Friday, February 6, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 9
Plan could replace Board of Regents
Agreement proposes increased funding for salaries, technology
By Brandon Coplep bcoplep@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
The Select Committee on Higher Education moved closer to agreement last night on a plan to replace the Board of Regents with a new governing body.
The new body, called the Council on Higher Education, would exercise governance powers of the former Regents schools and Washburn, but not of community colleges and vocational-technical schools. Those schools would continue to be governed by local trustees.
The council would have a coordination division to direct curriculum and encourage cooperation among all post-secondary schools.
Last night, the committee worked on financing the plan's implementation and on council membership.
On Wednesday, the committee agreed tentatively to adopt the plan. The committee was appointed in the first week of the session by House Speaker Tim Shallenburger.
Implementation of the plan would take place during a four-year period.
Rep. Ed McKechnie, D-Pittsburg, said
"Over the next four years, we're going to spend $100 million anyway," he said. "For another $60 (million), we can give a total reform of the system."
total cost for implementation would be less than $160 million dollars.
Last night, the committee worked on a financial enhancement package that would include salary increases and increased technology funding for Regents schools. The enhancement package would be in addition to standard state higher education appropriations.
Council members would be appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Kansas Senate.
The committee did not decide how the 11 council members would be nominated.
The restructuring can be achieved only by constitutional amendment, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the legislature and a statewide majority in the November election.
The committee's goal is to present recommendations to the full House on Feb.10.
Rep. David Adkins, R-Leawood, said he thought the committee would meet the deadline.
"We moved much further toward consensus on the financial side," he said. "By Monday, we should be ready to put it together."
The sun sets over the Kansas River. A legislative committee is debating whether to divide portions of the river for recreational use. One proposal might be to allow recreational activities from the bridge west toward Topeka. Photo by Augustus Anthony Piazza/KANSAN
Committee suggests parts of river be dredge-free
By Graham K. Johnson and Brandon Capple
gjohnson@kansan.com
bcapple@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
Recreationists may get portions of the Kansas River all to themselves if the kansas Legislature adopts the recommendations of a year-long study.
The results of the Kansas River Recreation Study were heard in the House Environment Committee yesterday. The study recommended that portions of the river be set aside for recreational use only, excluding commercial uses such as sand dredging.
Sand dredging is an operation that takes sand from the bottom of the riverbed for use in construction.
Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said the committee was evenly divided at this point, but the members hoped to work out a compromise.
"I personally don't have anything against setting aside portions of the river for recreation," Sloan said. "I think that the two interests, the dredgers and recreationist, can co-exist."
The study was commissioned by the 1996 Legislature to determine the river's recreational potential. The report concluded the river was underutilized for recreation. The study called for more access points and setasides for recreation.
Rep. Laura McClure, D-Osborne, is proposing a bill that would set aside, among others, the portion between
Topeka and Lawrence for recreation.
Jason Daniels, Colby senior and KU Environs coordinator, said this would benefit KU students.
"If that area gets protected, it will be so much easier for KU students to go rent a canoe for the day." Daniels said.
David Foong, employee at Rusty's Outdoor Sports, said he felt better development of the river would increase the river's use for canoeing and kayaking. Foong said many people who buy canoes from Rusty's have to go to Missouri to canoe.
"I am pretty sure that if they set it up like Missouri where there is safe and easy access I don't see what they would go all the way to Missouri." Froner said.
Jim Janousek, head of the study, said the report estimated that such improvements would lead to increased revenue.
Lance Burr, president of Friends of the Kaw, a group which advocates the development of the Kansas river, said the group lobbied for the study as a part of its efforts to protect the river from excessive sand dredging. Dredges, which often stretch across the entire river, also make it difficult to enjoy the river, Burr said.
"Were trying to show the Legislature that if they clean up the river they can make more money from recreation than from dredging." Burr said.
Burt said Friends of the Kaw wanted to have two-thirds of the river set aside exclusively for recreation, but the study committee wouldn't go that far.
The study group, made up of five state agencies, recommended some portion of the river be set aside for recreational use only, but would not recommend any set proportion or specific sections.
The Kansas Geological Survey, represented by Senior Scientist Lawrence Brady, opposed the idea of setting a specific portion of the river. Brady cited the potential need for sand resources in the future as the main reason.
"We thought that was basically condemning forever a substantial part of the river," Brady said.
Brady said the study group agreed on a compromise to recommend set asides but leave the specifics to the legislature
There will be a meeting today among the committee members, sand dredgers, recreationists and environmentalists to work out a compromise that can be passed into law.
"If we cannot reach an agreement tomorrow, however, the outlook is not good," Sloan said.
Secretary speaks on Smithsonian stories, science
By Chris Horton
By Chris Horton
kanson@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
1. Michael Heyman's lecture was part of the Humanities Lecture Series, sponsored by the Hall Center for the Humanities
Public criticism of museum exhibits was discussed by the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution yesterday at the Lied Center.
Heyman's tenure as head of the Smithsonian, which began in 1994, has been filled with controversy from the beginning, he said.
Before taking his position at the Smithsonian, Heyman spent 35 years at the University of California at Berkeley as a law professor, including 10 as chancellor.
In 1994, the Smithsonian removed an exhibit on American paperweights from permanent display. What resulted was fierce protest by people who felt the museum had a bias against American paperweights and $^{10}$
Heyman; Smithsianian Institution secretary speaks at Uled.
favor of German ceramics, he said.
"We should be interested in the museum being a place where exhibits are displayed and not as an authoritative entity," Hevman said.
Controversy has also centered on heavier issues. The most notable example of uproar during the past four years involved a proposed exhibit of the Enola Gay, the plane which dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Another exhibit considered by some as inappropriate was "West as America," which examined the western expansion of the United States through art.
"People expected heroic Western landscapes, but instead saw works depicting the victims of Western expansion such as Indians, Mexicans and women," Heyman said.
Heyman said factors in planning exhibits such as the upcoming examination of sweatshops in America's labor history were whether the time was right and if it was possible to divorce fact from interpretation.
"I think the topics he's addressing are interesting," said Elaine Cheung, Prairie Village freshman. Cheung said she thought exhibits were forms of expression, but they should not be biased.
Jill Bairinger, Lawrence resident, attended the lecture out of her interest in the Smithsonian.
"I read Smithsonian magazine cover to cover." Baringer said, adding she was curious about the direction Heyman would take with his speech. "He's ruffled some feathers," she said.
The University of Kansas Natural History Museum
Dance and Animal Romance Saturday, Feb. 14 Dessert and Dance 8:30 P.M.
$15 a person
Join the KU Natural History Museum for a light-hearted look at how wild things do the wild thing, served up with epicurean desserts and coffee, soft beverages, and dancing
Reservations required. Call (785) 864-4173 or drop by the information desk at the main entrance to Dyche Hall.
to Swing 39, Lawrence's retro-hip combo. You'll learn about pheromones and courting behavior, animal anatomy, natural aphrodisiacs, and more.
We study the life of the planet.
Dyche Hall • Lawrence, KS 66044-2454 • kunhm@ukans.edu • www.nhm.ukans.edu
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AEROBICS INSTRUCTOR TRAINING:
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Any questions that you may have will be answered at the meeting.
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