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KU
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Professor's promotion appeal denied
By Virginia Marghelm
Kansan staff writer
A decision to deny the promotion of an associate professor of computer science was upheld yesterday.
The Tenure and Related Problems Committee ruled that Alkiviadis Akritas 'rights were not violated when he was denied promotion. The committee explained its decision in a report issued yesterday.
Akritas filed a complaint with the committee in August alleging that the number of affirmative votes required for promotion was excessive. He
also alleged that he was unfairly denied a chance to read and respond to negative letters attacking his academic work.
Robert Hohn, chairman of the committee, said the committee decided that the decision was made fairly.
"We felt that the Committee on Promotion and Tenure did not violate established procedures." Hohn said.
Alkiviadis Akritas
The University Committee on Promotion and Tenure in a meeting last March voted 5-1 in favor of Akritas' promotion, one vote short of the six required for approval.
The report issued yesterday stated that the number of affirmative votes required was not unreasonable.
"Given the importance of tenure and promotion decisions to the University's academic standing and integrity, retention of the six-vote requirement was appropriate under the circumstances," the report stated.
One of Akritas' supervisors wrote a letter responding to the negative letter written by a colleague, but the supervisor's letter was not considered by the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure.
The report stated that because there was no requirement that the supervisor's letter be forwarded to the committee, the fact that it was not forwarded did not unfairly hurt Akritas' chances for promotion.
Although the committee upheld the ruling, it also recommended changes in the tenure and promotion procedure.
"Confidentiality should be the exception rather than the rule." the report stated.
Unsolicited letters about the candidate for promotion should be made available to the candidate, the committee said.
Allowing the candidate access to the letters would give him or her a chance to respond to the accusations, the committee said. Finding a procedure to ensure that the letters are included in the candidate's file also would be helpful, the report stated.
Akritas said that he was not surprised by the committee's decision yesterday.
"I didn't expect anything better from the committee." Aklitas said.
Alkitas has no further recourse within the University system.
Akritas also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission has a case backlog of six to seven months and has not yet reached a decision on Akritas' case.
Med Center sought out for merger
Columbia/HCA seeks partnership with the state-owned hospital
By Robert Allen Kansan staff writer
Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, the nation's largest healthcare services provider, is tentatively seeking an association with the University of Kansas Medical Center, but this partnership would have little affect on students.
Med Center officials have met informally with local officials of Columbia/HCA, according to a statement released by Charles Andrews, executive vice chancellor for the Med Center.
"We would be remiss in not exploring various ways of interacting with health care providers," the statement said.
This possible association is still in the germination stage, said Stephen Jordan, executive director of the Kansas Board of Regents.
sold to Columbia/HCA.
Andrews said in the statement, Med Center officials had no interest in recommending to the Board of Regents that the Med Center be
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
director of the Kansas Board of Regents.
"We're not very far down the road on that," he said.
Columbia/HCA has formed associations with other college health care centers across the nation. The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita became associated with Columbia/HCA about 10 years ago, said Joseph Meek, dean of the Wichita branch. Students there don't seem to have been affected.
"There is absolutely no impact on student involvement," he said. "We have the same type of educational programs. To date, there has been no lessening of the commitment of ColumbiaHCA to medical education."
Last September, the medical center at Tulane University in New Orleans signed an agreement with Columbia/HCA to form a partnership, said John Beal, assistant general counsel at Tulane. There will be no effect on students at Tulane, he said.
Meek said that there also had been no effect on the Wichita community in terms of health education.
"The relationship to the university will not change as far as the hospital goes," Beal said. "A major emphasis in all agreements is that teaching is a spectrum of the hospital that will not change."
He said that Tulane would still be able to expand its teaching program if the opportunity arose.
It is too early to know whether the Med Center is even interested in joining with Columbia/HCA. It is only one of many alternatives that the Med Center is considering to adapt to the current health care situation.
"All of this has happened because of the dramatic changes in the health care environment," Jordan said. "It's partially a matter of the times. Medical centers throughout the country are looking at other ways of surviving."
Regent John Hiebert said that a decisior about the Med Center would be a complex process.
Students, such as the medical residents, above, would not be affected by a possible association between the Med Center and Columbia/HCA, the nation's largest health care provider.
"Any kind of major change of ownership would involve the Legislature and the leadership of the University, as well as the Board of Regents," he said.
Head Start afraid of financing changes
Proposed change could mean less money to child care agency
By Paul Todd
Kansan staff write
Head Start, the federal program designed to give poor children a solid foundation for their educations, may receive a setback from Republican state governors.
At the recent National Governor's Association meeting in Washington, Republican governors called for the program's annual $3.3 billion budget to be distributed among the states, which would administer their own child care programs.
