Higher Education

One videotaped fracas shouldn’t mean the end of a university’s debate program.

And one mooning coach shouldn’t define the image of one of Kansas’s most dynamic and resourceful universities.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

As further evidence that the ivory tower syndrome is alive and well, about 100 college presidents are asking lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.

The academics say that the prohibition on drinking in the early college years leads to "a culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking."

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

The University of Missouri-Kansas City is playing the findings of its sexual harassment investigation close to the vest.

Officials won't elaborate on what they mean by "significantly conflicting testimony" that kept investigators from determining whether a hostile work environment existed in the research lab of C. Keith Haddock and Walker S. Carlos Poston II.

Oh, the solicitations sound so good … easy money, free T-shirts, free meals. Apply Instantly!

But when it comes to credit cards and college students, Congress is right to focus some of its industry reform efforts on questionable tactics used to lure new card-holders.

Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008 Panelist

Back in the late 1970s, Time Magazine printed an article explaining why boys were better than girls at math. After I peeled myself off the ceiling, I fired off a rebuttal letter which they published.

A telling sound followed this week’s announcement that a Kansas City businessman will temporarily hold the top job at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Silence.

Not so long ago, the howls of protest would have been deafening. The quiet general approval that greeted the naming of former Aquila Inc. executive Leo Morton as interim chancellor is evidence of much improved relationships between the campus and civic communities.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

University of Missouri systems President Gary Forsee dropped an intriguing tip this week when announcing the appointment of Leo Morton as interim chancellor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Federal jurors did the best they could with the great T-shirt controversy of 2008. They created losers all around.

The jurors fined Joe-College.com, the Lawrence company that sold some offending shirts. The jurors also told uppity University of Kansas officials that they couldn't control all the shirts sold by the company.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

As recently as three years ago, news that a businessman connected with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Board of Trustees had been tapped to serve as UMKC's interim chancellor would have been greeted with howls of protest on campus.

By Mandy Earles, Kansas City Star Contributing Writer

When the University of Kansas Athletics Department said it was going to replace my parking space with the Anderson Family Football Complex , I was a little bit upset. I had a few brief words with the Athletics Department and attorney Jim Marchiony…in my head.

Maybe it was Guy Bailey’s linguistics background that enabled him to communicate so effectively in Kansas City.

The departing chancellor of the University of Missouri-Kansas City brought peace to a troubled campus and won the respect of the community.

By Nick Mangiaracina, Kansas City Star Contributing Writer

How much would you pay to sit outside in a leather recliner during the fall to watch college football games from the end zone while inebriated students shout lewd, crude and often ridiculous comments? If $2,500 is the first price that came to mind, you’re in luck because you can now do just that.

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Give MU President Gary Forsee credit: He sure makes a good first impression on his employers.

Problem is, this time if he's forced out of a job, the public will pay the bill, not the private sector.

At least half the teachers in urban schools quit their jobs within three to five years.

Young teachers who were inadequately prepared to educate impoverished children leave, and are replaced by teachers who are no better equipped for the challenge.

Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008

In a few hours, we'll be off to Kemper Arena to watch our daughter graduate from Blue Valley High School. We've had a week of special programs honoring their achievements. It's very impressive.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board

Jon Wefald has earned the victory lap he'll be taking in his final year as K-State's president.

The quirky leader has turned a sleepy land grant university into an academic, athletic and economic powerhouse. And he's done it without pretension. Wefald is as comfortable mingling with the university's groundskeepers as with leaders in Topeka and Washington.

For most of this year’s high school graduates, the college decision isn’t a matter of if, but where and how. Students understand that education beyond high school is their ticket to rewarding jobs and competitive pay.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board

Not much has changed since Elson Floyd left Missouri for the happier environs of the state of Washington. The General Assembly here still fails to see that investing in higher education is good for a state's physical, mental and economic health.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board

Cheers to University of Missouri system President Gary Forsee for making a strong public statement against a November ballot initiative that would end affirmative action programs in Missouri.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board

The New York Times reports today that some of the Ivies are turning away record numbers of highly qualified applicants this year. Harvard's admission rate was 7 percent, Yale's was 8 percent.

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial board

Former University of Missouri system president Elson Floyd has scored a $25 million grant for his new school, Washington State University. (See story below.)

The ranks of high school seniors are expected to peak and then decrease in the next year or so. That, according to a story in the New York Times, should be good news for kids scrambling to get spots at selective universities.

Good news, undoubtedly, for families looking down that road. But, despite the media fascination with elite universities, Ivy League and other selective schools aren't the only option out there for bright kids.

Honors programs at state universities like KU and the University of Oklahoma offer students close contact with faculty members and their pick of worthwhile internships. Best of all, the universities pick up most of the tab, meaning students can graduate debt free, or close to it.

Princeton University is working on a plan to send about 10 percent of its incoming freshman overseas for a "gap year" before they start actual classes.

The university thinks a year spent working on social service projects will help high school graduates mature and give them international experience. Princeton is even talking about helping students pay for the extended trip. (And why not? It's got an endowment bigger than the Grand Canyon.)

It will be interesting to see if other colleges pick up on this idea. Study abroad is hugely popular, and the gap year concept allows students to spend a year overseas without interrupting studies once they actually begin classes. The idea has a lot of pluses.

What can be done to prevent attacks on college campuses?

A contingent from Kansas State University is in town today to attend meetings and cheer on the Wildcats when they play Florida A&M at the Sprint Center tonight.

They brought with them some bragging rights.

During a visit with the editorial board, President Jon Wefald wanted to make sure everyone knew that physics professor Chris Sorensen had won the Carnegie Foundation's coveted national professor of the year designation for research/doctoral universities. David Littrell, a music professor, was named Kansas professor of the year.

Glad to see Matt Blunt recommend putting money in next year's budget for expanded pharmacy and nursing classrooms at UMKC and a new cancer center on the University of Missouri's Columbia campus. Let's hope the General Assembly goes along.

Those projects were supposed to have been included in the package when the legislature raided MOHELA, the student loan program, to raise money for campus construction.

However, in one of the most repugnant acts of the legislative session (which is saying a lot) Senate Republicans yanked the Kansas City and Republican projects because Democratic senators from those cities were being too vocal about flaws in the process.

The University of Missouri System's Board of Curators took a bold stand today and decided the official name of the Columbia flagship campus would be...pretty much whatever anyone wants to call it.

Leadership at the University of Missouri-Columbia had wanted to drop the hyphen and officially change the name to the University of Missouri. That didn't go over well with the hyphenated campuses in Kansas City and St. Louis.

So the curators decided at their meeting in Kansas City that "in recognition of the historic status of the Columbia campus as the first campus to bear the name of the University of Missouri," it could use the unhyphenated name on correspondence related to fundraising, recruiting and other marketing matters.

Beating around the bush is preferable to doing nothing.

The University of Missouri system's Board of Curators has passed a resolution that affirms its "unwavering commitment" to the principles of academic freedom in teaching and research.

A stronger resolution would have specifically decried attempts to limit medical research in the state. Politicians and interest groups are trying to ban a form of embryonic stem cell research through an amendment to the Missouri constitution.

Gordon Lamb, interim president of the university system, issued a statement several weeks ago saying that effort would have a chilling effect on university research.