CAMPUS
KU students' dance marathon raised about $12,000. Page 3
WARM High 69° Low 35° Page 2
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TOPEKA, KS 66612 THE U AILY KANSAN
VOL.104, NO.102
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1995
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Lead levels close KU's firing range
Poor ventilation system dust buildup make area potential health hazard
By Matt Hood Kansan staff writer
The guns are silent and the smoke has cleared, but one thing remains: cold, hard lead.
On Friday, the University closed the firing range in the basement of the Military Science Building after a test showed that levels of lead left over from gunfire exceeded safety standards.
Rodger Orok, director of facilities management, said the range was being closed for health reasons.
"We are doing this as a precautionary measure," Oroke said in a press release.
The test, conducted by the U. S. Army's preventative medicine service at Fort Leavenworth, showed that the level of lead dust on surfaces to be more than 100 times the safety level set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Mike Russell, environmental health safety officer for the University, said there was no universally accepted standard of lead levels but that HUD's level — 200 micrograms of lead per square foot — was the most stringent. Russell compared a microgram to one grain of sand in one-square foot of sand.
If the range is to be reopened, new ventilation systems would have to be installed in the 52-year-old building. The lack of proper ventilation may account for the lead build-up. Russell said.
Even if the range is closed permanently, it will have to be cleaned with a high-powered vacuum and a disinfectant mopping. Russell said.
The lead buildup occurred at the firing range because each time a rifle is fired at the targets, a fine spray of lead dust is discharged. When the lead bullets hit their targets, they fragment.
Although lead dust cannot penetrate skin, the danger comes if shooters get lead on their hands and then touch their mouths. Russell said.
Excessive amounts of lead can damage the kidneys, the reproductive system and hemoglobin levels in the blood.
But problems such as these require prolonged exposure, Russell said. More common problems include headaches, constipation and nausea.
None of the people Russell has talked to have indicated any health problems. He said precautionary medical tests would be made available to people who had had frequent exposure to the range.
Tom Stidham, assistant director of bands, has conducted practices with the 70-member University Band in the firing range since 1991, when Hoch Auditorium burned down. The band now practices in the third-floor lobby of Joseph R. Pearson residence hall, which has been closed since 1992.
Stidham said he had been asked by Russell's environmental health office to submit to a blood test and to provide the names of the three or four band members who had had the most exposure.
Stidham said that he had not had any health problems and that none of his band members had reported any to him.
"I'm not much of an alarmist myself," Stidham said. "I haven't eaten any lead that I know of."
While the range is closed, members of Army ROTC and Navy ROTC will practice at off-campus ranges. Members of Air Force ROTC do not use the range.
A replacement indoor range on campus has not yet been chosen.
Eye on No.1
The No. 3 Kansas men's basketball team defeated Kansas State 78-67 Saturday. With that victory and upsets of No.1 Connecticut and No.2 North Carolina,the Jayhawks could grab the No.1 spot.
Yumi Chikamori / KANSAN
Sunday Sunning
Seth Winnerman, St. Louis sophomore, leaves textbooks at home and reads a fiction book at Potter Lake. Winnerman is one of many students who took advantage of yesterday's warm weather and enjoyed the sun.
No arrests made in McCollum rape
Arrests
Arrests often are not made immediately when a rape is reported because police must follow strict guidelines.
By Teresa Veazey Kansan staff writer
No arrests have been made in the case of an 18-year-old female KU student who reported she was raped by a male acquaintance Jan. 30 in McCollum Hall.
Officer Cindy Alliss of KU police said no arrest had been made in the case even though it had been forwarded to the Douglas County district attorney's office last week.
Alliss said the district attorney's office would make the determination as to whether to file charges.
KU police said that the victim and the alleged perpetrator, a 21-year-old KU student, had known each other since the beginning of the semester but that they were not dating.
When a rape is reported, an arrest may not be made immediately, said Rose Rozmiarek of the KU police. Sometimes police don't talk to a suspect until later in an investigation, which would delay a possible arrest.
