OPINION
1.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
CRAIG LANG, Editor
CRAIG LANG, Editor
SUSANNA LOOF, Managing editor
KIMBELY CRAFTERE, Editorial editor
TOM ELLEN, general manager, news adviser
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MARK OZIMER, Business manager
DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
JUSTIN KNUPP, Technology coordinator
JA YSTEEN, Sales and marketing adviser
Monday, January 13, 1997
Editorials
Kansan opinion page provides forum for exchange of all ideas
The start of a new semester is an appropriate time to tell a little bit about how the *Knysan* opinion page operates, as well as encourage readers to share their ideas and concerns with us.
The purpose of an opinion page is to provide for the open exchange of all ranges of opinion. The Kansan editorial board is one way to do this. Board members are responsible for writing the editorials published here. The board is made up of members of the University community who applied to join the board. Membership on the editorial board is not limited to students, and it is not reserved only for journalism students. There are 12 members, and the board meets twice a week to
Everyone has an opinion and the Kansan staff wants to hear those.
brainstorm ideas and assign editorials The editorials are the consensus of the entire board.
Columnists also have the opportunity to share their opinions with readers. Like editorial board members, Kansam columnists applied to join the staff, and they are not required to be students. Unlike the editorial board, columnists may write on any topic they choose.
But the 30 members of the opinion staff can not possibly represent the
views of the more than 25,000 people who make up the Kansan audience. This is where Kansan readers take part. Everyone has an opinion on issues and problems that affect him or her, and we need to hear those opinions.
We especially need to hear those opinions if they're about the Kansan. If readers are lived about something printed — or not printed — in the Kansan but don't take a minute to write, call or e-mail us, we may never know that a problem exists.
In an intellectual surrounding like a university, it is not only our opportunity to share what we think, but it is also an obligation. If we do not voice our opinions, we cannot expect to be heard.
KIMBERLY CRABTREE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Students who drop classes early should get all of their money back
Many students may be surprised when they look at the add-drop policy stated in the University of Kansas Spring timetable. Friday was the last day to receive a full refund for a dropped class.
That means that students who returned to Lawrence this weekend and need to drop a class this week won't be getting a full refund. Instead, during regular add-drop times after classes start today, refounds shrink to 90 percent for classes dropped through Jan. 24. After add-drop, refounds are reduced even more. This policy constricts the add-drop process, which many students may find necessary to have to go through.
Rich Morrell, University registrar, said the new add-drop refund policy provided the incentive for students to pick actual classes rather than shopping around and filling their schedules with an overload of hours. The idea is to eliminate ad hoc class withdrawals, which Morrell said make it hard for officials to plan what classes are necessary and places a financial burden on the University.
Friday was the last day to receive a full refund for dropped classes.
Linear tuition, whereby students are charged for each hour rather than paying a flat fee for a full-time class load, was also instituted partly to curb this problem. By reducing refunds for classes students drop, the University can be compensated for the cost of clerical work necessary to complete the add-drop process.
However, there are many students with legitimate enrollment problems that need to be remedied by add-drop. Some students also might not have returned to Lawrence by Friday so that they could drop a class. These students shouldn't be penalized by not receiving a full refund, especially if they drop the class on the first day of the semester.
Also, this is an important change that is taking effect in the middle of a school year. Several students have been at the University for at least a year and are accustomed to being able to drop classes the first week and still receive a full refund.
If linear tuition is part of the free market economy system, then dissatisfied students are dissatisfied customers who should be able to get their money back for classes they do not want to take.
