University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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In the past two years the President of the United States resigned and was pardoned, inflation rose to almost 12070 and unemployment reached levels disastrous to the American gross national product. The changes Archie Dykes has seen in the University of Kansas in his first two years as Chancellor here have been somewhat less dramatic, but much more beneficial, than these national changes. 26 When Dykes was selected as chancellor in April 1973 he said his goal was to help KU become a better university. Ever since he has been working steadily towards that goal and in the process he has noticed some basic changes in the attitudes of the university. Improving a university is a never-ending task, he said. Strengthening and improving is a continuous process. Dykes said most problems of a university stem from limited resources. Because ofthis, he has devoted much of his time as chancellor to establishing better rapport with the state legislature and alumni. The public relations program seems to be working. Since 1973 KU has had increased fiscal support and has been ableto improvethe renumeration of faculty members. Accordingto Dykes, these are two of the most important changes he has witnessed. We have seen a significant turn-around in funding. I feel we are much more competitive today than we were two years ago and I hope we will be more competitive in two years than we are now, he said. I think the growing public confidence in the university and the strength of the Kansas economy are responsible for the increased fiscal support we have rec'eived. Support by alumni has also grown since Dykes became chancellor in 1973. He said the strong outpouring of support by this group has helped with legislative requests and has put the University of Kansas fourth in all public universities in alumni contributions. The problems that have not improved under Dykes administration, such as access to the library and the computation center, could be corrected with additional funding, accordingto Dykes. The composition and attitude of the student body has changed in the last two years as well. One of our strongest assets is our students, he said.

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Human reality is a being which is what it is not, and which is not which it is. - lean Paul Satre Poor humans! We wander through life from role to another, never quite sure which bit parts are reality and which are illusions. We build heroes in our minds, and then a credibility gap is spawned when we find politicians are really only humans playing at a game, just as we are humans playing at being students. Are you real when you're sitting in a classroom? Or are you real when you're sitting in a bar drinking the night away? Which image is the illusion? Or is it the illusion which is reality? What could be a starker reality than the nation's economy? But do the material building gd blocks of our lives bring us happiness or just an illusion of happiness? We are surprised when we find those blocks were really only sand. We were aware of the famous and the infamous but they seemed to be only characters in a play until innocent Linda arrived on campus. Then the pushing and the shoving, the staring and the dreams showed she was reality. So, life at the University appears to be a microcosm of our total life. What appears today as reality may be only an illusion when we reflect on it tomorrow. Perhaps the experience of college can help us recognize the difference. Perhaps it will only perpetuate the illusions in our minds. - Debby Spruk

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There seems to be a process of self-selection here at the University of Kansas. Although our school has open admission, great number of the students that choose KU are in the top 20 per cent of their high school graduating class. These students strengthen every facet ofthe University. There seems to be a general shift in attitude of the students at KU. Dykes said, Students today are more eager to take full advantage of the opportunities of the university than they were a few years ago. They are more serious about their academic pursuits and are concerned with preparing for important contributions to society. There is also a return to more traditional values, he said. ln the two years Dykes has been here, he has seen this reflected in the growing participation in fraternities, sororities and even events such as Rock Chalk. The general recession of our economy has moved students to be more cautious and more concerned about their economic welfare, Dykes said. They are more eager to gain security and job opportunities and are less optimistic about their futu res. Dykes said he sees a greater sense of community at work among different facets of the university. There is a willingness, he said, to work together to build a better university by both the student body, student leaders, faculty and administration. The concern to improve undergraduate teaching seems to be growing as well. There is something exciting, he said, about being on the frontier of knowledge and that's impossible if faculty are not involved with their students. The process just breaks down. That involvement is the essence of high quality education. Several specific programs to benefit students are being 27 investigated by the Dykes administration. Pre-enrollment, a new advising system, a central placement bureau and new computation facilities are all in the planning stages. With the implementation ofthese programs,the efficience ofthe university would be greatly increased, Dykes said. I hope we can become a more complete university, he said. We need to maintain and strengthen our arts and science program, professional programs and graduate studies. Strength in all these areas creates the best atmosphere for students at all levels. Chancellor Dykes believes in keeping the University of Kansas a dynamic force in the state.