Tomorrow's weather
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Kansan
Monday
March 8,1999
Section:
A
Vol.109·No.109
Mostly cloudy tomorrow.
Online today
The Science Museum of Minnesota thinks you should be able to name candy bars from a picture of their cross-section. Are you up to the challenge? http://www.smm.org/sln/tf/c/crosssection/namethatbar.html
Sports today
The Kansas men's basketball team won the Big 12 Tournament Championship and now is preparing for the Big Dance as a No.6 seed.
SEE PAGE 1B
Contact the Kansan
News: (785) 864-4810
Advertising: (785) 864-4358
Fax: (785) 864-0391
Opinion e-mail: opinion@kansan.com
Sports e-mail: sports@kansan.com
Editor e-mail: editor@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Outlook good for KU faculty salary increase
By Kristi Reimer
Kansan staff writer
The Board of Regents will lobby a conference committee to recognize the need for faculty salary raises now that House and Senate committees have taken separate stands, Director Tom Brvant said.
(USPS 650-640)
Last week the Senate Ways and Means Committee recommended adding $900,000 to Gov. Bill Graves' budget for faculty salaries. Earlier, the House Appropriations Committee advised cutting it by $1.5 million.
"We're losing outstanding faculty, which is not in the best interest of citizens of Kansas," Bryant said. "We'll keep up our efforts to work with legislators to show our need."
Bryant said students had played an important role in the salary push and hoped they would continue. University of Kansas students plan to travel to Topeka on Wednesday to lobby for several initiatives, including faculty raises.
"It's not the 7.6 percent we wanted, but it's in the right direction and it recognizes the need," he said. "We're delighted."
Provost David Shulenburger said he was pleased with the Senate Ways and Means Committee's action, which he said would bring the faculty salary increase to five percent.
However, Mike Matson, the governor's press secretary, said Graves was concerned
about spending in light of revenue shortfalls last year.
"We just want lawmakers to keep a very close watch on the bottom line," Matson said.
The Regents and University of Kansas have said that average faculty salaries at public universities in the state, which lag behind those nationwide, are causing instructors to leave for higher-paying jobs and preventing new faculty from accepting jobs.
Early in the year, Graves recommended raising salaries by 3.5 percent and proposed a $2.5 million pool to be used to retain meritorious faculty. The Senate will consider increasing the merit fund to $3.4 million and the House will consider cutting it to $1 million when the full bodies vote.
Representatives' recommendations to decrease the amount stemmed from a review of statistics showing that faculty turnover was only 3 percent and their belief that the situation was not as bad as the Regents had led them to believe.
But senators said the Regents had demonstrated specifically that faculty were leaving for higher-paying jobs and taking grant money with them.
— The Associated Press contributed to this article
"I think they made their case pretty well," said Sen. Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Edited by Jodi Smith
Let's Dance!
Center Eric Chenowith gets a big hug from forward Nick Bradford as Chenowith comes off the floor at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas won the Big 12 Tournament championship by beating Oklahoma State 53-37 yesterday afternoon. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
'Monicas' still victims of Lewinsky scandal
Bv Dan Curry
By Dan Curry
dcurry@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When the Monica Lewinsky matter has faded from memory, Monicas everywhere will breath a sigh of relief.
For the time being, though, Monica Lewinsky has hilacked the name.
"I've gotten quite a lot of messages on the answering machine pretending to be Bill," said Monica Akyl, Chicago freshman. "Most of them are my friends but a few are random callers."
Akyol said that since Lewinsky entered the limelight, the name they share has become the object of wit in others.
For Monica Lynn Cardin, Omaha, Neb., sophomore, the gibes got old fast.
"I'll beat them to the punch line," Akyol said. "I'll introduce myself as 'Monica, not Lewinsky.'"
"It really doesn't,it really bother me." Akvol said. "It blow over."
until then, Akyol said she has developed a sound method to deflate forthcoming fun at her expense.
Though the side comments bother her, Cardin said she could empathize with Lewinsky.
"My father calls me Monica 'Lynn-ski." Cardin said.
"I get teased a lot," Cardin said. "It almost makes me feel sorry for her."
But the most sympathy should perhaps go to the name "Monica." For many people—it invokes Saint Monica, patron saint of patience, who prayed on her knees every night for 30 years for her son's conversion to Catholicism.
RANKING THE NAMES
Four names in the news have gotten more exposure, but that doesn't make them more popular. According to the Office of the Chief Acquary, Social Security Administration Web site, www.sgsa.gov/OACT/, some names are being used less often.
The name Chelsea or Chelsey ranked No.
55 in 1996, No. 162 in 1997 and No.
341 in 1998.
The name Monica ranked No. 69 in 1996, No. 73 in 1997 and No. 97 in 1998.
The name William ranked No. 21 in 1996,
No. 22 in 1997 and No. 13 in 1998
In 1996, the rankings for the name Hillary weren't available, but it ranked No. 389 in 1997 and No. 792 in 1998.
The name, which also means "advisor," has plummeted in the popularity charts.
According to Social Security Administration statistics, the name "Monica" ranked 73rd on the list of names for newborn girls in 1997. By the end of 1998, the name had dropped to 97th.
