THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Tomorrow's weather
Kansan
Partly sunny tomorrow.
Tuesday
February 23,1999
Section:
A
Vol.109 • No.100
Sports today
Online today
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The Kansas seniors go out in style and defeat Oklahoma State 67-66 in overtime.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
SEE PAGE 1B
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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
A Lawrence fire and medical department truck and a Coors Light truck sit smashed together at Ninth Street and Avalon Road. The fire truck was responding to an accident call and was traveling east on Ninth Street when the truck slid and hit the beer truck that was crossways in the road. Photo by Maanus Andersson/KANSAN
Sudden snowstorm leaves students without a ride
By Katie Burford Jamie Knodel Kristi Reimer Kansan staff writers
A sudden snowstorm yesterday shut down KU on Wheels for about three hours, stranded some students and sent vehicles sliding into the ditch and into one another.
Despite the 3 inches of snow and temporary lack of transportation for some students, University of Kansas administrators kept classes in session in anticipation that conditions would clear and services would resume.
Cliff Blair, manager of Lawrence Bus Co., said bus services were suspended from about 11:40 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. because buses were having trouble getting through the snow. Lawrence Bus Co. provides the vehicles for KU on Wheels.
"Several accidents impeded our services, but we weren't involved in any accidents." Blair said.
Staci Shorter, Lawrence junior, and Lumain Paki Brown, Kansas City, Mo., senior, were waiting for their bus at 12:30 p.m. outside Bailey Hall.
Brown said he planned to walk home to his apartment at 28th and Iowa streets, about 15 blocks away.
"They should have canceled classes to avoid the risks in having students stranded in this weather." Shorter said.
Erika Winters, St. Louis senior, said that while she was waiting outside her apartment for her bus, a driver traveling the opposite direction informed her that no more buses would
run until conditions improved.
She so drove to school instead.
"My car slid on the ice, and I nearly hit a telephone pole," she said.
Winters, like other students, said she thought that if bus service was canceled, classes should be also.
Provost David Shulenburger said suspension of bus service was only one factor the University considered when deciding whether to cancel classes.
Shulenburger said it would be safer to keep classes in session, anticipating that bus service would resume, than to cancel and put hundreds of people on the streets at the same time.
"We obviously can't let a private firm determine whether the University of Kansas operates or not," he said.
But he said individuals should decide for themselves
whether it was safe for them to come. He said students should work with instructors to make up work if they had to stay home.
Ray Ammar, chairman of the physics and astronomy department, said instructors would use their discretion in determining whether to penalize students for missing class.
"As long as classes are scheduled, we must go through with that," he said.
Diana Carlin, associate professor of communication studies, teaches classes with mandatory attendance. She said she received three messages from students who would be unable
He said he thought absences would be a problem only in classes with scheduled examinations and labs.
See CLASSES on page 2A
Recreation task force searching for student approval of fee hikes
By Nadia Mustafa
Kansan staff writer
Some student senators are divided on the issue of presenting a $15.5 million recreation center proposal to the student body for a referendum during the April elections.
During the next two weeks, the recreation task force, composed of the student body president, vice president, senators and other students, will attempt to gather the 1,000 student signatures necessary to put the proposal to a student vote.
The task force finalized its proposal last week, which would increase student fees $15 per semester in fall 2000 and $34 per semester in fall 2001.
The increased fees would fund a freestanding fitness and recreation center on campus solely for student recreational use almost 18 hours a day.
The center would include four multipurpose gymnasium courts, two racquetball courts, a cardiovascular fitness and weight training center. aerobic and dance studio, suspended walking and jogging track, rock climbing wall, martial arts studio, activities lounge, locker rooms and student service center.
Kevin Yoder, stu
fingers on the polls," he said. "We want to give students the opportunity to vote. It's real easy to cut down someone else's plan if you haven't done the research. Some people won't support it just for electoral purposes."
Partha Mazumdar, graduate senator, said that an increase in student fees could instead be used to fund scholarships or library improvements. He said that he was not sure if such an expensive center was necessary.
Kaiser, student body vice president, said that the task force considered a $1 million to $2 million addition to Robinson Center but that it was not realistic and did not receive as much support from student groups.
"If they can come up with something smaller, we can work together," Mazumdar said. "We want improvements, too."
RECREATION CENTER PROPOSAL
Linda Bang, Papillion, Neb. junior, said that she would use the new recreation center if it was open during the day.
The proposal said that Robinson Center:
■ Was a center that gave priority to academics and research instead of recreation.
- Was ranked 12 among other Big 12 Conference university centers.
- Was the smallest and oldest recreation center and was open for general recreational use the least number of hours among Big 12 schools
- Had a student recreation fee of $13, which was $33.91 less, on average, than the other Big 12 institutions.
dent body president, said that the task force conducted extensive research and student surveys to gauge the demand for a new recreation center.
"To have a healthy community and a good learning environment, we need a student recreation center," he said. "We felt that students did not think their needs were being filled."
Mark Horowitz, graduate senator, said that he was in favor of a recreation center but that the phone surveys conducted by the task force were flawed. He said that only the last question on the survey mentioned an increase in student fees and that it was ambiguous.
