KU clarity

To the editor:

A local newspaper publisher recently indicated in these pages that there might be some problems at Kansas University. Some might have noted a lack of specificity in his comments, as he seesawed among declarations of “a fine institution,” “negative situations,” and a refusal “to accept some current-day realities.” He may have been concerned about Kansas State moving into Johnson County, cooperation between KU Medical Center and various regional hospitals, rising tuition, or the possibility that parents have gone into debt to pay for their children’s education. This reader wasn’t sure.

But one thing is clear: Despite his statement that “a university campus is a business just like any other business,” it is not. KU is a public institution with a unique mission in the state. Its problems and challenges also are unique. And they deserve to be discussed with clarity and without innuendo.

Judy Roitman,

Lawrence