NICK ZALLER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
NEWS EDITORS
LATINA SULLIVAN . . . Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASI . . . News
NOVELDA SOMMERS . . . News
LESLIE TAYLOR . . . News
AMANDA TRAUGHBER . . . News
TARA TRENARY . . . News
DAVID TESKA . . . Online
DAN GELISTON . . Sports
SPENCER DUNCAN . . Associate Sports
BRAIDLEY BROOKS . . Campus
LINSEY HENRY . . Campus
DAVE BRETTENSTEIN . Features
PAM DESIMAN . . Photo
TYLER WIRKEN . Photo
BRYAN VOLK . . Design
ANDY ROHIBACK . . Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT . . Wire
LZ MUSSER . . Special sections
AERICA VAZEY . . News clerk
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLER ... Assistant retail
JULIE PEDLAR ... Campus
DANA CENTENO ... Regional
ANNETTE HOVER ... National
BRIAN PAGEL ... Marketing
SARAH SCHERWINSKI ... Internet
DARCI MCCLAIN ... Production
DENA PISCOTTE ... Production
ALLISON PIERCE ... Special sections
SARA ROSE ... Creative
DANA LAUVETZ ... Public relations
BRIAN LEFEVRE ... Classified
RACHEL RUBIN ... Assistant classified
BRIDGET COLLIER ... Zone
JULIE DEWITT ... Zone
CHIRS HAGHIRIAN ... Zone
LIZ HESS ... Zone
ANTHONY MILGAZIO ... Zone
MARIA CRIST ... Senior account executive
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
Letters: Should be double spaced 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.
How to submit letters and guest columns
**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 letter and guest columns should be submitted to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Fint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length or reject all submissions. For questions, call Kimberly Crabtree or LaTina Sullivan at 864-4810. Or you can e-mail the opinion editors at onlinen@kansan.com
opinion@kansan.com
New semester brings Kansan,chilly days
Columns
During this time of year, we return from an all too-short break to fight through gushing winds and negative temperatures just to make it to a new set of classes, many of which are more difficult than the ones we had to struggle through last semester.
How can anyone like winter?
For a student, winter offers virtually nothing exciting. I would prefer a class-free summer day anytime even if it was 104 degrees in the shade and the air conditioner was broken.
Of course, there is one positive thing this time of year offers us: a new semester of The University Daily Kansan.
That's right, as temperatures get colder and classes get harder, the Kansan will be there to address the concerns
Following our No. 1 Kansas Jayhawk men's bas-
of KU students and inform them about the events and issues on campus, in Lawrence, in the United States and around the world.
Ringing in a new year, the staff at the Kansan has resolved to continue its obligation to students to cover issues in administration, crime, student life and sports here at the University. However, because this is your paper, we've listened to your requests and made plans to offer you more of what you've asked for:
This semester, we intend to devote more space to national and world events. The stories that pertain to KU students, such as events on campus and in Lawrence, still come first. However, this semester's smaller reporter staff will give the Kansan more inside space to cover news outside of our community and perhaps in some of our home towns.
ketball team, the sports staff is devoting more space in our second section to provide more in-depth coverage and capture more action with photos the day after every game.
Online readers will find even more to see and do at our interactive site. A regular column by yours truly and a photo gallery to showcase the full talent of the Kansan's photography staff is just a small sample of what readers will see by visiting the World Wide Web at www.kansan.com
However, just because we've made these changes doesn't mean that we're not willing to make more. This is your paper, and we appreciate any comments, praise and criticisms you want to offer us. Stop by the newsroom, call us at 864-4810 or send letters to the editor:
Readers can also expect to see increased coverage of intramural and alternative sports, as well as features which show what KU athletes like to do off, as well as on, the playing field.
All this and a new look to our opinion and entertainment pages will be available to every student who may need something to keep his or her mind off the biting wind. $ ^{11} $
The University Daily Kansan
111 Stauffer-Flint Hall
lawrence, Kansas 60645
e-mail: editor@kansan.com
So包留up, grab a cup of coffee and take a look through your Kansan.
I can't guarantee that we'll warm you up, but I can promise that we'll be there through these cold days, and as the weather warms to those pleasant spring temperatures.
Graig Lang is a Springfield, Mo., senior in journalism and is the editor of *The University Daily* Kansan.
Gingrich's re-election surprising, predictable
in a surprisingly predictable move, the 105th Congress re-elected Newt Gingrich as House speaker on Tuesday. It's surprising, because Gingrich has admitted to many ethical violations and is awaiting punishment from a House ethics subcommittee. But it's also predictable because the only ethical violations that seem to concern the Republican Congress are the ones outside its party.
After two years of investigations and denials, Gingrich finally admitted to wrongdoing in December. Gingrich also confessed to using tax-exempt money for political purposes, which included TV ads and partisan college courses taught by Gingrich. He also admitted to providing the original investigation committee with "inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable
He gave the committee the wrong information on purpose, but then he claimed that he did not mean to mislead anyone. Gingrich, of course, did not accept sole responsibility for his wrongdoings. He blamed his lawyer Jan Baran for the false statements given to the committee. Gingrich only admitted to not thoroughly looking through the statements submitted in his name and that had his signature on them to make sure they were correct.
statements." However, he said that he "did not intend to mislead the committee."