Operators of the federally funded child care program in Lawrence worry that the shift of funds would mean less money for them.
Chris Petr, associate professor of social welfare and member of the local Head Start policy board, said that
block granting money to Head Start could hurt kids that are most in need.
"It could make the money available to everyone," Petr said. "Then the poor and disadvantaged could get less."
Charline Freitag, director of Community Childrens' Center Head Start, 925 Vermont St., said the national system did a good job monitoring the effectiveness of local Head Start programs.
"It isn't broken," she said. "I don't know why they're trying to fix it."
Seventy-eight children — 26 percent of eligible children in Lawrence — are enrolled in Head Start. About 240 children in Lawrence are on welfare, but Head Start does not have the money to enroll every child, so the school must keep a waiting list, Freitag said.
Freigat said the cost-per-child in the Lawrence program was about $3,100 a year, or $200 less than the national average. The program received about 49 percent of its support from donations and volunteer workers. The federal government required that only 20 percent of a program's funds be donated.
But it's still not enough. Freitag said.
"Our finances could easily be doubled and still not serve all the children," she said.
Gilbert Ye, Lawrence senior, has been volunteering at Head Start for the last year. He said the program was needed to help children from families that receive welfare appreciate education and their communities.
"We should say, 'This kid could have been a detriment to society and now is not, or might have gotten into drugs, and now won't,'" he said.
Head Start started in Lawrence in 1966. Originally, there were two programs, including the one at the Community Children's Center, but the center absorbed the other program and increased its enrollment from 24 to about 78. Enrollment had not changed significantly since then.
"No one knows what will happen," said Rose Sigmund, Head Start director for Northeast Kansas. "There could possibly be a relaxation of performance standards or cuts in food budgets."
Sigmund said each state would have to administer its own programs, the costs of which would take funds away from child care.
But State Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, said she liked the concept of block granting because it freed states from rigid federal program requirements.
"We can do a better job with more program flexibility at the state and local level." she said.
Praeger said Kansas would continue to support Head Start but that state control would make sure that services were not duplicated.
Photos by Paul Kotz / KANSAN
RIGHT: Two children use a multi-media computer program to learn shapes as part of the Head Start program at Plymouth Congregational Church. ABOVE: A child concentrates on rolling out a piece of Playdough as part of the Head Start program at Plymouth Congregational Church.
And the race is on
No.24 Oklahoma State's victory against No.2 Kansas last night in Stillwater, Okla., put the Cowboys onehalf game ahead of the Jaywhisks in the Big Eight Conference race.
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And the sign said, 'Go to the lowest floor'
In case of tornado follow the green signs
By Brian Vandervliet Kansan staff writer
During the past two weeks, more than 700 severe-weather procedure signs have been placed in buildings across campus by facilities operations. Last June, the state fire marshal told the University it must have proper tornado procedure signs.
Like an attack from alien visitors, hundreds of lime-green objects are appearing in campus buildings. But don't worry, they're only signs.
"We had no choice," said Mike Richardson, director of facilities operation. "We would have been in violation."
Had the University chosen to ignore the
fire marshal's warning, it would have been fined, Richardson said.
The signs advise building occupants to stay indoors, go to the lowest floor of the building, stay in interior or hallways and keep away from doors and windows.
"Most of it's common sense," Richardson said. "People who have grown up in the area already know what to do, but international students may not."
"We wanted to make them visible. I admit they're not the prettiest color."
Mike Richardson director of facilities operation
Most campus buildings will have the signs before the March 1 deadline, Richardson said. The 11-by-17 inch lime-green signs will be placed near every corridor entrance.
Richardson said the signs were tem-
"We wanted to make them visible," he said. "I admit they're not the prettiest color."
lorary and would be replaced by more durable permanent signs within the next two years. Additional financing from the Legislature would be required for permanent signs, which could cost about $100
Richardson said the signs were green, not because of state law, but to attract the attention of building occupants and to satisfy the Americans with Disabilities Act requirement for high-contrast signs.
per sign. Richardson said the cost of the permanent signs could be more than $75,000.
The temporary signs were produced using recyclable plexiglass and cost only about $2 per sign.
The permanent signs would cost more, Richardson said, because they would be made from more durable material and would include braille lettering as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Ross Boelling, chief of fire prevention for the Kansas fire marshal, said the signs were needed as a safety precaution. The state mandate applies to every college and university in Kansas, he said. The state law requiring notification of tornado procedure passed in 1979, but it wasn't enforced until last year.
"We wanted to make sure that no matter when severe weather happens, people know what to do and where to go," Boelling said.
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