CAMPUS/AREA
NIVERSITY DAILY KANSAI
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday. January 30. 1996
3A
Some students roll the dice with Monopoly
Richard Devink / KANSAN
Chris Starke, St. Louis Mo., sophomore, gives money to Mame Provo, Prairie Village sophomore, as Sasha Ballard, Overland Park sophomore, watches.
Accounting class learns with game
By David Teska
Kansan staff writer
When rolling his dice, Chad Troester had to be very careful that he didn't wind up in jail.
That's because Troester, Lincoln, Neb., freshman, played Monopoly as part of a lab exercise designed to teach students about the natural flow of business transactions.
The exercise is used by Tim Shaftel, professor of business, as a tool to reinforce lessons he teaches in financial accounting. Since incorporating the game into his lesson a few years ago, it has evolved into a teaching tool for accounting, Shaftel said.
"I haven't found a better way of
Shaftel said he first learned of the idea from Robert Knechel, professor of business at the University of Florida, who used the game in his advanced accounting class.
teaching it," he said.
"It's common in advanced accounting to have a practice set where they go through the accounting process," Shaftel said.
Shaftet said he slightly modified the game, invented in 1935 by unemployed engineer Charles Darrow, by rewriting the Chance and Community Chest cards to make the transactions more realistic for students.
The students, who represent individual companies, started the game with an initial investment of $1,500. During play, they record each debit and credit on a ledger sheet.
Each pass of Go marks a week in the life of their business, said
Jason Carlstedt, Wichita senior and instructor of the lab class.
"It's designed to imitate the entire accounting cycle of a business, from the start with the initial investment," Carlstedt said.
The students will play two complete rounds of the game at the beginning of the semester, Carlestedt said. On the last day of class, students will play another round, but with a slight difference, Carlestedt said. To teach the students about the role stock plays in a company, five students will play an investor and will receive $5,000 to invest in student companies.
"The investors have to make decisions about investments," Shaftel said. If they buy control of a company, the investors can decide to change the name of a company and fire the company's president.
"It's the last day of class, and we tell them to have fun," he said.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Students are required to record every transaction in a general journal.
One rule that didn't make it in Shaftel's version is winning the accumulated pile of cash when landing on Free Parking. Carlstedt said it didn't reflect the way businesses operated in the real world.
Campus vending machines devour pocket change
About $900,000 is spent each year on snack food
By Heather Kirkwood
Kansan staff writer
Millions of quarters are fed into campus vending machines each year to buy such favorites as Diet Coke, Gardetto's Snak-ens and GrandMa's Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Bob Derby, manager of KU Concessions, said KU students and staff last year had spent about $900,000 in the 20f campus vending machines, which is about $100,000 more than was spent at the Union Square food court in the Kansas Union.
Cannarissa Booth, Greer, S.C., sophomore, said she was not surprised by how much money was spent.
"They overcharge so much it shouldn't be a surprise," she said.
Even though Booth finds the prices high, she buys from vending machines an average of once a day and spends about $5 a week.
"My favorite is Ruffles," she said.
Derby said that the vending machine bestsellers were Coke Classic and Hershey's and Nestle's candy bars. Items that don't sell quickly are caffeine-free Diet Coke and A&W Root Beer, he said.
approval by Heart Smart Vending International in Scottsdale, Ariz. Initially, sales of these items increased, but as the year progressed, they returned to their pre-red dot sale levels, Derby said. Some KU students said that health was not a priority.
A year ago, KU Concessions started marking products with red dots, signifying a stamp of
"I never even noticed the red dots," said John Ratzenberger, Lansing sophomore. "I thought it was all junk."
KU Concessions tries to carry consumers' favorites.
Vending machines are popular on campus. Students spend about $900,000 a year at campus vending machines.
Andv Rullestad / KANSAM
GTA HEARING
Kansan staff report
The hearing tomorrow between the University of Kansas and the GTA union has been postponed a second time. A key witness for the University is unable to be present because of an illness. The University requested a continuance because Marc Adin, director of human resources, was ill. The University needed time
indefinitely.
The University needed time for either Adin's condition to improve or to find a replacement.
The hearing first was set for Dec. 7 and then postponed until tomorrow. Now the hearing has been postponed
In an interview earlier this month, Adin said that he hoped to get better by the time of the Jan. 31 hearing but that if that didn't happen, someone else would assume his responsibilities for the hearing. Dave Young, head of grievances for the GTA union, said the union was not happy about the delay.
