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SPORTS
17
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2003
EMPLOYMENT
Robinson budget, hours decreasing
An empty lifeguard's chair sits in the natatorium at Robinson Gym. University cutbacks scheduled for June 7th have student employees fearing for their jobs. "It's very sneaky the way they're doing it ... Everyone should call the provost and complain," Amber Jones, Joplin, Mo., senior and student worker, said.
Zach Straus/Kansar
By Saju Ng alla
sngalla@ku.edu
Kansan staff writer
Allan Potts, Overland Park senior, fears he will not have money to pay for surgery on his shoulder if he loses his job at Robinson Center. He, along with other part-time student employees, worry their jobs may be in jeopardy.
Robinson is scheduled to be open for only 11 days in June and July.
The budget for Robinson will be depleted by June 7.
The full-time staff at Robinson would not be affected because they were paid by the department of health, sport and exercise science, said Jerry Phillips, facility director at Robinson.
Student campus fees financed Robinson's recreational services in the past. This money, however, has been set aside to finance the new center, which will replace Robinson as the main workout facility in the fall.
Amber Jones, Joplin, Mo., senior, wonders if she will have job when she returns from Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va. She leaves in four weeks and will return a week before the fall semester starts.
"Whenever I ask questions management says they don't know," Jones said. "I don't think anybody really knows what is going on."
Recreation Services will have to foot the bill to keep Robinson open until the new center is opened.
Phillips said he would be happy to tell the students what was going on if he knew. "At this point no money has been committed to me," he said. "If I don't have money to pay them I can't work them."
Mary Chappell, director of Recreation
Services, said it was unfortunate that student workers were caught in the middle. Her department has calculated how best to effectively and efficiently use student money to everyone's advantage, she said.
After June 7, Recreation Services will be open every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. This will include the pool, gym and basketball facilities.
Phillips said this would not be enough and he may have to layoff some of his student employees if he was unable to get the money to keep the gym open for more days and longer hours.
"You need to understand that my department is more or less like a tenant," Chappell said. "We pay the Robinson Center to use their facilities so as far as I am concerned we have already done our part."
Phillips said if he had to,he would manage with just his full-time employees. If he could get the money he needed, Phillips said he would have to take drastic action.
"I will have no choice but to make it an academic building only and there will be no recreational services," Phillips said.
"That is not fair," said Kara Kappelmann, Augusta junior. Kappelmann said she needed this job and would be lose money if she lost it. Jobs are hard to find right now in Lawrence, she said, and it is not right that she is kept in the dark about Robinson's future.
Phillips questioned where that money would come from. Until that question was answered, uncertainty would continue to plague the facility, he said.
"Recreation Services and myself are working very hard to make everything beneficial to everyone," Phillips said.
- Edited by Richard Gintowt
BASKETBALL
New replaces old for women's fall basketball season
By Saju Ng'alla
sngalla@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Kansas women's basketball team signed four new players just as three players announced their intentions to transfer.
For two of the players, Keila Beachem, Chicago junior, and Ebony Haliburton, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, decreased playing time influenced their decision to leave.
Coach Marian Washington said she could not guarantee those two players the playing time they wanted. As for Brandi McGinest, Long Beach, Calif., sophomore, Washington would only say her reason for leaving was a personal matter.
"In all my years of coaching I cannot recall that many players leaving," Washington said. "If people feel they are not getting enough playing time, they have the opportunity to choose whether they want to leave or stay. And I see nothing wrong with that."
Beachem, 6-0 forward, averaged 2.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in her two seasons with the University after transferring to Kansas from Angelina Junior College.She started in nine games and led in rebounds twice
Haliburton, 5-11 forward, played in 10 games last season and averaged 3.4 minutes per game. The former McDonald's High School All-American candidate
McGinest, 5-11 guard/forward, played for the Jayhawks for two years. She averaged 1.6 points and 0.6 rebounds per game during 13 games last season.
averaged 0.7 and 0.3 rebounds per game last year.
In a media release, Washington said she enjoyed working with all three players and appreciated everything they had done for the program.
"Keila, Brandi and Ebony each made a decision, which was best for their personal interest, and we certainly wish them the very best," Washington said.
The Kansas signing class now stands at six with the signing of four players last week.
Coach Washington said she thought the team had taken a strong step in establishing a proud women's basketball tradition at Kansas with the signing.
This year's fall players are Kandis Bonner, Wabash Valley College; Kaylee Brown, Northern Oklahoma College at Enid; Syretta Coleman, Los Angeles Valley Community College, and LaRisha Graves, Southwest Tennessee Community College.
"All four of these players are highly talented individuals and will impact our team at every position," Washington said.
- Edited by Amy Kelly