CAMPUS/AREA
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, January 22, 1992
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KU enrollment remains stable
By Ranjit Arab Kansan staff writer
First-day enrollment figures for the spring semester may have been slightly lower than in Spring 1991, but several KU administrators said they were pleased with the enrollment's relative stability.
According to a report released yesterday by the University's Department of Educational Services, total enrollment for the first day of classes was 25,565, a decline of 79 students from the spring semester of last year.
The figure includes enrollment at the Lawrence campus, off-campus courses and the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
Although off-campus courses and the Med Center saw minor gains of 41 and 63 students respectively, enrollment at the Lawrence campus was down by
183 students compared to last spring.
However, Weiss Williams, dean of Educational Services, said the first-day figures were misleading.
The totals do not include late enrollments, as well as weather conditions that may have kept some students from attending the opening day, he said.
Williams said he expected the enrollment figures to eventually equal last spring's totals. In fact, after the third day of classes, total enrollment was only 12 students off of last spring's mark, he said.
Williams said the first-day figures were preliminary. The figures from the 20th day of classes would determine the official enrollment count for the semester, he said. The 20th day figures also would be taken to the Board of Regents for funding and budgeting purposes, Williams said.
In a prepared statement, Chancellor Gene Budig said he was pleased with the first-day results.
"The University of Kansas continues to achieve its stated objective of stable enrollment," he said. "It is the only way way to assure instructional quality when state resources are limited."
Similarly, Del Shankel, interim, executive vice chancellor, said he was not worried about the slight decline in opening day enrollment.
"The decrease is not significant at this time," he said. "It does not tell how many students are going through late enrollment or just decided to take the first day of classes off."
Reports at Kansas State and Wichita State universities also showed decreases in first-day enrollments. At K-State, the first-day enrollment was 17,168, compared to 17,225 for the last spring semester. Meanwhile, enrollment at Wichita State declined by more than 400 students, from 14,625 last spring to 14,213 this year.
University's presence causes some effects of recession to skip Lawrence economy
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first story in a two-part series about economic conditions in Lawrence.
By Svala Jonso
Kansan staff writer
The rest of the nation is facing a recession, but Lawrence seems to be immune, thanks largely to the presence of the University of Kansas.
"We just don't seem to have the same kind of problem as the rest of the country," said Mike Pritchard, manager of the state-administered Lawrence Job Service Center. B33 Ohio St.
He said the unemployment rate for Kansas in November was 2.4 percent, while Lawrence had a 3.3 percent rate.
Lawrence's economy is more stable than the economies of other Kansas cities because the University is a large and steady employer and because most local companies are in service-oriented fields rather than production, Pritchard said. Lawrence's November 1991 unemployment rate was the same as in November 1990.
"At this point, I don't see us having as much unemployment as the rest of the state or even the 'rest of the country,' Pritchard said. "I see no indication from the companies that I have spoken to that is this going on."
Helga Upmeier, research associate at the KU
Institute for Public Policy and Business Research, said Lawrence usually was not hit as hard by recessions as were most other Kansas cities, because of the effect the University has on the town's economy.
"The state is the largest employer in Lawrence, and when you have a high percentage of state employees, the economy is not affected as much by national changes," she said. "There is some indication that the economy here is getting a little slower, but it isn't much yet."
The University also is a haven for students who are seeking jobs.
Watson Library and the student housing department, which provide part-time jobs for hundreds of students, have not reduced their number of student employees this semester.
Nancy Slabaugh, branch manager of Manpower Temporary Services, 211 E. Eighth St., said that the company was hiring the same amount of people as last year.
"I think Lawrence is doing a lot better than the rest of the country," she said. "Mampower does quarterly reports on employment outlook all over the country, and our figures for our branch have been better in the last few quarters than in any other part of the country."
Julie Cooper, associate director of the office of student financial aid, said that there were probably
fewer jobs for students this year than there had been
"Some of the off-campus employers are no longer hiring as many students," she said. "They may be hiring the same amount of professionals, but fewer students."
The Kansas career work-study program, which helps many students pay for their education, has fewer positions for students this year than it did before. Cooper said.
Dillons, 1740 Massachusetts St., does not have any job openings, said Patty Miller, assistant store manager.
"We often have our students quit around the break, but we are not seeing the usual turnover right now," she said. "The ones we have are staying with us, and I think it is because of the economy. Jobs are harder to come by."
The number of employees at the store has not changed, Miller said, and about half of them are students, also the same as before.
When the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., advertised for bell staff in the first week of January, 220 people applied for three openings, said Janine Glenn, director of guest relations.
"Normally we have 50 applications or so, so this was very unusual," Glenn said. "Most of the applicants were college students, and we also got some recent college graduates."
Complaints are effective, GLSOK says
By Shelly Solon Kansan staff writer
Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas members say they have found success in reporting harassment on campus.
Last year, GLSOK began to file complaints of discrimination and harassment regularly to Robert Shelton, the University ambudsman.
Shelton said that once the group found out that the office of the ombudsman
Janet Pryor, co-director of GLSOK, said knowing that the group could file complaints with the government are rewarding.
"It's good to know that if we ever feel threatened, we can take action," Pryor said. "It makes the University a safer place for us."
