policies, including six of the Big 12 schools and Harvard University, Syracuse University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Los Angeles. Students from these schools will have GPAs that have been improved by a course retake policy; KU students' GPAs are lower and less competitive for jobs and entrance to graduate or professional school. Some faculty members oppose this policy because they think repeating courses to improve one's GPA is "grade inflation" and hurts academic integrity. This is not the case. The new policy would not give students who received Ds or Fs higher grades — but it would give them an opportunity to earn them. Additionally, the GPA should reflect what a student has learned. If a student receives an F in English 101, then retakes it and earns an A, why average the F into the GPA? The F would still appear on the transcript, so why punish the student further? As for academic integrity, the reputations of Harvard and other schools have hardly suffered. Council did not hastily or thoughtlessly approve this policy. It resulted from hours of hard work and careful consideration by students and faculty members during the last two years and has been overwhelmingly approved by every committee that has seen it. But now its success depends on the outcome of Thursday's meeting. Opponents, most of them in the School of Business, will be there to vote against it. I hope faculty and students who support the policy will be there to help ensure its passage. Moving back sorority rush is a bad decision Editorial The University could have avoided problems by consulting students first. Jenkins is a Shawnee senior in French and a member of University Council. In the past, recruitment was held the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before classes began in August and then the first weekend following those first two days of classes. This fall, it will be the first weekend after classes begin. Aug. 25 and 26, and the following weekend. Sent. 2 and 3. Sorority recruitment at the University of Kansas, formerly known as "rush," will see major changes in Fall 2001 — changes that could harm the recruitment process. This decision was made solely by the University administration in hopes that it would increase participation among freshmen in Hawk Week activities. The students affected by this decision — members of sororities in the KU Panhellenic Association — had no input. Sorority members have mixed feelings about the new system, and rightfully so. They face several new challenges as a result of the new policy. The University of Kansas is the first Big 12 school to implement such a change in the recruitment system. Kansas State University and the University of Oklahoma support their greek systems by opening residence halls a week before classes start so recruitment can conclude before classes begin. The University, however, chooses to move recruitment to a time when classes have already begun. Such scheduling is sure to interfere with students' studies. The University backs this decision by saying that it will improve participation of new students in Hawk Week activities. Are Hawk Week activities really more important class? That's the message the University sends. Moreover, this change actually poses a threat to Hawk Week because during recruitment, sororities require members to attend a number of Hawk Week activities. Now, without recruitment during Hawk Week, potential sorority members have less incentive to attend anything. The new recruitment policy represents the worst type of University decision-making: Students weren't consulted, and they will suffer as a result. Katie Hackett for the editorial board free all for 864-0500 864-0500 Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Slanderous statements will not be printed. For more comments, visit www.kansan.com. Someone needs to turn on the Chi O fountain because the Chi Os are hot. 留 . If anyone still needs proof the UDK is ant-greek, look at all three articles of the front page of Friday's paper and how the information was presented. - It's too bad that KU VOICE turned out to be a whisper, which turned out to be a hum, which turned out to be silence, which ended up dying in death row. I'm so happy that millions of posters and hot dogs did not influence everyone's vote in the Student Senate elections. To all members of Delta Force. You've lost five times in a row. Give up. (Editor's note: This call came in about 8 p.m. Thursday before the election results were announced.) Even if Jesus isn't the savior or whatever, I bet he's a pretty nice guy. The Hawk would be a lot better if it had toilet paper. So many albums are recommended in the "Kansan staff members sound off" article, and not one mention of Phish. What are you listening to? It's sick and sad. - I can't believe that many albums are recommended by the UDK, and Phish wasn't mentioned even once. They're the only band that gets better literally every time you listen to them. 图 OK. So Delta Force won. That's not good for me, but I'm not going to lie. I think Kyle Browning is a major hottie. 图 --- Justin Mills is a puppet of destruction. What does your alumni association do? Well, right now they're just trying to get me to sign up for a Visa. Thanks guys. Yeah, I'd just like to say that Peter Brambrant is all mixed up. The constitutional clause concerning church and state deals with keeping the government from impeding on the church, not the other way around. Yeah, I know I'm a rock snob and all, but the Kansan staffers' taste in music really sucks. The empire will strike back. Oh yes, the empire will strike back. I believe that GTAs should just be quiet and do their job, and if they're upset about how much they get paid, they should just get a new job. It's up to them. Hey, Taiwan, I hope you have weapons shopping list ready because the United States is in a great mood to do business with you. How to submit letters and guest columns Letters: Should be double-space typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and hometown if a University student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions. Guest columns: Should be double - spaced typed with fewer than 700 words. The writer must be willing to be photographed for the column to run. All letters and guest columns should be e-mailed to opinion@kansan.com or submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Chris Borniger or Nathan Willis at 864-4924. If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the page staff(opinion@kansan.com) or call 864-4924. News Editor ... 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