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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
Temperatures cool down with a chance for thunderstorms
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Happy Earth Dav
Thursday
April 22,1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 . No. 136
LOW 48
Vol.109·No.136
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Sara Buys from Littleton, Colo., lays flowers near Columbine High School in Littleton. Authorities confirmed yesterday that 15 people, including the two teen-age suspects, were killed in the Tuesday rampage of gunshots and explosions at the school in suburban Denver. KRT photo
Police seek answers in tragedy
(USPS 650-640)
Shooters' families express sorrow to community
"Our thoughts, prayers and heartfelt apologies go out to the victims, their families, friends, and the entire community,"
Family of alleged gunman, Dylan Klebold
The Associated Press
LITTLETON. Colo. — Working around bodies still lying where they fell more than a day earlier, bomb squad officers checked lockers and backpacks for explosives yesterday as investigators tried to piece together one of the deadliest school massacres in U.S. history.
Hurling bombs and blasting guns, two students in black trench coats killed 12 schoolmates and a teacher Tuesday at Columbine High School, most of them in the library. The alleged gunmen, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebeld, 17, then apparently killed themselves.
Officials were trying to determine it others were involved, and they questioned other members of the boys' group of outcasts, the "Trenchcoat Mafia."
Parents waited for more than 24 hours after the attack to receive official word of their children's fate. Not until yesterday afternoon were the first bodies removed from the scene — those of two victims who died outside the school.
Investigators left the bodies in place overnight so that they could check for explosives and record the details of the crime scene.
"It was a different sort of chaos inside," SWAT Sgt. Hinkle said. "There were fire alarms going off, strobe lights, four inches of water in the cafeteria. We had been told there were bombs in backpacks and there were backpacks everywhere. It was the toughest tactical problem I've
ever seen."
ever seen:
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Davis said 30 explosive devices had been found at Columbine, in the killers' vehicles and at their homes. Late Tuesday, more than 10 hours after the shootings, a time bomb blew up, but no one was hurt.
no one was not.
Nine of the victims were male and four were female. District Attorney Dave Thomas said there was no evidence that the killers targeted minorities, as some students claimed. Only one of the 13 victims was black.
Sixteen people remained hospitalized, 11 in critical or serious condition.
The gunmen's families both issued statements yesterday.
"Our thoughts, prayers and heartfelt apologies go out to the victims, their families, friends, and the entire community," the Klebeld family said.
Harris' parents said: "We want to express our heartfelt sympathy to the families of all the victims and to all the community for this senseless tragedy."
tragedy.
Witnesses said Harris and Klebold targeted athletes and minorities, laughing at their victims and using a racial epithet to describe the black victim. "All jocks stand up!" one of the boys yelled during Tuesday's attack. "We're going to kill every one of you."
Harris and Klebold had juvenile records — they were caught breaking into a car. They completed a program that allowed them to clear their record, Thomas said.
While investigators continued their work, memorial services were held across the city yesterday.
Red-eyed students streamed into the Light of the World Church for a memorial service and a noon prayer vigil.
"How can you reassure someone who has just seen devastation?" said Rochelle Brunsdon of the Jefferson Center for Mental Health. "We're going to talk to people about the experience they've had, how they can go on."
All schools were closed yesterday in the Jefferson County school district, which has 89,000 students and is Colorado's largest. Rick Kaufman, a district spokesman, said all schools except Columbine would open again today.
ESU approves policy without sex bias clause
By Nadia Mustafa
nmustafa@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Despite the disapproval of Emporia State University's Student Senate, ESU President Kay Schallenkamp approved an equal-opportunity policy Tuesday that did not include non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
entation.
Schallenkamp approved the equal-opportunity policy along with a companion non-discrimination statement that said that ESU did not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation. But, according to ESU's University Relations, the companion statement is not legally binding, while the equal-opportunity policy is.
while the equal opportunity clause of the ESU Values Task Force, consisting of faculty, staff and students, submitted the policy and statement to ESU's Faculty Senate, Classified Assembly and Student Senate. The Faculty Senate and Classified Assembly approved both, but Student Senate only approved the non-discrimination statement because it believed that the equal-opportunity policy also should have included a sexual orientation clause.
"We chose to go with what the faculty and staff endorsed," said Cora Hodstrom, director of ESU's University Relations. "At least now we have something that states we don't discriminate."
state. ESU's Student Senate passed a resolution last month that encouraged the university to adopt an equal-opportunity policy that included a sexual orientation clause. In January, the Student Senate at the University of Kansas also passed a similar resolution supporting ESU's policy.
also passed a law that Schallenkamp did not include sexual orientation in the equal-opportunity policy because it would not be supported by state and federal laws. But, she said, there would be grievance procedures for victims of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Schallenkamp could not be reached for comment.
