Tomorrow's weather
Kansan
Increasing cloudiness with a high between 55 and 60 and a low of 40.
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Sports: The Kansas baseball team lost 10-7 to Missouri yesterday afternoon.
SEE PAGE 1B
Inside: A poster campaign points out the consequences of fake ID use and production.
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2000
SEE PAGE 3A
(UPS 650-640) • VOL.110 NO.119
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Union making room for cybercafe
Renovations could bring proposal to life as early as this fall
By Ryan Devlin
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
The Jaybowl and a cybercafe at the Kansas Union? Who says you can't have both?
David Mucci, director of the Kansas and Burge unions, said it was probable that students would be able to bowl, sip espresso and use computers all within the confines of the Union, and possibly as early as Fall 2000.
"After the Jaybowl proposal, we began to ask if there was any other way we could put the cafe in the Union and make it work on a 24-hour basis." Mucci said. "I think we've found a way to make it work."
Mucci said that under the new plan, the cybercabe would occupy the northeast corner of the dining area on the third level. He said the building would need some minor renovations, including cutting a door into the east side of the building that would provide 24-hour access to the cafe while restricting access to the rest of the Union. He also said that a sidewalk leading to the door from Oread Avenue would be necessary.
Avenida was walled up. Mucci said the cafe would need to be enclosed in order to keep out noise from surrounding areas. He said he envisioned a glass partition that would both keep out noise and allow light into the area.
Mucci estimated the project's cost at under $100,000.
The lost dining space on the third level would be recouped by an additional 1,600 to 1,600 square feet of space created in the Union's renovations. Now in the third phase, renovations are estimated to cost $5.7 million and will expand the bottom four levels of the Union to the west.
Mucci said he didn't think the loss of dining space would pose a problem, but he noted that the loss would be temporary.
"We think we'll be completed with that portion of the renovations sometime around January of 2001," Mucci said. "So if there was a problem, we'd have a pretty quick remedy in the pipeline."
Mucci said the project still would have to be accepted by the Memorial Corporation. He said this time student leaders supported the idea.
Yoder said he rejected the previous proposal to put the cafe in the Union because he thought the first level should remain a designated recreation area. He said the third level was a good location for the cafe.
Kevin Yoder, president of the Memorial Corporation board and Hutchinson first-year law student, said he favored the proposal. Yoder cast the deciding vote last month rejecting the proposal to replace the Jaybowl with a cybercafe.
"Putting computers in the Union is a great idea," Yoder said. "There aren't a lot
of computers that are accessible for students in that area of campus. The Union needs to provide computer services. It just makes sense."
Students also support the cybercafe's potential location.
"As long as it's not in place of the Jaybowl, I'd definitely support it," said Nikki Horne, Lenexa junior. "I like the idea of it being 24 hours, too. It seems like it would be a nice place to study."
Chris Halton, Liberal sophomore, said he liked the idea of having more computers on campus.
"Late at night, it's hard sometimes to get into the computer labs. I think it would help fix that problem," he said.
help fix the problem. Mucci said that the plan did not necessarily rule out putting a similar facility in the Burge Union.
"We're still interested in putting computers in the Burge Union and tying that into the Union Food Services, but we're not quite sure yet how that will operate," Mucci said.
Some KUIDs failing wearability tests
By Cassie Holman
Special to the Kansan
Nearly two years after the new KUID "smart cards" became standard at the University of Kansas, some students are finding that the cards are not holding up to the test of time.
Megan Frost, Manhattan sophomore, had her new KUID for a year and a half when she discovered that the front of the card was peeling away from the back and the microchip was about to fall out.
"I think the bending of it in my back pocket is what did it," she said. "It's never been through the wash."
Frost said she used the card only to check out library materials. She said that as long as she could function with the card as it was, she wouldn't get a new one.
"Since they're such poor quality, I think the University should pay for them to be replaced," she said.
Some of the most recently issued KUIDs are falling apart. The card's distributor, CyberMark, is changing the card stock to improve durability. Photo illustration by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Although the cards were distributed for free in the spring of 1998, new students and faculty now must pay $10 for the card. If it is damaged, there is a $15 replacement fee.
Nancy Miles, KU card administrator, said that several months ago, the card stock was changed in order to make the cards more flexible. It will take time for the results to be seen, she said. The cards are distributed through CyberMark, based in Tallahassee, Fla.
"We keep CyberMark abreast of cards that fail," she said. "So far, the number of broken cards falls within the normal range of wearability. Until they say we've got a real problem, there's not much we can do. Like anything else distributed in mass quantity, some cards are going to fail."
Miles said that if a student brought in a defective card with no sign of abuse, the University would pay for the replacement, though she said the center had not seen many cards that could be classified as non-abused.
Miles said a non-abused card was one in which the front and back were peeling apart. She said that abused cards included ones that had snapped in half or ones that had a damaged magnetic stripe.
