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Wednesday, February 27, 1974
University Daily Kansan
Park Service Studies Prairie Plan
By CRAIG STOCK
Kansan Staff Reporter
The continuing controversy about the proposed Talgrass Prairie National Park has cooled temporarily while the National Park Service prepares a study of the proposal.
Supporters of the park have been circulating a petition calling for Congress and the President to establish a Tallgrass Prairie National Park in Kansas. The petition drive at KU is part of a wider effort by Save the Tallgrass Parks Foundation to support the park from Kansas citizens.
John Hackney, Wichita senior and supporter of the park, said Monday that more than 1,000 signatures had been collected in the campus petition drive and that STP hoped to collect 25,000 signatures in the statewide petition drive.
STP and other supporters of the Tallgrass Prairie park contend that the preservation of an area of native tallgrass prairie is essential to the native species of plant and animal wildlife.
The size of the proposed park is one of the objections of the park's opponents. State Sen. John Crofton, I-Cedar and vice president, said using acidity large amounts of acreage for the park.
THE PARK must be at least 60,000 acres to provide enough room for large mammals, such as elk, bison and antelope, to roam freely, according to Hackney.
"The worst thing about the park is that the land would be out of production," he said.
Another point of contention between the park's opponents and supporters is the need for protecting the prairie. Wayne Rogler, a cattle rancher from Matfield Green and director of Kansas Grasslands Association, said the prairie areas in government hands hadn't been cared for as well as the prairie in private hands.
said.
Millions of pounds of beef can be raised each year on 60,000 acres of grassland, Crofoot said.
ROGLER SAID private ownership of land is better than government ownership and he be allowed to own the lands areas owned by the government in which the prairie hadn't been properly cared for.
Larry Wagner, an attorney in Shawnee Mission and an STP member, disagreed.
"They're taking care of grazing land, they're not taking care of tallgrass prairie."
A rancher could take good care of grazing land and still destroy many of the plants and animals.
The tallgrass prairie is a very complex ecosystem, Wagner said, and is made up of more than 300 species of plants besides grasses.
Wagner also said many species of animals once native to the tallgrass prairie were extinct.
Roger said Kansas beef production would suffer if 60,000 acres were set aside for the park. He said one acre of grassland raised 50 pounds of beef a year, resulting in a net loss to the Kansas industry of 3 million pounds a year.
WAGNER SAID the loss of beef production caused by the park would be only a thousandth of the total Kansas beef production. He said the land for the park and the fencing to enclose the land would probably cost about $10 million. He said very few facilities for the park would have to be built.
Opponents of the park doubt the attractions of the park to tourists.
"If you drove from Manhattan to Mafield Green to look at the lake, you'd be sick of it by the time you got to the park," Crofoot said.
ROGLER SAID the prairie wasn't a scenic area like a mountain and the idea of returning large native animals such as bison to the park was feasible.
Hackney said the tallgrass prairie would be attractive to tourists, especially European tourists whose idea of the United States been drawn from movies about the old West.
Rogger gave a much larger estimate of the cost of the park. The government would have to pay at least $10,000 per year for the land would only be a part of the cost of the park. Rogger said that after roads, fences and facilities for tourists were built, the cost of the park would increase.
Citizen Study of Prison Calls for Penal Reform
Wagner discounted the effect tourists would have on the park area. Crofoot said tourists and their campers and the facilities they use would not harm a park's environment instead of protecting it.
BY ANN GARDNER
Kansan Staff Reporter
By ANN GARDNER
Citizen participation and awareness are the most important factors in improving conditions at the Kansas State Pententiyary (KSP) at Larsen, according to a report by the Committee on Petal Reform of the Kansas Association for Mental Health.
- For those who are confined, the best thing to do is to promote systematic improvement of the institution is to let citizens in.
The report, "Doing Your Own Time," is a citizen study of KSP conducted over a 20-month period. Laymen and professionals in the field of corrections made up the 21-member committee which carried out the investigation.
Two basic conclusions were drawn by the committee in "Doing Your Own Time."
THE STUDY, SWALL said, represents about 2,000 hours of citizen work. Immates and prison officials were interviewed to understand the services, services and administration at KSP.
