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Tuesday, February 20, 1990 / University Dally Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Too many students
University needs qualified admissions to control enrollment growth that strangles quality education
last fall, when enrollment reached an all-time high, University officials told us that enrollment was stable. They pointed to an enrollment decrease from Spring 1888 to Spring 1889 as evidence of stability. The new growth was manageable, they said.
Last week, when the latest enrollment statistics were released, we learned that enrollment had jumped again, this time to another new record.
In a prepared statement, Chancellor Gene A. Budig said, "KU continues to attract and retain large numbers of superior students." He also said enrollment had stabilized.
Enrollment stabilization? The figures indicate otherwise.
The University's director of admissions said this semester's enrollment increase could be attributed partly to new aggressive recruiting efforts aimed at raising the level of quality of undergraduate students. Many of the programs target Kansas high school seniors who otherwise probably would enroll at other universities or colleges.
One such program involves the University of Kansas Alumni Association and the department of educational services. It targets Kansas high school seniors who are National Merit
semifinalists, have high ACT scores or are minority students with scholarship potential. In the program, KU alumni share with the seniors their experiences at the University. But things probably were better when many of the volunteer alumni recruiters were studying here.
No matter what public relations techniques the University uses, high quality students will not be attracted to a university with a reputation for crowded classrooms, high student-teacher ratios and closed classes. The University cannot continue to absorb enrollment increases without suffering even more dramatic losses in quality and competitiveness.
There is a limit to how many students the University can successfully teach. That limit has been exceeded.
The state could help by passing the bill calling for qualified admissions. Now in a House committee, the bill would increase the minimum standards for students admitted to Kansas universities.
The state and the University must clamp down now on enrollment growth to protect the quality of education from further erosion. It could only help the educational condition of Kansas.
Richard Brack for the editorial board
Preserve status quo
Committee must reject KU sales review board
If private businessmen have their way, student fees and conveniences could change drastically. The fees could sky- rocket. Conveniences, in the long run, could all but disappear.
Private businessmen have long bemoaned University sales of their products. Businessmen claim that low University prices lure away their customers. To remedy the situation, they have asked the state to create a private-enterprise review board.
Review board members would study complaints from private businessmen who say their businesses are getting unfair competition from state agencies.
Local computer dealers are among the businessmen who say that University sales compete with their own sales. That, without a doubt, is true. They compete in the same way that the photocopy machines in Watson Library compete with private business. They compete in the same way that Watkins Memorial Health Center competes with the local hospital and pharmacies.
SUA movies, student counseling services, camping equipment rental, financial aid services, on-campus plays and concerts, the University Daily Kansan, sales of books, notebooks, KU sweatshirts, art supplies, pencils, candy — each of these University activities, services or items could be seen as a threat to private businessmen.
These University services are necessary to maintain KU's learning atmosphere — one in which learning is not as grueling as it might be.
Businessmen who complain most likely have been seeking to attract students who cannot afford their prices, regardless of University competition. Dealers in this situation either need to lower their prices, target another group of consumers or look for another product
Today, the Joint Committee on Economic Development will consider the option of creating a private-enterprise review board. In the interest of University life as it exists now, they have no option but to reject the idea.
Chris Evans for the editorial board
Parking theft could be costly
If drinking and driving doesn't cause you damage, parking and drinking may.
Chris Evans Staff columnist
Bands of night-stalking scholarship hall meen recently issued their own brand of parking tickets to cars in Alumni Place Lot 100, more commonly known as "the parking lot by The Wheel."
Cars ticketed were those without Alumni Place stickers. Vulgarities from the lot out of our lot" and "Don't drink and drive, you might hit one of our cars."
Lot 100 is the group's largest lot, with 109 spaces. Two other lots in proximity add 66 spaces. The
Not all scholarship hall residents use such pacifist tactics. Instead of brandishing a notepad and pencil, some pull out their keys. A deep scratch along the side of an illegally-parked vehicle seems to do wonders for some people's aggression. A cup of beer poured over someone's windshield and paint job seems to help too.