If no arrest has been made once a report has been forwarded to the district attorney's office, it is up to the office to file charges, said Martin Miller, assistant district attorney.
"Usually, if they send us a report, they want to know if there's enough information to arrest someone," said Miller. "The agency that sent the
report may or may not make the arrest of a rape suspect." In order to arrest, police must have probable cause, said Rick Nickell of the Lawrence police department. When the victim can identify the perpetrator, the investigation can be narrowed down to what evidence can be found and what statements can be verified.
attorney in the office for review.
"If they don't feel a crime has been committed, it ends there sometimes," Miller said.
"Situations where there's no arrest could be because officers need to evaluate what they've been told and compare evidence." Nickell said.
Once a report is made by police and forwarded to the district attorney's office, the case is assigned to an
Sarah Jane Russell director of Rape Victim Support Services
During a police investigation, no distinction is made between rape cases as to whether the victim knows the perpetrator, Nickell said.
"Rapes are investigated the same from the start, no matter if it's stranger or acquaintance rape," he said.
ing statements from the victim and any witnesses. The police then give that information to the district attorney's office. Nickell said.
"Usually one of two things will happen," Nickell said. "The suspect will claim it was a consensual act or deny
Police are responsible for gathering evidence, includ
anv sexual contact with the victim."
Rozmiraek said giving guidelines for police to use when handling rape cases was difficult because investigations depend on particular circumstances.
"It's so hard to say what factors we use because every case is different," she said. "It depends on where we are in the investigation."
Sarah Jane Russell, director of Rape Victim Support Services, said it could be hard for people to understand why something wasn't done when a rape was reported.
"If it doesn't go anywhere, the person who filed the report is perceived as not believable," she said.
Russell said that just because the district attorney's office said there was not enough evidence to go to trial did not mean that nothing happened.
"When the D.A. says there's not enough to go to trial, that's not easy to hear," she said. "It just means we can't go to trial with what we've got."
Mark Knight, Douglas County district attorney, said information about the KU rape report would not be available until next week after he reviewed the case.
Student Senate proposal calls for fee increase
Enrollment decline inflation given as reasons for proposal
By Ian Ritter
Kansan staff writer
Students could be paying $11 more in activity fees if a proposal passes at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting.
The proposal, which would increase the current $28 fee to $39 next semester, was passed by the Student Senate finance committee Thursday.
On Tuesday, the finance committee passed a proposal that would increase the activity fee to $35, but the proposal was reconsidered Thursday, and the committee increased the proposed fee to $39.
Stephanie Guerin, head of the finance committee, said that each group given
two-year allocations by Senate would receive an average increase of 3.5 percent if the proposal passed. She said that because of inflation, what $28 could buy
STUDENT
SENATE
in 1986, would take $39 to $41 to buy in
1996.
Also, this year's decrease in enrollment means that fewer students will be putting money into Senate's budget, Guerin said. If the increase passes on Wednesday, Tacoma will receive $61,755,000.
If the increase passes on Wednesday,
Senate will have a budget of $1,757,900.
"Senates in the past have been afraid to pass a fee increase because of political reasons," she said. "The bottom line is that the Student Senate must pass the increase in order to sustain the same services which it's committed to provide for students."
Terry Bell, finance committee member,
said that the proposed increases were fair.
"Hopefully, the committee's decision won't be undermined by Senate" he said.
won't be underdetermined.
Bell said that it was the committee's function to make budget proposals and that Senate should follow those proposals.
Lance Hamby, finance committee member, said he was against the entire activity fee structure, not to mention the increase.
"Right now you've got a lot of groups that get money, and it doesn't seem to make an impact on campus," he said.
"I don't think enrollment's down enough to where we need to be charging the ones that we have an extra $11." Medill said.
He said that inflation increases in the University were not as swift as in the private sector.
The bill probably won't float when it reaches Senate, said Eric Medill, student-body vice president and last year's finance committee head.
"The whole idea of where it should be in accordance with inflation is an argument."
V
Brian James / KANSAN
Medill said. "Most of the prices don't go up as fast as they do in the private sector."
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