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KANSAN
The University Daily
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Meters malfunction; Med Center denies liability
By MARTHA BRINK Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
One week after learning of malfunctioning electrometers at the University of Kansas, faculty administrators are braced for higher bills, but not take responsibility for past underpayments.
Neither the Med Center nor the Board of Public Utilities has accepted responsibility for the malfunction.
According to Richard Von Ende, executive secretary of the chancellor's office, the University of Kansas has fulfilled its responsibility by paying the original bills. The BPU must take its claims for back payments directly to the Kansas Legislature, he said.
Melvin Heuer, the BPU's manager for
production and distribution, said he plans to determine the amount owed and to send a bill to the Med Center for the years it was undercharged.
BPU officials do not yet know the amount of the underpayment, but the back bill could total millions of dollars.
The meter malfunction began some time after 1975 when screws were inserted in an electrical cabinet to ground the equipment. Heuer said the person who did it could have been a BPU employee, a Med Center staff member, or a private contractor authorized by the Med Center.
The screws were never removed. They caused nearby meters, measuring electricity used in all 50 buildings, to produce low readings. The problem was discovered after KU officials, thinking the bills were too high, requested a check of the electrical system.
The electrical cabinet is owned and operated
by the BPU, according to Jack Reed, associate director of systems management at the Med Center. The malfunctioning is therefore the BPU's responsibility, he said.
"We have never opened that area without the BPU be there," Reed said.
However, Heuer said that the cabinet is owned by the Med Center. BPU employees only read the meter, he said, except during power failures or other emergencies. Therefore, they would not have discovered the problem through a regular meter check, he said.
The BPU is now installing duplicate meters at the Med Center to determine the amount of error. One set of meters will re-create the malfunction and record the inaccurate reading. The other meters will correctly measure the the message. The readings will then be compared.
The BPU will have a bill ready within six months, Heuer said.
Even without the burden of past bills, the Med Center faces an immediate steep rise in electrical costs. KU officials do not yet know how the costs will be, but some said they were worried.
"I can only say that the worst possibilities are
behind Michael R. Keeble, Med Center control,
and staff."
The current budget cannot accommodate anything more than a 10 percent increase, Keeble said. Based on the 1980 electrical bill, a 10 percent increase would call for an additional $100,445. The Med Center budget also does not include funds to cover the 35 percent emergency rate increase for all BPU customers that goes into effect this summer, Keeble said.
The Legislature usually provides funds for utility costs. Keeble said he planned to submit a new budget to the Legislature as soon as he can make good cost projections. If the Legislature chooses not to fund all the increases, he said, the Med Center will have to make cutbacks.
Even if the BPU can determine the amount of error in the readout, it will be difficult to estimate the value.
"It would be virtually impossible for them to determine what, if anything, is owed." he said.
According to Von Ende, the problem could have existed for two days, two years, or even three.
overtime what, if anything, is owed," he said.
He agreed that this was a problem, but said he hoped the duplicate metering would help pinpoint when the low readings first began. BPI and KU officials said they had not noticed the low bill rates and costs could increase substantially each year. The Med Center's electrical costs for the past six years were; $331,109 in 1975; $62,65 in 1976; $672,757 in 1977; $735,657 in 1978; $812,113 in 1979; and $1,004,453 in 1980.
According to Keeble, several BPU linemen had been concerned before that the meter readings were not high enough and had asked for an investigation.
Tenure committee decides profs' fates
By TIM EL MER
Staff Reporter
Tenure candidates know very well how decisions of the Committee on Promotions and Tenure can affect their lives. But they may know very little about the committee's decision-making process, Jack B. Oruch, associate dean of English and UCPT member, said last week.
Oruch said that before he had been a member of the kingdom, he needed kinds of rumors about the female enfeeblement.
"You heard stories about people being turned down for capricious reasons," he said. "You heard rumors about pressure being exerted by chancellors to deny tenure to avoid administrative flexibility in case of enrollment decline. You heard stories about quotas being set because of budgetary or enrollment constraints, and things of that sort."
experience on the committee that none of the rumors were true. Candidates are evaluated on the merits of their performance and nothing else, he said.
The most important decision that can be made regarding faculty is that of who is to stay and who is not, said UCPT member Francis H. Heller, professor of law.
Oruch said he was pleased to learn from his
"The tenure decision is much more important than the promotional decisions," he said. "When you grant tenure you are saying, 'OK, guy, we like you well enough that we want to keep you."
The academic quality of the University of Kansas cannot be better than the professional quality of the professors who make up the teaching staff. Heller said.
