The University Daily
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
KANSAN
Thursday, March 12, 1981 Vol. 91, No.114 USPS 650-640
Legislators pass 100 bills beat deadline
By BRAD STERTZ Staff Reporter
Final votes on bills average five or six day in the Kansas House of Representatives—usually,
Yesterday the House had to hurry its way through nearly 100 bills in an effort to beat the clock. The rushing, quick debating and chamber-corner political compromising came as a result of yesterday's deadline for bills in their houses of origin.
Among the bills approved in the mass voting yesterday were Lawrence State Rep. Jessie Eranson's child passenger safety seat bill; a bill outlawing the sale, distribution, advertisement of firearms; and a bill allowing a Hayton man, convicted of second-degree burglary, to become a policeman.
ALL THREE of the bills, like many other bills yesterday, were packaged together in bundles of up to eight bills for quick debate, amending and roll-call votes.
Because the House was conducting emergency voting on nearly all of the bills, each bill had to have a two-thirds majority to pass. Although such emergency voting is unusual during normal session days, it is standard procedure on days just before a deadline.
DAVE KRAUS/Skona Stellar
"I don't think that anyone really argued with the emergency drug," State Rep. Betty Jo Charlton, D-Lawrence, said on the House floor. "I didn't usually used, in but these cases it needed."
State Rep. John Sobach, D-Lawrence, said that the number of bills that had flowed through the House was a record for this session. Solbach said that the flow of bills had kept the house so busy that no committee meetings had been scheduled for the past three days.
"We have to get these bills out or they will simply die on the House calendar," Solbach said. "To give an idea of how long we have been working in session, we started Monday at 9 a.m. and did not get out until 6 p.m. Tuesday we attended at 9 a.m. and were not finished by 7:30 p.m."
"Sach long hours have made me get my days all mixed up," Charlton said. "The sessions are very difficult."
Solbach said most of the bills that ran through yesterday were local bills. The example he gave was the bill allowing the Hugoton man to join the local police force.
CHARLTON AND BRANSON agreed with Solbach that the long sessions were tiring.
Solbach said he had decided to defend the bill because he admired the courage of the Hugoton man and the Hugoton representative who sponsored the bill.
The bill followed the guidelines recommended by Gov. John Carlin at the beginning of the 1960s and continued into the 1980s.
The biggest locally sponsored bill to get through, however, was Branson's child passenger safety seat bill. Brannon said she had been told by the House Public Health and Welfare Committee.
"That bill got a lot of debate," Solbach said. "I think that a lot of it was from people that worried that this bill would allow all convicts to join law enforcement agencies."
Under that bill, any sale of drug paraphernalia by an adult to a minor at least three years younger is a felony. It would also be illegal to deliver, manufacture or possess drug paraphernalia. Advertisements of paraphernalia also are outlawed in the bill.
SHE SAID after it got out of committee that she expected an equally difficult time getting the bill through the House floor. The bill, however, passed 80-41.
Weather
One bill that passed through the House in a package of eight bills was the drug paraphern
Today the flood of bills was expected to subside somewhat and the next focus of the chambers will be on bills coming over from the other side of the Statehouse.
It will be mostly clear today with a high near 54. Winds will be shifting from the south to the southwest at 5 to 15 mph
There will be diminishing cloud cover
tighten to the surface and variable winds
and low air masses.
Tomorrow will be clear with a high near 50.
University Theatre shop worker cuts wood in front of the only storage area in the shop, which is backstage at the University Theatre in Murphy Hall. Any other number or supplies needed by the shop must be stacked on the floor until ready for use.
Murphy Hall inadequate, dean says
By CINDY CAMPBELL Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
James Moeser, dean of the School of Fine Arts,
contends that high-quality facilities are an importance
to the school.
Those facilities are lacking for students majoring in music or the dramatic arts, Moeser said.
"We're terribly cramped. Projected enrolment declines won't help much either because Murphy Hall is built for a university of about 10,000 to 15,000 people.
It's an enormously possible situation. It's also terribly unsafe because of fire standards."
HE ALSO EXPRESSSED a concern that students and faculty members might be suffering damage because of large number of cases practicing in the one rehearsal room in Murphy.
