CAMPUS AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, April 9, 1985
Page 3
NEWS BRIEFS
Events to protest gay rights
Paul Cameron, chairman of the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality, Lincoln, Neb., plans to lead a march and speak at a public rally protesting "gay rights" on campus at noon tomorrow.
The march will begin at the west end of Jayhawk Boulevard and end with a rally on the lawn between the Kansas Union and Dyche Hall.
Cameron's visit will be sponsored by the New Life Student Fellowship and Law
Cameron also is expected to speak on the social, psychological and medical aspects of homosexuality at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Wooldruff Auditorium and at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Kansas University Ballroom. The species are open to the public. Admission is $1.
Critic to speak on abstract art
Michael Fried, an abstract art critic,
will speak at 8 p.m. April 16 at the Spencer
Museum of Art auditorium.
Fried's presentation will be "American Abstract Painting Since 1960." He is a member of the Johns Hopkins faculty.
Fried's visit is planned to promote the current exhibit, "Pop. Op., Plus" in the museum.
The collection, on loan from the St. Louis Art Museum, includes 18 American paintings from the 1960s and 70s. The paintings will remain here until May 19.
Kansan taking applications
The Kansan is accepting applications for the paid positions of editor and business manager for the summer session and fall semester
Applications are available in the Student Senate office, B105 Kansas Union; the organizations and activities office, 403 Michigan business office, 119 Stauffer Flint Hall.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. April 15 in 200 Staffer-Flair Hall.
Applications for other news and business staff positions for the summer session and fall semester also are available at the job site, or by login at b.5 p.m. April 18 in 2001 Staffer-Flint
Volunteer coaches wanted
People interested in coaching youth baseball and softball teams this summer can apply to the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department.
The department plans to train volunteers April 23, May 1 and May 15 from 7-9 p.m. Clinics also are scheduled for April 6 from 9-11 a.m. and May 5, 2-5 p.m. The clinics will be in the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.
The department plans to have two leagues: Jayhawk leagues, ages 9 and 10, and Recreation leagues, ages 11 and 12. Students are encouraged to attend the events.
For more information, call Bruce Andrews at 843-7122 or stop by the Community Building.
Wichita shooting investigated
WICHTA — Police yesterday continued an investigation into the weekend shooting that killed a police officer.
Phillip L. Ritchie of Wichita collapsed at the home of a friend around midnight Sunday after he was shot, said Capt. John Mackey, an Oklahoma Police Special Investigations Section.
An autopsy revealed that Ritchie died of a single gunshot wound from a small caliber handgun. The bullet punctured the right side of his aorta, the heart's main blood vessel.
Dotson said the case still was under investigation and no arrests had been made.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and warmer with a 20 percent chance of thundershowers and a high in the low to mid 60s. Winds will be from the south at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low in the low 40s. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny and warmer with a high in the lower 70s.
Compiled from Kansan staff and United Press international reports.
ASK director to meet with Senate members
By JULIE MANGAN Staff Reporter
Mark Tallman, executive director of Associated Students of Kansas, is scheduled to meet with the Student Senate Student Rights Committee tonight to respond to allegations that ASK does not adequately represent KU students.
The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall.
ASK is an organization designed to lobby for student concerns in the Kansas Legislature. The Senate recently allocated more than $24,000 to ASK for fiscal year 1986.
TALMAN SAIID yesterday that he wanted
Senate to clear up any
misunderstandings
Some senators have expressed concern that ASK did not represent the majority of KU students, especially with its position on the drinking age bill, and have requested an amendment to determine whether ASK deserved the money it received from Senate each year.
"In every way, we are accountable to the Senate because the Senate is accountable to the student body," Tallman said. "We exist to create the viewpoints of the majority of students."
Although ASK doesn't support raising the state's legal drinking age from 18 to 21, it hasn't actively lobbied to keep the age down this year.
Last year, ASK opposed any increase in the drinking age. But after the federal government passed legislation to deny highway funds to any state not complying with the higher drinking age by 1866, ASK dropped its efforts and lobbed to allow 18-year-olds to drink at a high alcohol and serve alcoholic beverages and to raise the age gradually over several years.
THE RIGHTS Committee last month formed a subcommittee to review ASK's
positions. Last week, the Student Senate Executive Committee voted to have the same subcommittee work under the authority of StudEx to investigate ASK.
Reza Zoughi, StudEx chairman, said the Senate rules gave StudEx the power to investigate The Rights Committee is responsible for investigating the local, state and national levels, he said.
Since the Rights Committee already had asked for volunteers to review ASK, StudEx voted to allow those same volunteers to act as a StudEx subcommittee. The subcommittee probably will report its findings to both committees, he said.
Zoohi said the investigation was necessary, although he said he thought ASK was too difficult to deal with.
"We are getting a very cheap lobbying group doing a hell of a job." Ozghi said.
Members of the Rights Committee and the StudEx subcommittee invited Tallman to visit the University to give him the opportunity to answer any questions the committee has.
Tallman said he thought poor communication between ASK and Senate might be causing some of the problems. He said he wanted to tell the committee about the problems. He also issued this year and to answer questions from the committee about specific concerns.
Last month, Rights Committee members approved a resolution to tell ASK and the Kansas Legislature that the group didn't want its current position on the drinking age bill
"I'm not sure exactly what they want," Tallman said.
However, the resolution died during the April 3 Senate meeting when its author told senators to vote against it because it already required that a committee be promoting an investigation into ASK's position.
