THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Tomorrow's weather
Kansan
Partly cloudy.
LOW 38
Tuesday
December 7, 1999
Section:
A
Vol. 110 • No. 75
Inside today
Protests in Seattle and across the country have brought attention to what many think are problems with the World Trade Organization.
SEE PAGE 6B
Sports today
Both the Kansas men's and women's basketball teams will go on the road tonight.
SEE PAGE 1B
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Fraudulent bus pass use has serious implications
By Amanda Kaschube
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students who share or make fake bus passes may be in for a big shock — the illegal activity will be posted on a student's academic record for six to seven years after graduation.
Holly Krebs, transportation coordinator for KU on Wheels, said that while the rules against using fake bus passes have existed since 1970, an increase in the activity has brought the issue to the forefront.
"People who use old bus passes, or people that make invalid stickers could face charges," she said. "Generally, we don't prosecute people that use their old ones, but if it happens repeatedly, then we do. We try to give people the benefit of the doubt."
Krebs said only one or two cases of fake passes or people using others' passes had been reported this semester
— a decrease from 20 cases last semester.
In the first, students are liable if they knowingly and without proper payment of service use fake bus passes, Krebs said.
The rules about bus passes are in the University Code of Student Responsibilities in the "Offenses against Property" and "Offenses against Orderly Process" sections.
In the second rule, Krebs said, students could be found guilty if they furnish false or misleading information to other students or if they forge, alter, misrepresent or misuse anything from the University of Kansas, including a bus pass.
Using a fake bus pass, or someone else's bus pass, can harm a student later in life when a future college pulls up their academic record, said Scott Kaiser, former transportation coordinator.
"When you apply to law or medical school, it could be potentially damaging and could diminish your chances," he said. "Schools look at your academic record, not necessarily your police record."
If a student is found using a pass fraudulently, the bus driver will confiscate the ID and the charges will be sent to the parking department, Lawrence Bus Company or the dean of students' office.
Edited by Chris Hopkins
James Kitchen, dean of students, said his office had not seen a lot of charges less than 100 in the last few years.
"If they are caught with a fake, they are in violation of the rules and therefore can be prosecuted," he said. "The problem really hasn't been running rampant though."
If found guilty, students can file an appeal through the dean of students' office. None have been filed yet.
Kaiser said many students may have attempted to use fraudulent passes because they were unaware of the severe consequences.
Kitchen said the idea of a dent on their permanent academic records might not deter some students.
"You would think that it would deter them — but you can't deter them if they are really that determined," he said.
Throwing money around
Money the University spends on athletes:
story by mike miller $ illustration by kyle ramsey
W
hat is a degree from the University of Kansas worth?
It depends who pays the bill. Consider the accounting problem of Alonzo Jamison.
Jamison, a three-time letter winner and former captain for the University of Kansas basketball team, holds the record for most steals in one game. But he could never score like he wanted to, averaging only 10 points per game. He still says it was not the career finish for which he'd hoped.
In another sense, Jamison never finished. Jamison spent three years playing basketball and working on a communications degree. In that time, KU spent almost $50,000 on him for tuition, room and board and other expenses.
But Jamison never finished his degree requirements.
I've still got one said Jamison, now a branch manager for Commerce Bank in Oathe.
"I've still got one more class to take,"
"I'm married with three girls, and things are pretty hectic now, so I hope I can take it when I get some time next year when the girls are a little older."
spent $2.8 million of athletes who attended the University and didn't graduate in a five-year period.
That year, non-graduating student-athletes received about about $525,000, money given by people who donated expressly for athletic scholarships. Using a 43 percent graduation rate as a yardstick, the University
Using a 43 percent graduation rate as a yardstick,KU spent $2.8 million on athletes who attended the University and didn't graduate in a five-year period.
"To be honest, I never thought about it in terms of how
five years.
yardsick, the universi spent $2.8 million on
An academic institution? Jamison is not alone
much we spend on those who don't graduate. But I don't perceive it as wasted money," said athlet-
Not graduating is common for student-athletes.
