The weekend's weather
Tomorrow: Cloudy
HIGH LOW 45 22
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
HIGH 46
Kansan Weekend Edition
LOW 27
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Friday
February 19, 1999
Section:
A
Vol. 109 • No. 98
WWW.KANSAN.COM
House committee cuts raises for faculty
(USPS 650-640)
By Kristi Reimer
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA — A state legislative subcommittee dealt a $1.5 million blow yesterday to the Board of Regents' drive for an increase in faculty salaries.
In a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee, the Education and Legislative Operations Budget Committee advised cutting a faculty-retention fund recommend by Gov. Bill Graves from $2.5 million to $1 million.
"We did not believe the Regents really made their case," said Rep. Mike Farmer, R-Wichita, budget committee chairman.
In January, Graves disappointed many state higher-education leaders when he released his budget. It contained a 3.5 percent increase in faculty salaries, about half of the 7.6 percent raise the Regents had originally requested.
His $2.5 million fund for retaining top faculty offset officials' frustration, but the budget committee's modifications to Graves' plan would cut an additional $1.5 million.
Explaining the cut, Farmer cited information showing that, on average, 3 percent of faculty at Regents institutions left for reasons other than retirement or termination.
"Even if you assume all the resignations are because of low salaries — and I don't think that's likely — that's still only 3 percent." he said.
"When I look at the numbers, I don't see the problem," Farmer said.
Farmer also said salaries at Regents schools were at 90 percent of average faculty salaries in other states.
See HOUSE on page 6A
CONCERTCALENDAR
Tonight:
The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. — Star80
Brown Bear Brewing Co., 729 Massachusetts St. — The Wags
■ Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Massachusetts St. — Disco Dick and the Mirror Balls
Tomorrow:
The Bottleneck — Shawn Mulliney
Brown Bear Brewing Co. Zo and the Mo Fo's
Jazzhaus — Jesse Jackson 5
Sunday:
The Bottleneck—Swing Set
Index
News . . . . . .2A
Entertainment . . .8A
Movies . . .5A
Coupons . .3B
Game times . .2B
Horoscopes . .2B
Sport of the Week. . 8B
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.
Digital opera brings 3-D experience to University's Lied Center stage
By Ezra Sykes
Kansan staff writer
Some students may be wearing glasses on campus today for reason other than improving their vision.
Monsters of Grace, a digital opera in three dimensions by director/designer Robert Wilson and composer/musician Philip Glass will be presented at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Lied Center.
To promote the show, student representatives for the Lied Center will be handing out 3-D glasses at random locations on campus, including the SUA, Lied Center and Murphy Hall box offices, said Brad Knauss, assistant director of public relations for the Lied Center.
Students who have a pair of the brightly-colored glasses visible will receive one of 200 vouchers for the show from a secret prize patrol.
Although combining music and visual elements is not exactly ground breaking, Monsters of Grace is more than just an upgraded MTV video.
Jeff Kleiser of Kleiser-Walczak Construction
Co., the team that took on the project, said making the 70-minute digital film that accompanied the music was no small feat.
Kleiser and his partner, Diana Walczak, collaborated with Robert Wilson to produce the final product by taking Wilson's visions and carrying them over to the computer screen.
"This has never been done on such a large scale," Kleiser said. "It has opened new doors for artists and the technology available to them."
The music that accompanies the film will be performed by the Philip Glass ensemble and accompanying vocalists.
Although the music complements the film, it isn't perfectly in sync with the changing visual elements, Kleiser said.
"There are moods and transitions that are related," he said. "It's all imagery designed to work with music in an abstract way."
Although the film is three-dimensional, requiring that members of the audience wear special glasses provided by the Lied Center, it wasn't designed to be a thrill ride, Kleiser said.
"It's almost irresistible to stick something in
your face every minute, and a lot of 3-D films are packed with thrills, but Bob (Wilson) wanted the film to be a place to meditate and relax." he said.
"The images are slow-moving and aesthetically pleasing," he said, describing a scene of a severed human hand recovered by tubes pumping blood into it and a family floating atop the roof of their house. "They're all part of dreamscapes."
But sight isn't the only sense that the work appeals to.
Alex Logan, Lawrence freshman, spent yesterday afternoon listening to Philip Glass recordings in the Murphy Hall music library.
Logan, who had only heard a limited amount of his music, said that Glass' style of music was unique because of its minimalism and its strangeness.
"All the stuff is like philosophy more than music," Logan said. "It's all simplicity."
While looking through record sleeves, Logan noticed that the visual elements that accompanied Glass' music were unusual too.
"The pictures were strange visually with really weird lighting," he said. "It was almost
Philip Glass, composer and musician, and Robert Wilson, director and designer of *Monsters of Grace* will bring their 3-D opera to the Lied Center Feb. 23. Contributed art
insane and kind of disturbing."
Logan said that although some of the music baffled him, he was eager to see the show.
"I'm excited because I've never been to something in 3-D," he said. "It's interesting because he is trying to come up with all original material and yet basing it off of minimalism."
Kleiser is pleased with the way the project turned out but said observers shouldn't try to figure out some deep meaning of the work.
"You'd be confused if you tried to find a plot," he said. "Just think of it as going to a museum and seeing different pieces for what they are."
Regaining lost footing
The men's basketball team heads Saturday to Norman, Okla., to face the Sooners in a fierce battle atop the Big 12 standings.
Seepage1B
Lacrosse, a hybrid of three games basketball, hockey, and soccer, has become popular enough at the University to allow both a men's and women's club.
See page 8B
Yeah,but does it play the song?
Try the online version of JEOPARDY! for college students and win something cool, maybe even a chance to play on the next televised college show.
See page 8A
They may not be lotto,but...
The numbers are in, and KU enrollment is up 83 students from last spring, while Regents universities' enrollment is up 409 students.
See page 3A
See page 5A
Hostility for sale
Three magazine solicitors were arrested this wreek after complaints about their treatment of potential subscribers, but Lawrence Police say it's not a new trend.