Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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The Ivory Tower by Pamela Johnson is the name of the game. Acker plays skill- fully. A $400,000 Edwards Hall expenditure parallel to Straube ' s demise poses a dilemma — how to justify this one? They ' re not competitive in any way, Acker said. The athletic residence hall was one issue, Straube a second. Straube and Smith are separate issues. Smith was not in as deep trouble. We happened to have a chunk of money, more than needed, held in trust, he explained. It could be spent at the express wishes of donors of money endowments. Acker proposed spending half of Smith ' s endowment on capital improvements, and a hike in housing rates to guarantee adequate maintenance for at least a ten-year period. He explained this would not have worked in Straube ' s case. With the fire marshal! review and a need for drastic renovation, we didn ' t have the money to do it unless we pulled money from other scholarship funds, Acker said. Acker ' s rationale is intended to exonerate administra- tive support of Edwards Hall. The athletic council asked that we move away from the concept of an athletic dorm, so we transferred man- agement to housing. We transferred management from the endowment association to the university, he added. It is surrounded by campus property, we can ' t walk away from it as a university. Acker ' s decisions consistently follow his allocation poli- cy. I have two sets of priorities — one that is long time, such as the very existence of eight colleges and the gra- duate school — one priority that won ' t be modified too much. Then you have short time — five to ten-year priori- ties, he said. Among these priorities are such things as improving the appearance of the campus: more trees, thoroughly planned walkways, bike trails, preservation of green space, building identification, signs welcoming people to Kansas State University. Money mandates. Implementation of Acker ' s projects hinge on financial support. We need to promote giving on the part of clientele, Acker said. A third area that I ' m putting quite a bit of attention in is our capability of fund-raising. We have a need for an art center, a small experimental theater, new basketball arena, distinguished professor- ships, scholarships, he said. As with every university administrator, Acker must push his crusades through proper channels. If you go through channels, you acquaint the people along the way with the significance of it. If it is a good thing, then you magnify or amplify its momentum and this causes your request to be better received, he said.