Custodians unsure harder work is smarter
By TIMOTHY TANKARD
Staff Writer
Bob Dylan once said, "You don't need a weather-man to know which way the wind blows." But if Dylan were to wet his finger and hold it in Facilities Operations, he very possibly would call for one.
"You say you're askin' about the custodial problem?" said one woman in the facilities personnel office yesterday. "I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole."
The housekeeping department has the highest turnover rate of any department at the University of Kansas, running as high as 45 percent in recent years, according to James Feldstein, KU director of central
THE ABSENTE BATE rate averages about 10 percent a day. On payday last Friday, 23 out of 119 custodians did not show up for work. The following Monday, 26 were absent.
"We had a guy come in her two weeks ago," Jack Beerbower, head custodial supervisor, said, "and he
kept sayin', 'oh man I need this job.' We put him, to work and after two hours, he quit. *wr
Last Dec. 1, KU signed a two-year contract with American Management Services. American Management promised to create job description lists for employees, buy uniforms, replace KU equipment with their own and generally transform the department into a more efficient operation.
ACCORDING TO the contract, KU now is paying American Management $7,344 a month for the services. Dan Thurston, assistant American Management director at KU, said that American Management's objective at KU was to teach custodians to work "smarter, not harder."
But some custodians remain unconvinced. Lucille
Lee, a custodian who works in Fraser Hall—one of the buildings in which Facilities Operations says American Management changes already have been implemented—said that in her building there used to be a custodian for each floor, but American management cut it down to one custodian for every two floors.
"I don't mind the extra work," she said, "but on the other hand, I don't believe the changes they've made in equipment and scheduling have made any difference. Sometimes it's a hindrance."
LEE SAID that her job description instructed her to vacuum all carpets every day.
"Well I got 36 rugs and if I vacuum every one of them every day, I never get nothing else done. That is my job."
Mildred Pryor, custodial supervisor, said that she had been trying to enforce the schedule, but that sometimes it was impractical. The schedules, made by American Management officials with the help of
Lee said that the only new equipment she had received had been a cart and some cleaning chemicals. Another custodian, Corliss Beerbower, said the same thing.
custodial supervisors, tell the worker what to clean and how often to clean it.
"FM ARAFID of those new chemicals," she said, "I don't know nothing about them, except that some of them are toxic."
Thirston said that instructions for using the new cleaning chemicals eventually would be tapped onto the equipment.
"But we are still in the process of getting that information out to every employee."
"We have instructed the supervisors and shown them films on how to use the new supplies." Thirston
Jack Beerbower said that so far he could not see any changes in work efficiency as a result of new training.
"THEY BROUGHT in this new cleaning stuff a
couple months ago and the guy who was directing back then told us it was floor scrub soap. Beerboomer
"So we started scrubbing floors with it and found out it was eating away the wax.
"Finally me and Dan Thurston figured out that it was supposed to be for walls and fixtures and so we
Inventory records show that before American Management, the housekeeping department had about 189 vacuum sweepers and 99 buffers. The equipment is supposed to reduce KL equipment with its pen.
He also said that more than 50 percent of the equipment American Management had brought in.
SO FAR about 60 vaccums, 40 buffers and three scrub machines have been purchased. Beerowder said that very little of the older equipment had been弃出ed.
KANSAN
Vol. 88, No.123
See CUSTODIANS page 12
Lawrence, Kansas
Staff Photo by TIM ASHNER
Thursday April 6,1978
Spring solitude
Camouflage roofs are a favorite resting place for all types of birds, especially pigeons. This one sat all alone yesterday on the tile roof of Flint Hall.
Student Senate hears groups' budget requests
Staff Writer
By GENE LINN And SARAH TOEVS
Student Senate committees finished their third night of budget hearings last night listening to more group requests and making further recommendations for
The Cultural Affairs Committee discussed with members of the International Club its request for $9,860, but asked that the club return tonight with more detailed line item requests before the committee could make as recommendation to the Senate.
The International Club serves as a mother organization for nine smaller organizations representing various nations, according to Bahram Ghadak, president.
The committee made the request because
of problems the Senate has had the past year with the International Club making
Much of the club's problem exists because the club doesn't have a treasurer this year, and you don't want to.
"WITHOUT a treasurer, its hard for us to see how money is to be allocated," she said. "At this point I don't think we can make a plan to ensure we allocate and have it be a success for the club."
But Ghadak didn't agree that the problem was a lack of accountability on the part of them.
"We've always had big fights with the Senate because they don't think American students will benefit from foreign student activities," he said.
The committee requested that the club's
budget be itemized according to each national group's needs so money can be allocated directly to the groups rather than through the International Club, as it has
See related story page five.
Victor Archibong, a club representative,
at the request was a subtle way of
bringing attention to his work.
"INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS are becoming increasingly important on this campus, but you want to break up the foreign student population on campus." he
The International Club has approximately 200 members, and 1,655 students belong to the various national groups. There are approximately 1,700 foreign students at KU.
