Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance for rain.
HIGH 60
Tuesday
March 16, 1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 114
LOW 38
Do you like riddles? Here is a site filled with brain teasing riddles.
Online today
Sports today
http://members.tripod.com/~Pothik/
riddles.html
The Kansas baseball team swept their first series of the season, winning the final two games against Iowa State yesterday.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Bus system may appear on ballot
Task force advocates University support
(USPS 650-640)
By Nadia Mustafa
nmustafa@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students may vote for more than just candidates and a new recreation center during Student Senate elections in April.
Senate's citywide transportation task force is trying to gain administrative support for a joint public bus system between KU On Wheels and the City of Lawrence by gathering student support.
The task force, which has obtained more than 300 signatures on a petition that began last week, has been working with the city on the issue of public transportation for almost a year.
If the task force obtains 1,000 signatures by April 1, the proposal will be put to a student body referendum on the ballot next month. If it passes, Senate would work the
cuy and the state legislature to coordinate a joint bus system.
Tom Moore, Student Legislative Awareness Board campus director and task force member, said that the task force initiated the petition following the last Senate meeting in which there was extensive debate about the merits and disadvantages of a public transportation system.
"I'm very happy to go the route that involves student opinion because we don't have very good representation of what students think about public transportation," he said. "This is a compromise to some misinterpreted signals at an undiplomatic session of Senate."
Moore wants to get a joint statement from the city, University of Kansas and Senate about their support of the system and what it would entail.
He said that he already had obtained a
commitment from Mayor Marty Kennedy and city commissioner Erv Hodges that public transportation would be one of the commission's priorities this year.
Moore said that the major obstacle to a citywide bus system was the misinterpretation of a state statute that did not allow student fees to be used for off-campus programs. But he said Senate, the city and the administration could change the fee status by working with the state Legislature.
Nicole Skalla, KU on Wheels transportation coordinator, said that students would not have to pay extra for a public bus system. She said that it was difficult to estimate how much the system would cost because the task force could not negotiate with the city until the fee status was changed.
Skalla said that one estimate of operating costs was $3 million but that existing student fees would be able to finance the system. She said that a potential student fee increase would be minimal.
"It will be a very slow implementation process more in the form of coordination than integration at first." Skalla said. "Students might have to pay just a little more, but they'll get more extensive service."
Mark Bradshaw, fine arts senator and task force member, said that a citywide transportation system would be a long-term solution to KU's parking problems.
"I hope that everyone who has ever cursed when they got a little purple envelope on their windshields will vote for this," he said. "It will also give students without cars an opportunity to go to their dentist appointments or go get groceries. Plus, it's more environmentally sound than 28,000 cars driving around the city of Lawrence."
The task force will be visiting student groups and housing groups during the next several weeks to inform students about transportation issues and obtain their feedback.
— Edited by Liz Wristen
Parking department needs resident input to solve parking woes
Jason Williams/KANSAN
By Nadia Mustafa
nmustafa@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The parking department is urging University of Kansas housing residents to become involved in finding a solution to their lack of parking spaces.
Donna Hultine, assistant parking director, said that she had received complaints from Jayhawker Towers and Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall residents about the lack of spaces at their parking lots.
The parking department sold 432 permits for 314 spaces at GSP-Corbin, and 462 permits for 367 spaces at towers. The $75 permits did not guarantee residents a space.
Towers residents can park at Lot 72 by the Burge Union at night before the parking department begins ticketing at 8 a.m. Scholarship hall and GSP-Corbin residents often are forced to park on city streets several blocks away from their halls.
Lindsey Chalfant, Corbin resident and Topea junior, said that there usually weren't spaces left at GSP-Corbain after 9 p.m.
"At Jayhawkower Towers, there are 30 to 40 cars consistently overflowing," Hultine said. "But they're not in the same position as scholarship hall or GSP-Corbin residents because Jayhawkower Towers residents have other options."
