BRAVE BIRD
Tomorrow's weather
Kansan
Mostly cloudy tomorrow with highs in the mid-70s and lows near 54.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Sports: The women's tennis team waxed Iowa State 5-0 yesterday in the first round of the Big 12 Championships. SEE PAGE 1B
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani has prostate cancer.
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2000
SEE PAGE 7A
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 110 NO. 142
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Man dies in car-train crash
By Mindie Miller
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
North St.
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Mechanic St.
Maple St.
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Kansas River
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N 1600 Rd.
A car-train collision — the second this month — claimed the life of a 35-year-old Lawrence man early yesterday morning. His 22-year-old female passenger, a Haskell Indian Nations University student, was listed in fair condition yesterday at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
Jason Williams/KANSAN
A westbound Union Pacific freight train collided with a southbound 1989 Chevrolet Beretta, driven by Shannon Wayne Fixico, at about 3:28 a.m. yesterday. The collision occurred northeast of Lawrence, where the Union Pacific railroad tracks intersect with E. 1600 Road, a quarter mile south of N. 1700 Road.
Loren Anderson, Douglas County sheriff, said it appeared that the crossing arms were down, the lights were flashing, and the driver attempted to beat the train.
A 35-year-old man was killed and a 23-year-old Haskell student was injured in a car-train collision at 3:28 a.m. yesterday where the Union Pacific Railroad tracks intersect with E 1600 Road.
Emergency personnel arrived at 3:36 a.m. and found Fixico dead at the scene. Passenger Shannon White was transported by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and later taken by helicopter to Overland Park.
An autopsy was scheduled for yesterday afternoon. Blood samples will be sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab in Topeka to see whether alcohol played a role in the accident.
This collision comes in the wake of a similar accident that occurred just three weeks ago when two University of Kansas students died after they drove around the lowered gate at a railroad crossing east of Lawrence. An Amtrak passenger train collided with the students' black Nissan Altima, leaving Ryan Travis, Beresford, S.D., freshman, dead at the scene. His roommate, Jeffrey Mitchell, also of Beresford, died three days later. A third passenger, Johnson County Community College student Nathan Roy, survived the crash.
"It's surprising," he said.
"But likewise, I guess not everyone reads the paper or listens to the radio."
all railroad crossings be marked with at least standard cross bucks, x-shaped signs that say railroad crossing. The two crossings where the latest accidents occurred both were equipped with crossing arms and flashing lights.
In 1999, seven people died at Kansas railroad crossings. Kansas statute requires that
Capt. Bill Shepard of the sheriff's department said that he had been with the department for 18 years and that had seen these kinds of accidents before. "It kind of breaks your heart," he said, adding that he always slowed down and looked both ways at railroad crossings. "If a cross arm is down, you definitely should not go around it."
Kevin Willmott, instructor in theater and film, co-wrote the NBC miniseries The '70s. One of the characters was based on Willmott's experiences as a civil rights activist. The '70s airs at 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Photo courtesy of Kelly Heese of University Relations
THAT '70s MINISERIES
KU instructor co-writes screenplay for NBC
By Mike Hoffman writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Oliver Stone vs. NBC
Oberlin school Kevin Willmott, Kansas natives Kevin Willmott, University of Kansas instructor in theater and film, and Mitch Brian, an independent writer, were faced with the decision when NBC approached them to write a screenplay for the miniseries The 70s.
Willmott said NBC wanted the two to write the screenplay because of their reputation for writing historical scripts. However, he said they originally had to decline NBC's request for a screenplay because they were writing a script for Oliver Stone. NBC eventually won the battle, and Willmott and Brian agreed to write the screenplay.
This was not an unusual assignment for Brian and Willmott to accept. Both of them are independent writers who have collaborated on several screenplays before. The duo has written four screenplays and two miniseries, including previous work for NBC. They also have worked for directors such as Oliver Stone and Chris Columbus.
Willmott said the NBC miniseries followed four Kent State University graduates through the 1970s.
Each half of the two-part miniseries has its own theme. The first half emphasizes the Nixon presidency and the Vietnam War, while the second half focuses on the post-Nixon years.
Willmott, a Junction City native who now lives in Lawrence, and Brian, a Hutchinson native who now lives in Fairway, were given creative control to develop the characters in the miniseries. However, NBC wanted the show to focus on a group of friends and include a character that was a model/disco queen.
More information
For a video clip of The '70s,
See Kansan.com
"When you learn from a guy who's dealt with the real thing it can only help."
Kevin Willmott KU instructor in theater and film
One of the four main characters, Dexter Young, reflects Willmott's experiences as a civil rights activist in the 1970s and 1980s.
"A lot of people underestimate the beginning of the '70s." Willmott said. "It was more activist-oriented than the '60s; it wasn't just disco."
"Anytime there is positive attention like this, it only helps further the mission of the department." Osburn said.
Matt Osburn, Indianapolis junior and film major, said the exposure was good for the University film program.
Willmott said he felt it was beneficial for his students to be instructed by someone who had been in the real world of filmmaking.
"When you learn from a guy who's dealt with the real thing, it can only help," Willmott said.
The '70s will air at 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday on NBC.
More than three-quarters of the company's top 100 highest paid employees are KU administrators or professors Salary Percent of state funds
These are the top 10 highest-paid Kansas state employees and other KU notables from Dec. 13, 1998, to Dec. 11, 1999, with the percentage of state funds included in each individual's salary. Those funds for KU include tax distributions, tuition and fees. Total pay figures may include funding from private as well as other public sources, bourses and overtime. These funds are paid to and distributed by state agencies. (* indicates salary that includes back pay from previous years.)
1) Alex Ammar KU Medical Center Professor $ 346,366.95 20.6% *
2) Sterling Williams KU Medical Center Professor $ 320,536.56 85.0%
3) Deborah Powell KU Medical Center Dean $ 264,256.99 76.1%
4) George Lucas KU Medical Center Professor $ 259,313.92 5.7% *
5) Donald Hagen KU Medical Center Exec. Vice Chancellor $ 256,136.92 89.8%
6) Henry Butler University of Kansas Professors $ 246,036.75 25.7%
7) John Weed KU Medical Center Professor $ 245,917.10 65.5%
8) Julia Chapman KU Medical Center Assistant Professor $ 241,219.42 58.7%
9) Valerie Rice KU Medical Center Associate Professor $ 240,616.33 89.4%
10) Kenneth Welch KU Medical Center Professor $ 230,000.03 10.9%
Other notable KA administrators —
23) Robert Hemenway University of Kansas Chancellor 193,348.87 100.0%
26) Robert Frederick University of Kansas Athletic Director 188,730.00 61.8%
David Shulenburger University of Kansas Provost 146,598.00 100.0%
Jason Williams/KANSAN
Some faculty members highest paid in Kansas
By Ryan Devlin
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Some University of Kansas professors have made a recent list of the 100 highest paid state officials.
The list, compiled by The Wichita Eagle, reported that more than three-quarters of the state's 100 highest-paid employees are KU administrators and professors.
Of the top 25 state officials on the list, 23 were KU Medical Center administrators or professors. The other two in the top 25, Henry Butler, professor of business, and Chancellor Robert Hemenway, work on the main campus.
Provost David Shulenburger downplayed the significance of the numbers. He said that the existence of the Med Center was the primary reason so many faculty and administrators from KU made the list
"We have the only medical school in the state, and most of the KU people on the list are from the Med Center," Shulenburger said.
More information
For a complete list of the 100 highest-paid Kansas state employees,
See Kansan.com
Shulenburger said that salaries for officials at the Med Center reflected the national market and were relatively in comparison to other medical schools.
Educators and administrators from the University that made the list make up only 4 percent of KU's total faculty. According to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, the average faculty salary for 2000 at the University is $61,391, which Shulenburger said ranked near the bottom compared with peer universities nationwide.
"Overall, our salaries are low [77th] relative to the 84 universities we compare ourselves to," Shulenburger said, "and our
See SALARIES on page 3A
"James," a KU student who wished to remain anonymous, climbs side of Stauffer-Flint Hall yesterday evening. For some climbers, indoor walls simply aren't challenging enough so they turn to their surroundings for extra difficulty. Photo illustration by Craia Bennett/KANSAN
Rock climbers build skills scaling campus buildings
By Doug Pacey
Kansan staff writer
Learning outside the classroom has taken on a whole different meaning for some University of Kansas students.
Some members of the KU Rock Climbing Club climb the rough, limestone walls of buildings on campus to develop their climbing skills and have fun — despite the fact that it is illegal.
"Stauffer-Flint, Bailey and Marvin halls are the best to climb," said "James," who climbs buildings on campus and is a member of the rock climbing club. None of the climbers would consent to using their real names.
"Staufer-Flint is just beautiful for climbing." he said.
James said those buildings were best because the stones in the walls were easy to grip.
Between the three buildings, there are about 10 routes for climbers to "builder" which means to climb buildings
"Allen," another member of the club and builder, said he liked climbing the north
wall of Strong Hall near the transformers because it is "nice and easy."
"There's some real easy stuff on campus, but there's tough stuff, too." James said. "A lot of it is building finger strength because there are no big holes or gaps in the walls."
But James said there also were more difficult buildings to climb.
Variety plays a big part in the climbers' building.
"Sometimes we get bored climbing the wall inside Robinson," he said. "We know it's not legal to climb the buildings, so we usually just do it at night."
He said that when people were caught, the public safety officers usually just kicked them off and velled at them.
Because buildinger is against the law, the Rock Climbing Club has made an effort to do it as little as possible, James said. Members focus most of their climbing off campus.
"When I joined the club, we took about three trips a year out of state to climb," he said. "This semester we'll have taken six."
See CLUB on page 2A
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