THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.115 ISSUE 98102
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 24. 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
▼ DIFFERENTIAL TUITION
Committees propose spring vote Full Senate still needs to approve the bill
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
NANMAN STAFF WRITER
Two committees in Student Senate passed a bill last night to put the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences differential tuition proposal on the ballot for the Senate elections in April.
Students will be able to vote on the increase, if the full
on the
Senate
approves
the
bill next week.
K i m Wilcox, dean of liberal arts and sciences, has requested input from students, faculty and staff on the tuition increase.
But Wilcox will make a presentation to Chancellor Robert Hemenway by the end of March, before the Senate elections take place.
"The vote would be after the fact," said Nancy Lott, assistant to the dean. "I'm not sure it would have any impact at that point."
My biggest problem with this bill is that senators can skew the issues. Coalitions can reduce this large issue into a small handbill.I think that could seriously mislead students."
If the chancellor approves the tuition increase he will make a formal proposal to the Kansas Board of Regents in May, and the Regents will vote on the proposal in June.
Ryan Faulconer, Colorado Springs, Colo., senior, and one of the authors of the bill said he thought that the student vote could be meaningful and helpful to the Regents' decision.
Kristan Seibel
Havs iunio
When the Regents meet, our student body president will be there to give an honest opinion, Faulconer said.
Kristan Seibel, Hays junior and member of Wilcox's advisory team, spoke against the bill last night saying the vote
The college is conducting a survey to ask students for their opinions and feedback. The survey was sent to all students.
would come too late and undermine the survey sent out by Wilcox.
"My biggest problem with this bill is that senators can skew the issues," Seibels a i d. "Coalitions can reduce this large issue into a small handbill. I think that could seriously mislead students."
In her speech to the senate committees, Seibel said the chancellor
wanted to make a decision on the tuition increase by the end of March, and any vote after that would be unnecessary.
The feedback from the survey will be used by Wilcox and the others involved when they make their proposal to the chancellor.
If the bill passes next week, it will appear on the ballot for the April elections. Faulconer said the bill would include a link to Wilcox's Web site, so anyone voting could visit the Web site to answer any questions.
—Edited by Kendall Dix
CAMPUS
Darkness falls
Squirrel causes power outage
KANSAN STAFF REPORT editor@kansan.com
On parts of campus yesterday morning, people found themselves in the dark.
A squirrel got into the transformer at 1714 W. 19th St. and started a fire at the bottom of it, said Chief Mark Bradford, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical
--and finance, said.
Doug Riat, director of Facilities Operation said the power went out on campus sometime soon after 9:30 a.m.
"All of it was back on shortly after 11:00," he said. "We brought a few buildings back on 10 to 15 minutes earlier."
The outage affected about 4,000 people in Lawrence. Gina Penzig, spokeswoman for Westar Energy, said the University was considered as one customer.
Penzig said Westar had people out assessing what needed to be done to get the power back on. Penzig estimated the cost to be between $20,000 and $50,000. The transformer could take several days to repair.
Jim Long, vice provost for Facilities Planing and Management said that the University had two sources of power and that only one was down.
Long said it does take some time for the secondary power source to restore power to campus. Research facilities are the first priority, followed by classrooms and academic support buildings.
Riat said the buildings east of Budig Hall were the only ones affected by the outage.
"Most buildings have some emergency power for emergency lighting," he said. "A few buildings have some emergency circuits for essential equipment."
Campus blackout
The estimated cost is between $20,000 and $50,000. The transformer could take several days to repair.
Erin Droste/KANSAN
Ehren Starks, Overland Park junior, was taking a test that had to be cut short when power inside the Spencer Museum of Art went off.
Lindsey Koelling, Topeka senior, works on the University Daily Kansan crossword in the little light left inside the Kansas Union yesterday morning. The Union and many other buildings on campus were left in the dark after a generator blew on campus.
"I had not adequately prepared so I thank God. It was the best thing that could have possibly happened today," he said.
Heidi Quinn, Olathe semu,
and Jennifer Meilt, Rush Center
junior, weren't so lucky. Their
aural rehab test moved from
their room on the second floor
of the Dole Center to the lobby of the third floor where there was light.
The power outage also caused fire alarms at Watson Library and Watkins Scholarship Hall to go off.
The outage coincided with the morning food rush for students. The Market at the Kansas Union and the Underground in Wescoe lost power to their refrigerators.
Jason Arnett, unit manager for the Market said the outage was bad for business.
"We lose sales, we lose product and we lose money from people who are here, but aren't working," he said.
Arnett said that they kept their refrigerators colder than required and the food would be good for several hours. They checked the temperature of the food once power was restored to ensure nothing spoiled.
Shawn O'Brien and Jonathan Mauk were inside a freight elevator when the power went out.
"You always hear about stuff
SEE BLACKOUT ON PAGE 4A
STUDENT TUITION
Tuition rates likely to be fixed
BY DANI LITT
dlitt@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Campus leaders and University of Kansas officials are working on a plan to guarantee fixed tuition rates for students.
Once completed, the guaranteed tuition plan would go into effect during the 2007-2008 school year.
Under the proposed plan, University officials would average the tuition for four years for each incoming freshman class. The fixed tuition rate would include projected increases for those years. Students would pay the same rate for each year for up to four years, Lindy Eakin, vice provost for administration
When Steve Munch, student body president, worked as an orientation assistant two years ago, tuition increases were a concern among parents.
"Parents would say things like 'I understand what I'm paying for my daughter to attend this year, but how do I plan for the next four years?'" the Bellevue, Neb., junior said.
“It's dishheartening that you can't look ahead and say 'I can stay at KU because I know what I'll have to pay.'" he said.
There were also concerns among students about unexpected tuition increases when they came to the University, Munch said.
Eakin said that guaranteeing
Before the election last spring, Munch and Jeff Dunlap, student body vice president, talked to students and the administration about their idea during the campaign.
They met with higher administration in September and October and the administration began to talk more realistically about the guaranteed tuition proposal and how it would be implemented.
a fixed tuition rate would be risky in case of incorrect calculations. However, the fixed rate could be adjusted for the next incoming class.
During the summer, they researched guaranteed tuitions at other universities and drafted a proposal.
In November, the Student Senate voted on a referendum to support the plan.
The administration responded with a counter-proposal, which has be forwarded to the Tuition Advisory Committee and the Planning and Resources Committee for further inquiry.
The draft created by the administration included many of the same elements the original draft had, Eakin said. There is one major factor missing: differential tuition costs, which are fees specific to each school outside of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The future of tuition
Eakin said it was too difficult to include differential fees in the proposal because they would add too many layers to it.
Ashlev Dovle/KANSAN
Including differential fees would create a minimum of 62 rates of tuitions and fees.
more significant part of the cost of education." Munch said.
"Differential is increasingly a
SEE TUITION ON PAGE 4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise,
© 2005 The University Daily Kansan
Jayplay
Members of polyamorous relationships deal with the same issues as any couple: jealousy, miscommunication and being too tired for sex. But there are three or more partners' feelings to take into consideration.
Mr. Roboto
A professor is trying his hand at a new art form employing technology. His pieces inspire students to use new techniques: PAGE 6A
From Kansas to Jersey
A former Kansas guard has put his time in and has finally gotten the chance of a lifetime. Billy Thomas signed with the New Jersey Nets for the remainder of the NBA season.PAGE1B
Tradition
tradition The Rock Chalk chant or Big Jay crowd surfing?
kansan.com
EXCLUSIVE
Vote for your favorite field-house
tradition in "Half a century strong."
1