Yoder said that students responded positively to the last question, which asked how much of an increase they would most strongly support based on the recreation center options presented earlier in the survey.
"The methodology of the research was significantly problematic," Horowitz said. "The process of gauging student interest needs to be open and democratic. Everyone wants something except for when it comes down to their wallets."
Scott (Kaiser) and I feel that we have our
"My evenings are pretty busy, and I'm not going to wake up at 6:30 in the morning," she said. "If it was open during the day, I could see myself going more often. I wouldn't raise a ruckus if they added the cost on to student fees." The took force
The task force released the results of the phone survey last December in which a
maximum of 463 random students responded to questions about KU's recreation center.
Most students, or 78.4 percent, said that they were satisfied with the quality of services and activities at Robinson Center. But, 67.4 percent said that they felt that a new or improved recreational sports center should be a priority for the University.
A plurality of students polled, 38.1 percent,
said that they would most strongly support
a fee increase of $40 to $45 based on the
options presented.
Kaiser said that if students voted for a new recreational center, construction would begin in Fall 2000 and that the center would be completed in Spring 2002.
Yoder said that the task force would choose a location for the new center after the student body voted. He said that he wanted the center to be located south of Watkins Memorial Health Center.
If the proposal passes a student body referendum, it must be approved by the Board of Regents this summer and the state Legislature next January.
- Edited by Jodi Smith
Graduate teaching assistants hope to improve KU relations
GTAC co-presidents want more members and more cooperation
By Chris Hopkins Kansan staff writer
Recently elected co-presidents of the Graduate Teaching Assistant Coalition they hoped to fix the tumultuous relationship between the University's administration and GTAC.
An argument between the chancellor and a member of GTAC arose last Wednesday during a town hall meeting at the KU Visitors Center. Mark Horowitz, former GTAC president, and Robert Hemenway argued about KU's support of legislation that would have taken away the union's power to negotiate by
Ophra Leyser and Joy Wrolson, new GTAC co-presidents, said that the union would try to avoid basing future decisions on past actions against the union by the University.
removing the member's public employee status.
"I think our main goals are solidifying the union and working with the administration," Wrolson said. "We really do need to look into the future and develop our shared goals."
But Wrolson and Leyser are both new to the University this year and said that they wanted to improve relations with the University.
Leyser said that she didn't think that opening a dialogue with the administration would be difficult.
Hemenway said that he was entirely in favor of building better ties with GTAC.
"I think the harder part will be coming to a happy medium," she said.
"I'm interested in having the best possible relationship with our GTAs," he said.
Since the new GTA contract was negotiated last year, GTAC member participation has declined.
Wrolson said it also was common for students to stop participating after the passage of a contract when they felt their needs had
been satisfied.
Wes Beal, GTAC organizer, said that because of the short amount of time that GTAs spent at the University, it was critical to have a quick turnaround in member participation.
Leyser thought that after putting in 30 hours a day trying to get a contract through, the members felt exhausted and had taken a bit of a break from participation.
Beal said that all of the previous coalition officers, Horowitz, secretary Helen Sheumaker and treasurer George Lundskow, probably would be done with school and would leave KU soon.
About 20 percent of the University's GTAs are members of GTAC, a number that both new presidents would like to see improve.
"It's all along the lines of having a base big enough to where the work doesn't all fall on one person." Beal said.
An increased number of members would mean that responsibilities would be even out.
— Edited by Tara Hinkhouse
In-state status for graduate students would cause $700,000 fund shortage
By Kristi Reimer
Kansan staff writer
A bill in the Legislature granting in-state residency status to graduate students who have been awarded national fellowships raises concerns about the loss of income KU would experience as a result.
Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, has introduced legislation that would allow out-of-state graduate students at Regents universities to pay in-state rates for whatever tuition their fellowships didn't already cover.
"In order to attract quality graduate students, we need to be competitive for these fellowships," Sloan said. "If we can't get a waiver for these students, we don't attract them."
Provost David Shulenburger said passage of the bill would cause a $700,000 loss in tuition revenue.
"We're seriously underfunded
as it is," he said. "The University can't support anything that would reduce tuition receipts by that amount."
are two sides to the issue."
Shulenburger said that other universities either waive'
uition or offered instate rates to fellowship recipients and that competing with those schools was difficult. "We need every advantage possible, but we also need the funding," he said. "The
Sloan: The bill doesn't include how KU could manage the financial loss.
Andrew Debicki, dean of the graduate school, agreed.
"The idea of exempting fellowship holders from tuition payments is great, but the bill does
n't furnish the money," he said.
"It doesn't solve the problem because the money has to come from somewhere."
Shulenburger said the University would like to see a fiscal note added to the bill that would restore the budget shortfall created by the change.
But Sloan said that if KU lost students to universities that already offered in-state status to students with fellowships, then the change would not create a shortfall in the budget.
"I'm told that reputation and image is partly dependent on the quality of the graduate students," Sloan said. "If they're not attracting the students now, they're not losing anything."
The bill has been referred to the Education Committee, but Sloan said that as long as the University opposed the bill it was unlikely to pass.
— Edited by Tara Hinkhouse