The University News » Entries tagged with "2010"
Students borrow more, default rate goes up
Nancy Merz, Director of UMKC Financial Aid and Scholarships, cautions against excessive borrowing. When federal student aid was created in the 1960s, Merz said, the idea was for students to borrow to cover the cost of attending school. “Now, people use it to live on,” she said. Merz said financial aid at UMKC is awarded to students based on more than 300 different budgets. Each budget varies based on factors such as a student’s degree program and certain cost of living measures like food and transportation, which vary for students who live on and off-campus. Loans were taken out by 75 percent of UMKC’s graduating senior class in spring 2012. They averaged $28,000 in debt each, according to Merz. The $106 million borrowed by more than 10,000 UMKC students in 2011 is a small chunk … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
The power of youth: Young adults should lead the push for sustainability
How can young adults change a stubborn society? Last Thursday, the local City Planning and Development Department held a meeting to discuss the Midtown and Plaza areas at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 11 E. 40th Street. Between 1950 and 2010, the area has lost 60 percent of its population. While 40 percent of the area’s population is from ages 20-34, that group was poorly represented at the community meeting. City planners and attendees emphasized the importance of the opinions of the younger generation. After all, it is our home for the future and our opinion carries weight in how our community develops. The area plan is under the policy of the FOCUS Kansas City Plan, to develop future land use, zoning, public improvements, transportation, housing and economic development. Approximately four-to-five groups of about 30 people … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
Mass shootings revisit gun control debate
Mass killings in the U.S. were committed once every two weeks between 2006 and 2010—the last year for which FBI data is available. Recent mass shootings at schools, theaters, shopping malls and workplaces have revived the gun control debate in America. A Mother Jones analysis of 62 mass shootings in the U.S. since 1982 found that 2012 was particularly lethal—a finding consistent with other publications. Together, the Aurora, Colo., movie theater rampage and Sandy Hook Elementary massacre claimed 40 of the 72 fatalities of 2012’s seven mass shootings. All seven shootings involved semiautomatic handguns and high-capacity magazines that had been purchased legally, and all seven suspects had shown prior signs of mental illness. Barack Obama is among those who suggest lax gun regulations are partly to blame. This week, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Feature
“A Christmas Carol”: A Kansas City tradition for 32 years continues
Keeping it fresh: A director’s approach to continued success For the 30th anniversary in 2010, the KC Rep revamped the entire show and proved its astounding ability to entertain. Scenic Designer and UMKC Professor John Ezell worked with Hatley to create something more magical: a rotating stage. After difficulties with an elevator stage to raise and lower sets for different scenes, Hatley knew he needed a better method for transitions. “The elevator was unreliable. It would on occasion and without warning just not work, leaving the actors and the show in a moment of unsolvable chaos in front of 600 people,” Hatley said. The introduction of the turntable stage allowed magical moments to be even more magical and more reliable. The stage operates much like a record spinning on a turntable. Hatley said he and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Feature
Miller Nichols Learning Center on track for fall 2013 opening
The construction of the Miller Nichols Learning Center reached a halfway milestone on Nov. 15. The new facility being built to the west of the existing Miller Nichols Library will include a 350-seat auditorium, a 400-seat lecture hall divisible into two spaces and two 100-seat halls. Students and faculty were invited to sign the final steel beam before it was placed. Funding for the Miller Nichols Library Classroom Building Addition came through an $18 million University of Missouri System bond approved by the Board of Curators in 2010. Funds for renovations to the existing library building, completed in spring 2011, came from private donors in exchange for naming rights to classrooms in the learning center. Ground breaking was in April 2012. Jeff Vandel, director of facilities planning, design and construction, believes the project is on … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
UMKC unfriendly to transfer students
As I prepare to graduate from UMKC in December, I can truly state that I have never felt like a true Kangaroo or that I’m so hardcore in love with this school that I bleed blue and gold. I’m not sure if that stems from me being a transfer student, a commuter student, an avid hater of the University of Missouri portion of our name or some combination of all three. I do truly think that the transfer factor has something to do with it. I didn’t transfer to UMKC because I was so enthralled with the course offerings. I came here because it was the most convenient option and somewhat reasonably priced, or so I thought. I came to UMKC with about 60 credits from my previous college. UMKC only accepted … Read entire article »
Setting the record straight about ‘legitimate rape
Rep. Todd Akin upset countless people across party lines with comments he made about rape pregnancy on Aug. 19: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” he said. First, let’s be clear: rape is any sexual act for which a party is not willing and/ or cannot consent. All forms are legitimate. • According to the M e t r o p o l i t a n Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, a sexual assault occurs every two minutes in the U.S., and one in six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. • A 2000 study by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice (based on a 1996-97 survey) found that 3.1 percent of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Forum
New garage welcomes commuters
The $23.1 million state-of-the-art Cherry Street Garage is now in use, filling a void created by the demolition of the Oak Street Parking Structure in May 2011. With 1,500 spaces, Cherry Street is more than double the capacity of its predecessor. Built as a temporary structure in 1960, Oak Street lacked wheelchair accessibility and was 20 years past its useful life when it was demolished. According to Parking Operations Director Michelle Cone, the facility had exceeded its capacity several times in the fall 2010 semester, when plans to build the new garage were announced. In addition, Cherry Street now houses the UMKC Police and Mail Services, which relocated out of the 4825 Troost building. It also boasts a number of convenience features. Covered pedestrian bridges connect the garage to the James C. Olson … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
Sticking it to the students Part II
Student loans are a college reality that won’t go away anytime soon. Of the more than 1,800 spring 2012 graduates at UMKC, 74 percent of undergrads took out loans. Graduating seniors with loans average $28,000 in debt, according to Financial Aid director Nancy Merz. Graduate and professional students, who are enrolled in costlier studies and ineligible for the Pell Grant, accumulate even more debt. The $106 million in loans borrowed by UMKC students in 2011, the more current year, is a small chunk of the nearly $1 trillion accumulated by students nationwide, according to data released May 31 by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. For student borrowers, the Fed’s other findings aren’t cheery: • Since 2003, student loan debt has climbed $633 billion. • Student loan debt has increased by $293 billion since 2008, whereas other … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
The new Inquisition: Keynote speaker Roberto Rodriguez discusses Arizona’s anti-Latino backlash
Death threats, recall petitions and a legislative backlash haven’t fazed Dr. Roberto Rodriguez. The professor of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona delivered UMKC’s fifth annual César Chávez keynote lecture. The event took place last Thursday at the Student Union Theater. Rodriguez, an award-winning journalist who received his Ph.D. in 2008, has dedicated his academic pursuits to reclaiming a culture he asserts is as oppressed by Western ignorance and supremacy now as it was in … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
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