Tuesday April 1,2003 Vol.113.Issue No.124
today's weather
85°
Tonight: 50°
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Kansas baseball defeats Oklahoma State 10-8; earns first conference victory of season p.1B
Andy Samuelson/Kansan
Speaker ranks Kansas
Heidi Hartmann, director of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, speaks to an audience at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union about economic equality and women's rights. "Kansas has a good history of civic engagement," Hartmann said during her speech yesterday evening, which was part of the 31st-annual February Sisters Forum.
By Jessica Hood
jhood@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kansas was not the worst place to live as a woman, but it was not the best, said feminist Heidi Hartmann.
Hartmann's speech last night, "Report on the Status of Women in the States," focused on the status of women in Kansas.
The lecture was part of the 31st-annual February Sisters Forum, which was rescheduled after the original speaker, Avis Jones-DeWeeer of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, could not make it from Washington, D.C., because of bad weather.
The February Sisters Association was named after a group of University of Kansas women who have advocated women's rights on campus since 1972.
Hartmann applauded Kansas on its political
"It is fairly appalling in a state that it is doing so well in other areas."
Heidi Hartmann on reproductive rights
participation by women and its health and wellbeing of women, but said the state's downfall was in reproductive rights. The report ranked Kansas at the bottom of the middle third of all states.
"It is fairly appalling in a state that it is doing so well in other areas," Hartmann said.
The report has covered 42 states so far, and every two years the Institute for Women's Policy Research releases a national report on the status of women with about 10 state reports.
Hartmann shared a saying from a friend during the Vietnam War as a thought on the status of women.
"She said. 'We'll get the men out of Vietnam before we get the men to wash dishes,'" Hartmann said. "And it is true."
Kathryn Peacock, Prairie Village senior, said she was glad she came to hear Hartmann.
"It was interesting to see how Kansas relates to other states." Peacock said.
Hartmann serves as the director of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. The institute is an independent, non-profit, scientific research organization, that Hartmann founded in 1987 to inform and foster debate on issues of critical importance to women.
"The work that the institute does is very much like walking a tight rope between research and advocacy," Hartmann said. "We work to maintain our usefulness without losing our credibility."
- Edited by Andrew Ward
Friends reminisce about professor
By Nicole Roche
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Cats, funny hats and year-round Christmas lights.
These are some of the Carolyn Doty staples that students, friends and colleagues said they would always remember at yesterday's memorial service.
Doty, novelist and English professor, died of natural causes March 10 at the age of 61.
Doty was known for leaving up Christmas lights all year, as well as filling her garden with synthetic plants so she would have vibrant flowers during all four seasons.
Students and colleagues said they remembered not only Doty's quirky sense of humor, but also her abundance of advice for upcoming writers.
"She was the lady with the hat," said Jim Carothers, who was chairman of the English department hiring committee when Doty came to KU in 1986. "But I always remember her as the lady with the laugh."
"She was the lady with the hat,but I always remember her as the lady with the laugh."
Jim Carothers Professor
Mike Valk, an English lecturer who spoke at the service, said Doty instructed never to write from the point of view of inanimate objects.
Mark Scoggins, English graduate teaching assistant, said Doty always had humorous yet practical advice for her students.
"She said never to write from the viewpoint of a college student," Scoggins said, "because they never do anything."
Chris Blakeslee, Overland Park senior, said the last time he saw Doty was in her office, March 6. She offered him her usual Pepsi ONE and oatmeal cookies while they discussed his work, he said.
SEE DOTY ON PAGE 5A
Candidates discuss housing ordinance
Single-family ordinance restricts unrelated persons living together to three
Editor's note: With the general election for City Commission today, Kansan staff writer IJ Hensley provides profiles of the six candidates and their views on the single-family ordinance, which limits the number of unrelated persons living together to three. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today for voters to elect three of the six candidates.
DiVilbiss' position on the single-familv housing ordinance:
Background: DiVilbiss has been in sales most of his life and is currently a partner in a local real estate investment firm. He was raised in the Kansas City area and moved to Wichita for four years before relocating to Lawrence with his wife and three children in 2001.
"I support the ability for three unrelated individuals to live together and am against discriminatory inspections."
Gregory DiVilbiss,42
Background: The former KU student body vice president in 1984-1985 received his degree in electrical engineering in 1985 and graduated from the KU School of Law in 1992. Since 1992, Highberger has worked as an attorney for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Dennis "Boog" Highberger, 43
Highberger's position on the single-family housing ordinance:
"I think the inspection provision of the ordinance is unconstitutional, to the extent that it claims to allow a landlord to authorize the search of a tenant's dwelling by a government official. Even if you are a renter, a government official can only search your home with your permission or with a valid search warrant. Before any inspection program is extended to multifamily-zoned neighborhoods, we should be sure that it is respectful of tenants' civil liberties."
Background: Gerhard is currently retiring from the Kansas Geological Survey. He decided to run for commission to
Lee Gerhard, 65
SEE CANDIDATES ON PAGE 5A
Sunset Soccer
John Nowak/Kansan
Olathe freshmen Andrew Lomeli (left) and Logan Carter cross the Iowa Street bridge yesterday as they return from West Campus. Lomeli said he and Carter decided to take advantage of the nice day and play soccer.
Women give campus favorable view
Concerns about safety gender equity expressed in female taskforce survey
By Cal Creek
ccreek@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A survey conducted last spring revealed that women have a favorable status at the University of Kansas.
The survey's findings were released at a press conference yesterday. The survey
The KU Policy Research Institute surveyed 523 female students in the Spring of 2002.
was conducted to understand female students' perceptions of their roles at the University. It was also meant to pinpoint areas of concern.
The taskforce identified that, overall, women's status is favorable on campus. Two-thirds of the survey respondents responded that they had equal access to an equal number of male and female role models, and 83 percent of those surveyed responded that male and female
students received equal attention in the classroom. Reports of discrimination were low.
"While there is gender inequality at KU, it doesn't present itself as barriers," said tana Mackey, taskforce member and Hays junior.
The taskforce also identified weaknesses on campus. More than half of the women surveyed believed they would leave the University in debt. Of those female students surveyed, 27 percent
SEE WOMEN ON PAGE 6A