Thursday, March 30. 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A - Page 3
Committee critical of financial aid policy.
Eligibility denied to drug offenders
By Erinn R. Barcomb
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Politicians and newspapers across the state could receive letters concerning a rule that prohibits some students from receiving financial aid if a resolution passes Student Senate next week.
University Affairs, a Senate committee, passed a resolution last night that criticizes a provision of the Higher Education Act that denies financial aid eligibility for a minimum of one year to students
convicted of a drug-related offense. The resolution will come before Senate next week.
"Denying aid to students is not a good policy by government," said Matt Gregg, fine arts senator. "This is saying the University of Kansas Student Senate is going to support the reform of this resolution."
In other Senate news:
Gregg said about 15 other colleges were taking similar measures.
A bill to form a Student Senate Judicial Board passed in University Affairs. The five-member board could serve as a supreme court for the University by mediating among students, student organizations and Senate.
Korb Maxwell, student body president, said Marlon Marshall, Student Senate Executive Chairman, and James Kitchen, dean of students, had been working on the proposal, which could take effect in September.
Maxwell said one goal would be to have the appointee represent diverse areas, such as race, gender, nationality and sexual orientation, without setting quotas.
"We want all viewpoints seen," Maxwell said. "What we want is to have these be meritorious appointments."
Aaron Profilt, Overland Park junior and University Affairs committee member, whose amendment for selection was
added to the bill, said the board could be selected within the first 20 school days of the semester.
A bill to change the campus lighting fee to a campus safety fee failed 7-10 in the Student Rights Committee. The bill would have allowed the fees to be spent on more than lights, including
adding more blue phones and adding campus phones to University buildings.
The Finance
The Finance Committee passed a bill that would have Senate review a student fee which is to be matched by state funding.
State funding.
The state was supposed to pay $2
for every $1 students paid for a technology fee, but the state ended up paying only $1. Moreover, the library fee was supposed to be a matched fee, but Gov. Bill Graves did not include it in the budget.
"With all of the budget cuts that have taken place, I'm concerned that students will pass fees thinking the state will match it," said Christian Lutz, graduate senator. "They're not meeting their obligation to the students of the state."
The Student Senate budget for next year passed the Finance Committee with a few changes, which included budgeting more money for the KU chapter of the National Council of Negro Women.
The budget bill, which Senate sent back to the committee last week, will go up again next week.
Drew Anderson, 10-year-old Kansas City, Kan., resident, meets Garth Brooks while Brooks is in spring training with the New York Mets. Anderson's wish to meet the celebrity was granted by a Kansas City, Mo., chapter of the Dream Factory. Contributed photo
Student helps dreams come true for ill children
For almost three years, Allison Moore, Overland Park freshman, has volunteered with the Dream Factory in Kansas City, Mo. The organization grants dreams to chronically and seriously ill children between 3 and 18 years old. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
By Jessie Meyer
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Allison Moore knows that some dreams can come true she grants them.
For almost three years now, Moore, Overland park freshman, has volunteered with one of four chapters of the Dream Factory, which is based in Kansas City, Mo.
Dream Factory is an organization that grants dreams to chronically and seriously ill children between 3 and 18 years old, said Deb Caldwell, the organization's treasurer.
Moore said the latest dream went to Drew Anderson, a 10-year-old Kansas City, Kan., boy with an undiagnosed muscle disorder that forces him to walk with one of his hands behind his head and one behind his back to support himself. Anderson, who has been in and out of the hospital several times, also lives with a pipe in his throat to help him breathe.
"The wanted to meet Garth Brooks," Moore said. "And the week before our spring break, he met Garth when he was in spring training with the New York Mets."
Moore said Brooks gave Anderson several mementos, including batting gloves, two autographed bats that Brooks used in training and several photos from the 30 to 45 minutes they spent together.
it was a huge success, and I breathed a big sigh of relief." Moore said. "It was nice to hear they had a great time and to see Drew's face when he talked about every single picture. He was so excited about it."
That look — the smile that lights up a child's face — was one of the reasons that Moore started with the Dream Factory.
"I wanted to do something that I would really enjoy." Moore said. "It's something that I am really proud of."
Caldwell said that Moore, who is currently the only University of Kansas student who volunteers with the Dream Factory, had done an incredible job granting wishes since her first one, when she and some of her friends recreated the Wizard of Oz for a 3-year-old girl with Spina Bifida — a vertebral defect in the spine.
"It was one of the neatest dreams ever done in my opinion," Caldwell said. "She even found a little puppy that matched exactly and gave it to the little girl."
Caldwell said that the dream requests could come from anyone associated with the children and that to qualify
the child needed to meet only medical guidelines, not financial restrictions.
"We also make very,very certain that the dream is the child's dream and not the parent's dream for the child." Caldwell said. "Then we go for it, and we do everything we can to make the dreams happen."
Caldwell said there was a restriction on the amount of money spent for each dream but that the Dream Factory does not disclose that information.
Although Moore has just finished the Garth Brooks dream, she is already working on helping a 12-year-old Lawrence boy with cystic fibrosis get a hot tub.
Caldwell said she would like to see more KU students like Moore volunteer.
"She has just risen to the occasion every time." Caldwell said. "She is a remarkable young lady and really deserves a lot of praise."
Chemist to lecture on religion and science
By Jim O'Malley writer@kanson.com Kansan staff writer
A five-time Nobel Prize nominee in chemistry is scheduled to speak about science and religion at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6 at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union.
Henry "Fritz" Schaefer, professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia, will give a free public lecture titled "Science and Religion: Conflict or Coherence?"
Schaefer is a world-renowned scientist and a committed Christian.
"My position is that there isn't a conflict between science and religion," Schaefer said. "Some people disagree, so it's a useful talk to give."
The Kansas evolution controversy is not the focus of his lecture, but Schaefer said he expected it to come up in questions from the audience.
He said he didn't have a position on the Kansas evolution controversy yet but expected that he would be disliked by both sides. He believes that some creationists won't like his acceptance of the evidence that the earth is 4.8 billion years old. He also expects some scientists to disagree with his position on Darwinism.
"I do have some reservations about a proper distinction between microevolution and macroevolution." Schaefer said.
The state's controversial science education standards accept microevolution — change within species — but reject macroevolution, the idea that new species evolve by genetic mutation and natural selection.
"I assume I'll be hit with questions from all sides," he said.
Schaefer's visit to the University is sponsored by both the chemistry department and the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, said Brian Thomas, Lawrence graduate student in physics and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship member. He said Schaefer also was scheduled to give a seminar for the chemistry department during his visit.
"He's definitely Nobel Prize caliber and tops in his field," Johnson said.
Carey Johnson, associate professor of chemistry, said Schaefer was the kind of speaker the department liked to have for its seminars.
Schaefer's five Nobel Prize nominations without a prize resemble soap opera actress Susan Lucci's string of 18 Emmy nominations without an award.
But Johnson said he didn't know if that made Schaefer the Susan Lucci of chemistry.
"Maybe she's the Fritz Schaefer of daytime TV," he said.
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