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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008
Professors live in campus matrimony
BY RUSTIN DODD dodd@kansan.com
dodd@kansan.com
Marta and Byron Caminero-
Santangelo have lived by a simple rule during their seven years at the University of Kansas. Marta, an associate professor in the English department, and Byron, the director of graduate studies in the English department, have made sure to alternate their class schedules. Somebody
has to be there if one of their two children gets sick.
"We almost never see each other at work because we work on alternate schedules," Marta said. "We're superman and Clark Kent."
weighed the negatives.
"Your spouse understands your work experiences. They know what you're talking about."
Marta and Byron, who have been married since 1991 and have two children, Nicola and Gabriel, went to graduate school together at the University of California Irvine. Marta
The Caminero-Santangelo has worked in the University's English department since 1997, but their arrangement is hardly unique. Marta and Byron are joined by five other husband and wife duos in the English department.
"Your spouse understands your work experiences," Hull said. "They know what you're talking about. Being able to talk about your workday at night is a great way to celebrate the day."
VICKIE HULL Family therapist
Vickie Hull, a licensed marriage and family therapist for Lawrence Therapy Services, said she's had experience with married couples who share the same work environment, and generally the positives out-
said that years people spend in graduate school could possibly explain why so many professors and academics end up together.
"When you're in grad school, it's not like you're meeting a whole lot of people
other than the people you're in grad school with," Marta said. "And those people are naturally going to be interesting to you because they're smart, intellectual and have some other similar interests."
Marta and Byron Caminero-Santangelo with their children, Nicola and Gabriel. Marta and Byron both work in the English department and face the challenges and rewards of working with 30 students.
After graduate school, Marta and Byron moved to DePaul University in Chicago in 1995. Two years later, the University of Kansas offered Byron a job with a potential for tenure. Byron negotiated for his wife, and Marta joined him at the University.
"We hit the academics jackpot," Byron said.
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"It's not like New York, where there's 5,000 other Universities around," Marta said. "If you're going to attract part of an academic couple here, there probably has to be something for the other side of the academic couple."
Byron said it sometimes can be tough for spouses to both find jobs at the same university.
"It worked out well for us, but obviously the difficulty for some
Marta said that the University had been great about accommodating spouses—partly because they have to be.
But Hull said there were potential drawbacks to working with your spouse.
couples to both find jobs is a major drawback." Byron said.
"I think the biggest thing is understanding what the boundaries are," Hull said. "And role definition, whose job is it to do what."
"You want to make sure you're not airing laundry at work."
But for Byron, working in the same department with his spouse has its rewards.
Hull said spouses should keep their co-workers in mind.
Byron said when you work in the same department as your wife, it sometimes can be difficult to get
"Just having a sympathetic ear, and getting helpful feedback, and sharing ideas about teaching?" Byron said.
Marta agreed.
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away from work.
"You have stuff to talk about and you have a common ground level of similar interests and commitments," Marta said. "We just understand each other."
》LEGISLATION
Edited by Madeline Hyden
Alcohol ordinance proposed
If downtown business owners get their way, students may be allowed to take their beers outside their favorite bars on Massachusetts Street.
City staff members are looking into revising an ordinance that prohibits downtown drinking establishments from serving alcohol outside without a sidewalk dining license.
Business owners vie for a more lenient alcohol policy
ANDY GREENHAW
agreenhaw@kansan.com
Under an ordinance, which was enacted in 1993, in order for an establishment to be eligible for a sidewalk dining license, it must show that at least 70 percent of its sales come from food or non-alcoholic beverages.
Many downtown business owners, including Peach Model, owner of The Sandbar, said the 70 percent food sales requirement is next to impossible for most downtown drinking establishments to meet.
"The size of our restaurant makes it hard to comply with the food
sales requirement," Model said at last week's city commission meeting. "We have a really great design in mind for a front patio, but we can't
meet the requirements for it to be legal."
City staff members are analyzing a number of possibilities, including lowering the food sales requirement, exempting existing businesses from the requirement or simply eliminating the requirement.
Most commis-
ment is already downtown businesses need in order to serve any alcohol, unless the establishment existed before the ordinance was
"We have to cap off the number of people who come into the bar at a number much lower than our occupancy or else we'll risk making too much money from alcohol,"
BRENT PIEPERGERDES Henry's Owner
stationers at last Tuesday's city commission meeting seemed to favor dropping the food sales requirement to 55 percent.
A 55 percent food sales require
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passed in 1994.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
In other words, lowering the food sales requirement to 55 percent does little or nothing to help downtown
Iowa State Jan. 23
Nebraska Jan. 26
Missouri Feb. 4
Colorado Feb 16
K-State Mar. 1
Texas Tech Mar. 3
As city commissioner Mike Amyx said at last Tuesday's meeting, most drinking establishments were having trouble meeting that requirement as well.
bar owners who want outside dining
In fact, many downtown business owners such as Brent Piepergerders, owner of Henry's on Eighth Street, said they wanted big revisions to that ordinance as well.
Requiring a business to make sure 55 percent of its sales come from food puts an artificial cap on the amount a business is allowed to collect all together, said Piepergeerdz
"We have to cap off the number of people who come into the bar at a number much lower than our occupancy or else we'll risk making too much money from alcohol," he said. "Someone who's likely to buy two or three beers upstairs is unlikely to buy two or three mothas downstairs to offset the income from the beers."
According to city manager David Corliss, the commission enacted the ordinance because it was afraid more bars would open than what was best for the city.
Piepergierdes said he thought the best action would be to allow a one-time exemption of every business on Massachusetts street from the ordinance—a strategy that was used when city commissioners first enacted the ordinance in 1994.
City planners are reviewing the two ordinances and looking at any possible revisions—a process that city communications manager Lisa Patterson said could take several weeks.
Edited by Nick Manglaracina