Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Friday, January 25. 1991
3
Applicants to nursing, law schools rise
Nursing school must turn away 180 students
By Amy Francis
Kansan staff writer
Although the School of Nursing has seen a rise in applicants this year, it must limit its enrollment to maintain quality education.
Rita Clifford, assistant dean of nursing, said there had been about a 50 percent increase from last year in number of people applying to the school.
A student must have a 2.5 grade point average to apply, but most students accepted have an average of about 3.1. Although 330 students have applied to the nursing school for next fall, the University of Kansas Medical Center is allowed to accept only 150. There are no plans to increase the number of students accepted, Clifford said.
"Nursing education takes a lower student-to-faculty ratio," she said. "There has to be faculty with the
student when they're in the clinical situation."
And it seems the faculty knows why there is an increase in the number of people applying.
"It is an exciting time for nursing," said Aina Wingate, associate professor of nursing. "I think nursing is encouraging a broadening of opportunities."
Some of the opportunities are in bedside nursing care, hospitals, public health agencies, private homes, physicians' offices, clinics, nursing homes and special institutions such as children's hospitals.
But there are several drawbacks to nursing.
“It’s an occupation in which you give tremendously,” said Wanda Vaughn Boyd, instructor in pediatrics learning. “You get worn out because you give so much and don’t get many rewards.
"I try to get them (students) to
"I tell them, to evaluate what is
added to them."
Wingate said, "We just try to get them in touch that patients do die."
But Vaughn Boyd said there were some rewards when peers, supervisors or patients recognized a nurse's work.
Job availability might help students decide if nursing is the profession for them.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics said, "The prospects in nursing should be excellent for some time, perhaps through the year 2000. Hospitals in many parts of the country are reporting shortages of R.N.s (registered nurses).
"Employment of registered nurses is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2000."
Law school interest high
By Benjamin K.
By Benjamin W. Allen
She said there were 1,005 applications for the 1990-91 academic year.
An increase in the number of applications to the School of Law is part of a national trend of growing interest in entering the legal profession.
"Ideally, we try for a class of 180," she said. "We wound up with 194."
Diane Lindeman, director of admissions for the school, said that applications for the 1990-91 academic year were up 21 percent from the previous year and that the number of applicants for next year at the same pace.
Lindeman said the school usually
accepted 40 to 50 percent more students than the ideal number of 180. In 1990, the school admitted 368 students.
She said there were several theories about why the application numbers had increased.
Reasons ranged from an increase in respect for the law to the belief that a law degree really was an advanced liberal arts degree because people in any major could apply, Lindman said.
She said some speculated that TV shows like "L.A. Law" made the profession appear glamorous and entertained potential applicants' interest.
Al Johnson, associate dean of law, said that he had heard of the
theory that "L.A. Law" was responsible for increased numbers of applications, but that he thought it was not the reason for KU's increase.
"Put simply, the word is out," he said. "Right here on the Kaw, we have a respected institution."
Johnson said the school had built a strong regional reputation in the past 10 years.
Lindeman also said that in economically hard times, applications to graduate schools usually increased.
Many people may lose their jobs and go back to school, or they may want to find a way to better their position in life, she said.
Abandoned rail becomes new bike trail
Bv Katie Chipman
Kansan staff writer
A new Lawrence hiking and biking trail converted from an abandoned section of railroad track will be completed within a week if weather permits, a city representative said yesterday.
Greg Sanders, supervisor for facilities and maintenance of Lawrence Parks and Recreation, said that the city was completing work on a bridge, and that the trail would be open to the public soon afterward.
The plan for the trail began in 1987 when the Kansas Rails-to-Trail Coalition asked the Lawrence City Commission to convert the section of railroad track into a recreational trail.
The trail will be the first rail-trail in Kansas. It is almost a mile long and runs east of Haskell Island college from 23rd Street to 29th Street.
Clark Coan, co-chairperson of the coalition, said the trail eventually would be expanded and possibly connected with other trails in town when the Sante Fe Railway tracks in east Lawrence were abandoned.
Last week, representatives of the American Discovery Trail met in Lawrence to scout the new rail-trail site. ADT is a commercially sponsored trail that converts railroad tracks into trails and links them across the country.
The proposed cross-country route starts in San Francisco and goes through 12 states, including Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
The scouting team, which has been traveling by bicycle for six months across the country, tries to find new trails to link to existing trails.
Coan said the trails could be used by bicyclists, hikers, joggers, walkers, wheelchair users and cross-country skiers.
He said the coast-to-coast trail most likely would pass by Clinton Lake on the North Shore Trail, through the Baker Wetlands and the Lawrence Prairie Park, along the River and into Johnson County.
Officials of ADT are hoping the project will be completed by the end of the decade.
Jim Wiggins, right, and Slickie Patton repair a footbridge located east of Haskell Indian Junior College.
By Patricia Rojas
Religious voices ponder Israel's next step in war
Kansan staff writer
One week, four missile attacks and no retaliation
But regardless of the question, religion seems to be a factor in the answer.
Saddam Hussein's claims about wanting to liberate Palestine, as well as his continued missile attacks on Israel, have raised the fear of a religious war in the Middle East.
and no reduction.
Some ask why. Others ask what
if.
Hamed Ghazali, president of the Muslim Student Association, said he did not think Saddam Hussein had succeeded in making religion the main issue in the Persian Gulf war.
However, he said that an Israeli retaliation could give new strength to Saddam's claims.
"If Israel interferes, it's easy for people to turn it into a religious war against Islam." Ghazali said. "It would add points to the side of considering the war a religious one."
Ghazali also said that he thought an Israeli retaliation would only instigate further retaliations by other Arab countries.
"It's not going to lead to any peace," he said. "What else can the Israeli do that the Americans are not doing?"
Lawrence Sherr, president of the Jewish Community Center in Lawrence, said that he thought the school should and the obligation to defend itself.
"These Iraq-provoked attacks are outrageous." Sherr said. "Obviously, the Lawrence Jewish community is very concerned about the safety of the Israeli people and the U.S. men and women.
"I trust the Israeli government to make the decision that is best for them."
Shera said that he did not think the conflict between Jews and Arabs should be the central issue in the Persian Gulf war.
"This is not a religious war in my opinion," Sherr said. "This is a provoked occupation by another individual who is trying to broaden the issue.
"I think it's unfortunate, but it's not on the top of her," he said. "The well-being of Israel and U.S. women is on top of my agenda."
Philip Schrodt, associate professor of political science, said he did not think an Israeli retaliation would lead to a religious war. He did not use any extreme measures such as nuclear weapons.
"As people have said all the time, even in the Arab world, Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait to free Palestine," he said. "He invaded Kuwait for his own reasons."
Schrodt, who teaches Theories of International Conflict, said it was unlikely that the United States can its Arab allies if Israel retaliated.
He said the Arab countries had had five months to anticipate the war and decide what side they would take. When the countries joined the alliance, they knew Israel also would be an ally.
Daniel Breslauer, professor of religious studies, said he thought religion was not the main issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict. He said there were more important issues involved, including economic, political, cultural and social dimensions.
"The religious aspect becomes a way of symbolizing these other problems," Breslauer said. "At least one level, religion is more of a slogan than a reality in the conflict."
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