"Because of the far-reaching implications of the committee's decisions," he said, "there is probably no more important committee assignment."
The UCPT acts in an adviser capacity to the chancellor, he said. The committee is composed
of 12 members. Nine are nominated by the Faculty Executive Committee for a three-year term. In addition, one member is appointed by the Senate Executive Committee for a one-year
The remaining two candidates on the committee are the vice chancellor for academic affairs, who is always chairman of the committee, and the vice chancellor for research, graduate studies and public service. Both of these are permanent positions on the committee. The vice chancellor for academic affairs votes only in case of a tite.
The decisions of the UCPT are only a part of the entire promotional sequence. Recommendations of candidates for tenure originate at the department or school levels. Those recommendations with supporting materials are then reviewed and voted on by the UCPT.
The UCPT's recommendations are forwarded to the chancellor, who has the final say. However, a proposal to forward the chancellor'sendum *ENURE page 10*.
See TENURE page 10
Motives behind harassment policy doubted
Staff Writer
By ACHAL MEHRA Staff Writer
The University of Kansas' proposed sexual harassment policy has run into opposition even before it has been announced.
Cobb said yesterday that the draft had undergone considerable revision in his office and that he expected a policy statement would be issued during the summer.
Faculty members, counselors, and other lobbies for a KU sexual harassment policy question the motivation behind the draft law. (The Board of Appeals by Executive Vice Chancellor Robert P. Cobb.)
Detractors of the draft plan who asked not to be identified, charged that the policy is designed to protect the University against possible court actions, rather than to protect students.
Mike Edwards, director of the KU Office of Affirmative Action, admits that the policy is aimed at protecting the University. "That," he said, "is the job of this office."
But, Edwards contended, the policy was also in the "best interests of the students."
Edwards said the University would go on record that it prescribes sexual harassment.
Edwards declined to discuss or even reveal the contents of the draft statement prepared by his office. He said the draft statement was only tentative and subject to change.
Detractors of the proposed statement charge that it is a "whitewash job" designed to protect the University and that it would fail to address practical problems.
Stanley D. Williams, entitled, "Sexual Harassment-The Illegal Abuse of Power."
practical problems. They base their charge on a confidential background paper prepared by a legal research assistant in the Office of Affirmative Action,
The paper advised KU to adopt a sexual harassment policy as a "precaution" to escape "potential liability."
"Failure of the University to develop such a policy," the paper said, "would increase the risk of liability being imposed on the University for acts of its supervisory and faculty personnel."
The paper went on to propose a policy statement on sexual harassment for KU.
It will be partly cloudy today with a high in the mid 80s, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. There is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms, which may become severe at times. Winds will be out of the south at 10 to 20 mph.
Critics of the statement said it proposed no guidelines on dealing with complains.
However, Edwards said, he hoped the final statement would have some guidelines. The
The low tonight will be in the mid 60s. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers and thundershowers. The high tomorrow will be in the upper 80s to mid 90s.
original statement drafted for the background paper, he said, had undergone drastic revision.
Cobb said the final draft would contain guidelines on dealing with complaints.
In the background paper, however, the statement read in part, "The University hereby proscribs sexual harassment of all employees in the university personnel advisory, faculty and administrators."
The statement said, "The University regards the legal abuse of authority and as sex-based discrimination."
See HARASSMENT page 10
The statement did not propose any guidelines on dealing with cases of sexual harassment, but
'Suds 'n Duds' draws media attention, Lawrence clientele
Weather
By CHRIS TODD Staff Reporter
Feering past the flickering, multi-colored lights of "Space Invaders" and "Up Periscope," and through two large picture windows opposite the bar, "Suds n Ducks" co-owner Peto Mcrother reflected the concentrated media attention he now received laudronature-hat has recently received.
Staff Reporter
"It all started shortly after Erma Bombec wrote a column about 'Suds' in Duns' "diss" said Moore. "Since then, we've appeared in 135 newspapers across the country, from California to Cape Cod. We've also been featured in the New York Times, US magazine, the Kansas City Star Sunday magazine, and on NBC's "Real People" and network news programs."
"We'd been kicking the idea around for a couple of years, said Moore, "when then the opportunity came along, we just went ahead and did it. It really worked out well because we had originally planned to build our own building. When the place in Holiday Plaza became available, we realized it was just perfect for what we needed."
Moore, who also sells real estate in Lawrence, and Pete Harner, a maintenance chief for a Lawrence apartment complex, conceived the "Suds n' Duds" concept three years ago, and later found out that similar operations did exist across the country.
