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Monday, December 5, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Regents review committee does a poor job of research
At their meeting this month, the Board of Regents will hear a recommendation to discontinue the architectural engineering program at the University of Kansas because the program is being duplicated at Kansas State University.
The recommendation, part of a review compiled this summer by a committee of Regents members and hired consultants, appears to be more like an off-the-cuff remark than a well-researched academic statement.
One of the Regents who visited KU as part of the review even admitted, "We didn't have time to go into great detail."
The recommendation was based mainly on a 20-minute presentation by the chairman of architectural engineering. The architectural engineering program is financed both by the School of Engineering and the School of Architecture and Urban Design, but the committee heard only the engineering half of the budget and administrative structure.
Even a superficial look at the architectural engineering programs at KU and K-State disproves the theory that the KU program duplicates the program at K-State.
To start with, K-State's program is based solely in the School of Architecture. KU's program is one of 12 schools nationwide with a joint program between the architecture and engineering schools and is ranked third among those schools. The quality of the KU program is reflected by the fact that students in the program almost always have jobs lined up for them when they graduate.
board tor Engineering Science continuously since 1936. K-State was accredited from 1936 to 1961 and regained accreditation only in 1980.
The KU program's eight faculty members all have doctorates, according to the undergraduate catalog. In the K-State program, only two of the 11 instructors have doctorates, according K-State's undergraduate catalog; three have master's degrees, one has a master's in business administration and the rest have undergraduate degrees.
When they begin their college education, students are told what will be required of them in their chosen degree program
Consolidating programs isn't always a bad idea, even if it would mean moving a KU program to K-State. Before such serious proposals are made, extensive research must be done The review committee conducted no such research. Until it does, its recommendation should be ignored.
Muktha Jost for the editorial board
Syllabi should be required
Written in the undergraduate catalog are the standards they have to meet, including distribution courses, prerequisites and minimum grade point averages.
But when a student enrolls in a class, he or she sometimes has no idea what to expect. Sometimes there is no explanation about what is required or expected, nor is there any explanation as to the way he or she will be graded.
The University Senate Executive Committee is considering whether to require all classes to have a written course description, or syllabus prepared by the instructor, that would include information about evaluation of work in the course.
One who teaches a course, either a faculty member or a teaching assistant, can assume that every student who enrolls in the course has different expectations. A syllabus would communicate specifically what is required and expected from them and provide an itinerary for the class discussion topics.
Many courses are taught by instructors who provide syllabi But other instructors give this information on the first day during their introductory lecture and never mention it again.
Putting this information on paper makes it an informal agreement between teacher and student. The teacher is accountable for the grading method used and the percentage points assigned for work throughout the semester. And the student is accountable for knowing what work is expected and when it is expected.
Tony Balandran for the editorial board
As a governing body whose collective voice comprises both students and faculty, SenEx should reduce potential miscommunication between students and faculty by requiring class instructors to provide a syllabus for their respective courses.
The editorial board consists of Michael Merschel, Mark Tilford, Todd Cohen, Michael Horak, Julie Adam, Julie McMahon, Christine Martin, Tony Balrandan and Muktha Jost.
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The last, and longest, word on science
Supercollider good for mankind, but it just doesn't give you that much of a bang
This is the first time I've ever written about the superconducting supercollider. And I'm doing it only because of the silly tussle about Illinois and Texas, using the superconducting supercollider to Texas.
I have avoided the subject until now because it takes 28 letters just to write those two words — superconducting supercollider. I prefer words that are about five or six letters long. They're easy to write, easy to read, and to be honest, I don't know many words that are much longer.
That's why most popular swear words are short. You can say them fast. If swear words were as long as superconducting supercollider, fewer people would use them. And that would not only have stiffed female liberation, but it would lead to pent-up emotions and aggressions, which causes stress, violence, madness, poor digestion and facial twitches.
Also, I've never really understood exactly what the superconducting superciliader is good for.
Oh, I know that it will be a long tunnel,
something like an underground race track, more
And scientists will send particles of energy whipping around the tunnel at almost the speed of light in opposite directions.
They want to do that so they can see what happens when the particles of energy collide. They expect them to splatter into even teenier particles. The scientists can study all these teeny particles.
They'd punch a button or pull a switch. Then, in an instant, they'd say, "That's it. We did it."
Even if some of us were there when it happened, what would we see? Nothing. We'd say to the scientists, "OK, let's have one of those collisions."
or so they tell us. Actually, we have no way of knowing if this is going to happen. We have to take their word for it.
Mike Royko
"Did what? I didn't hear anything. I didn't see
Syndicated columnist
anything, I mean, you get out on a city expressway on a Friday night, and when there is a collision
what, you know it.
