CAMPUS
The Lawrence fire department responded to a call Friday about an acidic smell coming from Malott Hall. Page 5A
FEATURES
Auditions for University Theatre brought out the performers in a few KU students. Page 8A
CLOUDY High 44° Low 43° Weather: Page 2A.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.104.NO.78
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1995
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
The downward spiral
A count of students Wednesday showed that enrollment at the University of Kansas was at its lowest mark in the last five spring semesters.
Kelly Cannon/KANSAN
Source: University Relations
Enrollment declines by 839 students
Figures show largest drop in five years; Shankel says decrease is disappointing
By Matt Hood
Kansan staff writer
Enrollment at the University of Kansas has fallen to its lowest mark in five spring semesters, according to opening-day figures released Friday.
A tally of students Wednesday showed that enrollment for Spring 1996 was 25,240 for all campuses, including the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and the Regents Center in Overland Park.
Enrollment for all campuses in Spring 1994 was 26,079. The 839-student drop is the largest decrease between spring semesters in five years.
In Fall 1994, enrollment dropped by more than 1,000 students from Fall 1993.
The drop in the number of students — and the subsequent drop in tuition money — prompted Gov. Bill Graves to include a request for an additional $3.2 million for KU in his proposed budget for 1996.
In the past, administrators have blamed the declining enrollment on a smaller number of graduating high school seniors in Kansas and increases in nonresident tuition.
Chancellor Del Shankel said that he had allocated additional University resources to bolster student recruitment and that incoming Chancellor Robert Hemenway would tackle the issue of reversing the enrollment slide.
Shankel said he was disappointed by the drop in enrollment.
"I wish we hadn't had the enrollment drop that we had this year," he said. "It's something that we're working hard to reverse for next year."
Enrollment at KU's Lawrence campus declined by 1,041 students, from 22,360 in Spring 1994 to 21,319 this semester.
Enrollment at the Med Center slipped by 17 students, but enrollment at the Regents Center in Overland Park increased by 219 students.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
'The Mayor' cashes in
Iowa State senior guard Fred Hoiberg scored 32 points to lead the Cyclones past the Kansas men's basketball team 69-65. Hoiberg scored 17 of his team's last 19 points in the game.
Page 1B.
King's dream is not an excuse, speaker says
Sean R. Crosier/
KANSAN
Julian Bond,
a civil rights
advocate,
spoke to a
packed
house Saturday
night in the
Kansas
Union Ball-
room. He
spoke on the
civil rights
movement,
both past
and present,
as part of
the events
commemorating Martin
Luther King Jr.'s birth-
day
Civil-rights leader of the'60s hopes today's students learn from the past
Paulo
Eskithck/
KANSAN
Virginia
Smith sings
in honor of
Martin
Luther King,
Jr. at the
10th annual
Gospel Musical.
The musical was conducted
Sunday at
the Free
Methodist
Church.
Julian Bond said Martin Luther King Jr.'s efforts 30 years ago have become an excuse for African Americans to be passive today.
By Eduardo A. Molina Kansan staff writer
Paulo Eskitch/KANSAN
Bond, guest speaker for the 10th annual Martin Luther King banquet celebration, studied English at Morehouse College in Atlanta. While there, he took a philosophy class taught by King.
He spoke to an audience of about 350 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
He said that Africa today used King's teachings as a crutch in their everyday lives.
"We know Martin Luther King as the preacher who had a dream, but he was much more than that," Bond said. "And the movement was more than Martin Luther King. But now his memory is a substitute for action."
Bond, a civil-rights activist who staged sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Atlanta during the
1960s, said the success of the movement in the past was the result of an effort of thousands of people who worked hard to register voters and organize people in every town.
history was important to know where African Americans have been and where they will go.
He teaches students the history of a movement that gave freedom to his race.
"My students are modern young men and women," Bond said. "They are built with all the cynicism and despair of their age. Facts don't always convince them that these times are better."
"Our job is to smooth the way of those who come behind us as many smoothed our way to be here," Bond said.
Alexandra Leblanc, New Orleans freshman, said Bond's speech taught her that hatred does not accomplish anything.
He also said the continuing disparity between African Americans and Caucasians in the United States was not the result of their choices. The economic system depends on class division, and racism is a way to maintain this division, he said.
"If racism is the cause, its elimination is the solution," he said.
”
Julian Bond Civil-rights activist
Malik Thompson, Lawrence High
Bond also said that the study of
School student, said Bond's message was important to the continuation of the movement started by other generations.
"We need to learn from our predecessors," Thompson said. "The way they faced problems gives us the tools to continue the struggle in the next century."
Rhonda Gray, Kansas City, Kan., senior, said Bond's speech was a great inspiration.
