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THE KENTUCKY KERNEL. Friday. Aoril 27. IP.Ifi

Hark Talk

Student Protest
Tlic married students living at Shawnee-tow- n
arc justifiably upset about the rent that
will be charged for the new Cooperstown
apartments. Unofficial figures place the

amount at between $G0 and $70 a month.
This is approximately twice as much as the
students are npw paying at Shawneetown.
The higher Tent will drastically affect
many of the 184 families living in Shawneetown. Most of them have at least one child,
some of them two or three. An added expense of $30 or $35 a month would strain
their already thin budgets to the breaking
point. Several of them would have to drop
out of school.
This is extremely bad, but the story is not
altogether one sided. When the old Cooperstown project and Shawneetown were condemned by the State Fire Marshall the University was faced with the problem of either
providing housing for the majority of the
married students or none of them. Out of
the 1,200 married students attending UK
only 200 live in Shawneetown. The University made the logical choice and the new
project will greatly benefit the 1,000 students
who are at present paying high rent out in
town.
Because of state and federal building
codes the University had to abide by certain
minimum standards when they built the
apartments. Even if the University wanted

to they couldn't build apartments similar to
the ones npw at Shawneetown. The added
construction cost is part of the reason the
rent will be higher.
Also state law prohibits using state funds
to erect housing for a special group such as
University students. The money for the
project had to be raised through a bond issue. A set amount must be paid regularly

to the bonding company until the debt is
rcsired. This is the other reason why the
rent will be higher.
However, the University will charge the
students, the lowest possible rate. The rent
will barely cover the loan payments. The
University will definitely not make a profit
on the new apartments.
But the University has made one serious
mistake. It has done nothing for the Shawneetown residents who cannot allord the
higher rent. Legally the University is not
responsible for the financial problems or its
students, but morallv it should see that these
financially injured students are cared for.
It seems reasonable to believe that there
is some University or state fund that can
help these students. It is absolutely unfair
and undemocratic that .they should be punished for something they had no control
over. After all, trying to wprk their way
through college has been their onlv mistake.

Term Papers
Two weeks ago The Kernel printed an
editorial entitled "Idiot Profs." Thus started
a long series of protests.
As it was hoped its very title would suggest, the editorial was written as a mildly
humorous satire. Hut it appears that many
readers thought the editorial neither humorous nor satiristic.
Letters, one of which is printed in this
issue, have poured in. Professors have attacked the editorial in their class rooms.
Among other things, The Kernel has been
accused of "bad taste."
Whether or not professors assign term
papers to their students, The Kernel certainly does not believe them to be idiots.
Humorists and cartoonists of late have pictured the college professor as a demented
menace, after a fashion of the stereotyped
picture of the "dumb, green freshman."
But many persons obviously did not understand that The Kernel was simply using
a broad, humorous stereotype of the college
professor in the editorial.
While The Kernel apologizes for any misrepresentation or harm done to UK professors, it can not and will not deny that term

papers are being over-rateTerm papers at UK have been misused to
the degree that they are indeed a legitimate
topic of editorial contention. While some
professors assign these tasks in good faitl,
it has become apparent that many term
papers are required for questionable academic reasons.
' One can not argue that in some courses a
term paper is a beneficial way of "conceiving, evaluating, organizing, and presenting
ideas." But one can contend that a term
paper should never be assigned if the professor does not tell his students what is expected and what will be accomplished.
No student should be condemned because
lie doubts the value of the work hi' is undertaking. Free thought should never be subjected to the ritual of "do or die."
And so it is unfortunate that too many
professors at UK require term papers, but
never bother to tie in this important work
with the education at hand. A term paper
in some courses seems incongruous with
what what is being taught; possibly this
would not be so if the professor outlined his
reasons for assigning them.
d.

