SPORTS
Student Senate has recommended not to renew two-year block allocations to some campus organizations. Page 3
CAMPUS
Student smokers try to kick their habit for today's Great American Smokeout. Page 3
WINDY High 58° Low 43° Weather: Page 2.
THE UNIVER KAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAHVY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MORKKA, KS 66612
VOL.104,NO.62
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1994
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS: 864-4810
Legislator denies GTA interference
Bogina requests that complaint is dismissed
By Colleen McCain Kansan staff writer
Kansanstaffwriter
Gus Bogina, chairman of the Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee, has requested the dismissal of a complaint alleging he discouraged KU graduate teaching assistants from forming a union.
The Kansas Association of Public Employees filed the four-count complaint with the Kansas Public Employees Relations Board on Oct. 31. The complaint stated that comments attributed to Bogina in a Lawrence Journal-World article violated four subsections of the Public Employer Employee Relations Act.
But Bogina said in his response that he did not make the comments attributed to him in the complaint.
"I denv making
the alleged statements and further deny that I have made any attempt to interfere with the formation of a public employee's organization." Bogina said.
In the Journal-World article, Bogina was quoted as saying he would oppose increased funding for KU GTAs if they formed a union.
"I have never seen the Journal-World article, and I don't care to see it," Bogina said last night. "But I deny what was cited in the complaint."
Bogina's motion for dismissal and a motion for dismissal filed by the state of Kansas were released yesterday.
Bogina said in his response that he was immune from the complaint by virtue of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Kansas Constitution.
"State legislators are immune from liability for speech made within the sphere of legitimate legislative activity," he said. "I am entitled to represent my constituents to the best of my ability, and the state constitution recognizes that my speech is protected when made within my role as a legislator."
The complaint asked Bogina to cease making comments that discouraged membership in or formation of an employee organization. Bogina, though, said that engaging in free speech and debate was an essential responsibility of a legislator.
Bogina also said that he was not a public employer or the representative of a public employer as defined by labor law. The act cited in the complaint only applies to public employers and representatives of public employers.
"In carrying out this role, I may make statements which others find objectionable, but I am entitled to make them without interference from other branches of government." he said.
David Reidy, Lawrence graduate student and a leader of the GTA union movement, said Bogina's response raised two legitimate questions.
"I don't think it's clear that we're wrong," he said. "That's for the hearing officer to decide."
"The first question that needs to be addressed is whether Bogina is a representative of a public employer," Reidy said. "Another issue is whether or not a threat to cut funding qualifies as legitimate legislative debate."
Reidy said he thought that the Kansas Association of Public Employees would pursue the complaint.
Monty Bertelli, hearing officer for the Kansas Public Employees Relations Board, has scheduled a settlement conference for Dec. 5 to determine whether the parties can reach an informal settlement.
If an agreement can't be reached, both sides will have the opportunity to file briefs detailing their arguments, and a ruling should be made before Christmas. Bertelli said.
Todd "Leaper" Williams waves to fans at a football game in Memorial Stadium. Leaper has been assisting equipment managers for 25 years.
THE JAYHAWKS' BIGGEST FAN
From cleaning the toilets of Allen Field House to caring for the Jayhawks' pigskin, Todd Williams, better known as "Leaper," has dedicated his life to KU athletics. The field house custodian may work behind the scenes, but he's still one of the 'Hawks's star players.
Page 10.
Story by Christine Laue
Photos by Paul Kotz
The Kansas volleyball team defeated Kansas State in five games last night in its last home match of the season.
Victory at last!
With the keys to Allen Field House in his jacket and a Coke in his hand, Todd Williams walks under a full moon, through the quiet darkness of a Lawrence morning. The farther he walks from his house at 20th and Ousdahl streets, the closer he comes to the place that has been his home for much longer.
The KU campus welcomes Williams at 5 o'clock this chilly October morning, just as it has for the past 25 years.
He takes out the keys attached to the dirty, white sheoostring and begins his ritual of opening the doors to the dark field house where he is a custodian. After years of entering the historic building alone, Williams has become accustomed to its eerie, early-morning stillness.
"He's a pillar in the field house," says Chuck Merzbacher, the KU women's tennis coach and one of the field house regulars Williams greets daily.
Like clockwork, he opens the doors, flips the lights on and gets the place going for the joggers, athletes, secretaries, coaches and others who trickle in.
The 41-year-old Williams has been called one of KU athletics' biggest fans. He has been called a millionaire because his grandfa-
See FAN, Pages 8 and 9.
By Manny Lopez Kansan staff writer
Stolen discs often sold back to stores
Compact discs are hot for more than one reason
The compact disc resale market is hot, but for some KU students that is not a good thing.
According to police reports filed
"A lot of it was our fault because we were careless," said Shaun Powers, Wamego senior. "The guys who stole our CDs definitely resold them."
throughout this semester, there has been an increase in the number of multiple compact disc thefts. And those reports were not just about five or 10 stolen discs. Instead, students have been going home or to their cars and noticing hundreds from their collection gone.
Powers said that he and his roommate
Powers said that he now keeps a record of his compact discs and bought a lock for his bedroom door. He said that the discs were stolen by a couple of guys that were friends of his former roommate. The burglar got into the apartment through an unlocked sliding glass door and knew where the compact discs were because
Sgt. Rick Nickell of the Lawrence police said that most compact disc thefts were hard to recover because compact discs were generally unidentifiable. Local resale shops have been cooperative with police in getting stolen compact discs back in the
had 175 compact disc's stolen from their apartment in October. Losing $2,625 worth of their collection has made them more conscious of the possibility of theft.
they had occasionally stayed in the apartment, he said. Police are still investigating the case and have recovered about 40 compact discs, he said.
See RESALES. Page 5.
Multicultural center officially set to open next April
By Nathan Olson
Kansan staff writer
It's official. The multicultural center will be operational in the spring.
In addition to the official announcement of the center's grand opening, which will be April 3-7, the ceremony announced the beginning of a logo contest. The object of the contest is to create a logo for the center that addresses diversity and cultural awareness. The winning entry may become the official logo of the center.
In honor of the pending opening, about 30 people attended a ceremony held yesterday at the site of the center, an annex next to the Military Science building.
The purpose of the contest is twofold, said Milton Scott, assistant director of student housing and chair of programming for the center. The first was to get people involved in the center.
"Also, we want to get a feeling of what
diversity means to the community," he said. "The lotto will reflect those feelings."
Scott said yesterday's ceremony was planned so that the community would be informed of the center's progress.
"That way, when it opens people will have already anticipated it," he said.
A sense of community is necessary for the center, said Sherwood Thompson, director of the Office of Minority Affairs.
"If it takes only students, the center won't be successful," he said. "If it takes only faculty, it won't be successful. It will take the entire community, including Lawrence."
Eric Medill, Student Senate vice president, said that the center showed that the University of Kansas was becoming more culturally sensitive.
"It's the biggest step I've seen in four years." he said
Medill said that the speed with which the
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Sherwood Thompson, director of the Office of Minority Affairs, welcomes attendees to the official announcement of KU's multicultural center, set to open on April 3, 1995. The center will serve the community and foster an increased sense of cultural sensitivity on campus.
See CULTURE. Page 5.
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