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FUILTY
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA, KS 66612
VOL.104,NO.60
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1994
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
Inspections would assure tenants of rental quality
City program could decrease housing worries
By Carlos Tejada
Kansan staff writer
Most students renting an apartment for the first time face quite an adventure.
NEWS: 864-4810
A housing study group may have the solution for those students. Among recommendations it passed on to the Lawrence City Commission last month was a proposal to implement a voluntary inspection program. The proposed inspection program, along with a couple of other suggestions, are intended to protect students from their own ignorance in choosing a rental unit.
The commission probably will consider the proposals next month.
Voluntary inspections would help students choose better homes during their stay in Lawrence, said Shirley Martin-Snith, head of the study group. Under the program, landlords would call the city building inspector and ask for an inspection. If the landlords passed the inspection, the city would give the landlords certificates.
The landlords then would be allowed to advertise the certificate, show
ing that the rental units were city-approved. Pamphlets printed by a city task force, which also is part of the proposal, and by the KU Student Senate would encourage students to rent from those landlords first.
Housing for some students can be a less than positive experience.
"If you had a certified apartment, wouldn't you want to market that?" said Martin-Smith, former city commissioner.
and any problems corrected, Martin-Smith said.
Very few Lawrence rental units would fail inspection, said Jim Schneider, a landlord and co-author of the inspection proposal. According to the study group, about one-third of 1 percent of the rental units wouldn't meet city codes.
But getting units inspected would lead to the correction of existing problems and would make tenants feel more secure. Schneider said.
At the same time, the inspections would be legal proof that the unit had been clean and safe when it was rented out, thus protecting landlords against destructive tenants. Schneider said.
The inspections also would ease tensions between landlords and tenants, which often causes more difficulties than any problems in the rental unit. Schneider said.
The inspections would be free at first, then would be charged to the landlords as demand increased, Schneider said.
Jack Branch, attorney for the Apartment Association, a landlord group, disagreed with the housing study's suggestions. He said such inspection would result in higher costs to the landlord, who would pass the costs to the tenants.
Branch suggested that students who believed that their apartments were violating city codes should take up the issue with the owner or the city building inspector.
"That's a heck of a lot cheaper way to fix it," Branch said.
Outside-the-classroom study
Abby Westlund, Denver, Colo., sophomore, makes a charcoal sketch of her friend Betsy Lucas, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore. Although Lucas rested patiently against the tree on Daisy Hill about 30 minutes for the portrait, she said she was in a hurry to leave and watch "Ricki Lake." Westlund was making the sketch for a drawing class.
District attorney resigns post
Bv Mannv Lopez
Kansan staff writer
In a surprise announcement yesterday, Douglas County District Attorney Jerry Wells announced his resignation.
One month from today, Wells will officially leave his position as the county's top prosecutor.
"An opportunity opened up in the private sector," Wells said. "This new job gives me the opportunity for a new challenge."
KU Police Director James Denney of his decision.
He announced his decision yesterday morning after he had told Douglas County Sheriff Loren Anderson, Lawrence Police Chief Ron Olin and
Wells said he would continue to live in Lawrence but that his new job would be outside the city. He did not give details about his new position because he said he was waiting for that company to make an official announcement. Wells did say that the job would not directly be related to the practice of law but might be indirectly related.
Wells said the decision came as a complete surprise to his colleagues.
"The thing I'll miss most is working with the people in the office," he said. "I have been working with some of them for 11 years."
attorney since 1991.
Wells began working in the Douglas County District Attorney's office as an assistant district attorney in 1983. He has been district
The Douglas County Republican Central Committee will appoint his successor, who will hold the job until the office is up for election in 1996.
"This new job came to fruition over the weekend," Wells said. "I had been talking with the people at this company for a couple of weeks. The decision was not easy to make."
Anderson said Wells' departure would directly effect his office, but he said he was not worried about the transition.
"It sounds like this new job is a good opportunity for Jerry," Anderson said. "Of course we're sorry to see him leave, but we wish him luck."
APEC talks a success for Clinton
Asian nations support North Korean freeze
The Associated Press
JAKARTA, Indonesia — In an orchestrated show of unity, President Clinton won pledges yesterday from China, Japan and South Korea to keep the pressure on North Korea to freeze its suspected nuclear weapons program.
