SPORTS THE After illness and transfer, swing player finds perfect fit back in Wildcat uniform BACK PAGE 1 {EPlNéi‘JNS Plan to tough crowds PAGE 6 In our opinion: UK must sell Top 20 Business Thursday, December 8, 2005 Celebrating 34 years of independence Kentucky Kernel www.ltyliernel.com UK takes top 20 plan to higher ed council Council on Postsecondary Education reviews plan, discusses impact of tuition hikes on students By Dariush Shafa THE Krurucxr KERNEL UK officials presented President Lee Todd’s Top 20 Business Plan to the Kentucky Council on Postsec~ ondary Education yesterday after- noon. drawing approval from coun- cil members. “I think it’s a bold vision. I think it’s a great road map." said council chairman Ronald Green- berg. “There are challenges with it galore. but you need the vision." Angela Martin. UK's vice presi- dent of planning. budget and policy analysis and Connie Ray. vice presi- dent for research. planning and ef- fectiveness, presented the same business plan that Todd presented to the campus on Monday. The UK Board of Trustees will vote on the plan Tuesday. “We focused on making sure we got the story across," Martin said. “The plan is achievable. “UK has been very thoughtful in this." Tuition fund policy was another topic that came up. bringing presi- dents from Western Kentucky Uni- versity. University of Louisville and other state institutions into the discussion. The university presi- dents brought up concerns about af- fordability versus managing cost and quality of a university educa~ tion. but council members were adamant that a quality education. now and in the future, is attainable. “It's a very complicated situa- tion and there’s a lot of factors in- volved in making sure that all of our students have the option of being involved." said council mem- ber Dan Flanagan on students' abil- ity to get a university education. “It’s just going to be difficult but as a member of the council I'm very committed to making sure that it remains affordable." Prior to 2001. the council‘s method for determining what a rea- sonable cost for a university educa- tion was calculating nominal tu- ition and fees to a certain percent- age bracket of the state‘s per capita income. After 2001. universities had more control over tuition and fees. said Ryan Quarles, student repre- sentative to the council and UK agricultural economics and diplo- macy grad student. Now the council is encouraging universities to turn to a model of funding where nomi— nal tuition amounts are based off the medium family income. “We don’t want price to deter them from participating in postsec- ondary education," said council member Mark Wattier. The issue of funding bled over into the discussion of how UK will achieve its state-mandated goal of being a top-20 university by 2020. which was laid out in House Bill 1 of 1997. Greenberg said the goal of boosting UK into the top 20 was one the council considered worth pour- ing funds into. “We recognize UK's unique posi- tion and have pumped several hun- dred million extra dollars (into UK) and we hope to move forward." See Plan on page Z Ky. Dems predict tighter budget Say costs could mean higher tuition for college students By Sean Rose m: mum mm Focused on finals ,\ . I During a forum at Henry Clay High School last night state legislators said col« lege students will be paying higher tuition if Kentucky’s economic problems contin- ue. “If we don’t come up with more money you’re going to see more cost shifting to the students." said State Senator Ernesto Scorsone. Scorsone and State Representative Kathy Stein. both Democrats serving in Fayette Coun- ty, spoke on issues to ex- pect in the upcoming ses- sion of the general as- sembly. took questions and criticized the cur- rent administration in a forum sponsored by the Central Kentucky chap- ter of the American Civ- il Liberties Union. “This governor got elected because he was going to clean up govern- ment," Scorsone said. “It’s clear that he hasn’t. He’s muddied it up and gummed it up even more." Stein also criticized some legislatures. saying they make bills because of “knee jerk reactions to what is popular" to gain political power. She gave an example of a proposed study of how much it costs to educate children of illegal aliens, saying the study was meant to encourage negative views Scorsone 1‘ ‘ix' Top: Brittany Ratliff, a psychology fresh- man, roams through the periodicals of the William T. Young Library yesterday. Dead Week doesn’t live up to its name. especially with Finals Week looming ahead for UK’s student population. Deadlines hang over the heads of students and with only a few days until the dreaded final examinations. projects and papers are due, those students are making use of every spare moment to pre- pare in hopes they'll make the grade. Stein museum I sun Right: Steve Benoit, a psychology fresh- man, and Stephanie Schell, a nursing freshman, study together yesterday for their upcoming finals. In umnm | sun toward illegal immigrants. “What was that bill designed to do?” Stein said. “Was it designed to make us feel good or was it designed to make us See Legislature on page 2 Take a break from the studying with these tips for relieving stress during finals COLUMN. PAGE 4 World Equestrian Games Predictions of event’s potential payoff vary By Tim Mseman nemnumm Lexington hopes its latest bet on horses pays off. With this week’s announce ment that Lexington would host an international horse competition. organizers are predicting a major payoff. but some are skeptical of such an economic impact for Lexington and UK. On Tuesday in Bahrain. the Federation Equestre Interna- tionale announced the Ken- tucky Horse Park would host the 2010 World Equestrian Games — the first time the games will be held outside of Europe. And in 2010. it will be first time the event’s seven competitions will be have one venue. The Kentucky Horse Park has estimated selling 300.000 tickets over the course of the twoka event and predicts a $100 million economic windfall for the area. “This is a chance of a life. time. a onoein-a-lifetime oppor- tunity." said Chris Gilligan of the Kentucky Commerce Cabi- net. “The $100 million (esti- mate) might be conservative." Gilligan pointed to next year‘s games in Aachen. Ger- many. whose organizers are ex- pecting to sell more than 500.000 tickets and predicting a total economic surge of $275 million. as an example of the games' potential impact. “What are we going to get out of this?" Gilligan said. “Hundreds of millions of dol- See Horses on page 3 Students give ‘motivation’ to struggling local youths By James Davidson m: xmrucxv KERNEL It takes a village to raise a child and Lexington is no different. Operation Motivation. a program designed to connect with Lexington‘s inner city youth through tutoring and mentoring. is entering its second year. The program teaches children the importance of higher education and the need to do well academically. It was also put in place to improve the chil- dren‘s social skills and test scores. said LaShala Porter. vice president and community service chair of the Black Student Union and head of Operation Motivation. Last year. 25 students who were in the mentoring program were in danger of failing their academic grade. With the help of about a dozen UK students. all 25 children were promoted to the next grade. Porter. a UK psychology junior. ex- pects the same type of success this year but there are not as many UK stu- dents wanting to help as in the past. “Last year we had 10 to 13 tutors come out each week." Porter said. “This year we have had four solid tu- tors come to help. which is really sad. “Operation Motivation needs more support from students in general...not necessarily from the university. just students." Porter said students are role models for the community and it‘s important SeeTutoronpageZ mar-ms