Friday
March 28, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No. 122
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN How Sweet it is: Kansas beats Duke, moves to Elite Eight p. 1B
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Funds for sexuality class at risk
By Lauren Airey lairey@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
There are only a handful of open spots in 110 Budig at 8 a.m. on Monday mornings, with almost 500 students enrolled in Dennis Dailey's Human Sexuality in Everyday Life class.
Daney, professor of social welfare, has been giving lectures about sexual expression for more than 20 years, but an amendment to the state budget is threatening to ban his teaching material.
The Kansas Senate voted Wednesday 24-13 to prohibit public universities, like the University of Kansas, from purchasing obscene videos for classes like the one taught by Dailey or risk losing money for the offending department. The amendment could mean the loss of the $3.1 million budget for the School of Social Welfare, which offers the class.
Dalley said he wasn't in a position to discuss the amendment at this time.
Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, proposed the amendment to the state budget bill for next year that would terminate
funds to any university department that purchased or displayed any videos deemed obscene, specifically citing human sexuality classes in her proposal.
Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, said the proposal was made based on investigations Wagle had done and reports from constituents about Dailey's human sexuality class. Vratil said he opposed the amendment because it was not fitting for an appropriations bill.
"My initial reaction was that the Senate floor was not the best place to resolve a problem of that sort, if it is a problem,"
Vratil said. "We've only heard one side of the story and I'm sure there are least two more versions of the story."
The appropriations bill passed Wednesday by the Senate is different than the bill passed Tuesday by the state House of Representatives. The two bills will be considered by a conference committee and the amendment may be removed from the compromised bill, Vratil said.
"It's trying to target KU but it's going to everyone," Vratil said. "It's not over, not by a long shot."
The amendment states material is obscene if the average person applying contemporary community standards would find it obscene, if it lacks serious educational or artistic value or if it contains normal or perverted sexual acts. masturbation or lewd acts.
Leah Schmitz, Benton junior, is enrolled in the class but said she didn't find the material to be obscene or offensive.
"It is completely professional, the way
Professor returns after visa expired
By Maggie Newcomer editor@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
A University of Kansas professor found it difficult to follow the advice of friends while she was stranded in Hong Kong for more than three months.
SEE FUNDS ON PAGE 8A
"Everyone told me to relax, to do whatever I wanted to do and just enjoy my life," said Yi Jin, assistant professor of economics who has taught at the University for two years. "But it was impossible for me to relax."
Jin
Jin's original nine-day research trip turned into more than three months when her visa expired. Her first day back in class was March 13.
Jin said it took a long time to obtain a visa because of the complicated screening process.
Jin, a Chinese citizen, said she was worried and frustrated. "I kept having to go to the Consulate and sometimes I didn't even get in the door," she said.
"They had to fax my fingerprints to Washington, D.C., to compare them with suspects and criminal records," Jin said. "They only take fingerprints on Wednesday afternoons for one hour."
Jin said that, because of the time constraint, she had to return to the U.S. Consulate five times before her fingerprints were actually taken. Once the employees had taken her prints, it took six weeks for her visa to be approved.
While Jin was in Hong Kong, Economics Chairman Joe Sicilian took over the lecturing for her two macroeconomics classes.
Sicilian said he was discouraged because he thought Jin might be gone for the whole semester. He didn't know until one week beforehand that Jin was returning.
Sicilian said the teacher transition went smoothly for the students.
Students could contact Jin through email, and the economics department mailed to her the tests and assignments to grade.
"If anyone had any problems, they didn't tell me about them," Sicilian said. "It will be difficult both ways, but the students have all been cooperative given the situation."
Genevieve Gordon, Wichita junior and one of Jin's students, said she was relieved the situation was finally resolved.
"We didn't know if she would be coming back at all," Gordon said. "I'm just glad everything worked out for her and she can get back to her life."
— Edited by Christy Dendurent
State budget cuts have put plans for the Undergraduate Natural Sciences Laboratory Learning Center on hold. The new building is part of a plan to update facilities in Malott Hall.
