THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Inside Entertainment
Kansan
And the rockets red glare . . .
Fireworks, rocketry and patriotism reign on Independence Day.
University carillon
Albert Gerken, professor of music manipulates wooden handles to play the bells in the Campanile.
Wednesday
June 30, 1999
Weekly Edition
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No.152
Monarch butterflies
SEE PAGE 8A
KU's Monarch Watch tags butterflies to better track migratory patterns.
SEE PAGE 5A
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Regents raise Hemenway's pay
By Matthew Friedrichs
Kansan editor
(USPS 650-640)
TOPEKA- The boss is getting a raise.
Members of the Kansas Board of Regents approved raises Thursday for Chancellor Robert Hemenway and the presidents of Kansas State, Pittsburg State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Wichita State universities.
Hemenway's salary will increase to $202,428, a raise of $19,896, almost 11 percent.
Raises for president of the other universities ranged from 9.9 percent to 15.9 percent, much higher than those for university faculty and staff
The Kansas Legislature has already allocated funds for raises of 3.5 percent for faculty and staff. The legislature also allocated funds to provide merit awards of as much as 4.9 percent for select university employees.
The discrepancy in raises was necessary to keep administrators in Kansas on pace with their peers, according to Bill Docking, chairman of the nine-member board.
"If we are to have top-flight institutions, it is essential that we close this gap," Docking said. "Our state and
Kristi Elliott / KANSAN
Source: Kansas Board of Regents
sity of Colorado, the University of Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Oregon.
In 1999, Menenway the $182,532 salary placed him ahead of only Oregon's
national economies currently are strong, and we must be competitive in the national market. The new salaries reflect an initial step in closing that gap."
The University's peer institutions as defined by the Board are the Univer-
chancellor who makes $137,688. North Carolina pays its chancellor the most,
$235,767.
Pat Miller, business manager for computing services, said a large raise was not unusual for the chancellor.
She said the difference between his raise and the raises for others at the University was an indication of differences in how the Legislature and the Board set salaries.
Chris Hepp, associate professor of music and dance, said the Regents' decision was easier to take because it had supported higher faculty salaries in their proposals to the Legislature.
"This year, the spoils of war go to Chancellor Hemenway," Hepp said. "Next year, I hope they go to the faculty."
In other business the Regents:
- approved a fall break at the University beetting fall 2011.
approved tuition increases of 2.5 percent, a $1 per-credit-hour fee for libraries and a $1 per-credit-hour technology fee for KU students beginning in 2001.
approved a request to name a center scheduled to open next year the Theo and Alfred M. Landon Center for Aging.
Edited by Derek Prater
Hilltop center breaks ground for kids
By Michael Furman Special to the Kansan
Pat Pisani, Hilltop director, encouraged anybody who wanted to help to join.
One hundred twenty-five people showed up to help break ground for the new Hilltop Child Development Center at 1 p.m. Sunday.
"We even have little gold shovels for the kids," she said.
The ceremony was directed toward children, but numerous University of Kansas administrators including Provost David Shulenburger braved the stormy weather to offer their congratulations.
"We are trying to make this a children's event, so they understand what's going on and when they'll get to use the new place." PSiani said.
Ann Wimmer, a Hilltop teacher, attended the ceremony with her granddaughter. She said people were w
More information
More kids did more
cute things for the Hill-
top groundbreaking.
see page 4A
ter. She said people were excited about the new center because it was designed for the children.
"It's going to be so nice, especially for the students and parents with special needs." Wimmer said.
The new building will be one level, and classrooms will have their own bathrooms. The current Hilltop building is multiple levels and is not handicapped accessible.
Dena Podrebarac, president of the Hilltop board of directors, said that the new design was appropriate.
"I'm also real excited for the natural theme; being a biologist I'm real interested in the wildflowers and the earthy colors," she said.
Pedrobardea's daughter, Hillary, 5, is excited about the new center for another reason.
"We'll be in new classes and we'll have new playground toys," she said.
The excitement for the center was obvious Sunday as adults and children joined in shoveling dirt.
Katlyn Fisher, 8, was hard at work doing her part for the center.
"I hope to go 3 feet down," she said as she struggled to puncture the ground.
to puncture the ground. Construction is expected to be complete by July,
2000, and the building, which will be located between Anschutz Sports Pavilion and Stouffer Place apartments, should be ready for classes in August. 2000.
About two-thirds of the $3.4 million project will be paid by a $4-a-semester student fee. The KU administration and Hilltop are paying the remainder.
Top:Children from Hilltop Child Development Center pitch in during the ground breaking ceremony at the site of the new Hilltop building. The building should be completed and ready for the children by August 2000. Right: Ryan Bellinger, 3, puts on his hard hat in preparation for the ground breaking of the new Hilltop center. Photo by Roger Noman/KANSAN
Edited by Kimberly Erb
Incorrect grades can be rectified through appeals
By Scott Gootee
Kansan Staff Writer
brian Cooper, Overland Park junior, received a 'B' last semester in his Business 240 class for about two weeks. Luckily, his professor, Tim Shaftel, sends letters to all his students who receive 'A's.
