 "Photo: Illustration by Brianna Kerwood")
Inaugurations are big events, apparently even for college presidents. Kirk Schulz was inaugurated before a large crowd in Bramlage Coliseum just yesterday, and it was big.
Gov. Parkinson, much of the Kansas Board of Regents and representatives from dozens of universities came to congratulate Schulz on his ascension to the kingship ... er ... presidency. Faculty took time off to show up in proper regalia, some classes were canceled and the orchestra even played a few tunes.
Did anyone bother to ask why?
Oh, I know, this is the first inauguration in most of our lifetimes and it would be unreasonable to have an inauguration ceremony smaller than the commencement ceremonies — surely he’s more important than our most recent graduates.
But wait a minute, is his claiming the helm of K-State more important than the achievements of our students gaining degrees? Isn’t the entire purpose of college to prepare students for the real world? Call me naive, but that’s what I came to college for — what our tax and tuition dollars go toward.
How does this inauguration help K-State’s purpose of preparing us for life? And if it doesn’t bring us benefits, then why the celebration, the money, the pomp and the circumstance?
Universities like K-State should be student-centered. Without the students there is no college, after all. Millions of dollars go through the university in order to educate students and the Student Governing Association itself is in charge of vast sums. Funneling money and energy into the inauguration is taking away from students.
Schulz himself realized this; he wasn’t interested in a grand ceremony. As Chief of Staff Charles Reagan said in yesterday’s paper, “We had originally planned to hold the event at McCain Auditorium because Kirk wanted to keep the event very low-key and not extravagant.” Well, the low-key idea seems to have worked really well. The estimated 5,600 people they were expecting to attend sounds like a close-knit family. The estimated 1,000 who actually attended, well, maybe McCain could have held the ceremony after all.
And then there’s the new mace we’re getting, which is an ornamental staff. Although I suppose it might be useful for invading Lawrence, the likely utility value for the mace leaves one wanting.
Congratulations to President Schulz are in order. I have full faith that he will comport himself excellently in his new office. Now that the ceremonies are over, three months after he began his tenure, I trust that he can really get down to business. It is time for his administration to switch from “celebrate!” mode to “get results” mode.
President Schulz doesn’t have to compete with Queen Elizabeth. Here in Wildcat country, he just needs to beat up little old ladies like Bernadette Gray-Little, chancellor at the University of Kansas. Our national ranking as a university is flagging behind Kansas’s and something ought to be done about it.
Coronations are so last-century. In this time and place, competition is the way to go. Take that money, that planning that went toward the inauguration, and use it to help get our undergraduates’ experience.
President Schulz, we’re glad to have you, but when you come into work on Monday, leave the mace at home.
-Frank Male is a senior in physics and political science. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
You will let Beth Mendenhall bash the dairy industry with a poorly written article lacking credible facts but you deny Jessica Hensley by not posting a true opinion article because it calls out the Collegian! Is the Kettle calling the pot black? In case you have forgotten the article is below:
The Column the Collegian Editor Doesn't Want You To ReadShare
Yesterday at 4:04pm
This Thursday you will not be reading my column in the Collegian, as the Editor-In-Chief has refused to print it. Don't worry though, you can still read it. Enjoy.All too often, I find myself irritated after reading the Collegian. Not in a productive, “I'm going to go out and change the world for the better because I've just read an informative article about a social injustice” way either. I find myself irritated because of the widespread lack of research put into the articles. From metro to sports to the Edge, there is a shortage of well researched articles and an abundance of poorly written ones. I'm annoyed. And via an informal poll (asking the people unlucky enough to sit near me in the library), I know that most of you are too.In Tuesday's paper there was an article in the Edge titled “College students often fail to dress to impress” which was written by Elena Buckner. The writing was good, the content was not. My first question upon coming across this article was, “who are you to tell me what not to wear?” Without establishing some sort of authority on which to base this list of “don'ts”, the article is nothing but a fashion opinion piece. One that fails to consider the demographic toward whom it is directed. Ms. Buckner writes that “While we are an agriculturally based school, it is not necessary to constantly dress like you’re about to wrangle some cattle...” Unless, of course, you're an Ag student that spends most of your day at the Cattle Unit. Fashion sometimes follows function in a work environment, and referring to this style of dress as a “don't” because you are a Secondary Education major is insulting to those that get dirty for a living.This trend of questionable reporting is not new to the Collegian either. On Monday, April 21, 2008, it was reported that the Kansas State Equestrian Team finished sixth at the Varsity Equestrian National Championships, ultimately falling to the Georgia Bulldogs. In reality, the Wildcats finished fifth and never faced Georgia. A correction was run in the Collegian the following day, outlining a list of seven major errors in the original article. This was almost two years ago, and the fact checking at the Collegian hasn't gotten much better. If you, as a writer, are assigned an article on an obscure sport, it is your responsibility to become familiar with said sport. It is insulting to the athletes who work hard for their achievements to have them diminished by reporters who don't take the time to educate themselves. Day after day, I pick up a copy of the Collegian only to be disappointed. It isn't enough that one article in ten is informative and well researched. They all need to be. We are lucky enough to attend one of the best public universities in the nation and we should strive for excellence in all areas, including our school newspaper. Articles need to be more in depth, and better researched. Reporters need to take the time to understand what they are writing about, because even if it isn't important to them, it is important to somebody. And we need more interesting coverage than football, condoms, and fashion. Then maybe, people would start reading the Collegian for the articles instead of for the Fourum. This is a true opinion article that should have been published but you can bash others but not yourself!