Then, too, some professors use term papers
for their own use. Fortunately tin's situation
is rare, but there should never be the doubt
that a student's work is being prostitutecHor
personal gain of the professor. One instructor this year told a student that' he was assigning term papers for the express purpose
of getting material for future class lectures.
Far too many term papers which in the
full sense of the word should represent research and work done throughout the semesterare never critiqued by the professor.
That is why many UK students "put off.
term papers to the last minute.
If more professors critiqued term papers
students would not only benefit educationally, but would also lose their skepticism of
the value of the papers themselves.
Because term papers at UK are being required, in many cases, without thorough instruction beforehand, without being married
to the subject taught, and without
The Kernel believes that they are
being over-rateAnd so "Idiot Profs," though a misunderstood editorial, was one that deserved being
oil an editorial page. The topic was not
brought to The Kernels attention by "persons not interested in becoming educated,"
but through talk of those who dare to doubt
unexplained ddgma.
As long as this type of students exist, then
The Kernel will voice their opinions.
post-critiqu-

e,

d.

The Kentucky Kernel
University ok Kentucky
Entered at the Post Office at Leximrton, Kentucky, at
second class matter under the Act ot March 3, 1879
1'ublished weekly during school except holiday!
and exami
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Jim Ciawford
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Editor

Blasts Workshop
Dear Sir,
After having read the product of
"The Workshop" in last week's
Kernel, and realizing through experience the steps that one must
take to reach both greek and Independent students through Kernel
publications, I deem it necessary
that I write this letter.
In defense of the newly formed
Students Party, I wish to reiterate and refute some comments
presented by the "Old Propieter"
and present the real reasons for
the formation of the Students
Party.
It is an accepted student agreement that the present student government of the UK campus is
not what it should be, or could be,
and it was this agreement that
stimulated the movement and
formation of the Students Party.
Something must be done to improve our government and we believe the answer can be found in
the p'atform of the newly formed
Students Party. Such a platform
could not be presented without
t:
student interest and student
two factors that are not
present in the Constitionalist or
United Student Party, as evident
when only 1800 votes are cast in
an SOA. e'ectinn from a student
bodv of 0T1OO. It is our belief that
bv forming the third partv student interest can be increased.
With this stimulation of interest,
and not until then, can an improvement of our student government be made with hopes of
facultv support.
It is the primary purpose of the
Students Partv to better SGA! and
after contacting interested facu'ty
members, they too realize the
something should be done and can
be done for improvement. The answer lies in the musty pages of
the present student . government
constitution which was written 18
years ago by a faculty committee
appointed bv former, president
Frank L. lcVey. This constitution needs to be revamped so our
student government may be reorganized. We are facing the
dawn of a new administration with
a forth coming new president of
our school. If we decline this opportunity to improve our student
government now, we are missing
the chance to start anew with the
administration.
Some- - points of improvement
listed in the Student Party are
suo-por-

of the assembly, so as to have true
student representation, no popularity contestants.
3. To integrate the social committee of the SOA and the Student

Union Board.
4. To promote the Idea of student convocations.
5. To nominate candidates for
SOA on the basis of merit, regardless of affiliation, who will
stand for the purposes of SOA
and not personal gain.
Now that you have some of the
facts, let's look back to the comments in "The Workshop" of last
week's Kernel. The author states
that the newly established Students Party will not be able to add
new life to SOA and his advice is,
and I quote, "The sooner all starry-eye- d
Junior politicians on campus
realize that SGA is a weak, administration dominated orginiza-tio- n
which exist not as a true student governing grouo but as a
rubber stamn for University policies, the better off they will be.
". . . You can be assured that as
long as present SGA delegates realize the trouble and yet take this
attitude toward those who seek
SGA improvement, the status quo
will remain. When student representatives have this- - little energy,
it is time that new lives be added
in .SOA. to replace the floating
dead bait of the present SGA cess-po-

o'.

