TheLouisville Cardinal
Vol. XLVI No. 17 Room 117, Otter Hall, Louisville, Ky. 40208 January 24, 1975
Cardinal poll
Students found to be
unhappy with U of L
by Kenny Vandevelde Fifty-three per cent said the
Twenty-six per cent of the students atmosphere at U of L was not
surveyed in a special Cardinal poll would . socially-oriented enough, while 39%
not choose to attend U of L, if they had thought the social atmosphere was
it to do over again. "about right" and 8% said it was too
The poll was a mail survey of a socially oriented.
random sample of 800 undergraduate The next highest level of
students conducted during the first two dissaatisfaction was with the vocational
weeks of December, 1974. Three hundred orientation of the university. Forty
twenty-seven usable responses, that is, percent said the atmosphere at U of L
41% of the total number mailed out, were was not job-oriented enough ,. while 46%
received. said it was "about right" and 14% said it
In one question, students were asked, was too job oriented.
"If you had it to do over again, knowing Only in academics were most students
what you know now, would you still have satisfied. Sixty-one per cent said the
chosen to attend U of L?" Seventy-four intellectual atmosphere at U of L was
per cent answered, "yes," while 26% "about right," while 27% said it was not
replied, "No." intellectual enough and 13% said it was
(Students who indicated in another too intellectual.
question that they would not have chosen When the students were asked about
to return to college at all, if they had it to the demands of the course work, their
do over again, were not counted in level of sa tis faction rose higher.
tabulating the results to the question.) Seventy-three per cent said the courses at
Students' answers to other questions U of L were "about right" while 14% said
provided several insights into the they were too demanding and 13% said
attitudes and composition of the student they were not demanding enough.
body. The average grade point standing or'
The poll revealed that the the students in the survey was 3.045.
overwhelming reason these students were Next week: further analysis of the
attending college was vocational rather survey data.
than academic or social. Asked, ''What is
your primary reason for attending
college?" 76% said it was because college
Photograph by John Beckman
Vice President for Health Affairs HaJ Boyer exhibits a model of the new university
hospital at Monday's Board of Trustees meeting. The site of the hospital was
approved at the meeting and construction will begin within six months. (Story, page
2).
would enable them to get either "a better .
paying. job" or "the kind .of job I want:" Student Twenty-three per cent satd they were m
college "to learn more." One per cent
said it was because college "allows me to
meet the kind of people I want to meet."
wounded by campus police
The vocational interest of the students
was further borne out by the responses to
the question, ''Which of the following
factors is most important to you in
choosing a class?" Forty-five per cent
answered, "Its future usefulness in. my
career," 26% chose "interesting subject
rna tter," 21% said "convenient time of
d·ay ," 5%; interesting instr~ctor ," and 3%
answered, ''The instructor grades easily."
When asked, 4'Why did you decide to
attend U of L?" 65% said it was because
the location was ~nvenient to home or
work, 33% chose it because "It offered
the academic prog;am I was interested
in," and 2% replied "Many of my friends
were corning here."
Despite the vocational interest of the
students, the highest level of
dissatisfaction was expressed about the
social life at U of L, as opposed to the
vocatiopal or academic aspects.
by Kenny Vande\'elde
A small expedition through the maze
of underground tunnels that laces
Belknap campus ended last Wednesday
morning in a near-tragedy, leaving an
18-year-old Speed student in serious
condition at General Hospital - the
victim of a bullet from a .357 magnum
fired at point-blank range.
The series of events that led to the
fmal disaster was as unlikely as it was
regrettable.
Campus Chefs, the university's caterer,
discovered it was being victimized by
thieves. Last Tuesday, someone there
noticed that the pins in a set of door
hinges had been removed, indicating that
a thief was preparing for another
burglary.
The caterers contacted the
Departmentof Public Safety, which then
installed an ultrasonic alarm system in the
food service area. This type of alarm
systell} can detect any kind of motion
within the protected area.
Later that same evening, a group of
students decided to explore the network
of utility tunnels that houses the heating
and electrical pipes and conduits on
campus. The tunnels are easily accessible
and are frequently explored by students,
and occasionally by entire .classes led by
their in3tructors.
They entered the tunnels near the
Natural Science Building and emerged
sometime between midnight and one a.m.
in the food service area of the University
Center Building. About 12:50 a.m. one or
more of the students triggered the
ultrasonic alarm.
The alarm was answered by two men
from the publicity safety department,
Sergeant Robinson and Officer
Henderson.
When Robinson and Henderson
reached the UC Building, they saw three
persons and ordered them to halt. The
thrf!e ~udents ran into one of the
unlighted utility tunnels, with Robinson
in pursuit.
Two of the students escaped from the
tunnel and ran onto Eastern Parkway, .
one heading cast- and the other west. The
student who ran to the west, Speed
student Joseph Groctsch, was caught ncar
the Reynolds Building hy campus
security officer Nolte. The student who
ran east was never apprehended.
The third stud-ent, Larry Basham, was
climbing up the steps leading from the
tunnel when Rvbbins attempted to stop
him hy striking him with a gun.
According to Robinson, the gun
accidentaiJy discharged, sending a bullet
into Basham's back, just below the
shoulder blades.
Basham sustained injury to the lung
and suffered heavily, at first, from
internal bleeding. He is now listed in
serious condition in General llospital.
(Continued n page 3)
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