Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
PAGE 5A
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--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
I heard your mom's legislature is bicameral
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
So, there's this girl in my lab who looks like she hasn't finished evolving yet.
Why waste money on a wedding? Having a huge kegger would be way more
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
Attitude reflects leadersnip,
Captain!
George Foreman is coming to KU? This is more exciting than Taylor Swift sightings!
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
I don't understand those people who don't use Facebook. What're you doing off the radar?
When I catch a bus through campus I always stare at the speedometer and wonder how fast we could take that baby up to.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
I love when the bus hits things. My driver scraped up against a car once. It was great.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
I went tanning and then got a spray tan! Look out "Jersey Shore"*partv. Here I come!
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
I THINK MY CAPS LOCK KEY
IS BROKEN!
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
Do you think she tickles herself with the feather at night?
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
Thank you, horseradish, for being neither of a horse nor of a radish. What you are is a liar food. This applies to you too, Grape-Nuts cereal!
I want a rabbit. I wonder if I could sneak one in the dorms.
I should just start doing my homework when I'm on the toilet since it's the only time I'm away from Facebook.
All right, who wants to sext?
I'm going to take a shot every time I fail the Gateway exam. Things could get uqly.
It sucks being a broke college kid. I have to eat my cereal with a fork to save milk.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
You want to know why the rec center is always packed? Maybe it's because half the machines are broken.
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
Argyle socks? No joke!
--most qualified applicants. But over extending the compensation of the new positions is unacceptable.
EDITORIAL BOARD
University cannot afford to pay new administrators excessively
Wikimedia Commons
For several months, the University has been in the midst of a search for a new provost, executive vice chancellor, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and deans of the Schools of Law and Music. In the quest to fill these key positions, the state of the economy as well as the University's decreasing budget should be key aspects in determining their salaries.
The Kansas Board of Regents said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little's salary is a maximum of $425,000 a year. This is almost $85,000 more than her predecessor, Robert Hemenway, who held the position as head of the University for 14 years.
With Gray-Little's 10 years in administrative work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and strong resume, it's clear that she deserves adequate compensation for her qualifications. Gray-Little holds an essential position, but in a time when the state is cutting the University's budget, it must be asked if almost half a million dollars a year is a realistic salary for one employee.
The provost is second in the administrative line to the chancellor. The deans are responsible for the prosperity of each school and the structures and cultures they project. In the search for new hires, the University should find the
The hunt for new administrators is long and meticulous. Each search committee consists of at least 15 members from diverse areas of faculty to review the qualifications of each applicant, and the applicants should be moderately and appropriately paid given the institution's financial struggles.
The University's current budget does not have the flexibility to offer excessive salaries to new hires. According to the University employee newsletter, The Oread, class sizes are already increasing as the number of faculty decreases. Students suffer from unbalanced
student-faculty ratios. New administrators should not be enjoying thousands of dollars a year in extra income at the expense of other faculty jobs.
The job descriptions for the vacant senior positions vaguely state that, "salary will be commensurate with qualifications." Applicants should care more about the long-term success of the individual schools and the University than bargaining for their pay. In the search for these new hires, the University should be sure to hire the most qualified applicants, but be fiscally responsible when determining their salaries.
James Castle for the Editorial Board
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NICHOLAS SAMBALUK
CAMPUS
Smoking ban strips student rights
Soon tobacco users may have to look somewhere other than campus convenience.
than campus convenience stores for their nicotine fixes. In March, the Kansas Board of Regents will consider a proposal to ban the sale of tobacco products on public university campuses. KU administrators are wrong in supporting this proposal.
"Perhaps now the time has to come to take a stand and make a statement," Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said in an interview with Topeka TV station KTKA. "And I see the ban probably more as a statement of the values of the University than as a way to change the nature of students' use of tobacco."
True, smoking is a destructive and addictive habit. But the University's support of a ban strikes at student rights and privileges.
The University has overstepped its role as an educational organization in supporting this ban. The University, as a tax-funded state institution, has no business having an opinion on the sale of a legal substance.
The University has justified its support of the ban as taking a stand against tobacco use.
What's more, Gray-Little said a ban would likely have little practical impact on overall student tobacco use. David Mucci, director of the Kansas and Burge Unions, explained that because of high prices of the tobacco products sold on campus, smokers usually bought from the unions as a last resort.
BY JONATHAN SHORMAN
Despite the high prices, tobacco sales still provide profits for the University.
But, even with the ban, the University would still profit from tobacco; Governor Mark Parkinson has proposed raising the cigarette tax from 79 cents to $1.34 per pack.
