Wednesday, March 8, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A • Page 3
Former secretary misses hearing
Conboy violates probation, fails to pay restitution
by Mindie Miller
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A former secretary in the Office of Multicultural Affairs convicted of felony theft and misdemeanor theft last September was set to appear yesterday in Douglas County District Court for a probation violation hearing, but she didn't show up.
Craig Stancliffe, Conboy's attorney, said that he could not find Conboy and that she probably didn't know she was supposed to be in court. He said that when he called her phone number, he reached a business.
District Court Judge Robert Fairchild set the matter for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. April 21.
Constance Conboy was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $15,000 for embezzling money from the OMA to make personal purchases and for writing University checks to people not working
for the office. The district attorney's office has filed a motion to revoke Conboy's probation because it alleges she has not paid her restitution.
Christine Tonkovich, Douglas County District Attorney, said yesterday that the allegation had been made that Conboy had failed to comply with the conditions of her probation and that a hearing would determine if the allegation had any weight.
At her sentencing Oct. 7, 1999, Conboy could have faced six months in prison and one year in the Douglas County Jail, but Fairchild gave Conboy two years' probation instead. The state's motion recommends that Conboy serve the original
presumptive sentence because it says she has not paid the restitution as ordered by the court.
The $15,000 figure is a combination of money Conboy owes Apple Computer, Jock's Nitch Sporting Goods, 837 Massachusetts St., and the Office of the University Comproller for purchases made and checks issued using money from the OMA budget.
The charges against Conboy were filed last February by the former director of what was then known as the Office of Minority Affairs. The embezzlement occurred between May 1997 and September 1998.
Conboy was dismissed from the office April 2, 1999. Stancliffe said Conboy had been unable to find work since then.
ROTC team marches in New Orleans parade
KU platoon performs well, meets teen pop queen Spears during weekend competition
Members of the University of Kansas Naval ROTC pose behind their banner in New Orleans. The group participated in a drill team competition and parade at Tulane University that was marshalled by淑丽婷 Spears. Contributed Photo
By John Audlehelm
writer @kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Marching, Mardi Gras and Britney Spears.
The University of Kansas Naval ROTC got all three this weekend when it competed in a drill team competition at Tulane University in New Orleans and then marched in a Mardi Gras parade called Endymion.
Spears was the grand marshal.
Alex Ramthun, Bloomington, Minn., senior and midshipman battalion commanding officer, got to meet her before Saturday's parade — and was impressed.
"She is very gorgeous," he said. "She's a very beautiful person. She didn't say she was coming to KU, but I tried to invite her."
Ramthan said the two talked off-stage before Spears was introduced.
He said he then gave Spears a KU T-shirt, mug and other gifts in front of a crowd of 10,000.
As for Friday's drill team competition, Ramthun said he thought his squad did well.
"We still haven't found out what we placed in the tournament," he said.
Mike Muins, Fresno, Cairn, senior and sta-
sergent, also said he thought the platoon did well.
Ramthun said his platoon and squad competed with 64 other large schools, including other Big 12 schools. Mike Mullins, Fresno Calif., senior and staff
Mullins said the platoon had practiced its marching drills four mornings a week for eight weeks.
"They had their best performance when it counted," he said.
He said that if the platoon did not place, he was sure it would receive an honorable mention.
Mullins said the parade route was eight miles long and took five and a half hours to march. About 15,000 people were in the parade, and between 250,000 and 500,000 watched, he said.
Ramthun said that out of the 65 teams in the competition, only KU and the Citadel got to march in the parade.
He attributed that honor to Captain William Howell, marine officer instructor and New Orleans native, who Ramthun said knew somebody In the parade.
But only members from the KU team got to meet Brittine Spears, he said.
"Captain Howell used his connections once again," he said.
Ramthun said Howell was at Camp Pendleton in California for a conference. He could not be reached for comment.
Nathan Bliss, assistant marine officer instructor and drill team adviser, said a platoon had between 17 and 78 people. The platoon competed both as a single unit and as two squads, he said.
The drill team performed precision military marching, he said.
"It teaches discipline by instilling habits and precision and automatic response to orders." Bliss said.
