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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
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Online today
Thursday
April 15, 1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 131
Sports today
http://www.cakerecipe.com
Vol. 109 No.131
Three-time track All-American Candy Mason has worked to become one of the nation's best heptathletes. Now she sets her sights on the 2000 Olympics.
SEE PAGE 1B
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Brett Stoppel, Gardener senior and incumbent candidate for campus senator, encourages students to vote. His coalition Delta Force decided to have a no-hassarment approach to getting students to participate in elections. Photo by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
Sidewalk campaigns unwelcome
Some students voice concerns about activities on election days
By Nadia Mustafa
nmustafa@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
After the first day of Student Senate elections yesterday, some candidates and other students were skeptical about the election commission's decision this year to allow sidewalk campaigning.
Despite the rainy weather, students were almost always lined up to vote at the eight polling sites around campus. But along sidewalks, not far
from students penciling in their votes on ballots, stood candidates distributing campaign fliers to passers-by.
Nicole Kirby, Lansing junior, tried to avoid candidates campaigning on the sidewalk on her way to class yesterday by steering clear of Wesco Beach. She said that she preferred last year's policy that required candidates to stand on the grass, instead of sidewalks.
"I feel like they're pushing things on me," Kirby said. "By the day of elections, I've
already made up my mind.
It's a privacy issue — they're intrusive and annoying."
Ramona DeNies, Oswego,
Ore., junior, said that she
didn't think sidewalk campa-
igning accomplished
much.
Jennifer Watkins, elections commissioner, did not know
"I have been studiously avoiding people bearing fliers because I don't feel that the proliferation of papers is going to increase awareness of the issues," she said.
Candidates are required to wear numbered buttons during elections so that students who feel harassed can report them to the commission.
of any student complaints yesterday about sidewalk harassment. She said that she was satisfied with the commission's decision to allow sidewalk campaigning.
Delta Force candidates took turns yesterday sporting two sandwich boards that read, "No harassment. Ask us for info. Visit April 14 and 15. Delta Force."
Nicole Skalla, Delta Force candidate for College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, said that the reason for the sandwich boards was that Delta Force candidates did not want to harass students. Instead, she said, students could voluntarily ask candidates for information.
"Senate elections are very important, but the more you harass people, the less important it seems," Skalla said. "We just seem like resume builders."
Thomas Franklin, YOU candidate for journalism senator, said that he would not hand out filers or talk to students unless they made eye contact with him.
"I don't want to be looked at like the credit-card people at Wesco Beach." he said.
■ Polling sites at Gertrude Sellards-Pearson and Oliver halls will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. All other polling sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Senators, officials try to cooperate if they disagree
— Edited by Melody Arc
By Kristi Reimer
kreimer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Although Student Senate and University administrators don't always agree on the issues, they have worked hard to maintain a relationship of trust and cooperation, representatives of both groups said.
"An adversarial role will get students nothing," said Kevin Yoder, student body president. "We can disagree, but we try to do it in a way that will be productive."
A strong working relationship is necessary because no Student Senate decision goes into effect until it gains the approval of the chancellor and the provost. On the other hand, it is difficult for administrators to pitch ideas to the Board of Regents that don't have student support.
So, what happens when student representatives and administrators are in opposite corners? Not a fight, the groups say, but negotiation and dialogue.
Heather Fields / KANSAN
At first, the administration said the University could not afford a new building because it had higher priorities. But Student Senate took up the issue and worked with the University to create a plan that would make construction possible. The new child-care center is scheduled to open at Stouffer Place in 2000.
"Yes, we do have disagreements from time to time," said Chancellor Robert Hemenway. "We try to resolve them, but if we can't, we have to say we respect each other's positions."
A recent example of successful negotiation was the decision last year to build a new child-care center to ease space limitations at the current center across from the Kansas Union.
"Eventually we found a way to fund the project, and we're well along." Hemenay said. "We should be breaking ground before too long."
He said the University had gone against students on a fee increase only one time. About 20 years ago, Student Senate had decided not to finance women's intercollegiate athletics. Because the University had to comply with Title IX legislation mandating equity in athletics funding, it raised students fees without Senate's approval.
"I tell people in my division that if you can't convince students that an increase is justified, you're not going to get it," Ambler said.
Most conflicts focus on increases in student fees, said David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs and adviser to the student body president for 22 years.
"That was the only time we've taken
a fee increase to the Board of Regents that Student Senate hadn't agreed to or initiated." Ambler said.
Two such decisions this year were a transition to the smart card student identification system and the signing of a contract with Coca-Cola to be the University's exclusive soft-drink provider.
Sometimes the administration approaches Student Senate looking for support and input, as in the case of an alcohol-awareness campaign launched last fall, Yoder said. But administrators have made some decisions with only nominal student involvement or none at all, and Senate has voiced protest.
Ca$h for brain$
Geoffrey Gitchell, Hutchinson junior, is one of many students who have cashed in on merit-based scholarships awarded by the University of Kansas.
When the administration makes a decision without student support, Amber said, "The rubber hits the road pretty hard.
"The administration signed contracts that affected students without student approval," Yoder said. "We should have had a more active voice."
But he said students did have recourse if they felt their rights were being severely infringed upon. Student Senate could try to sway the Board of Regents, lobby the Legislature or file a lawsuit against the University.
"I don't want to be seen as a whiny student who complains all the time," Yoder said. "I'd rather be known as someone who can rationally discuss problems and work them out."
"Students did not feel genuinely brought into the negotiations," Ambler said.
Yoder said Student Senate had never pushed through a proposal that the administration didn't want—that it would be impossible.
story by jamie knodel ● photo illustration by augustus anthony piazz
Yoder said he would prefer to work with the administration instead of against it.
Edited by Kelli Raybern
Students bank on excess funds collected from scholarships
When he saw that his SAT scores added up to 1550, Robert Chamberlain knew that there were some scholarships in his future. He didn't really think he'd come out ahead on his college career, though.
But he has. This semester the Topeka freshman picked up a refund check for funds left over from his National Merit Scholarship.
An Army ROTC four-year scholarship covers Chamberlain's tuition costs, and he gets $2,500 a semester as a National Merit Scholar. That comes out to money left over, and he can spend the left-over money any way he likes.
Chamberlain is not alone. Some top University of Kansas students say their scholarship checks are big enough to cover the occasional ski trip or high-tech computer.
Other merit-based scholarship
winners are fattening their wallets and building their wardrobes with thousands of dollars left over after educational expenses. It's part of the payoff when recruiting top scholars, administrators say.
It's not about need. It's about brains.
And unlike students on athletic scholarships, these scholars don't have to worry about pesky NCAA rules — only the Internal Revenue Service.
Scholarships paid for Christina Vizcarra's ski trips and her flight to Jamaica for spring break last year.
Vizarair, Leawood sophomore, said that she has had a surplus of scholarship money every semester she has attended the University. All of her expenses, with money left over, were covered by scholarships from the general University scholarship fund,
School of Engineering and a private company. That means her University refund is simply spending cash.
Geoffrey Gitchell, Hutchinson junior, bought a new high-speed computer with his University scholarship refund check.
She said that she saw her windfall as a payback for the years when she was so active in school that she didn't have time to work, and didn't earn any money.
"For the first time, I have money in my pocket." Vizcara said.
University officials say that it's OK to spend the cash.
"There is nothing wrong if a student gets a refund check from a University-awarded scholarship," said Alan Cerveny, director of Admissions and Scholarship.
In high school, Vizcarra was involved with several school organizations, maintained good grades, kept late hours practicing the viola
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