"I got the letter two weeks later with the news," Cooper said. "It was definitely a happy surprise. I called the Business Department, who then referred me to my TA (Graduate teaching assistant). I called him, and he took care of it."
Cooper's plight is not unique, nor rare. Determining an exact number is difficult, said Richard Morrell, University registrar, whose office processes the approved grade-change requests. Every semester, hundreds of students stalk the postman until their grade cards arrive, but sometimes these grades aren't what they expected. Nonetheless, many students, such as Cooper, accept their given grades, because their performance was borderline, because the grade was better then expected or because it would be too much trouble to change it. All of these scenarios compound to make tabulating the number of incorrect grades difficult.
"We don't have a system that tabulates the number of changes we process," Morrell said. "But a good estimate would be 100 to 200 a month."
While quantifying the situation can be difficult, determining whose responsibility the incorrect grade is can prove to be an even harder job. Tom Preheim, Hutchinson senior, is a Business 240 teaching assistant. He said that responsibility is mutual, between both the student and the teacher.
"it's hard sometimes to get all the grades correct," Prelheim said. "I've been on both sides of the street: a student and a teacher. TAs sometimes face time pressure, but students should ask for their updated grades throughout the semester."
PROCEDURE FOR CHANGING A GRADE
Students with incorrect grades deciding to change them face a hierarchical process, said Bruce Bublitz, associate dean in the School of Business.
Talk to your professor regarding your grade.
The professor must request a
grade change in writing.
- The department chair must approve the request.
Grade changes are allowed only when an error has occurred, or the original grade was an incomplete.
Students may appeal final course grades, if they believe that the professor failed to grade according to the syllabus.
The appeal must be first directed to the department in question.
n the problem is still unresolved, a student may submit a final appeal to the University Judicial Board.
source, KU Undergraduate Catalog
"The rules of changing grades are very clear in University Senate Rules and Regulations," Bublitz said. "They give faculty near exclusive say over grades. Administration rarely has say. The requirement is that the faculty member must grade according to the syllabus."
According to Preheim, the best way for students to avoid incorrect grades, is to keep undated on their progress.
"I recommend that students keep all their work, especially anything with a number," Preheim said. "They should also ask a professor to get an update on their grades often. That way, they know their grades and they show the professor that they care."
Bublitz offered further advice for students who have received an incorrect grade.
"If the grade doesn't seem right, go talk to the instructor." Bubiltz said. "When a student comes to me, we'll sit down and the calculations."
However, this assumes that students are aware that they have received an incorrect grade, which is not always the case.
"I thought I had a 'B." Cooper said. "My grade was borderline, so when I received my grade card, I just accepted it. If I hadn't received the letter, I would have had a 'B' in my class not knowing it was wrong."
— Edited by Anjum Aziz
Man's artwork for the birds and others with birds' eye view
Ru Mindie Miller
In a cornfield east of Lawrence, the stalks stand tall after the recent deluge of summer rain. Low murmuring voices lace their way through the leafy arms of the corn. Near the center of the field, the voices grow louder.
Kansan staff writer
A machete blade splits the air, severing a six-foot stalk, leaving five inches above the muddy soil.
Whoosh!
up a few inches. The drawing is a scaled-down version of the image that Stan Pendleton is creating in John and Karen Pendleton's cornfield.
Herd makes a few more swipes with his machete and then pitches it into the stubbly earth. Herd, a local environmental artist, is carving a turtle-shaped maze at the Pendleton's, owners of Pendleton's Country Market, 1446 E. 1850 Rd. The completed turtle maze will measure about 560 feet long by 400 feet wide — about 5 acres.
"Could you hold the sketch up a little higher, John?" asked the man with the machete. A tan fedora and dark sunglasses shield his face from the glare of the sun.
John Pendleton raises the sketch
From the ground, it looks like Herd has cut down random sections of the field. But from a higher vantage point, the combination of standing corn and strategically-placed negative spaces takes the shape of a turtle. For nearly 20 years, Herd has been creating art that is best viewed from the sky.
Living art
In 1976, Rent rented an airplane and hired a pilot to fly him over Dodge City so he could view a mural he'd painted on a building.
1 was fascinated by flight the first time I flew. It just absolutely knocked me out as an artist — someone who is fascinated by visual images anyway. The mundane became the spectacular from up in the air, and it stuck in my
See CORNFIELDS on page 3A
"Xiphactinus" is a previous crop maze created by Stan Herd on the outskirts of Lawrence. Photo courtesy of Jon Blumb
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