"It's frustrating," he said. "We're sorry that one person is sick, but this thing has been going on for months." The hearing was postponed in December because the GTA union said it needed more time to gather witnesses.
We Buy, Sell, Trade & Consign USED & New Sports Equipment
University still working to improve freshman/sophomore experience
Officials looking at ways to help KU underclassmen get the most out of school
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
But academic life for freshmen and sophomores is changing for the better, said David Shulenburger, vice chancellor for academic affairs.
KU underclassmen complain about the same things year after year poor advising, large classes and not enough personal attention, to name a few.
"We're already moving on most of the recommendations, and I hope we'll have some action on every one by the end of this year," Shulenburger said. "I think this report can make a world of
Four months later, work has begun on almost all of the committee's 30 recommendations, Shulenburger said.
In September, the Freshman-Sophomore Academic Experience Committee submitted its recommendations for improving the academic experience of KU underclassmen.
difference in the long run."
One of the first actions resulting from the report is improving academic support at the residence halls. Next fall, 160 residents at Ellsworth Hall will be part of a pilot program aimed at providing a positive academic environment.
kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said these residents would have access to onsite advising, a computer lab and a math tutor and could take a course at Ellsworth.
"We're not targeting terrific students or at-risk students," McCluskey-Fawcett said. "We don't want to segregate students, but we do want to provide an academic environment for those who want that."
The program could be expanded to include 400 students, or about 10 percent of the freshman class, in Fall 1997.
McCluskey-Fawcett also is expanding a four-week summer program which allows students to become acquainted with the University and the rigors of college life. The program was piloted last summer and will be open to 400 students this summer.
Also in the works are a center for teaching effectiveness and a plan to ensure that freshmen would have at least one class with fewer than 25 students, Shulenburger said.
But while administrators are moving ahead on many of the recommendations, the advising system — an ongoing problem — remains stagnant.
Shulenburger said no action would be taken to change advising until a Student Senate advising committee made its recommendations this semester.
"We have tried so many different things with advising, but it hasn't changed the overall satisfaction rating of students, so we are going to listen to what the student committee recommends." Shulenburger said.
Shulenburger said a committee would be formed to monitor the University's progress on all of the recommendations.
"I don't think that the report is as much a checklist as it is a direction," he said. "My hope is that most of those things will be done or pretty far along in two years."
New desks bring cheer to Wescoe
Officials pointing fingers concerning lack of chairs
By Jason Strait
Kansan staff writer
After two weeks, Beverly Boyd finally has enough chairs for her students. But why she lacked them in the first place remains a mystery.
Boyd, professor of English, had only 10 chairs for 22 students on Friday, which forced students to sit on the floor. But yesterday morning brought a new week for Boyd, and with it came a classroom full of desks.
"Everybody was happy," Boyd said. "All the students had chairs to sit in."
Boyd said a man from the administration was at Wescoe Hall this morning with new furniture for her classroom.
And although the situation has been corrected, the question of why there weren't enough chairs to begin with remains.
Equipment requests are made through the University Registrar and then passed on to facilities operations, which fulfills the requests upon receiving them, said Brenda Selman, assistant registrar.
Selman said the registrar's office was only responsible for taking equipment requests and directing them to facilities operations.
"I can't speculate why there weren't enough chairs," Selman said. "You'll have to direct that question to facility operations."
But Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, said it wasn't his department's responsibility either.
"My understanding is it comes from the registrar's office who decides how many go in which rooms," Richardson said.
Regardless of who was responsible, Boyd said she just was glad to have enough chairs. However, she hoped the chairs wouldn't suddenly disappear.
"The students have an exam tomorrow, so I hope they're still there," Boyd said. "Otherwise they'll be sitting on the floor again."
Too Low to Quote (the record companies don't approve)
FEATURING
Amps 12.97
Billy Goat 10.80
Hullabal Trio 9.99
Eazy-E 11.88
Dan Williams 12.97
Presidents of the United States of America 12.97
Self 10.88
Quotable but Low Prices
Reptiens 10.88
Southern Culture on the Skies 9.98
Victoria Williams 9.88
Squirrel Mut Zippers 10.88
Rocket from the Crump 10.88
G-Love and Special Sauce 10.88
Lee M.Ee.11.88
"Boys for Pele"
Alice in Chains, Candlebox, Edwyn Collins, Everclear, Green Day, Eric Matthews, Menswear Joan Osborne, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Urge Overkill, Victor Mike Watt, Enya,P.M. Dawn Frank Black Alnee Mann, Mary Me Jane, Geraldine Fibbers Beatles, Pretenders, Van Morrison, C.I.V.