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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
Showers
Thursday
December 2,1999
Section:
Inside Today
As protestors marched outside, President Clinton visited the World Trade Organization summit in Seattle yesterday.
SEE PAGE 6B
Sports today
Vol.110·No.72
The Kansas men's basketball team will play Pepperdine at 7:05 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse.
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
Associate professor refuses to go without fight
By Amber Stuever writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
After publishing 80 works, organizing 80 humanities conferences and dedicating 23 years of service to the University of Kansas Medical Center, Fred Whitehead was told this fall that his contract would not be renewed for the fiscal 2000 year.
Six years away from retirement, Whitehead, 62, associate professor of family medicine, will continue his research and his position as assistant director for preceptorship, a clinical course required for all senior medical students, until his contract expires on June 30.
"If you just produce physicians that just know the biomedical material and not how to deal with people, they run into problems."
Fred Whitehead associate professor of family medicine
But Whitehead, who was unsure of the reasoning for his dismissal, does not plan to leave without a fight.
He already has begun the process of appealing his non-reappointment. He said he also would ask his peers around the nation to write letters to the University.
"I think it's a rotten deal," Whitehead said. "It doesn't strike the University well to do this. I'm not doing it for vindictive reasons. I'm doing it to uphold some standards here."
Belinda Vail, interim co-chairwoman of family medicine, said Whitehead's non-reappointment was because of financial changes.
"His performance in the job has been fine," Vail said. "I don't believe that's an issue. It's an unfortunate thing for Dr. Whitehead, and no one feels good about it."
Deborah Powell, vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the Med Center, wrote Whitehead on Sept. 30 to inform him of his non-reappointment.
The letter gave no reasons for his dismissal, and Powell could not be reached for comment.
Whitehead, however, said Powell verbally had cited two reasons. In his letter of appeal, Whitehead quoted Powell as saying
Whitehead: has been published more than 80 times
ing that family medicine, the department
under which his Preceptorship class existed, was facing budget cuts and his research did not fit the mission of the medical school.
"It seems to be quite a disparity that someone who's been published over 80 times is told your research doesn't fit there." Whitehead said.
Whitehead, whose promotion to associate professor last year was endorsed by Powell, researches humanities in medicine. This subject continues to be important to the state and to the University, he said.
Lawrence's Men in Black These security guards don't play by the same old rules
"If you just produce physicians that just
Story by Todd Halstead
Derek Spain, co-owner of Mil Spec Security, watched as two guards tried to pacify an intoxicated reveler who had bothered his girlfriend's neighbors during a party at a Lawrence apartment complex.
"If you look around it was probably one of the smaller parties, which doesn't seem fair to these guys," Spain said. "But they're the ones that actually disturbed anybodv."
When the drunk man persisted with slurred insults, the guards escorted him off the premises.
Mil Spec is a private security force of exmilitary personnel reinforced by current and
Mil Spec security guards, left, West Stewart, center, Geoff Lutz and right, Bill Bradford stand guard outside of Tremors Night Club, 729 New Hampshire St. Tremors is one of more than 70 establishments that use Mil Spec's services.
former football players. It tries to fill a niche in the city by monitoring the clients of the city's bars, apartment complexes and hotels.
But some students at the University of Kansas view Mil Spec as overzealous thugs dispensing their own brand of street justice.
Spain said that Mil Spec had the authority to remove a person from a client's property for any reason the guards deemed necessary.
Mil Spec guards are not
forms stationed under the glaring florescent lights at all night grocery stores.
Mil Spec agents resemble Brad Pitt's Space Monkeys in the movie *Fight Club*.
Sporting military haircuts and wearing black fatigues and tight shirts that reveal massive torsos they patrol for parties and conduct security checks.
Amario Griffin, Lawrence junior, attend-
Amirato Grimm, Lawed a party at the Holiday Inn, 200 McDonald Drive, one of more than 70 establishments patrolled by Mil Spee
When the party ended, Griffin said the two guards began to aggressively corral the revelers. When they did not disperse, the guards used pepper spray.
in lawrence, Kansas City, Kan., and Omaha.
"I was coming out of the party, and there were a couple of guys pushing everybody back," he said. "I didn't want to be pushed, so I came back and asked what was going on, so they pepper sprayed me again. I didn't have my hands raised like I was fighting. They just spraved me for no reason."
Zack Marrs, Spain's partner, said
used in isolated incidents, and was an alternative to physical contact — which could cause injury.
"Whoever is there at the time, it's going to be in their best interest to shut that person down right away," he said. "That may or may not be in the most
Spain said that crowd situations in which a person was belligerent it was best to isolate that person and deal with them decisively. 'Who we are.'
you are in a crowd situation, people start getting courageous. That person has to be dealt with right away, otherwise you are going to be spending the next hour or two
See IMPOSING on page 6A
Students study apocalyptic religious groups
writer@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
By Amanda Kaschube
As Tim Miller addresses his class, images of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas, and other radical religious groups flash onto the projection screen.