Club representatives agreed to itemize their requests and will appear again before the next meeting.
GRADUATE STUDENT Council, which presented its requests Tuesday, returned a record of 42 votes.
The Academic Affairs Committee voted to recommend that the Kansas Defender Project, a law students group that receives academic credit for giving legal aid to Leavenworth inmates, be given a $400 supplementary allocation for fiscal 1978.
The committee heard requests from several groups including SCORMEBE, an organization that actively recruits black engineering students. The group requested
If the Senate approves, the group will get the money immediately.
House approves Regents' budget
By TIMSHEEHY
By TIM SHEEHY Staff Writer
TOPEKA—The Kansas House of Representatives gave final approval yesterday to the budget for the six Kansas Board of Regents' universities for fiscal year 1979, but added two amendments to the bill
The first amendment, by State Rep. Mike Glover, D-Lawrence, reinvested $383,000 cut by the Senate from Gov. Robert F. Bennett's recommendation. The funds were requested to keep student salaries in line with minimum wage increases.
The second amendment to the bill, by State Rep. Robert Miller, R-Wellington, would extend a contractual agreement between the University of Kansas and the Creighton School of Dentistry in Omaha for an additional year.
Without the amendment, the contract would have been discontinued after next
Creighton currently reserves 10 slots each year for Kansas dental students. KU pays
Bennett originally recommended $615,234 to adjust student salaries in accordance with the minimum wage increase to $2.65 an hour that became effective Jan. 1. The request would have further increased wages for staff members and staff in the maximum wage that will go into effect Jan. 1, 1979.
THE SENATE cut that amount to $232,349, or a seven percent increase over last year. The state is only obligated to pay students 85 percent of the minimum wage.
The seven percent increase would set student salaries at 85 percent of the $2.90 per hour.
Glover said that he opposed paying student less than the minimum wage. He said he would not pay.
their way through school of a large source of financial aid.
"If we don't adopt this amendment or any other amendment," Glover said, "Regents institutions will be faced next fall with the decision of cutting the number of student jobs and paying them $2.65 an hour, or giving them a third position and paying them $2.47 an hour."
The budget bill goes to the Senate today for consideration of changes made by the House as a whole and also several changes proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee.
THE SEVEN percent increase recommended by the Senate translates to an hourly wage of $2.47 an hour. A supplemental allocation has been passed by the state to raise student salaries to $2.65 an hour but only through this year.
State Rep. Ruth Wilkin, D-Teorka, said that she supported the amendment because she thought it was unfair to reduce student loan eligibility by making a 25 percent increase in tuition this year.
Glover said he was reasonably certain that the Senate would vote not to accept the changes made by the House and that a conference committee would be formed to make that decision.
GLOVER SAID that the task now was to maintain increased funding for student achievement.
Cocaine dealers, users call accessibility high locally
The House Ways and Means Committee Monday restored half of the governor's recommended $311,181 increase for women's athletics at the six Regents' schools. The Senate had reduced the in funding for women's athletics to $46,833.
Bv TOM RAMSTACK
The House approved measures in the budget that would give KU faculty members a 7 percent wage raise and also make waiver for graduate teaching assistants.
Staff Writer
The quality, availability and use of cocaine in Lawrence is goin', sources on the job.
One man who identified himself as a cocaine dealer said, "Two or three years ago it was hard to get. 'It's not that hard to getnow.'
The dealer agreed with another man who uses cocaine that there are at least two pounds of the drug now being distributed in Lawrence.
Two pounds of cocaine would have a street
value of about $40,000 to $50,000, the dealer
said.
THE DEALER estimated that there were about 50 people in Lawrence who received weekly shipments of cocaine. He also said that nearly one-third were at level or another, numbered in the hundreds.
The current price for medium quality cocaine, according to several of the sources, is from $10 to $110 for one gram, from $400 to $800 for ounce and from $1,700 to $3,000 for ounce.
"I think somebody in customs is getting paid off and there's organized crime involved so much is getting through," one user said.
Also the dealer agreed with a user who said, "Some people in Lawrence and people who come here from other cities have their college degrees," from Colombia and they dock in Florida."
But there are three or four people who are the main suppliers for Lawrence, according to
The House Ways and Means Committee deleted $125,000 dollars added to the bill by the Senate for planning a renovation of Lindley Hall.
ONE GRAM of cocaine yields from 15 to 20 high, the dealer said.
Cocaine is a crystalline substance, usually white, made from the leaves of the coccus *Echinacea* .
The price of cocaine, however, varies with the degree or purity.
The House also passed appropriations in the budget for capital improvements at KU including: $100,000 planning funds for a new power plant; $250,000 for renovating Summerfield Hall; and $26,000 for every conserving projects.
some similarly colored crystalline substance that makes it appear that there is a larger amount of cocaine. They can then sell them to someone else and profit more large profit if they sold puxe cocaine.
Sometimes cocaine may have a pink or yellow tint, depending on what chemicals were used to refine it in a laboratory, according to a user.