"This message enlightened me because I learned about many issues I was not aware of," Gray said. "He motivated me to continue the struggle with simple things like staying at school."
Bond also had some words for Fred Phelps, the Topeka minister who protested Bond's speech outside the Kansas Union.
"I know some of you coming into this building had to pass the so-called Rev. Phelps, "Bond said."His words don't hurt me. I've been called worse things from better people."
Med Center studies contraceptive
Kansan staff wjriter
By Robert Allen
Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center are conducting an experiment to determine whether the contraceptive Depo-Provera causes a loss in bone mass in women who use it.
Upjohn, the maker of Depo-Provera, is sponsoring the five-year study. The Food and Drug Administration mandated the study after approving Depo-Provera in 1992.
"A study in New Zealand looked at patients on Depo-Provera and showed lower estrogen levels in them," she said. "The loss of estrogen has been postulated as increasing the chance of osteoporosis."
But Valerie Montgomery Rice, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the Med Center, said she did not believe that the contraceptive caused bone mass to decrease.
Montgomery Rice said that with Depo-Provera, "you may see a decrease in estrogen, but not to the extent of developing osteoporosis."
Depo-Provera works by preventing the egg from being released by the ovaries, Montgomery Rice said. It also changes the lining of the uterus, preventing an embryo from attaching to the uterus wall.
Osteoporosis is a decrease in bone mineral density which can lead to fractures. It occurs mostly in the spine.
Depo-Provera is a synthetic form of the female hormone progesterone. It is injected in the arm or buttocks. One shot lasts three months.
"It's becoming more accepted because it's an injection, and the woman has to go and get the infection." she said.
If Depo-Provera does contribute to loss of bone mass, Montgomery Rice said, there are simple things a woman can do to counteract the loss.
"You can take calcium supplementation, increase milk intake and walk, jog or lift weights," she said.
As with all contraceptives, there are some side effects. Bleeding between periods, bloating or weight gain can occur, Montgomery Rice said. Side effects usually disappear within three to six months, she said.
Since Dec. 1, 10 women have enrolled for the experiment, Montgomery Rice said. Thirty more women are needed.
Bye-bye, baby
Source: Watkins Health Center
Every volunteer receives a physical exam, a Pap smear, a bone mineral density study and a blood study. Montgomery Rice said. If they pass the screening, they receive their first injection
Below is the percentage of women who experience an accidental pregnancy in the first year of continual, correct use of the following contraceptives.
Kelly Cannon/KANSAN
of Depo-Provera within two weeks, she said.
To participate in the experiment, volunteers must be women between ages 25 and 35 who have regular periods. Participants will receive annual physical examinations and may be reimbursed for transportation and child care.
"The study is to the patient's benefit," Montgomery Rice said. "They get free Pap smears and examinations for 5 years."
Henry Buck, gynecologist at Watkins Health Center, said Depo-Provera had been used for purposes other than contraception for decades.
"I used it early on in private practice, around '64 or '65, for cancer of the lining of the uterus," he said. "It was approved by the FDA in late 1992 for contraceptive use. Other countries have used it as a contrace-
ive for 20 years."
Buck said that Depo-Provera had also been used in males convicted of molestation or rape.
Both the Med Center and Watkins have been dispensing Depo-Provera since it was approved by the FDA. In 1994, between June and Dec. 1, 116 shots of Depo-Provera were given by Watkins Pharmacy. For KU students enrolled in seven hours or more, one shot costs $29.40.
Buck does not recommend Depo-Provera as a starting contraceptive.
"If you give Depo-Provera to a man, it totally knocks out their sexual desire," he said.
"That sort of stuff is very controversial."
"We're honest about the possible side effects," he said. "There is absolutely nothing to do but wait for the side effects to disappear."
Company discontinues contraceptive
The Today Sponge, an over-the-counter contraceptive barrier, has been discontinued by its maker because of new government safety rules.
By Robert Allen Kansan staff writer
Whitehall-Robins Healthcare said last week that it would no longer produce the sponge because it would cost too much to comply with the new rules.
The Food and Drug Administration said last year that it found unacceptably high bacteria levels in water and air at the Hammonton, N.J. plant where the sponge was made.
But Beth Frederick, representative for the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization in New York, said the sponge was needed.
"For women who had problems with hormonal methods or weren't in a position to use a condom or had difficulty with an IUD or no physician, it has a lot of advantage," she said. "It was over the counter, and it was woman-controlled, and limiting choice is never a good thing."
Sandy Hadl, a nurse at Watkins Health Center, said she was not sad to see the sponge taken off the market.
"Used alone, it is not very effective," she said. "There were problems with removal. We didn't usually recommend it."
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.