"I'm our large ensemble rehearsal hall, 102 Murphy, we have to打 in a marching band of 250 people, nine jazz bands, three concert bands and an organophony orchestra in a room designed for 85 people.
"I're really a mess when the 250-member marching band gets in there. The directors all say, 'We don't have to'."
Moeser outlined two areas that needed immediate attention: rehearsal space and Hoch
"One of the biggest problems we need to solve is that of rehearsal and storage space," he said. "The choral library is housed in the same room as the Murphy fountain pumps, which leak frequently and destroy thousands of dollars worth of sheet music every time they leak.
"I'T A TERRIBLE environment to store
students often have to read scores
caught by online cheating."
Murphy Hall was designed in the early '50s to be a music school, Meoser said. But because of problems getting funding from the legislature at that time, it was considered politically smart to move the drama department into the building also.
See MURPHY page 5
Alarm system recommended for Bailey Hall
By TIM SHARP Staff Reporter
Lawrence firefighters had to go from room to room in Bailey Hall Saturday afternoon to evacuate about 30 people.
There were no injuries in the fire that caused 85,000 in smoke damage, but neither were there any casualties.
Bailey Hall is not the only University building that does not have an alarm system. In fact, several buildings aren't even required to have one.
Kansas State Fire Marshall Ed Redmond said yesterday that buildings built before the adoption of the present fire code did not have to have a permit. The new fire safety standards during fire inspections.
The Kansas Legislature adopted the state fire code in 1970. Under the code, the state fire marshal may require "the installation and maintenance of equipment intended for fire fighting" and "in all buildings in which persons, work, live or congregate from time to time."
Bailley Hall was built in 1900, so a fire alarm is not required in it. Redmond said Bailley was last inspected in June. At that time, the fire inspector recommended that a fire alarm be installed in
"It it takes time to get them put in, but it should have one by now," he said. "We'll be checking on it to see that it's put in."
An electrician for Facilities Operations said lots of older buildings. "didn't have fire alarms.
"There are long range plans to upgrade the older buildings," said the electrician, Bud Overfield. "Marvin and Lindley are being updated now, and Strong and Bailey will be later."
All buildings built since 1970, and those that have been remodeled recently, have fire alarms, said Tom Anderson, director of Facilities Operations.
“As buildings are refurbished, they'll be brought up to date,” he said.
The problem with remodeling the buildings is a lack of funds, Anderson said. The Kansas Legislature must allocate the money for any construction on a state-owned building.
"The economic situation makes money tight for building purposes," he said. "We keep the buildings well-maintained so the chances of fire are low." That's all we can do until we get the money."
Genetic engineering industry offers practical applications
By ANNIKANILSSON Staff Reporter
Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles healing with process and ethical questions of education in an era of technology.
The less-than-dead-decade technology involves taking DNA, which carries a cell's genetic information, from one organism and inserting it into another.
Genetic engineering, which has in rapid succession turned out human insulin, interferon and growth hormones, seems limited only by imagination.
In 1972, Stanford biochemist Paul Berg successfully spliced genes for the first time. To produce a string of genetic information from two different viruses, he carefully cut genes from
one virus using enzymes as biochemical "scissors."
BERG, WHO WILL SPEAK at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Woodruff Auditorium on "Disssection and Reconstruction of Genes and Chromosomes," shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry for these first gene-splicing experiments.
Berg had planned to insert the recombinant viral DNA into an Escherichia coli, a bacterium common to human intestines and a popular host for new hereditary information. That part of the experiment was never completed because of fears of health hazards.
The genes in the cut-out piece of DNA were then linked to a carrier DNA from another virus.
Berg and other scientists called a six-month moratorium on the brand-new technology to evaluate its risks. Scientists as well as lay people in information science could do with this new genetic information.
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE of Health has since enacted safety guidelines for gene-splicing research, and the initial fears about dangerous bacteria getting loose have calmed.
According to Robert Weaver, associate professor of biochemistry, the safeguards are aimed at keeping the bugs containing the recombinant DNA in the laboratory. He said the physical containment included working under negative pressure so that all air came in through windows and doors and went out through special filters designed to catch any potential escapees.
"But more important than the physical containment is the biological containment," Weaver said. "You must use weakened strains of bacteria that could not exist outside the laboratory."
WITH SAFETY GUIDELINES intact, DNA is well on its way to becoming big business. The discovery of the cell's own gene splicers, called recombinant DNA, has made mass production of recombinant DNA products.
According to Weaver, the chances that escapees would be disease-causing are extremely remote even if the bacteria could survive outside the laboratory.
"The risks of the typical recombinant DNA experiment are negligible," he said.
The researchers who applied the discovery of gene splitters to recombinant DNA, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen, tried to patent the process.
They were turned down by the U.S. Patent Office, which argued that new life forms could not be patented. However, a Supreme Court decision last June overturned that position.
Boyer has since help launch Genetach in, which was the first gene splicing company in the United States.
So far, the gene splicing industry has turned out several clinically important proteins and enzymes that can be used in drug development.
IF, FOR EXAMPLE, genes for converting atmospheric nitrogen into biologically usable forms could be spilled into the DNA of wheat and other crops, farmers could reduce fertilizer use.
Genetic engineering also has the potential for curing blood diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and hemophilia.
See GENETICS page 5
KU convocation scheduled
The University-wind convocation, at which Acting Chancellor Del Shankel will address major issues facing the University of Kansas, has been scheduled for Thursday, March 26.
The convocation will be at 4 p.m. in the Kansas Union's Woodruff Auditorium. The convocation's agenda has not yet been determined, Jim Scally, administrative assistant, said yesterday, adding that the agenda might be released by tomorrow.
Although Woodruff Auditorium seats only 500 people, Scaally said the whole University was invited to the convoitation. Shankel choiced a guest speaker, seats the number of people expected to attend.
When Shankel announced the convocation last week, he declined to say what issues would be addressed. He did say that the meeting had been suggested by the KU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Green ribbons a memorial to murdered Atlanta children
Staff Reporter
By EDDIE WILLIAMS
Once again, a ribbon has become a symbol during an American crisis.
Recently, yellow ribbons were tied around trees to honor the U.S. hostages held in Iran. But today, it's green ribbons that are being worn in remembrance of 21 Atlanta black children murdered or missing in a string of killings that started in July 1979.
Strewn along Jayhawk Boulevard are bright green ribbons tied to trees in protest of the
A green ribbon worn in an inverted V has become a symbol of protest against the killings.
THE IDEA STARTED in Atlanta but has now spread throughout the country.
Elenora Adams, spokesman for a concerned group of Lawrence citizens, said, "When the killer or killers are caught, we will turn the V up and remove them from the ribs and wear the ribs until the murders are solved."
The community coalition has scheduled a half-mile silent march for 3 p.m. Sunday from City Hall to the Judicial Building at 11th and New Hampshire streets.
"Our actions will make it clear that we won't tolerate violence against children anywhere, be they in our own communities."
The coalition is asking supporters to tie green ribbons to their trees or attach green bows to their canopies.
Adams, president of the Lawrence chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the Lawrence group had been in touch with similar groups in Atlanta.
save the youth, whom the coalition says are "the nation's greatest treasure."
In other local action concerning the Atlanta killings, the Black Pantherellic Council, the governing body of black Greek organizations, has organized a petition drive requesting government assistance to defray the cost of the investigation of the killings. The petitions will be sent to President Reagan.
AT THE MARCH, Adams said, ribbons and badges will be distributed, many of which were made by senior citizens of the Edgewood Homes Meal Site and Babcock Homes.
The Reagan Administration has released nearly $1 million in federal funds for social programs, but no money has been allocated to study the investigation by its special police task force.
At the end of February, the cost of the investigation was estimated at $1 million and was paid.
Bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress to provide the city with up to $1.8
THE DEMONSTRATIONS of support for the children are made to combat a national feeling of helplessness, Derek Rovaris, Topeka junior and member of Phi Beta Sigma, said.
"The feeling in Atlanta is that there is a general lack of concern about civil rights in the country," Rovaris said. "We want to show that the University of Kansas—black as well as white—cares about the situation. We're trying to get everybody involved."
Rovaris said that not enough action was being taken by Atlanta police.
"I think the police and the media in general let it get out of hand," Rovaris said.