Sports may be a source of pride for the University — but if student degrees are how an academic institution is measured, many of the University's athletes don't clear the bar.
Nationally, student-athletes graduate at a slightly higher rate than the overall student population — 58 percent to 56 percent — but student-athletes at Kansas graduate at a lower rate than the student-body. Kansas student athletes entering as freshman during the 1992-1993 academic year graduated at a rate of 43 percent — 11 percentage points lower than the student body, 13 percentage points lower than the previous year and the lowest overall rate in
view of athletes.
ics director Bob Frederick. However, he concedes that there probably were some athletes that the money could've been better spent on. But that doesn't take away from the University's
"The real investment is in the people," associate athletics director Paul Buskirk said.
"The measure of a diploma is extremely valuable, but that's not the only measure of what an athlete has learned or what they are worth — they are a long-term investment."
But each year, several athletes don't bring in any money and don't graduate —
Jamison was part of a team that sold out Allen Fieldhouse routinely, which could mean that none of his scholarship was wasted because he helped generate more revenue for Kansas than was spent on him.
basically, the jobs they were paid to do.
David Katzman, professor of American studies and a former board member of the University of Kansas Athletics Corporation, thinks not enough attention is paid to academics.
He doesn't fault the athletes — he blames the system that produces them and enhances a peripheral mission for the University.
"We have a tendency to blame the athletes, but they're victims of a larger system," he said.
"They end up believing that sports is the best chance for an occupation. If they really examined what the past record is for student-athletes, they would realize that their best chance for success in life is the quality of education they receive."
See UNIVERSITY on pae 6A
Standing tall
KU graduate Brain Ireland of the Kansas Fair Trade Alliance protests the World Trade Organization in front of Wescoe Beach. Photo by Carrie Julian/KANSAN
Lot-lighting plans in limbo
By Chris Borniger and Michael Terry writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writers
When Erin Gray, Raytown, Mo., freshman, parks her car in parking lot 60, located west of Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall, she's a little apprehensive about the walk back home.
And understandably so, because a lack of lighting and a reputation for vehicle break-ins and harassment of the all-female complex's residents has earned it the nickname "the rape lot."
Though no rapes in the lot have been reported, Gray said she often didn't feel comfortable parking there. A lack of spaces closer to the complex, however, makes it the only available choice.
FT "The Rape Lot"
"Every time I get out of my car, it's really scary," she said. "And the other lots are always full. I hate parking down there."
Greg Wade, landscape architect for the department of Design and Construction Management, said the department had approved plans in April to install light fixtures. He said the plans were referred to the department of Facilities Operations, which is responsible for ordering and installing the materials.
Rachel Kesselman & Ellie Haliek XANSAN
dow, she said, and shouted threatening comments at her. Then the car sped out of the lot after swerving as if to hit them.
Eight months after the original plans were sent, the lot remains dark.
Wade said yesterday afternoon that he did not know if that contractor had reordered the parts.
But Mike Richardson, director of Facilities Operations, said the parts that were ordered were used in lot 90, which is south of Robinson Center. He said the contractor for that project — which was under Design and Construction Management's jurisdiction — was responsible for reordering the light fixtures.
And it's not just the darkness that's intimidating. Gray said that while jogging with two friends near the lot, a car pulled up. One of its passengers leaned out the win-
Dede Seibel, student body vice president, is chairwoman of the Campus Safety Advisory Board. She said campus had sufficient lighting in general, but that as campus expands, so do its lighting needs.
A $2 campus lighting fee expires next year, but Seibel said she wanted to retain the fee to fund a comprehensive campus safety fee, which will be inclusive of, but not limited to, lighting projects.
"There's a lot of other safety needs out there that need to be addressed," she said.
For example, the money could fund more emergency telephones, she said.
Seibel, who lived in the GSP-Corbin complex during her freshman year three years ago, said parking at the lot was a serious concern for her when she lived there.
"Late at night, you're forced to park there, there's a hill to climb and not many other residences around," she said. "In terms of being able to get away from an attacker, your chances are slim to none."
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Edited by Chris Hopkins
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