"I'm sure for the rest of my life I'll get a crack or two," said Akyl.
— Edited by Aerica Veazey
Search saves former KU professor
Herpetologist's condition is fair after spending night injured in ravine
By Katie Burford kburford@kansas.com
Kansan staff writer
Henry Fitch was two hours late returning from his expedition to tag trees at the University of Kansas' Fitch Natural History Reserve when his wife called authorities to report him missing at 7 p.m. Friday, said Stg. Blake McCall of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department.
Fitch was in critical condition when a helicopter transported him to KU Medical Center, said Brian Lawrence, medical battalion chief with the Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical Department.
Lawrence said Fitch, who had been in the ravine for more than 15 hours, was conscious but had a leg injury and was weak from the exposure to near-freezing night-time temperatures.
A massive search, which involved local and neighboring counties' agencies, ensured, but it was not until about 8:30 a.m. Saturday that 198-year-old Fitch, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, was found in the ravine where he had fallen, McCall said.
By yesterday, Fitch's condition had been upgraded to fair and his son, Chet, said he was alert and watching the KU basketball game in his hospital room.
His son said that Fitch had to have some stitches, but that no bones were broken.
Chet Fitch, who had gone out to look for his father, got lost in the dense foliage of the woods.
Luckily, Chet had a cellular phone and was able to talk to three deputy sheriffs who blared their sirens to guide him back to safety, McCall said.
"We decided we were going to need a lot more help." McCall said.
A helicopter with heat-seeking equipment was sent from Topeka, and dogs from several canine units were brought in to aid the search for Fitch.
Officers from the KU Public Safety Office helped coordinate the rescue effort, which continued until 4:30 a.m. The decision was made to halt the effort until daybreak because of the treacherous terrain. McCall said.
By 7 a.m. nearly 100 people were divided into search teams, which fanned out across the square mile of land and traversed the property from west to east. They were almost to the eastern border when I fleh was spotted in the ravine.
He told police he had heard the sirens and dogs throughout the night but had been too weak to respond.
Fitch and his wife live on the reserve. He has been with the University since 1948 and retired from his faculty position in 1981.
Fitch: Was to weak to respond to noise of searchers.
William E. Duellman, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, said that Fitch, a herpetologist, was responsible for making the reserve the best-known square mile in the country. For decades, Fitch has marked and tracked thousands of snakes on the reserve, including poisonous copperheads. Duellman said.
Fitch recently published a book, "A Kansas Snake Community: Composition and Change Over 50 Years," about his research on the reserve.
- Edited bv Jodi Smith
Chet said the family wanted to express their gratitude to everyone involved in the search for their help in saving Fitch's life.
Yellow bike plan aims to pave way for clean air
By Jennifer Roush
jroush@kansan.com
Konsant staff writer
Bright-yellow bicycles could soon be leaning on the bike racks scattered around the KU campus for any student to use.
"Matt Dunbar is the coordinator of the program, and he got the Department of Student Housing to donate abandoned bikes for the project," said Bridgett Chapin, Lawrence senior and member of KU Environs. "They were very, very generous."
Members of KU Environs are volunteering their time and effort to begin a program that would offer the use of free bikes for KU students, and eventually the Lawrence community. By encouraging the use of the bikes, the group hopes to improve air quality.
Chapin said the group also had received bicycles from other individuals, but that more still were needed. She said they had collected 40 to 50 bikes.
Yellow Bike Program
The bicycles donated by the hous ing department had been left by former residents of the scholarship halls, residence hall or the Stouffor Place Apartments, said K i p Grosshans, associate director of student housing.
Grosshans said the bicycles were stored for at least six months, and then donated to various charities if
KU Environs hope to begin a free bike program on campus and actively in Lawrence.
- Students can borrow a bike to go to class, but must park it for our students when finished.
Bright yellow bikes will be parked at various KU bike racks for any student to use.
KU Enviors members have collected between 40-50 bikes but they could use more.
● KU Environs hope to start this program before the semester ends. They hope to kick off the program on Earth Day, April 22
Rachel Kesselman/KANSAN
they were not claimed by their own
Enirons asked department officials if they could have the bikes, and the department agreed.
"This was a great idea, and we wanted to help them get this off the ground," Grosshans said.
Chapin said that because Environs had some bicycles that needed to be repaired, the program also needed volunteers with some mechanical skills who could fix them.
Although KU Environs hopes to start the yellow bike program on campus, members also plan to offer the free service around Lawrence, Chapin said. She said she hoped the bikes also would lean on racks downtown.
The program is not ready to begin, but Enviroms members are making progress, Chapin said. The group still needs more volunteers, bikes and time.
"We have bikes and we're working on them," she said. "We have a plan, but no consensus yet on when or where exactly it'll happen."
Matt Dunbar, KU Environs president, said that although the program was not completely on hold, it was making slow progress. He also said he had not discussed the project with University administrators.
"As of this moment, today, the project isn't going anywhere." Dunbar said.
He said his commitments as a Student Senator, Environs president and full-time student made it difficult for him to find the time to work on the bikes.
However, members of the group do ge
O
See ENVIRONS on page 2A