"We might replace 1 percent of the total cards we distribute," she said. "But maybe people are carrying around split cards we don't know about."
Amanda Connel, Leavenworth sophmore, said that was what was happening. Connel works at the circulation desk of Watson Library, where the KUIDs are required to check out materials.
"I have only been working here for
about three weeks, and I've seen six or seven IDs where the back is completely separated from the front," she said. "If it will still scan, we still check out stuff to people."
"The people at the library told me to get a new one, but it still works, so I don't want to pay for a new one," Martin said. "I have no idea how it broke. I just had it in my pocket, and it broke."
As long as the card will function, some students are hesitant to report a damaged card.
my pocket. Miles said the way students handled their KUIDs was important. She suggests keeping the card in the white sleeve that is given out with the new card. She also said it was better to keep the card in a wallet than a pocket or on the dashboard of a car.
Jennifer Martin, Pittsburg junior, recently discovered her KUID had snapped in half.
"Treat it like an ATM card, and it will last longer." Miles said.
Students who live in the residence halls are required to have their KUIDs scanned each time they eat in the cafeteria. This means many cards are carried around all day and handled several times a day.
Ray Dalton. Lansing senior, is a resident of Lewis Hall. The front and back of his card are peeling apart, and the chip is defective, Dalton said.
"I pulled the ID out of my wallet a couple times a day to go to Mrs. E's, and that's all the wear and tear it got," he said.
Dalton said that because the chip in the card did not work, he was unable to use it to make copies.
Elaine Vrooman, Baltimore senior, had to pay for her KUID last year because she was studying abroad when the cards were distributed for free. Though her card is only a year old, Vrooman recently noticed that the front and back were peeling apart in one corner.
"I haven't even had it that long," Vrooman said. "I've never had a plastic ID card, driver's license or anything else fall apart like this."
72nd annual Oscar
Best Picture American Beauty
Actor Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
Award Winners
Actor in a supporting role Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules)
Original song Teresa (Phil Collins, "You'll Be in My Heart"
Actress in a Leading Role Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry)
Actress in a Supporting Role Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted
Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Visual Effects The Matrix
Check out www.kansan.com/arts for a complete list of the Oscar Award winners.
University's fee distribution complies with Court's ruling
By Erinn R. Barcomb
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Apparently the Supreme Court thinks the University of Kansas is doing something right.
The court voted unanimously in favor of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, which was being sued by three students with ideological objections to the ways in which their student fees were being spent.
Partha Mazumdar, KU graduate senator, said he was pleased with the case's outcome.
The Supreme Court ruled March 22 that the University of Wisconsin can allocate student fee money without individual students dictating where their dollars go, just as the University of Kansas does.
"It completely validates everything we've been doing here at KU," Mazumdar said. "I agree with the concurring opinion. The University itself has an ideological bent to it, so there is nothing wrong with the student government having an ideological bent."
holdover senator.
"There are rules, but once you abide by the rules the money is given out on a value-neutral basis."
"If the Supreme Court would have ruled the opposite way, it would have changed the way Student Senate does things. A lot of what we do is funding and fees," Jenkins said.
KU students pay $214 per semester in student fees. Some of that
Partha Mazumdar graduate senator
money goes toward set amounts that pay for services like Watkins Memorial Health Center and campus transportation. Those fees are reviewed in three-year cycles.
The remaining $17 is allocated by Student Senate to groups like OAKS, the nontraditional student organization, Templin Revolution and the KU Choral Society.
Mazumdar said that aside from debates in finance committee and articles in the student-run conservative Kansas Review he had not heard organized complaints from students about where their money was going.
Some of Student Senate's rules include funding groups that are open to all KU students and denying funding to groups primarily religious in nature.
"There are rules, but once you abide by the rules the money is given out on a value-neutral basis," Mazumdar said. "You can be the most absurd thing, and you'll get the money."
The court took issue with the referenda issue at the University of Wisconsin, saying that allowing the student body to decide where money would go would eliminate neutrality.
At the University of Kansas, students were given the choice in 1997 referendum for a $1 child-care fee. It was approved.
Kevin Sivits, ACLU president, said he thought funding for buildings would be appropriate for a referendum, but funding for a group like Campus Crusade for Christ would be inappropriate.
"Our main view is this is like taxes," Sivits said. "We don't have a choice to opt out of certain taxes. I'd rather have my money go to some group I dislike than have speech be squelched, and so it comes out in the open and can be discussed."
Moreover, Sivits said he thought Senate funded groups for things like office supplies rather than things ideological in nature.
Robbin Hubbard, organizer at the Center for Campus Free Speech in Washington, will speak about the case at the University on April 5.
Hubbard, who could not be reached for comment, said in an earlier interview with the Kansan that the content of her speech would depend upon the case's outcome.