I drove through Lot 100 recently, twice. The first time was at 10 p.m. Friday night. The lot was filled beyond capacity, with every space taken and with several cars parked in the fire lanes. When I drove through again at 4 a.m., after bars had closed, the lot was more than half empty.
Last year, 249 Alumni Place parking stickers were issued for 235 spaces. Representatives from the scholarship halls chose to let Parking Services oversell the four lots. Theoretically, at worst, 14 people would not have places to park.
'I'm convinced that people who use Lot 100 as a bar parking lot are the same people who take the handicapped spaces in front of Dillons. It takes the threat of a tow to make them park a little farther away.'
remaining 30 spaces are Lot 120, and AP/yellow-zone, which is a 10-minute walk away from the halls.
If bar patrons use 60 to 70 spaces Thursday through Saturday nights (some residents say that number is higher), then scholarship hall residents are forced to park 10 minutes away in Lot 120 or, as is more likely, scavenge for spots on Ohio, Tennessee or Kentucky streets, several blocks from the halls.
Parking in Lot 120 or on a nearby street would put someone only a few minutes farther away from his or her
These residents should not be forced to park so far away from their homes. Bar patrons should be less selfish.
glass of beer. In addition, they wouldn't have key-wielding vandals perusing the area, looking for stickers that don't belong.
A car parked illegally in Lot 100 can get a $10 ticket. That alone should be encouragement to walk an appalled car to get to a bar. Apparently it is not.
Next year, Lot 100 most likely will be a tow-away zone. The motion to make the change easily passed through Student Senate and now needs approval only from the administration. That approval should be handed down without hesitation.
Towing 60 to 70 cars a night should keep local workers busy and should build a serious revenue for Parking Services. Maybe, after a person gets towed four or five times, he'll get the hint.
He should get the hint now. I'm convinced that people who use Lot 100 as a bar parking lot are the same people who take the handicapped spaces in front of Dillons. It takes the threat of a tow to make them park a little farther away.
While getting towed is but a threat, bar patrons who park in L100 may see no reason to put themselves to the trouble of finding another space.
That's pretty callous. Consideration should be given to the students to whom those spaces belong.
If the parking space thieves don't have that goodwill in their hearts, they better have the cash in their pockets. New paint jobs start at $800.
> Chris Evans is a Hutchinson senior majoring in Journalism.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Learn humanities
I think Dave Wakefield's column of Feb. 13, "Don't worry about memorizing easily accessed information," was marvelous. I, too, envision the college education of tomorrow as perhaps a course or two on how to use the Encyclopedia Britannica and a few other reference works, plus another course or two on salesmanship. Then "help to the commercial wars," helping to pull the
I am an occasional visitor to KU, using the library facilities for several books I'm researching. When on campus I try to pick up a copy of the University Daily Kansan, to see "what's happening."
oars of the good ship General Motors, or an equivant commercial gallery or man o' war. You gotta survive not you?
That's what the humanities are all about and that's what the National Endowment for the Humanities is complaining about.
Why learn anything at all? Why not just sit in front of a mirror all day and admire yourself? As a person who has spent a considerable portion of his adult life catching up on the deficiencies in his own education, including heavy reading in the sciences and social sciences as well as the humanities, I can testify that the latter has literally saved my life on more than one occasion. Indeed, it's made living itself worthwhile and can lead to that most precious gift of all, understanding.
This is to say nothing at all about the fine arts or theater.
Allan Weinstein
Lawrence resident
News staff
Richard Brack ... Editor
Daniel Niemi ... Managing editor
Christopher R. Ralston ... Newer editor
Lisa Moss ... Planning editor
John Milburn ... Editorial editor
Candy Niemann ... Campus editor
Mike Consalde ... Sports editor
Erik Joseph Zarga ... Photo editor
Stephen Klimt ... Graphic editor
Kris Bergquist ... Art/Features editor
Tom Eblen ... General manager, news adviser
Margaret Townsend...Business manager
Tami Rank...Retail sales manager
Mike Hines...Campus sales manager
Kathy Stole...National program
Mike Lehman...National sales manager
Mindy Morris...Co-op sales manager
Hate Stumoa...Production manager
Minda Lundell...Apartment project
Carrie Slainko...Marketing director
James Glaanapp...Creative director
Jennet Rotholm...Classified manager
Wendy Shields...Teammate manager
Jeanne Hines...Sales manager
Business staff
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The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsletter, 111 Stuifler Hall Letters, columns and cartoons are the opinion of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University Daisy Kansan. Editorials are the opinion of the Kansan editorial board.
