Student story-Economy yields less money, fewer students, more attention

By Katherine Love

A swarm of restless and rowdy teenagers files into the purple-cushioned stadium seats of the Union Forum Theater. Yet they fill only a dispersed third of the 600-seat auditorium.

“It breaks my heart to see empty seats,” workshop director Linda Puntney says.

For the 50th anniversary of the Flint Hills Publications Workshop, enrollment proves a disheartening aspect. This marks quite a change for Puntney, a 20-year workshop veteran, who saw the workshop hit an all-time high in 2008 with 284 attendees. This year, enrollment dropped to 199.

Puntney attributes this decline to the current economic recession, explaining that parents and schools are dealing with the repercussions, too.

Schools, for example, face less capability of funding or offering scholarships for students to attend academic summer camps. Plus, the schools that can provide the funding are opting to send fewer students than in the previous years, Puntney said.

Hailey Lapin, a student in Advanced Writing from Blue Valley Northwest High School, encountered this situation.

“We have about 30 girls, and only about 15 are going to camp this year, either at K-State or KU,” she said. “It is a lot harder to sell newspaper and yearbook advertising because of the economy.”

As for Puntney, a sequence of dominos tumbled before her eyes when it came to financing for the FHPW.

First, the Holiday Inn, which houses campers every summer, raised its rates from $79 to $120 due to economic troubles, causing workshop fees to jump to $385. That may have factored into the decline in enrollment, which then meant that the camp budget had to be changed, including food, T-shirts and staffing.

On a positive note, Puntney explained that the low enrollment allows for a lower student-to-instructor ratio. This provides students with the opportunity to receive more one-on-one attention from the K-State workshop staff members.

Jake Palenske, instructor of the New Media class, witnessed this situation first-hand. Because only three students enrolled for the course, which included three staff members, the class combined with the Kedzie Krier newspaper class to form a more reasonable ratio for both classes: 10 students to four staff members.

Palenske said most of his students last year traveled from far away, including from Texas and Virginia. Perhaps, he said, they simply couldn’t pay for the travel and other expenses this year. He said he doesn’t think the workshop cost increase affected a decline in attendance for students within driving distance.

“When you consider that meals, lodging and night entertainment are provided here, $385 is a bang for your buck,” he said. “It’s like seeing a great deal on a Ferrari.”

Katherine Love is a junior at Notre Dame de Sion and a student in the advanced writer class at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop.