Vol. 99, No. 41 (USPS 650-640)
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED SINCE 1889 BY THE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Monday October 24,1988
Eliot Kakahbah, 11, puts the finishing touches on his Halloween painting Saturday on a store window in downtown Lawrence.
Stores decked out in 'boo-tiful' colors
By Deb Gruver
Kansan staff writer
seventh-grader Paula Richardson became a little frustrated Saturday while trying to paint a huge pumpkin on the window at Weavers Department Store. 901 Massachusetts St.
Richardson was one of about 90 elementary.
"The paint just won't stick," Richardson said. "It is hard to get the color come out as bright as possible."
junior high and high school students who participated in painting downtown windows for a
fun," said David Tacha, a Deerfield Elementary School sixth-grader.
White Casper-like ghosts, witches with long hair, were known for something out of a Charlie Brown Halloween special now line down stores. The event was sponsored by Lawrence Parks and Recreation.
Tacha and his friend, Tyler E骄, were painting a witch on the window at Mark's Bridal and Formal, bib Massachusetts St. They thought it would be easier for them to attach they could get extra credit in school for it.
"We decided to do it because it sounded like
Please see COLORS, p. 5, col. 3
City faces growth west, downtown
Kansan staff writer
By Daniel Niemi
Although City Commissioners are pleased about recent expansion of their office, they are not sure Lawrence, they want to make sure the downtown area remains the busiest.
"I think we take a standard out there (winter lawrence) I like to see continue," said City Commissioner Michael Jenkins, who continues to enhance downtown, and the riverfront project will help. Anytime you have boundaries extended away from downtown, you have a challenge to pull the population away.
City commissioners are working to keep the main shopping area downtown by adhering to Plan 96. Plan 95, which indicates the downtown area as the city's Central Business District. The plan outlines standards for consistent development.
Western Lawrence is designated as the primary growth area under Plan 96, but the plan also calls for geographically balanced growth.
According to statistics compiled by the city planning office, 2,596 lots are available in the Western Development District. Clinton Parkway on the south,
WESTWARD HO!
Wakaraus Drive on the west, Sixth Street on the north and Nassau Road on the east. The road predicts 3413 buildings and a population of 7641 when the area is fully developed.
Related stories
"I am concerned that growth has not been geographically balanced," said Commission Dennis Constance. "I like to do that. As long as we want to have downstairs as our office, the district, growth should be balanced."
Also, six businesses are expanding or planning to expand in western Lawrence.
Constance said that downtown was
no longer the geographic center of Lawrence, and that he would like to see more growth to the east.
Although the city commissioners generally approve of western growth, some had reservations about the way it was developing.
City Commissioner Mike Amy
Ice, said it looks as if we have good
commercial, multi-family, heavy resi-
dential around Brandon Woods (west
of the city), seems to be looking in
good shape.
Praeger said that downtown was still the main retail center, but was owned by a real estate lawrence. She said the city needed to make it easier for people to get downlaw and improvements to the Street and other streets would help.
"Expansion have a neutral to slightly negative effect," said Mayor Bob Schumann. "If there are suburban mail boxes, that means your mail, it will have a drastically neg
Some commissioners are concerned about the potential effect of western expansion on the downtown area.
"Eventually, Lawrence will have a mail. It will need two retail centers. But right now, we're just not big enough." Praersed said.
tive effect.
Commissioners Dennis Constance and Mike Rundle questioned the impact of western development.
Rundle said, "1 question whether western development is an absolute given in the way it's being done. There are a lot of things that are choice and are not inevitable. For us every choice will be made for every choice would be a mistake.
Rundle said develop impact fees were one such choice. Developer impact fees are imposed on the developer as a way to recover costs for city-financed improvements, such as extending streets.
"We've talked in a peripheral sense of instituting developer impact fees," Randle said. "I think it time for us to see through an analysis if the revenue from new taxes equals the cost of improvement. If there is a need, we should be impact fees. New development should pay for itself."
Bundle agreed with Constance that growth should be balanced around the city.
"We need public policy of keeping a center to the city and avoiding eccentric growth and making sure that the areas we are treated equitably," Rudd said.
Advising: still a puzzle at KU
By Grace Hobson
Kaneen staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Every semester the scene is the same.
Hoardes of freestudent men and outside professors' offices and struggle through timetables and course catalogues.
Most have given up on the notion that professors will provide more than the required signature on their enrollment cards, instead turning to friends and classmates for advice. Sometimes students leave their instructions more confused about department requirements than when they arrived.
When Chris Flechet, Overland Park parkier, transferred to the University of Kansas after his sophomore year, he sort out the complexities of the University of Kansas' curriculum. But, no matter is not any better informed than me.
Advising, which begins today and runs through Nov. 4, has long been the Achille's heel of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
"He just didn't know what was going on." Fletcher said, "I didn't either. but it was his job to know."
Edwyna Gilbert, associate dean of liberal arts and sciences, said that advising was a chronic problem.
"It's always something you have to work with," she said.
Gilbert and the other administrators in the College are doing just that working with advising.
In the past few years, College officials have sought to improve undergraduate advising, but many teachers think they change interests are long overdue.
"I think the advising system has a big problem," she disappointed. "Scott treer, they man." When I've talked with advisers, they just bite my head off; the man.
James Ottoini, Chesterfield, Mo. sophomore, said that although his advisers were cooperative, they weren't competent.