Conceptual illustration from GLPM architects
Plans for science building pushed back because of budget cuts
By Amy Potter apotter@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
"Time has changed modern science." Givens said. "Things are done a
Last year was supposed to mark the first year of construction for the Undergraduate Natural Sciences Laboratory Learning Center, a new building that would ease overcrowding and update laboratories that exist now in Malott Hall. However, state budget cuts and an overall lack of funding put the new building on the back burner.
But problems with older equipment and concerns about safety still remain in Malott.
Many of Malott's laboratories are outdated, said Richard Givens, professor of chemistry.
lot differently than they were 50 years ago when Malott was constructed."
Other concerns range from overcrowded stock rooms, lack of air conditioning in some of the labs and too few hoods that remove fumes. Each lab has two hoods for 20 students.
In 1997, departments in Malott pulled together private funds to create a plan for the new building.
The two major benefits to the new building include improved laboratory facilities and multidisciplinary interaction, said Jack Landgrebe, professor emeritus of chemistry.
The building, which would be constructed in the parking lot between Malott and Haworth halls, would benefit the departments of chemistry, biology, geology and physics.
"There would be a whole group of
people with knowledge across different disciplines," Givens said. "Students need to have that."
Extensive remodeling is not an option because Malott labs are still overcrowded, and the building doesn't allow for a number of new improvements to be made.
The cost of center was estimated at $61 million in 1997.
"Every year that passes when it's not under construction will add a couple million to the price," Landgrebe said.
"Now that five years have passed the question remains: 'Is this still what we need?'" Givens said.
Givens also expressed concern that they would have to revisit the current plans.
SEE LABS ON PAGE 8A
Ex-student sentenced in drugging
By Erin Ohm
eohm@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
In an emotional statement yesterday morning in Douglas County District Court, Lindsey Bergman told Judge Robert Fairchild she could not imagine what would have happened to her and two friends if she had not realized they had been drugged.
"I just remember the fear I had when I figured out what was happening," Bergman said in court.
Bergman, Lansing junior, was one of three women to whom former University of Kansas student Michael D. Carpenter gave the drug diazepam, commonly called Valium, in August.
Carpenter will spend 14 months in prison, the judge decided yesterday, following the recommendation of the prosecution based on a plea agreement. Fairchild ordered the sentence to be carried out immediately.
In the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a charge of drug possession, two charges of drug distribution and a charge of attempted rape. The agreement also omitted language saying the crimes were sexually motivated.
Several friends and members of Carpenter's family attended the sentencing. As he was leaving the courtroom, Carpenter asked court security officers if he could change clothes and say goodbye to his family before he was taken to prison.
Feelings were strong on both sides. When Bergman and Kristen Prosser, Great Bend junior and one of the three
SEE SENTENCED ON PAGE 8A
High alert causes housing lockdown
By Jessica Palimeno
jalimenio@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
During spring break, a decision was made by housing officials to modify security procedures within residence and scholarship halls. Some of the changes include the locking of any doors other than the main front doors and the variation of security hours and staffing.
With the nation on high terrorist alert, the Department of Student Housing is locking most of the doors of its residence and scholarship halls.
"Things are not the same as they used to be," said Ken Stoner, director of student housing. "Things are changing and we are trying to stay current."
Stoner said the changes were made in response to confusion regarding procedures during the different levels of terrorist alert.
He said he did not believe there was a perceived threat or imminent danger of terrorism, but he wanted people to think more about security issues.
All side and additional doors in the residence halls are now required to be locked, and staff members must complete additional tasks. Now all residents must enter through the main doors at all times. At the scholarship halls, all the doors are locked 24 hours a day, and residents use a door code to enter, said Dan Suitor, assistant director of scholarship halls.
Desk attendants in the residence halls are testing the security alarms at the bottom of every hour to ensure that none of the doors are open, said Jessica Christenberry, De Soto freshman and Hashinger Hall desk attendant.
Some students say the lockdown has caused inconveniences.
SEE LOCKDOWN ON PAGE 8A
Courtney Kublen/Kansan
Allison Fine, Leawood junior, and Brendan Donnelly, Manchester, Mo., freshman, discuss the lockdown situation at the front desk of Lewis Hall. Donnelly said that almost everyone recognized one another in the residence halls and that he felt safe there.
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