Racial profiling gives pretense to stop vehicles
Continued from page 1A
But Gottlieb said that in some situations, what the officer was thinking did matter. For example, if no one follows a 55 mph speed limit and only minorities are being ticked, the officers' intent should be evaluated, he said.
Usually stops for minor violations are used to check for drugs, Gottlieb said.
"The individuals that get stopped in some of these situations are of"
color way out of proportion to the percentage in the population," Gottlieb said.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, data gathered in a 1994 Illinois case showed that although fewer than 8 percent of Hispanics used a particular stretch of road, 30 percent of the vehicles stopped on the road had been Hispanic drivers.
Traffic stop statistics by race are not available in Kansas, said Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of
the Kansas City and Western Missouri branch of the ACLU.
But Kurtenbach said his agency received about 12 racial-profiling complaints a year about incidents that had occurred on Interstate 70.
The Kansas Legislature is considering a bill that would require the state to study racial profiling but not to record racial data from every stop.
Both Gottlieb and Howard said they agreed that studying racial profiling in Kansas was an important first step before changing laws.
tatt first step before changing laws. Howard said that the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment was not the problem but instead balanced individuals' rights with criminal procedure.
"In some people's eyes and minds, Blacks or Hispanics or whites in certain situations appear to be guilty," Howard said. "The Fourth Amendment doesn't provide anything that enhances racial profiling. It's the individuals that do that."
Government minor added to department
By Ryan Devlin writer@kanson.com Kanson staff writer
The department of public administration, traditionally a graduate department, will open its doors to undergraduates beginning in Fall 2000 with the creation of an undergraduate minor in Public Service and Community Leadershin.
The minor will give civic-minded undergraduates who wish to develop their leadership skills the chance to do so, said George Frederickson, distinguished professor of public administration and government and creator of the minor.
"A number of students in those courses were Truman, Rhodes and Marshall scholars," Frederickson said. "They related to me that they felt we needed more courses with this type of focus, which influenced me to come up with a program that would be more responsive to the needs of students who want to be leaders in public affairs."
Frederickson said he came up with the idea after teaching an undergraduate honors course in public administration for several years.
Steven Maynard-Moody, professor and chair of the department, said the program would have several goals.
"We're interested in providing the opportunity for students to express their interest in public service both in terms of academics and in terms of service within the community," Maynard-Moody said. "We're also interested in showing the role of government in all its aspects to students, and to show that government is not simply the tribulations of elected officials but is something that can play a very positive role within the community."
Frederickson said the department decided to introduce a minor rather than a major because the department was too small to handle the extensive course load and student participation associated with a major. In addition, Frederickson said that because the department was part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, it was committed to a liberal arts education.
"The products of this program would ideally be liberally educated and leadership inclined," Frederickson said.
Maynard-Moody added that the minor would allow students from diverse academic fields to share their experiences and to apply their academic interests to public service.
Fredrickson said the program would require 18 hours of course work, which would include a required summer internship in local government. Maynard-Moody said the summer internship was central to the program.
"The internship will really be the core of the experience," he said. "The range of their internships will be as broad as the range of students' interests, and might include helping neighborhood groups, the homeless, or conceivably working in the planning department of local government."
David Mitchell, Hays junior, said he had expressed his interest in the minor to the department.
"I thought it might be a good supplement to my education in political science and history," he said. "I'm also interested in going into public administration, and thought the minor would be a good introduction."
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MINOR REQUIREMENTS
- POLS 330 or 331: Introduction to Public Service Administration
■ PSCL 640: Public Service Leadership Practicum (required summer internship)
Check out the Kansan for all the latest information in news and sports
PSCL 639: Concepts of the Civil Society
PSCL 695: Public Service Leadership Field Research Report
Two electives from the following:
POLS 513: Power in American Communities
POLS 602: American Political Ideas
POLS 614: Urban Politics
POLS 631: Professionalism and Democracy
POLS 632: The Administrative State
Source: Department of Public Administration
Source: Department of Public Administration
Support your fellow students & the United Way of Douglas County.
Call SUA for tickets now! 864-3477
LIBERTY Adult Classes In Latin, Swing, Ballroom & Lindy Hop
KU Pre-Nursing Club Meeting
6 p.m.
March 8
Pioneer Room, Burge Union
*People interested in becoming officers for next year need to attend
March of Dimes Information