In addition, Moore said that he has been besieged by telephone calls from disc jockeys hoping for on-the-air interviews with him as well as some of the more "gregarious" clientele.
"Another guy had had a few beers one night, and kept complaining that the dryers weren't working properly." Moore said. "It turned out that he had tried to dry the laundry season."
cording to Moore, consists of KU students. There have already been several that have passed into early "Suds n Dudx" legends.
"One student came in here to do his laundry one Monday night last fall." Moore said. "He got so involved in drinking beer and watching TV, he was not completely forgot about his laundry and left it here."
times, but he was using the fluff setting on the driver stead of the hot setting."
When a washing machine finished its cycle, its corresponding number on the board flashes, and the laundry is ready for pick-up. When all twenty six machines simultaneously, beers are provided on the house.
One of the more innovative features at "Suds 'n Ducks" is a display board consisting of twenty numbers, each of which represent on the twenty washing machines.
While this doesn't happen that often, Moore said, several fraternities have devised methods for staging on the-house beer parties.
The biggest asset of "Suds n Duds," according to its customers, is that it enables them to avoid the dull, shapeless boredom of conventional laundromats.
"This is really a nice change from most laudromats," commented Ruth Anne Yausi, a recent KU graduate. "The atmosphere in the bar is different, and an meet people who you're doing your wash."
"They bring in what seems like each member's laundry load light up the board and order seven pitcher of beer," said Moore.
Frank Keller, Bonner Springs junior, agreed, and said "there's not a lot you can do while waiting for your laundry, so you might as well have a few beers."
have to buck. Molly Buck, Lawrence resident and former "Suds n Duds" employee saw another advantage to the laundromat-bar concept.
"It's a nice place to go as a social outlet," she said. "You don't feel as inhibited as you might in a regular bar, because you can always say in front of going laundry and not just coming in for beer."
While the national media attention has been
given to the crisis, it has not really given a
significant boost to business.
"We're definitely looking into expansion possibilities right now," Moore said. "Manhattan, Olathe and some towns in Colorado and locations we are considering are on the map, the immediate priority to make 'Suds n Duts' in the place where KU students do their laundry."
JO JO WHITE
Jo Jo White vying for Norwood's Jayhawk staff coaching position
Staff Reporter
By MARC HERZFELD
Jo Bo White, former All-American guard for the University of Kansas basketball team and retired all-pro player for the Boston Celtics, is waiting impatiently for July 1.
July 1 is the day Jayhawk assistant basketball coach Lafayette Norwood's resignation becomes official, and White is an anxious candidate for Norwood's job.
White said, "I'm excited about the job, but I'm frustrated because there are things I could be doing now if I were already hired."
"I know coaching is a lot more than just sitting on the bench sending in players."
After White left the Kansas City Kings last year, he moved to Lawrence and decided to pursue a coaching job.
"After playing for so many years you've got to fill the void in your life," he said.
to fill the void in your life; he
Ted Owens, head basketball coach, would
not discuss White's chances of landing the
job.
"Everything is in the preliminary stages right now," Norwood said.
salt.
Owens must comply with Affirmative Action guidelines for hiring, and screen applicants confidentially.
"I don't think it's fair of me to comment on who's ahead in the selection process," Owens said.
While White would try to make the transition from plane coach, Norwood has no plan.
Earlier this year, Norwood interviewed for a coaching job at Oklahoma City University.
Norwood and Owens both denied that Norwood was asked to leave a make room for White.
but he is not sure whether he will remain a coach or start a new career.
Norwood he said he would like to stay in Lawrence, where he has lived since 1977.
Norwood coached for eight years at Wichita Heights High School, compiling a 112-82 record and winning three city-league championships and one 8A state championship.
Norwood coached Darnell Valentine at Wichita Falls and recruited a staff member he called the KU staff.
Norwood's resignation came as a surprise to team. Its basketball players.
some Jayhawk basketball players.
John Crawford, senior forward, "I thought
Crawford was disappointed that Norwood would be leaving.
Couch norwood was a big part of my four
years. We were always with my defences, especially last year," he said.
Art Housey, a senior forward on last year's
team, don't know why he chose to
heal. He's a good player.
Jayhawk players seemed pleased that White could be coaching them next year.
Crawford said, "As far as to Jo Goes, his name will be a good addition to the recruiting team."
Norwood and White are friends, and Norwood praised White's abilities.
"I don't think they could lose by getting a person of that nature."