Dealers usually dilute it by mixing in
A user said that procaine was an inexpensive local anesthetic that makes the lips feel numb when mixed with cocaine. Inexperienced users often think that the numbness is due to greater purity of the cocaine, he said.
SOME OF THE substances used to dilute cocaine are milk sugar or lactose, salt, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and procaine, an undercover agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, said Monday. The agent called himself Scott.
Cocaine diluted with baking powder or salt sometimes leaves the user feeling sick afterward. Lactose-diluted cocaine is said to be the least harmful, according to a user.
SOME OF THE cocaine in Lawrence is synthetic and illegally bought from pharmaceutical supply houses, two of the sources said.
An ounce of cocaine could be bought from a pharmaceutical supply house for about $30 to $5 and sold for $2,000 on the street, a dealer said.
State Rep. John Vogel and Lloyd Burzi, Lawrence, in favor of the bill. Glower
The medium quality cocaine being sold in lawrence, he said, is about 50 to 60 percent pure.
Scott said that the cocaine in Lawrence varied in purity from 10 to 85 percent.
“It’s a lot better than anything around because it’s so sure,” a user said.
ALL THE SOURCES agreed that cocaine was going up in price as well as usage.
"Five years ago what you would pay $100
you could get for $65 to $75," one
lady said.
But he also said that the price had stabilized within the last year and a half.
The dealer said that most people who received weekly shipments of cocaine in Lawrence earn from $15,000 to $20,000 a year.
"I know a few who are making a living off of it and putting themselves through school," he said. "They're living pretty well. They own houses and cars."
Malone also said that there had been four cocaine-related arrests since Jan. 1. In 1977 there were two arrests and in previous years there were never more than three.
POSSESSION OR sale of cocaine is a class C felony, which carries a penalty of one to twenty years in jail or $10,000 or both, according to Mike Malone, county attorney.
But, he said, "Penalties are so extreme that people are careful who they deal with."
One user said that cocaine gave a feeling of "exhilarated performance." He also said that it gave a numbing feeling and that a high usually lasted from 30 to 90 minutes.
mind. I think it's psychologically adjective.
You feel like nothing else has any purpose.
I can't believe you do that.
The dealer said that cocaine was similar in effect to "good speed," an amphetamine, which sells for about $50 to $60 per gram but that cocaine was preferable.
"You can really get burnt out on speed.
That doesn't happen on cocaine," he said.
HE ALSO SAID that cocaine made the HEL ALOA said whereas speed gave a feeling of nervousness.
"If you inject it, it's more intense," he said.
A user said the cocaine could either be injected in a vein or snorted through the nose.
He said, however, that snorting cocaine could erode the inner nose.
Editor's note: Of the unidentified sources used to collect the information in this story, except for the KBI agent, all admit illegal use of their information. All were rested at least once on drug-related charges.
Martin Wollmann, director of Watkins Hospital, said in the four years that he had been a doctor at Watkins, he had seen no cases of cocaine overdose.
"There have been reports of people who have holes in the septum of the nose," he said.
A user said of the effect of cocaine, "It puts an edge on things, and you can fall either way on the edge. You can fall up or you can fall down. It really works on your
-UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN-
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN News Capsules
From the Associated Press, United Press International
Treaty blocked in Senate
WASHINGTON—An effort by Panama Canal treaty opponents to help their cause by bringing the House in on deciding the fate of the waterway was blocked yesterday in the Senate. The Senate by a vote of 58-37 rejected a proposed amendment that would have required both the Senate and the House to vote on the proposed turnover of the canal by the year 2000. Treaty opponents apparently believe the House has a majority opposing the pacts.
Weather . . .
Thunderstorms covered much of the Lawrence area last night, and Douglas County was under a stormwatch until 3 this morning. However, skies are expected to be clear to partly cloudy today and tomorrow, with high temperatures in the mid-70s. Temperatures should be in the low 40s tonight and in the 60s tomorrow. Winds will be northerly.
Carter
Locally . . .
When most employees retire, they take life easy. But not Thomas Ryther, former KU professor. At 78, Ryther still is active in research for Spencer Library. But most of his time is spent working in his own museum. See page eight.
Carter veto likely on farm aid bill
WASHINGTON-President Jimmy Carter will veto a multibillion dollar bill, which he says would be inflationary, Jody Powell, press secretary, said yesterday. U.S. Thomas Foley, D-Wash., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said it was "pretty much"
on any congressional attempt to override the veto. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later this week, and the House possibly could vote next week, if supporters can bypass a parliamentary procedure.
Park speaks out on loans
WASHINGTON—Tongus Park, testifying at a criminal trial for the first time, told a jury yesterday that he gave $200,000 in loans to a top Korean intelligence official, Yang Dao Wan, in 1974 and 1975. He said the loan never had been
Park was called as the first defense witness at the trial of Honcho Kim, another Korean, who is accused of receiving $600,000 from the Korea CIA and of plotting to use the money to buy influence in the United States.