Thursday, November 4, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Professor to appear on C-SPAN
By Amanda Kaszube
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Phillip Paludan's love and knowledge of Abraham Lincoln has landed him on television for the second time.
Paludan, professor of history,
will be featured on C-SPAN's
Presidency series that documents
the life and times of the
American presidents from
George Washington to Bill
Clinton.
"I did my interview last week," he said. "I always feel a little intimidated when there is a television camera looking at you. I was a little tonguetied."
Jessica Pigza, publicity manager for the University, said C-SPAN had not set a date for Paludan's segment, but she thought it would air in January 2000.
the University, was selected to appear on the Lincoln presidency segment because of his award-winning 1994 book, The Presidency of Abraham
Paludan, who teaches several Civil War history classes at
Presidency Lincoln.
of Abraham
He said C-SPAN had been choosing several scholars to appear in the presidential se gments because the scholars had studied the subject matter for a long time.
Paludan: interviewed about Abraham Lincoln
raudan won the Lincoln Award four years ago that is given for prestigious studies in the field.
Carl Strikwerda, associate dean of liberal arts and sciences and professor of history, said Paludan's recognition
reconfirmed his stature as a professor.
"Phillip is one of the most recognized authors on the Civil War and the Lincoln presidency, he said. "He is a nationally known scholar in the field."
A few weeks ago, C-SPAN traveled to Abilene and visited the Dwight D Eisenhower library. It then traveled to Lawrence to look at the University's collection of presidential books, Pizza said.
"They are doing a huge focus on the presidencies, and they have been going around the country and visiting scholars to talk about each one," she said. "They were very interested in our series of books."
During the 25-minute interview, Paludan discussed the technical aspects of the Lincoln presidency as well as his limitations in obtaining equal rights for all citizens.
"The segments feature a
study of each presidency and the major events surrounding them," he said. "They asked scholars to talk about it, and they also have a call-in session where people can ask the speaker questions."
"The highlight was when Sandra Day O'Connor introduced me," he said.
Paludan's knowledge of Lincoln earned him an appearance on C-SPAN in 1994, when he lectured on the president to the Supreme Court Historical Society. But that wasn't his favorite memory of the day.
When Paludan's newest segment does air, the University will gain more exposure in the public eye, said John Sweets, professor of history and colleague of Paludan
"I'm sure people will watch," he said. "It's a good thing for the University to get recognition about this."
— Edited by Chris Hutchison
False alarm
Dole Human Development Center was evacuated yesterday after a false fire alarm was pulled by an unknown person at 1:20 PM on the second floor.
A series of false fire alarms at McColllom Hall has led the KU Public Safety Office to issue a crime alert.
Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said that between 11:15 p.m. Oct. 22 and 2:35 a.m. Oct. 30 four pull stations were activated, causing the evacuation of McColum.
"There is no evidence at the time that would suggest these four incidents are related," Bailey said. "Our department doesn't have any suspects at the time, but the investigation is still ongoing."
Bailey said anyone with information on possible suspects should call either the KU Public Safety Office at 864-5900 or KU Crime Stoppers at 864-8888.
Text by Mike Terry- Photo by Carrie Julian/Kansan
Note: Tentative schedule
Source: University Registrar
Richard Bachman / KANSAN
Minnesota warns KU of PeopleSoft glitches
By Nathan Willis
by Nathan Willis
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
The University of Minnesota has some advice for the University of Kansas as it prepares to upgrade its computer systems to new software called PeopleSoft.
"It's going to be enormously hard," said Minnesota's Associate Vice President Bob Kvavik. "You'd better be prepared for that."
Kvavik knows from experience. His university is close to finishing a similar campuswide upgrade to PeopleSoft
And there have been problems, he said. Lots of them.
Kvavik is not alone in his complaints. In an Oct. 3 article, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that administrators around the country were complaining about delays, bugs and cost overruns with PeopleSoft projects. This led to an apology from PeopleSoft's chief executive officer, David Duffield, to its users in September, the Chronicle reported.
Amidst all this, however, administrators at KU say they are confident the University can steer clear from other universities' problems as they continue what will be a campuswide installation of PeopleSoft.
The software had errors that prevented tuition bills from going out on time, and students' financial aid checks were delayed by seven weeks, he said.
"We had quite a few unhappy students," Kvavik said. "PeopleSoft has not been able to deliver what they've promised. They are not giving us well-tested, stable pieces of software."
To top it off, he now estimates the upgrade will cost the university $53 million - $10.3 million more than projected and the project is three months behind schedule, he said.
And so far, they're right.
Admissions, the first of five PeopleSoft modules to be installed, went online Oct. 4 on time, on budget and with no major hitches, said Richard Morrell, University Registrar. Since then, there have been no major problems, and he said he expects the rest of the installations to go smoothly.
However, Kvavik said installation of admissions software went smoothly at Minnesota, too.
"What didn't run very nice was the financial aid part," he said.
Still, Morrell said the University should be able to avoid problems experienced by others. An in-house staff of 70 has been preparing for the installations since 1997, when the University bought the software for $2.3 million, he said.
Morrell said that eliminated the need to hire many outside consultants who can charge hundreds of dollars per hour, which largely was responsible for Minnesota's and other schools' cost overruns, Kvavik said.
The University also has a much looser installation timeframe than other schools, because it doesn't have to install the software to make its systems Y2K-compliant, Morrell said. That allows for more thorough testing before the system goes online, he said.
The software offers huge advantages, he said. For instance, the new admissions software will allow students to apply by using the Internet. When the new enrollment software is installed, students will be able to enroll in courses online.
Kvavik said that out of the options available, PeopleSoft was probably the best despite the problems.
"If we had to do it again, we'll pick peopleSoft," he said. "It's just a shame the company has delivered buggy products."
- Edited by Katrina Hull
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