Some supporters of the ban have said that the University should not benefit from the sale of a harmful product.
Most importantly, the ban would take away yet another choice and privilege we have as students.
Along with other proposed sales taxes, Parkinson has said the additional revenue would provide
In the fall, Student Senate rightly defeated a proposal that would have allowed searches of dorm rooms in student housing without a warrant.
To be consistent, the University should refuse any state funding resulting from cigarette taxes.
$10 million for higher education.
Now, a privilege may be taken away from students because the University wants to send "a statement."
Students must continue to fight to be treated as adults in the university setting. If we don't, one day the students who follow us will not have the rights we now take for granted.
Shorman is a sophomore from McPherson in journalism.
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785-296-3421
POLITICS
The great American rant
In their earnest efforts to understand the populist passion sweeping the nation, the chattering classes regularly hearken back to Howard Beale's classic line in "Network:" "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
As close as the fed-up Beale came to capturing the disillusioned national mood, I find another movie reference a big more apt: "I don't know what we're yelling about!" from Brick Tambler in "Anchorman."
True, Americans are mad as hell. But, they can't quite point to what it is they're up in arms about.
Following the upset victory of Republican Scott Brown in the recent Massachusetts Senate race, pundits confidently pronounced that misreading the country's ideological pulse was what doomed the Democrats. The party may have won big in 2006 and 2008. But, in interpreting those triumphs as a mandate for bold, progressive reform, they forgot the center-right inclination of the country.
With all the indignation stoked by the Palin-Beck-Limbaugh crowd over bailouts, a federal takeover of health care and spendthrift stimulus measures, it would seem the declining fortunes of President Obama and the Democratic Party stem from unease with big government.
The Observer
So are Conservatives poised for a comeback? Not if the backdrop of 2010 is a reasoned discourse on the issues. If we've learned anything watching members of Congress being hectored by constituents to keep government out of their Medicare, it's that the political climate is far from rational. The swing against Democrats is less a repudiation of government activism and liberal reform than it is the Conservatives' success in exploiting voters' fears.
Take health care, for example. According to RealClearPolitics.com, polls find Americans opposed to the idea of the Democrats' health reform plan
BY LUKE BRINKER
by roughly 10 percent. But ask Americans about elements contained in the legislation, and you'll find markedly different results. A January CNN/Opinion Research poll found a majority of Americans support a public option. This, despite the fact that such an option was abandoned by so-called moderates who argued the plan lacked public support. With repeated right-wing talk of death panels and creeping socialism, timid Democrats began calling for a scaled-back bill.
Or consider fiscal policy. Polls show conservative efforts to taint Obama as a reckless spender have gained traction. But a December CNN poll found that Americans said by a three-to-one margin that job-creating stimulus should take precedence over spending cuts. Here's the problem: That's not a debate that Conservatives want to have. For them, it's better to simplistically boil the argument down to evil government versus virtuous free markets.
Democrats have ducked substantive debate, too. Rather than staging a spirited defense of progressive ideas—and framing the narrative to reflect the public's desire for real health care choices and government action to boost job creation—they have mostly cowered. Liberals must respond to the government-is-evil message of Conservatives with their own message, lest the public continue to vent their rage at the Democrats.
It's the narrative, stupid
Brinker is a freshman from Topeka in history and political science.
Responses to the news of the week on Kansan.com
Chatterbox
"I wish people would stop being so delusional and realize we can't generate all of our energy from renewable resources. Let us build some nuclear plants at least to take the place of coal-fired power plants, so I don't have to pay so much for electricity when it gets warm out. Wind and solar are great ideas, but don't generate enough electricity to meet demand."
— "Sischlag" in response to "Westar pays for environmental violation" on Jan. 28.
— "Anonymame" in response to "Kansas could abolish death penalty to cut costs" on Jan. 27.
"Healthy skepticism is positive, but so is keeping an open mind. Be careful not to discount things completely just because they do not fit comfortably into current understanding"
"If the legislature is looking at strictly budgetary issues regarding this, they're missing something huge. The prosecution of a death sentence case may be way more than a life sentence case — but when an inmate receives a life sentence, you and I are paying tens of thousands every year to house and feed that inmate."
— "KarenJeff" in response to "Folmsbee: No evidence for acupuncture" on Jan. 27.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
of the Kawaii Editorial Board are Stephen Montgomery, Brianna Planesiest, Jennifer Tortorite, Lauren Cunningham, Vicky Lily McEyly McCoy and Kate Larsen.