Clinton, after one-on-one talks with presidents and prime ministers, said North Korea's neighbors offered their strong support for the accord to freeze and ultimately dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Clinton said the plan, providing North Korea with alternate fuels and new light-water reactors for giving up its nuclear program, would require a lot of efforts on several fronts.
Perhaps the thorniest question is how to divide the estimated $4 billion cost of the deal. Japan and South Korea are expected to shoulder most of the burden.
After one-on-one talks and a ceremonial dinner opening the 18-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Clinton met again yesterday night with Japanese Prime Minister Toniichi Murayama and South Korean President Kim Young-Sam at their request to further discuss the nuclear accord.
Administration officials said the session had been intended to help underscore the importance of the agreement to the United States in order to help Murayama and Kim sell the deal at home.
The Asian and Pacific leaders were expected to endorse today a blueprint for a free-trade pact that would tear down trade barriers across the Pacific Rim over the next quarter-century.
Clinton, on his second trip abroad in recent weeks, was closely questioned by his foreign counterparts on last week's GOP election sweep. Pledging cooperation with Republicans, Clinton said, "My strategy will be to have an open door and to have a lot of contact."
Still jet-lagged after back-to-back trips to the Middle East and Asia with nonstop campaigning in between, Clinton joked. "I think I'm still somewhere between Jordan and Jerusalem."
Clinton held a news conference in a lush garden at the U.S. ambassador's residence where his remarks mixed with the whistles of song birds.
He brushed aside objections from allies about halting American enforcement of the Bosnian arms embargo. Clinton portrayed his move as preferable to an outright revocation of the arms ban, insisting "We are not violating the arms embargo."
Asia is the world's fastest growing economic region, and U.S. trade across the Pacific is three times as large as that with European nations.
U. S. officials predicted endorsement today of a statement calling for "open and free trade" throughout the region by the year 2020. Industrial companies would try to achieve the goal by 2010 while less-developed countries and newly developed nations would aim at the 2020 target.
The North Korean accord and trade took precedence over U.S. concerns about human rights problems in China. Human rights issues have receded since Clinton granted China most-favored-nation trade status last May without regard to its human rights conduct.
Defending his approach, Clinton said the United States, perhaps more than any other country, consistently and regularly raises human rights issues.
A roll of the dice
As states legalize everything from lottery tickets to riverboat casinos, the odds of gambling becoming a problem increase.
Page 6B.
Program ups minority enrollment at Med Center
By Nathan Olson
Kansan staff writer
Minority enrollment at the Med Center is up 6.8 percent from last year, according to the center's enrollment figures. Official enrollment is taken on the 20th day of classes.
Once again, more and more minority students seem to be finding their places at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Melvin Williams, director of Affirmative Action, said that the Med Center, which is composed of the medical school, the nursing school, the allied health center and the medical graduate school, was taking positive steps to increase minority enrollment.
"Our Health Careers Pathways Program helps recruit students who look to be qualified." Williams said.
Recruitment doesn't simply begin when the student obtains a bachelor's degree, he said.
KUMC Minorities Minority enrollment at the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City has increased since 1992.
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
"We identify some students as early as high school," he said. "We give them information on what they need for medical school."
The post-baccalaureate program also helped recruit minority students, Williams said. In it, students who would not automatically have qualified for admission into the medical school are enrolled in a 16-
If the student successfully completes the requirements of the program, he or she is accepted into medical school.
month program spanning two summers and one academic year. The school pays for the students' tuition, room and board.
The first summer is an intensive review of the Medical College Admission Test. During the academic year, the student takes classes to prepare for medical school. During the second summer the student enrolls in a prematriculation program.
Another reason minority enrollment has increased is Shadrach Smith, associate dean for minority affairs in the medical school. Smith's position was created four years ago to increase minority enrollment
"The program began four years ago." Williams said. "Since then, of the 28 students who have been admitted into the program, only two didn't go to medical school."
Smith said the retention of minority students was extremely important because they created a positive atmosphere for potential recruits.
"Previously, there would only be one or two minority students," Smith said. "There was no support system for them. Now there is."
Smith said that the graduation rate of minority students at the Med Center was 94 percent. The national average for all students is 90 percent. The national average for minority students is 50 percent.
and to retain minority students.
Smith said one reason the retention level was so high at the Med Center was because many minority students were interested in the social side of medicine.
instead of going into medicine for the money they can earn, many minorities here — I would say around 80 percent — are interested in what they can do for people," he said.
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