Steven Ross, Wichita sophomore, balances on a bar outside Murphy Hall, while Eve Brosnahan, Leaward sophomore, prepares to try her skill. They took a moment to enjoy the warm weather (last week during a break in class).
Veda Owens/KANSAN
Med Center requests malpractice exemptions
By MICHAEL TOTTY
Staff Reporter
TOPEKA - In an effort to trim rising medical malpractice insurance costs, the University of Kansas Medical Center asked the Kansas Legislature to exempt student residents at the Med Center from liability in malpractice claims.
But in a hearing last week on the measure, a representative of the state's trial lawyers said the bill might be unconstitutional and could leave malpractice victims unable to collect complete compensation for their injuries.
The bill is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which heard testimony Thursday. The panel is expected to take final action on the measure this week.
Jerry Palmer, a lobbyist for the Kansas
Trial Lawyers Association, told the committee that there was at least a 90 percent chance that the bill would be found to violate the law and not provide equal protection under the law.
IF THE STATE Supreme Court ruled the measure unconstitutional, Palmer said, then residents would lose the immunity to jury suits that would be provided by the bill.
Residents might begin their careers saddled with the cost of paying for malpractice damages or in bankruptcy, Palmer said. Malpractice victims might find it difficult to receive payment for their injuries from bankrupt residents.
Palmer's argument was disputed by a KU law professor, William Westberke. Westberke said last week that the equal rights case had been clearly decided by the state Supreme Court.
STATE SEN. WINT Winter Jr., R-Lawrence and a member of the committee, said yesterday that he planned to propose amendments to the bill that would exempt the students from liability but would not impose coverage of medical malpractice victims.
At issue is a bill requested by the Med Center that would exempt medical residents from liability for medical malpractice lawsuits. The bill would amend the tort claims act, which allows state employees to be sued against claims that result from their jobs with the state.
UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS said the Med Center could save up to $1.7 million in medical malpractice insurance premiums if the bill was approved.
In fiscal year 1985, insurance for the residents and interns cost the Med Center $360 million.
jump to almost $1.7 million, according to Med Center projections.
Med Center officials said the coverage for residents was unnecessary because, as students, residents working under the supervision of a physician would be covered by either the school or by their supervising physicians.
D. KAY CLAWSON, executive vice chancellor for the Med Center, said yesterday that payment of claims against residents was low. Of the 34 malpractice claims in the last five years, just eight just the resident. The rest named both a resident and the supervising physician.
Clawson said exempting residents from liability was similar to what most other states did. The residents would be considered students and not state employees and could not be sued for malpractice as long as they worked as students.
New pay plan to make work more rewarding
Staff Reporter
By NANCY HANEY
TOPEKA — A new state employees pay plan isn't perfect, but it's a step in the right direction, representatives of state employees said yesterday.
The House Ways and Means Committee yesterday voted to adopt a pay plan proposed by a joint House and Senate committee. Under the plan, classified employees would receive raises and be considered for promotion every three years. Classified employees now receive raises every five years.
The plan now will be sent to Gov. John Carlin for his approval. If Carlin approves the plan, it then will be sent to the full House, where it is expected to pass.
they just have to build on it in the next few years."
According to the new plan, four stages of employee classification would be eliminated from the current 44. Employees are paid according to their stages. The longer they have worked for the state, the higher their stage and pay.
"THE PLAN IS AN improvement," said Bob Patterson, a member of the Classified Social Services Board.
The four stages that would be eliminated are the last four stages, which affect only six
Patterson and Charles Dodson, executive director of the Kansas Association of Public Employees, said they didn't like the proposal to drop four stages from the plan.
The joint committee recommended that these six employees be reviewed by the State Division of Personnel for possible change to unclassified service.
STATE EMPLOYEES include classified employees at KU. Classified employees are secretaries, cashiers, accountants, librarians and custodians. Unclassified employees
include University faculty and graduate teaching assistants.
State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence, said he wanted to make sure employees who were in stages to be excluded were treated fairly.
State Rep. Sandy Duncan, R-Wichita, and chairman of the joint committee, said raises for these employees would be considered on an annual basis. The staff would be re-classified for other positions.
LONG-TERM employees are those who have worked for the state for 15 years or more.
Patterson said the Legislature had been neglecting the long-term employee for the last time.
He said that when employees reached the last stage of the pay plan, they were frozen in that stage and would not be eligible for raise. Other than yearly cost-of-living expenses,
Duncan said the biggest difference be-
(between the governor's plan and the new plan was the number of years an employee had to work in that position.)
The governor's proposal would have maintained the current pay plan of raises every five years and yearly cost-of-living increases.
Duncan said the joint committee thought employees shouldn't have to wait five years
THE COMMITTEE'S plan changed two other parts of the governor's plan to allow the three-year schedule. Duncan said.
A performance award system, which would have allowed some employees to receive raises ahead of schedule, was taken out because Duncan said the money could be used to move more employees through the steps.
Duncan said the cost of starting the new pay plan would be $20.2 million. The cost to keep the plan running in fiscal year 1987 would be $4.2 million.
Come on in and try a New, Cool, Refreshing, Light lunch from our spring menu.
TIN PAN ALLEY
SUA FILMS
TONIGHT
7:30 $1.50
First in a series by Dir. Preston Sturges:
LADY EVE
Starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck
Woodruff Auditorium