Cornnut fans can't go wrong
Of all things that compose our daily regimen, probably the most innocuous is our consumption of snack food and bever-
sumption of snack food and beverages,
To be sure, we agonize about our choices. Deep down we know that we don't need it and that we'll pay for it the next time we visit the dentist or on the scales. But these pangs of guilt always give way to pains of losing money. We can with our two quarters and full steam ahead to instant gratification.
Beyond our conscience and the dentist, who cares what we eat and drink? Despite all of the commercials to the contrary, when was the last time someone raised an eyebrow your way for imbibing a Pepsi drink? When was the last time anyone questioned your choice of M&M's instead of a Butterfinger?
Ah, but bring a sack of Connuts into a confined space and you'll quickly find out who your friends are. Pop a few of the mega-crunchy kernels into your mouth and watch people knock each other down to clear the space around you. There's something about the aroma of Connuts and saliva that weakens even the heartiest of the non-Cornnut eating souls. I wouldn't be surprised if someday Cornut-eating areas were
Steve Buckner
Staff columnist
If the consumer isn't fazed by the aroma (and I say "aroma" since I am a Cornnut fan, as opposed to the typical "stench" comments of the unenlightened), he or she still has to content with the crunch of the Cornnuts. I don't care if you eat 'em one at a time or are more genteel than Miss Mamners, the crunch is unavoidable and takes some adaptation on the part of the eater. I even gave up Cornnuts for a few years until discovering their "Lighter Crunch," as in chewable, variety.
designated in workplaces.
It was the hardness of the product that prompted me to call Cornuts Inc.'s headquarters in Oakland, Calif., to find out exactly what a Cornnut was. Now, I did read the contents listing on the package before I called, and sure enough, corn was the first ingredient mentioned. But I still had my doubts whether something that hard could be corn instead of a nut.
Rest assured, Cornnuts are indeed made from corn. The corn, a hybrid variety, is raised on farms in California and Ohio, said Karen Keleman. Cornnuts consumer promotion manager. She said Cornnuts Inc. started in 1936 and was a family-owned, privately held company devoted to making only Cornnuts.
Keeman also sent me a brochure that commemorated Cornuts' 50th anniversary in 1986. The brochure is packed with facts and anecdotes about Cornuts and the company's history. Maybe the most interesting story was about how the company's founder, Albert Holloway, discovered the large corn he used for his product. He read a "fun-fact" comic strip that mentioned a Peruvian strain of corn that produced the largest kernels in the world. Holloway obtained some of the corn to test it for Cornutns and then imported it for more than 20 years. (One can almost envision a Cornnut-hating U.S. president, armed with EPA air quality impact statements, conducting a South American summit to eradicate the Peruvian countryside of the corn).
But by the early 1960s, an unstable corn supply from Peru and the development of a similar hybrid that could be raised in the United States made
the Cornut crop a home grown one. The company has flourished in the past 25 years, developing new flavors of Cornnuts and expanding its market nationally and overseas.
While buying a soft drink, I happened upon three foreign students, all female, pondering their choices for a snack from a vending machine. When one of the students announced Coach Connell was coming because she had never heard of them, I decided I had to see her reaction.
Despite the longevity and success of Cornnuts, I still think the product remains misunderstood and underpublicized. Another employee of the company said that Cornnuts were not heavily promoted and that they didn't run any television advertisements. Well, I saw something last semester that I think would make an excellent commercial for Cornnuts.
If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is. *Lawrence* graduated.
I wasn't disappointed. At first, a pained, surprised look passed across her face. But she must have enjoyed the Cornnuts anyway because she smiled and said to her friends, "Ooooh. Here, try these. I almost broke my tooth on them."
▶ Steve Buckner is a Lawrence graduate student in journalism.
CAMP USINEELY
BY SCOTT PATTY
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