"In this course, we're looking at a broader definition," he said. "We're not just sticking to Christian visions. We're looking at all sorts of visions of the end of the world or of massive transformations of the world — either as a greatly anticipated hope or as a nightmare."
Miller, professor and chairman of religious studies, teaches "Millennialism in America," a three-hour religious studies seminar taught on the eve of the millennium.
He lectures about religious groups that believe the end of the world is rapidly approaching and what they are doing to prepare for it.
The original definition of a millennium is the 1,000-year rule of Christ and the creation of a new heaven and Earth, Miller said.
"Seven hundred of its members are holed up outside Yellowstone," he said. "They've stockpiled huge amounts of food and water and diesel fuel, and some people think they've got guns to keep the heatens out; Church members believe they'll survive the hard times that are coming."
But many of the groups believe that the end is near. Miller said the Church Universal and Triumphant, a group located outside of Yellowstone National Park, believes a cataclysmic war will wipe out most of civilization.
Some of Miller's 13 students, such as Kellie Harmon, Lawrence graduate student, take an academic standpoint when studying the groups' millennium plans.
"The media exaggerates a lot of the stuff and makes it into a bigger deal than it really is," she said. "Of course, there might be some cause to be cautious. But most of the groups are just living out their life and not bothering anybody."
Tim Miller
"We're looking at all sorts of visions of the end of the world or of massive transformations of the world..."
professor and chairman of religious studies
Miller said he also took an objective standpoint on the radical subject matter.
My own beliefs are irrelevant, he said. Like an anthropologist doing field work, Miller has visited many of the groups at their homes to research for his class. He traveled to Waco, Texas, in 1994 to meet with the survivors of the 1993 standoff with federal agents.
"I go to the sites and meet with them and see how they live," he said. "I'm still surprised — but, after years of studying them, you learn that people do different things."
Along with well-known radical groups.
Miller also highlights the millennium beliefs of Protestant denominations, such as Methodists and Pentecostals, in his class.
Miller said the Methodists believe they have to work together to make the world a better place and the Lord will return when it is worthy. However, he said the Pentecostals have a more pessimistic belief.
"They argue the exact opposite — which is that the world is going downhill, social reform is pointless, and when things are utterly hopeless, then Jesus will return," he said. "It's a really catastrophic scenario."
"I've been teaching religion outside of the mainstream areas since the early 1970s," he said. "There has been a lot of interest recently because of the millennium — but it's a guessing game to see which radical group could explode."
Even though the start of the millennium already will have occurred next semester, Miller said he would continue teaching the class as long as there was demand for the subject matter.
Edited by Ben Embry
By Todd Halstead
Readathon to celebrate Darwin's book
Kansan staff writer
John Simmons, collection manager at the Natural History Museum, said this was a great opportunity to honor the landmark book.
In honor of its 140th anniversary, evolution is providing literate volunteers a chance to participate in the 24-hour marathon reading of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species.
He said the book allowed readers to understand evolution without delving into its complexities.
"All we're looking for is someone who can read," Simmons said. "You don't need a medical or science background to understand it."
"Of all the great ideas, The Origin of Species is the easiest to understand out
or all the great scientific books." Simmons said. "The idea of evolution is complex, but this book makes it understandable."
The event will begin at 10 a.m.
The evolution debate
tomorrow on the front steps of the Dyche Hall Natural History Museum. Volunteers will read aloud from the book for 20 minutes.
Simmons said in case of inclement weather the event would take place inside the Natural History Museum.
The Origin of Species consists of Darwin's observations during his five-year voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. While exploring the Galapagos Islands, Darwin formulated the principle of "descent with modification," which is the basis for his theory of evolution.
Brad Kemp, associate public relations director at the Natural History Museum, said the anniversary and the State Board of Education's decision to make evolution optional in public schools were the reasons for the marathon.
"It seemed like a good way to pay attention to a seminal book and pay homage to a work that has taken some slack lately," Kemp said.
He said although many people had heard of the book, few actually had read the work.
"It is an encouragement to people to read the book and remind people that the work is there," he said. "It is fairly accessible and understandable to the layman."
Jenny Pramuk, Akron, Ohio, graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, said that she heard about the reading through Simmons.
"I study the evolution of reptiles and amphibians, and I think that a lot of people don't realize how respected our department is in the study of evolution," Pramuk said. "I'm reading it because I want to help put The Origin of Species into a positive light and promote the ideas of Darwin."
Edited by Ben Embry