Pryor said she thought that the University had handled incidents of discrimination against gays and lesbians pretty well but that there still was a lot of nontreating discrimination.
"When someone calls me a 'dike', it 'is not as serious as other things,' she said. "It happens a lot, but it's not threatenable. I know when I really threatened."
Nineteen reports concerning gay and lesbian harassment were filled with Snelter between July 1, 1990, to June 30, 1991. Shelton releases an annual report each
One of the reports to the umbudman last semester was made by Michaela Haves, Dallas sophomore, and Ami Hyten, Topeka sophomore.
After a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity shouted slurs at them from a car, Hayes and Hyten failed a complaint with the ambudsman. After the complaint was made, the fraternity member apologized and the fraternity held a panel discussion about gay and lesbian concerns.
"We didn't expect any response at all," she said. "We were amazed with the response we got, the Fast response was unbelievable."
"He is open and willing to listen " Haves said " He does the best he can."
In addition to reporting incidents of harassment to the umbdsman, Hayes said, GLSOK also reported incidents to Lawrence and KU police.
Officer Burdel Welsh, KU police representative, said most of the reports the department received involved incidents such as telephone harassment.
The number of complaints Shelton receives shows the prevalence of attacks on gays and lesbians. Hayes said.
In 1991, KU police reported 12 incidents involving gays and lesbians. Two incidences involved harassment, damage to GLOSK posters and similar occurrences. Welsh said
Derek Nolen/KANSAN
Hammer time
Warm weather gives Elmer Morris the opportunity to fix a front door at Strong Hall. Morris said yesterday that the door kept coming apart and needed to be reglued and strengthened. Morris has worked for the department of facilities operations for 23 years.
KU police buy machine to improve deaf access
By Michelle Betts
Kansan staff writer
KU police recently purchased a device that will allow deaf or hearing-impaired people to contact police dispatchers by telephone in case of an emergency.
The Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) is a machine resembling a small typewriter, with a keyboard and a one-line screen to display letters and numbers. The machine types the messages on a roll of tape similar to the paper used in adding machines.
The TDD transmits messages onto the screen through the acoustic couplet, which looks like a computer modem and holds the handset.
Rhonda Birdsong, communications supervisor for KU police, said dispatchers would be training to use the TDD Jan. 27 and 28. They will begin to use the machine Feb. 1.
"It's different than verbal conversation on the phone, and there are different abbreviations than ones that (the phones) normally work with," she said.
Since there is limited space for messages on the TDDP screen, many abbreviations are used. For example, "U" means upward, "go ahead," "gohead," and "HD" means "hold."
Jonn Mullens, KU police representative, said learning the abbreviations was very important for the dispatchers. Hearing-impaired people who call might not think they were understood.
"You need to let them know you're trying to handle their problem," Muller said.
It is difficult for the receiver of an emergency TDD call to understand the call's seriousness because exclamatory statements and voice inflection or accent cannot be heard, be said.
"It is important to be able and sit down and know what questions to ask, and what kind of situations cause anxiety, because it is hard to know if you're talking to a 5-year-old or a 70-year-old who can't hear them." Mullens said.
Only dispatchers will be trained to use the TDD because officers usually work with people face to face instead of over the telephone, he said.
TDDs are available as portable units and can be plugged into any telephone. People who have their own telephones may need to rely directly from public telephones on campus.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which will go into effect in Kansas on Jan. 26, a TDD access jack must be installed in one pay telephone at locations where four or more phone are installed.
Dole Human Development Center will receive a TDD from Southwestern Bell at no charge, according to the telecommunications department.
Women form branch of GLSOK to address more specific issues
By Shelly Solon
Kansan staff writer
Women's Concerns Committee, an organization formed by the women of Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas, said it planned to work with women"s issues as well as lesbian issues.
"We've informally met with Women's Student Union and plan to work with them," said Jodi Darst, Overland Park junior. "We want to network with campus women's groups and community lesbians."
The Women's Concerns Committee formed last spring to deal with sexism within GLSOK, Darst said. Women are almost always a minority at GLSOK meetings.
Darst said the committee would do a lot of topical discussions. It also would address specific lesbian issues but would discuss any pressing topics.
The group primarily concentrated last semester on getting started and drawing una constitution, she said.
the group is co-sponsoring with Women's Student Union a women's dance Feb. 21 at the Douglas County/fairgrounds, Darst said.
She said the committee also planned to meet with WSU once a month to share ideas.
"By having the all-women's dance, we hope that more women will come out," said Michaela Hayes, Dallas sophomore. "They may feel more comfortable coming into the community if there are no men there."
Ami Hyten, Topeka sophomore, said, "The original goal of the group was to
create a sounding board for issues and ideas. We wanted to make a comfortable environment for the women in the group."
Rebecca Bieberly, Topeka freshman, said as many as 11 women had attended a committee meeting. Men also are welcome at the meeting.
The committee headed two GLSOK programs last semester that dealt with women's concerns, Bieberly said.
One program was about pro-feminist men, and the other was a speech about women's concerns and how men could address them.
Before any action or decision is approved, Bieberly said, the committee had to reach a consensus. All members must agree on something before the committee could act on it.