Thursday, April 2, 2009
Lately, I’ve heard a lot of my peers complaining about some current circumstances that are less than ideal. The economy sucks. We’re out of the tournament. It just snowed when winter is supposed to be over. But there are reasons to remain optimistic.
For those feeling a little blue, here is a reminder of how lucky you are (and proud you should be) just to a student at the University, as well as a few statistics to throw at anyone questioning our beloved university.
One of the best reasons to be attending the University: It rocks and it’s also affordable. Although many of us will not be here more than four or five years, there is a sizeable population that will continue its education after an undergraduate degree. Whatever your path, the University is likely the right (or at least a smart) choice.
Mary Beth Marklein of USA Today reported in her article “Economy Influences College Choices” that seven out of 10 high school students said the struggling economy had affected their college applications. Obviously those 70 percent haven’t visited Lawrence yet.
But the University goes beyond being a great bargain. The Princeton Review reports that it has a place for all types of people, from the greeks to the hippies, and acknowledges its “infectious school spirit.”
“KU students love life at their school,” the Review said.
TopUniversities.com said that greatness began with the founding of Lawrence as an abolitionist town, and the founding of the University has only continued to astonish ever since.
This Web site also referred to the University as “an ideal campus,” and claims that at this college “opportunities are boundless.” That’s definitely not an understatement.
The University has been called home for the astronomer who discovered Pluto, New York Times best-selling author Steve Doocy, the former CEO of Pepsi-Cola Co., the first African-American woman to entertain at the White House, governors, national (and Emmy-award winning) news anchors, the inventor of that semi-popular sport called basketball, NASA astronauts and Nobel Prize-winners. And I can’t forget the wildly popular actor Paul Rudd, Olympic gold medalists, the discoverer of vitamin A, ambassadors (to countries such as South Africa and Qatar), the co-founder of Netscape and the first female senator to have been elected before her husband.
Unfortunately, there are just too many legendary Jayhawks for me to mention them all. For more than a decade, the University has received four stars from the Fiske Guide to Colleges, and U.S. News and World Report ranked it at 89 out of the Best National Universities in a survey of more than 1400 colleges.
Oh, and even though it’s 2009, we can all still brag about our Orange Bowl and NCAA National Championship victories of 2008. Be serious; don’t you think Mizzou would do the same if they actually won something?
The bottom line — our school is awesome, and we are all thereby awesome by association. Now that I have stroked the ego of all current and former KU students and faculty, go out there and have a wonderful day. Don’t forget to yell “Rock Chalk” to anyone you see, because it always has been, and always will be, great to a Jayhawk.
— Buser is a Columbia, Ill., junior in journalism and English.
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