John Schwenn, Values Task Force chairman and vice president of academic affairs, said that the task force decided to separate the equal-opportunity policy from the non-discrimination statement because of the different procedures individuals would follow if they were victims of discrimination.
for discrimination. For example, he said, victims of discrimination based on
Hemenway approves fall break trial
See SEX on page 2A
Chancellor to reconsider if 'privilege is abused'
By Kristi Reimer
kreimer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Chancellor Robert Hemenway announced yesterday that he had approved the addition of a fall break to the academic calendar beginning in October 2001, but he said the break could be rescinded if students took extra days off.
Hemenway sent an e-mail to all faculty stating that he would recommend that the Board of Regents approve the new calendar at its May meeting. If it does, the University of Kansas will be the first Regents school to have a fall break.
"Virtually all reported that the fall break resulted in renewed student commitment to one's studies and helped to avoid burn-out as the semester was completed," Hemenway wrote in the e-mail.
Hemenway said that in reviewing the proposal, he had studied other universities that had implemented a fall break.
The break would occur on a Thursday and Friday in mid-October. But Hemenway said he would ask the Office of the Provost to monitor the effectiveness of the break to make sure there was no decrease in instructional time.
"If the data show that the privilege of a full break is abused, I will not hesitate to recommend that it
He said he was pleased with the way different governing bodies on campus had worked together on the calendar proposal to ensure that it maintained the number of instructional days, preserved Stop Day and kept the traditional commencement time.
He also praised the addition of an intersession period during winter break.
be rescinded," Hemenway wrote.
"This will allow us to develop opportunities for study abroad, internships, or special research projects," Hemenway wrote. "For students taking such opportunities, we will actually be adding two weeks of instructional time to the school year."
Hemenway; Will work to rescind the break if it is abused
"This will allow us to
The calendar proposal has gone through several versions over a two-year time span, advancing to various stages in the governance system before being sent back for revision.
Carol Holstead, associate professor of journalism, is a member of the Calendar Committee that created the proposal.
"It's a credit to our system that it works, and it's a credit to our chancellor for making KU the first in the Regents system to establish a fall break," she said. "It will be interesting to see if other institutions follow suit."
Holstead said that at times she had been frustrated with the governance process.
"I was really discouraged at one point that it wouldn't happen," she said. "I wondered, 'Why doesnt everyone else get it?' But sensible heads have prevailed here."
Senate, students can influence athletics decisions
She said the Calendar Committee had discussed fall break ever since she joined in 1994. But in 1997, student Jason Fitzell, who has since graduated, made fall break a pet project and drafted a plan.
"He gave us a starting place," Holstead said. "That's when we began to get more excited and saw that it was possible."
- Edited by Kelli Raybern
By Jennifer Roush
Kansan staff writer
Student Senate as a whole may n deal with athletics much, but the outgoing student body president and vice president were successful in their campaign to gain student support for a new campus recreation center.
Kevin Yoder, student body president, said that Student Senate didn't spend a whole lot of time on athletics issues.
He said that four senators were voting members of the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation board of directors.
Senate can also make recommendations to KUAC and the parking board about issues such as parking at basketball and football
games and ticket prices. However, Yoder said that student senators had no direct power to make decisions on those issues.
Part 9 of 10
"Student opinion is only important when it's expedient," he said. Yoder said that the best action for students who were unhappy with a KUAC policy was to come together as
or 10 a group and research the issue. The student group should then present a coherent solution to Senate, who will in turn present the solution to KUAC, he said.
Michael Henry, nontraditional senator, said he thought students had more say in athletics than most people realized.
He said that the two major ways Senate could affect KUAC policies were student senators sitting on the KUAC board and Senate's ability to approve the student athletics fee.
to approve the selections. Henry also started the Helping Athletics Win at Kansas club recently. The club will act as the official student booster club for football and non-revenue sports at the University. He said that membership in the HAWK club was a way for students who weren't in Senate to become directly involved with athletics issues.
"For example, we have a great women's bas-
See STUDENTS on page 5A
Fashion cultures
Preethi Reddy, Hyderabad, India, junior, models her mother's traditional Indian clothing. Reddy took part in the International Fashion Show hosted by the International Students Association yesterday in front of the Kansas Union. Photo by Rachel Marta Orr/KANSAN.
For the full story see page 3A
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