Volume 124 Issue 100
kansan.com
Monday, February 20, 2012
STATE
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Adding alcohol to grocery lists
Ryan Urban, owner of Mass Beverage, said he expects half of the states' approximately 700 liquor stores will close if the bill passes and that he has already begun looking for alternative business options.
"This entire thing is an attempt by large corporations to change the law to benefit their bottom line," Easley said.
LUKE RANKER
lranker@kansan.com
Loug Jorgensen, director of the Kansas Department of Revenue Alcoholic Beverage Control division and who is neutral on the bill, said he expected about 2,000 additional establishments would apply for liquor licenses if the bill passed. Because of that competition increase, Easley says he worries about the livelihood of Kansas' liquor stores, which are primarily family-owned small businesses.
"Someone has to go out of business," Easley said.
An effort to modernize Kansas liquor laws has sparked controversy around the state. In early February, a Kansas State Legislature House committee heard debate on a bill that would expand the sale of alcohol to retail stores. House Bill 2532 would make grocery stores more competitive in the alcohol market, squaring liquor stores and grocery stores against each other.
Opponents of the bill, like Matt Easley, general manger of On the Rocks Liquor Store at 1818 Massachusetts St., say the bill only benefits grocery stores.
Supporters of the bill, largely presented by Uncork Kansas, a coalition of state grocery stores and convenience stores, said the bill benefits consumers because it gives them the convenience of buying alcohol in the same place as other groceries.
Opponents also argue that large grocery stores can't prevent the sale of alcohol to minors as easily as liquor stores can. Easley said grocery
store clerks will have a harder time checking customers' IDs because most transactions in a retail store do not need age verification.
"In a liquor store, every transaction is age-restricted." Easley said.
Easley is also worried that 18- to 20-year-old employees would sell alcohol to their friends.
"it's bad for the community to have 18-year-olds selling hard alcohol" Easley said.
Sheila Lowrie, Dillons communication coordinator, said Dillons has stores in states like Nebraska and Missouri that sell full-strength alcohol, so the company is familiar with the procedures to prevent alcohol sales to minors.
"Our stores have the knowledge and training." Lowrie said.
She said most grocery stores are prepared to check IDs because they already sell age-restricted items, like lottery tickets, tobacco and low-alcohol beer.
Jorgensen said a tight budget has already taxed the Alcohol Beverage Control's ability to enforce the law. He said the agency would acquire a $1.4 million operations cost and need 18 additional staff members if the bill passed because of administrative work associated with additional stores applying for liquor licenses.
Along with state liquor stores, alcohol awareness groups and churches oppose the bill. In the committee hearing on Feb. 8, representatives from various groups argued that allowing retail stores to sell full-strength alcohol would increase availability and thereby increase consumption.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Urban said he believes consumers will suffer if the law passes. Urban, who worked as a sales representative for Southern Wine and Spirits before opening Mass Beverage, said that stores in states with modern liquor laws lacked the wide selection and product knowledge that liquor stores typically have.
=Fighting for tenure=
University professor Albert Romkes is filing a lawsuit against the University after being denied tenure last year. Stuart Bell, dean of the School of Engineering, told Romkes that the reason he was denied tenure was because he was not a principal investigator on any externally funded grants.
Professor has his own reasons for why he was denied by University
KELSEY CIPOLLA
kciolla@kansan.com
University alumni are supporting a mechanical engineering professor who filed a lawsuit against the University after he was denied tenure.
Pamphlets and posters defending the professor, Albert Romkes, were distributed late last week, which brought more attention to the case. The University maintains that nothing wrong was done.
In the fall of 2010, Romkes, an assistant mechanical engineering professor, applied for tenure.
On the school level, he received unanimous support; only Stuart Bell, dean of the School of Engineering dissented.
"The dean really narrowed the issue to the fact that I was not a P.I., prl.cipal investigator on any externally funded grant," Romkes said. "Which was surprising to me that
> Candidates are reviewed by:
The department committee, led by the department chair
The school committee, led by the clean
The University Promotions and
Tenure Committee
Provost
> Candidates are evaluated on:
Teaching
Service (participation in school committees)
Research
On the department level, he was recommended by a majority except for the chairman, Ronald Dougherty, who Romkes said dissented because he did not have enough funding or articles published without his mentors.
More facts on tenure: Committees recommend candidates for tenure. The chancellor makes the final decision, which cannot be overturned.
"To me it was clear that there was some personal issue for the dean and the chairman to go against me," Romkes said. "I had no idea what it was, except for one potential issue. The gav issue."
The Primary Investigator criteria was adopted in 2009. It says a professor must be the primary investigator on externally funded grants.
that was critical. It had never been an issue for anyone before."
Romkes wrote a rebuttal asking why the dean singled out the one specific issue and disregarded the rest of his record.
Romkes said he introduced his colleagues to his partner after he began working at the University and brought him to social functions.
Although his sexual orientation was never an issue for his colleagues or students, Romkes said he can't exclude it as the reason he was denied tenure.
"But the fact that statistically, it is impossible that I am the only one tells you a little bit about the environment and how open it really is", Romkes said.
Bell did not respond to a request for comment and Dougherty said to contact Jill Jess, director of the KU news service. Jess issued a statement via email that said the department chair, the dean, the University
Promotions and Tenure committee and provost recommended Romkes not be tenured because he failed to meet University research standards. She also said the University does not discriminate and no charges regarding discrimination were filed.
The University Committee of Promotion and Tenure, or UCPT, also voted to deny Romkes tenure, citing the PL. Rule.
Professors in Romkes' position are given two weeks to either appeal the decision of the UCPT to the Faculty Rights Board on the grounds of a procedural violation or appeal directly to the chancellor. Although Romkes said he was looking for a violation, he was unable to find evidence during the time period and felt writing to the chancellor was his only option.
On April 15, Romkes was told he did not get tenure and would be given a year to find another job before he would have to leave the University.
Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, associate professor of aerospace engineering, researched with Romkes for years
SEE TENURE PAGE 3
CAMPUS
History professor delves into history of anti-evolutionists
Moran pointed to the importance of Jesus, the centrality of
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
Students' understanding of creationism and intelligent design is evolving. Jeff Moran, professor of history at the University, discussed the anti-evolution movement in American culture to a packed audience Thursday evening in The Commons at Spooner Hall as part of the Humanities Lecture Series.
Moran elaborated on the history of and reasoning against teaching the evolution theory, while discussing the creationist museum of natural history, the Scopes Trial and the current intelligent design movement.
"Public schools have become the central battleground," Moran said.
humanity and the fear of social disorder as the three main components to the movement. Moran cited that 45 percent of Americans disbelieve the evolution theory.
ism has waned, intelligent design seems to be the latest fad. However, between zero and two scientific papers that support intelligent design have ever been
While an emphasis on creation
Frisby was interested to hear the break down of the movement's recent history and noted that the rest of the audience seemed to agree with Moran's perspective.
Nick Frisby, a graduate student from Merriam, attended the lecture with his father, a biology teacher.
the front lines," Frisby said.
published, Moran said.
"You have to wiggle the theology a little bit, but that's what theologians are for."
JEFF MORAN Professor of history
However, Frisby is concerned with the prospects of the antidevolution movement.
"Growing up, I always heard about the anti-evolution controversy because my father was on
"The anti- evolutionists have an overlap with an extreme conservative
However, Frisby
movement that has a considerable amount of political clout," Frisby said. "I can see that interfering with scientific progress."
Samantha Simmons, communications coordinator for the Hall Center for the Humanities, which sponsors the lecture series, said
"He examines different cultural belief systems and explains how evolution threatens their belief systems," Simmons said. Simmons also thought Moran did a good job of exposing the logical inconsistencies in the anti-evolutionists' arguments.
While the United States has one of the highest disbelief rates of evolution in the world, Moran noted that many of the mainstream religions, such as Catholicism and Lutheranism, have made their peace with the theory.
"You have to wiggle the theology a little bit, but that what theologians are for," Moran said.
she was glad to have Moran speak on a topic especially pertinent to Kansas.
— Edited by Christine Curtin
CLAIRE HOWARD/KANSAN
Jeff Moran, associate professor of history, speaks about antievolution controversies in the Commons at Spooner Hall Thursday night.
CLASSIFIEDS 11
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
Partially cloudy chance of showers in the morning will switch to a chance of isolated thunderstorms.
Comedy and Pizza Night featuring musical improv group "Baby wants Candy" at the Kansas Union Ballroom starting at 6.00 p.m.
(II contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
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