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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THURSDAY, FEB. 09, 2017 | VOLUME 133 ISSUE 08
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Campaign launch kicks off Senate election season DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan
Election season for Student Senate is underway, with the first official campaign launch on Tuesday evening to prove it. The launch, held at Hashinger Hall, drew a crowd of about 60 students, who were asked to put forward ideas on how to improve life on campus. “What’s one thing that you would change about KU?” Mady Womack, a junior from Leawood who currently serves as Student Senate government relations director, asked the crowd. “Something that maybe impacts you personally.” The students in attendance provided responses to Womack’s question that ranged from parking costs, creating safe spaces on campus, more lighting on campus, changing advising, lowering the cost of transcripts and a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault. “When I think about things that we could change at KU, I look at what is most important to me at the University,” Womack said during the event. “What are the things that have hap-
Andrew Rosenthal/KANSAN Junior Chancelor Adams speaks with campaign supporters at a student senate campaign launch event.
pened that have had an impact on my experience and made me want to stay here, want to stay as a Jayhawk and move forward and ultimately get that degree in a year or so?” The launch served as not only a starting point to elicit discussion for campaign ideas but also a place for education, according to Adam Steinhilber, a senior from Leawood, and the current vice chair of Student Sen-
ate’s Student Rights Committee. “I think this generates a lot of excitement,” Steinhilber said of the event. “They also, I think, do a lot of outreach for senate. A lot of students don’t know what Senate is. If you get them to an event like this, where it’s kind of fun, more informal and not in the chambers, that can really get them informed about stuff.” On-Campus Senator
Chancellor Adams, a junior from Kansas City, Kansas, also spoke at the campaign launch, with a similar message as Womack, for students to come forward with concerns. “Essentially, I want you all to feel free during this whole process to talk about the things that matter to you,” Adams said. “The things that have been pressing to you, because realistically we live in a climate
right now that might not be the best climate for every individual that’s in this room.” The Elections Commission was in attendance, with commission chair Garrett Farlow, a senior from Tecumseh, watching to ensure that coalitions respect Student Senate’s election rules and show respect for students’ points of view. “As a commission, we want to see that ideas are being heard and that ideas that
are being brought forward by students are respected, and that they really keep that at the core of the campaigns that are coming out,” Farlow said. Monday served as the beginning of the Student Senate campaign season, when filing coalitions of candidates with the Elections Commission opened. After they file, candidates can take suggestions like the ones presented at Tuesday’s launch and form them into platforms before the general election this April. No coalition registrations have been submitted yet, however, according to Harrison Baker, a senior from Topeka, the only other member of the Elections Commission. According to Baker, and in accordance with Student Senate Rules and Regulations, coalition formation caucuses will follow each coalition’s filing with the Election Commission. The caucuses require 48 hour notice given to the Elections Commission and at least one member of the commission to be present. “Then the campaigns start,” Baker said.
Number of Pell grants decreasing statewide, University aid steady NOLAN BREY @NolanBrey
Photo illustration by Miranda Anaya
KU to search for 8 new administrators EMILY WELLBORN @Em_wellborn
Searches are continually being conducted to fill various positions that have recently become available at the University, including vice chancellor for public affairs, Department of Student Housing director, deans for both the School of Business and the School of Social Welfare, Kansas Geological Survey director, and two vice provosts. “I imagine all of them would be national searches,” said Erinn BarcombPeterson, the University’s director of news and media relations. “I know the dean would be, the vice
chancellor would be.” Tim Caboni, the current vice chancellor for public affairs, will leave the University on July 1 to become the president of Western Kentucky University. BarcombPeterson said the search for Caboni’s replacement will begin after he leaves, since the new chancellor of public affairs has to approve who fills the role. Similar to the vice chancellor, the current Student Housing Director Diana Robertson will be retiring in late June after 17 years with the University. SEE SEARCHES PAGE 2
INDEX NEWS............................................2 OPINION........................................4 ARTS & CULTURE..........................................5 SPORTS.........................................10
A January progress report released by the Board of Regents revealed that 4,672 fewer Pell Grants were awarded to Kansas students in 2016, a significant decrease from 2015. In 2016, 50,128 Kansas students received Pell Grants. These students represent 34 percent of the students enrolled in Kansas’ public colleges and universities. Last year marked the fourth consecutive decline in the number of Pell Grant awards, according to the report. However, the percentage of undergraduate students receiving Pell Grants in Kansas is not dissimilar to the national figure of 33 percent. Although the report showed a decrease in Pell recipients, University officials say that aid for University students has remained consistent. “At KU’s Lawrence campus, the number of students receiving Pell grants has stayed around 4,400 for the last three years, and the totals
awarded have been more than $17 million each of those years,” said Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, the director of news and media relations for the University, in an email. “There were no significant changes to the federal Pell program. It has been the cornerstone of the federal aid program for a large number of years,” said Vice Provost of Enrollment Management Matt Melvin in an email. “Students apply for financial aid and, based on their expected family contribution (EFC) are awarded Pell dollars based on federal awarding methodology.” Melvin suspects that the decline in Pell recipients is due to enrollment declines at community colleges and technical schools. When the economy worsens, Pell-eligible adults return to college for training/ retraining. However, when the economy improves, adults return to the workforce when job availability increases, which reduces the number of Pell recipients. “Community college enrollments fluctuate largely based on the economy in their local
KANSAN.COM GALLERY Check out the gallery for the men’s basketball against K-State on Kansan.com.
areas, and the two-year sector has had fairly significant enrollment declines the past couple of years,” Melvin said. The number of Pelleligible students at the University has actually increased slightly, and 23 percent of the incoming class is Pell eligible, Melvin said.
At KU’s Lawrence campus
4,400
students receive Pell Grants, with awards totalling
$17 million The University also has other ways of assisting those in need of financial aid outside of federal financial aid. During the last academic year, for example, the University awarded more than $128 million in scholarships and grants, Barcomb-Peterson said. Additionally, beginning with the freshmen class in fall 2012, the University created the Pell Advantage Program. The program assures high-need students a gift
aid package to fully fund 15 hours of University tuition and fees each semester for four years, through federal, state and institutional resources. Also, in 2012, the University began offering four-year renewable scholarships to make college more affordable, BarcombPeterson said. “Out of the 34 public universities in the Association of American Universities, KU’s tuition and fees currently rank 13th lowest,” BarcombPeterson said. “KU’s tuition is also very much in line with other state universities in the region, including Colorado, Texas, Missouri and Texas Tech.” According to the report, the statistics on Kansans’ incomes are also on par with the national percentages. The number of Kansas Pell recipients dependent on parental income is 45 percent, and 75 percent of these incomes are below $40,000. The report also listed that after declining 1.2 percent each of the last two years, 21 percent of Kansas Pell Grant recipients are over the age of 30. The national percentage is 22 percent.
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