Brooke Mayhugh, Jayhawk Tower Towers resident and Leavenworth junior, that there were no spaces at Jayhawk Tower after 8 p.m.
"Sometimes I have to park blocks away on Ohio Street." she said.
ruttine said that similar to the scholarship hall parking problem, the situation at Jayhawker Towers and GSP-Corbin would not
improve. She said that the parking department informed students in advance about the parking situation at the University.
But, she said, Jayhawker Towers residents had the option of buying yellow permits instead of Jayhawker Towers permits, and she would allow residents to trade permits this semester.
"We have a finite number of spaces, and not everyone who wants to be parked in areas are going to be able to." Hultine said.
She said that she was willing to consider limiting the sale of permits to the number of available spaces. Another option would be to increase towing services to reduce the number of cars without permits that park in restricted lots.
Hultine said that she hoped the residence and scholarship hall governments would attend parking board meetings.
Ken Stoner, director of the Department of Student Housing, said that he had heard complaints from residents.
"My initial reaction is that demand should match supply," he said. "Limiting permits might be a solution."
Hultine said that the Fall 2000 parking plan, which includes a new parking garage, would benefit commuters, faculty and staff but that it would not improve the situation at towers, the scholarship halls or GSP-Corbin.
Hultine said that she did not want to take any action without residents' initiative and input.
"We could always use more space everywhere," she said. "But the main problem is with the residence halls."
Hultine said that every category of permit on campus probably was oversold.
Unusual assignment
Sophomores Brian Claibourn and Tyler Rowe act out a skit on Wescoe Beach for their basic video production class. Their assignment was to produce a public service announcement. The group decided to do a production about a leash law for gimps. Photo by Eric Sahmann \ Kansan
Enrollment letters cause confusion for seniors
May graduates receive permits to enroll in mail
By Jamie Knodel
jknode@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Seniors planning to graduate this May should not be surprised when permits to enroll arrive in their mailboxes.
Permits to enroll are sent to all students enrolled at the University of Kansas at the time the permits are generated, said Brenda Selman, associate registrar for enrollment services.
She said that regardless of a student's status, he or she would receive a permit because of several reasons.
Some students expecting to walk down the Hill on graduation day were alarmed when they received a permit to enroll.
"There is no guarantee that they will graduate," she said. "Just because a student is graduating does'nt mean that they wouldn't take other classes."
"When I got it in the mail, I started to question whether or not I was really going to graduate," said Carmen Garcia, Kansas City, Kan., senior who plans to earn a business administration degree this semester.
Kari Evans, Wichita senior, said that receiving a permit to enroll when she planned to graduate in just a few months made her nervous.
Cassandra Erlhacher, Cape Girardeau, Mo., senior, who expects to graduate with a bachelor's degree in communications studies, said that she had not yet received a permit to enroll but that she was prepared for it when it came.
I have friends who are graduating, and they all got treaked out when they got theirs in the mail, so they've warned me that just because I get a permit it doesn't mean that I won't graduate," she said.
Graduating seniors who have applied for University graduate programs might also be confused when receiving their permit to enroll.
Often with graduate programs, a student's status on his or her permit to enroll shows that he or she already has been accepted to the program, although the student may not have been officially accepted to the program.
Although the permit does contain a notice that states that status is pending, several departments make attempts to avoid confusion.
"The permit to enroll should reflect their current status," said Mary Ann Williams, office manager for the School of Education student records. "We try to get students admitted to the graduate program before the permits are printed, so the information is current."
Students who have applied to the law school may have received a permit to enroll that states that they are law school students.
The school sends all KU applicants a letter that states that they will be notified by the law school whether they have been accepted.
"It is very clear when you get admitted," said Georgann Eglinski, law school associate dean. "We send out a letter that very clearly states that they are admitted."
Top of the ranks send Kansas women down
The Jayhawks scored
The Jayhawks scored only 41 points in their season-ending loss to the top-ranked Purdue Boilermakers, 55-41. The'Hawks finished their season with 23 wins.
See page 1B for game highlights
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