But with the superconducting supercollider, we'll have to take their word for it. The fact is, you can't see it.
Then you might ask, "OK, then show me some of the teeny particles that got splattered in the collisions."
Same thing. You can't see them. I mean, a million of those particles wouldn't add up to one cockroach's toe.
But the scientists want us to believe that they'll be able to see them. Well, I've seen people crawling around on their hands and knees for hours trying to find a contact lens in grass or on a rock. I believe that these scientists will be able to see something one zillion the size of a pea? Hah!
Frankly, it think it's all a scam. Which is why I don't give a hoot that the White House put in the political fix so that the superconducting supercolider would be built in Texas.
For what it will cost to build this 50-mile tunnel (more than $4 billion) and to operate it (almost $300 million a year), we can build the world's greatest all-purpose race track.
There could be horse races and auto races. For those who want collisions, there could be demolition derbies. At least we could see the cars collide, but in real life we'll get from the superconducting supercollider.
And that would create a lot more jobs and bring in far more revenue than the super-blah-blah.
All right, I know what some people are saying. Knowledge. The superconducting supercollier will be an important tool in our quest for scientific knowledge.
I'm not against the quest for knowledge. That's why I watch public TV at least 15 minutes a week. It's better than not watching it.
But what are the scientists going to learn that we really need? Will they find a cure for baldness? Will they discover a whiskey that not only won't give you a hangover but that is good for your liver? Will they create a pork shank that has no cholesterol and makes your heart stronger? Will they develop a pill that will cause a teen-ager to breathe with his mouth closed?
Of course not. They never come up with anything practical.
They say that by sweeping up all those little particles and looking at them, they will take a step further.
For all that money, they are going to try to find that which is already known.
It was explained by the noted expert, I.M. Kookie, in his famous study called "The Origin of the Universe by Somebody who Has Lived in It All His Life."
As he wrote, "Before the universe existed, there was a great nothingness, a total silence and emptiness and stillness from one end of nowhere to the other end of nowhere. Then somebody belched, and it touched off a chain reaction. And that's how we got what we got, Take my word."
when I asked Dr. Kookie about the loss of the superconducting supercilinder, he said, "Let Texas have it. All those collisions will scare the cows."
■ Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist who writes for the Chicago Tribune.
K·A·N·S·A·N
MAILBOX
Regents members and "hired consultants" looked at the programs at KU and K-State and came to the brilliant conclusion that they were being duplicated. I hope that these people were not paid a lot of money for this. With the same title, wouldn't the average second grader be able to figure out, without great difficulty, that they are similar?
In response to a few recent articles on ending the architectural engineering program at KU, I would have to say I'm a little aggravated.
Willing to leave state
Shirley Palmer, one of the Regents, stated that "the consultants walked into the building at KU, and they were extremely disappointed by the facilities. But they were impressed by the facilities at K-State." Since football is played at both KU and K-State, and KU is more impressive, why didn't the consultants recommend enduring football at K-State?
If I had wanted to go to K-State, I would have enrolled there. Such is not the case. If tharchitectural engineering program is droppe here, I feel I won't be alone in leaving this stat in search of another school.
Dave Nelson
Omaha freshman
According to Shirley Palmer, one of the Regents who visited the schools, they "didn't have time to go into great detail how to teach them what they know whether there is a duplication of efforts"?
I am amazed at the Regents recent recommendation to eliminate KU's architectural engineering program. I am concerned that their motives were less than pure. Is it true that KU's program is a duplication of efforts? Or, is it simply a case of political appeasement?
Who duplicates whom?
Furthermore, KU's program has been accredited every year since 1936. Hardly a performance-based college in the state. Its program has been inconsistent in remaining accredited. As a matter of fact, they
lost what is similar to a national ranking — a mark of excellence — for 19 years. Is this duplication?
Perhaps the most significant error in the report was that they did not even step into Marvin Hall, home of KU's prestigious school of architecture. It is in this building that nearly half of the time and resources are spent on behalf of our architectural engineering students; they did not see the shared facilities they were instructed to use. The common bond that should exist between engineering and architecture. With their eyes closed, how could they even find duplication?
Also, faculty excellence, which is measured partly by degree, seems to be in favor of KU. After all, KU's eight professors all have doctorates. Of the 11 at K-State, only two have done so well. I must be blind, but I don't see duplication here.
If the Regents are basing their decision on the quality and potential of the program, a second look is in order. If it's politics, they should at least be honest about it. And, if they're concerned about duplication, I think it is K-State that should be duplicating our efforts.
Mark L. Gillem
Mark L. Gillem Walnut Creek, Calif., senior
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed