TODAY'S WEATHER: Mostly clear with a high of 63. WAR ON TERROR: 1,000 more U.S.-allied fighters head to Afghan mountains
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Leita Walker, Jay Kraill or Kyle Ramsey at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
TUESDAY
MARCH 12, 2002
Tuition increase finalized
By Meredith Carr Kansan staff writer
Tuition will increase by $50 million during the next five years, the Ad-Hoc Committee on University Funding determined yesterday.
Under the proposal, tuition would increase by $19.20 per credit hour each year for five years for a total increase of $96.00 per credit hour. In-state students currently pay $77.75 per credit hour.
Tuition is being increased to close a gap between the funding level for KU and the funding level for its peer schools. The University chose to pursue a tuition increase rather than cutting programs for students.
"I do not think $50 million is acceptable... I'm trying to protect the interest of the students that are here, and the ones that could
ones that could potentially come here."
Matt Steppe
Student Senate legislative director
and committee member
is to get money to better educate the students," said Charles Krider, committee member and professor of business.
The committee voted 5-3 to choose
the $50 million plan, and not all committee members agreed with the increase.
"I do not think $50 million is acceptable," said Matt Steppe, Student Senate legislative director and committee member. Steppe said $50 million was too great of a burden for a student body in which 51 percent of students already received financial aid.
"I'm trying to protect the interest of the students that are here, and the ones that could potentially come here," he said.
The committee must now decide how the extra revenue will be spent. It will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Provost's
SEE TUITION ON PAGE 3A
ISSUE 109 VOLUME 112
TUITION INCREASE DECIDED
What happened? The Ad-Hoc Committee on University Funding selected a final tuition increase plan to present to the Board of Regents in April.
The decision: The committee voted 5-3 to select the $50 million proposal.
What's next: Students can say how the money should be spent at an open microphone and rally in front of Wescoe Hall today at noon.
The impact: If the proposal is implemented, tuition would increase by $86 per credit hour during the next five years.
Sex evolves with online culture,new technology
By Summer Lewis Kansan staff writer
What some people consider sex is changing.
A new generation is growing up with cyberspace as the place of their first sexual experience. "The
"Cybersex is the new form of masturbating that is substituting for erotic literature or pictures in magazines," said Dennis Dailey, professor of human sexuality. "The mechanism of getting off may be different, but the experi-
cyberspace partner can stimulate a clitoris or penis, which is a technological advantage that produces an interface between people." Dennis Dailey Human sexuality professor
ence is the same."
Cybersex, which includes things such as chat rooms and viewing pornographic images on the Internet, allows people the freedom to explore sexuality, he said.
"Parents and schools don't talk about sex, so students look to erotic books, comics or magazines," Dailey said. "The Internet gives them the freedom to access the same information by using a more contemporary mode."
Tools allowing people to manipulate the sex organs of a cyber lover are being developed.
A new product called the Virtual Sex Machine will plug into a PC and allow a remote Internet partner to control stimulation. The female version of this product is still in the design stages.
Dailey said cybersex products would initiate a whole new era of computer-mediated interactions.
"The cyberspace partner can stimulate a clitoris or penis, which is a technological advantage that produces an interface between people," Dailey said. "The fact that someone can actually stimulate a partner makes cybersex different from phone sex or sex telephone lines."
Hopping on the net to look at pictures or to find that cyber partner would be wonderful," he said. "He could go down to the store to get a magazine or to the library to get erotic liter-
Dailey said cybersex was a good, safe idea for those students who needed sex and haven't had it for a while.
University housing residents Henry Epp, Buhler sophomore, Aaron Weigel, Brookville sophomore, and William Nichols, Palmyra, Mo., sophomore, voice their concerns about Internet bandwidth to Ann Ermy, director of resident networking.
AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
SEE CYBERSEX ON PAGE 5A
Working together
Students, administrators meet to begin resolving Internet usage issue
By Mike Gilligan Kansan staff writer
Residence hall students and Residential Networking administrators began working together last night to speed up the residence halls' connection to the Internet.
The meeting was the first product of a new initiative by ResNet to include more student input in ResNet decisions. Anne Ermey, director of Residential Networking, led the meeting, which included 12 students.
THE BANDWIDTH ISSUE
SEE INTERNET ON PAGE 5A
2 Large media files such as movies and music downloaded through file-sharing applications such as Morpheus and Napster have congested the University's network.
The congestion causes the network to slow down. This reduces traffic available on the network for Web browsing and e-mailing.
SOURCE: Networking and Telecommunication Services
Networking and Telecommunications Services limited the use of certain file-sharing applications on the University's network last November to speed up Web browsing for academic use.
KYLE RAMSEY/KANSAN
Conference to support gay issues, Pride Week
Pride Week in Lawrence will be amplified this year by a conference aimed at lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual (LGBT) college students and their allies.
By Maggie Koerth Kansan staff writer
The KU Student Development Center will play host to the Big 12 Gay Conference during Pride Week, which aims to raise awareness of queer issues. The conference will be held at the Holidome, 200 McDonald Dr., April 11 through 13. Pride Week runs April 7 to 13.
Laurie Sisk, LGBT resource coordinator for the student development center, said the conference was planned for that week in order to showcase the accomplishments of Lawrence's queer community. Sisk also serves as photo editor of the Kansan.
"For Kansas, Lawrence is very progressive, and even though we still have a lot to do, I am proud of what we've accomplished." she said.
Sisk said she came up with the idea after attending a conference in Illinois last year.
"I saw how at smaller schools they take these tiny groups of people and put them together, and through interaction and sharing of ideas they are able to really make things happen," she said.
Sisk said the conference would feature workshops, a dance and keynote speaker Bob Minor, religious studies professor.
Minor is the author of Scared Straight: Why It's So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to Be Human. His book has been nominated for a Lambda Award, a prestigious literary award given within the queer community.
Minor said the conference would give queer students a chance to relate to each other and raise queer issue awareness.
"It is still difficult to be LGBT in this country. People who think there is no discrimination aren't paying attention," he said. "The issue is still around, and it hurts people, heterosexual as well as LGBT."
Sisk said workshop topics would cover everything from religious issues to homoeroticism in Greek art.
Tara Wolfe, Lawrence senior and member of Queers and Allies, which organizes many Pride Week activities, said she hoped conference participants and Pride Week attendees would interact and attend each other's events. She said the conference was a sign of commitment to diversity by the University.
Registration for the Big 12 Gay Conference is $30 and covers all three days of speakers, workshops and entertainment. Students interested in registering should contact Laurie Sisk at 864-4064 or check out the conference Web site, www.ku.edu/~biggay.
Contact Koerth at mkoehr@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Sarah Smarsh.
Engineering school minority numbers drop
The University of Kansas School of Engineering continues to struggle recruiting certain minority students.
According to statistics from the School of Engineering, the number of African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans in engineering continues to drop. They now make up only 5.1 percent of engineering students.
By Leah Shaffer
Kansan staff writer
Florence Boldridge, director of diversity programs for the school of engineering, said the low numbers of minorities in the quantitative sciences, such as engineering, mirror the low numbers at the University as a whole.
SEE ENGINEERING ON PAGE 3A
INSIDETODAY
AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
Society of Hispanic Engineers, front row: from left, Manuel Laura, Lima, Peru, junior; Karen Valle, Overland Park sophomore; Michele Avila, Wichita freshman. Back row: Franklin Tomei, San Juan, Puerto Rico, senior; Andres Vicuna, Lima, Peru, junior; Renzo Hayashi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, graduate student; Jose Avila, Juarez, Mexico, senior. The group won an organizational award at the school's engineering expo.
COMING IN TOMORROW'S KANSAN
WORLD NEWS ...6A
HOROSCOPES ...7A
WEATHER ...8A
CROSSWORD ...8A
MARCH MADNESS: The psychology behind KU basketball fanaticism.
CELLULITE: How to smooth out those nasty amalgamations of fat in time for Spring Break.
20
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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