The Students party is interested
in any student interested in
SGA, and not that you
represent an oreani?ation that will
bring more votes bv religious or
greek affiliation. Thus foundation
is not in the United Students Party
or the Constitutionalist Party, and
the Students Partv believes that
when the independents find what
each partjj stands for, they will
think for themselves when they
cat their votes in the Spring
election.
These last words upon leaving.
The editor of "The Worpshop"
tried to present the arsumer.t that
some fraternity "favorite sons"
could have been a reason for the
party revolution. If this was true,
the "sons" would have accented
those offers by a cli'.'k committee
of the Constitutionalist Party, to
represent them at top positions on
their Spring slate, and not try to
improve SGA through the third
party formation.
Therefore it seems to me that the
as follows:
BARF title was on the riht page
1. To improve the student govin last week's Kernel, but possibly
ernment with a new constitution, over the wrong story.
voted oh by students and written
by them.
Charlie McCulloueh
2. To reorganize the delegation
Cosigned by the Students Party
im-provi- ng

Back Talk

Defends Profs

Dear Sir:
I have just finished reading your
editorial of 13 April 1956 titled
"Idiot Profs." This I consider to
be one of the most disgusting and
saddening pieces of editorial writing ever to appear in a University
newspaper. At first glance, one
might brush it aside as extremely
poor satire, noting only the questionable taste of the Kernel staff
for allowing it to appear on the
editorial page..
However, in view of the decreasing capacity of the "mass student,"
conditioned by television, movies,
spectator sports and entertainment, for any kind of
and the subsequent "watering
down" of the effectiveness of the
University system, the ideas expressed by this editorial take on
more tragic proportions.
A University exists for the education and not the entertainment
of the student. One of the prerequisites for effective learning is
active participation by the student
in the process, not passive impression. Term papers are one of the
only means left for teaching a
student how to conceive, evaluate,
organize, and present ideas. This
ability is a basic requirement for
self-expressi- on

those intending to eventually become educated persons and- those
who resort to copying term papers
are fooling only themselves, least
of all the prof.
In view dt the aforementioned,
my suggestions are as follows:
(1) That the number of term
papers be doubled, a mid-terrough draft of each be submitted,
and a senior thesis be required in
order to "separate the men from
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m

the boys."
(2) That those persons not

in-

terested in becoming educated
should leave college for trade
school, and certainly should not be
allowed to write any more editorials for the Kernel.
In closing I would like to comment on the writers portrait of
professors as being "of low mentality," "luckless," "idiotic." possessing "moronic wishes," etc.
This type of banter, if heard
over a cup of coffee in the grill
from an unadapted fre hman
might be overlooked, but for expressions of this nature to appear
in print and have at least the tacit
approval of the Kernel Editor is
of inexcusable ignorance
and bad manners.
. Byron F. Romanowltz. BSCE 51

Associate Editor

Managing Editor
News Editor
Sports Editor
Feature Editor
Society Editor
Exchan.se Editor
Photographer
Cartoonist
Cartoonist

Spurts Writer?.
lliil Henry, Robert White. Bo Uiifim, M.irnoy nenrd
Ki l l id Kt'poiu i i
Joyce Ail.ims, Gcoriie Kl!en
Marvin Beard.
Hl.ickwtll. Judy Botcltr, Tom Bi..b.int. Ala On Ismail. Itul Daniels, Frances Edney. Hob fciuiicott. B.,
Griffin. Oravdou Hambrick. Dayton Matlick. Phillip Mcintosh. Moira Quuin. Dave Stewart. Virginia Snoilyra,
Johnnie Strahan. Hubert White. Thomas White. Louise
Wile, Tom Swetnuii. Kalph Bashi'ord. Lewis Beard. Elizabeth Bell. Joseph Coffman, Mary Kenny, Charles Kurtz,
L. B. Powers, Hubert Smith, Wilma Tolliver.
Fvi-w;i-

Short Stuff

Lances is working i n ;i new scholarship plan. Reportedly the program will amount to
loans to students. If this is the cao,
he whole idea should be reviewed critically because s j'.ars'.iirs are'
!.;:its to stink ms lor their ability, not repayable grants bu.-.estrictly
non-intere- st

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on tinar.ci.il need.

The naming of the new UK president has developed into a hoss
race ciniparable to the Kentucky Derby in interest to Kentuckians.
In speculating on whom it will be, let's not forget the seriousness of
the decision.
A notevto seniors: There's only a little more than six weeks of
school left. Thank heavens it's nearly over!

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