'I can't stand the system here,
Ottolini said. 'I was assigned to a
math adviser; math is my least
job. I will never do it, don't
even know what is going on.'
Margaret Arnold, associate professor of English, said that professors also felt frustrated with advising.
"It's something I enjoy, but it does add stress," the said. "It's easy to work a 60-hour week without advising."
Add several advising appointments compressed within a two-week period, and professors feel even more overworked, she said.
To tackle the problems of advising, James Carothers, associate dean of Law and a member of the advising had to be looked at as a two-fingered prong. Each prong must be done.
"We're trying to separate the purely technical aspects of advising, but we also want to about the difference between courses and what they should major in." Carothers said. "Our aim is to separate the technical from advising from pure academic advising."
Technical advising, which occurs during the two weeks before enrollment, is concerned with degree requirements. Academic advising
Computers may bolster endeavor
By Grace Hobson Kansan staff writer
Administrators, faculty and students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are working to make the system say is an ailing advising system.
But implementing feasible alternatives to the current advising system has not been easy.
"Everyone recognizes there is a problem with advising, but who does it? Everyone sees the problem, but you can't really do anything about it," said Brook Meehan, student adviser. "I think we can improve advising."
Menees reflects the College administration's attitudes towards advising: Advising is a big problem, but solutions do exist.
Joe VanZandt, coordinator of the Advising Support Center, said that he was encouraged by administra-
tion's efforts to cure advisors ill.
"We are on the threshold of making major changes," Van Zandt said.
A newly implemented computer system is one such change in advising.
The college transcribed the records of students who began at KU on or after fall 1986 onto a computer recordkeeping program called ARTS. That academic requirement tracking system allows students and the college to keep updated records on students.
An extension of ARTS is the enrollment assistant system, EAS, a pilot program of the college.
When ARTS forms were handed out Thursday and Friday, a test of the computer systems received computer diskettes that work with five microcomputers set up in the building.
The disks, which were programmed individually for the students to use in the enrollment information. Students can select their courses before enroling because the program includes students of course availability.
Please see COMPUTERS p. 8, col. 1
helps students choose their majors and the best courses to take.
The role of advising also must be defined, Carothers said, explaining two theories of advising.
To one extreme, people expect their advisers to act as mentors, help students with homework, and parental figures who give students advice on academics and life experiences.
Carothers said this ideal was not workable because there were too many students for the number of faculty. The complex college curricu-
Please see ADVISING, p. 8, col. 5
Attorney General's trial begins
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The stormy lawsuit that has beset Attorney General Robert T. Stephens's political career and triggered a barge of bitter accusations and allegations finally goes to trial in Topeka today.
The litigation, which began almost five years ago, was brought by former Topope Marcin Tomson, who worked at the US Federal Trade Commission.
The trial is expected to take two weeks. U.S. District Judge Dale Saftef of Kansas City, Kan., will hear the case in a courtroom in the Carlson Federal Building here. It will be most of the first two days to select a jury, sources said.
The lawsuit, alleging Stephan broke a contract and placed Tomson in a "false light," was spawned by an earlier sexual harassment suit the woman filed against the attorney general. She worked for him for almost
Both Stephan and Tomson are expected to testify.
The first suit was settled, but that agreement fell apart when details of the settlement were revealed by the attorney general at a news conference he called to try to shake its adverse effects so he could run for governor
Tomson, who worked as a file clerk in the attorney general's office from 1979 to 1982, when she was fired, alleged Stephan made sexual advances. The attorney general alleged the allegation ridiculoans and denied any wrongdoing.
Tamson lifted the second suit, contending Stephan and a companion violated a confidential clause in the agreement.
The sexual harassment file, filed Dec. 22, 1983, became a major stumbling block in Stephan's effort to launch a lawsuit against the plaintiff. After the news conference did little to quiet the furoor over the lawsuit, Stephan abandoned plans for the race because of what he called the "pain level and the burden of responsibility." He ran instead for re-election and won two years ago.
Representing Tomson in the first suit was Topeka attorney Marge Phelps in the Phelps Chartered law firm. A federal magistrate later disqualified Phelps from being admitted to the attorney is expected to be called as a witness in the trial.
Phelps became a central figure in the lawsuit after Stephan accused her of carrying on a personal vendetta against him. She later delayed charges that the attorney threatened to file a criminal complaint against her law office. Each has denied the other's allegation.
After the original lawsuit was settled out of court, the case was dismissed on March 19, 1985. A provision made
Under mounting public pressure, Stephan, accompanied by former state Sen. Bob W. Storey, revealed terms of the confidential settlement at a news conference on Oct. 29, 1985.
It included a $24,000 cash payment to Tomson, money that had been collected from a group of prominent Wheaties vendors and customers. Stephan revealed that Storey and former Attorney General Vern Miller collected the $24,000 for the settlement.
While trying to disarm a reportedly suicidal man last night, Lawrence police officer J. R. Frank was shot once in the foot.
Policeman wounded in shooting
A Lawrence police officer was shot and injured last night while attempting to disarm a reportedly maladial Lawman, police said.
Officer J. R. Frink was treated and released at Lawrence Memorial Hospital last night with a minor injury to his foot.
Bv a Kansan reporter
A 45-year-old man was arrested on two felony counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and one count of aggravated battery on a
Officers were called to an address in the 2400 block of Cedarwood Avenue at 6:31 p.m. where the officer, named at the officers, police said.
The man was held last night in Douglas County Jail.
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