THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008
STUDENT SENATE ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES FOR SPRING SEMESTER
CAMPUS
University hires cancer researcher
SEE CAMPUS ON PAGE 5A
When Blake Peterson moved out of his parent's house when he was 16, he knew his life would be difficult. In high school and in college he held jobs as a pizza delivery driver, a car detailer, a dishwasher for a Hilton hotel, at McDonalds, Orange Julius and at a gun distribution center, just to name a few. Today Peterson is a leading cancer researcher and one of the newest additions to the University of Kansas faculty.
Fire department on standby for floods
weather
RAIN ROLLS THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
FULL AP STORY PAGE 5A
PAGE 4A
VOLUME 118 ISSUE 83
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2007The University Daily Kansan
index
Classifieds...3B
Crossword...6A
Horoscopes...6A
Opinion...7A
Snorts...1B
Sudoku...6A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Governor Sebelius is asking the Kansas Legislature to support Chancellor Hemenway's suggested improvements for the University this year. Hemenway listed the deferred maintenance of the utility tunnels as a top priority.
CAMPUS
Chancellor lists University's priorities Governor asks Legislature to support Hemenway's request for funding
Kansan File Photo
BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambers@kansan.com
Funding deferred maintenance was at the top of the University's to-do list again this year.
In his Jan. 7 KU looks ahead e-mail to the University's faculty and alumni, Chancellor Robert Hemenway named deferred maintenance, expanding the School of Pharmacy and obtaining a National Cancer Institute designation as several of the University's top priorities.
Hemenay said the University's proposals would help the University continue to work for Kansas. The following week, in her Jan. 14. State of the State speech, Governor Kathleen Sebelius showed her approval of the University's requests by asking the Legislature to support those three priorities.
Sebelius asked the Legislature to donate $5 million of its budget to the University for cancer research. She also asked the Legislature to donate $50 million to the University to build a new School of Pharmacy in Lawrence and a new floor for pharmacy at the School of Medicine-Wichita, as well as an additional $1 million for administrative costs for the two schools.
Jim Modig, director of design and construction management said that last year the Legislature donated about $32.9 million to the University for deferred maintenance as part of a five-year plan. However, Hemenway estimated the deferred maintenance would cost the University about $230 million.
Hemenay said the utility tunnels at the University constitute the bulk of the deferred maintenance. He said it would cost at least $100 million to fix the tunnels. Modig said the Legislature allotted only $8.8 million over the next several years to the University to fix the tunnels.
The University runs all of its pipes, including heating, electrical and ventilation, through the tunnels, which range from 20-45 feet below the ground. Modig said several of the tunnels were falling structurally. He said the bottoms of the tunnels were rusting away and would collapse if they were not repaired
Menenway said the deferred maintenance of the tunnels may not appear to be a huge concern to the state and to citizens, but if there was a malfunction in the tunnels, the University would have to shut down entire buildings or services.
Hemenway said several years ago a malfunction forced the University to rent generators to power Watson Library and Stauffer
Flint Hall, where the School of Journalism is located. He said the University had to take money away from other major projects to solve that crisis.
"It becomes an interesting question," Hemenway said. "Do you make sure the students have the environment that enables them to study, or let something bad happen so the students go to the Legislature and ask them for more money."
Hemenway said the University hopes someone will donate money to the University specifically for deferred maintenance. If that does not happen, Hemenway said the deferred maintenance would simply have to be delayed until the next year when the University will request additional funds from the state.
Hemenway said the University had worked on receiving a National Cancer Institute designation for four years. He said he thinks it will be a few more years before the University meets the benchmarks established by the National Cancer Institute to be named a comprehensive cancer center. Hemenway said the designation is important to him because he wants the University to be known as a place where people can successfully be treated for cancer.
"There is an inherent benefit that comes to students because students will be touched by cancer"
Hemenway said obtaining a new School of Pharmacy at the University is of the utmost importance because the school is the only one in Kansas. He said the 'University is
obligated to make sure there are an appropriate number of pharmacists in Kansas. Hemenway said six counties in Kansas have no pharmacists and additional 30 have only one.
Barbara Ballard, Lawrence's state representative, said she was not positive that the Legislature would donate the funds the governor requested to the University because the state was working with a small budget this year. She said she had not heard any negative statements from her fellow representatives about the governor's requests and as far as she knew the majority of the Legislature thinks the chancellor and governor's priorities will benefit the entire state.
Edited by Sasha Roe
STUDENT HOUSING
Residence hall designs under slow construction
Renovations were completed on Hashinger Hall in 2006. Four halls remain
to be renovated, but no plans have been finalized.
SEE STUDENT HOUSING ON PAGE 8A
CAMPUS
Professor gets two-story lab
The University of Kansas has begun construction on a multi-million dollar lab built specifically for Blake Peterson, professor of medicinal chemistry, Peterson joined the faculty in the School of Pharmacy this semester. The Kansas Bioscience Authority allocated $5 million, to build the lab.
Peterson's work is expected to make important advances in cancer research and the development of cancer drugs.
SEE CAMPUSON PAGE SA
STUDENT SENATE
Coalition announces candidates
United Students announced its candidates for president and vice president of Student Senate last night at its first meeting of the semester. The coalition also wants to seek more student input, and visit different student organizations, to find out what students want from Senate.
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
SEE STUDENT SENATE ON PAGE 4A
》 MAINTENANCE
An unknown vandal has been ripping the handles off the doors of Tower C in Jayhawker Towers. A sign was posted in an attempt to deter further vandalism of the buildings.
Broken handles trouble Towers
A vandal has been ripping door handles off the lajayhower Towers. Housing doesn't
know who's doing it, and residents are suf-
fering the consequences.
SEE MAINTENANCE ON PAGE 4A