William Arnold, associate professor of sociology, and Forrest Swall, director of the Community Correction Center, were members of the committee and contributed
—To achieve the purpose of the correctional system, to rehabilitate offenders and thereby protect society, the best thing to do is never possible, to keep offenders of prison
THE REPORT CITED several significant deficiencies in KSP facilities and programs. According to Arnold, the single most imminent challenge for these deficiencies was increased funding.
Buildings at KSP were described in the report as "most suitable for a 19th century building."
buildings and the "custodial functions of confining, feeding and housing the inmates," consumes most of the $4.5 million annual budget for the penitentiary.
Funding is a major concern in acquiring personnel for the penitentiary. Much of the staff at KSP is poorly trained and the staff has a high rate of turnover. Arnold said the institution couldn't expect to hire better personnel unless higher wages could be offered.
ARNOLD ALSO SAID he was surprised by the degree to which the different segments of this staff were ignorant of what others on the staff were doing.
Information about inmate work and education and vocational training programs also was included in the report. The committee found that the inmates' training did not reach enough of the inmates and didn't really serve the purpose of preparing the inmate to hold a job after he left.
"I was surprised that prison industry is as bad as it is," said Swall, who conducted research.
SWALL SAID THAT in many cases the inmate would develop worse work habits while working in prison industry. Prisoners have very little incentive to work, be healed, and pay for prison industries is so low that often earn more by selling blood plasma.
"With one or two exceptions, there is little or no training in work assignments,"
Arnold said that the impact of the report would be in three areas. First, the report is intended to inform citizens about an institution which few people know anything about. Arnold also hoped that the report could help to ensure legislators working for prison reform. The effects of the report could also be helpful to KSP personnel.
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AN ALTERNATIVE to the Tallgrass Prairie National Park has been proposed by opponents to the park. The alternative proposal calls for the formation of a parkway, a scenic drive through the Flint Hills area using largely existing facilities.
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Wagner said the park would have only primitive camping facilities and hiking trails so that campers and tourists wouldn't destroy the area. Elaborate camping facilities would be available only outside the park, Wagner said.
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Footroot and he proposed a parkway about five years ago. Footroot's parkway would be the longest road in New York City.
TOPEKA- The Kansas Legislature will be forced to pass before March 3 a speed limit reduction bill that is currently before the House or the state could lose millions of dollars in federal highway funds, State Sen. Bob Storey, R-Topeka, said recently. Storey is the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Hackney said that the parkway idea was a cop-up by opponents to the park and that it wouldn't serve the purposes that a park would serve.
day along Kansas State Highway 177. Crofton and Rogler said that the parkway would provide tourists a scenic view of the park, which would cost much less than the proposed park.
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George C. Corgius, professor of law and adviser for the local chapter of the Sierra Club, said that the parkway would be counter-productive because it would draw more people through the prairie without providing more protection for the land.
By MICHAEL CACIOPPO Kansas Staff Remorter
55 Speed Must Pass To Keep Federal Funds
A figure released by State Rep. Michael Glover, D-Denawrence, estimated that the state would lose $7.25 million in federal funds. Glover said it would cost the state between $65,000 and $110,000 to change speed limit signs.
The bill would establish a maximum speed limit of 55 miles an hour in all locations other than business and residence areas. It would also require the after the governor approved the resolution.
The bill has already been passed by the Senate Transportation Committee and the Senate, State Rep. Arden Dierford, R-SMITH Center, and chairman of the House Sub-Committee on Roads and Highways, Dr. Robert O. Dyer, House Transportation Committee and is now subject to amendment or debate on the house floor, he said.
According to Storey, there is much resentment toward the federal government's tactic of "blackmailing" the states with possible loss of effort.
"People are sick and tired of federal government intervention," Dierdorff said. "Once you accept these grants and funds, you become a pawn of the federal government."
Dierdorff said that if the legislature didn't pass the bill, the state's fuel allotment could be reduced.
On the other hand, he said he thought that lowering the maximum speed limit would cause a reduction in state revenue. He said that the amount of surmption of fuel at 55 m.p.h., Derrick said
that selling fewer grams of gasoline would result in less state tax revenue.