Even though Gingrich is only the second speaker to ever be investigated by an ethics committee, according to the Kansas City Star, the most surprising chapter in this story is his re-election. Obviously, the Republicans have no problem electing a non-ethical party member to represent the House. The freshmen members of the House, including every Kansas representative, have no qualms about looking up to a man who misdirected money and misrepresented himself to an investigation committee.
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Of course, Gingrich did not exactly win by a landslide. In fact, he just barely slid by. He received only three more votes than he needed. The fact remains, however, that he is still our Speaker of the House, regardless of these unresolved ethical issues.
The ethics committee will decide Gingrich's punishment near the end of January. Although it could be as serious as expulsion from the House, it will probably be just another slap on the wrist. Without a severe reprimand for his severe offenses, I'm afraid that Gingrich will not change his unethical ways. And in two years, we may hear another apology for his brassiness and self-confidence.
The most ironic thing about Gingrich's re-election stems from all the attention he gave to President Clinton's ethics during the presidential race.
Gingrich and his Republican friends managed to publicly criticize Clinton's ethics while having their own ethics investigated. How can Gingrich call Clinton unethical without first solving his own ethics problems? In his acceptance speech Tuesday afternoon, Gingrich apologized to the House and to the American people for his being "too brash, too self-confident and too pushy" during his first two years as a speaker. I'm sure the speech looked great on CNN in five-second sound bites, but I'm not ready to accept his apology until he proves himself ethical.
Mary Corcoran is an Overland Park sophomore in Journalism.
The state of Kansas is at a crossroads. Before us, the promising future of technologically advanced students and universities. Behind us and with us, technological inferiority. Which direction shall we take?
Letters
Diminishing inferiority should be a priority
In which direction will our Legislature lead us?
Our state universities have fallen behind many of our state's high school and junior colleges in the quantity and quality of equipment and computers available per capita. This deficiency is diminishing the quality of education for students attending Regents universities. It is commonplace for students to go to the Computer Center only to wait for five hours to use a computer that is inferior to what they used in high school. It is also commonplace for students to use lab equipment that their parents used when they went to KU. Unfortunately, commonplace does not make it right. This deficiency is making many out-of-state universities much more attractive to our high school scholars, forcing our intellectual wealth out of the state. Computers and equipment may be expensive now, but that will be nothing when compared to the cost the emigration of our intellectual wealth will have on our state's future economic development.
Traditionally, such expenditures were made through the "other operating expenses," or OOE, line-item of the Regents budget. However, as the state has tightened its budget in recent years, the Regents OOE budget has been left gasping for air. For example, the University of Kansas is financed at 53.5 percent of its peer universities in OOE. Kansas State is at 64.3 percent, Emporia State 64.6 percent, Pittsburg State 55.5 percent and Fort Hays State 56.7 percent. Even the university that is closest to its peers, Wichita State, is still far off at 67.8 percent of its peers. This leaves the universities so strapped that professors must pay many instructional costs out of their own pockets. Obviously, if departments are struggling to maintain things like copy machines, justifying expenses like computers is out of the question.
The Kansas Board of Regents is requesting $12 million to finance equipment and technology needs
in the system. While this may sound like a lot, $12 million will not solve the problem. At KU alone, $12 million would only cover about a quarter of its technology dearth. To further complicate the problem, much of this equipment has short life cycles; computers usually grow obsolete in three to four years. This means that even with the one-time $12 million expenditure, this problem would have to be readdressed in only three or four years. Although the one-time allocation should be supported, a long-term funding plan is the only way to endure the technology advancement. The Regents Budget Development and Tuition Committee is poised to forward such a plan for its Fiscal Year 1999 request. But this plan is going to require the support of this and future Legislatures if it is to benefit our state's youth.
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Kansas is at a crossroads. We may choose to progress forward by supporting the Regents one-time equipment request and future ongoing funding models. Or we may choose to turn our backs again, not even noticing as the rest of the nation passes us by.
Grey Montgomery Student Body president