The present fuel tax goes to the highway fund, Dierdorf said. One way to make up revenue loss is to increase the gas tax, he said.
Storey said he thought that the new law wouldn't be strictly enforced.
"If it's strictly enforced in the beginning, there wouldn't be enough highway patrolmen, sheriffs and policemen to begin to arrest all of the people who are going to be speeding, and there wouldn't be enough room in court to prosecute them," Storey
"There's been amendments offered that, while we would set the speed limit at 55 m.p.h., there would be speed tickets on the road going over 65 m.p.h." Dierdorf said.
He said he would be in favor of raising the number of traffic violations allowable a year from three to "about 10, at least temporarily."
This amendment was rejected by the Senate, but he said it may be offered on the Senate floor.
Dierderdff said he thought it wasn't there to please him to pass a bill calling for reduced speed.
Another amendment that may be offered, Dierdorf said, would call for a fine of only $100. The judge has not ruled on it.
"I really think that the governor and the highway commission, under their emergency powers, could have set the speed limit at 55 m.p.h." he said.
He said he was sure the governor would rather reduce speeds through legislation so that the police could catch more crime.
Dierdorff said he thought the proposed
wall would be a temporary law lasting until
1978.
Gas Consumption Steadies; KU Cars Taken Off Credit
Users of campus vehicles have been taken off credit card buying of gasoline and have returned to filling their tanks at University Park. A group of the KU physical plant, said yesterday.
"Our gasoline consumption has stabilized," Oudah said. "Credit cards are now used only on pool cars that have to leave Lawrence on trips."
During the first week of February, a 50 per cent reduction in gasoline allotment had forced the department of buildings and grounds to limit gasoline fillups to trucks, tractors and mowers. Other vehicles had to be refueled by credit card at local service stations.
According to figures released Feb. 5 by the Department of Buildings and Grounds, gasoline consumption by University vehicles had averaged 1,800 gallons a week. This has been reduced to about 800 to 900 gallons a week.
Ousdahl said that there had been no increase in the amount of gasoline consumed since the allocation was reduced, and that the release at that time were still accurate.
Captain Bob Ellison of the park and security said, "The bulk of the fire we use is not from the building."
FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS ticket packets will be distributed beginning at 8:30 a.m. today in the Union Ballroom. Students who attend the spring enrollment may pick up the packets.
NATIONAL WOMEN'S POLITICAL CAUCUS will have its bi-monthly meeting at 7:30 tonight in the First National Bank building.
EIGHT SEMNARMS on computer science will be offered during the next eight weeks to acquaint citizens of Lawrence with the computer resources available at KU. One seminar will be offered each week from Feb. 19 to April 16. Interested persons should contact the Kansas University Professional Programmers Group.
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John Kautz, foreman of the automotive shop, said instructors who went out of town often traveled in car pools to reduce gasoline consumption.
Ellison said that five vehicles and two scooters were filled by the department of buildings and grounds and that oil and parts also were obtained through buildings and grounds until these items were needed for emergencies at night.
"We have four teachers who go to Kanaan city and sometimes to Leavenworth who travel by boat."
and grounds. If we need fuel in the middle of the night for emergencies and building and grounds is low on fuel awaiting the next day's deliveries, we obtain the fuel commercially. For the most part we're filling up at buildings and ground."
Knauts said there had been no problems lately in obtaining gasoline locally. Ray Lawrence bulk distributor for Stanton Gas, a subsidiary of the University yesterday, he said.
Both Ousdahl and Kautz said strict adherence to a 55 mile an hour speed limit had helped the University minimize gasoline consumption. Neither of them would speculate about the percentage of gasoline used, or the difficulty in isolating the savings resulting from speed reduction from the savings resulting from car pools.
Attention CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS
To be funded by the Student Senate this spring you must have 1973-74 information on file with the Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs. Call 864-3506 or 864-4341 before February 28 to see if your information is current.
**VOLUNTEER**
**CLEARING HOUSE**
Needs Staff For Academic Year
1974-75
For Interviews Call:
JAMES WINTER 10:32 a.m.
After 5:00 p.m. before Week 3
People Needed for:
Berkmanumum
Orientation
Agency Co-ordinator
Office Management
Office Management - Up-to-Policity
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